Rambo (2008)

IMDb plot summary: In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.
Directed by Sylvester Stallone. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, and Graham McTavish.

(Some spoilers.)

Of the Rambo movies, I've only seen First Blood, and while I didn't really get into it, I admired it for being essentially an anti-violence movie in violence-movie trappings. It explored some deep themes. This one... meh. Not so much. It's disconcerting to me that they set up the key thematic conflict as being the Christian missionaries' pacifism vs. the mercenaries'... well, mercenary-ness, and then essentially ends on the pro-violence side. Sure, there's a hint at the end that Rambo himself may find some closure... but for the most part the movie's message is disturbing, especially knowing the focus of the first one.

That being said, the story was engaging and interesting to watch, though, as expected, I did lose a lot of interest once the action scenes took over. However, Rambo himself is a pretty intriguing character for the first half. So kudos to it for that.

2 stars.

Flickchart: #1577 out of 2213, below Sahara and above Howl's Moving Castle.

Tears of the Sun (2003)

IMDb plot summary: A Special-Ops commander leads his team into the Nigerian jungle in order to rescue a doctor who will only join them if they agree to save 70 refugees too.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Starring Bruce Willis, Monica Bellucci, Cole Hauser, and Eamonn Walker.

(Some minor spoilers.)

I understand and appreciate what this movie was trying to do. It has a good premise and could have been very powerful. My main problem, however, is that even with a 2-hour runtime, none of the characters get all that much development. Even Bruce Willis doesn't offer us much aside from the "good guy hero," and when his team of soldiers agree to go with him to escort the refugees, we're really not given any reason for their decision. We barely see the characters interact with each other on a personal level, and that undercuts the impact the movie could have had here. For a movie that stresses the importance of seeing individuals as human, not commodities or "packages," everyone is kept oddly at arms length, leaving me feeling very cold toward everyone. The themes involved are too powerful to be just swept aside in favor of long shootouts, but, unfortunately, that's exactly what happens.

1.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1730 out of 2212, below Top Gun and above The Forgotten.

Titanic (1997)

IMDb plot summary: A seventeen-year-old aristocrat, expecting to be married to a rich claimant by her mother, falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
Directed by James Cameron. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, and Frances Fisher.

(Spoilers ahead about who dies, though I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who hadn't watched this movie yet.)

Yes, this is actually the first time I've ever seen this movie. And I think it deserves about half the hype it gets.

There is no denying that this movie looks incredible. Especially in the second half of the movie when chaos ensues, the effects and the visuals are incredibly powerful. This is one that I *do* think would be even more impressive in the theater. It was impressive to me just on my little laptop screen. Watching the ship slowly sink is fascinating for a full hour and a half. Scenes like the lifeboats slowly weaving their way through hundreds of dead bodies can't help but stick with you. For that alone, this movie was worth watching.

That being said, though... I was really not drawn into the story of Rose and Jack. It's a VERY traditional story and it doesn't really do anything to make it stand out for the first hour and a half. The central characters themselves aren't terribly well-crafted, which is unfortunate, because ALL the side characters are more interesting. It makes me really wish the scriptwriters had gone for more of an ensemble film style, forgetting the flashback aspect and just focusing on a bunch of different characters and their stories. I could have gotten behind 20-25 minutes of Jack/Rose subplot, but I was not nearly interested enough in them to spend a full 3 hours being sad about their tragic fate.

I did think the scene with Jack's death was handled well. Given the melodramatic nature of the rest of the movie, I expected there to be a much more overblown death scene, but... there wasn't. She just wakes up and realizes he's gone, says goodbye, and lets him go. It was subtle, dignified, and didn't make me roll my eyes -- which was good, I wanted to care about that moment. The overhead visual of his body sinking out of sight into the ocean was also a beautiful choice -- really emphasized the "he's gone forever" permanence in a heartbreaking way. That was the one moment in which I cared about them the most.

This is a heartbreaking movie when it comes to painting the enormous scope of the tragedy. It does a great job of making you really FEEL how many people lost their lives there. It's not so impressive when it comes to the personal love story. About halfway through, I complained to Jacob, "I'm just waiting impatiently for the boat to sink so SOMETHING interesting will happen."

