The Rocker (2008)

Mild comedy about a missed it by THAT much drummer finding a home in his nephew's band. It's predictable and there's really not much to it, but I'm moved by music and really like Teddy Geiger, so this had a bit of a head start with me.

B-

The Cake Eaters (2009)

No idea what this movie has to do with eating cake. It's also not very good, with all of the characters just kind of sulking through the scenery while pretending that Kristen Stewart's atrocious haircut is "radical" and "sexy."

Oh! Maybe the title was inspired by the fact that Georgia (Stewart) sounds as though she's got a mouthful of cake whenever she talks? Seriously, just take a look.

D+

Role Models (2008)

Funniest movie I've seen in a while. I laughed out loud a full dozen times -- and I don't even feel embarrassed about it.

B+

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)

This is a devastating documentary initially conceived as a kind of valentine for the son of the filmmaker's murdered childhood friend. But Ken Kuenne got more than he expected when he started the project as the story gets more terrible and heartbreaking the longer he works on it.

The Bagby family hasn't stopped whirling around my mind since I saw this -- they are truly inspirational. Andrew Bagby, the "father" in the film's title, seemed to be universally loved (evidenced by the record number of times he served as best man to various friends) and his parents are undeniably fanTAStic people. I just fell in love with David and Kate and was floored by the lengths to which they went to spend time with their grandson, despite the fact that doing so meant dealing with the child's mother, the likely murderer of their son.

The story is fascinating tragedy, marred only by the fact that Kuenne seems too often to want to make it about the story of how one caring guy with a camera is out there exposing truth (he's like a mini Michael Moore). He's indulgent in his narration, actually leaving a hitch in his voice for one of the voice-overs near the end of the movie. Dude. Do another take if you lose it, otherwise I'll know that the crying is for show. Yeah, it's sad, but get it together and be professional -- it's not about you. Actually, that little bit reminded me heavily of the scene in Broadcast News where William Hurt whips up some tears during an interview and has the camera moved to another angle to capture them.

B+ (probably would've been an easy A without the "look at me!" feeling the director gave me)

Gym Teacher: The Movie (2008)

Enjoyable kids' movie focusing on a way-too-into-his-job former Olympian entering, at the behest of his enthusiastic -- though strangely underpopulated -- class, a "Gym Teacher of the Year" contest. The problem (and of course there'd be one) is that there's a helmet-wearing "spaz" new to the gym period who threatens to single-handedly lose the whole thing for Coach Stewie. Add in a romance between Coach & the boy's over-protective mother and you have a harmless and charming little trifle.

Everyone's hamming it up and having a great time in this thing -- made me think that all involved would likely be up for a sequel. Super predictable, but I know that, 6 or 8 years ago, my boys and I would've had a blast with this.

B-

Splinter (2008)

A helluva great low-budget monster/horror movie.

There's lots of believable character behavior as a hijacker and his two hijackees find themselves trapped and working together against their confusing enemy. Short run time and a fantastic creature -- I'm going on record with the opinion that nothing's scarier than a put-together-wrong PERSON -- make this a winner.

So good I sat through it twice in the same night: the first time alone and then I talked it up so much that Gary and my younger son decided to watch it. I tried to leave the room, but eventually I just gave up and sat back down.

A-

State of Play (2009)

British TV version is miles better, but this is still entertaining (and probably would've been more so if viewing the original hadn't let me in on a key secret). Suffers a bit by having a solid group on whom to hang the sign "bad guys" but the cast is stellar and the story-telling tight. You know, it may have been a little too tight, come to think of it. The BBC used a miniseries format, which was the correct length to handle the involved story with so many characters to flesh out and red herrings to chase.

A solid, grown-up, movie.

B

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Also known as Stairway to Heaven

Charming "Heaven Can Wait"-type story. British pilot jumps without a parachute and is lost in the fog by his heavenly conductor. When heaven catches up with him later, he refuses to ascend because, in the meantime, he's fallen in love.

