The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)

Another one of those war-time movies that operated on the premise "manic = HI-larious."

Girl (Betty Hutton) marries a soldier she can't remember the night before he leaves for war, but he's left her a nine-month problem. Wackiness -- or lots of stuttering, borderline domestic abuse, mugging, and pratfalls anyway -- ensues.

I think people must have been just desperate for entertainment if this is what did the trick in '44.

C-

Soldier's Girl (2003)

Extremely interesting subject matter -- straight soldier falls for cross-dressing performer and suffers consequences -- but the direction and some of the acting (by almost all of the soldiers) is amateurish. Also feels like an outline for a story rather than a fully fleshed-out happening. Seeing as it's based on true events, that's inexcusable.

Despite the lack of imagination in presentation, it's a disquieting story and hard to completely dismiss. Also, Lee Pace is rather extraordinary in the title role -- heartbreaking and convincing.

B-

Strange Invaders (1983)

Shockingly bad in every single way. Felt more like Garth Marenghi's Darkplace than an actual attempt to tell a story. If I believed for a second that the filmmakers intended it as a joke I might be able to get behind it -- but I'd still want to know why it wasn't funnier.

D-

Rory O'Shea Was Here (2005)

Slightly sappy movie about two guys who'd be unlikely friends if it weren't for the fact that they're both in wheelchairs. One's a rebel, one's a good-goody, and they kinda need each other to be all that they can be. I pretty much knew what kind of movie this was before I popped it in the player and I still decided to watch it.

But, you know: James McAvoy. He makes even treacly stuff watchable.

C+

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Packed full of clever quotes, but pithy one-liners can't really "fix" this desperate and ugly movie.

So unrelenting in its jaded meanness that I could only manage it in 15-minute snack-size increments. Ingesting it all in one sitting would've probably killed a little of my soul.

C

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Yes, again.

Some time ago, I made the mistake of telling my younger son, in a misguided effort to convince him to watch this with me, that it was the only movie that scared me so bad in a theater that I actually considered leaving. Well, that led to six or seven years of fearful avoidance on his part...the exact opposite of what I was going for.

He finally relented, however, and his review was "I probably like that more than 'Unbreakable'" -- which is to say "a lot."

A+ (still)

Idiocracy (2006)

The Brawndo Advertisement made my younger son and me laugh so much that I wound up ordering an entire case of the stuff as a Christmas present for him (don't worry -- he only drinks like one a week). Later, I was showing the commercial to a few guys in the office and one of them said "oh, that's from that dumb movie." Until he said that, I had no idea that Brawndo wasn't a standalone product. Of course, I HAD to see the movie once I knew.

It's actually funnier than I expected. Utterly average guy and girl are put into a year-long sleep as part of an army human hibernation project. One year accidentally becomes one hundred and, upon waking, the two discover that they're the smartest people on the planet (here's why). No real surprises, but it's quick-moving and a generated a steady stream of chuckles.

B

Invincible (2006)

Based-in-fact story about a too-old Boston nobody (Mark Wahlberg) winning a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team. With the possible exception of the pal who refuses to get behind his buddy's dream, everything looks and feels just right.

Yeah, it's predictable, but it's also undeniably feel-good.

B-

My Kid Could Paint That (2007)

One of those incredible documentaries that clearly became, during filming, something other than the filmmaker originally intended. Amir Bar-Lev apparently expected to shoot a movie about Marla Olmstead, four-year-old painting prodigy. Instead, he wound up with a mystery (whose paintings are these really?) and an interesting dissection of what, exactly, makes art art.

Fascinating subject -- but I thought that Bar-Lev was in a unique position to get us an answer and he chose not to do so. The lack of resolution when one seemed so clearly available was tremendously unsatisfying.

B

Strings (2005)

I picked up this movie for the sole reason that James McAvoy (swoon) provides the voice of marionette-on-a-mission Hal.

Unlike other puppet movies, this one takes itself completely seriously. The characters' acknowledge their strings as the source of their life: if their head string is severed, they can no longer live; if a lesser string is cut, as we see when Hal's hand string is sliced during combat practice, the hand is no longer connected to the "source of all life" and is, therefore, dead. No worries though when incarcerated slaves are on hand to be used for parts.

The photography is beautiful and the puppets are stunning -- but they're still puppets and I could never embrace that in the way that I was clearly meant to. Even in the hands of masters, marionettes walking still looks like bouncing or very careful marching. When one puppet couple was gearing up for sex, I could only think of the resulting tangle, which I'm sure would be far more embarrassing than the "hooked braces" threat that scared me away from any silver-smiled potential suitor for two high school years.

An impressive, but unsuccessful, attempt at an interesting idea.

C+

Talk To Me (2007)

Quick-witted and quick-moving for the first half or so -- I was swept along and enjoying myself immensely. I liked the relationship of the observant and witty ex-con and the buttoned-down radio station executive who takes a chance on him as the new morning disc jockey.

It's only when we get to the second half that things seem to both settle down and stretch thin. The movie starts to grow tiresome in step with Petey Greene's (a stunning Don Cheadle) own annoying self-sabotage.

Still, worth watching for the performances and the entertaining "unconventional star on the rise" story.

B-

Green for Danger (1947)

That's the newest DVD cover, which is much cooler than the disc inside. That's not to say that the film is bad -- just that it's a rather standard whodunit: an Agatha Christie lite.

During World War II in a British hospital, an operating table death gets ruled murder. One of the people working the room is guilty...can you figure out who before the murderer makes it blindingly obvious by virtue of being the last one standing? It's fairly square, and seems not to realize that the main pleasure of watching a mystery is the "playing along" as an investigator -- figuring out who, why, and how. Seeing as the movie's black and white with a mystery that hinges on a color, that game's a little stacked this time.

Alistair Sim as the Scotland Yard detective on the case is great, though. He adds much-needed wit with a raised eyebrow.

B