Friends With Money (2006)

This flick was intriguing, in that it went from boring to good back to boring again. One or two of the characters were interesting (Frances McDormand's character rang very true for me) but then didn't really go anywhere. Was this movie trying to say something? Was it trying to make a point? If so, I couldn't find it. Nothing got resolved, but the movie ended with the clear message of "Now we've resolved it all." Perhaps much of this comes down to the fact that I don't care for Jennifer Aniston as an actress. I just never find her believable. Her character seemed to the pivotal one, the one who found true happiness at the end, whose story I was supposed to feel got resolved. Mostly I just felt bored by her and confused by everyone else. Too bad, because there was a moment or two of really interesting stuff in here. 2.5 stars.

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

To be honest, I was hoping for something slightly snappier. I'd heard that Sturges was a wonderful writer of dialogue and hoped that even where I wasn't enjoying the story, that the dialogue would carry me along. This was the case much less often than I was hoping for. Still, it's an interesting movie, and quite entertaining for watching one time through. There are too many moments where the momentum sort of stops for me to have really loved it, though. It liked to swing from zany comedy to fairly dull drama. Meh. 3 stars.

The Lake House (2006)

Keanu Reeves is not my favorite actor, and while Sandra Bullock is a good actress, she tends to pick unfortunate projects. (Miss Congeniality 2 should NEVER have happened. Come to think of, the first one wasn't anything to brag about either.) But I ended up sitting down and watching this... and probably would have liked it a lot more if I was a chick flick fan. As it was, it was difficult for me to get past the glaring nonsensical plotholes (I kept going "What? That doesn't work that way!") and the occasional IDIOCY of the characters (at one point I actually did yell at the screen, "You stupid girl! Just flippin' look him up in 2006!") However, it had a fairly decent, satisfying ending, and really not all that bad an execution. If they'd tightened up the script a bit more, figured out the plotholes, and made the characters smarter... it could have been a decent flick. 3 stars.

Metropolis (1927)

Silent movies are often looked down on as being boring, or silly, or melodramatic. (People who say that must not have actually watched many films of today either. Heh.) The story and acting are less interesting here than is the technical aspect. I watched a portion of this in my film appreciation class, but I think even without that background I would have enjoyed this. It's fascinating how much modern cinema has borrowed from this movie. It's full of methods of framing and special effects that are really amazing, considering they were from 1927. The overexaggerated acting and the lack of sound was really the only thing that made me remember that this was a 1920's film - it felt more like a sci-fi thriller of the 1940's. Fascinating stuff, although I'm not sure I'd sit down and watch it solely for entertainment. 3.5 stars.

Jaws (1975)

One of the classic thrillers of our time. Fascinating in that it managed to build an atmosphere of suspense without constant gore or needless spring-loaded cats. Most of this movie is about the process of catching the shark, more than "OH MY GOSH IT'S A SHARK WATCH OUT!", which, honestly, is what I think makes a movie more effective. Look at Psycho. The majority of that movie was a simple murder mystery, no horror or gore... which made the few, sudden moments of terror all the more shocking. I wouldn't put Jaws on the same plane as Psycho - the in-between bits were much less interesting - but I'm glad I took the time to watch it. 3.5 stars.

Hairspray (1988)

When I saw the show on Broadway, I loved it. When I ssaw it on film, I only liked it. Now, I realize the film doesn't have the added bonus of wonderful songs like "Timeless To Me," but it also was much bleaker than the musical. Not necessarily in what happened, but in... hmm. The setting was a part of it. In a few places this made it even funnier (I laughed out loud at Penny and her mother a few times, a few black moments in here that don't appear in the show), but in other ways I just thought, "Hmm. That doesn't feel right." The moments I enjoyed the most were the ones that kept the same cheery optimism as the musical does. It's still fun, it's still silly... But if you have a chance to see the show, go do that instead. 3.5 stars.

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

This was not on my list to see, but then it was mentioned in an episode of All Movie Talk (I plug it again: www.allmovietalk.com - go there! *grin*) and sounded interesting, so I went out and picked it up. The first fifteen minutes made me think, "Erm, okay. Well, they said it got better, so let's see." And then all of a sudden it was kicked into high gear and I kept cracking up laughing. Lots of true laugh-out-loud moments, although unfortunately it's mingled with quite a few "okay, let's get to the good parts" moments. Really an interesting movie, and definitely one worth watching, although not one I ever would have picked up on my own. 3.5 stars.