All the King's Men (2006)

Hmm. I have to say I was hoping for a bit more than this. Although everyone turned in wonderful performances (in a movie set in the south, most of the lead actors are British... amusing), the whole movie felt a bit flat. It was a good film, but it wasn't a great one. 3 stars.

Radio Days (1987)

You know what's great about Woody Allen's movies? I seldom find them uproariously funny, but the dialogue is always fascinating. Clever, witty, and just fascinating to listen to. This movie sort of meanders through the childhood of a boy growing up during the days of radio, but it's quite a delightful watch, with some truly amusing moments and, as I said, some great dialogue. I doubt I'll remember it very much, but certainly a worthwhile watch. 3.5 stars.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting from this movie, but this... wasn't it. It's billed primarily as a comedy, but... it never felt like one. I'm not simply complaining that it wasn't funny, it didn't even feel it was *trying* to be in most places, after the first... oh, 25 minutes or so. Odd. Not a bad movie at all, but I can't come to much of a solid conclusion on it because I was so confused by it. So I suppose it gets a star rating somewhere in the middle. 3 stars.

Analyze This (1999)

This had some good moments that made me smile, but overall my thought was "This should've been much better than it is." It's a good premise, and somehow the individual moments didn't work very well. Lisa Kudrow's character was so underdeveloped that she just felt out of place whenever she did anything that sort of hinted at a personality. Billy Crystal's long monologue at the meeting is incredibly unfunny. And it's sad, because this movie could have been hilarious. However, as I said, there are some very good moments, and it really isn't as bad as I'm making it out to be. Just disappointing given what I was hoping for. 2.5 stars.

Mozart and the Whale (2005)

I'm not going to claim this is a great movie... but I *really* enjoyed it. As far as a romance story by itself, it's not really that interesting. The story hits all the traditional highs and lows of a movie romance, with pretty much all the same conflicts and resolutions as every other romance movie.

What makes this movie interesting is the characters. Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell do a superb job of portraying these two people. I really connected to both of the characters, especially his. Although I don't have Asperger's, I am socially awkward and very much connect with movies about people who don't always know the right thing to say and have a zinger for every situation. So even if it wasn't a *fantastic* movie, I connected to it in a superemotional way and therefore give it a high rating. 4.5 stars.

Inherit the Wind (1960)

This really was quite a well-done movie. A little over-the-top at times, but all of the key actors do a marvelous job in their roles. I especially liked Fredric March, who plays the "enemy" with sympathy, although he cares more about winning than he does about the people around him, much as he pretends. Nicely done. 3.5 stars.

The Shining (1980)

This was a fun movie, quite creepy, had some very effective moments... but I do have one complaint. (By the way, I also have no idea how this compares to the book, since I haven't read it.) I think it tried to do too much. It tried to pack too many sideplots in there, and I don't think they complemented each other all that well.

(Slight spoilers ahead.) There was a little boy who sees things. Fine, that's a great plot, and done very effective when it was focused on that. And we also had the plot of the father going crazy. Fine, that's also a good plot, and that was also very well done. (Jack Nicholson = CREEPY even when playing a "nice guy.") But all the stuff with the ghosts of the people of the hotel... Hmm. It felt like overkill. It felt like they couldn't decide which of these to focus on, so they decided to go for ALL of them. Two of them could have worked together - the little boy seeing things works beautifully with either of those plots, and even the last two would work well together (the ghosts show up and drive him nuts). But all of them together ... didn't really connect. I would have been significantly happier if they had dropped at least one of those subplots and just chosen to focus the movie's energy and tension on the others. I liked this movie, but I think it could have been better. 4 stars.