I watch movies.

DVD 60: Sunshine
On repeat viewing it's still a solid, entertaining thriller. Caught some more of the visual foreshadowing this time around, but otherwise there's nothing new - just a fun ride to go on again.

DVD 61: Sleeping Beauty
For a movie made 50 years ago, the animation stands up to most of what has come out recently. I hadn't watched this since I was too young to notice that it was stylized after medieval tapestries, but seeing that style applied to classic Disney is a nice touch. I was also amused to see that in a movie with a heroic prince, it's the otherwise comic relief fairies who drive most of the action. Plus Aurora is one of the rare Disney characters with two living parents. On the DVD side, there's some interesting features, the best of which is an old feature demonstrating the differing styles of four of the films animators as they paint the same tree.

Movie 28: Hancock
This one was getting terrible reviews, so I was a little cautious. Luckily I had a free pass, so it didn’t cost me anything to find out that it’s actually not that bad. The main problem with Hancock is that you can see the makings of a much better movie in there, but it just never finds its direction. I’d be interested to see how the version that ended up onscreen differs from the original script, which has apparently had several false starts over the past decade and was probably tweaked at every stage.

M29: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
The second Hellboy movie, on the other hand, is satisfying and entertaining from start to finish. Unlike most sequels the action is actually a little toned down from the first movie, but a lot of the battles become more meaningful through the development of characters and relationships. These were all likable characters to begin with, so getting to see them grow adds to the enjoyment while giving more weight to their decisions. Plus del Toro seems to have been given more to work with following the success of Pan’s Labyrinth, so the visuals and creature designs are endlessly interesting. A good, fun summer movie.


DVD 39: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Wow this was a great movie. A battle between geeky middle aged guys over the high score on Donkey Kong doesn’t sound like it would be very entertaining - in fact it sounds more like a comedy then a heartfelt documentary - but I was constantly on the edge of the couch with excitement. It was like watching a really good sporting event, but instead of hoping my team scored, I was watching to see if Steve Wiebe managed to get to the next level. It all works so well because the filmmakers show us that these are real people, not just a bunch of video game fans. They have the same concerns about family, work, and the rest that we all do, they just also happen to take 80s arcade games more seriously than most of us. And when you see their passion for getting that record score, you can’t help but get excited yourself.

Movie 21: Speed Racer
It’s absurd and mindless from start to finish, but the visuals are impressive enough that I’m glad I saw it on the big screen.

M22: The Incredible Hulk
I liked Ang Lee’s movie better. The main selling point of this one is that there’s less of that pesky story and character development between the action scenes, but some of us like to have a reason to care about the people involved.

M23: Kung Fu Panda
This was a lot better than I expected. I’d gotten so used to Dreamworks pumping out Shrek knock-offs that it was a nice surprise to see a story-driven action comedy that didn’t substitute pop culture references for humor. Plus, this had the best animated action sequences I’ve seen since The Incredibles.

DVD 30: Mystery Science Theater 3000: Godzilla vs Megalon
I’ve heard people complain about licensing costs holding up DVD releases of the Godzilla episodes of MST3K, but after seeing this I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. This is early on in the show before they really established their rhythm, so the humor is uneven and often repetitive.

D31-33: Battlestar Galactica season 2.0, discs 1-3
Not as strong as the first season, but it’s still keeping my interest. The political parallels got a little heavy-handed towards the end, but in doing so managed to introduce a new angle to the story without seeming contrived, so I’ll overlook it (along with the stupid “half season” trick, because I’m netflixing these and don’t have to wait while they try something weaker in the timeslot).

DVD 34: Meet the Robinsons
Not one I would have sought out, but I heard good things so I queued it up and was pleasantly surprised. The plot twists are predictable and it lags a little in the middle concentrating on how wacky the family is, but it’s funny enough throughout to stay entertaining.

DVD 35: Soylent Green
Too often this one gets boiled down to the ending, which is a shame because it really is a great movie from start to finish. Knowing where things are going doesn’t at all detract from the path the story takes getting there, and the dystopia is not only well-conceived but still fairly relevant 35 years later. Easily the best movie in this post.

