Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001)

This movie was beautiful. Visually, thematically, plotwise... everything was just gorgeous. It managed to perfectly manage that delicate balance between "Ooh, artsy, visually interesting stuff!" and actually being satisfying as far as a movie story goes. Definitely one of the most stunning movies I've seen in awhile. I highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Well, this was pretty fun. Nothing fantastic, but it did have a few good moments, particularly in the last half hour of the movie. I felt it was a little slow to get going, but once it did it was consistently entertaining to the end of the flick. Fun for a lightweight evening's entertainment. 3.5 stars.

Pretty Woman (1990)

As far as romantic comedies go, this one is pretty good. I was never blown away by it at any point, didn't even get particularly attached to the characters, but it was a solid story told well. Definitely worth watching if you're a fan of Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, or romantic comedies in general. 3.5 stars.

Fargo (1996)

This should have been much better than it was. The Coen brothers have put out a lot of very good films, but for some reason this just didn't work for me. The plot kind of went around in circles, the best character didn't show up until halfway through, I found it neither very funny nor very thrilling. The best part was hearing all those North Dakotaisms again. "Don't you know." "You bet." That was pretty fun, but overall, I was pretty disappointed with this. Not my favorite of the Coens'. 2.5 stars.

Death to Smoochy (2002)

I saw about 20 minutes of this on TV and was intrigued, so I went out and rented it. The first half of it was more interesting than the second, where everything went just a little too far over-the-top for me. Also, the conclusion didn't quite fit... but the movie was pretty amusing. Robin Williams' character was sometimes too zany, but sometimes hilarious. Edward Norton's idealistic character did make me laugh quite a lot. ("Honestly, I have to say that there were times when I felt my voice wasn't being heard.") Definitely had some good moments, although not a perfect flick. If you're into dark comedy, it's worth a watch. 4 stars.

High Noon (1952)

I saw this ages ago but didn't remember it at all. Really well-done flick. I don't enjoy westerns as a whole, but this one managed to draw me into the action. Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are both wonderful in their roles, neither of them play up the western movie stereotypes. Beautiful ending as well. Very... stark. But very fitting for the movie as a whole. I don't think I'll look back at this movie thinking, "Oh my gosh, that was good," but I definitely think it was. 3.5 stars.

Hotel Rwanda (2004)

Another one of those movies that I admire greatly but didn't actually enjoy watching. It's very well done, tells the story well, good acting, good pacing... everything about it works well. I don't think I'd ever want to watch it again, but I'd recommend it to others, especially if you like this movie genre. 3.5 stars.