Movie Reviews.

Lately I have been watching several movies and I thought it would a good idea to give a brief synopsis of them so that fellow PtR-ers can decide if they want check them out. If you want more info on the movies, click on their title which leads to the their respective Wikipedia articles.

My review system consists of Ol' Kentucky Sharks. With the highest being 5 Ol' Kentucky Sharks.

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.

Directed by Errol Morris and winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, this film follows a foggy afternoon of Robert McNamara  playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and talking about his life as Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. Fascinating stuff, I highly recommend it.

I have to confess Errol Morris is one of my favorite directors. He directed the classic and hugely influential documentary The Think Blue Line, about his search for the perfect ball point pen, and A Brief History of Time, a documentary about the folk/glam band called "Time".

The Departed

A Martin Scorsese remake of a film that bizarrely enough, was in some stupid foreign language and not English. This star studded crime drama follows the story of a couple who missed a flight (Hence the name of the movie) and as they try to find a hotel to spend the night, their life quickly unravels in a frenzy of shootings, crossing and double crossings, and those little cards they give you to open hotel doors that never work right.

You just have to see this film. Although most Hollywood remakes suck, this one is a tour de france by the director. Martin Scorsese finally won a Best Director Oscar for this film, although he had directed classic films such as Taxi Driver, the story of a Sikh cabby from New York who is trying to live the American dream, Raging Bull, about a pit bull with rabies that's loose in the city, and Goofdellas, a documentary about a barbershop quartet and their search for fame.

A History of Violence

A school boy has to finish a report for his history class about violence during the middle ages but decides to procrastinate and leave it until the last moment. Will he finish and finally get an A on that class, or he will he fail and be severely punished by his drunken father? I won't ruin the ending for you, but this movie is has many twists and turns.

In one scene, you van see Viggo Mortensen's ass.

Casino Royale

This comedy about a group of thieves trying to break intro a struggling Las Vegas casino is well directed and the action sequences are thrilling, but though it was a highly regarded film by critics, I thought it was a good movie, but nothing special.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry finally grows up in this movie. After a Halloween party in which he gets very drunk, Harry decides to drive in spite of the warnings by his fellow Hogwarts classmates. On the way home, he runs over a Dutch prince that was visiting the United States. The prince is quickly rushed off to a hospital and is in immediate need of a transfusion. There is only one problem, he has the rarest blood type in the world.

This movie is a scathing criticism of the health care system in the US and the consequences of it remaining the same. Very well acted drama.

Gone Baby Gone

The Rugrats franchise takes on darker material in this crime thriller directed by Ben Affleck. A pound of diamonds hidden in a pair of diapers has disappeared, and  two young detectives are given the task of finding it. There's many twists and turns in this movie, and some wrenching dramatic scenes, such as when one the babies tries to quit his addiction to the pacifier. An excellent movie you won't regret seeing.

Encounters at the End of the World

Directed by Werner Herzog, who is a badass, this is the heartwarming tale of love about an Internet couple who will finally meet, the problem, he lives in Somalia, and she in the South Pole. We follow our hero's journey as he tries to hitchhike his way to Antarctica, and meets interesting and quirky characters on the way. The story reaches a climax as he realizes he will have to cross the bridge connecting South Africa and Antarctica on foot. I won't spoil the ending, but I will say the story will please all who need a little pick-me-up before the holidays.

The Godfather

Eddie Murphy plays God's father in this hilarious slapstick comedy. After seeing God create the universe and all that inhabits it, he decides to pay God a visit. Though their relationship is strained at the start, they will find that in the end,  there's nothing like the power of love to bring families together. Eddie Murphy also plays Jesus, Mary, Judas, the various animals in the stable, and most of the roman soldiers.

This movie is directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and although from that picture he looks like a douchy community college theater director, he has directed some masterpieces. Among them, possibly my favorite film, Apocalypse Now , a disturbing, heart wrenching, cinematic jewel about the 2012 Mayan prediction of the world's end.

The Godfather II

Sequels are usually not on par with the first movie, but this the exception. Eddie Murphy reprises his role as God's father, except this time, there is war as the Antichrist (Jared from the Subway commercials) challenges God for earth's supremacy. It was a big risk making this an action movie/comedy, but it paid off, as spectacular explosions are paired with witty one liners.

The film is 3 hours and 20 minutes long, and when it ends you wish it would keep going, that's how good it is. Eddie Murphy plays 65 characters.

Hope you enjoyed those. Next up on my list is Waltz with Bashir, the story of a bride who has to learn how to waltz before her wedding, which is complicated by the fact that she has no legs. The Hurt Locker, about a high school freshman getting his finger smashed as he's closing his gym locker, and Miller's Crossing, the real life story of Sandra Miller, who fought for years to have a traffic light installed in one of the most dangerous intersections in the country.   I've heard very good things about those movies.

Until next time, have a filmstastic day.