Book 9: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
This was adapted to one of my favorite movies last year, very faithfully as it turns out. Everything I liked about the story of the film comes straight from the novel, which is well-written with interesting characters providing compelling points of view for the action. It actually weakened the movie a little for me, because some of the places where the film faltered (such as the clumsy transfer of emphasis from Llewelyn to Sheriff Bell) were handled more effectively in text than onscreen. He’s definitely an author I’ll want to read more of.

B10: Dust by Elizabeth Bear
The concept of a ship getting stranded in orbit for enough generations that it becomes a self-contained world is handled well, as is the story of manipulation and intrigue, but would have liked more time spent on the characters. It’s apparently the first in a series, so I may get that later on, but Bear’s other series-starters (Hammered especially) were much stronger when it came to characterization.

Movie 10: The Spiderwick Chronicles
Quasi-interesting story, but the CG effects didn’t blend with the filmed action, and there was never really enough investment to get me excited. When I am more entertained by one of the trailers before the movie than the movie itself, there’s a problem.

M11: Doomsday
I’m starting to like Neil Marshall. Sure, his movies aren’t great works of art, but they’re consistently fun and entertaining, and he tends to use women in leading roles that would normally default to men, without turning them into sex objects or having them be motivated by motherhood. The movie itself is a retread of Mad Max, Escape from New York, and other post-apocalyptic fare, and is utterly unapologetic about it. Plus, the Scottish setting is used in a clever divergence from other films in the genre.

M12: The Bank Job
This one’s being called a heist movie, but I’m not sure that fits. Sure, there’s a bank robbery, but the focus of the movie isn’t the ingenious way they pull it off. In fact, it’s a very basic plan that works more because of luck than skill. Where the movie gets interesting is after the robbery, when it seems like half of London is after the heroes because of what was in the safety deposit boxes they raided. The reason this movie works is that the criminals aren’t smooth professionals, they’re small-time crooks in way over their heads who are just trying to bluff and improvise their way through.

M13: Stop-Loss
Kimberly Peirce doesn’t make many movies (this is her first since Boys Don’t Cry nine years ago), but there’s something to be said for quality over quantity. Stop-Loss succeeds where a lot of Iraq movies have failed by not trying to condemn the entire war, but rather focusing on how one policy affects a few specific individuals. Strong performances throughout really make this movie, especially Ryan Phillippe, who makes it easy to understand the difficulty of his situation and the decisions he has to make concerning himself, his family, and his fellow soldiers.


DVD 9: Lust, Caution
Typical Ang Lee fare, which makes it one of the best movies I’ve seen this year. This story of WWII intrigue is what Paul Verhoven’s Black Book wished it could be. The lengths that the characters go to are incredible, and the payoff is incredibly moving. Unfortunately it didn’t get a very wide release due to its NC-17 rating. It deserved the rating (although the title card before the movie said it was just for sex, no mention of the graphic violence) - this was definitely a movie for adults, but not the stigma that goes with it. And to completely change gears, on a minor note, I wish I knew more about Mahjong. I’ve played it a couple times, just enough to realize the action in the games were reflections of the how the characters related to each other, but not enough to completely grasp the subtext.

D10: American Gangster
By-the-numbers mafia movie. A couple interesting twists, but not enough to elevate the movie to anything more than a typical gangster movie.


Book 5: Above the Line: Conversations about Movies by Lawrence Grobel
Transcripts of interviews with filmmakers in the mid-90s. The interviews are interesting in how they form a picture of the producers, directors, actors, and critics profiled, but the concentration was more on personality than profession for my taste. There is a certain amusement factor in reading a decade later how big a star Van Damme knew he was going to be, and seeing the very real spite between Siskel and Ebert is interesting, but things like that are the rare gems in an otherwise dry read.

B6: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
This would have made a good movie. Heck, if the WIll Smith film had just kept the ending of the novella it would have been exponentially better. As it is, the title story in this collection is the best in the book. The rest are hit-and-miss, often being more about the supernatural process than the characters involved - making for ideas that never really develop into stories.

