Bad Company is a mediocre movie with a decent plot. It's about a hustler named Jake (Chris Rock) who's asked by the CIA to pretend he is his dead brother who worked for the CIA to obtain a nuclear bomb. Anthony Hopkins stars as the head of the CIA operation. The movie, I assume, is supposed to work by bouncing off the seriousness of Hopkins with the comedy of Rock. Unfortunately, for an action movie, Rock's aggressive jokes just don't come off. The movie seems like a good action film sprinkled with badly written jokes. It would have worked much better if the jokes weren't there. Think Enemy of the State turned down a notch and a half.
GRADE: B-

Though it wasn't as funny as I expected, Barbershop was still a very good movie with a funny cast and serious plot. Ice Cube is Calvin and owner of a barbershop in ghetto Chicago that was in his family since 1958. He decides to sell the shop to a snakey guy (Keith David). When the rest of the barbers (Eve, Cedric the Entertainer, Sean Patrick Thomas, etc.) finds out, Calvin is reminded of how vital the barbershop is to the community. So he tries to get it back. Meanwhile, the subplot is about a stolen ATM machine. Everything comes together in the end. The movie has a good feeling and leaves you feeling happy after it's over.
GRADE: A-

Batman is good. Seriously, Batman's a good guy doing good things. And his movie's pretty much the same. I don't know if you follow the cartoon or show (I follow the cartoon), but this movie includes Joker trying to sabatoge Batman. And he comes pretty close to it. Of course, Batman never loses.
GRADE: B+

Definitely can't top the first two. And it's definitely becasue of the change of directors. I really enjoyed Tim Burton's gothic spookiness (it's genuine Batman-dark hero of the night), but joel Scheumacher (excuse the spelling please) turning this third movie into a starfest, complete with neon colors and oddities. Though Val Kilmer does make a better Bruce Wayne, Michael Keaton will always be the better Batman. Sorry.
GRADE: C+

I felt that this was just as good as the first. Penguin and Catwoman are introduced. (No Joker though.) Michelle Pfieffer is a very convincing Catwoman and Dan Devito was good as Penguin as well. Though it's a little bit more dark (creepy, gothic, etc.; very Tim Burton-y), it's still very much like the first. But I guess I'm leaning toward this one as tad more.
GRADE: B+

Apart from the accuracy of Russell Crowe's portrayal of mathematician John Nash, A Beautiful Mind was an endearing and at times mind-frightening movie. By saying this, I am giving the movie away: Nash suffers from schizophrenia. This makes for a sorrowful, yet thrilling movie. Jennifer Connelly portrays his very very faithful wife. The movie runs its course from Nash's stroke of genius (the very fun and informative Nash Equilibrium) during his graduate days at Princeton to his mental collapse to his return to Princeton and Nobel Prize honor. I think what makes this movie works has nothing to do with moviemaking or movies, but it's the life and intrigue of John Nash himself. (Well duh.....why else would they make a movie about him?)
GRADE: B+

Malkovich! mALkoVIcH! MaLKoVIch! Is it possible to be too inebriated with the name of an actor? This crazy and whacked out movie features John Cusack as Craig Schwartz, a puppeteer who gets a job on the 7th and a half floor of a New York building, filing papers. One day, he finds a door that leads to a portal to John Malkovich's head. Cameron Diaz plays Cusack's frizzy-haired, frumpy wife, Lotte. The Schwartzes both end up falling for Maxine, who also works on the 7th floor. Before long, both Schwartzes are using Malkovich to have sex with Maxine and to sell Malkovich's head as a pseudo-carnival ride. Weird stuff, wouldn't you say? It's a Freudian movie nightmare, I tell you! Anyways, the reason why I'm giving this "should-see" movie a B+, is cause despite that you "should see" this movie cause it's so dang weird, it's up in the air whether you will ultimately like it or not. Enjoy!
GRADE: B+

Best In Show is a mockumentary about dogs, their owners/handlers, and dog shows. It's hilarious to watch, but the comedy comes in spurts. There's not much to say except that it's funny if you like that indie-documentary-type movie. "Big" name stars include Parker Posey and Catherine O'Hara (the mom in Home Alone). Just go see this movie for a good laugh. It's only an hour and a half and if you don't enjoy it, you'll probably get a nice nap.
GRADE: A-

