Silent Hill

I have no idea what I just saw. It's impossible to discuss this movie without revealing the plot, which is impossible because the plot is impossible to figure out. Robin Wright clone and Woody Allen muse Radha Mitchell is game and committed as the mom searching for the missing daughter in the haunted town. Ah, if only it were that simple. Eventually she teams up with a hot, fetishy blond cop, Laurie Holden, and they find themselves shooting and running from all kinds of random CGI monsters, and a weird, sword-wielding giant with a trapezoid on his head. The plot descends into pure chaos when the women take refuge in a church, only to have the ghostly people inside accuse them of being witches. The daughter ends up being a demon or something; with a Canadian accent. Ultimately, it turns out the town might be Hell and the mom and the daughter might be dead. Who the hell knows.

Friends With Money

In spite of being a hot babe and tabloid darling, Jennifer Aniston is pretty good at playing these frumpy, mopey losers. I liked the supporting cast, too. But the resolution is lame and disappointing, so this movie didn't really resonate.

Hard Candy

Flawed, dragged-out, jail-bait cautionary tale. Really talky script, but in a bad way. Weak internal logic. Lacked "evidence." Committed actors, though. And almost a whole movie about two people in a house. Admirably cheap.

Scary Movie 4

I am a giant fan of Anna Feris. She's a fully committed ham, and she's game for almost anything. Just like Cloris Leachman. And when they're in a scene together? Stellar. Okay, so it's not Shakespeare. And I couldn't relay the plot right now if my life depended on it. But I laughed, because it's silly. As much as I admire Anna Feris, though, the funniest scenes to me were the scenes featuring Craig Bierko spoofing War of the Worlds and Tom Cruise on Oprah. So with Zucker and Abrams back, where are the funny end credits?

Brick

A very cool hybrid of gumshoe film noir and high school soap opera. Admirable in many ways. For one, the filmmakers had the conviction to stick with their gimmick from beginning to end. They play many scenes for laughs, knowing that it's a goof on noir. Despite this, the actors play it COMPLETELY straight, especially Joseph Gordon Levitt, who is great as the Phillip Marlowe/Bruce Willis "loose cannon." And, the movie looks like it was made for chump change and credit cards. Also admirable. Lengthy scenes are played in front of a boring backdrop of lockers or dumpsters. They trusted their dialogue! Thoroughly enjoyable.

Lucky Number Sleven

The resolution to this yarn made it worth it. Performances are all good, especially Lucy Liu as someone other than a cast-iron bitch. The ad campaign changed drastically for this; as though they didn't know what they had. Annoying production design. Lots of annoying wallpaper and sets. Distracted from the story.

Tsotsi

Supposedly South Africa's answer to City of God. But, the story is stock and the plot is predictable. Strong performances don't always guarantee a great movie. (See also Transamerica.)