National Treasure 2: The Book of Secrets

I'm not sure why I wanted to see this movie. I did not like the first particularly well. I am completely tired of Nicolas Cage, particularly with his new ridiculous hair. And, it was a sequel. I guess it is the kind of movie I like, so guiltily, I wanted to see it. It did not surprise me. It was OK. It was vaguely entertaining in spots. But, it was also bad. I don't like Jon Voight. He was bad. Nicolas Cage still has terrible hair. The "funny" sidekick was not. Ed Harris put in his typically good bad guy performance and Helen Mirren was very good, but I like her anyway. The movie was very Scooby Dooish. It was Disney and seemed written by Disney's typical audience. Oh well. Maybe if they come out with version three I will be able to avoid it. Probably not.

The Golden Compass

I liked this movie, also. There were some really cool visuals, the bears were good, the spy flys were good. I haven't read the book in a while, but it felt like the movie was a bit anesthetized. There didn't seem to be anything even vaguely controversial about it. Nicole Kidman was really good as the icy Miss Coulter. Lyra was decent. I hope they go ahead and make the others, because this really played like a setup kind of story, a prelude rather than an actual story. The fight for the kids near the end was good, though. Pretty good, not great, I think with a bit more story I would have liked it better.

Enchanted

Two in a row with Olivia. This was better than Fred Claus, in my opinion. In fact, I liked it. I thought Amy Adams was good, playing the fish out of water very well. The prince was also really good. Patrick Dempsey played his Grey's Anatomy character, essentially. The girl was ok. There were some funny moments, some fairy tale jokes that fell flat. The clean up scene with the pigeons rats and roaches was very good, though. And the song in the park was good. Susan Sarandon was decent in the bit she played. The movie seemed to espouse anti-romaticism, which is not a bad thing, I think. Maybe that kind of thinking would prevent some unwanted experiences. I liked the damsel rescuing the prince in distress angle, though I don;t think of it as original. Nothing unpleasant here, nothing great, either.

Fred Claus

I enjoyed this movie, though I don't think it was particularly good. It was sort of a Vince Vaughn vehicle, which is fine, cause I like Vince Vaughn and he was funny. There were also some good supporting cast moments, with Ludacris, Paul Giamatti, and the little kid. Kevin Spacey was great. I really thought he showed out. I also like one central tenet of the movie, that generosity should not be based on the performance of the individual, but should come no matter what. Get rid of the naughty or nice list, receive a gift no matter what. I like that sentiment and it's parallels with mercy, rights, dignity, freedom. I can treat you well whether you deserve it or not. A good thing to think about when we talk about throwing people in Guantanamo and throwing away the key. So, a decent movie, but nothing spectacular. And if you don't like Vince Vaughn, maybe not even decent. Though Kevin Spacey really did a good job.

August Rush

This was advertised as a very schlocky movie and it came through, very schlocky. It was quite a major league cast, Robin Williams, Keri Russell, Johnathan Rhys Meier, Terrence Howard, Mykelti Williamson and Freddie Highmore. I am not a big fan of Highmore, although I liked Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This role was a difficult one, it asked him to do a lot, hear music noone else could hear, exude joy, but I did not like his performance. Particularly his weird smile. Not a fan. The music was enticing, I enjoyed listening to it. One note sounded false, though, taking an elementary theory book and usign it to learn how to write all manner of musical expressions. Having recently been aroun numerous elementary theory books, there were a lot of symbols that were clearly not available. (I have no problem accepting that he was a musical savant and the first time he touches a guitar can play it and play it well, or the first time he puts music on paper it is a completely orchestrated symphony, but knowing eighth rests from an elementary theory book? I think not!) I thought Rhys Meiers was good, I thought Robin Williams was decent. I liked some of the ideas that were brought up, though I don't like some of the conclusions reached. Music is in your soul. There are wild people who can help you come to terms with it and appreciate it. But in order to truly "do" it, you must go to the academic body and learn the "proper" structures. I don't know if I buy that. Not to mention a whole lot of hokum. But, it was OK. And, I liked the music.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room

This has sat on my DVD player for a long time and I finally got around to watching it. I did not like it so much. I feel like the goal of a documentary is either to get people to emotionally connect with the subjects, or to explain what happened in a particular situation. I think this one assumed a preexisting emotional connection, or, assumed some knowledge of the situation that I did not have. Perhaps if I had known more about it going in I might have enjoyed it more. But, as it is, it di not explain what happened very well, at least not to me. I don't leave the film feeling like I have any greater knowledge of the situation, other than some implication that Bush gets tarred in the scandal. Which is fine, but I wish it had been more explanatory. Oh well.

