Batman Begins (2005)

Ah, the good ol' Batman franchise. For some reason I've never been enthralled by Batman, although I really SHOULD be, seeing how dark it is and how, really, Phantom-like it is. Except Erik's obviously not fighting for justice. Nor is he a billionaire playboy. But whatever. I only actually saw the first Batman movie, but when this one came out people were raving about it so I figured I'd check it out and, really, I'm very glad I did. It was action, sure, but it really was very much about the drama of the situation. Plus, hallucigenic (sp?) drugs are WAY SCARY. Whee. Christian Bale was fantastic as good ol' Batman, too. Definite kudos to him. The movie wasn't quite as dark as I expected (surprising since it was directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan - director of Memento, Insomnia, and Following, all very dark movies). Quite well-done, however. I'd recommend it, you bet. 3.5 stars.

A Time To Kill (1996)

Plot: A young lawyer defends a black man accused of murdering two men who raped his 10-year-old daughter, sparking a rebirth of the KKK.

Except for the ending, which I hardly find just, this was a fairly decent movie - well-acted, melodramatic in all the right ways. I will say I groaned through most of the summation speech, thinking, "What kind of thing is that to do to a jury?" but then there was that final statement that I found very powerful. It honestly made it worth all the previous sap. This movie is also really, really long. But still . . . pretty good. 2.5 stars.

Freaky Friday (1976)

Heh. Well, this one is closer to the book than the newer one was, but it definitely has that Old Disney Movie feel. You know, where you have to suspend disbelief more than you ever had to before . . . where everything has a moral . . . where outlandish, crazy action feats are done by fourteen-year-old girls. Once you get used to that, it's actually a fairly entertaining movie, with quite a few fun moments. 2.5 stars.

City Slickers (1991)

I was nervous sitting down to watch this movie. I was terribly afraid it would turn out to be one of those "obnoxious rich dude from the city finds his heart and soul among the country people and decides to move there" movies which depress me horribly. Turned out to be nothing like that, though. He does go back to the city at the end and is very happy about it. It actually was a pretty fun movie, with several moments that made me chuckle. Not a bad viewing, all in all. 2.5 stars.

Gosford Park (2001)

While I love the old-fashioned 1930's-40's British murder mysteries (i.e. Agatha Christie), this just wasn't nearly as interesting as I had thought it was going to be. It ended up being far less about the mystery and much more about just all the characters and their connections. However, as THAT it was quite interesting and quite well-done. My family and I guessed every single plot twist though, no matter how minor. 3.5 stars.

Following (1998)

From the very beginning I was interested in this movie . . . primarily because it started off as sounding way too much like something I'd do. Not the breaking and entering bit . . . but following people just to see where they went, what they did. Except hopefully it wouldn't lead to this if I did it. :-) While this wasn't as amazing as Memento, it still felt Memento-like enough that I thoroughly enjoyed the style and was just able to sit back and enjoy. It's a short little movie, just slightly over an hour, but everything fits together neatly and perfectly. Quite fun. 3.5 stars.

Bounce (2000)

Hmm. This truly is a romantic drama, not a romantic comedy. That's unusual. I'm still not sure I was truly crazy about it. I utterly don't get it in movies when both people keep secrets from each other and then when they're revealed, one of them is angry, not because of what they were lying about, but because of the FACT of the lie ("You lied to me!!") when, hello! They did the same thing! *sigh* But aside from that, it was a decent movie. Very well-done. Just not the type of movie I really care for. 2.5 stars.