Take Shelter (2011)

I loved Michael Shannon in Bug, and I love him in this. As the story progresses and I saw him alternatively giving in to the compulsions he felt and trying to explain them away, I really came to care about that character. Jessica Chastain does an amazing job in her role as well - in fact, pretty much all the acting in this movie is fantastic. The ending is left a little more ambiguous than I'd have liked in the context of this particular story, but, you know what, it didn't really matter because everything else in the movie was so powerful, it would have taken a lot for the ending to ruin the rest of the movie for me. 4.5 stars.

Best Part: The scene where she's begging him to open the shelter door. So tense.
Worst Part: As I said, I'm not quite sure about the ending. It left me uneasy. But that's my only real complaint.

Flickchart: #286, below Sense and Sensibility and above Music & Lyrics. So, uh, sandwiched in between two Hugh Grant movies.

Interstate 60: Episodes of the Road (2002)

15 minutes into this movie, I was completely befuddled. What kind of movie were they trying to make? Its set up is reminiscent of a 1960s live action Disney movie, but it clearly wasn't made for children. It's awkward and cliched and cheesy and bizarre... and yet it has an inexplicable charm. Even as I was yelling, "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? THAT PART DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE!" I was kind of rooting for it. Part of that has to do with the fact that James Marsden makes a great hero, even when he's surrounded by nonsense. I ended up kind of liking this movie in spite of itself. Would I recommend it? Oh, heck no. It's sometimes painfully awkward to watch. But am I glad I watched it? ...Kind of.

Best Part: I was kind of captivated by the story featuring the mother chasing her son into the drug city. It's bizarre and awful, but definitely something I will remember.
Worst Part: All the mysterious saging around (and that's "saging," as in a pretend verb form of "sage") Christopher Lloyd and Gary Oldman do got real old, real fast. The movie became much more interesting when they weren't in it.

Flickchart: #836, below Amazing Grace and above The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Never Let Me Go (2010)

I hesitate to say much about the plot here, because it's only revealed a little bit at a time, and it was a good 40 minutes in before I *really* realized the extent of what was going on, and I'd hate to alter that experience for anyone. So I will just say this is an incredible little story about humanity and love and life. The casting choices were interesting, as well... the three main characters were played by two actors who I find incredibly engaging in everything they do and one who I nearly always despise. But Keira Knightley's smug demeanor works *for* her in this movie, and the three of them work together to form an incredibly interesting group of characters. I'm not even sure where to go with this review right now, because while I have all these emotional reactions to the movie, they're hard to articulate. I'm afraid this is going to be one of my less coherent movie blogs. I will have to try and revisit this again sometime. 4 stars.

Best Part: Andrew Garfield plays the most wonderful awkward introvert characters of all time. Between this and Boy A, I'm more than a little in love with him.
Worst Part: While the beginning and end of the movie are beautiful and fascinating, the middle part is a little bit more difficult to be interested in.

Flickchart: #291, below After the Fox and above M. Butterfly.

In the Mood For Love (2000)

Parts of this I really loved. I liked the slow build of the relationship between the characters, and I loved a lot of the little scenes with them interacting. But then the ending happened... and it wasn't that I didn't find the *plot* satisfying, but I didn't like the way it told the story. What had been an intimate, quiet, very personal story suddenly zoomed out and focused on things happening outside of the few characters we knew. It just didn't work for me, and the mood the movie had so slowly and carefully put together just fell apart for me. 3 stars.

Best Part: I really loved the scene where she rehearses confronting her husband. Very moving and sad.
Worst Part: That ending.
Flickchart: #765, below The Descendants and above The Glass Menagerie.

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

I'm not generally interested in stories about crime, but I was kind of fascinated by the psychology of these characters. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty play a very interesting couple, and even when I wasn't interested in the actual *plot* of the movie, their interactions were extremely interesting. I also liked the simplicity of the movie, especially when it came to the ending. It told the story very matter-of-factly, without glitzing it up as much as I thought they might. Well done. 3.5 stars.

Best Part: As said above, the characters of Bonnie and Clyde.
Worst Part: I didn't really care for any of the other characters. Definitely didn't grip me, and whenever the story focused on them I kind of got bored and tuned out.
Flickchart: #807, below Misery and above Batman.

Ward 13 (2003)

A fascinating little claymation horror movie. It has a nice mix of horror and humor, as well as some extremely creative visuals (my favorite was the mad wheelchair chase through the hospital - incredible to watch!). I'm not doing a best/worst part because the movie is short enough that I'm only really comfortable reviewing it as a whole. And, as a whole, it's great fun. Nicely done. 4 stars.

The Edge of Heaven (2007)

I really liked this movie as I watched it, but I just have this sense that it's not going to stick with me beyond today, so my overall opinion of it may go down over time. It's a good story with interesting characters, though, and I especially liked how they handled the ending. I'm just not sure how much it stands out in comparison to other dramas. Pretty solid watch, though. 3 stars.

Best Part: I liked seeing all the different people's paths intermingle.
Worst Part: I really didn't care for the chapter titles occasionally interspersed throughout. I felt like they added very little and mostly were just distracting to my overall enjoyment of the movie.

Flickchart: #774, below Outbreak and above Nacho Libre.