Wordplay (2006)

This is definitely going to be more of interest to people who enjoy crossword puzzles. My family and I sat around trying to solve the clues as the contestants did. :-) I did find it genuinely interesting though, especially in the last half of the movie as we got into the competition and watched the people we'd met earlier competing for the champion title. Not stellar, but rather fun, especially if you're a crossword enthusiast. 3 stars.

The Machinist (2004)

Dang, Christian Bale is freaky looking in this. But anyway. Really interesting movie. Dark and creepy and did keep me interested until the end. However, the ending would be much more impressive if it hadn't beent done in various forms by every psychological thriller of the last ten or fifteen years. Probably still worth watching if you liked Memento, although it's much bleaker throughout than Memento was. (In feel it's more like The Butterfly Effect. But this doesn't have Ashton Kutcher in it so that automatically makes it better than that movie.) 3 stars.

Sybil (1976)

Wow, this was a fascinating movie. I'm fascinated by multiple personality disorder anyway, and this story just completely engrossed me. Sally Field was absolutely amazing in this role, embodying each one of the personalities in a completely convincing way. I was just blown away by her performance. Although this movie is really long, it didn't feel too long at all. It wound up just exactly when I wanted it to. This movie is really, really interesting - definitely worth watching. 4.5 stars.

Cars (2006)

I was pretty disappointed in this movie. The Pixar/Disney team has always put out quality films, and I suppose this is quality as far as there not being anything outright WRONG with it, but I found it incredibly bland. Telling an old, worn-out story (this is pretty much every "sports star" movie ever made) and just making the main character cars doesn't make it a good movie. Too bad, because this could have been much better. 2.5 stars.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

No, I do not anticipate turning into a Harry Potter fanatic. I'm not into fantasy as a rule, but I decided I'd give the books a try and see what I thought of them. The first one was nothing fantastic, but a fairly satisfying read, so I decided I'd test out the movie, too. I thought it was quite a good movie adaptation of the book, capturing the spirit of the story... and therefore I had the same reaction to it. A very satisfying watch with interesting characters and only a few moments that didn't quite work. Probably worth watching. 3.5 stars.

A Christmas Story (1983)

Plot: Ralphie has to convince his parents, teachers, and Santa that a Red Ryder BB gun really is the perfect gift for the 1940's.

I had never really wanted to see this movie, but then a bunch of people whose movie opinions I respect highly started raving about how great a movie it was, so I sat down and watched it. To my surprise, it was quite charming. Nostalgic without being sappy, down-to-earth while still maintaining Christmas cheer... even a few moments that made me laugh out loud. Definitely a worthy addition to my Christmas movie collection. 4 stars.

Scoop (2006)

This movie was so much fun! I've already discovered I'm a Woody Allen fan - I've liked all of his movies that I've seen. I'm also more and more impressed with Scarlett Johansson as an actress. I've seen her in three very, very different roles now and she managed to play them all really well. The movie lagged a little bit in the middle, feeling like it was kind of dragging itself along, but then it picked up quite a bit and finished up with a very satisfying ending. Not terribly original but great fun. And it has the honor of being the first movie I saw in 2007. 4 stars.