The Lake House 6/10 - I liked this romance across time - he's in 2004, she's in 2006 - about two people who communicate through letters left in a mailbox. There were a few paradoxes, but the movie was focusing more on the romance aspects of the story.
Brick 3.5/10 - The movie starts with Brendan finding his ex girlfriend's dead body and then backtracks a bit. He spends the movie trying to find out what was going on with her. The movie uses a lot of slang and is trying too hard to be cool. Overall, it was a little too pretentious for me, though there were some bits that I liked, including a parking lot fight.
Jarhead 8/10 - I wasn't too enamored with the trailer for this movie last year, but I decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a very good movie. It follows one marine from boot camp through the deserts of Saudi Arabia, the fighting in Desert Storm, and back home again. The style is unconventional, but effective.
The DaVinci Code 7/10 - I've heard this movie criticized quite a bit by fans of the book and by people who thought it was dull or boring. I haven't read the book, though, and I liked the movie. It might help that I like history as well as puzzles and codes. I like the comic book Rex Mundi which deals with some of the same issues vis a vis the Knights Templar and Mary Magdelene. If you like this movie at all (or the book), that is a comic worth seeking out.
I thought Blood Diamond looked interesting. I'll probably check it out once it comes to dvd. I want to see Night at the Museum and Rocky Balboa. The Good Shepherd looks good, too.
The Shaggy Dog 5/10 - This is the Tim Allen version. It isn't great, but I liked it. It was predictable and not very original (it IS a remake after all), but the movie was entertaining enough and you kind of know what you'll be getting going into the movie.
Alien: Resurrection - 5/10 - The first Alien movie was excellent and one of the first movies I watched on cable. I loved the second movie when I saw it in the theater (and on further viewings). I didn't like Alien3 much at all so I didn't bother to go see this movie when it was released. It wasn't too bad overall. I didn't like some of the changes they made to the aliens, but the story and action were okay. I liked the one sequence they had when Ripley wouldn't give up the basketball.
Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut - I enjoyed this version of the movie, though I don't think it is necessarily better than the Lester version that was originally released. It seems a bit more streamlineed. I think if Donner had been around to finish the film at the time, he would have made a few more changes, especially to the ending.
The ending was different and they used different camera takes for some of the shots. The scene in the hotel with the gun was different. They used screen test footage for that. There were quite a few changes, most notable was the presence of Marlon Brando in the film in a fairly prominent way.
