Yes Man (2008) - 3.5/5

Yes Man (2008) - 3.5/5

Nothing great, but funny, entertaining and not insulting.

The comedy is good, the writing is pretty clever and the story isn't great, but doesn't hurt the movie.

Unlike many recent comedies, it doesn't get too into the story half-way thru. It remains a comedy w/ a bit of story that ties things together.

SPOILERS:

I died laughing at the part where Carl was dreaming he was dead and the fly landed on his eye. I just thought that was quite the humorous thing.

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004) - 5/5

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004) - 5/5

I finished the first part of season 4 on DVD (and watched the first new episode) so I'm caught up. I feel like going from DVD to TV is lame, but I don't want to wait.

Anyway, it continues to be greatness. :)

Cobra (1986) - 1/5

Cobra (1986) 1/5

Horrible. Just really bad: bad acting, dialog, action, premise, story, what-else? You name it, it's bad.

However, it's quite enjoyable since it's so laughably bad. Watch w/ friends and have a great time!

Enjoy Sergeant Gonzales trying to shoot a gun as if you throw the bullet out of the barrel. Get a kick out of Cobra cutting a piece of pizza w/ a pair of scissors (that's how tough guys eat pizza). Watch Cobra use a TV remote like Gonzales uses a gun. Wonder why the axe-clanking, suit-wearing gang allows every one of their members to die b/c Ingrid sees one of their members (why does he just stand there when she sees him?) instead of just getting rid of the member she saw???

It's a piece of art that makes a few social commentary highlights on the direction of our society. Or, it's garbage.

Best line: Hard to call, but "There's a magic word!?" is awesome.

The Queen (2006) - 3.5/5

The Queen (2006)

I almost gave this a 4, but I just can't say I "enjoyed" it that much, but I think it's interesting and well made.

It raises some interesting questions we don't normally think about in the US: is there a place for a monarchy in the modern world? If so, what is the place?

Great performances and interesting insights and even the fictitious show an interesting perspective.

Marley & Me (2008) - 4/5

Marley & Me (2008) - 4/5

Somewhat original, but also somewhat tried-and-true tearjerker. The acting was right-on and true to life which was nice.

I thought it was strange, but this seems to be thought of by a lot of people as a kids' movie. There were a lot of kids in the theater and the trailers were mostly for kids' movies. I guess the preview makes it look like "Beethoven 45" or something. B/c of that, actually, I wasn't originally interested.

But really it's a drama w/ some comedy around the dog.

Good, touching movie though somewhat predictable.

2008 Review

Netflix Review

All 121 movies I watched in 2008 (this may be a bit off b/c I'm just counting posts which also counts posts NOT about a movie I watched... like this post though this one isn't counted in the total)

Movies I watch that were released in 2008

Great titles worth mentioning:

Once (2006) - Irish love story - My favorite movie I watched this year.
Dark Knight (2008) - Great action and story. Utilizes the darkness appropriately.
Seven Up (1964) - British documentary revisiting the same kids every 7 years.
WALL-E (2008) - Great animation and storytelling.
Battlestar Galactica (2004) - Definitely the best sci-fi TV series ever... maybe best series ever.
King of Kong (2007) - Great documentary w/ villian, underdog and everything else.
In Bruges (2008) - Great characters and underlining "Christ" story. Funny and clever.
Iron Man (2008) - Great action.

2008 Netflix Review

89 movies from Netflix... well, 89 DVDs plus a couple I watched online. As you can see, Battlestar Galactica took about 2.5 months (which coincided w/ me getting laid off at the end of August which took a toll). The dates are the dates I returned them to Netflix.

