Update! 2009-2010

Hope everyone had a great new year with 2010 still going strong :)
Been a little over 2 months since my last post and I've seen several movies since then.
And at the prompting of my "fans" I thought it was time to add another.

There are too many and it's been too long for me to list a commentary for all of the movies I've seen but I will try to add a little something for the mvies I have seen.
For some sense of organization I will list them in chronological order, from when I saw them.


Sherlock Holmes {Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some startling images and a scene of suggestive material.}
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong
Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
This was one of those movies that I thought was a 'hit or miss.' That you either really enjoyed it or thought it was 'stupid.' I liked it. It was a little darker and more 'out there' than I had anticipated but it was exactly what I was expected. It was entertaining and one of my favorite things about the movie was whenever Holmes would be in a fight he would imagine how it will play out and will show it in slow motion before. Nothing too heavy or too light hearted.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel {Rated PG for some mild rude humor.
Starring Jason Lee, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, David Cross, Amy Poehler, Anna Faris, Christina Applegate, Wendie Malick
The world famous singing pre-teen chipmunk trio return to contend with the pressures of school, celebrity, and a rival female music group known as The Chipettes.
Oh man, another Alvin and the Chipmunks. When I was a kid I enjoyed the cartoons and tried to keep up with the mini specials but as a I got older the sound of their voices began to bother me. This is still true today and to watch an entire movie with them singing was not one of my favorite things.
I do have to admit that it was a cute movie for older kids. I'm not sure that I would recommend the young ones because it does show a few moments of school bullies and them getting into it with Ian towards the end but overall it was cute. Came out a time when the box office was in need a guaranteed family friendly movie.

Avatar in 3D {Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.}
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez
A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Avatar... what is there to say about the highest grossing film of all time? I guess wow will just have to do haha.
It was amazing! So visually stunning that I wished I didn't have to blink. The world that they created was so imaginative and complex that you can't help but wonder what it would be like to visit. I do have to say that I wished the story had been on the same level as the picture and sound but it had a good message that went well with the movie.
NOTE: It was made for 3d so that's all I've seen. I'm at the point where I don't think it would do it justice just to see it 2d.


Youth in Revolt {Rated R for sexual content, language and drug use.}
Starring Michael Cera, Portia Doubleda, Jean Smart, Zach Galifianakis, Steve Buscemi, Fred Willard
While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity.
This is definitely NOT a family movie. I would classify it in the 'stupid but funny' group. I thought it was an inappropriate funny. Another 'truth about teenage boys' type of movie with a ridiculous humorous twist. It's a good example of some awkward moments that you hope to never have had.
If you like Michael Cera movies you won't be disappointed. I think its similar his past material.

Daybreakers {Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and brief nudity.}
Starring Ethan Hawke
In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.
Eh it's another vampire movie. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Twilight series but I think the craze is getting a little out of hand and people have gone a too crazy. I wouldn't put this movie into the Twilight category, it's waaaay more adult and violent than that. As a quick comparison I would say that it resembles the Blade series (with Wesley Snipes) far more than Twilight. So if what you're looking for is action and violence, this is the movie to see.
What I did like about it was the idea behind the story. I agree that immortality has become a ridiculous ideal that while today is more superficial in nature, could potentially grow to more desperate scenarios. For the majority of the human population to become vampires it would change shift the competition for resources to among those left.

Leap Year {Rated PG for sensuality and language.}
Starring Amy Adams, Matthew Goode, Adam Scott, John Lithgow
A woman who has an elaborate scheme to propose to her boyfriend on Leap Day, an Irish tradition which occurs every time the date February 29 rolls around, faces a major setback when bad weather threatens to derail her planned trip to Dublin. With the help of an innkeeper, however, her cross-country odyssey just might result in her getting engaged.
With 'chick flicks' being one of my favorite genres, I loved this movie. It was romantic and cute all with the beautiful landscape of Ireland... so what's not to love? Warning: girl moment... by the end of the movie I had a crush on Matthew Goode, so cute!
It's the kind of love story that I think everyone, including myself wishes for... well maybe not so much disaster haha.

The Book of Eli {Rated R for some brutal violence and language.}
Starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
Usually I'm not a fan of 'end of the world' movies but I thought that this was an interesting take. Closer to something that could actually happen with today's conflict of religions and ideologies. I would have liked to have seen more about what happened after everything was resolved. One thing that I didn't like was, I did think the movie dragged a little more than it needed to. It would have been better with less Denzel just walking across the United States and more of an explanation of what happened before. With religious undertones that weren't over powering I thought it was nice to have a more neutral perspective that left some room for an explanation about the effects of faith and belief.


Lovely Bones {Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language.}
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon
Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
I was really looking forward to seeing this but after they kept pushing back the release date my excited faded by the time I was able to go. After reading the book and seeing all of the advertisements for it I had high expectations that weren't met. There were crucial parts of the story left out but I'm not sure how how such detail could be reconciled in a 2 1/2 hour movie. I do have to say that visually, it was well done. I liked how Peter Jackson portrayed Sebold's version of heaven. It wasn't far from how I'd imagined it.
So overall I would say, if you haven't read the book it was really good. If you have then I would try not to go in expecting the same quality as the book. It's something that is difficult to put on the screen, so much that I'm not really sure it's possible to do.