DVD 7: Elizabeth: The Golden Age
The performances in this film are all top-notch, and the costumes and sets are visually interesting. Unfortunately it lacks the compelling storytelling that made its predecessor a great movie. It’s frustrating too, because it’s clear everyone involved in the production is talented and working to make the best film they can, but the intrigue that drives most of the plot just isn’t that intriguing. Considering the elements in play - betrayal between family members, conflict between personal and political desires, a looming war with the Spanish Armada - this movie should have been a lot more exciting than it was.

Movie 6: Enchanted (Kevin Lima, 2007)
Amusing spoof of Disney animation, but it doesn’t do enough to distance itself from the cliches it’s poking fun at. Yes, it’s funny to see a Disney princess in the real world, where her lack of personality is a hindrance instead of an asset, but the joke starts to wear thin before she has any character growth (in the last 15 minutes of the film). Entertaining at times, but overall it left me disappointed.

M7: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
The first act takes a lot of getting used to, as it’s shot almost entirely from the point of view of Jean-Dominique Bauby, who has just had a stroke that left him paralyzed except for his left eye. Only after the audience has a good idea of how he’s forced to see the world does the camera shift to a third person perspective. The result is an ability to sympathize with him more easily than we’d be able to otherwise, and therefore the rest of the film is much more effective.

DVD 4: Away From Her (Sarah Polley, 2007)
A very honest-feeling portrait of a couple dealing with alzheimer’s. A lot has been made of Julie Christie’s performance, but while it was good I was much more impressed by Gordon Pinsent as a man who loves his wife even when she doesn’t seem to recognize him. The movie drags a little at times, but in the end it’s a very touching love story.

D5: Live Free or Die Hard (Len Wiseman, 2007)
For brain-under-the-seat action, this was the best 2007 had to offer. Fun from start to finish, and the “unrated” version gives the satisfaction of the series’ signature line uninterrupted by gunfire.

D6: Surf’s Up (Ash Brannon & Chris Buck, 2007)
This beat out The Simpsons Movie for an Animated Feature nomination? Really? Yes, there’s some impressive technical animation with the water, but there’s not much of a story behind it. The mockumentary format falls apart, unless you assume the same camera crew can be in five of six different places at the same time, and the plot is a series of sports movie cliches presented without the slightest hint of irony. Less annoying that last year’s animated penguin movie, but that’s not saying much.

Movie 1: Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)
I was a little skeptical watching the trailer that this was going to try too hard to be hip and as a result seem forced. And early on in the movie it does (I can’t tell you how grateful I was that Rainn WIlson was only on one scene - nothing against the actor, but his character grated on my nerves). Luckily the movie eventually starts concentrating on the characters more than their quirks, and turns out to have some real emotion by the end. The relationships all seem real, thanks to well written characters played by strong actors. Everyone here has done more noteworthy work, but there’s not a false note among the principle cast, who work together to make every interaction work. There was no shortage of 2007 movies about unplanned pregnancies, but this one goes on the top of that list for me.

M2: Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)
There have been and will continue to be comparisons to Blair Witch because of the shared technique of having the entire movie seen through the lens of a camera carried by one of the characters. But what this most reminded me of was amateur footage that ends up on the news when something happens that an average person happens to have a camera for. Reeves and his DP Michael Bonvillan did a great job of making the recording seem unplanned and unprofessional (something that’s a challenge to balance with making sure you get the shot you need), giving a real feeling of what average unsuspecting people go through when a monster attacks the city. Not a lot is explained because we only know what the characters experience, following their journey as ordinary people in the midst of something far bigger than them. The result is a very exciting movie that I look forward to picking up on DVD so I can see the making up features.

M3: There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
This looks and feels nothing like any other Anderson movie I’ve seen; it’s excellent for entirely different reasons. The main reason being Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance as oil man Daniel Plainview. This is one of the most evil characters I’ve seen in recent film, largely because he’s so good at convincing people he’s working for their own good, all the while delighting in his profits and their misfortunes. In truth, the fact that this is playing in an election year is fitting, because his false promises and insincere grandstanding are reflective of the worst in politicians trying to gain public favor. Also worth noting is Paul Dano as Eli Sunday, a preacher who is in every way Plainview’s opposite. The scenes between these two actors are the best in the movie, especially their interaction at the film’s climax, where Plainview is at his worst, and enjoying every second of it.