No Country For Old Men

I liked this movie a lot. It was a very pretty movie. The cinematography was good. I really liked listening to all of the Texans. They sounded really good. I thought Josh Brolin was good, I certainly thought he looked straight out of Texas. Tommy Lee Jones was very good as well, a bit reminiscent of a depressed Andy Griffith, only in Texas. Woody Harrelson was very good too, though I have seen him as Texas cowboy before, he certainly pulls it off well. And, Javier Bardem was very good as an alien in this landscape. Furthermore, all of the bit players were good too. Lots of good performances. The story was interesting, all in all, it was a very good movie. I highly recommend it.

Beowulf 3D

OK, I was looking at this movie, the time I wanted to go see it just happened to be a 3D version, so, fine, I'll try that. I go to buy my ticket and it turns out it costs more, well, that's lame, but, I'm here, I'll check it out. Then I walk in and the guy asks if I have my glasses yet. Great, I am gonna be wearing ridiculously lame 3D glasses and this is gonna be ridiculously stupid. Well, I was wrong. The glasses were plastic and fit over my glasses, not the lame paper ones. They did not make everything look blue and red, like every other pair of 3d glasses I have worn, and there effect on the movie and the 3D trailers was stunning. I actually did jump when a particular flashlight looked light it was about to fall on me. Visually amazing. I highly reccomend checking it out sometime if you haven't seen Digital 3D. As for the movie, it was pretty good. I had gotten a refresher on the story from Dad prior to going to see it and it adhered to the story quite well. I would like to go back and check it out. IT is pretty straight-line, but the action was exciting. Though animated, it is certainly not child-friendly, with lots of suggestive material. But, it was a fun thing. And Digital 3D rocks.

Zodiac

To be a thriller, this was way too slow. This was the one with Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhall. It was like a documentary kind of thing, but it was advertised as an exciting thriller. It was not. Another slow one on a late night on DVD. I won the battle to stay awake, but not the battle to appreciate this movie.

The Good German

This was a 1940s movie. Remarkably so. The visuals looked just like watching a tv movie with Mom on a summer afternoon. I was amazed. The lighting, the camera angles, it was just like it was from the 40s (or old, anyway). The problem was, the story was an old one, too. There was not enough going on, not enouch action not enough suspense, not enough anything. I like George Clooney, I like Cate Blanchett. But, I did not like this movie much. Oh well.

Lions for Lambs

I like the idea of this movie. But, I did not love the movie. It was a lot better than Man of the Year, which I also left thinking I'm glad this was made, but I didn't need to see. Discussing it with Dad and Lyndsae afterwards, I came to the conclusion that the protagonist of this movie was not a character but an idea. I felt like it was saying that it was important to get out and do something to change the sorry state of things. Don't be content to wallow in cynicism but be active in trying to change things. I like the message. I thought the performances were good, Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Derek Luke, all people I like. I did not think Meryl Streep was as good, but she wasn't bad. It was just too didactic. I felt like I was watching a message movie in civics. I like the message, just not the movie.

Hitman

Hitman was not a good movie. I found out early on that it was based on a videogame, a fact that might have altered my decision to see it. Probably not, but maybe. It had some interesting visuals. The main character was suitably intimidating and impressive. The story was ridculous, though. I guess this movie was not designed to tell a good story, though, as games are about the play, not the story. I am reminded of Doom, without The Rock. Upon leaving, I discovered that I was one of a whole bunch of guysthat went to see the movie alone. I guess that makes me a "fanboy". Oh well.

Martian Child

Well, in deference to other members of my family, I did not see Bee Movie, Fred Claus, or Lions for Lambs this weekend. Instead, I went to see Martian Child, and I have to say, I was disappointed. I thought Amanda Peet was good. I felt like she hit her character right on the nose. I like Richard Schiff. I miss him as a weekly member of my life. I thought the kid was a bit weird, but I also didn't believe his weirdness. I really like John Cusack, but his character was a bit disjointed. It was like they did several takes of each scene using different motivations for each one, then when they edited the film they took pieces from different bits. Like the tender dad version one scene, the nerd science guy the next one, the crazy guy the next one, then the dad again. It was weird. I blame the director, not Cusack. I'm not sure what the film was tryign to say, either. It seemed to be saying it is important to be yourself, no matter whether you fit in or not. But, the kid had to pretend to be somebody "different" in order to stay with Cusack. It also talked about abandonment issues and love overcoming but barely. Then, turns out it was based on true events. I might have viewed it a bit differently (or at least I might have reconsidered my desire to see it a bit) had I known that. All, in all, it was quite disappointing. Oh by the way, I thought Anjelica Huston was also very good in a bit role.

The Gameplan

This movie was OK. I took Olivia to it and she liked it. It aimed to be a kid's movie and made little if any attempt to go beyond that goal. I like Dewayne Johnson and I thought he did fine. Better than Vin Diesel and Arnold Shwarzenegger in similar vehicles. Eric Ogbogu was funny in bits. There were some other funny moments. Not a whole lot of memorable stuff. Not great, barely good. But, Olivia liked it, soo... No regrets.

