If I Were King (1938)

Ronald Colman is great as poet-ruffian Francois Villon, who murders a man…who just happened to be a traitor to France. The King decides to reward him for the service of ridding him of a turncoat by giving him a title and an elevated position in court. He also decides to sentence him to death for murder -- sentence to be carried out in one week.

Fast-paced and charming, for the most part. Rathbone seems to be channeling the Wicked Witch of the West for his scenes as the King...but it's fine anyway.

C+

Winged Migration (2003)

Breathtaking documentary which simply lets us follow several different species of birds as they migrate. We see them in amazing, up-close detail; we fly beside them. Could have gotten a little redundant, but the run-time is quite short and these birds are truly extraordinary.

B-

How the West Was Won (1963)

All over the place. Spans about 50 years or so and follows several story lines -- too bad none of them are very good. In serious need of an editor.

D

The Bridge (2000)

Married woman starts sleeping with another man while her husband is away on a construction job. A film that seems emotionally distant from the subject -- things happen, but don't seem to really matter. There's a real coldness to the proceedings, as though all passion was excised in post-production.

C-

The Jolson Story (1946)

Just fine rise-to-the-top biography. Way too long, but still works, for the most part. The story line that left me scratching my head was his marriage to "Julie Benson" (why they didn't just call her "Ruby Keeler," I don't know…). Had these people never heard the concept of compromise? Either he's working every minute and his wife wants to leave or he's going cold-turkey and he's depressed as hell. Made no sense to me, but I guess that's show biz.

B-

The Endurance (2001)

It's hard to be a great movie when depending on panned static images for 75% of the run time, but this film nearly pulls it off. The images (especially the actual filmed segments) are riveting and the story compelling. I don't claim to understand those who court death as the men on this expedition did, but I am impressed despite myself! Shackleton comes off as a great leader and an even better man.

B+

Finding Nemo (2003)

Good - not great. This film looks fantastic and is sweet-natured, but it's really nothing to get as worked up about as the rest of America would have you believe. Toy Story did the rescue story-line so much better.

Still, it's a charmer and Ellen Degeneres shines in her role.

B+

The Recruit (2003)

Really not worth the time. Some of the training scenes were interesting -- but there were far too few of them and I really didn't buy the relationship between Farrell & Moynahan. Pacino's speeches in the last scene were waaaaaay over the top.

C+