Batman: The Dark Knight

Viewed 06/23/08
A brilliant presentation of the story of Batman and The Joker. There isn't much in the way of effects or story line that goes to far over the top and unbelievable that would distract someone from enjoying what the movie is at it's core, a vigilante confronting a sadistic criminal that is bringing anarchy to the city of Gotham. Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is phenomenal and I would describe it as a touch of Charles Manson, Jigsaw from the Saw series and Hannibal Lecter.

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Charlie Bartlett

Viewed 06/29/08
A modern day Ferris Beuller. Charlie gets kicked out of private school and attends public high school. He desires to be liked by everyone and forms a scheme for success. This gets him into deep trouble but he still comes out on top.

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Wall-E

Viewed 06/28/08
Animated movies have come so far. This one was visually incredible. Wall-E is a robot whose job is to clean up trash left on Earth by humans which have abandon it. As he does this, he becomes fascinated with many discarded trinkets and items. When he comes across those that fascinate him, he collects them in his lunch pail and takes them back to his home for his collection. This hobby has clearly built his character to include human emotions. One day he comes across another robot who was placed on Earth to find biological life. It turns out that this newcomer, Eve, is a female and Wall-E falls in love. As he awkwardly pursues the reluctant Eve he must also help her restore humanity on Earth.

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The Strangers

Viewed 06/27/08
A couple returns to their family's summer home late one evening after a wedding and become terrorized by sadistic killers in masks. There are some suspenseful parts but nothing very gory. It has the feel of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, without the cannibalism, in the way the victims are terrorized in a house in a secluded area and how they get chased around the woods at night.

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The Happening

Viewed 06/21/08
A movie about the destruction of man by the planet. Many underlying references to 9/11. The characters are not very serious and the whole style of the movie seems to be throwback to the black and white era of films. It's hard to describe. Just watch it and you'll see what I mean.

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Alien Vs Predator Requiem

Viewed 06/19/08
Not as good as the first AVP by any means. It is way too dark throughout the movie to really see what is going on and the characters are interesting. There is a new Alien/Predator hybrid monster in this installment that you can barely see whenever it is on the screen. In a nutshell, this is a battle between the two creature types in a small Colorado town. The first movie took place in the desolate arctic.

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Cloverfield

Viewed 06/15/08
This is The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla all mashed up into one film, except Godzilla is in NY City. Not worth watching.

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Lions for Lambs

Viewed 06/01/08
About the war in Iraq. There are three stories going on at the same time but it does not get confusing. One story is about a congressman giving an interview to a reporter about what has been, and will be, going on in the war and why. A conflict of opinions brews between them and he offers up some interesting perspectives from a politicians stand point. There is also a story about two soldiers who jump from their attacked plane during a mission in Afghanistan. Finally, there is a story about a college professor and one of his students having a private meeting about the student's future and the choices he is allowed to make because of the freedoms our military has and continues to fight for, for us and others around the world.

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The Bank Job

Viewed 05/24/08
Based on a true story about a bank robery in 1970's London. The robbers are unaware of the political nature of specific contents in the vault and are forced to deal with the government and high profile criminals, who have interest in this loot, in order to get away unharmed.

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No Country For Old Men

Viewed 05/23/08
This movie is about a drug deal that went viciously bad and random guy who happens upon the aftermath and walks away with the money. He is pursued by a ruthless Columbian who tries to get the money back. The movie finishes without ending the story.

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Into The Wild

Viewed 05/20/08
Based on a true story. It's about a guy that runs away from home soon after he graduates college and ends up living in a bus in the Alaskan wilderness. I couldn't get into the movie because I can't stand people who try to be "deep" and philosophical, which is how the main character is portrayed throughout the movie.

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Resurrecting The Champ

Viewed 05/15/08
Based on a true story about a journalist who discovers that a local homeless man, known as Champ, was a professional boxer in the 1950's. He goes on to write a story about Champ and the life he has lead. There is an interesting twist in the movie that makes it worth watching.

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August Rush

Viewed 05/10/08
August Rush is the name given to the little boy in the movie about half way through. He is orphaned at birth but at age 11 sets out to find his parents. His journey takes him to New York where he discovers he is a music prodigy. A street performer takes notice and tries to exploit the boy's gift while keeping him from finding his parents but fate has other plans for August.

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In The Name Of The King

Viewed 05/04/08
I HATE Ray Liotta!!! He looks so plastic and his acting is the same in every role he does. I was so god damn happy when Jason Statham kicks his ass and cuts his throat. The movie on the whole isn't really worth watching. It's a rip off of LotR: The Return of the King and clearly an excuse to get action star Jason Statham in a medieval role. The girl from Meet Joe Black is in it though, and her tits are HUGE this time around. That alone was worth an extra skull.

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Reservation Road

Viewed 05/03/08
A father, who is planning revenge, tracks down the man who killed his 10 year old son in a hit and run. The man is closer than he thinks. The story of the culprit's life after the accident is also displayed in a way to make you have sympathy for him as well.

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We Own The Night

Viewed 05/02/08
A decent movie about a 1980's NYC club manager who goes undercover for the police to catch a Russian drug kingpin that was responsible for the shooting of his brother and murder of his father. The ending felt somewhat empty and incomplete but it's worth watching.

