Three...

Stranger Than Fiction - three and a half stars
Great movie. I thought it was going to be more comical, with Will Ferrell starring, but it blended some funny moments with a nice, steady plot, some fantastic acting, and seemed heartfelt enough. Ferrell was great, as was Dustin Hoffman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson (she, like Daniel Day-Lews, is usually someone starring in movies I have no urge to see, yet they win Oscars).

Norbit - three stars
Eddie Murphy does a really good job holding down three roles, each of which are pretty funny. He plays the title character, a too-naive, ultra-nice pushover, who grows up in Mr. Wong's orphanage (Wong is also played by Murphy), and marries another girl from the orphanage, the monsterous Rasputia (Murphy again). Everyone else in the movie, including Cuba Gooding, is extremely bland, with the exception of two "pimps", played by Eddie Griffin and Katt Williams (their character names are Pope Sweet Jesus and Lord Have Mercy, respectively). The first half hour or so was hilarious, and then the movie was....fair. The reason, I think, it worked in The Nutty Professor and Coming to America (with Murphy playing multiple roles), was because they were only onscreen for a little while here and there, not saturating the whole movie. I'd suggest waiting for the DVD.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend - two and a half stars
This movie just wasn't that funny. Uma is good, although a little over the top, and I just can't figure out how Luke Wilson is the main actor in a movie - any movie. Rainn Wilson is decent in the movie, but he honestly plays a character identical to Dwight Shrute. There were some funny moments, but even watching this one with my kids, who laugh at anything, they weren't laughing much.

On the docket: Saw 2, Borat, and Employee of the Month (halfway through).

Catch-up...

Eragon - two and a half stars
Good, not great. The special effects are good (with the dragon), and the story is ok - nothing heavy. The end blatently leaves you where Eragon 2 will pick up, I guess. Everything I read about the movie cries about how different it is from the book, but I didn't read the book, so ignorance in bliss, I suppose. A decent movie, overall.

Flushed Away - three stars
This was really funny, done in the animation style of Chicken Run. A rodent, living in the high society of England, surprisingly gets flushed down the toilet, into a whole world considerably less than what he's accustomed to. There were plenty of laughs, and the movie was good overall.

The Longest Yard - three stars
Very funny remake, more of a comedy than the original. Sandler does a good job, as does Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds (weird seeing him in a remake with a different role), a bunch of professional wrestlers (Bill Goldberg, The Great Khali, Kevin Nash, Steve Austin), and ex NFL Players (Brian Bosworth, Michael Irvin, Bill Romanowski). Some hilarious moments, and it flowed pretty well - totally enjoyable.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - three and a half stars
This was an independant (I think) movie by Dito Montiel, essentially an auto-biography of a kid who leaves Astoria for California, leaving all of his family and friends behind, only to be called back to help take care of his ailing father. It alternates back and forth between present day Dito (Robert Downey Jr) and 1986 Dito, with his mom (Dianne Wiest) and dad (Chazz Palmienteri). The story is raw and depressing in many ways, about how the neighborhood is changing, how each of his pals growing up struggle, his relationship with his parents (mostly his father), and what he comes back to in the neighborhood. Definitely a good rent.

Man of the Year - three and a half stars
Robin Williams is a political humorist (a funny Bill Maher, perhaps), who on a whim decides to run for president. Lo and behold, he wins the election, and the story takes off. Directed by Barry Levinson, the same guy who directed Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam, there is a really good story in this movie in addition to the funny idea of a comedian in the White House. Christopher Walken and Lewis Black are great as Williams' associates, and Laura Linney is decent. It was nice to see everyone in the politcal system getting skewered, instead of just one party or the other.

School for Scoundrels - three stars
Billy Bob plays the instructor of a "class" that helps wimps get a backbone, with Michael Clarke Duncan as his lackey. Jon Heder again plays Napolean Dynamite (just like in Benchwarmers), just with a different name and without a weird brother. Heder is a meter-maid with no spine that gets told about a class for wimps, and the zany antics ensue. There are some really funny parts, so overall the movie was pretty funny, though not....hilarious.

