("Saw long ago" means that the update of this page took place long after I actually saw the movie, so comments may be diminished (as if that's possible).)
(This will be newest to oldest.)
A Beautiful Mind:
Well-made, outstanding performance from Crowe. Good stuff.
Amelie:
Yes, it's French, and quirky, and charming, which adds up to just plain fun. A feel-good move the likes of which I hadn't seen since Moulin Rouge.
Dude, Where's My Car?:
You know, for a movie that gave off the aura of complete non-entertainment, this was surprisingly un-bad. Might be the best movie in the world if you're on something, which I guess is kind of the point. But you have to almost admire a film with characters with the name "Hot Chicks".
In the Bedroom:
A different kind of intense. A little slow, though.
Black Hawk Down:
Very intense. Hard to know who everyone is, so the soldiers end up pretty interchangable, but that just doesn't matter.
Gosford Park:
Takes a while to get oriented to who everybody is and what they want, but once you're set, a great look at the class system in early 20th Century England. Featuring the exact opposite of Hercules Poirot or Sherlock Holmes or whathaveyou.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:
Kicks ass. Great fight scenes (Legolas is Da Elf!), lovely scenery, and Moria is just dang perfect.
The Royal Tenenbaums:
See comments on Ocean's Eleven. And you gotta love Owen Wilson's apartment!
Mulholland Drive:
Yes, you could just go to Salon and they'll explain everything for you, but shouldn't movies at least attempt to make sense? Individual scenes were great (and not just the lesbian action), but so much less than the sum of its parts. Made the bad taste of VS's over-explained ending vanish into thin air.
Vanilla Sky:
Great soundtrack, some good suspense, and then the ending.... Big letdown. More whining on spoiler page. However, my sense of dissatisfaction was ameliorated considerably by seeing Mulholland Drive next...
Ocean's Eleven:
Fun movie! Great cast, well used. 'nuff said.
Spy Game:
Saw long ago. I remember thinking it didn't really add up to much, just Redford betraying all his stated principles and screwing up his life completely.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:
Very faithful to the book, and full of great effects and visuals.
Monsters, Inc.:
Good animation, and very clever. Contains two great lines (ask me for details), and fine voice acting by John Goodman and Billy Crystal.
Heist:
A fine caper movie.
The One:
Story a little absurd, but some good effects (most of which are in the commercials, alas).
The Man Who Wasn't There:
Billy Bob Thornton was great again, this type as a complete non-entity (except in the voiceover). And you have to love voiceover narration that will pause midsentence while the characters go off to do something rather intense, and then pick up as if nothing happened. And Tony Shaloub as the mile-a-minute lawyer was also good. But overall, something was just a little off for me.
The Last Castle:
It's okay, nothing really noteworthy.
Iron Monkey:
Somewhat cheezy story (it's no CT,HD), but the action continually tops itself. The final battle atop the columns was incredible.
Bandits:
Saw long ago. You have to love Billy Bob Thornton as a hypochondriac. And romance via song lyrics.
From Hell:
Saw long ago. Some good camera work and editing around the actual violence. (For instance, the time-delay discovery of the first body was very well done.)
Training Day:
Saw long ago. Denzel was great.
The Musketeer:
Saw long ago. The action sequences on the towers and the ladders impressed me.
Made:
Saw long ago. Vince Vaughn was very effective as the asshole. This was not Swingers 2, as some have thought.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back:
Saw long ago. Loved the Hollywood satire. The "stare straight at the camera" trick was just on the good side of overused. And hey, Tracy Morgan from SNL was funny for once.
The Others:
Saw long ago. Nicole Kidman was good, and the surprise ending was well done too, but it was very slowly paced.
American Pie 2:
Saw long ago. This movie is a lot like the first. (Some said a carbon copy, in fact. But even though the structure and characters were the same, I found it sufficiently different enough to be enjoyable.) If you liked the original, you'll like this one (and the reverse is also true).
The Pledge:
Saw long ago. Jack's character went way overboard in his task, which I guess was the point, but it really bothered me.
The Gift:
Saw long ago. Keanu Reeves was good (no, really) as the wife beating redneck.
Planet of the Apes:
Saw long ago. Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Roth are great apes, but the deus ex machina ending really left a bad taste in the mouth (not to mention the "twist" ending).
America's Sweethearts:
Saw long ago. Best romantic comedy of the year! (Of course, I see about a third of one of those a year, so who am I to judge?)
Ghost World:
Saw long ago. Gotta love Steve Buscemi.
Jurassic Park III:
Saw long ago. More like the first than the second. Finally got some pterodactyl action. Cell phone was cute.
The Score:
Saw long ago. Norton was great as usual, and I enjoy a good caper movie (see also Heist).
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within:
Saw long ago. The visuals were astounding. Story was a bit too Japanese (what with all the spirits and gaia and whatnot) but incredible to look at.
AI:
Saw long ago. I didn't like the actual ending, and think it should have ended at the first ending (if that makes sense). Jude Law was good.
Moulin Rouge:
Yes, it's a musical. Yes, about halfway through it shifts gears to become more of a romantic melodrama. Yes, the villian is a couple of steps beyond Billy Zane in Titanic. But it's unique, and great fun, and full of energy. It all worked for me, romantic melodrama and all. (And you learn that Ewan and Nicole have good singing voices.)
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Yes, it is incredibly stupid. I mean completely stupid. It might be the stupidest movie I've seen in a long time. But it's a fun stupid, as opposed to Swordfish's "eh" stupid. (The movie is aware of it's own stupidity, making fun of itself: "My ignorance amuses me? He really said that?")
Shrek
Good animation, and funny. Predictable, but I'm not really the target audience.
Series 7: The Contenders
If the world was really run the way it was in this movie (and I wonder how that could have happened), the television show would be exacltly like this. Funny dark satire. ("The coward stabbed himself in the back while trying to flee.")
The Mummy Returns:
Fun, and better than the first.
Center of the World:
Eh. Didn't really like either of the characters, and what's the point of showing the last scene twice?
One Night at McCool's:
Funny throughout. I won't be able to listen to "YMCA" for a while without laughing. Look for John Goodman's smile.
Blow:
Well made, but... What we learn from this movie is that all women are evil
bitches, unless they have cancer. We also learn that while drugs themselves might
not be bad, drug dealing swings erratically from very very good to the opposite.
Memento:
Highly recommended. I don't want to say anything else unless you've seen it.
Hannibal:
Well made, but... That had to be the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life.
Bright side: The Italy sequence was good.
Snatch:
Not as good as Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, but Brad Pitt was good. (Sorry, it's
been 4 months.)