Derailed: 6 out of 10. "Derailed" is your prototypical twisty thriller and it's not terrible.  It's not great either, but Clive Owen is compelling enough to earn it a passing grade. I think Clive Owen should be in every movie.  I didn't take notice of the guy until "Closer", and

The Constant Gardener: 7.5 out of 10. "The Constant Gardener" is good stuff.  Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes are awesome in this political thriller based on the John le Carre novel.  It's a little depressing, but one hell of a ride. Weisz deserved her Oscar.  Fiennes deserved consideration as

Cars: 7 out of 10. "Cars" was released in early June, but I only got around to taking James to see it this afternoon.  Half decent movies you can take your four year old to are few and far between.  Thank goodness for Pixar. I was entertained, and that's all

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: 7 out of 10. Ranking the four Wes Anderson films, this one ranks fourth in my books, but it's still a good film.  That tells you how special his first three films were.  "Bottle Rocket", "Rushmore", "The Royal Tenenbaums", that there's some comedic gold.

Hustle & Flow: 8 out of 10. This was a raw tour de force backboned by an amazing performance by Terrence Howard.  It's hard to root for the guy, and that makes it all the more compelling, because you end up rooting for him like he's the Rocky of hip-hop

When reviewing "The Dukes of Hazzard" earlier today, I visited the Internet Archive WayBackMachine to see if I could find an archive of the Dukes of Hazzard tribute page I hosted until about five years ago.  I found what I was looking for and realized the blog portion of this

The Dukes of Hazzard: 2.5 out of 10. Ouch.  That was painful.  It pains me to think I'll never get those 106 minutes back. You're probably wondering why I even bothered.  I mean, it's not like there was a slight chance this could be a decent flick, so why

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room: 8 out of 10. Wow.  The Enron story is difficult to believe, but in this documentary it's all nicely laid out before us so we can watch with shock and awe.  It's riveting stuff with great use of music and pop culture references,

Lost Boys of Sudan: 6.5 out of 10. Every month we get a free seven day rental from Rogers.  They throw us this bone because we give them so much money each month.  Right now we have cable, internet acess and our home phone with the big red machine.

Proof: 7 out of 10. When Taryn asked me if I was interested in watching "Proof" with her, I had no recollection of the film ever being released.  I guess I just missed it.  I popped over to IMDB.com to make sure it was a worthwhile way to spend

The 40 Year Old Virgin: 6.5 out of 10. Not bad...  It was kinda cute.  Steve Carell has been funnier, and it's sort of a one-trick pony.  And if you ask me, that chest hair removal scene goes on way too long.  C'mon guys, we got the joke in

Pauly Shore Is Dead: 4.5 out of 10. I have a theory.  I call it my theory of relativity.  I hope that title isn't taken. My theory is that the enjoyment you get from a movie is directly related to your expectation level going into a flick.  If you're

Lord of War: 6.5 out of 10. Let's just say, I expected worse.  It was kind of neat before it sort of lost its way.  There was one scene, however, that was unintentionally hilarious because it was the most forced line I've heard in a while. Nicholas Cage is

Loose Change: 7 out of 10. I've shared my thoughts on just about every movie I've seen over the past few years.  Usually it's a movie I've seen on DVD or our local movie network and once in a blue moon I actually get to a theatre to watch a

Cinderella Man: 8.5 out of 10. Fantastic.  Let's see... This is a well acted, feel-good story with exceptional camera work, particularly during the mesmerizing fight scenes.  Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger, Paul Giamatti... they're all great, but boxing and the human spirit are the true stars of this flick.  Damn,

Wedding Crashers: 5 out of 10. Sigh.  Where have all the good comedies gone?  "Wedding Crashers" was too long, too predictable, and not particularly funny.  Sure, I chuckled a few times, but there were no belly laughs.  When I saw "There's Something About Mary", I remember belly laughs.  Where the

Friday Night Lights: 9 out of 10. I attended several high school football games, usually my Michael Power Trojans taking on our arch rivals, the St. Michael's College Kerry Blues.  What I saw then and what you see in "Friday Night Lights" are two completely different animals.  In Texas, high

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: 7 out of 10. In actuality, this movie is a 5, but because it entertained me, my four year old and my one year old tonight, it's earned a bonus deuce. I was introduced to SpongeBob in the hospital of all places.  At the close of

Diarios de motocicleta: 8 out of 10. Known as "The Motorcycle Diaries" in this part of the world, "Diarios de motocicleta" tells the story of Che Guevara as a young man.  It's well acted, funny, charming, stunning to look at and a great story about how a student travels South

Mad Hot Ballroom: 6 out of 10. This wasn't a bad little doc about several New York City elementary schools learning ballroom dancing and competing in a city wide dance competition, it's just that I was expecting more from it.  I think I've seen so many good documentaries in the

Capote: 7.5 out of 10. This is an exceptional acting performance in a pretty decent movie.  I'd recommend it based on Philip Seymour Hoffman's performance alone, but the movie isn't bad either.  I didn't think it was a great flick, but it's got some depth to it and might

Team America: World Police: 7.5 out of 10. It's funny, but I've never really taken to "South Park".  I've probably only seen a few complete episodes in my life and I've never felt compelled to ensure I see more.  I find this funny because I absolutely loved "South Park:

My Flesh and Blood: 8.5 out of 10. I caught part of this documentary late last year but only watched it in its entirety this year.  Susan Tom is the mother of 11 adopted special needs children and we're given a peak at a year in their life. I

Batman Begins: 7 out of 10. I remember watching the teaser trailer for "Batman Begins" a week after Michelle's birth and thinking it looked pretty cool.  I also took note of the amazing cast.  They've got Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson and Ken Watanabe in