Let's face it: even though Adam Sandler is a funny guy (and I love him to death cause he's so cute!), it's been pretty tough trying to top his earlier movies like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore (my personal favorite). Big Daddy, about Sonny (Sandler) taking care of a Julian (who shows up on his doorstep one morning) and develops a loving bond with him, is funny enough to keep you entertained, but not rolling on the floor laughing. Not that it's Sandler's duty to keep me on the ground in comedic pain, but I miss feeling that way because of him. :(
GRADE: B-

Billy Crudup plays the adult son of a dying man played by Albert Finney. Finney is Ed Bloom, a man whose extravagant stories have lead his son to believe that everything his father ever said was fabricated. As Crudup's character is preparing for a child of his own and enduring his father's pending death, he wants to set his childhood memories and father's stories straight. Thus, we are cast into the world of Ed Bloom, portrayed by Ewan McGregor in his younger days. This movie is about stretching the truth, about charisma, about learning to take bits of truth and weaving them into inspiring stories intended to entice and excite an audience; that sometimes fantasy can be more powerful than fact.
GRADE: A-

The Big Hit is indeed a very BIG HIT!!! About a group of hitman who hit the wrong man (er...woman), The Big Hit is a richly exciting and comical action movie that makes you wonder where all the old, feel-good Hollywood movies went. Veteran director Che-Kirk Wong of Hong Kong action flicks couldn't have done it better with his cast of Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Philips, China Chow, etc. I highly recommend it. See it with a friend or alone. You'll definitely enjoy it!
GRADE: A-

If you look at it from an artsy point of view, I'm sure this movie is pretty insightful and good. But honestly....this movie makes no sense and I think the writers were on LSD. But what I did learn from the film is that The Dude (Jeff Bridges) gets in a mishap from Mr. Lebowski, and he ends up with a million dollars and a job to find Mrs. Lebowski. John Goodman, Julianne Moore, and Steve Buscemi also star in this really, really weird and bizarre movie.
GRADE: C-

Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) is a funny, 11-year-old English boy living with his father (Gary Lewis), older brother (Jamie Draven), and grandma amid a terrible coal miner's strike. When his attention turns from boxing (because he sucks) to ballet, his cruddy life seems to disappear. Of course, he's met with disapproval from his father and brother. But Billy continues to learn from the cigarette-smoking Mrs. Wilkinson (Julie Walters) and hopes to become good enough to auditon for the Royal Ballet Academy. The movie is light-hearted and funny, but still deals with some somewhat heavy issues like strikes, deceased family members, and gender curiousities.
GRADE: A-

Black Hawk Down, simply put, is the retelling of an actual event in history in which United States special forces enter Somalia to aid starving Somalians under oppressive rule. This movie does not give an answer to war and stirs many questions as to why people kill each other. In saying that, I didn't think Hollywood was brought too heavily into this film. The title of the film is due to the attack on two Black Hawk helicopters which lead to the Somalian attack on US ground troups trying to secure the helicopters. Starring Josh Harnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, etc. and directed by Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down should not be missed.
GRADE: A+

Not to be seen with an ignorant mind. I highly recommend the fainthearted to see this MOVIE with some idea of what is going on and what this MOVIE is based on. This MOVIE is about three filmmakers who go into the woods to film a documentary about a witch legend. Basically, they end up getting lost. The MOVIE is actually really slow until the final 5 minutes and you can get motion sickness because it's all seen through the filmmakers' perspective (jittery cameras). It's not as scary as it is creepy and disturbing, but I'm weak, and well...this movie kept me up and good portion of the night.
GRADE: C+

The Boiler Room has a pretty good plot: get-rich-quick young adults selling fake stocks. Overall, the movie entertains with it's wit, lingo, and wannabe hipness. I say "wannabe," because the movie has the potential to be so better. It's adequate to watch, but never quite good enough. Besides the plot, actors Giovonni Ribisi, who plays the newly recruited stockbroker, Vin Diesel, and Ben Affleck make the movie more enjoyable to watch.
GRADE: C

Ooh...so creepy. Actually I'm being slighty sarcastic, but don't get me wrong, The Bone Collector was, indeed, a bit spine tingling. Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) is a cop who's helping quadrepalegic ex-cop Lincoln Rhymes (Denzel Washington) solve a series of brutal homicides. The movie makes everyone suspect, which makes it hard to single anyone out. Well, it's a nice, steady movie, with the suspenseful jolts, but nothing extremely spectacular or exciting.
GRADE: B-

