The Losers

* This was a loser of a movie.  If I was 12 I might have enjoyed it.  The cheesy comic book dialogue was enough to make a 54-year-old man puke.  The story was lame.  The acting was worse.  The action sequences were not that bad, but not realistic enough to keep me interested.  The only reason I gave this one star was because the actress "Zoe" from Avatar was in it and she had one good action scene where she survived a gunfight in her underwear.  Thus, the star.  Not recommended unless you're 12 years old.

Valentine's Day

** Another disappointing movie.  Even Mineko thought this movie was shallow and not worth the time spent watching it.  The only reason I gave it two stars was because of all the high-powered stars in this movie.  If you like seeing movies stars and you want to see a bunch of them in one movie, each with shallow and short parts, but they're there on the big screen... then this is the movie for you.  The whole premise somehow connecting all of these shallow love stories at the end of the movie just did not work.  A pure waste of talent and money.  Not recommended unless you're a real "entertainment tonight" type of fan.

Repo Men

***  A science fiction future action movie that doesn't quite pull itself together.  It couldn't possibly deserve three stars, but it was so bizarre and gory that there were a few moments I even turned my head or closed my eyes. The actors were actually good, Jude Law and Forest Whitaker played good roles and did their best with the story. The action scenes were quite engaging and the end of the story had a good twist to it.  Recommended only if you're interested in futuristic action films and enjoy blood and guts action.

The Bounty Hunter

* This movie was a total disappointment.  I didn't expect a lot, but I did expect to be entertained for a couple of hours.  And as many of you know, I'm easily entertained.  However, this movie completely missed the mark.  I even shut the DVD off halfway through the movie it was totally stupid and not funny at all.  Poor Jennifer Aniston, a lovely actress who is always typecast in the same kind of movies.  Not recommended at all.

Date Night

****  It is rare for me to give a comedy four stars, but this movie earned each one. Steve Carrell and Tina Fey make the perfect comedic married couple.  Mineko and I watched this movie together, laughing at many of the same jokes and comic situations.  That's a rare for a movie to make us laugh out loud.  LOL.  Funny, action-packed, heartwarming and just plain enjoyable to watch.  Recommended.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

**** This is a very well made suspenseful and unique murder mystery drama made in Sweden. The books are very popular at the moment and when I saw that a movie based on the first book had been released in Sweden now on DVD I thought I'd give it a try.  I really enjoyed this movie immensely.  The main characters are superb, well acted and extremely interesting.  The story is intricate and well written, it pulls you in immediately and keeps you engaged throughout.  The only reason I did not give this movie five stars was because of some of the graphic and disturbing scenes and also because it was subtitled. The Movie shattered my unfounded peaceful and idyllic image of the Swedish people, according to this movie many Swedes are quite twisted and disturbed.  Recommended.

AVATAR

***** This is the first movie that I have given five stars.  I'm sure some of you will agree and some will disagree.  I've seen this movie several times now on DVD.  I hope that when it comes back to the theater someday, I will be able to see it on the big screen in 3-D.  Of course the visual effects are wonderful.  The computer generated world of Pandora was a perfect blend of fantasy and realism.  The combination of real actors and computer-generated images/actors made the story, dialogue and action totally engaging.  At times the story was a little bit cliché and corny, especially the references to good and evil, greed vs. green, native Americans,war and peace.  I cringed each time the NaVi girl whooped and hollered, bared her teeth and growled.  But all in all, it was a beautifully made feel-good good message good story fantasy science fiction film.  If you haven't seen it, it's worth a rental.  Recommended.

Ghost Writer

*** This Film would have gotten four stars from me if it had been by any other director.  The photography, suspenseful story, acting and set location combined to make an excellent political thriller.  I especially like the aspect of a ghost writer, which is probably more commonly used than we realize.  Unfortunately, halfway through the movie it was pretty clear "who done it"...  But that did not spoil the end or in the engaging pace of the movie.  I recommend this one.

Clash of the Titans

** This Movie should have been watched at the theater or on a very large HDTV.  On my small 22 inch TV it looked pretty ridiculous.  The story was kind of silly, unless you're into Greek mythology.  The only redeeming factor for the two hours I wasted on this movie is that now I can say "release the Kraken!"

Brooklyn's Finest

**** This was a powerful hard-hitting good-cop bad-cop, mostly troubled disturbed cop, action drama.  A well-written story that follows the lives of three Brooklyn cops and one gangster. I kept expecting the three cops to somehow interconnect during the movie, but they did not until the very end and that was just because the location in Brooklyn brought them to the same building, but for different reasons.  All four actors in this movie did a great job.  I'm not sure how accurate and realistic the movie portrayed life and crime in Brooklyn, but I clearly sympathize with the characters and remain fully engaged throughout the movie.  The action and violence was sometimes almost too realistic for me.  If you enjoy cop movies and you're interested in the more disturbing and difficult aspects of their work or lives, this movie is for you.  It probably only deserves three stars, but I gave it four as it was one of the better cop movies I've seen in a long time.  Recommended.

The Runaways

*** This movie brought back some memories from my own teenage years in the 1970s. I don't remember the band "The Runaways" but I do remember "Joan Jett and the Black Hearts"...  As a young teenage boy, I wanted all my girlfriends to be hard-core rockers.  The acting was good, the music good if you like rock 'n roll.  Sex, drugs and rock 'n roll.  If that's for you, then you'll probably enjoy this movie. Recommended.