Seven Pounds

I really liked this movie. Sure, it was plenty sad. But it was a really interesting idea, and it was intriguing trying to figure out what was going on at the beginning (we knew nothing about this movie).

The suicide scene is disturbing (I closed my eyes), and there is an inappropriate bed scene that can easily be fast forwarded.

But, Will Smith did an amazing acting job in this. 4.5 Stars.

Million Dollar Baby

What a depressing movie. Wow. The parts that weren't depressing were the parts where she was either getting beaten to a bloody pulp or beating some other chick to a bloody pulp.

And the ending...the most depressing part of all. I think she should choose whether or not they should let her die since she can't even breathe on her own and she's paralyzed from the neck down, but geez louise. That part where she tries to bite her own tongue off so she'll choke on her own blood? Nasty. This gets the award for the most depressing sports movie of all time.

Stop bouncing!

How do I make the thing stop bouncing!

Taken

This movie was so intense. I even involuntarily yelled aloud in it at one point. After walking out of the theater and to the car, my hands were still trembling. Okay, maybe that makes me sound like a wuss. But, anyway, it was way intense. I like intense action movies though, despite being scared out of my wit's end, and this one was awesome.

The guy is probably as good or better than Jason Bourne. I love all the brilliant things he thinks of. He was surprisingly unmerciful to the bad guys though. However, after thinking about this for a while, I decided that he had greater cause to be unmerciful than Jason Bourne did. After all, these guys were so much more vile and depraved than the people that Bourne dealt with and this guy had so much more at stake than Bourne did; he was fighting for his daughter. Seeing the business that these men trafficked in (prostitution), was actually quite frightening and revolting. It was sad to think that there actually are people doing those kinds of things.

Anyway, I think it is a very good movie because it is very intense clear up to the end with a good story and a happy ending. I highly recommend it.

Rescue Dawn

Okay, I have mixed feelings about this movie. It was fascinating plot-wise, what with the getting captured by Laotian soldiers, meeting other American pilots that no one knew were imprisoned, and finally the intense escape. Christian Bale was, of course, amazing. But this movie left me wanting for something more meaningful. I guess maybe they were trying to stick really close to the true story, but the ending was just missing that inspirational feeling that I like to get from intense-but-triumphant true stories. When Dieter Dengler was finally back on his Navy ship after the whole ordeal, he was asked to give a message to the men: What helped him get through the torture? What kept him going? And in the movie he said, "Fill what's empty, empty what's full, I want a steak now..." or something like that. It just seemed a trifle facetious to what should have been a lot more meaningful moment.

Not a film for kids--there is some machine gun shooting which is a bit intense. The torture scenes weren't quite as bad as I thought they would be--they showed him getting dragged behind a donkey, shoved under water, and hung upside down with a cow pie or something tied to his face, but they weren't like whipping him or cutting off toes, luckily. The torture went by pretty quickly.

Oh, and why didn't it tell us what happened to Eugene and Phisit and Procet? No mention of them at all. That was weird.

Other notes--Bale is PAINFULLY thin in this. Wow. Good depiction of starvation, buddy. Also, the scenery is AMAZING. Makes me want to go to Laos. Oh wait, they still are a bunch of commies over there. Never mind. :)

Oh actually I found out it was filmed in Thailand. Let's go there, k Dan?

Bride Wars

While very predictable, this movie was still fairly good because of Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. They both do great, even though the plot they were given ended up being a bit drawn out...and over-the-top. But nonetheless, it was still a fun girl movie that was especially fun to watch on a girls' night out. But boys will likely hate this movie.

Oh, and I liked Van Montgomery in this. I don't know his real name (I just looked it up and it is Steve Howie), but it was fun seeing him in something other than Reba. How funny. And Jake Jagielsky (Bryan Greenberg) from One Tree Hill was in this too. I knew he had more acting in him.

There is some language and suggestive content, but it is nice to find a chick flick that isn't PG-13. A rarity these days.

Valkyrie

I thought this movie was really well made. I'm not a Tom Cruise hater, nor am I a Tom Cruise lover, but I thought he did very well in this movie. The historical content is apparently very accurate, and I was fascinated with the whole plot--really I knew very little about assassination attempts on Hitler.

It isn't action-packed, but it keeps you riveted in your seat even though you know what's going to ultimately happen. It made me wonder what I would have done if I had been a German during that awful time.

I would say it is one of the few movies that is worth paying $5 to see. (Matinee, of course. Nothing really is worth the $9 evening price they charge you these days.)

