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.