The Station Agent (2003)

4/5

The Station Agent is a movie that's easy to dislike. It's a slice of life movie about a lonely dwarf who enjoys his solitude. But somehow the movie managed to engage me at all the right moments. I was just about to lose interest when something different and unconventional happened. The writing and acting in this movie is phenomenal; the characters are fully fleshed-out and three-dimensional. I especially liked how side characters came back repeatedly, but in a different light from how they were introduced. Also, the music made the movie. If it weren't for the original score, I quite possibly might have hated this movie.

I thought some of the scenes tried much too hard to accomplish their goal. For example, when the woman almost runs over the dwarf the second time; when the dwarf yells in the bar for everyone to look at him; and when he falls on the train tracks and feels like killing himself. Some scenes just weren't that believable and feel scripted (really obvious because of the otherwise stellar script). Another thing: there is an incredibly powerful and emotional moment when he must walk away in shame and embarrassment from protecting a girl because his size prevents him from helping. But the movie doesn't fully explore this moment and the feeling just sort of dips off and dies. All things considered, though, I really enjoyed this movie. It's not exactly slow and it's not exactly boring, but you probably won't like it if you can't stand slow, boring movies. It's hard to tell, and it varies from person to person. But if you like slice of life stories, you might want to give this a try.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0340377/

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

4/5

Finally, a movie that respects its audience! It fulfills and perhaps even surpasses all of its target viewer's expectations; it has thrills, it has laughs, it has boobs, it has cheesy lines, it even has "snakes on crack." Consistently. From start to finish. It's incredible. See it immediately, while people who are excited to see it are still watching it in theaters. This may be one of the only movies I've seen to live up to its hype.

The nachos I spent $7.30 on were bland. The fake leather seats were crappy. The girls behind me were annoying. Other than that, great movie. But this is the kind of movie where you can't separate the film from the experience, so I feel justified in mentioning these as negatives. And even though I'm never gonna see this again, I recommend you see it!

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0417148/

Rocky (1976)

4.9/5

Rocky is an amazing movie. It somehow retains its inspirational power after thirty years of cheap imitation attempts. This movie sidesteps the cliches it started because it's so much more than a sports movie or an underdog story, which is the only element the knock-offs and clones try to emulate. But Rocky also portrays a personal drama dealing with family troubles that manages to be uplifting without saccharine sentimentality. It is a hilarious and true-to-life foray into personalities and characters that the audience is rarely exposed to. Stylistically and thematically, it is a pretty dark movie throughout; the end is, however, a poignant and touching experience that will not be forgot.

Onto the negatives. I thought that pretty much every scene involving Apollo Creed was farcical and took away from the natural realism of the movie. Also, it started off a bit awkward and meandered for a while, but in the end it made its point perfectly.

You should watch this movie. And you should watch it with a group of people who love it or are excited to see it. I saw it with Kyle at the National Mall for DC's Screen on the Green, a free summer film series showing on a 60 foot screen on Monday nights starting at dusk. (Rocky was the last screening this year.) The electricity in the air was unparalleled in any movie theater I've been in and the cheers from the crowd would send your heart racing with excitement. It was quite an experience and it truly enhanced the movie in ways I could not replicate on my own.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0075148/

V for Vendetta (2005)

2/5

This movie is very talky. And bad. I wanted action; instead I got a deified ideology that I disagreed with bashed into my head with blunt filmmaking techniques. Movies are blunt because they disrespect their audience by assuming their level of intellect is so low that they are simply unable to "get the message" and have to be treated like children and have it repeated for them it in as many different ways as possible. That is precisely what this movie does for 130 minutes, and the philosophy is so radical, I don't know who would even agree with it in the first place.

I guess the style and look of the film is pretty good. Also, the little action there was wasn't bad, although it wasn't very thrilling either. I really cannot recommend any aspect of this movie to anyone.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0434409/

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

4/5

I saw this movie with my mother and brother for my birthday. It is both incredibly funny and incredibly heartfelt. There are some scenes of ridiculous emotional power, punctuated by extremely hilarious situations. The movie attempts to be both true to life and laugh-out-loud funny, and it succeeds admirably. It doesn't tie up the loose ends that don't need to be tied up; this dysfunctional family has problems that can't be solved in two hours and so they're not. The ending is so unexpected yet so fulfilling that it is sure to be remembered for years to come. It had me cracking up for five minutes straight.