Extraordinary Measures {Rated PG for thematic material, language and a mild suggestive moment.}
Starring Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraiser, Keri Russell
A drama centered on the efforts of John and Aileen Crowley to find a researcher who might have a cure for their two children's rare genetic disorder.
If you're in need of an inspirational, feel good movie this is a good stop to make. I would say that it's one of those, 'restore faith in humanity' types of movie. Based on a true story, it showed in some detail what the Crowley's achieved in order to make treatment available to their children and several other families affected. I left the theatre feeling uplifted and positive about the future so I would recommend it to anyone in need of a lift in spirits.

Edge of Darkness {Rated R for strong bloody violence and language.}
Starring Mel Gibson, Ray Winstone
As homicide detective Thomas Craven investigates the death of his activist daughter, he uncovers not only her secret life, but a corporate cover-up and government collusion that attracts an agent tasked with cleaning up the evidence.
I call this the rated R version of 'Taken.' Full of action, drama, violence and a government conspiracy it kept me on the edge of my seat. It's been a while since I've seen Mel Gibson play an action star so that was a bit of an adjustment but I think he did a good job. This didn't really get much recognition which I think is unfortunate because I thought it was just as good as Taken, just a bit more 'adult.'

Crazy Heart {Rated R for language and brief sexuality.}
Starring Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall
A faded country music musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him.
Not usually a fan of country music and distanced from the rural lifestyle this movie was outside of my element. But I really did enjoy it. They did a good job telling the story about the choices we all make in life. I enjoyed the music because regardless of the style the message reaches out to everyone. Recognized at the Academy Awards for Best Actor Jeff Bridges did an amazing job and I would recommend it to just about everyone.

The Wolfman {Rated R for bloody horror violence and gore.}
Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins
Upon his return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten, and subsequently cursed by, a werewolf.
This was an interesting story, but very dark. It was pretty violent and a bit graphic, they spared no details in showing the destruction caused throughout the movie. It kept me involved and tense the entire time. I'm a fan of the starring actors so it was good to see them all together.

Valentines Day {Rated PG-13 for some sexual material and brief partial nudity.}
Starring Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Hector Elizondo, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Julia Roberts
Intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles break-up and make-up based on the pressures and expectations of Valentine's Day.
Although it reminded me of He's Just Not That Into You I liked it more. This seemed like more of a movie than an extended television show. Their stories resembled real lives and I thought that there was at least 1 person everyone to relate with. A cute date movie that I would definitely recommend.

Shutter Island {Rated R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.}
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley
Drama is set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island.
As I usually say, I'm not a fan of scary movies. And from the months of repeated commercials that was the impression that I got. But when I actually sat down and gave it a chance, I was happily surprised. It had an interesting story with lots of twists that kept me guessing the entire time and it was impossible to be bored. There were even a few crazy parts that made me jump which made it even more entertaining. While I don't want to give anything away one of the things that I liked about the movie was that it left open so much speculation that I didn't feel like it was over.

The Crazies {Rated R for bloody violence and language.}
Starring Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson.
About the inhabitants of a small Iowa town suddenly plagued by insanity and then death after a mysterious toxin contaminates their water supply.
A funny thing about the title of this movie, before I knew about this movie I would refer to people being crazy as 'crazies.' I would always get amused reactions out of that so I thought that it was a fairly original idea, haha but I guess not.
Like I always say, I'm not a fan of scary movies so going required some convincing. I will first admit that I did plug my ears and close my eyes at multiple parts to lessen the blow (and to get some sleep) so I didn't see 100% of it. I thought that the story was a little 'government conspiracy-ish' but still interesting. I jumped so many times that I needed about 30 min to completely calm down and relax.
So if you're looking for a scary, somewhat zombie, hack and slay movie... this would probably be right up your alley.

Alice in Wonderland in 3D {Rated PG for fantasy action/violence involving scary images and situations, and for a smoking caterpillar.}
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter
19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.
I liked it. Yes it was odd, but it's Tim Burton so I expected that.
I've heard that this hasn't been getting very good reviews and I think that I understand part of the reason... it's not a remake of the Disney cartoon. In this respect the critics are right, it isn't the same story. But it wasn't meant to be. This was meant to be a continuation of Alice's life, as a young adult where she makes a return journey to Wonderland. While there are similar characters and situations, the audience wasn't supposed to be expecting the 'same old thing.' With that in mind I thought it was an interesting stretch of the imagination. One of my favorite parts is:
The Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?
[Alice checks Hatter's temperature]
Alice Kingsley: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.
NOTE:I have seen both the 2d and 3d versions and both are great. Having a few things pop out was nice with the sound and picture being clear and crisp I would recommend seeing it in 3d at least once.




As I was writing this I was trying to think of my favorite. But as always I really couldn't. Most of them had qualities that made them great and to choose one would be to say that I don't value their individual characteristics equally. I think that there is something for everyone in this list.

Hopefully I can keep up with my movie watching better :)
See ya at the movies!