Marley and Me (2008)

This movie looked so durn gosh-all adorable in the previews that I avoided it. I mean...a puppy and Jennifer Aniston pretty much guaranteed that my gag reflex would get a work out if I watched the thing.

Well, I'm big enough to admit when I've completely misjudged. This movie is much more thoughtful and affecting than the campaign let on and it really did a number on me. Big fat tears were rolling down my cheeks and even my younger son turned into a blubbering softie (and I haven't seen that kid cry over a movie...well, ever, I'm pretty sure).

I've you've been avoiding this movie because of the cute puppy with the bow around its neck on the cover, go ahead and try it. I was surprised and I bet you will be too.

B+

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008)

Breezy, silly, inconsequential little movie about a drab, straight-laced governess getting fired and sneaking her way into a new position as a personal assistant to a flighty, promiscuous actress. Despite an almost jarring turn toward sentimentalism at the very end, this is light as a feather.

Though the actors all seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, I just couldn't get on the wavelength and it all fell flat for me.

C

Murder by Numbers (2002)

I think that if this movie would have just focused a bit more, it could've been pretty darn good. As it stands, however, the story was split between Sandra Bullock -- flinty cop who's breaking in another in a long line of partners (she's FLINTY, see?). She also lives on a houseboat (she can shove off any time, get it?) and has an abusive past (she's GOT to make sure other victims get justice, you know?).

Sigh.

The other, better, part of the film follows the two high school kids at the center of Bullock's investigation into how a dead body in the woods came to be dead. The guys are played by Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt -- two amazing actors, even at this younger age. Give this part at B+ and the bundle of cliches that is the Bullock portion a D+ and we'll average that out for a

C+

Flowers in the Attic (1987)

Oh my word -- what a terrible movie. All of the acting was wooden and the storytelling inept. It's one of those "how did so and so ever get hired for anything else after this debacle??" wastes of time.

Doesn't even have the distinction of being a potential guilty pleasure as the movie has been stripped of all of the "guilty" things that made the book all the rage when I was in 7th grade, passing the broken spined paperback on to the next girl as soon as we were finished gulping it down in just one weekend as we thrilled in hiding it from our parents, teachers, and younger siblings. Leaving out the seedy bits, especially the brother/sister incest that was the "hook" of the book (for us junior-highers anyway) -- was, not too surprisingly, a huge mistake.

F

Run Fatboy Run (2008)

The plot should be familiar to anyone who's watched more than a few romantic comedies: Shlubby loser (in this case, Simon Pegg) blows it with the perfect girl (Thandie Newton) and tries to woo her back before she winds up with Mr. Right (Hank Azaria) who is, secretly, a real ass.

I do wish they'd made Azaria's character a little less despicable. Wouldn't it be nice if the girl would, for once, simply choose the good-hearted loser based on love rather than being PUSHED back to him by a loathsome jerk? Eh, I guess then it'd just be predictable in a different way.

Nothing new here, but somehow manages to squeeze out some charm nonetheless.

B-

Mad Money (2008)

No, it's not a masterpiece, but it IS lot of fun. Just the thing after a headache-inducing day. I just sat back and let the silly wash over me.

B

The Ruins (2008)

OK -- I know that this is far from high praise -- but I didn't hate this movie and I truly expected to.

I'd read the book a couple years back and was sufficiently scared, if not blown away, by it. When I'd seen the previews for this film, I was immediately annoyed by a couple of big discrepancies: switching a huge storyline for one character (cutting relentlessly at his own flesh) to be the obsession of another character -- a female one at that. Also, the book takes place on a kind of hill -- not on an actual Mayan structure, as the movie did. The first and last acts particularly pale in comparison.

Still, on its own merits, the movie's not horrible. Don't think I'm saying it's any good, though. It's just a kind of B-movie, not bothering with the character development and internal fears that made the book so compelling.

C+

Coraline (2009)

I'd read the book and this, unnecessarily, mucked with it.

The movie's Coraline, voiced petulantly by Fanning, came off as a brat from the first scene and her parents were more crabby than the simply overworked/tired ones I'd met in the book. The worlds on both sides of the door had a real meanness making the whole shebang feel aggressive and hopeless. Surprisingly, the only thing I thought really deserved praise was the voice work by Teri Hatcher -- an actress I generally think of as lucky to have a career.

The movie does, indeed, look great, but that gets old pretty quick when not in service of a great story.

C-

Watchmen (2009)

Refused to drag, despite its length. I was engaged throughout and this, frankly, surprised me. I hadn't minded waiting for the DVD release because I was quite sure it wouldn't be my kind of movie!

I was especially impressed with the camera work during the fight scenes. It's become such common practice to have the lens whirling around as though it were attached to one of the combatants' fists that, although it's a pet peeve, it's one I've kind of resigned myself to enduring. I applaud the decision here to pull the camera outside of the action, making it possible to actually SEE the ballet of the fight.

Beautifully made film.

A-

What Just Happened (2008)

I was thinking after viewing this that though it reminded me of Wag the Dog (an "inside a political campaign" ridicuthon), this "inside Hollywood" version can't hold a candle to it. It seemed as if the idea was stolen from the first film and set in a different world but without the freshness the first outing had.

The funny this is that I hadn't remembered Robert De Niro starred in Wag the Dog and I'd probably never known that Barry Levinson served as director. That they filled the same roles in this new film just furthers the "trying to capture past glory" theory. They didn't succeed.

C