1. Hell's Angels 12/22/08
2. Big Night 12/22/08
3. Fearless 12/17/08
4. Equilibrium 12/11/08
5. Battlestar Galactica: Razor 12/09/08
6. Battlestar Galactica: Season 3: Disc 6 Galactica: Season 3: Disc 4 Series Disc 11/10/08 12/02/08
7. Battlestar Galactica: Season 3: Disc 5 Series Disc 12/02/08
8. Battlestar Galactica: Season 3: Disc 3 Series Disc 11/18/08
9. Battlestar Galactica: Season 3: Disc 2 Series Disc 11/18/08
10. Battlestar Galactica: Season 3: Disc 1 Series Disc 11/10/08
11. Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5: Disc 3 11/07/08
12. Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5: Disc 2 Series Disc 11/03/08
13. Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5: Disc 1 Series Disc 10/30/08
14. Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0: Disc 3
15. Galactica: Season 2.0: Disc 2 Series Disc 10/17/08
16. Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0: Disc 1 Series Disc 10/15/08
17. Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 5 10/07/08
18. Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 4 Series Disc 10/06/08
19. Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 3 Series Disc 09/30/08
20. Battlestar Galactica: Season 1: Disc 2 Series Disc 09/29/08
21. Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries Series Disc 09/22/08
22. The Getaway 09/02/08
23. In Bruges 08/26/08
24. Rocket Science 08/21/08
25. Le Cercle Rouge 08/15/08
26. The Italian Job 08/05/08
27. Rambo 07/31/08
28. Jumper 07/28/08
29. Beowulf: Director's Cut 07/24/08
30. The Killing 07/21/08
31. Rififi 07/16/08
32. Hellboy 07/07/08
33. Shooter 07/01/08
34. The Lavender Hill Mob 07/01/08
35. Be Kind Rewind 06/25/08
36. Atonement 06/24/08
37. Eastern Promises 06/19/08
38. The Insider 06/19/08
39. Michael Clayton 06/16/08
40. Idiocracy 06/09/08
41. Semi-Pro 06/09/08
42. Transformers 06/04/08
43. The Man Who Fell to Earth 06/02/08
44. Cloverfield 05/28/08
45. Volver 05/27/08
46. Logan's Run 05/21/08
47. I'm Not There 05/20/08
48. Lars and the Real Girl 05/16/08
49. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 05/07/08
50. The Mist 05/05/08
51. The Last American Virgin 04/30/08
52. My Kid Could Paint That 04/29/08
53. The Andromeda Strain 04/23/08
54. Sweeney Todd 04/21/08
55. Bad Education 04/16/08
56. The Last Dragon 04/15/08
57. Talk to Her 04/14/08
58. All About My Mother 04/09/08
59. The Host 04/08/08
60. The Man Without a Past 04/04/08
61. I Am Legend 04/04/08
62. La Vie en Rose 04/01/08
63. Mr. Brooks 03/26/08
64. The Assassination of Jesse James 03/25/08
65. Into the Wild 03/14/08
66. Junebug 03/03/08
67. Zodiac 02/29/08
68. Margot at the Wedding 02/26/08
69. Pan's Labyrinth 02/20/08
70. Little Dieter Needs to Fly 02/20/08
71. My Best Fiend: Klaus Kinski 02/20/08
72. 300 02/12/08
73. Rescue Dawn 02/11/08
74. Factory Girl 02/08/08
75. 3:10 to Yuma 02/05/08
76. Air Guitar Nation 02/01/08
77. The King of Kong 02/01/08
78. Treasure Planet 01/30/08
79. Pocahontas 01/29/08
80. Tarzan 01/29/08
81. The Rescuers Down Under 01/21/08
82. The Black Cauldron 01/16/08
83. Once 01/14/08
84. The Great Mouse Detective 01/14/08
85. Frank and Ollie 01/10/08
86. The Machinist 01/07/08
87. The Squid and the Whale 01/04/08
88. Henry Fool 01/04/08

Big Night (1996) - 3.5/5

Big Night (1996) - 3.5/5

Good, simple movie. Warm and touching, but not sappy. Good dialog and acting.

Great ending scene.

Hell's Angels (1930) - 4/5

Hell's Angels (1930) - 4/5

Very cool to see this having heard a lot about it from Howard Hughes documentaries. The pacing was a bit slow and the acting was... 1930.

The story was a bit cliche too, but the air battles were amazing. Also, it get's a lot of slack b/c of the date.

