The Rules of Attraction (2002)

The heck was the point of this movie? It's gimmicky, it's poorly written, the characters were strange stereotypes... I was done with this movie by about 15 minutes in, but decided to wait it out to see if it improved. It didn't. No point in watching this one. 0.5 stars.

Bobby (2006)

I was all on board with this movie. I was enjoying the tiny snapshots of various people's lives. I was even enjoying the slightly heavy-handed bits. And then the ending happened, and I had to sit through a ten-minute sermon on violence that slowly stripped me of all the interest the movie had built up in me. It was a good try that just completely fell apart at the end. 3 stars.

Malcolm X (1992)

Like many biographical movies, my complaint with this is that it feels too sprawling. It shrouds Malcolm's personality enough that it doesn't feel like a character study (I still don't think I could come up with a single description of his character without just stating what he believed in), but too varied. 2 stars.

Notting Hill (1999)

Richard Curtis is the only person I will ever trust to write romantic comedies again. They have all the conventions and cliches of all other romcoms, but somehow his stand above with likable characters, entertaining dialogue, and a sweet optimism that manages to cut through even my cynical take on life. As far as romantic comedies go, his remain the absolute best. 4 stars.

Dogtooth (2009)

(Mild spoilers.) This movie is deeply disturbing and uncomfortable to watch. This family is so dysfunctional, without ever acknowledging it is, and without ever any real resolve at the end. I wanted to be a part of this fictional world so I could pull them out of it. It's well done and well acted, but just made me squirm. I'm sure some of these images will stick with me. I'm just not sure what to do with a movie like this. So it gets 2.5 stars and we'll leave it at that.

American Gangster (2007)

A movie I just didn't get. I've seen gangster movies and police movies and this offered nothing new. Sure, Denzel and Russell put in some OK performances, but nothing I haven't already seen. No reason to watch this over... well, just about anything in the genre. 1 star.

Kinsey (2004)

Somehow this story falls a little short. It's far more about the actual science and procedure than it ever is about the person, at least as soon as he gets into the scientific process. By the end of the movie, I felt like a decent story had been told, but I didn't know who the characters were. It tried very hard to humanize the story, but never quite succeeded as far as I was concerned. 3 stars.