So…I guess I just had really, really low expectations because honestly I can’t really figure out why people are bitching and moaning so much about this movie. Hello, it was the FOURTH installment in an ACTION SERIES. How fucking good did you expect it to be?

I myself expected it to be horrible…and instead found it quite watchable. There was a sad lack of romance or even, at least, sex (hello, you are an action movie, where’s the mack session?). And there was one car chase type sequence that went on way way waaaay too long. (But of course most of the people bitching about the flick didn’t seem to mind that!)

But otherwise, I thought it was fine for what it was: the fourth installment in an action series, that wasn’t ever that great to begin with! I liked Moon Bloodgood or whatever her name is, and yeah the half terminator dude was quite nice to look at, considering Christian Bale was a bit wooden.

And really, probably the main reason I enjoyed it was I thought it raised some interesting, and VERY Battlestar Galactica-like, questions about “man or machine” and what defines a person.

I’m so not a Trekkie, I’ve probably seen maybe 10 episodes total? But I’ve seen just enough to be able to tell what a great job they did with the casting of this flick. The actors were able to give performances that were just reminiscent enough of the actors of the original as to make it believable that this was them in their younger days.

Enjoyed a lot of the humorous touches. Didn’t take itself too seriously. Some cool effects. Pretty good job, if you ask me. But again, not enough of a Trekkie to have taken issue with it anyway! 🙂

A quirky little indie flick that was quite enjoyable but ultimately suffers from a lack of plot. Nice nuanced performances by Paul Dano (who played the brother who rarely talked in Little Miss Sunshine) and Zooey Deschanel. But ultimately one of those movies that’s a bio piece on a quirky dude but nothing much happens or if it does, it doesn’t seem to lead to anything. Also there’s a weird little Fight Club thing happening in the background that never ultimately amounts to much (or is even explained).

So while I liked it…I also thought it lacked that “story” or momentum that would have brought it to a higher level.

p.s. I did think John Goodman was a bit over the top. For a quiet, slowly evolving movie to have this big ole loud dude on screen? He always took me a bit out of the “action”. Not that it was “action” per se.

Basically a couples version of the Oceans 11 (12, 13) scenario (i.e. if the characters of Brad Pitt & George Clooney were romantically involved). One of those heist/con movies that works while you’re watching it, but is just a little bit too slick in the end, too many things work out “just” right. Or do they? Whether they do or not, you can pick apart about a million things when you leave the theater so it’s really whether or not that ruins the experience for you. (In this case, for me, it did not.)

The difference between the Oceans movies and this one is a bit of added slapstick thanks to Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti playing feuding consumer products CEOs. It’s partially hilarious because you’re like come on NO ONE’s this crazy…but on the other hand, it’s hilarious because hello CEOs of Fortune 500 companies…are TOTALLY this crazy. They both brought a very hilarious physical energy to their roles.

Not much deeper than your average bit o’ fluff. But definitely entertaining and Julia/Clive played their love/hate relationship very realistically. Ah, the hidden jealousies. So nasty when they become unhidden.

MK insisted (and I mean INSISTED) we go get champagne after this movie (they seem to celebrate each assignation with yet another bottle) so we had a long leisurely afternoon… Fun times!

An afternoon at the $3 theater* is always so pleasing as you can see things that have long left the mainstream theaters still on the big screen.

I’m not sure anyone else on earth saw this movie but really? I quite enjoyed it! It was pretty cheesy and the crazy Asian dudes whose power is SCREAMING? Yeah, they were a bit much. But if you decided to just roll with it, there was some cool Matrix-y / Wanted type stuff. And Dakota Fanning was really good. Impressively so.

I wasn’t blown away by Chris Evans but I thought he did a decent job and Djimon Hounsou always manages to bring some serious gravity to his roles, even if silly.

Totally entertaining and didn’t piss me off. So you know, a worthwhile afternoon at the movies! AND ONLY $3. 🙂

*Which JUST upped its price to $4 a few weeks after this!!! I thought C. was going to die of shock when he found that out!

I have no idea how I was blissfully unaware going into this movie that hello it’s about the fucking Nazis. (Generally I cannot watch Holocaust-related movies as the sobbing and the crying just get out of control. Yup, I’m a crier.) Maybe because this and that suburbia movie with Leo were released so close together? Not sure, but somehow I just had no idea what this one was about.

Kate Winslet was totally entrancing and I really loved the sloooooow revelation of the movie, how you suddenly come to realize what the kid suddenly comes to realize. To someone who’s been thinking a lot about the particular relevant issue* these days (long story), the “middle” of the story was done so nicely. Not an easy thing to portray on film.

The ending was really quite beautiful in its very sadly devastating way.

*That bit’s a big spoiler so I’ve tried to be vague as it’s worth not “knowing” going in.

This movie was oddly affecting. Strong and interesting performances both from the main dude and the kids in his classroom. Intriguing look at a very diverse classroom/school. Also interesting to think about and watch how the teacher needs to approach students in individualized ways and when that does or doesn’t work.

Yet somehow it felt a bit incomplete. A number of storylines that weren’t quite tied up or where it wasn’t quite clear how the resolution came about. Yet definitely kept you involved and interested and felt very “true”.

Worth seeing despite feeling a bit…unclear at the end.