Babel - three and a half stars
Fantastic movie taking four different stories and weaving them together (a la Crash). Brad Pitt is solid, though not show-stealing, and Cate Blanchett was solid. The way all the parts intertwine is well done, all of the acting is great, and I could see this one, The Departed, or Little Miss Sunshine coming away with the best picture nod at the Oscars.

Lord of War - three stars
Interesting and good, but not great. Nick Cage plays a Russian immigrant in Brighton Beach who aspires for the better life, thus becoming an international arms dealer. He tries to enlist his brother, played by Jaret Leto, who is (or becomes) very drug-dependant. Bridget Moynahan is decent as his supermodel wife, and Ethan Hawke is the Interpol agent dead-set on bringing Cage down. The movie is almost documentary-ish, even with Cage speaking directly to the camera at times, and narrating a good portion of the movie.

One...

The Prestige - four stars
Overall, I think this one is even better than The Illusionist. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and David Bowie are very good, and the plot is terrific. I had it in my head that the two "magician flicks" were going to be lame rip-offs of one another, but both were incredibly strong and entertaining. Jackman and Bale were on as once partners-now enemy magicians, bent on ruining each other completely, with Bowie as the mad scientist, and Caine as the veteran handler. As I watched and things unfolded, I found myself going back to certain parts in my head and saying, "ohhhhhhhh, ok!" Pay attention!

Just....whoa.

The Departed - four stars
What a movie. Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, and Martin Sheen are phenomenal. The story is great, with Damon playing a cop working for Irish mafia kingpin Nicholson, and DiCaprio playing a cop under deep cover in Nicholson's outfit. If the movie has a single fault, its in the length - it gets slow at times, and they could have trimmed 20-30 minutes of fluff out of there. Outside of that, it is just fantastic, on the same level as Goodfellas. At least the most annoying actress of all time, Lorraine Bracco, is not in this movie!

Later this week, The Prestige and School for Scoundrels, which are in my possession!

Flags of our Fathers - two and a half stars
Incredibly slow. The movie was well done, and showed the battle of Iwo Jima in an interesting fashion, but this was more a movie about the men and events surrounding the famous picture of the flag raising. Clint Eastwood did a fine job, the actors were fine, but to me, the story just dragged. Maybe my expectations were more along the lines of a Saving Private Ryan, so that could have hampered my enjoyment of the movie. Nonetheless, I was checking the time during the movie.

Still More....

Little Miss Sunshine - four stars
While depressing at times (because what insanely disfunctional family isn't, outside of Al & Peg Bundy), this was a fantastic movie. Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin are deserving Oscar Nominees, and Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, and Steve Carell are terrific. There were so many genuinely hilarious laugh-out-loud moments, all coming to a head with the last 10 minutes. If you don't already know, the title refers to a children's beauty pagent, and that itself is one of the most disturbing and infomfortable things in life to me. When you see it, you'll know what I am coming from.

Jet Li's Fearless - three stars
Having been on an action kick, I had heard ok things about this. Overall, it was good, and the plot was solid enough. The fight scenes, as one would expect in a Jet Li movie, were very good. I liked how the story was laid out: the main character of the story (set in early 1910-20 China) has to fight four men from various countries as part of a challenge. It is between the third and fourth fight that the movie goes back and tells you how he got to that point. If this is Jet Li's final martial arts movie, it was a good one. Personally, while I liked this movie, I liked The Protector more.

Waist Deep - two and a half stars
This was a decent movie, but nothing to carry on about. The action was good, the characters wasn't bad, and the plot was ok. The one thing that brought this movie down a notch were the holes in the story - how did this happen, why did this happen, what happened to this, and especially the very end - you'll be asking the same questions, probably. Also, if you hate rap, don't watch.

Next: not sure. Maybe The Sentinal, Flags of Our Fathers, School for Scoundrels, and hopefully I can get a nice early copy of The Departed.