I thought some of the film was uneven and some of the transitions between comedy and drama were too sudden. This movie contains sad scenarios, but instead of letting the emotions fully play out, they are instead cut up (and so the effect is diminished) by comedy. Wes Anderson's movies (e.g. The Royal Tenenbaums), on the other hand, have the opposite strategy, which I think works much better. Its standard is comedy, so when it suddenly switches to tragedy, we are taken aback more so than normal; the laugh escaping our mouth is choked and held in check. Otherwise, it's an amazing movie I wholeheartedly recommend.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449059/

MASH (1970)

4/5

This has got to be one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. Altman's first major movie has such memorable and unique characters that were pulled off with such perfection (especially by Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould) that by the end it's like losing close friends only two hours after meeting them. Altman's trademark style (of overlapping dialogue) captures the mood, even at the expense of jokes. This helps immensely with the replay value of both the comedy and the movie as a whole.

There were some events that dragged on a bit, but they were few and far between. It definitely felt a little too episodic to be a movie; the style works better as a TV show. Thus the movie wasn't as cohesive and parts didn't flow as well as some of Altman's other movies. These are otherwise small qualms with an altogether engrossing and effective character-driven comedy.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0066026/

Nights of Cabiria (1957)

4/5

This film is utterly absorbing from start to finish. The ending is, as numerous reviews have stated, breathtaking. No account or description can do it justice; it must be felt. Once you see it, you never forget it. Fellini is a master of composition and timing. Nights of Cabiria is about a prostitute who wanders the streets of Rome looking for love and finding only heartbreak. Masina's character, Cabiria, evolves in front of our eyes. There is one specific scene involving a hypnotist who captivates and controls not only Cabiria, but the audience as well.

I thought some of the acting by Masina was over the top, but at times I think that is precisely how her character should have been played. Either way, it irks me a little. Some scenes seemed to wander from the main theme, but individually they were great. The film challenges you to piece them together. And you will be much better off for doing so.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050783/

Fearless (2006)

2/5

This movie has no idea what it wants to be. It tries to be a martial arts movie, a drama, and a romance, and fails on all three fronts. Miserably. There is no climactic battle at the end; most of the fighting happens in the very beginning, then infrequently and sporadically for the rest of the first half, then drops down to practically nonexistent at the end. The acting and emotions on display are not even comparable to any respectable drama, even some of the unrespectable ones. And I guess there's no real romance at all. Period. Also, the middle half was extremely boring.

Where there was action, it was good. But I've seen better. I don't know why Jet Li is proud to have this movie be his final martial arts movie. There is absolutely nothing exceptional about it in any way.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0446059/

The Descent (2005)

3/5

I saw this with Kyle and Joe yesterday, and we all thought it was pretty good. Plotwise, I had no idea what to expect once they got down in the cave, and I think that made it a much better experience. There were some truly terrifying parts, along with some cheap thrills like having someone suddenly appear next to them or something like that. The pacing was excellent; once it got going, it didn't let up. (It did take about thirty minutes before it got exciting though, and everything that happened in those thirty minutes were utterly worthless.)

The characterization was archetypal, for the most part. Where it strayed, it was even worse: the main character was unlikable, vindictive, and cruel, qualities you don't really want for the hero of a survival horror movie. The acting ranged from subpar to pitiful, but you aren't going for the acting, are you? All in all, a pretty decent horror movie, but if you aren't a fan of horror (and I'm not), I don't think this is going to change your mind about the genre.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0435625/

Miami Vice (2006)

4/5

I saw this with Sameer, Kyle, Joe, and Erik, and none of them thought it was very good. I, on the other hand, found Michael Mann's latest movie to be the flat-out best action movie so far this year. It had some of the most tense and taut scenes I have ever witnessed in any movie. The last hour was cinema at its absolute best. The soundtrack was consistently amazing--something that everybody in the group agreed on.

The middle part was a bit slow, but never boring. Half the time I didn't understand what people were saying due to accents, but it didn't really matter. It was about crime and being cool, not the plot. It was the mood that Mann captured perfectly.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0430357/

Edison Force (2005)

1/5

"Sometimes the most important questions are the ones you decide not to ask." Like why is the elite tactical squad full of insane crack addicts? Why is every single member corrupt? Why are they allowed to kill people on a whim? And on these flights of whimsy, why do they leave living witnesses? I guess you probably wouldn't ask important questions if you were retarded, which is exactly what this movie is. Maybe it's telling us not to question the gaping plot holes or Justin Timberlake's heinous "acting," but looking that deep into it is giving the movie too much credit. Besides everything (characters, plot, and plot holes) being rehashed from all the bad crime movies and none of the good ones, it is clearly set in another dimension. One in which things don't make sense. Do not watch this movie. It is not so bad that it is good; it is so bad that it is worse than the good that's below bad.

By far, this is the worst movie I have even been close to considering watching this entire year. Perhaps my entire life. The only saving grace was the one scene with Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman chit-chatting. I think they were just ad-libbing though.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389957/