Black Snake Moan. I really really liked it. It was different, and I thought the performances were fantastic. And Justin Timberlake, I thought was even better in this then Alpha Dog. If he wanted to I think he could have a real acting career. That being said, I get why the reviews were so Love it/Hate it. Its very positive on Rotten Tomatoes, but the people who hated it, HATED IT. I think Craig Brewer is just that kind of film maker.

Also I found the scenes between Christina Ricci/Samuel L. Jackson really moving, and it was great to see people like Adriane Lennox and S. Epatha Merkerson pop up.

The Darwin Awards. There was a reason for this madness. A good reason (possibly only to my mind). Good enough to put myself through that? The jury's still out.

I just finished The Body in the Library (2004) with Geraldine McEwan. As an update to the original plot I think it works fairly well, but the introduction of a lesbian affair didn't really work with the period, I thought.

I also finished the last Dexter disc. I'm somewhat underwhelmed, mostly because I felt that the brother's character was badly conceived, written, and acted, which made Dexter's sorrow feel overplayed. MCH totally nailed those scenes, though. And to be fair, I wasn't thrilled with the novel that the first season was based on, either.

The Blue Lagoon was hilaaaarious -- the script was ridiculous, and that island was remarkably comfortable. And apparently loaded with supplies. >>A house? They built an entire house? With a SLIDE?<< And apparently it's very easy to >>birth and raise a child, even if you have no concept of human sexuality at all<<. I did like the end, though, especially because of the presence of Mr. Feeny.

Next is This Film is Not Yet Rated, because of all the discussion it's gotten at the Lust, Caution thread.

I think given some more time, they would have found spectacular ways to blow it. Hell, if not for being >>found at sea...<<

After the Wedding was classy Danish melodrama with the completely awesome Mads Mikkelsen, I liked it and I'm sure the director was going for something with all the shots of animals dead and alive, but whatever it was it didn't work.

I finally got a chance to see the Elvis TV miniseries, which got a little slow near the middle, but overall was good. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was surprisingly great as Elvis, and did a pretty good job with the lip synching and dancing. The only glaring problem in the movie was Rose McGowan as Ann-Margret; I thought she was terribly miscast. By the end of the movie, I felt sad for Elvis; he had all of these fans and an amazing amount of money and fame, but he seemed to be searching for more meaning in his life, and was not satisfied with the path that his career was taking, since his main focus was serious acting. I wonder what sort of career and life he would have had if The Colonel wasn't his manager.

For the last movie in our Summer ren-a-thon we watched the third Die Hard movie. Definitely the weakest one of the three. (we haven't seen the fourth but will at some point this winter when we start our winter rent-a-thon) What does save the third installment of John McClane fighting the dirty foreigners is Samuel L. Jackson. Complete with his Malcom X meets Steve Irkell glasses. Oh sure he might have poor eye-sight but he isn't afraid to break a little ass if need be.
Thankfully to excuse the weakness of the story there was stuff being blown-up and Jeremy Irons being.... well Jeremy Irons. With a vague German accent.

jcpdiesel21, I already posted it when you first said you netflixed it, but I completely agree with you on all counts (particulrly Rose McGowan, she was so affected and just...amateurish. I think it really was glaring because of how good the rest of the cast was).

I just watched Scoop, and while it seemed like a really good idea at the time, it's one of those movies that are so tonally off. Woody Allen's using the most mothballiest of Vaudville jokes, so it's not really that funny, and the serial killer aspect doesn't seem so menacing. And Scarlett Johansson is really out of her element when doing the Screwball Comedy cub reporter thing.

So, this weekend we rented Shortbus, which is certainly an interesting movie, but I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say it was a good movie.

Now, as you may or not be aware, the whole idea behind Shortbus was that John Cameron Mitchell wanted to make a movie that was about people, and life, and love, etc., but also happened to have real sex in it. In other words, a "legitimate" movie that had real sex; not porn.

And in the respect of that goal, I think he succeeded, but...

The real problem with the movie is the fact that it was so clearly built from the top-down. By which I mean that the process (which he fully admits to) was that he wanted to do a movie with real sex, and then found his actors, and then with the actors, developed the characters and the story. So, in other words, he really didn't know what the movie he wanted to make was, he only knew that he wanted Real Sex in it.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but it doesn't lead to compelling storytelling, because there's no story that he has the compunction to tell.

I mean, yes, it's fiercely independent, but like any "studio" picture, you've got a handful of people all throwing their ideas and visions in, and there's no driving vision tying it all together. Even with Mitchell directing it, I don't see a center.

Part of the problem is the movie half-asses it between being centrally-driven story and vingette-driven ensemble piece. It acts like it has several little stories to tell, but it has two: Sofia and her inability to have an orgasm, and the Jamies and their inability to effectively communicate their love to each other. Everything else is pretty much window dressing, including Severin-- which seems like it's going to be a third plot, but is little more than a character study that flits in orbit around the other two.

Then there's just the mess of the "Shortbus" club itself, which should be the center of things, tying everything together, the hub from which several stories come out. But it's not. The club doesn't even make sense to me. Admittedly, I'm not an expert on sex clubs, but I find it... unlikely that one like Shortbus could exist. I mean, it seemed that it was totally integrated: straight, gay and lesbian, which I find hard to believe would work without friction. The security at the door was minimal, and there was no cover to get in. It seemed to work on the honor system, and I don't see sex clubs working on that.

Plus the movie has no resolution. >>
It tries to tie things up with a montage with music and no dialogue, and an implication that a gay-four-way is one answer, and for Sofia, all she really needed to have an orgasm was to be the third for a hot couple.<< Eh.

I had hoped for more interesting.

Despite liking the idea of the film and being charmed by the previews and commercials, I was also extremely disappointed by this movie.

Watched Snakes on a (motherfucking) Plane. So bad and kind of scary with the snakes hissing at the camera. The part when >>SLJ says his famous line, and then opened the door to get the snakes out was a HELL FUCKIN' YEAH moment to be sure.<< Glad to see the snakes were equal opportunity in what they attacked.

The Astronaut's Wife: I'm pretty sure I'd seen this, not counting the time the movie was called Rosemary's Baby. Charlize even had the same hair that Mia Farrow had at the time.

The Departed. After the hype, I was definitely expecting more. I'm glad Scorcese won the Oscar finally, but wish it hadn't been for this particular movie. Jack was freaking crazy. He kind of reprised his role in The Shining but with a gun and coke instead of an ax. Mark Wahlberg was a lot over the top and every Irish Cop in Boston cliche was played out to the hilt. Both Leo & Matt were great though. From what I understand, the original movie delved a little deeper into their motivations and demons more. Disliked the female lead.

300. It was mostly ok. There was lots of nice effect and stunt candy and I didn't find it nearly as misogynistic as a male friend of mine felt it was. I'm glad I saw it, but if I never saw it again, I'd be fine with that.

Apocalypto it was a good chase movie and well shot at the same time it's hard separating it from CMG's offensive behavior and his torture fixation is on full display here.

V (not for Vendetta) aged better than I expected. The special effects are dated, but their technical flaws are more than off set by the artistic vision behind them. The symbolism is as heavy handed as an Altman pan and there are plenty of slilted scenes.

Striking how the names for everything is abstract (Visitors, Our Home Planet, The Leader, the Enemy) but after having watch Eragon I've had my fill of awful Sci-Fi/Fantasy names.

Still great sci-fi and this is a genre that almost demands some badness to be enjoyable.

One great "The couldn't do that now" moment: when the visitors land the marching band plays the theme from Star Wars.