It's so sad that I couldn't get sapped up by this romantic movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow, as the widow of a man who died in a plan crash, and Ben Affleck, the man who gave her husband the plane ticket. It's basically about the guilt that Affleck's character is going through, because he gave Paltrow's husband the ticket. Things get complicated when Affleck goes to meet/console Paltrow, and they end up falling for each other. I dunno.....the whole plot was kinda uninteresting and it seemed like the actors were trying to put emotions into something that they probably can't understand in real life. Then again, maybe they can relate, but it doesn't feel like it in the movie. I'm sure the movie might be appealing to some, but for the most part, I felt I spent 2 hours staring at Affleck's beautiful profile.
GRADE: C+

I saw this movie after the Oscars and after all the hype, and frankly, I think this movie was way overhyped. Yeah, it was good. Mel Gibson did a great job directing and acting (excellent accent!), but I didn't think it was THAT great. Just a tale about the Scots fighting for FREEDOM! from the Brits.
GRADE: B+

Bridget Jones's Diary is as delightful and enjoying as a cut of tea and cranberry scone! Renee Zellweger is the sometimes neurotic, sometimes wannabe erotic thirtysomething Englishwoman whose seemingly simple New Year's resolutions of drinking less, smoking less, and dating fewer scoundrels like her dreadful boss Daniel Cleaver (a hateful, but charming Hugh Grant) go awry throughout her new year. Her childhood boy friend Mark Darcy (a loveable, monotonously charming Colin Firth) dances grudgingly around her life and of course....stumbled into her. It's a great chick flick (yes, a chick flick) that is easily pleasing to watch and enjoyable to read. (The book is great!!!)
GRADE: B+

Bring It On was a corny, but fun to watch movie. It's got silly humor, gross humor, fun dance moves, weird characters, and all that typical teenage movie stuff. But it's different from typical teenage movies because even though it's got that cheesy romance theme, it's also got a competitive edge that stems from centering around the cutthroat cheerleading competitions. Kirsten Dunst stars as Torrance, the new head cheerleader, who must come up with new moves in order to beat out Isis' (Gabrielle Union) team, the regional rivals who have never had the opportunity to show off their talent. Anyways, it's funny to watch.
GRADE: B

Dang...what's up with trippy movies these days? But I gotta give props to Martin Scorcese for creating such a bizarre and wacky movie about a paramedic named Frank Pierce (Nicolas Cage) whose on the verge of physical, mental, and well...everything "-al" collapse. He works the night shift of New York City, reviving the nearly dead. It's a funny and witty movie with lots of darkness and macabre overtones. The major drawback, though, is that it seems to go on forever (it's nearly 2 hours long), and there seems to be no end for this plot. But despite all that, I kinda didn't want to movie to end. Though I don't think this movie is for everybody, it does open a window to the paramedic underworld. I learned that it's not pretty, and it made me really appreciate the people who work the graveyeard shift.
GRADE: A-

A pretty spectacular movie about a fantastical beast that's killing the locals of a French village. So this sorta medicine man is sent to investigate and he's got a Native American companion to help him. Together they attempt to hunt the beast down, but discover more than they expected to find. The movie works because it does a lot of stuff on agrand scale. The fight sequences are reminiscent of The Matrix and Asian films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The plot is intricate but not confusing. It is a bit longer than it should have been and if it were an American film, I don't think it would have been done as well. But I really like French cinematography and that's enough to keep you entertained for a while. All in all, this movie is cool and is worth the time.
GRADE: A-

Pixar has done it again. They have delivered yet another hilarious computer-animated movie that has an exciting plot and astounding effects. A Bug's Life features the voices of Dave Foley as the main character Flik, an innovative though unusual ant, Kevin Spacey as Hopper, the ants' frightening nemesis grasshopper and a circus (literally) of other well developed insects. This movie keeps you well entertained and laughing out loud. Simply the year's best animated film!
GRADE: B+

Chow-Yun Fat turns an otherwise cheesy sounding movie into something very light and comedic, yet with a bit of graceful action. Sorta like having an afternoon tea with a side of buffalo wings. Well, yes that sounds odd. But so does this movie: somehow Seann William Scott is supposed to be the next keeper of an ancient Buddhist scroll with the powers to control the world when read aloud. Why they casted Scott, who is known for a movie like American Pie is beyond me. But then they also have Jamie King and you're like "isn't she a model"? Why is she karate-chopping with Chow-Yun Fat? I dunno. But the movie is quaint. It's got the expected martial arts expected of a Chow-Yun Fat. But it lacks in any humor you might assume from Scott. The plot is faulty, but the action is lively. Too bad there isn't enough of it.
GRADE: B