Titanic (1997)

I've never been as in awe of this film as every other female who saw this in its theatrical run...I mean, I didn't swoon over the love story or go back to see it again and again.

I do like it, though. This was the third time I've seen it and it holds up in excitement value. It still boggles my mind, though, that Kate Winslet (who gives a somewhat stiff performance which lets slip her English accent every so often) and Gloria Stuart (who does merely an adequate job) got nominations while Leonardo DiCaprio and Kathy Bates, who were so naturally vibrant, were ignored.

B+

Melinda and Melinda (2005)

The set-up is reminiscent of Broadway Danny Rose -- friends at a restaurant start talking and we see their conversation play out as a movie. In BDR, the story was a favorite anecdote about a talent agent and his most famous client. In M&M, a set-up is given and two playwrights, one comedic & one dramatic, take turns fleshing it out in their particular genre.

It's an interesting idea and I really liked the way that some elements wound up in both "plays," as I imagine would occur with stories being told aloud, each incorporating bits admired in the other's take on the material. But, since the set-up basically said "the people you're seeing are fictional," it held us from getting involved in either story and they wound up feeling like what they were: skeletal stories forcing one of two outcomes: happy Melinda or sad Melinda.

I also wish that some actor would be brave enough to interpret the "Woody Allen" part in a Woody Allen film differently than Woody would himself. It's almost torturous to watch Will Ferrell -- a very limited actor -- try an impersonation of the master of humorous angst.

C+

American Psycho (2000)

IMDb categorizes this film as Crime/Drama/Horror, but I think it's intended as a comedy.

I don't know why I was so nervous about watching this movie. I've been putting it off for, literally, years. I like to be scared, but there was something about the clips I'd seen that made me uncomfortable beyond reason. I wound up watching it in the morning while Gary was also at home (so I'd be completely safe).

So, here's the joke: our "hero" believes that there's something about him that's not quite the same as the others around him. He's unfulfilled in his job, can't stand his fiancé, and rather loathes his friends. He's obsessive about body care, protective of his furniture, owns all the right clothes, puts importance on tasteful business cards and reservations, and hates it when anyone has anything better than he. Basically...he's exactly the same as everyone else. But, because he doesn't think he fits in, he acts out. Flamboyantly.

Very interesting denouement. I know my interpretation, but I'm curious as to whether I'm right.

B-

Dear Frankie (2005)

The film opens with a single mother making another in an, apparently, long string of moves with her deaf son and mother in tow. The son writes and receives regular replies from his "father" -- away at sea for several years. It's spoiling nothing to say that it's actually his mother collecting the letters and responding to her son and that she soon finds herself in trouble when the ship Frankie believes his father to be on is scheduled to dock in their coastal town.

This films unfolds beautifully. We find out what we need to know when we need to know it -- there's not a withholding of information for shock value nor is there a ruining of the storytelling by giving us too much too soon. We root for this mother, this son, this family. As the credits rolled, I was filling in the "and then" portion of the story...just hoping I'm right.

A-

Peeping Tom (1961)

Today I had one of those headaches...the kind that might be a migraine or it might be an aneurysm. It was making me dizzy and sick to my stomach and, as this film played quietly on the TV, all I could think was "This is the last movie I'm ever gonna see? Gah!" I'm glad I'm feeling better...this being my last movie on earth would be even worse than eating liver and brussel sprouts as my last meal on death row.

So. There's this aspiring filmmaker who was tortured by his father -- a biologist studying and filming the effects of fear on a growing child -- and is now frightening and filming ladies as he kills them. I've never understood people who were abused thinking it's a good idea to abuse others...I mean, they know better than anyone else what a horrible idea it is. Still, I can't quibble with the evidence that it happens all the time, so I won't complain about the theory behind the madness of the leading man. I can, however, complain about the film as a work of art. But I don't really think it's worth the effort.