Book 3: Election by Tom Perrotta
Short, funny book about a high school election that does a good job of capturing the dynamics of teenagers. Probably the best example of this is the election itself - it’s noted early on that the title of class president is meaningless, but the kids (and a few of the adults) involved all treat it like it’s the most important event in their lives. The narrative rotates between the characters, which allows the reader to get inside everyone’s head and often see conflicting views of the same events. A satisfying read.

B4: I Am America (And So Can You!), by Stephen Colbert
This really is his character from the show in book form. The subject matter is less topical than his show, but his attitudes on American life are just as absurd as those he spouts off about the day’s news. In short, if you like the show (especially “The WØrd,” which the margin notes are reminiscent of), than you will enjoy the book. Especially if you’re looking for something to hold you over until his writing staff returns.

DVD 3: Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
Another one I was skeptical about, because I thought Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, which also starred Viggo Mortensen, was very poorly executed. Luckily this one doesn’t suffer from the same pacing issues, and is actually an interesting and entertaining mob movie. I don’t think I’d add it to my library, but as a Netflix rental it was time well spent.

59. Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Is there something in Tim Burton’s contract that requires Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter to be in every movie he makes? Admittedly they fit their roles well in this one, even if their singing voices aren’t on the level of some of the lesser-known supporting cast. Plus Burton’s style works well with the material - the costumes and sets are all impressive. In all, it’s an enjoyable movie, provided you aren’t adverse to blood or musicals.

54. August Rush
Sweet movie that sometimes relies a little too much on coincidence, but the whole thing is meant to be fantastical so that can be easily overlooked. Good performances all around, especially from Robin Williams (who really should give up trying to be funny and play creepy full-time). There were complaints at the screening we attended that the ending was too open, but I think the word they were looking for was “subtle.” The movie takes you so far, then assumes you’re smart enough to figure out where things go from there.

55. Beowulf
This was a lot of fun. An interesting take on the source material that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still manages to have some emotional weight. The animation works, even if the uncanny valley is occasionally distracting. The meta-references to the poem, and how the story told in the film differs, are well-done, and the action sequences are exciting and well-choreographed. Still not completely sold on the 3D, but it’s much better here than it was in Harry Potter. The 3D trailer for Coraline was a nice touch.

56. No Country for Old Men
I’ve read a lot of reviews saying that the Coen brothers are at the top of their game with this film, that it’s a masterpiece, that it’s one of, if not the best film of the year. None of that prepared me for how great this movie was. I can’t really think of a way to describe it that would do it justice, so I’ll simply mention that the dialogue is excellent, the use of sound better than anything I’ve heard in along time, and that Javier Bardem’s portrayal of Anton Chigurth should be remembered among the great movie villains for years to come. Oh, and that you should go see it.

50. Gone Baby Gone
I’m a fan of Dennis Lehane’s Kenzie/Gennaro series, so I was apprehensive when I heard this adaptation was going to be directed by Ben Affleck. Fortunately, it seems he’s much better behind the camera than in front of it. It’s a solid adaptation, keeping true to the story while making the changes needed for it to work as a movie. It’s smart, suspenseful, and superbly acted across the board - even by Casey Affleck, who I never thought would have fit in the roll of Patrick Kenzie. And while I still wouldn’t buy him as the Kenzie from the books, he took the character in the script and made it work. Michelle Monaghan and Slaine were perfectly cast as Angie Gennaro and Bubba Rogowski, respectively. My only real gripe is that this is the fourth book in the series, so some of the impact at the end of the movie is lessened without a more developed back story. But that’s only a complaint as someone who has read and enjoyed the source material; as a movie the whole thing stands very well on its own.

51. Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium
Rivals Ratatouille for the best family movie I’ve seen this year. It’s entertaining for both kids and adults, being fun and smart enough not to insult the intellect of anyone in the audience. The acting is good throughout, but Dustin Hoffman steals every scene he’s in as the titular character. And the dual messages about keeping a sense of wonder and dealing with the departure of a loved one are clear without being too heavy-handed. I don’t think this has the marketing behind it to be a hit in the over-crowded holiday season, which is a shame because it really is worth checking out.