Niven is lovely as the pilot who argues that the error has changed the purpose of his life, and he's convincing enough to be awarded an opportunity to take it to court with anyone as his defender. I love that those around him (and we too) can't be sure that the "heaven" thing is real or a result of brain trauma since he claims that time and others stop when he receives visits from above. I was worried the medical questioning would take away from the magic, but it somehow works seamlessly -- making both possibilities able to co-exist.

My only complaint is that the trial scene goes on a little long. Still, even that scene made some very affecting points and actually brought tears of pride to my eyes when the multi-ethnic American jury was chosen.

B+

No Reservations (2007)

I could pretty much cut and paste my review of the German Mostly Martha (of which No Reservations is a remake) in this space as everything I said there applies to this movie. Because of that, this takes a slight grade hit -- I've seen it before, and done better.

Zeta-Jones does a good job making me believe that someone who looks like she does could, possibly, find herself alone. I also like Eckhart's easy charm and thought it made sense that these two, despite their different temperaments, could find romance personally after falling in love with each other's food. Breslin, though? No. Stop casting her! The best I can hope for when she's in a film is that she won't distract me too much.

B-

I Love You, Man (2009)

I'm a little scared that I've outgrown these kinds of movies...I didn't die laughing at this or others like it (e.g. Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Part of the problem, I think, is that I need to believe what's going on and I just couldn't get on board with the idea that these two guys, even in fictionville, would ever come to call the other "best friend." It seems as though a love of Rush is their only true common ground. Other than that, they're nothing alike: one's a slob with the same taste in decorating and activities as a college frat boy and the other's kind of uptight and shy, but genuinely decent. Yes, I get that the novelty would make their get-togethers revelatory -- but, certainly, it would wear off in the space of a month or so.

Due to the amazing Rudd taking the lead, this is pretty enjoyable, but it still somehow felt like a letdown -- as though I'd been promised a better time than I actually got. Definitely a fun premise and game performances, but it just didn't hold up. The final wedding scene, in particular, felt like a sitcom wrap-up.

C+

Adventureland (2009)

This fits right into that nostalgia "sweet spot" for me. I graduated high school in 1985 and had to pay my way through college by working crappy jobs and living with my parents in the summer. Everything is *just right* on screen -- and it goes way beyond soundtrack, which was wonderfully "oh yeah!" familiar while avoiding the obvious choices for the time period.

I just loved it. Jesse Eisenberg usually kind of bugs me with his noodgy head-bobbing and, truth be told, I'm not quite sure he veered much from his usual for this role, but here it felt right. This is a fantastic portrayal of a guy trying to fit into this surprise life of disappointment that most of his new friends have been living for much longer. Actually, all of the portrayals were recognizable as "real" with, perhaps, the exception of Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader as the (very funny) couple in charge of the amusement park providing employment for the cast.

B+

Happy Gilmore (1996)

Plays like a sitcom in desperate need of a laugh track. Lots of mugging and dozens of obvious gags, none of which are very funny.

I did smile a few times despite myself and I wasn't mad while I was watching (yes, after typing that, I realize that "failure to be made angry" is probably NOT what the filmmakers were going for). Basically, I've seen worse -- but I am not a fan.

C-

Battle for Haditha (2008)

This not-a-documentary-but-masquerading-as-one covers a real-life 2005 incident in which unarmed civilians were slain by a Marine unit panicked after being hit by a roadside bomb. I've seen this stuff before but this is particularly heavy-handed and devoid of any subtlety.

So much of acting is vocal inflection that I've often wondered if I would be able to sort bad actors from good in a foreign language movie. Turns out that question has now been answered and that it's a pretty easy task. Almost everyone in this film is stilted and unbelievable, regardless of the language. It doesn't help that the dialogue is message-heavy (coming from Marines and locals alike) throughout. A mess of a movie that does great disservice to a tragedy.

D+