Movie #178 - 1408

Title: 1408

Director: Mikael Håfström

Release Year: 2007

Plot Summary: A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.

Thoughts: I really wasn't particularly enthused about going to see this one, but as is more and more often the case, I was lured in with the promise of candy to munch on. So I soldiered on, and while I can't say I ended up blown away, I at least didn't feel like my time had been overly wasted.

In terms of story, there's nothing all that new here - ghost skeptic stays in haunted hotel room, and find out just how wrong he is. In terms of execution... well, let's just say that the first hour is suitably creepy, but there's a "twist" about an hour in that just left me cold for the rest of the movie. Don't get me wrong, the mood stays creepy, but I was quite unenthused with the direction the story took. Maybe that's just me though.

Usually I make some sort of comment about the acting, but in this particular case I can't say anyone really jumped out at me. Don't get me wrong, John Cusack was perfectly good, but he didn't really impress me overmuch. And since he is pretty much the only person in a good deal of the movie, that isn't really a good thing. Ah well, they can't all be Oscar-worthy performances, right?

Recommendations: Not particularly bad for a horror flick, but it doesn't really pull together very well in the end. Don't avoid it, but don't go out of your way either.

Movie #177 - The Last King of Scotland

Title: The Last King of Scotland

Director: Kevin Macdonald

Release Year: 2006

Plot Summary: Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his (fictional) personal physician during the 1970s.

Thoughts: Wow. I don't really know what precisely I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't anything this good. Forest Whitaker got an Oscar for his performance as the alternately charismatic and terrifying Idi Amin, and in my humble opinion it was one hundred and ten percent deserved.

As far as story, the physician Nicholas Garrigan (ably played by James McAvoy) is completely fictional, but the events he bears witness to are terrifyingly real and (more or less) historically accurate. It's more than a little scary to watch, and heartbreaking to realize that Idi Amin isn't even that much of a special case in that region's history, not really...

Recommendations: Forest Whitaker steals the show and makes it entirely his. Unless you have an inexplicable hatred for him as an actor, you should definitely go out of your way to see this movie.

Movie #176 - Ratatouille

Title: Ratatouille

Director: Brad Bird

Release Year: 2007

Plot Summary: A young rat living within the walls of a famous Paris bistro wishes to become a chef, but is hindered by his family's skepticism and the rat-despising staff and patrons.

Thoughts: Well in my book Cars was a nigh-impossible act to follow. With that mindset, I definitely don't think Ratatouille exceeded it in any way - but it's yet another amazing addition to the perfect streak that Pixar has kept going, if you ask me. ~grin~

My favorite character by far isn't Remy the rat, but rather Linguini the hapless kitchen boy. He's a clumsy, rather bumbling, hopeless case, even though he gains some confidence throughout the film... but it's starting to become pretty rare to find a well-done "loveable loser" character, and I'm all about that!

I think one of the things I like best about Ratatouille is the fact that the ending isn't your traditional idyllic "everything magically works out" variety. Instead it's more of a "this is what really probably would happen if a rat was running a fancy French kitchen" - but still everything ends up working out for the best. =)

Recommendations: Pixar hits another one out of the park. Fun for everyone!

Movie #175 - My Neighbor Totoro

Title: Tonari no Totoro

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Release Year: 1988 (Japan)

Plot Summary: When two girls move to the country to be near their ailing mother, they have adventures with the wonderous forest spirits who live nearby.

Thoughts: I don't feel like I have a great amount to say about this one. It was definitely cute, and gorgeously animated like all of Murasaki's films are, without exception. The story was a little on the light side - the above plot summary mostly says it all, though of course there are some subthreads and subtexts and whatnot - but then I don't feel like it was really meant to be more than a children's fable, and taking it on that basis, it's really quite topnotch.

Recommendations: Worth watching, but perhaps your kids would enjoy it a little more. If you're a Murasaki fan, though, obviously you'll want to catch this one eventually. =)

Movie #174 - Apocalypse Now

Title: Apocalypse Now

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Release Year: 1979

Plot Summary: During the on-going Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set himself up as a God among a local tribe.

Thoughts: Man, I love the book Heart of Darkness. With that in mind - coupled with the fact that this is probably one of the best-known war films of all time - I was really really ready to love this movie too. Damn, what a disappointment.

It started out well enough, I suppose. Guy gets sent on mission that will take him to the "heart of darkness," in this case the heart of the Vietnam War, and things get progressively more horrific and viscerally disturbing. Unfortunately, by the time Martin Sheen actually reaches his objective, the movie has devolved into a disjointed, inexplicable mess that I found pretty well impossible to care about. Which I suppose is sort of the point of the whole metaphor, when it comes down to it. I just thought it was poorly done, is all. ~shrug~

Recommendations: Meh. I'd go with Full Metal Jacket over this one, hands down.

Movie #173 - A Bug's Life

Title: A Bug's Life

Director: John Lasseter & Andrew Stanton

Release Year: 1998

Plot Summary: A misfit ant, looking for warriors to save his colony from grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.

Thoughts: Ah, the forgotten Pixar movie of the bunch - inevitably the one that people either haven't seen, don't own, or just plain didn't think was all that great. As for me, I'd probably rank it around the bottom of the Pixar pile... but that leaves it miles above the vast majority of the competition.

I don't think you can help but cheer for Flik, the little ant with big ideas who just wants to help, but usually ends up bungling things somehow or other. But to me the star of the show is Hopper, the leader of the grasshoppers, who manages to emanate this aura of menace and total command - no mean feat for an animated bug. (Of course Kevin Spacey's voice doesn't hurt much... ~wink!~) Everyone else is pretty forgettable, though, which is probably the main reason this film suffers in comparison to other Pixar offerings.

All that said, I quite enjoy A Bug's Life whenever I sit down to watch it - it's just not one I feel compelled to return to with any regularity.

Recommendations: It's Pixar! You gotta watch it at least once. You'll probably enjoy it more than you remember.

Movie #172 - Waitress

Title: Waitress

Director: Adrienne Shelley

Release Year: 2007

Plot Summary: Jenna is a pregnant, unhappily married waitress in the deep south. She meets a newcomer to her town and falls into an unlikely relationship as a last attempt at happiness.

Thoughts: Keri Russell is cute as a button no matter what she's in, and that is definitely true for this film as well. Nathan Fillion (of "Firefly" fame) is always fun to watch, of course. And Jeremy Sisto is delightfully hateful as the spitefully childish, emotionally abusive husband. Anyways, it's an alright film, but nothing that's particularly going to stick in your mind I don't think.

Recommendations: Fairly saccharine-sweet for a chick flick.