A History of Violence
Gratuitous. Too much violence, too much sex and too much machismo. The trailer was a better movie than the actual movie was.
Rating: 2 out of 10

The Matador
An odd couple pairing of a politically incorrect hitman who has lost his edge with a "by the books" stuffed shirt. Both Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinear shine in their respective roles. Although a comedy (a dark one) there are still some poignant issues that they address here. This movie has more to it than what you see on the surface.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Dreamgirls
Disappointing. A fragmented mess with a couple of decent songs. The story worked, but the music became a distraction instead of an enhancement. Eddie Murphy was the only actor that stood out to me with a strong performance
Rating: 3 out of 10

Waitress
Witness the emotional evolution of Jenna (portrayed wonderfully by Keri Russell), who seems to be incapable of happiness but ironically makes so many other people happy. Surprisingly light movie considering some of the plot lines. The ending seemed to miss the mark, however I do not know how else to end it without being too Hollywoodized.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
A little longer than it needed to be since it was a bridge movie leading to the end of the trilogy (2.5 hours). Not a true story arc since it leads into the 3rd movie. Special effects were top notch, especially Davy Jones and his crew. The themes were much darker than the first movie. Disappointing
Rating: 5 out of 10

Smokin' Aces
Complicated storyline probably turned most people away. The violence and language shook off the rest. I committed to this movie, but I had difficulty sorting through the mess. A couple of interesting characters were lost in the mix with too many other characters. Convoluted explanation was shallow. Action was intense.
Rating: 6 out of 10

The American Dream: The Dusty Rhodes Story
WWE produced documentaries have agendas or only highlight those that toe the company line. Some fantastic historic footage, but the documentary tried too hard to exploit the fallout between Dusty and his son Dustin (also under WWE contract) for dramatic purposes.
Rating: 5 out of 10

We Are Marshall
The story was intriguing but not because of the movie, but because it happened in real life. Seemed to gloss over how individuals dealt with this tragedy and focused on how the "town" needed the football program. McConaughey and Fox turned their characters into distracting caricatures with the Elvis sneer and orange/red hair, respectively. Photos and clips at the end of the movie was a nice touch.
Rating: 6 out of 10

The Pursuit of Happyness
To say this movie is predictable implies that you are guessing about parts of this movie. Few plot turns were unexpected. While you are hoping that Chris Gardner (Will Smith) succeeds and bounces back from hitting rock bottom, the reward at the end is a shallow payoff for the 2 hours of getting punched in the gut.
Rating: 6 out of 10

Wordplay
Absolutely loved this documentary. I used to do crosswords daily, so I appreciated several parts of this movie, mostly the crossword creation process. Throw in (mostly) compelling participants in the National Crossword competition and you have the makings of a great story. Contains both heart breaking defeats and inspired victory.
Rating: 9 out of 10

Superbad
Despite some high expectations that usually spells disaster for movies like this, I laughed quite a bit. I love "day in the life" movies, especially if based on high schoolers. Overall, the movie had a good "feel" to it and didn't bog down at all. The ending seemed a little trite, but whatareyagonna do?
Rating: 8 out of 10

Knocked Up
Judd Apatow movies are becoming systematic. Don't get me wrong, this is a funny movie, but these movies are losing their luster. I now know that Seth Rogen can carry a movie himself. The smattering of Apatow alumni as Rogen's friends was a nice touch. The movie was a bit too long for a cutesy comedy.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Zodiac
Real life is better than fiction. However, when you cast top notch actors you can compete. Gyllenhaal, Ruffalo and Downey all put in fantastic performances to retell the story of the Zodiac serial killer. The movie made you feel like it was in early 1970s. I even felt as compulsive about the story as the 3 principle characters. Real life ending did not go as a normal movie would have ended, but I can deal with that.
Rating: 9 out of 10

Invincible
Great story thanks to real life, not the movie. Very simple movie takes forever to get the couple plot points across. (Down and out Philly local makes NFL team when new Eagles coach, Dick Vermeil holds open try outs.) His wife exists merely to leave him at his low point. New love interest seems tacked on. Not a horrible movie but not good either.
Rating: 5 out of 10

Juno
Ellen Page certainly shines in this movie. She has an uncanny knack to balance typically unlikable qualities into a character that you want to like. However, the movie seems to try too hard to be quirky. The trendy dialog and the indy music seem to say "Look how quirky I am". Good movie nonetheless.
Rating: 7 out of 10