American Gangster

I liked this movie, though it was not exactly what I was looking for when I went in. I was expecting an action flick, but what I got was a biopic. It was good, mind you. It had all thetrappings of the "big" movie. Two huge stars in the leads, Denzell Washington and Russell Crowe, and lots of names in the supporting cast, RZA, Common, TI, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ruby Dee, Armand Assante. And it was good. Not great, but good. I am not sure what it was trying to tell us about the life of Frank Lucas. I don't know if they were saying it was a good thing or not. He was clearly a ruthless fellow, which has a bit of visceral appeal to me, but is obviously not a good thing when it means walking out onto the street and shooting a rival gang leader in the head in front of a bunch of other people walking around. It was almost Machiavellian. I liked watching the actors doing their thing. I think Common is one of my favorite scenery pieces, though he was almost non-existent in this movie. I really like the sound of TI's voice and enjoyed his lines. I am a bit stunned by the story that was told, placing it in terms of reality, and "based on a true story". But there was not really enough there to make me love it. But it was good.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Sometimes as I get away from a movie, I like it less and less. Walking out after this one, I liked it. The further I get from it, the more I like it. I think it was really well done. I thought it was very pretty. There were some very beautiful shots, some cool camera techniques, good character shots. I liked the way the story was told and the story itself. I thought there were lots of good performances, particularly Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt, but also Sam Rockwell and Paul Schneider. Mary Louise Parker was here but she did not get much screen time, nor was there much space for her. This was a story about men. I found myself thinking while watching, huh, those guys are Hights, we have some Hights in our line. Is that who we were related too? But wait, there are also a bunch of Ford's, was one of there brothers or uncles Colonel Barney Ford? It added an interesting twist to the movie. I didn't know anything about the death or aftermath of Jesse James going in. I thought that was really interesting. The way the story was told, I could really understand what we later found out about Robert Ford's motivations for the killing, and the effects of of the action. There was lots of good stuff here. I highly recommend it.

Dan In Real Life

I really like Steve Carrell and I liked this movie. I don't think there was a lot of message to it, more of a situational story. I guess you could say it was love can overcome, or family is important, or that sort of thing, but really it was just a story for me. I'm not a big fan of Juliette Binoche, but I thought she was fine. I really liked the family relationship that was on display here, a big family that was comfortable with each other as opposed to the stereotypical sniping that is so often on display. I liked Carrell's relationship with his daughters, it seemed honest. I also liked the bit where his daughter tells him to stop flirting with Binoche. It was very refreshing to see somebody in the movie recognizing the obviousness of the developing relationship that the audience was treated to. A rare thing, and a good one. There were some bits that rang hollow, like the driving issue with the oldest daughter. But, for the most part, it was a good, easy story, with some good laughs. A pleasant, ordinary movie.

Gone Baby Gone

I liked this one a lot. I found out after the fact that it was based on a book by Dennis Lehane, the same guy who wrote Mystic River, which I also really liked. I did not think this was great at the beginning. The arc of the story did not really devlop the way I expected. There was a bit of a surprise ending and then it turned out that the movie was only about halfway done. Several interesting bits after that as well. I thought Casey Affleck was great. Maybe it was just his Boston accent, but I thought he did a great job. I thought Amy Madigan was also very goos ina supporting role. I thought Ed Harris did a good job playing the grizzled old cop. I might give a best supporting facial hair to Titus Welliver's world class stache. Morgan Freeman was not very good, which is odd because I usually like him. I also liked the questions the movie asked. Is doing the right thing always the right thing, is doing the wrong thing ever acceptable? I think it presented an answer of sorts but did not exactly tell what it thinks about its own answer. I think it was developed by someone who had not spent a lot of time around social workers, as the role that could have been filled by them here was significant, but I'm willing to forgive that. A very good movie, in my opinion.

Michael Clayton

This was good, as hoped for. I really liked George Clooney's character. I don't think he can play much different than George Clooney, but this was George Clooney having a bad run of luck, and I liked it. I thought Tom Wilkinson played crazy very well. I thought Tilda Swindon really did a good job with her character, the unsure lawyer, trying to get on the garb of the evil corporate attorney. I thought Sydney Pollock was also goo, though he might also have been playing himself. I was pleased with the ending of the film as well. Good stuff here.

The New One

I am not sure what is going to be loeft on the "main" blog. Maybe by moving movies here, that will leave the other one to be ideas, thoughts, things like that. Anyway, this one should be obvious. I intend to comment on the movies Isee and want ot see on this blog. I will also intend to keep track of the movies that are coming out here, using my EW magazine for dates. We'll see how that works. I think on the upcoming movies, Green will be really want to see, Plain will be unsure, Orange will be don't want to see, Red will be really don't want to see. So, here we go.