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American Gangster

Viewed 04/27/08
Typically I would be hard pressed to give a good rating to a mob/ganster movie but this one was exceptional. It's not overflowing with gang rivalries and revenge stories. It's about how the main character becomes successful and maintains his drug business while having to deal with corrupt cops. The extra footage pushes the DVD version to almost three hours long. This isn't so bad given that the details of the story are interesting.

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The Waitress

Viewed 04/25/08
A dull movie about a waitress who gets pregnant by her abusive husband and goes on to have an affair with her doctor.

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Gone Baby Gone

Viewed 04/25/08
Gone Baby Gone is a "whodoneit" about a missing girl. There are the usual twists with corrupt cops and whatnot. It's a little on the long side.

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Smoke Signals

Viewed 04/21/08
This movie is about a Native American boy and his acquaintance who leave the reservation to get his father's remains. Not exciting in the least. The best part is the two girls who drive everywhere on the reservation in reverse because it's the only gear in their car that works. The song about John Wayne's teeth is funny too but not worth wasting your time to watch the movie. If I were Native American I would hate this movie because of all of the stereo types it portrays.

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The Good Night

Viewed 04/19/08
This is about a guy who is unhappy with his life and learns how to lucid dream. He becomes obsessed with the woman he creates in his dreams and how to stay asleep permanently in order to be with her. I liked the subject matter and it had a few LOL moments thanks to Simon Pegg.

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Revolver

Viewed 04/13/08
As usual, I like Jason Statham. I'll have more to add when I watch this again and figure what the hell is going on throughout the movie.

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30 Days of Night

Viewed 04/12/08
A good vampire flick. The camera angles are really good, especially the views from a helicopter that look like news coverage of the carnage. The vampires are great and even somewhat original in their styling. There are a few scenes that caused me to jump because they aren't expected, there is no indicitive music or camera work setting you up for the fright. I have been waiting to see movie like this for a while.

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Grandma's Boy

Viewed 04/10/08
This got an extra skull for having a HOT Linda Cardellini in it. Otherwise it barely amused me. I don't think Allen Covert is good enough to be a leading actor and certainly not funny enough to carry this movie. It's about a video game play tester who has to live with his grandmother.

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God Grew Tired of Us

Viewed 04/08/08
A documentary about refugees from the Sudan and their adjustment to living in America. One of which lives in Syracuse so there is a lot of local footage. I thought it was quite interesting.

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Ong-Bak

Viewed 04/06/08
Another OK movie. Imagine Jackie Chan instead of Van Damme in the lead role of Kickboxer to sum up the movie. I watched it to see Tony Jaa in action. He is pretty good. It is a Thai movie with subtitles.

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The Kingdom

Viewed 03/30/08
This movie was OK. Its about a team of United States agents who go to Saudi Arabia to investigate the bombing of American employees who worked for an Arab oil company and their families. Predictable, but in the beginning it gives a good synopsis of events that have lead up to our current state of affairs with the middle east.

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Juno

Viewed 03/29/08
A good, FUNNY movie about a teenage girl who gets pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption to a couple she found in the classifieds. The main character's innocent look on life and her wit is hilarious.

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Stop Loss

Viewed 03/29/08
This movie is an eye opening look at the "back door" draft used by the military. The main character fulfills his military contract and plans to leave the Army upon returning home from Iraq only to find out he has been stop lossed, being sent back to Iraq to serve another tour. He resists and trouble ensues.

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Talk to Me

Viewed 03/29/08
I have been a fan of Don Cheadle since the movie Rebound and was not disappointed by this movie. He plays the part of Petey Greene, a controversial DJ in Washington D.C. in the late 60's and 70's. The movie is a look into his life during this time.

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The King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quaters

Viewed 03/22/08
This is an entertaining documentary about a man who gets laid off from his job and then sets out to beat a twenty year old world record high score on the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. It's amusing to see how seriously the geeks (who are are now all "grown up") take themselves and their accomplshments of high scores on archaic video games and how unwelcoming they are to this newcomer to their "community".

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This Is Spinal Tap

Viewed 03/16/08
I thought this was a waste of time and Netflix rental. There were a few slightly funny moments but nothing that kept me interested in the movie. I started browsing the web on my laptop half way through to find out where I had seen the lead character before and then just started web surfing and ignoring the movie after that.

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Pans Labyrinth

Viewed 03/15/08
This movie is OK. I wasn't very interested by the story. The fantasized characters were good as well as the special effects. So much for fairy tales being for children. This one comes with an R rating and its easy to see why with the language and violence used throughout the movie.

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27 Dresses

Viewed 03/07/08
This was an OK movie. It had some funny scenes. I liked the one of the main characters drunk and singing "Bennie and the Jets" on the bar. It is a standard chick flick. Girl likes guy. Guy messes up big time. Girl and guy end up together.

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Hostel

Viewed 03/02/08
LAME! Hardly gory or suspenseful. I would not have given it even one skull if it weren't for all the tits in the beginning. Cheesy make up and special effects. The bits of flesh looked like the rubber they were made out of and not actual tissue. Watch an installment from the Saw series instead.

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I Am Legend

Viewed 03/01/08
Will Smith's lone presence on screen is great and does not get tiresome to watch. It would have been better if the baddies were not graphically enhanced. The ending was good and justifiable but not what I was hoping for.