The Simpsons Movie
It was funny and all, but it seemed to veer away too much from what makes the TV show so good. Basically, the story got in the way of some good gags. Learned from the commentary that instead of drawing generic characters in the background of crowd scenes, they took special effort to plug in actual characters from Springfield. Nice touch.
Rating: 6 out of 10

This Film Is Not Yet Rated
I had no idea the corruption behind something as innocuous as film ratings. Made me want to punch Jack Valenti in the face. The inconsistencies and hypocracy from the MPAA were maddening. The documentary does an excellent job of bringing these issues to light, building up to a payoff at the end. I urge everyone to see this, but I doubt we will ever see anything change in my lifetime.
Rating: 9 out of 10

Jesus Camp
Could be one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. Employing impressionable children to fight for your agenda is deplorable, since they have not come up with their own opinions yet. No real story in this doc, just a snapshot of Evangelicals at a week long camp. Would like to have seen some sort of progression or resolution.
Rating: 5 out of 10

A Scanner Darkly
Luckily, I "got" this movie. Based on reviews and message boards, I could be in the minority. Set in the not to distant future, this movie introduces some great characters (Barris, Donna) and drops you into a drug culture from both the user and the police's point of view. A couple of twists involving rehab and the source of the new drug make a compelling story. The animation works to give a disconnected, dark feel. Makes me want to read more Phillip K. Dick novels.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out
Completely fascinating for this Police fan. (Non-fans may have trouble relating to the material.) An intimate look at the rise of The Police from their modest roots in the UK as part of the punk/new wave movement to their epic climb to stardom in the US. All material is provided by drummer Stewart Copeland's personal home movie collection. Gives new appreciating for the band's musical skill along with their ability to cope with super stardom.
Rating: 8 out of 10

Brick
While I like film noir, the dialog of this film was incredibly distracting from its cleverly layered plot. Junkie high school kids don't talk like this, much less figure out mysteries. The characters were well thought out, although difficult to accept in this context. Probably worth another viewing to sort it all out, but I doubt that will ever happen.
Rating: 7 out of 10

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
Actually watched this on VH1 and it was fascinating. I wasn't a metalhead growing up, but I knew enough to be familiar with a lot of what is discussed on this documentary. Sam Dunn does a wonderful job of explaining the history, culture and underground mentality of metal music in all forms.
Rating: 8 out of 10

Oldboy
WOW! That was a completely surprising ending to a psychological thriller, the likes of which I've never seen since Chinatown. The movie had a distinct Hitchcock feel to it. The English voiceovers did not match the English subtitles, which was distracting at times but provided nuanced insight other times. Very difficult to relate to the Korean backdrop, not to mention some of the subject matter. Watch this movie if you are fed up fizzled Hollywood endings
Rating: 8 out of 10

Charlie Wilson's War
Wonderful political drama about Afghanistan. The characters in this really make the movie. Both Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman thoroughly enjoy the roles they play. (I could take or leave Julia Roberts) Provided some insight in the political process, especially in regards to covert operations.
Rating: 8 out of 10

The Heart of the Game
A documentary that has a little bit of everything in life, as it directly relates to basketball. It is amazing what occurs around this team in the span of a couple of years.
Rating: 9 out of 10

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
This is a parody of musical biopics like Walk Hard and Ray, so it was unoriginal. Made the movie forgettable as "Scary Movie" or "Not Another Teen Movie". However I liked how Walk Hard used plot devices from those other movies to point out how much they rely on the same formula. I still laughed a good bit, especially due to the lyrics of "Let's Duet".
Rating: 5 out of 10

Children of Men
I'm a sucker for post-Apocalyptic movies and this is no exception. This movies shows a glimmer of hope in a world full of despair. The long cut scenes were impressive from a cinematic point of view, but it seemed like the entire movie was simply following a group of people running away. I would like to have seen a little more in depth commentary to spur on some enlightenment.
Rating: 6 out of 10

Blood Diamond
Gripping movie that unveils the dark environment surrounding diamonds, which is heart breaking. While DeCaprio shows his range in this film, its not one of his better roles. Jennifer Connolly makes everything better. The story was fascinating, but you can tell they were fighting the temptation to use cliched Hollywood storylines.
Rating: 8 out of 10

The Departed
Fantastic double switch movie involving police and the Boston mob. Director Scorsese slips into this story like a pair of comfortable slippers. The juggling act of sharing screen time among an all-star cast was impressive. The establishing of the storyline was confusing as well as motivation behind the ending. This roller coaster was still fun to ride.
Rating: 8 out of 10