Oh, and this is a spoiler right here, but I am SO glad they didn't kill the wife and kids too...that would've made it just way too sad.

Judgment at Nuremburg

This movie is based on the Judges' Trial that was part of the Nuremburg Tribunals in Germany shortly after WWII.

I have never seen another movie that treated in such depth questions of justice, morality, and law as this one does. The acting is superb; the line up includes an old Judy Garland in a relatively minor role, an old Spencer Tracy as the presiding judge, and a young, pre-Star Trek William Shatner. I liked the cinematography, especially the camera angles.

The movie is three hours long, but doesn't feel that long. It is in black and white.

It prompts reflection on aspects of WWII and its aftermath that don't usually come up in history texts or classes.

I highly reccommend this movie.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

1. There's nothing like environmentalist propaganda to ruin a movie for you (We must SAVE THE EARTH FROM THE HUMANS! They are planet-killers!).

2. There's nothing like Keanu Reeves to ruin a movie for you (okay, okay, I did like The Matrix, but there's only so much Keanu you can take).

3. There's nothing like aliens in the plot to ruin a movie for you (this, of course, is my personal bias, but alien movies I just don't really like. ever.).

THIS movie has ALL THREE!

Twilight

This was Summit Entertainment's one chance to make the leap into the big world, but they failed. This movie had some serious issues. First of all, those who haven't read the book would feel very lost. There was zero transition from "I hate you" to "I love you."

Bella was okay, but not great. Edward was ridiculous. His attempts to act dramatic or intense were laughable (seriously, the audience laughed out loud every time he tried to glare). His makeup looked caked on. His lips were way too red. For me, Edward was the #1 biggest problem with the movie. He was supposed to be strong, mysterious, intelligent, and dreamy. Instead, he came off as childish, petulant, and awkward. I cringed at almost everything he said.

Jacob was okay at acting, but his appearance bothered me. Couldn't they find a more attractive actor to play his part? Charlie I liked. He was perfect for his part. Alice was also great. Rosalie was awkward, Jasper was unnerving, Emmett was okay, Carlisle was scary (also too much makeup), and Esmee was nice.

There was no real chemistry between Bella and Edward until the last thirty seconds of the movie.

The moments where it was supposed to feel intense felt humorous and overacted, (apart from the scene where Bella is getting attacked--that was legitimately intense). The moments where it was supposed to be cute and romantic were cheesy and lame.

Overall, I can't really love a movie when I am cringing for half of it.

Wall-E

Loved this movie! Creative, hilarious, and interesting all at the same time. Plus, the robot's attachment to the movie "Hello, Dolly!" was quite endearing. (I am also a big fan of the movie and music from "Hello, Dolly!" It is pretty amazing how the screenplay is like five pages long, but you can still understand everything the Robots are feeling with their expressive eyes.

Wall-E is definitely a family friendly movie, and one of those that you want to buy so you can have it in your home library collection :). At least I want it in my home library collection. Disney scores again.

Along Came Polly

I have been posting mainly negative reviews lately, but this movie deserves it. The movie is heavy on the crass humor--probably 60% of the jokes are bathroom humor. The story line is interesting, but if you edited this movie you wouldn't be left with much. Also, the message of marriage being unimportant and living only for the moment bothers me.

Kung Fu Panda

This movie was hilarious. I liked it a lot. Jack Black did a great job with this one. It was a little weird how a panda bear had a father who was a goose, so I don't know why the producers did that, but oh well. The joke about him being out of breath after climbing up the stairs was funny every time (and they did it like 4 times). I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty well made and entertaining. Skadoosh!

Baby Mama

Meh. That's what I have to say. I thought this would be funnier than it was, especially for me--someone who has gone through pregnancy and childbirth. There were a few laughs, but they were, well, few.

No bed scenes, which was nice. Some crudeness and profanity, but not tons.

The Dark Knight

Yes, this movie is exceptionally well-made. Yes, Christian Bale is amazing (and hot). Yes, the special effects were pretty darn special. But need this movie be so disturbing?

There are a few too many things in this movie that gave me a sick feeling in my stomach. Not only what the joker does, but what he says. Not only the violence that is shown, but what isn't shown.

I mean, a cell phone bomb in a guy's stomach? That is really disgusting. Burning gasoline on a guy's face? Carving smile marks into victims' cheeks? This is not your typical feel-good superhero movie. A little much for me, really. And by the way, we love you Maggie, but we miss Katie.