Defiance (2008)

Finally, a movie about fighting back.

8/10

The Lives of Others (2006)

Spectacular foreign (German) film on the evils of the State.

9/10

Double Indemnity (1944)

Billy Wilder has a knack for intrigue. How do I know? Because he does stories that I would normally frown upon because of their lack of intellectual depth. Cross dressing to escape St. Valentine's massacre. Plotting murder for insurance money. We've seen this all before. Watching the guilty as a main character works in this case. You don't have to pull for them, you just have to watch them squirm when they don't know if they've been caught or not. Keyes is the good guy and it's easy to route for him despite him being the old ugly guy out to get the young beautiful couple. I've seen three Billy Wilder films and they all get the same rating.

9/10

The Crow (1994)

Alex Proyas' dark horror fantasy. Cool action choreography for its time. Nothing too special philosophically. Is this the original dark comic worlds? I doubt it, but it is one of the bigger early ones. Polito was great in Miller's Crossing, but a bit over the top with this portrayal.

7/10

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Funny. Some interesting parts. Caine still has that same voice.

7/10

Gattaca (1997)

Excellent film! I was going to say too much voice over, but stopped as soon as I thought that. Enigmatic Jude Law in this one. I missed that Vincent's father was Elias Koteas. Themes; not perfect but overall satisfactory.

9/10

Layer Cake (2004)

Daniel Craig

I'm sorry. I hate movies with all bad guys. A few years ago I would have given this a 7 or 8 out of 10.

1/10

Terminator Salvation (2009)

Wha-ha-hoa (as Dr. Wilson says). One of the best pure action/war films I've ever seen. Christian Bale had plenty of competition in the acting department as well. I was in complete enjoyment the entire time, so I can't think of any reason to take points off. Time travel paradoxes maybe...

9/10

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Way better than expected! Thought it would be like the third Mummy movie. Gambit is such a badass. Please make X-Men Origins: Gambit. There were some pretty good plot twists. The death scene could have been done better.* I don't know much about the comic story, which is usual for me, so I enjoyed it. I just wonder why Gambit wasn't in the other movies. He was in the cartoon I watched as a kid. I would have given the movie a point higher rating if the writing were just a little bit better. The X-Men humor is present as always, not as good as the first two movies and on par with the third movie.

8/10

Touch of Evil (1958)

Orson Welles' true masterpiece. Dark and gritty. It could have used color. Heston, Leigh, and Welles paired make for great on screen chemistry. Integrity versus corruption is fun to watch as contrasted to just corruption in the police force. Excellent musical score for an older movie which usually has a lot of blare.

8/10

Catching Up

1. In Bruges (2008) 8/10
   
2. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) 4/10
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) 8/10
4. Gran Torino (2008) 10/10
5. WALL-E (2008) 6/10
6. Tropic Thunder (2008) 8/10
7. American Madness (1932) 8/10
8. Righteous Kill (2008) 8/10
9. Mister Deeds Goes to Town (1936) 7/10
10. Taken (2008) 9/10
11. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 8/10
12. Brazil (1985) 9/10
13. Dark City (1998) 9/10
14. Some Like it Hot (1959) 9/10
15. Run, Fatboy, Run (2007) 7/10
16. Escape from Alcatraz (1979) 7/10
17. Alien (1979) 10/10
18. Ed Wood (1994) 7/10
19. Sunset Boulevard (1950) 9/10
20. Aliens (1986) 9/10
21. Blade Runner (1982) 8/10
22. Wanted (2008) 9/10
23. Changeling (2008) 10/10
24. Iron Man (2008) 8/10
25. The Fountainhead (1949) 10/10
26. Death Wish (1974) 7/10
27. Inherit the Wind (1960) 9/10
28. Lord of War (2005) 6/10
29. The Fountain (2006) 10/10
30. Kelly's Heroes (1970) 9/10
31. State of Play (2009) 8/10
32. Slumdog Millionaire (2008) 8/10
33. The Abyss (1989) 9/10
34. The Thing (1982) 8/10