Now for some Decent Flicks.....

"Scarecrow"
A little independent film from the 70's with a young Pacino and Hackman. I really enjoyed this film, but felt it kinda copped out towards the end.

"The Departed"
Remake of the very cool Hong Kong epic, "Infernal Affairs directed by God of Film or Martin Scorsese if you will. I liked the movie, but having seen the orignal film a few times, it really didn't do much for me other than the performances. I'm glad Marty got an Oscar finally, but the film itself, is not Best Picture worthy. But these days its a popularity contest anyway. Go figure.

"Feast"
Now this one totally surprised me. I watched the making of it on the reality show, "Project Greenlight" It looked horrible on the tv show, but the finished product although very short, was actually a fun movie. And I think I was in the right mood for it at the time, so that helped. It's basically these people stuck at a bar in the desert attacked by a family of unknown beasts. There is never an explanation for anything, and it would prolly suck if there was one, so its really about 70 minutes of people being eaten and decapitated in humorous and gory ways. Good time.

"The Host"
Had this one sitting on the shelf for a while and was not sure really what to make of it. It's funny, intense, and a family drama all at once. Oh, did I mention it's a monster movie? This is a Korean monster movie that is being released in this country soon. And I had a fun time watching it. It may be construed as anti-American if you look between the lines, but to me I took it as an environmental warning/monster movie. The closet thing I have seen to compare it with is the original 50's Godzilla movie. A little girl is taken by this monster and her family dedicated themselves to tracking it down and killing it while hoping that there little girl is still alive. I loved all the performances and I'm sure the inevitable remake will suck balls, so try and go see this instead.

"District B-13"
Loved! Loved this French action flick. This movie is the really the first movie featuring the art of "parkour" style fighting. If you can call it fighting. Parkour means "the aim of which is to move from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, using the abilities of the human body." You have never seen moves like this before in a film. Written and Produced by Luc Besson, this movie has an energy that I have not seen in a long time. The opening 10 minutes will blow your mind. The stunts are amazing in this thing. The story not so much, but you don't care, it’s the fighting that’s the star here. Very much cool on display here.

"Miami Vice"
I wish I had seen this in the theater but I just missed it. And I can see why. I LOVE Michael Mann. He is a huge influence on me, and I feel he is one of the few filmmakers out there today that is still evolving on a creative level. And he continues to evolve here on a visual level, however story wise he takes a big leap back. Let me sum this movie up for you: This is Universal Studios giving Mann a check for $150 million and saying go buy yourself some bad ass HD video cameras and get some names in it and do whatever you want as long as it says Miami Vice in the title somewhere. I thought the cinematography was great it places, and very risky and challenging. Especially for a movie of this size. In fact I can't believe he got away with some of the stuff, but ultimately it’s the title of the movie that counts here. I understand that you can't recapture that time of the 80's with a goofy remake, so he tried to continue the style of Heat and Collateral here but take it a step further. Mann made a 150 million dollar art film. And he probably had a blast doing it, but to me it was like watching a rough cut or a demo reel for HD cinematography. Still recommended if you like pretty pictures...

"Inconvenient Truth / Who Killed the Electric Car"
I enjoyed both of these documentaries and I support Al Gore in his campaign of "greenin'" our world up, however I felt the documentary felt a little self-serving at times. The info was stuff you can learn in elementary geology, and maybe all Americans need to take that course! Overall I felt it was a good showcase for people that don't really grasp what is happening to the planet. Now the Electric Car on the other hand felt a tad more genuine to me, maybe because it was a more focused cause. This is more or less a 90 minute version of 60 minutes piece about how and why all these electric cars from the 90's started to disappear. I found it to be a pretty interesting subject that I knew little about.

"Grudge 2"
Perhaps this belongs in the other list below this one, but if you like the Grudge universe like I do, then you will probably just like seeing it for completist sakes.

"Munich"
All while watching this I never felt like I was watching a Spielberg movie. This felt totally John Frankenheimer from beginning to end, and I loved it. It's not the greatest paranoia film of all time, but I liked the plot and the reason for these characters beings. I think it humanizes the horror that men do to each other because of war and religion. I thought it was the best work Eric Bana has done since "Chopper". I used to not be so much a fan of Spielberg around the time he made Hook and Jurassic Fart. But over the past five years I think he has really turned the corner and started to become a fully rounded filmmaker. He is obviously at a point in his life where he can take creative chances with whatever he chooses. And I think he has made some really nice unsafe choices recently.

"The Notorious Bettie Page"
This movie was decent at best, but still just cable movie good. I didn't know anything about Bettie Page going into this movie, and afterwards I learned a few things but nothing of note that really made me take notice. I thought Gretchen Moll was really good in the role and I liked the stark black and white photography.

"Real Life"
I have said this before, Albert Brooks is close to genius level. This is a movie made in 79/80 and Albert plays himself developing a new film that actually follows real people around in their every day lives. However he actually becomes a part of the show and when the studios begin to question the concept of "reality" programming, he has to go to great lengths to bring some drama to the otherwise boring family he is filming. I had never seen or heard of this movie before I happened to come across it on Netflix. I think its genius and is a great statement of the state of tv/film today. There is one scene with Brooks in a meeting with the studio head on a speaker phone that is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. He really saw into the future with his one. Too bad we have to wait 5 years between Brooks films.

"Science of Sleep"
Director Michel Gondry's look at what life is like for a creative mind that is constantly in a dream state. I found this movie to be really slow going, but then I felt it turned some good corners towards the end and you may have to read between the lines and be a creative person in nature to really appreciate the little nuances here, but I found it to be a really sad yet entertaining film. If you live life a lot in your own head like I do, then you will enjoy it.

"Saw III"
I really wanted to dislike this movie for some reason and there are indeed good reasons to, however for some reason I liked the odd twists and turns at the end. The gore is amped up form parts one and two of course. This horror series is starting to remind me of the Nightmare on Elms Street flicks more and more. Different set pieces, same villain, and more creative effects. Everything hinges on that and that alone. However this one took some risky plot turns at the end, and I am very curious to see in what happens in the already in production part IV and V.

"Silent Hill"
Never played the game, prolly never will. The movie is gorgeously horrible looking. This is what hell looks like in my mind. Empty dead spaces and dirt, grime and despair. And beyond the looks of this film there is not much else to like folks. So again like Miami Vice I recommending this on visuals alone.

"Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny"
I really enjoyed this movie, I'm not a mega D fan like my wife, but I could be moving that way. Having grown up in the world of Heavy Metal and such, I felt a real love for the characters. This is every kids dream back in the early 80's to rock with Dio and Ozzy. And the dream sequence of the performance of "Master Exploder" had me rolling. The films poster makes it look like the film is Spy Kids or something, but its nothing like that! Kids stay away!! The dvd outtakes are great too.

"Unleashed" aka "Danny the Dog"
Another Luc Besson produced film, that I felt was a fair action movie but ultimatly falls a bit short. Should of been a bit darker and sinister, but after all it is a Jet Li film. Decent fights by Master Yuen Woo Ping and good turns by Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman as expected.