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #908 out of 2211, below Holiday Inn and above The Other Boleyn Girl.

Labor Day (2013)

IMDb plot summary: Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited.
Directed by Jason Reitman. Starring Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith and Tobey Maguire.

(Very mild spoilers about the overall plot.)

I'm not sure I get the hate for this movie. It's not my favorite Reitman by any means, but it's not a bad movie. Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin are fairly engaging characters, even if their romance does seem a little unbelievable. One other major setback is that the flashback scenes are not handled well. I'm assuming they were Brolin's character's flashbacks but that was never explained, and they frequently showed up in scenes where the little kid was walking around alone, leading me to wonder if he was somehow flashing *forward* in his own life, which just made no sense at all. Aside from those awkward moments, though, it's a decent little story, and I thought it was interesting to watch.

3 stars.

Flickchart: #950 out of 2210, below The Secret of NIMH and above Kiki's Delivery Service.

Don't Drink the Water (1994)

IMDb plot summary: Somewhere behind the early 1960s cold-war iron curtain, the Hollander family cause an international spying incident when Walter photographs a sunset in a sensitive region. In order to stay out of jail, the Hollanders take refuge in the American Embassy, which is temporarily being run by the absent Ambassador's diplomatically incompetent son, Axel.
Directed by Woody Allen. Starring Michael J. Fox, Woody Allen, Julie Kavner, and Mayim Bialik.

Oh, I do love Woody Allen comedies quite a lot. His writing is just so much fun, with a great combination of witty wordplay, clever aphorisms, and just outrageous absurdity. While this wasn't my favorite thing he's ever done, I got plenty of laughs out of it. Even though it was filmed in the later part of his career, it was based on a play he wrote in the 1960s, and you can tell -- its comedic style is much more along the lines of his earlier, goofier movies. Dom DeLuise was possibly my favorite character, though, as the well-intentioned priest who likes to do magic but is very bad at it. It's not going to go down in history as a great movie, but I enjoyed it and I'd happily watch it again someday.

3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #590 out of 2209, below The Glass Menagerie and above Is It Fall Yet?

Planet of the Apes (1968)

IMDb plot summary: An astronaut crew crash lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans.

(Spoilerish hints at the ending.)

Even though I already knew the famous twist ending going into this one, I was delighted to find it was incredibly engaging all the way through -- and I'm not exactly sure why. It did a lot of things that *should* have irritated me or made me roll my eyes, but somehow I was just able to suspend disbelief and get wrapped up in the story. I loved watching Taylor's attempts to communicate with the apes at first, and I was fascinated with the ape lore and culture. Sure, it was cheesy and weird at times, but it managed to make that part of its charm instead of making it feel too awkward. And that final ending was surprisingly powerful even though I knew it was coming -- that is one I wish I hadn't known about, because it was handled beautifully and I think it would have been a very cool moment.

4 stars.

Flickchart: #540 out of 2208, below The Red Violin and above Pretty Woman.

Lost in America (1985)

IMDb plot summary: A husband and wife in their 30s decide to quit their jobs, live as free spirits and cruise America in a Winnebago.
Directed by Albert Brooks. Starring Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty, Michael Green, and Gary Marshall.

(Spoilers about the ending.)

I've seen a couple other Albert Brooks movies before, and the word I always come back to in describing them is "pleasant." And this is that as well. It's a quiet, mellow little movie with quiet, mellow little humor that doesn't particularly excite me but it doesn't distress me either. It's an enjoyable watch. I do have to say, though, that I really enjoyed the subversive ending of this movie. So many "we're going to risk it all and run off to find ourselves" movies end the same way. I really enjoyed seeing it just all go down the drain and leave them wishing they'd never taken a chance in the first place. It just made me smile. Other than that, it's a pretty forgettable movie, but certainly not one I regret seeing at all. I had a good time.

3 stars.

Flickchart: #912 out of 2207, below The Avengers and above Unbreakable. That's fun that it's sandwiched in between two superhero movies.