Zodiac

Like four, back-to-back CSI episodes. If you like police procedurals, you should be first in line. If you want suspense, there is very little.

Amazing Grace

A history lesson about abolishing slavery in Britian. Ultimately Parliment was tricked into abolishing it through some kind of loophole.

The Number 23

Interesting premise bogged down by too much fancy production design, miscasting, and a general misunderstanding of a semblance of tone.

The Passenger

Acclaimed minimalist masterpiece from famous auteur Michelangelo Antonioni stars Jack Nicholson as a reporter on an existential journey. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. It was like watching paint dry.

Breach

Great, taut, interesting true-life thriller, and that’s in spite of my disinterest in Ryan Phillipe. Nice seeing Caroline Dhavernas as Phillipe’s wife, as it’s been too long since the underrated Wonderfalls. Worth seeing.

Ghostrider

There are brief moments in this when I realized how cool this movie COULD have been. It’s really dumb. Weird to think, too, that 20 years ago, Nic Cage was in one of my favorite movies of all time, Raising Arizona. He is a parody of himself now.

Music and Lyrics

There is no conflict and there are absolutely no stakes here. Inserted conflicts and miscommunication feel forced and hackneyed. The first five minutes are funny, but the rest is like sitting in traffic waiting for something to happen.

The Departed

A second viewing made me notice and admire many other things about this. The editing; the pace; and the transition from scene to scene were all a consistent and almost invisible style. This movie is never, for one second, boring. And you want, more than anything, what the hero wants: for him to make it out alive. There is nothing even slightly mediocre about this.

Norbit

Eddie Murphy does Preston Sturges. I didn’t hate it, but it’s not really that funny. Norbit isn’t sympathetic enough and Raspucia is sadistic without being funny. Lacked the layer of sophistication and irony that made Bowfinger and The Nutty Professor so good.

Notes on a Scandal

A master class in emotional blackmail; Judy Dench is sicker and more twisted than the worst serial killers. Almost a trashy TV movie if it weren’t for superlative acting from Dench, Blanchette, et al. I only wish it plunged a little deeper into Greek tragedy. The resolution feels slightly too neat. Nevertheless, thoroughly enjoyable by appealing to our voyeuristic, train-wreck mentality. One of my favorites of 2006. A must see.

The Messengers

The spunky teenage lead (Kristen Stewart) brings appeal to this cautionary tale about believing your teenager when she says there’s ghosts in the house. Moments and silences are adequately creepy but as a whole this is stupid and the horror logic is terrible. Oh, and the title’s dumb, too.

Factory Girl

We walked out of this. It’s meant to be an avant-garde, “Cinéma Vérité”, Warholish montage; an homage not only to the key figure Edie Sedgwick, but to the film-making style. Pretty Sienna Miller acts her heart out, fake blue-blood accent and all. It’s an annoying mess. It ruined my night.