Rating: **** of 5

Quick Shot: World War I love story.  Audrey Tautou is the Mathilde to Gaspard Ulliel Manech in this magical journey to find each other.  Or do they?

What I liked about the movie: The cinematography and direction was very impressive.  Audrey Tautou is adorable as ever.

What I didn’t like: A little long (2 hours 14 minutes give or take), most of it setting up the story in the first third of hte film.  I thought the last third was a little rushed as things fell into place.  I wasn’t expecting some graphic elements of war, but they were needed to drive the story.

Rating:**** out of 5

Quick Shot: Vince Vaughn plays the underdog/hero gym owner trying to save his gym from the evil (and hilarious) Ben Stiller.  So how can Vince save the gym?  By entering a dodgeball tournament!

What I liked about the movie: Ben Stiller, who’s in about every other movie made right now, is just funny as hell!  Way better than his turn in Starsky and Hutch.

What I didn’t like: Nothing. It was the perfect DVD to pop in and just laugh away.  Ok, maybe the bit with the pizza was too much but…nah, it was a very funny movie.

rating:  **1/2 of 5

quick shot: val kilmer does his bit for country and mamet.  a good thriller even though the ending is a bit deux machina.

what i liked about the film mamet’s writing.  snappy dialog and interesting plot.

what i didn’t like part of the ending (you’ll know what i mean)

rating: **** out of 5

quick shot: continuing the revenge story of the bride from kill bill volume i.

what i liked about the film: slightly different tone from the first movie.  i like the dialog an interaction between bill and the bride towards the end of the movie.

what i didn’t like: the audience members who didn’t realize movie’s contain dialog.  yeah, this volume is more talk-y then the first but give me a break…it’s tarantino!

rating: ***1/2 out of 5

quick shot: smartly written tina fey comedy.  a cut above your average teenager movie.

what i liked about the movie: the way it treated most kids with some intelligence.  i also liked that the adults weren’t totally oblivious either.  smart script all around.

what i didn’t like: the movie bogged down a third of the way through, though it picked up in the end.

rating: *** out of 5

quick shot: men at sea battling a faceless (for most of the movie) enemy, and amongst themselves. you can feel the isolation at sea, and the camaraderie the crew feels. russell crowe leads by example and charisma.

what i liked about the movie: the chemistry between crowe, bettany (who plays the ship’s doctor) and crew was very good. the chase and battle scenes were excellent.

what i didn’t like: the movie felt a little lengthy. i think it could have lost about 15 to 20 minutes and still been effective.

rating: **1/2 out of 5

quick shot: jack and diane try to find love at there age!  overall good story of may-december romance and how it works for both genders.  the writing is good, though gives up in the last ten minutes of the film.

what i liked about the movie: jack and diane have good chemistry in the film.  i like the fact that they bared more than their emotions in the film.

what i didn’t like: keanu is as wooden as ever.  again, the ending is predictable but satisfying i suppose.

rating: **** out of 5

quick shot: a tale of bloody revenge tarantino style.  loved the bloody brutality mixed in with the animation and poppin’ tarantino dialog.

what i liked about the movie: the bloody mess.  the fight scene with the cray 88’s was cool.

what i didn’t like: that i didn’t see this movie in the theater.  thank g. for dvd, but still would have been nice to see it on the screen.

 

rating: **** out of five

quick shot: a man lost. a woman ignored. friendship [and more?] follows.

what i liked about the movie: the acting, direction and pacing of the movie was very well done.

what i didn’t like: the movie seemed short.

rating: ** out of five

quick shot: decent run at the vampire mythos. werewolves versus vampire war is somewhat effective, though the story gets bogged down on who did what to whom too much. dave commented that the sequel would probably be better than the original (which i kind of agree with). kate beckinsale makes a kick-ass vampire though.

what i liked about the movie: the movie looked very slick, matrix-like. the fight scenes were interesting enough.

what i didn’t like: that this is clearly setup for a second movie – which may never come. (but i could be wrong)

rating: ***1/2 out of five

quick shot: good small movie. somewhat predictable half way through, but overall an enjoyable film.

what i liked about the movie: fresh faces and good acting. the characters were some people i recognized and could relate to on some level.

what i didn’t like: some of the direction in the latter half of the film was hokey. for most of the film i didn’t know where it was going, but in the last third it seemed to be predictable.

farrah and i headed down to the [sony metreon] to watch the [matrix revolutions], the last a trilogy by the wachowski brothers. i would have to rank this third in terms of quality of story and action, behind the other two. so it works, i guess, in descending order.

what i liked about the film? the action scenes defending zion were really well done. part initial battle scene in a club was cool. oh, and monica bellucci in a red latex get-up made the movie too.

the bad? well, i thought it was still too talk-y. not as much as the second one, though that had the car chase scene and the twin dudes going for it. i also thought the ending was so-so.

i say give it a shot as a matinee if you want to see it. i hear it is playing on imax. i don’t think this one is worth it on that big of a screen. may be the first two, but definitely not this one.

while farrah was studying in the room tonight we watched the dvd confidence. it stars edward burns, rachel weisz, and dustin hoffman.

the movie is about a crew of grifters who accidently con the bag man of a local crime kingpin. in order to get out from under possibly getting killed, they make a deal with the kingpin to pull a grift for him, allowing him to choose the mark. it gets a little complicated from there.

well directed, written and acted it would make for a good rental for more information see the imdb.com entry for [confidence]

chamber of secrets… just got back from watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. pretty good flick if you ask me, even if it clocks over 2 1/2 hours! i thought it was better than the first, moving along at a swift pace with a lot of tension and mystery. you can tell the kid leads are getting older, as some of the actor’s voices are changing. it was also good to see richard harris on the screen one last time. he was also pretty could in the Count of Monte Cristo. rent that if you get a chance.

the theater was very packed. it was the last and smallest theater at century shoreline in mountain view. a lot of kids still asking their parents to take them to see it. too bad i had to sick next to the only sick kid in the theater. he was sniffling through the whole movie. i think i may have caught his cold. let’s keep our fingers crossed i didn’t. time to make some soup.