The Battle of Algiers

Influential, documentary-style war movie tries to portray the Algerian revolution from both sides. Supposedly used non-actors. (You can tell. There’s always someone staring at the camera.) Lots of subtitles. No main character. Felt long. Hard to connect with.

Seraphim Falls

Minimalist, man-hunt, revenge-tale western. Well-directed, strong performances, and expertly filmed. Hard to know exactly what to take away from this, though. Revenge is a waste of time?

God Grew Tired Of Us

Weepy doc about Sudanese "lost boys" transplated to America. (The real "Borat") More educational than emotional for me.

Smokin' Aces

Ballsy and hyperactive. Moments of this tapped into something truly bizarre and disturbing. The comedic bits go to places most movies dare not tread. But the tone shifts, it gets all heavy and dramatic in the end, and ultimately this John Woo homage is a downer.

A Hard Day's Night

Funny, precursor to music videos. Strange that so much of the “plot” revolves around Paul’s “grandfather.” This was probably funnier at the time, but now it seems goofy and incongruous.

The Last King of Scotland

I found the first third of this movie very distracting. Gillian Anderson (!) plays a British woman, her accent is tangy and spot-on, and she looks TERRIFIC. So it’s difficult to pay attention to the set-up when every moment she’s on screen I’m saying to myself, “Holy Cow! Is that Gillian Anderson?” Accolades for this movie are warranted. It’s dramatic, intense, and Forest Whitaker embodies his charming/psychopathic dictator well. The lead, James McAvoy, is strong. But it’s one of those movies that ends with a scroll about what happened to the characters after the movie ends, and it made me wonder about the historical accuracy. Sorry to say, though, that to me this movie was mostly about Gillian. Superficial, I know, but there you have it.

Primeval

A creature feature and a political drama rolled into one. ALMOST knew what it wanted to be, if only at the moment when the villian's head pops like a grape between the jaws of the cg crocodile. Pretty lousy, but what did I expect?

300

A visual orgy of violence with style flying out its cinematic wazoo. There’s so much slow motion, you could leave to do a load of laundry, come back, and the same scene will still be going. Terrific, bombastic performances and testosterone-fueled battles. Perfect comic-book world designs. Oh! And fun, too. Will quite likely blow peoples minds.

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

It’s grotesque and overlong, but it’s well-made and original. Plenty of suspense, and many unexpected plot twists. Imagine Hannibal Lecter meets Les Miserables. There were scenes in this that I could never have imagined on film. It’s not for everybody, but kudos must be paid for daring.

Letters from Iwo Jima

Despite all of the accolades and an almost assured best picture win, this was long, dull, and too contemplative. There’s no sense of urgency. There’s no drama. Sure it’s beautifully made and poetic, but there’s no ticking clock. There’s no lust for life. Only one truly memorable scene. My feeling about Flags of our Fathers was similar. They’re both well-made, but I couldn’t wait for them to end.

Children of Men

Excellent. We are in good hands from the very beginning. Cuaron establishes his world very well, expertly using, among other things, production design to convey the sense of despair and paranoia. Once the slightly jumbled plot kicks in to high gear, it’s a runaway truck. It speaks to our fears about the future, drawing clear parallels to the present. It’s also a thrilling escape laced with humor drama and masterly filmmaking. Beautifully written, designed, acted, filmed. I liked it.

The Pursuit of Happyness

Way too much effort to elicit sympathy for Will Smith. At some point I expected somebody to run from off screen and kick him square in the nuts. Good performances, but episodic, long, and cheesy.