Fearless (1993) - 4/5

Fearless (1993) - 4/5

I really like this movie, but it's hard to say exactly why. Well done, but I'm left just a little confused - like I missed a really powerful message. Maybe I did or maybe I didn't, but think there's more to it.

SPOILERS:

My basic take on it is that Max faces his fear of death and overcomes it. Then he has no fear and lives life as he wants... most of the time. A couple times he has to face it again and overcome again.

He feels like a "ghost" and that he's already faced death and won. But I think he eventually realizes he wants to live again and tells his wife he wants her to save him.

He then eats a strawberry which he used to be very allergic to and either has a reaction or chokes. I think he chokes. She saves him and then "he's alive."

So did that restore his love of life or...???

Equilibrium (2002) - 1.5/5

Equilibrium (2002) - 1.5/5

I started this yesterday and almost decided not to finish it. I read someone's excited review about it online and decided to finish it out. Regret.

If I hadn't seen a clip w/ the writer/director, I wd have been sure this was written, directed and the fights choreographed all by 14 year old boys.

Bad on most levels.

Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2007) (TV) - 5/5

Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2007) (TV) - 5/5

As a stand alone movie at the theater, I'd give this a much lower rating, but as an extended episode of the series which is really what it is, it's great and I'll rate it as part of the series.

So see my previous post on the series for anything more.

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004) - 5/5

"Battlestar Galactica" (2004) - 5/5

My new all-time favorite sci-fi show. Yep, more than ST, ST:TNG, Quantum Leap, etc. Amazing. Hard to believe it myself. So great.

Maybe it's just the freshness of it, but this show beats them all.

I've been watching these for a few months now so I haven't posted much. I've watched seasons 1,2,2.5 and 3 and also the movie btwn seasons 3 and 4 "Razor" and they're all great.

The writing is awesome - best ever. They succeeded where XFiles and so many others have failed: they've held it together and avoided the cheap tricks and gimmicks other shows have to rely on after writing themselves into a corner.

The action, drama, sci-fi, everything is so on! This thing fires on all cylinders and doesn't back down on anything. Great in every way!

The first part of season 4 comes out on DVD next month and I hope to TiVo the new (last 10) episodes this Spring to finish it out.

I'm excited to see where it lands, but bummed to see it end. I heard of a spin-off they're going to do when it's over, but I can't imagine it will be good unless they use the same team... which I can't imagine they will.

Four Christmases (2008) - 3/5

Four Christmases (2008) - 3.5/5

Cute story. Not trying to be too much - just a holiday, romantic comedy. Some pretty funny scenes.

Quantum of Solace (2008) - 3.5/5

Quantum of Solace (2008) - 3.5/5

Unfortunately, this was a let down. I felt "Casino Royale" was a good first Bond movie for Craig and this one sd have had a bigger scope.

Most things were ok, but the story was a bit small. Also, some things felt "cheap" like M going to the hotel to get Bond, etc. Not likely.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - 2.5/5

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - 2.5/5

Not great, but low expectations from everyone else.

I felt the story was shallow and the characters too. Nothing great, but still alright.

Run Fatboy Run (2007) - 3/5

"Run Fatboy Run" (2007) - 3/5

Decent. Kinda funny and a little touching, but nothing great.

Burn After Reading (2008) - 3.5/5

Burn After Reading (2008)

A good little movie. I like how the Coen brothers kinda seem to have fun here, taking turns that are unexpected and doing things you don't normally do w/ movies. It's almost as if they said "We need a break after 'No Country' and just be light w/ the plot for this one."

In Bruges (2008) - 4.5/5

In Bruges (2008)

Very good stuff.

SPOILERS:

Interesting Christ story w/ Ken sacrificing his life to save Ray, the mother and child, Harry is "God" (requires justice), etc.

The Getaway (1972) - 3/5

The Getaway (1972)

Pretty good but a bit slow and lacks direction. The relationships are great, but, man, she screws things up!

I liked a lot of little things, but can't give it too big of a pass for that.