A Few More to Add

16 Blocks - three stars
Solid, but I think my expectations were too high. I will see almost anything with Bruce Willis in it, but there is something that lacks for me when he plays a "aging burnt-out cop" - although he was good. Mos Def was good, although the way the character speaks was pretty annoying to me. David Morse as Bruce's ex-partner - solid also. Good movie, and it went pretty quickly. There is an alternate ending, which according to the director, was the original ending before it was switched with what is the actual ending. To me, the ending that's in the movie is the better one, especially with the song over the closing credits.

The Devil Wears Prada - three stars
How can Meryl Streep not be great? Well, she is, again. Anne Hathaway is good, as is Stanley Tucci. The plot flows pretty well, and the story is pretty light with some good and funny moments. It's a chick-flick, but not a sappy romance-type - definitely watchable, and I didn't feel my masculinity seeping away by the minute.

The Marine - two and a half stars
A decent way of passing the time, but the movie was corny and predictable. John Cena certainly isn't horrible in his first movie, but I don't know if he has the same potential as The Rock - maybe if they can get past the WWE-produced corn. Robert Patrick has the moment of the movie, reacting to a comment about the Terminator. Everything in the movie is pretty cliche, over-the-top, and it's easy to figure out what will happen, but overall, it was ok.

The Guardian - three stars
I've been jonesing for a good Costner movie. He and Ashton Kutcher do well in this one, about a salty, legendary USCG rescue swimmer coming out of the fleet (because of a disasterous rescue where he lost his crew) to teach at the A school, and Kutcher plays a cocky, well-reputed relay swimmer with baggage of his own. The movie sticks to the "old vet/young rookie" playbook, but is pretty decent anyway.

Invincible - three and a half stars
Good movie done well, sort of in the same was as The Rookie with Dennis Quaid. Marky Mark plays a 30 year-old bartender, down on his luck, who tries out and makes the Philadelphia Eagles. The story is a good one in a feel-good sort of way. The soundtrack, if you're into classic rock from the seventies, is FANTASTIC. I would have liked to have seen more in-game football shots, but nonetheless, the movie is enjoyable.

Two in the queue: Little Miss Sunshine and Fearless.

Just saw three...(Not Saw III)

Barnyard - two and a half stars
It was very....eh. My daughter liked it, but I just couldn't get into it. Kevin James is funny though, and for the kids, its probably a good one. I enjoyed Open Season more.

Benchwarmers - three stars
Silly, lowbrow, crude, and stupid humor. Watched it with my son, who could not stop laughing. Rob Schneider, David Spade, Napolean Dynamite, and Jon Lovitz were all pretty funny, and there were some really funny moments. Definitely not a critics movie, but funny.

The Protector (Tom Yum Goong) - three and a half stars
I don't really know what Quentin Tarentino has to do with this movie, as his name is in the commercials for it and on the box. The story build-up is interesting and flows, and the fight scenes are terrific. Tony Jaa is very good, and there are about 100 times more bones broken in this movie than all of Steven Seagal's movies combined. Very enjoyable movie.

Two more...

Inside Man - three stars
Good, not great. Denzel is great as a NYPD detective, Christopher Plummer is decent as the bank head-honcho, Clive Owen is good as the theif, and Jodie Foster is simply annoying as a person whose job it is to do very vague things for/with very important people. Her character adds nothing to the movie, in my most humble opinion, while Denzel is left to make up for the void, which he does. Near the end, the plot goes haywire, trying to make this movie more than just a heist movie, coming to a screeching halt with about a half hour left to go.

Gridiron Gang - two and a half stars
I like The Rock - call it a guilty pleasure - but then again, I enjoy professional wrestling. He plays a counselor/security guy/football coach type of guy in a juvenile detention center, encouraging the kids to have confidence and aspire to get out of the kind of life that helped them wind up in their current situation. The dialogue was cheesy and the plot was predictable. There were some somewhat emotional moments and occasional funny dialogue, but all too forced, cliche, and underwhelming. I wasn't expecting Hoosiers or We Are Marshall here, but if The Rock ever gets a good script, maybe he will break out.

I am waiting on three hours to come along and put itself aside to watch The Protector, and will probably catch Little Miss Sunshine, The Devil Wears Prada, and maybe either Barnyard or The Wild over the next few days.

Three good ones...

