26. Great World of Sound (2007)
Other Means
This movie was written and directed by one of the guys who created Strongbad, but the movie is better than that actually. The movie is about two guys who jobs are to sell musicians on handing over money and signing contracts so that they can get in the studio, but really it's a scam of course. The interviews with the musicians all seem done without their knowledge (like Borat) and this lends a great spontaneity to the film. But the film is really about the salesman, there aren't any known actors in the cast but I was really surprised and how good this movie was. Entertaining Watch
27. King of California (2007)
Other Means
What? Michael Douglas actually plays parts where he isn't a lawyer/C.E.O./old crusty business man? Douglas plays a recluse father is this film and doesn't do a bad job, I just wish he would have diversified his acting portfolio with more risk taking like this. This movie is slightly above average but not really that memorable, but it's not wasted time watching this.
28. The Kite Runner (2007)
Other Means
The vast majority of this movie is not in English, and that's the way it should be. I had faith that Marc Forster wouldn't water this down Hollywood style from the novel and this movie is pretty well done. This is the director that is doing the next Bond film right now, it should make an interesting Bond movie with this kind of film credibility to do a big action movie.
02/01/2008
23. Bee Movie (2007)
Other Means
For as hard as this could have sucked, it didn't. Even being a Seinfeld fan I had low expectations for this and it's actually pretty decent, but still a movie aimed at kids, with a little bit of adult humor mixed in there also. While not anywhere near a Pixar feature this is better than a lot of the Pixar wannabe animated films that I've seen in the past couple years. If you have to watch a movie with children (god forbid) then this one won't make your brain ooze out. *Spolier Alert* It has a happy ending. Non-Labotomy Watch
P.S.
One thing though about Bee Movie that was kind of disturbing, Seinfeld's character as a bee gets pretty chumy with Renee Zellweger's character who is a human (and thankfully looks nothing like Renee Zellweger), there is a scene where they both look longingly into each others eyes and by the end of the movie they are partners in running a business together. One big problem the movie sidesteps is that how long can this inter-species affection remain platonic? And how would they provide real "affection" for each other? There is a whole bee's nest of answers that aren't plesant, but the filmmakers choose to ignore these questions and just assume that inter-racial dating doesn't work and that they would remain the best of friends forever, HA!
24. I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With (2006)
Other Means
Jeff Garlin (the fat guy from Curb Your Enthusiasm) wrote and directed this and it has style of humor throughout the movie, pretty funny and short at under 80 minutes. Sarah Silverman has a small part. Enjoyable Watch
25. AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (2007)
Other Means
Wow, this was everything that the first Aliens vs. Predator should have been, a monster movie match up straight out of the 80's, the black guys die first, and children and pregnant woman are killed also. MUST WATCH!!
1/31/2008
22. Beowulf (2007)
Other Means
I somehow got through high school and college without having this read this monster tome so the story was new to me and I really liked the style of animation that they went with for the movie. If this was live action there would be so much CG used that it really isn't that big of a leap to just have everything be CG and have it be more seamless that way. I love that they didn't try to deliver this movie as PG-13 and they gave it a hard R and stayed true to the violence in the original story. Fun Watch
1/30/2008
20. Descent (2007) (NC17 Cut)
Other Means
Wow, this movie clocks in at around 100 minutes but it seems like a 2 and a half hour movie, there could have been at least 30 minutes trimmed from this, so much wasted screen time that doesn't build the characters or advance the plot. Even before the brutal ending scene I was so bored with the movie that I barely stuck with it, any greater meanings that the filmmakers where trying to get across got lost along the way. I'm a big Rosario Dawson fan, and I didn't have great expectations for this movie and now I'll never get that time back. Not Worth Watch
21. The Kingdom (2007)
Other Means
This movie kind of just lulls in the investigation portion of the film (the first hour) and then changes pace and explodes into an action movie. The politics and various other obstacles are there also for the elite team to ovoid, the end is sappy and mainstream, a pleasing watch overall, just don't go in expecting anything with the kind of impact that Syriana had.
1/29/2008
17. Joshua (2007)
Other Means
Before watching this I had been sold that this was some Omen derivative movie, but really this is more realistic and subtle than The Omen. Movie is above average (but I'm a Sam Rockwell fan so I could be biased). I hadn't seen Sam Rockwell lead in anything in a while and it was good to see him on center stage here, his apartment that he lives at Central Park off 5th Avenue, and there are many nice spring shots of Central Park.
18. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)
Other Means
This is a children's movie, that is maybe a little too cute for adults to enjoy also. For as crazy as Hoffman's character is set-up to be I don't really feel like he was a fully developed character, there could have been an entire movie just on the adventures that are briefly mentioned in the film, and I think that would have been more exciting than the main plot line being whether or not someone is going to run a toy store (a.k.a boring). Not even the inclusion Portman makes this worth watching.
19. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Other Means
While I had been told this movie was good but had a long running time, that was an understatement this movie is really good and the running time isn't an issue because all of the screen time is used economically to build the characters for the purpose of the story. Brad Pitt plays Jesse James and turns in some of the best performance I've seen him do in years. He plays a full on villain in this film, not like Tyler Durden, who part villain, part revolutionary, James is all bad when away from the sight of his family. Really though, parallels could be drawn between this movie and any movie centered around a gangster character's downfall, because Jesse James was one of the O.G.'s. If Brad Pitt continues to take on roles like this as he gets on in his years, it will continue to earn him cred as a real actor and not just a pretty boy movie star. I've said enough about this movie, Brad is only a part of this nice ensemble cast, watch it when you can get the chance. Highly Recommended Viewing
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