The Tree of Life (2011)

Well, this is a difficult movie to rank. I *wanted* to love it, but it didn't captivate me the way I was hoping. There were a few absolutely breathtaking visual moments, but I didn't really connect to most of the themes. The switch back and forth between story and poetic visuals was a little jarring - I almost wish it had been all one or all the other. The Tree of Life is an incredibly ambitious film, and I admire it, but it misses the mark for me and never quite connects. 3.5 stars.

Best Part: I loved the music. Loved it. Especially during the ending, and the creation of the world sequence. The music was what made it all beautiful.

Worst Part: Couldn't have cared less about Sean Penn's existence in the film. He mostly disappeared after the first 30 minutes anyway and didn't add much to the movie while he was there.

Flickchart: #468, below Flushed Away and above Dan in Real Life.

Moneyball (2011)

There's nothing particularly *wrong* with Moneyball, but there's nothing that arresting about it either. It's a sports movie, with most of the usual sports movie stories. It does vary a little bit in being about the economics and the strategies behind *choosing* the teams, rather than focusing on the gameplay itself, so that has some interesting aspects to it. However, the overall atmosphere and story arc of the movie is very familiar. Fairly well done, but it's not going to stick in my mind. Whenever I try to name the Best Picture nominees this year, this is one of the ones I always, always forget. 2.5 stars.

Best Part: Brad Pitt does a good job with this. His character is easily the most interesting part of the whole thing. Not sure it's good enough for an acting nom, but I haven't seen that many movies this year, and it is good, so maybe it's one of the best ones out there this year.

Worst Part: I kept thinking it was over, and then it wasn't. Ultimately I liked the ending, but in the meantime I kept getting frustrated because I felt like the story was done.

Flickchart: #841, below Hancock and above The Great Mouse Detective.

War Horse (2011)

War Horse is not a great movie. It has some nice moments, but overall it is very cheesy, the dialogue is silly, and it pulls every cheap emotional manipulation trick in the book. And... I'm extremely ashamed to admit it worked on me. Despite myself, I kept getting drawn into the emotion of the moment, even when it was surrounded by overdramatic music, cheesy dialogue, and rain during every single uber-emotional scene. EVERY SINGLE ONE. So. The more I think about this, I really shouldn't have enjoyed it at all. But somehow it worked, and I ended up having a pretty good time. So it ends up falling among my "extremely guilty pleasures" movies... the ones I enjoyed in spite of themselves. 3 stars.

(Spoilers in this section.)

Best Part: The scene between the British and German soldier as they tried to free Joey was fascinating.

Worst Part: The ending where Albert finds Joey again. He hears about the "miracle horse," decides it's his (for no reason except just a hunch), and tries calling him. Then, with no reason to think that the horse has even responded to his call, he wanders through the camp blindly looking for it. I really hope he's been doing this with all the horses he knows of during his entire time in the army. That would be the most hilarious thing ever. Anyway. What a silly, silly ending. I actually laughed out loud in the theater.

Flickchart: #690, above Marnie and below Easy Virtue.

The Fifth Element (1997)

I do enjoy sci-fi, but the world this movie created for me made very little sense. It had a few interesting sci-fi elements to it, and one or two interesting plot moments, but it was all intermingled with these bizarrely campy characters and silly dialogue. Maybe I was supposed to let go and let it just *be* campy, but I never really got to that point so I didn't really enjoy it much at any point. 2 stars.

Best Part: I really loved the slow-moving aliens in the opening sequence. I don't know why. Most interesting creatures in the whole movie.

Worst Part: The sudden "humanity isn't worth saving" crisis at the very end that can only be cured with love. Sheesh.

Flickchart: #969, below The Mummy (1932) and above Tarzan.

The Ring (2002)

(Spoilers in the best/worst section of this review.)

I was pleasantly surprised by this flick. More mystery than horror, light on gore but heavy with atmosphere... this is much closer to the kind of scary movie I enjoy. Now, granted, it was also a ridiculous, contrived, gimmicky concept and I wasn't ever that *scared*, but I did find it fairly entertaining. Certainly better than I was anticipating. I'll have to check out the original Japanese version sometime. 3 stars.

Best Part: I actually really enjoyed the ending. I shouldn't have - that's the kind of thing I would normally hate - but the "first ending" was so anticlimactic. And if there's not going to be a satisfying triumphant ending, I'll settle for a suitably creepy bad ending.

Worst Part: The concept. Even after it was all "explained," I still found myself thinking, "Really?"

Flickchart: #700, below Death at a Funeral and above The Witches of Eastwick.

Happy Gilmore (1996)

This movie has an entertaining premise, some funny dialogue, some good gags... you know what would make it genuinely funny? If Adam Sandler wasn't completely detestable. I told someone awhile back that I hated Adam Sandler, but when I told them the movies of his I'd seen, they protested, "Oh, well, you haven't seen the GOOD ones, then," and told me to watch this one. So I decided to give it one more shot. But, nope, turns out I really do hate him and his characters. He's so difficult to root for. If ANYBODY else had played this role, I think I would have really enjoyed this, but as it is, I spent the whole time hoping the "bad guy" would win. 1.5 stars for the movie that could have been.

Best Part: It really does have some very funny lines. I particularly liked when they were yelling rhyming threats at each other in the bar.

Worst Part: Seeing Adam Sandler get angry isn't funny. It's annoying. And there's a lot of that in this movie.

Flickchart: #1104, below Joe Versus the Volcano and above It's Complicated.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

So this is the third Bond movie I've seen, the third Bond actor I've seen, and the third I just haven't gotten into. (The other two are Goldfinger and Casino Royale, so I haven't just been watching all the mediocre ones.) But those were still above this one, which is mostly just lots of explosions and not any interesting spying moments. It's bland and forgettable. Fun story - it is SO bland and forgettable that when I took a break from watching it to hang out with someone, I couldn't remember what the name of it was. Clearly my brain decided it didn't need to retain that information, and it was pretty much right. 1 star.

Best Part: "Hold on, that's John Cleese!"

Worst Part: I just lost all interest during the action sequences. ALL interest. Meh.

Flickchart: #1402, below Start the Revolution Without Me and above Neighbors.