Running Scared - four stars
Fantastic action movie. Things started off with a nice flash-forward, and the movie hits the ground running. Paul Walker, whom I've never heard of really, is terrific, and any Chazz Palminteri sighting is a good one. Great plot, ok finish, and just one of the better action movies I've ever seen.

Open Season - three stars
Funny movie. Ashton Kutcher and Martin Lawrence are funny, and there's an appearance by the made-for-animated-movies-guy Patrick Warburton. It wasn't Shrek or Toy Story, but at the local $1.50 theater, almost anything is worth going to see, and my daughter and I laughed our butts off a few times.

The Illusionist - three and a half stars
Ed Norton, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell, and Jessica Biel are very good in this movie, and the plot is a good one. This was a solid drama though not heavy, and something I'd let my kids watch. Norton plays a magician-type in Early Vienna (years not given), and while I had no intention of going out of my way to grab this at the video store, people told me it was great, and I found it...good.

Hugo Weaving Rawks

V for Vendetta - four stars
This movie dragged a bit near the end, but I enjoyed it immensely. Natalie Portman was fantastic, and Hugo Weaving (or perhaps the voice of Hugo Weaving) was great as well. The plot was interesting, and the action was very....actiony...by the same guys who did The Matrix.

Movies: Catch-up

I just feel like posting a log of the movies that I've seen. Last month, I took a part-time job at the local BlockBuster, so my movie-watching has increased somewhat (obviously).

Last week:

Snatch - four stars

A lot of fun to watch. The acting was great, the movie flowed, and the plot was terrific. If the movie has a flaw, it is the sometimes incomprehensible cockney-type accents. Brad Pitt was completely impossible to understand, but from what they say, it was supposed to be that bad.

Lucky Number Slevin - four and a half stars

Fantastic. I put this movie only a notch below The Usual Suspects, but to me it was of the same sort. Great plot, you're following the story...and then the story has changed completely...with a twist. The cast is top-notch: Josh Harnett, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, and Lucy Liu.

Snakes on a Plane - three stars

I don't know if it would have been watchable, or as watchable, without Samuel L. Jackson, but this was a lot of fun to watch. I was reminded of Eight Legged Freaks in the way that it was cheesy, fun, and requiring a complete suspension of belief, but since Samuel L. is 4,000 times greater than David Arquette, enough said.

Crank - three and a half stars

Right from the get-go, there is action with only a few lulls. The lulls are made more apparent with the fast pace of the movie, and at times, Amy Smart (whom I normally really like) almost steals the movie from Jason Stratham and ruins it. It was fun to watch, and certainly entertaining. I sure didn't recognize Dwight Yoakam though...but who would?

Failure to Launch - three stars

Seeing Kathy Bates naked in About Schmidt left enough scars, but seeing Terry Bradshaw naked was almost as bad. It was funny, and McConaughey and Parker were good. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments, and with a comedy, that's all I ask for. The more, the merrier.

A History of Violence - three and a half stars

I liked the movie, and thought Viggo was pretty good in it. How William Hurt gets the Best Supporting Actor nomination for his 10-15 minutes at the end is a total swerve. Ed Harris almost steals the movie (in a good way), and it totally evil and believable as an organized crime higher-up-type. Maria Bello, in the movie also, is just plain hot. I think the only bad thing about the movie is its incredible hype, which made me come away from the movie liking it, but not loving it as the aforementioned hype would have expected.

Flyboys - four stars

My son's favorite movie of all time. Let me drop this pearl of wisdom: If you ever go and see a movie that looks like it may be kind of crappy or so-so at the best, take a kid to see it. Kids are incredibly easy to please, and their enthusiasm will totally boost your level of enjoyment (see Alien vs. Predator). James Franco was good in the movie, and the flying/action/battle scenes were terrific. I might have enjoyed it more since I saw it at a local $1.50 theater, but in retrospect, I did spend another $15 on Twizzlers, popcorn, and soda, so it all comes together in the end.

Movies on tap, possibly, for the next week:

Running Scared

V for Vendetta

Barnyard

16 Blocks

Inside Man