American Psycho (2000)

I've been a fan of Christian Bale's work for a long time, whether he was singing and dancing on the streets of New York or saving Gotham City from Heath Ledger. This is by far his most impressive role. He is *fascinating* as Patrick Bateman. I have now tried three or four times to put in writing what I liked so much about his performance and I haven't figured out how to say it yet. He is unreadable. He is unpredictable. In one of the final scenes, I found myself saying out loud, "He's crazy. He is literally insane." I'm pretty sure I have never been so convinced by someone in that kind of insane role. Not a lot of people can be that captivating in ANY role. The movie would be a very, very different one without him in it.

As far as the movie as a whole goes, it's intriguing and surprising and sometimes darkly hilarious. (The first death in the apartment made me laugh out loud.) I have never read the book, but much of the screenplay for this movie *felt* like book dialogue. It was superbly written. It could have delved too deeply into Bateman's mind or left us with nothing known about him at all, and it struck a beautiful balance.

I enjoyed this movie FAR more than I thought I would when I first began watching it. I'd watch it again someday. Honestly, Christian Bale is too interesting in this film NOT to watch it again. 4 stars.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)

As a fan of the original book series, I was extremely disappointed by this. Part of the charm of the books is that they DON'T neatly come together at the end and teach lessons and have characters grow. There's something very satisfying about knowing that whether I pick up book six or book one, Georgia will still be self-absorbed, annoyed with her parents, pushy with Jas, and prone to end up in hilariously awkward situations. She's NOT a terribly pleasant character, though, and this was clearly unsuitable for the audience they needed here, so they softened her up, gave her a happier relationship with parents, and ended it all in an odd, sappy sequence that very much belonged in another movie. This took away everything I loved about the books and made it just like every other cutesy teenage story. Very disappointing, considering what hilarious source material they had to work with. 2.5 stars.

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

About 20 minutes into the movie, I wasn't sure whether to be repulsed or amused by it. It walks a very fine line between creepy and hilarious, and, surprisingly, ends up being sweet. Ryan Gosling is the glue that holds this movie together. He doesn't milk his role for either laughs or sentimentality. He simply plays him as is. While overall the film was too unevenly paced for me to love it or want to watch it again, it ended up being very satisfying. Not at all what I thought it would be... but good nonetheless. 4 stars.

Son of Rambow (2007)

This movie has huge spurts of imagination that it sometimes doesn't COMPLETELY follow through on, and some of the characters are a bit inconsistent, but that doesn't stop the movie from being completely charming. The characters are likeable, and the ending is thoroughly satisfying. No huge surprises here as to where it's going, but it's a joy getting there. 3.5 stars.

August Rush (2007)

I should definitely not have waited as long as I did to see this. The usually-annoying Freddie Highmore is very believable and ever so sincere in his role as a young child looking for his parents. But where this movie stands out in showing us the pure delight he has in discovering this new world of music. In an absolutely enthralling scene where he comes to New York City for the first time, he stands on a park fountain and hears all the potential music around him, in cars honking, birds squawking, tires squealing... He gets lost in the music and rhythm and begins to intently conduct the symphony in his head, focusing on all the beauty he can hear around him. Movies about prodigies are frequently a stretch of the imagination, but here it doesn't even matter because the fantastical tone of the movie leads us into a world where anything is possible - even his music bringing his parents back to him. Beautiful film. 4 stars.

Mockingbird Don't Sing (2001)

Where this movie succeeds, it does it mostly by accident. The source material itself is an incredibly compelling story, and Tarra Steele is rather amazing as Katie. However, everything around her seems to play out like an absurd melodrama, and a preachy one at that. The adult actors mostly seem to be sleepwalking through their roles, which is extremely disappointing, because some quality acting could have made a huge difference in this.

It's very difficult to portray atrocities like this seriously on the screen without verging over into melodrama, and, unfortunately, this doesn't quite make the cut. The ultra-religious foster home may very well have been like that in real life, but on the screen it translates into a darkly comedic stereotype, and it was only through suspending disbelief to a ridiculous level that I could make it through those scenes without laughing.

This movie COULD have been excellent. Unfortunately, the acting and writing was not up to the challenge of adapting the material they had. 2.5 stars.

Julie & Julia (2009)

This film version of two separate memoirs is charming, interesting, and perfectly cast. Meryl Streep is brilliant as Julia Child, and Amy Adams is always likable as Julie Powell, who attempts to cook her way through Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in a year. It's pretty much exactly what it promises - sweet and fun as it follows both women's triumphs in their personal endeavors. 4 stars.