V/H/S (2012)

IMDb plot summary: When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.

Meh. This is a pretty mediocre collection of shorts, and the found footage format makes most of it unintentionally confusing. I had to actually go and look up the plot on Wikipedia after I finished because I was so confused about what was happening. The individual stories are pretty generic and uninteresting (though I did enjoy parts of the video chat-based one, even though the ending was completely ridiculous), and together they seem thematically redundant and awkward. I was not impressed with this one.

1 star.

Flickchart: #1708 out of 2165, below Stardust Memories and above Miracle on 34th Street (1994).

Cropsey (2009)

IMDb plot summary: Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true; two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.
Directed by Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman.

Documentaries are always difficult for me to review. This was definitely an interesting story, but part of the difficulty with narrative-based documentaries is that it's hard to have interesting or satisfying resolution. That is absolutely the case here, where the basics of the story are explained in the first few minutes and then re-explained in greater detail through the rest of the movie, ending exactly where it started. Theories are tossed around, people share opinions, but when the answer to everything is basically "nobody really knows what's going on," you end with essentially just the same information you had in the first 10-15 minutes.

I don't know enough about the documentary format to analyze the movie objectively and authoritatively, but I can say what I felt about it: I found it repetitive and surprisingly boring by about half an hour in. Disappointing.

2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1144 out of 2164, below Swing Kids and above Our Idiot Brother.

Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut (2012)

IMDb plot summary: In 2009, Casey Pugh asked thousands of Internet users to remake "Star Wars: A New Hope" into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.

Directed by Casey Pugh.

This movie was... much more work to watch than I expected. While some of the segments were creative and fun, a lot more of them were just uninteresting recreations of the scene with no props or costumes. Fortunately, each segment only lasted a few seconds, so on lame segments it was easy to wait until the next one and hope I'd like it better.

Where the movie did finally succeed, though, was in the recreation of the attack on the Death Star. Something about watching so many Star Wars fans working together to fight the same cinematic battle felt... fun and exciting, kind of like being at a fan convention. By the time it finally finished, I was enjoying myself, but I feel no need to ever go back and rewatch it when I can just watch A New Hope instead.

2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1168 out of 2163, below The Deer Hunter and above The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Lucky Number Slevin (2006)

IMDb plot summary: A case of mistaken identity lands Slevin into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city's most rival crime bosses: The Rabbi and The Boss. Slevin is under constant surveillance by relentless Detective Brikowski as well as the infamous assassin Goodkat and finds himself having to hatch his own ingenious plot to get them before they get him.
Directed by Paul McGuigan. Starring Josh Hartnet, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, and Morgan Freeman.

(Some spoilers ahead.)

I was really surprised by this. Crime movies usually don't do anything for me, but this was a funny, entertaining story with a great cast -- Josh Hartnett especially brought a lot of charm to the role. The twist genuinely surprised me, which doesn't happen very often, and I found the ending very satisfying. This is another example of a movie I'd never have watched on my own but really ended up enjoying.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #660 out of 2162, below Panic Room and above Le samourai.

Swing Kids (1993)

IMDb plot summary: The story of a close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany who listen to banned swing music from the US. Soon dancing and fun leads to more difficult choices as the Nazis begin tightening the grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival.
Directed by Thomas Carter. Starring Robert Sean Leonard, Christian Bale, Frank Whaley, and Barbara Hershey.

(Mild spoilers about the ending.)

This is a nice idea, and I'm never going to complain about dance numbers in the middle of my movies, but this movie is... lacking something. Robert Sean Leonard and Christian Bale are both interesting characters, but somehow I'm not sold on their story. I'm still not sure I can point to exactly what didn't work for me (aside from the ending, which was melodramatic and unbelievable in how it played out). I just know that it's not sticking in my mind at all even just a few days after having seen it.

2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1142 out of 2161, below The Princess Diaries and above Our Idiot Brother.

Adam (2009)

IMDb plot summary: Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Directed by Max Mayer. Starring Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, and Amy Irving.

(Mild spoilers ahead about the ending.)

I was hesitant through most of this movie. I have a LOT of good friends with varying levels of Asperger's Syndrome or social disorders, and I worried this movie would either 1) paint them as incapable of having relationships at all, OR 2) play the "love makes every relationship super easy, even magically fixing mental and physical problems" card. Fortunately, it veered away from that and ended on a very satisfying note. Adam is a great character -- very easy to root for -- and most of Beth's interactions with him rang very true. It's no Mozart and the Whale, but it's a pretty solid story, and I enjoyed it.

3 stars.

Flickchart: #814 out of 2160, below I'm a Cyborg But That's OK and above The Man Who Wasn't There.

Away We Go (2009)

IMDb plot summary: A couple who is expecting their first child travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.
Directed by Sam Mendes. Starring John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph.

I'm not sure I entirely *got* this movie, but I think I liked it. Each set of characters was interesting in a different way, just as a road trip movie should be. The movie's sense of humor was just perfect -- subtle but very real. Where I felt like it fell down a little was in crafting our main characters. Despite giving the minor characters interesting and complex characterization, I struggle to understand the main two for the majority of the flick. This is one that may deserve a rewatch someday, though, because I feel like a second viewing really might clear things up. Conclusion: Liked it, didn't love it.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #627 out of 2159, below Shaolin Soccer and above Guys and Dolls.