The Crying Game (1992)

IMDb plot summary: A British soldier is kidnapped by IRA terrorists. He befriends one of his captors, who is drawn into the soldier's world.
Directed by Neil Jordan. Starring Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Forest Whitaker, and Miranda Richardson.

(Some spoilers ahead, although I deliberately kept it vague.)

Hmm. This was definitely an interesting one. While I'm not sure the story as a whole worked for me, I was completely fascinated by the character of Dil, who starts off as this supremely confident, unfazed-by-anything personality, only to fall apart as the story goes on and end up a slightly stalkerish person begging through their tears for their lover not to leave them. I did know about the famous plot twist before I watched it (that was a brilliantly done reveal, by the way -- maybe my favorite individual moment of the movie, although, er, it would be a really bad idea to make that my choice for my Movie Screenshots album on Facebook) but, honestly, that twist was less interesting to me in the overall arc of the story than just watching how Dil responded to the relationship. I didn't love this movie, but it was certainly well made, and it was an interesting watch.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #668 out of 2141, below Divided We Fall and above Intolerable Cruelty.

Vantage Point (2008)

IMDb plot summary: The attempted assassination of the American President is told and re-told from several different perspectives.
Directed by Pete Travis. Starring Dennis Quaid, Forrest Whitaker, Bruce McGill, and Matthew Fox.

The gimmick is the best thing about this movie, and they definitely use it to their advantage, unraveling the mystery a little at a time. The rest of the movie is OK, but not great. Most of the characters aren't given much personality or back story, which is unfortunate, because my favorite thing about multiple-viewpoint stories is getting quick glimpses into several people's lives. The final car chase scene is pretty fun, though, and it all wraps up pretty well. I wasn't blown away by it, but the gimmick kept me interested, and I moderately enjoyed it overall. 2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1077 out of 2140, below Death at a Funeral (2007) and above Sunshine (2007).

The Art of War (2000)

IMDb plot summary: Shaw is an operative for the United Nations' covert dirty-tricks squad. When a shipping container full of dead Vietnamese refugees turns up on the docks, Shaw is framed for the murder and must evade the FBI and Triad gangsters to find out what is really going on.
Directed by Christian Duguay. Starring Wesley Snipes, Marie Matiko, Anne Archer and Maury Chaykin.

Hrm. This one is hard to write about because I was so disinterested in it. It's a pretty straightforward political spy thriller, which is a tough sell to begin with, but then I was really thrown off by some awkward acting from actors I usually like OK (I'm pretty sure the Maury Chaykin was doing a Christopher Walken impression...). Just ten minutes after the movie ended, I'm struggling to remember it. Definitely not my style of movie, and it didn't do enough unique things to make me interested in it otherwise.

1 star.

Flickchart: #1799 out of 2139, below Out of the Past and above Band of Outsiders.

Inkheart (2008)

IMDb plot summary: A young girl discovers her father has an amazing talent to bring characters out of their books and must try to stop a freed villain from destroying them all, with the help of her father, her aunt, and a storybook's hero.
Directed by Iain Softley. Starring Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, and Andy Serkis.

I think I read the book of this back in high school, but I'm not entirely sure. If it's the one I'm thinking of, I had much the same reaction: that it was a potentially interesting story with flawed execution. My main issue with this is that there's no real character development. It's a fairly fun plot, but none of the non-literary characters are given much of a personality, so it's hard to invest in the story much. The actress who plays the young girl is also pretty bad, though that's balanced out some by the much more entertaining actors around her, like Jim Broadbent, Brendan Fraser, and Paul Bettany.

Nice idea, but in the end it didn't really work for me.

1.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1549 out of 2138, below The Good Doctor and above 30 Minutes or Less. This may be lower than it should be.

Eve's Bayou (1997)

IMDb plot summary: Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve's Bayou as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they've kept and the betrayals they've endured.
Directed by Kasi Lemmons. Starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Meagan Good, Samuel L. Jackson, and Lynn Whitfield.

This kept reminding me of Beasts of the Southern Wild. Both set in the same general area of the country, both seen through a child's eyes, both with an odd mix of gritty reality and fantasy. This one took me a little while to get into, but by the time the credits rolled, I was really engaged in the story. I'm not sure I'd call it amazing -- there are a few moments that veer over into melodrama and take me out of the story -- but I think it was pretty solid and I would certainly recommend it.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #573 out of 2137, below sex, lies and videotape and above Primer.

Godzilla (2014)

IMDb plot summary: The world's most famous monster is pitted against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity's scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.
Directed by Gareth Edwards. Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, and Sally Hawkins.

This is definitely a movie I'm glad I saw in theaters. The monsters look great on the big screen, and I don't think I would have been nearly as impressed watching them on my TV or my computer. In fact, the effects are engaging enough that they kept me interested throughout the whole movie. The plot itself is pretty straightforward, and none of the characters are particularly interesting, but really, in the end, it's just about watching a bunch of cool-looking monsters fight each other, and this movie delivers that very nicely.

I heard a lot of complaints that Godzilla himself isn't in the movie as much as people wanted, but the other monsters he's fighting are in there a LOT and are just as interesting to look at (possibly even more). Then when Godzilla does show up, there's more than enough action to make up for the slower build.

I'm not sure I'd want to sit down and watch this again, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as an afternoon viewing. I'd definitely recommend seeing this in theaters, though. It won't be nearly as fun anywhere else.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #621 out of 2136, below 21 Jump Street and above Signs.

Zero Charisma (2013)

IMDb plot summary: An overgrown nerd who serves as Game Master of a fantasy board game finds his role as leader of the misfits put into jeopardy when a new initiate enters the group.
Directed by Katie Graham and Andrew Matthews. Starring Sam Eidson, Brock England, Garrett Graham, and Anne Gee Byrd.

Although I do have a fondness for nerdy cinema, this one was pretty tough to sit through. Despite having one or two funny moments ("I deal in reality, not fantasy! Now let's role play!"), when it came down to it, the main character was just too unlikable and the ending too abrupt. There wasn't a character arc so much as there was just... a sudden inexplicable change in behavior, which didn't work for me at all. Knights of Badassdom is a much funnier and more enjoyable nerdy comedy from this past year.

2 stars.

Flickchart: #1381 out of 2135, below Anything Else and above 17 Miracles.