House of Flying Daggers
Rating: A/3 – Beautifully done (acting, music, and art), just like Hero. And also like Hero and many other Chinese flicks, it was rather sad. Not a very complex story, but the simplicity of the story adds to its beauty. (Visit website for moral review).
Erin Brockovich
Rating: B/2 – Is it ever appropriate to sacrifice your family (not just a day here or there, but large chunks of the day, months at a time, perhaps years) in order to achieve a sense of self accomplishment that they feel they need in the work force?
Minority Report
Rating: A/4 – “Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people [not deliberately trying to destroy America] who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who were obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind-in-the-mass through some pet formula of their own….THE HARM DONE BY ORDINARY CRIMINALS, MURDERES, GANGSTERS, AND THIEVES IS NEGLIGIBLE IN COMPARISON WITH THE AGONY INFLICTED UPON HUMAN BEINGS BY THE PROFESSIONAL ‘DO-GOODERS’, who attempt to set themselves up as gods on earth and who would ruthlessly force their views on all others – with the abiding assurance that the end justifies the means.”
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Rating: C/4 – This show was very interesting and very confusing. If it weren’t for Wikipedia’s candid explanation of why Terry Gilliam put this together and what he was thinking, I would have thought a lot less of this film (not understanding it’s purpose of existence). Because the story was so confusing, it was hard to enjoy; and as my wife stated, “if you want to see what it feels like to be high, you’ll get it by watching this show” (not that she would know what to compare it to). –For more on the moral content of the film, come visit the site and vote on the poll.
Bedtime Stories
Rating: B/4 – This was a great family film with original humor and a pretty good story line (the end was as ridiculous as Paul Blart’s ending, you’d be better off cutting it off beforehand). Surprisingly a quality Adam Sandler show that you can watch without any editing. **For the rest of the review visit the website**
Secondhand Lions
Rating: B/4 – The whole mother leaving her son bit was rather disappointing. Not that all stories need to be happy, and maybe the “dysfunctionality” of this family is actually a plug for families to stick together so their kids don’t get stuck with crazy old uncles (though the story actually seemed to say that this situation was better, so maybe it’s trying to encourage external family members to step up to the plate to help family members in need.) ***Visit the website to read the rest of the review.***
Where the Wild Things Are
Rating: C/3 – This was an OK show, with potential to be really good. For a kids show, the tone was rather depressing throughout, even the music did nothing to brighten up the film. The colors through out were a drab gray and brown, maybe a little too artsy for its good. The 5 year old behavior in an older kid was a little annoying. The Wild Things were not as wild as I thought they should be, no gnashing teeth or too terrible roars. I guess it is a children’s story and can’t afford to get too out of hand. I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch this one. Save your self 96 minutes and read the book again.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox
Rating: A/4 – Great movie! Kids under 4 or 5 would enjoy it, kids any older may lose interest as a lot of the humor is mature (not offensive, I just think it’s a humor that not even all old people would get). The soundtrack is stupendous. We found ourselves laughing quite a bit and I’m pretty sure this show will find it’s way into our DVD collection.
State of Play
Rating: B/3 – Like the Informant! I had a hard time getting drawn into this film. Russell Crowe does a good job as a journalist, but he’s kind of an unbelievable character in that he’s up against all kinds of trained people trying to keep the Senator from falling, and his only weapon he wields is a pen. Maybe this is symbolic because a sub theme of the movie is the difficulty the newspaper industry is having with online news sources, and the juxtaposition of Crowe and these renegades underscores it.
The Informant!
Rating: B/3 – The Informant! did a good job of showing the consequences of lying and trying to cover up the lies as they become discovered. If you try to cover things up, things don’t get better or disappear. A right action doesn’t always make-up for a wrong action, especially if that right action is by no means a restitution of the wrong doing.
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