D

A Woman of Affairs (1928)

Garbo is stunning as the much-gossipped-about title woman. The story's about as melodramatic as can be, but downplayed nicely by the cast. One of those "sacrifices made in the name of true love" films - and, hey, I'm a sucker for those.

B

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)

Not just a movie for pre-teen girls.

The pants are just a linking device that allow us to follow the storylines of four friends, separated for the summer, having completely different experiences. Shy, proper Lena heads off to Greece to stay with her grandparents, extrovert Bridget is wowing everyone at soccer camp, self-conscious Carmen is spending the summer with her father and his (surprise!) new family, and sardonic Tibby is stuck at home working a soul-killing job.

Amazingly incisive -- I was pretty surprised to find out that it was directed by a man. All of the leads are quite good and all of the stories believable and effective (my favorite is Carmen's). Well worth the rental - even if you're over 16...even if you're male.

B+

My Summer of Love (2005)

Two bored girls -- one working-class, the other pampered -- strike up an intense relationship over the course of a summer. I was caught up in their journey, but was unable to understand why Mona (the poorer) would trust a self-described "bad influence" like the spoiled Tamsin. I was worried on her behalf through most of the movie, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The secondary story -- that of Mona's bad-seed brother finding Jesus and converting their home/pub into a place of worship -- is the stronger, in my opinion. It had to do with someone fooling himself rather than being taken for a ride.

B

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)

This movie had a few scenes that I thought were as good as anything I've seen on film in the last, well, ever. The highway attempt to save the goldfish ("at least we're in this together") and the relationship in the space of a walked block -- I teared up at that one -- and was crushed at the aftermath.

As amazing and beautiful as those scenes were, I can't think of a single person to whom I could recommend this film without reservation. There are a couple of storylines that nearly everyone I know would find embarrassing and/or sordid.

B+

The Loved One (1965)

Wants to be a biting satire on American (specifically Hollywood) excess and its extension into even the business of death. It rather ruins the effect, though, by inserting true believer Aimée into the mix. She doesn't come off as an innocent so much as an idiot.

There's no one to root for -- no one to like at all. Even the hero is just a coattail riding layabout who wants the pretty girl...but doesn't bat an eye once she's gone. Way too over-the-top and ugly to make any lasting statement and not nearly funny enough to be a pleasant diversion.

D

Eyes Without a Face (1962)

Genuinely creepy film about an experimental surgeon trying to successfully graft a new face onto his horribly disfigured daughter. But where does one get faces? Hmmm...

The most frightening scenes are those of Christiane, wearing a Vanilla Sky mask, drifting through the mansion like a ghost. She freaked me out.

B

The Long Voyage Home (1940)

Didn't grab my interest at all for the first hour or so. Motley group of seamen are about halfway through a voyage when they, unwillingly, take on ammunition for the war effort. Everyone gets a little stir-crazy and tension and suspicion ratchet up some (but not enough).

The move gets markedly better once they hit land -- but that's about two-thirds in. I read somewhere that John Wayne was reluctant to take the role of Olsen because he was afraid that the audience would laugh at his attempt at a Swedish accent...I think his instincts were right.

B-

The Interpreter (2005)

Something's missing from this one. It's an interesting twist to have the possibility of the heroine being suspect rather than a straight-up victim…but it made it a little too hard to know whose side to choose emotionally. Too much was left in the dark for too long for me to get very invested.

C

Downfall (2005)

A new perspective on the last days of WWII -- from inside Hitler's bunker. As the film is sandwiched by documentary-type comments from the now aged real-life secretary at the center of the film, I can't help but trust that the film strove for accuracy.

It's hard to watch Hitler as he unravels to the point of madness -- and the way in which those around him continued to support and carry out his orders even when they knew them to be lunacy. Is madness contagious?

As interesting as much of it is, though -- it settles into a repetitive pattern. Should have been cut by at least 20 minutes.

B-

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Pleasant enough…but that's not enough, you know?

C+