Identity (2003)

Most definitely the best thriller/suspense/mystery/whatever you want to call it, that I've seen so far this year. This is one brilliant movie. Although, I must warn you . . . It's not at first. At first I was watching and was all, "Erm....okayyy....this is typical slasher killer-on-the-loose movie." Except it totally isn't! I don't even know what else to say about it. It's definitely got some creepiness to it - I'm surprised my mom watched it - but is so definitely worth watching, as long as you make it all the way through. 4.5 stars.

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

I had the privilege to see this at a film festival at our community college - "classic sci-fi". This week was a double feature, Attack of the Crab Monsters and Plan 9 From Outer Space.We watched this one first and I have to say, I had a great audience to watch it with. People were yelling out comments left and right. This is a classic bad movie... The monsters don't move their legs when they walk. One monster is destroyed, the people still have no way off the island, and they all cheer like it's the end. A man's greed for oil leads him to be eaten by the crabs. The crabs swallow people's brains whole so they can now think and talk like those people. A few sailors play poker using sticks of dynamite as chips. Goodness. What else can I say about this movie? If you ever get a chance to watch it with a group of loud-mouthed mocking people, DO SO. It should be one of the most entertaining afternoons/evenings/mornings/whatever of your lifetime. 1.5 stars.

Frequency (2000)

When this first came out, several of my friends saw it and loved it, but for some reason I missed it. So now I've tracked it down and finally watched it and... er... I'm not quite sure why it was such a raved-about movie (among my acquaintances, anyway), although it was a pretty decent movie. Plot holes kept jumping out at me making me go, "Wait... wait... what?!" And I've never really been a fan of Dennis Quaid. HOWEVER... it was pretty entertaining for one viewing. I'll never watch it again, though, mostly so I can avoid that unpleasant image of the hand shriveling up. Yech. 3 stars.

Finding Neverland (2004)

Just days after seeing Shawshank, here comes my OTHER favorite movie I've seen thus far this year. This movie is pretty amazing. I'd heard it was good, figured I'd watch it and be all, "Eh... it's a biographical story, not that fascinating." I had forgotten a few things. One: That's Johnny Depp in the movie. He does a brilliant job even in not-so-brilliant movies. Secondly: It's the story of PETER PAN! One of my favorite stories of all time! And third: It involves theater, which will nearly always guarantee a good story for me. I have to admit I almost cried in this movie... no, not any of those heartfelt talks between Peter and James. No, I cried when the orphans were being led in to the theater to see Peter Pan. This truly is a magical story (much more so than that tragedy of a Peter Pan story they did in 2003). I've never liked a biographical "real life" movie so much.

I Heart Huckabees (2004)

I could see why people wouldn't like this, but I thought it was great. As I read the reviews for this, people compared it to Napoleon Dynamite in terms of "weirdness", I guess. But as Napoleon Dynamite was a weird comedy for the non-thinker, I Heart Huckabees is a weird comedy for the thinker. Of course, if you're like me and are just plain weird, then you should like them both. Huckabees remained light even in the midst of all its insane philosophical whatever-the-heck-that-was... and quotes like "You can't deal with my infinite nature, can you?" "That is so not true. Wait, what does that even mean?" keep it from looking like it's taking itself too seriously. Wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but I would recommend it to... um. I'm not sure who. But I'll think about that. 4.5 stars.

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Mostly I got this movie so I could say I'd seen it before Sarah L. I'm such a nice person, non? But I was quite pleasantly surprised on watching this movie to find that it wasn't half bad as far as romantic comedies go. In fact, it was actually pretty good. I even laughed out loud at a few bits. The characters were likeable, the plot not too stupid/sappy, and the dialogue delightful. Rather great for a chick flick. 4.5 stars.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

I was interested in this movie the moment I hear about it. It sounded absolutely fascinating, and it was. I wasn't disappointed at all. It was an intriguing concept and, although a little hard to follow chronologically, it worked out well. Oh, and one more "however" - it had a semi-happy ending but I still came away feeling like it was a pretty bleak movie. Hmm. Weird. Oh, well. Of coures that wouldn't stop me from liking it. *Grin* 3.5 stars.