Waltz with Bashir (2008)

If it weren't for the animation, this movie would be nothing special. And, frankly, the animation wasn't arresting enough to save it from being slightly boring. Felt like I'd heard this type of story told better many times before.

I also want to mention that, at the VERY end, the animation falls away and reveals live action footage of corpses. It didn't punch me in the gut -- it pissed me off. Suddenly stripping war-time horror of the monochromatic color-scheme and shifting lines to tack a "POW" onto a mediocre story is exploitative. Or, thinking of it "backward" if you like, masking war-time horror with flash animation renders that horror palatable...and that's a pretty silly accomplishment.

D+

The Ballad of Little Jo (1993)

Interesting premise (based on true events): 19th-century society girl, tossed out by her family for bearing a child while unmarried, takes to the road alone. She quickly finds out that "alone" is a dangerous state of being for a female and, in a moment of desperation, carves a scar into her face (to look tough, I guess?) and pulls on trousers, boots, and hat. Sure, the rough men in her new town think "Little Jo" is kinda weird -- but they like him just the same.

But, really, a premise is just about all there is to this movie. Jo finds a solitary occupation and keeps her head down...and that's about it. Felt like there needed to be more and, actually, near the end of the film it felt as though huge chunks of the narrative were missing.

C+

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Started sweet. Gary and I were actually laughing a lot, to the point that we were throwing those "I didn't expect it to be this funny!"-type comments at each other for the first half-hour or so.

Once they started shooting the porno, however, the sweetness and story development were traded for cheap laughs. Seems pretty problematic to me for the title-providing "meat" of a movie to be its weakness. I mean, there was a dancing montage and an impromptu BM shot onto a cameraman's face. Come on.

C-

Yonkers Joe (2009)

I'd say I'm a fan of small-time hustle movies. I like watching a good scam how-to -- it's like seeing a magic trick revealed...plus I'm easily impressed. This is a smart little scam movie that's nearly derailed by the character of the mentally challenged young-adult son of the lead (Chazz Palminteri).

For starters, he's poorly acted by Tom Guiry, who relies mostly on a Billy Bob in Sling Blade chin jut to convey his specialness. Guiry also allows his body to betray him often, most noticeably as he descends the escalator into the casino...he uses this little lazy kick-step swagger that is simply NOT the gait of a challenged man.

Secondly, he's even MORE poorly written. "You turned your back on me!" he yells into his father's face at one point. At another, he acts out how to locate a clit with his tongue. I just didn't buy it and I felt as though Palminteri's natural rhythm was thrown off every time he shared a scene with that caricature.

Without the kid: probably a B. With him:

C-

The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

A small band of baddies (led by Travolta in a porn 'stache) holds a single subway car for ransom and makes it personal by dragging a recently demoted Transit worker (Denzel, being Denzel but chubbier) into the middle of the drama as his main contact.

It's passably diverting. It's also loud and ridiculous. There are three or four "what the heck??" car crashes, a Transit worker supervisor who almost shuts down the talks by ordering Denzel's character out of the office for no other reason other than pettiness, and a finale that stretches the film's already way-too-thin credulity to the breaking point.

The biggest problem with this film, however, is the complete unnecessariness of it. The original, far superior, Walter Matthau film from 1974 is readily available on DVD.

C-

Momma's Man (2008)

Story in a nutshell: grown man ("Mikey") with a wife and a newborn in California visits his parents, who still live in his childhood New York home, and becomes unwilling/unable to leave.

Been quite a while since I felt a movie was a complete waste of time. I hated this man-child and the enabling parents who refused to throw his ass out. It moved at a snail's pace, reveling in the non-action while never bothering to make Mikey in any way identifiable.

If I were his wife, I'd never take him back. If I were his parents, I'd be deeply ashamed.

D-

The Hangover (2009)

Probably the hardest I've laughed in a movie theater since "There's Something About Mary." It's very funny, but it also manages to be fairly reasonable, if that makes sense. When you find out what's been going on, it's like "Oh, OK. That makes sense," -- well, pretty much anyway. It's completely over-the-top, but the writers seemed to want it plausibly over-the-top and I appreciated the effort.

In my mind, Zach Galifianakis really made the movie as the soon-to-be brother in law tagging along with a tight trio of friends who don't really want him there. He could have been eye-rollingly ridiculous, but he played it just right.

Not a perfect film and I doubt I'll want to see it again, but a really fun night at the movies. Oh, and one more thing, the ending photo montage was shockingly blue.

B+

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

I don't know why -- it's truly a rare occurrence -- but I was just craving a big ol' dose of romance and called my husband at work to request that he stop and pick up a copy of this BBC miniseries on his way home.

We didn't intend to watch the entire 5-hour production in one sitting. And, actually, my husband didn't intend to watch it at all, but there we were, neither one wanting to stop (well, except to refill the Cheet-os and top off glasses of Pepsi) until the couples were coupled correctly. It was just so darn delightful...the perfect craving satisfier.

Simply conjuring up Mr. Bingley's (Crispin Bonham-Carter) earnest face mentally can make me smile.

A