All the New Movies That I Have Seen

1. Batman Begins (2005).

Basically a Batman movie for people who don't like Batman, or to put it in a more charitable sense, a Batman movie for people who don't like comic books. It tries very hard to be more realistic than most comic book movies and it is certainly more realistic than the Tim Burton movies that dealt with the same subject but in the end, it just was not my cup of tea.

2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005).

A film that proves that Tilda Swinton is an acting goddess. And the rest of the cast isn't bad either. I do kinda wish that I didn't keep confusing the older girl with Violet Baudelaire but that's a failing on my part, not the filmmakers'.

3. The Dark Knight (2008).

I actually liked this better than Batman Begins though I found attempts to interpret it as a pro-Bush parable to be pretty laughable. Of course, it helps that I have a weakness for the work of comic book writer/artist Frank Miller who was responsible for the comic book novel that inspired this movie.

All the New Movies (2000-Present) That I Have Seen

All the New Movies (2000-Present) That I Have Seen: Parte I (2000-2009)
All the New Movies (2000-Present) That I Have Seen: Parte II (2010-2019)

All the Not-So-Classic Movies (1970-1999) That I Have Seen

All the Not-So-Classic Movies (1970-1999) That I Have Seen: Parte I (1970-1979)
All the Not-So-Classic Movies (1970-1999) That I Have Seen: Parte II (1980-1989)
All the Not-So-Classic Movies (1970-1999) That I Have Seen: Parte III (1990-1999)

All the Classic Movies (1900-1969) That I Have Seen

All the Classic Movies (1900-1969) That I Have Seen: Parte I (1900-1929)
All the Classic Movies (1900-1969) That I Have Seen: Parte II (1930-1939)
All the Classic Movies (1900-1969) That I Have Seen: Parte III (1940-1949)
All the Classic Movies (1900-1969) That I Have Seen: Parte IV (1950-1959)
All the Classic Movies (1900-1969) That I Have Seen: Parte V (1960-1969)

All the Things That I Have Seen

1. The Weather Man (2005).

If you have a copy of Iggy Pop's song “The Passenger,” you already have heard the best part of this movie. Of course the song itself doesn't make much of an appearance in this movie so you're not missing a lot if you don't see it. Nicolas Cage plays yet another victim of middle-aged angst and this time solves most of his problems by buying stuff and hitting people. Ah, the American way.

2. Lassie (2005).

I usually hate dog movies but this film really caught my attention. Peter O'Toole hams it up as a wealthy grandfather and Samantha Morton plays an uppity -- but in a nice way -- Yorkshireswoman. The film doesn't quite erase memories of Mindy and Buttons but apart from one scene stolen from Doc Hollywood, it proves to be quite entertaining for all ages.

All the Things That I Have Seen (Thus Far This Week at Least)

A. Don't Go Ape to See This Movie

I finally saw the new King Kong movie yesterday. I found it amusing to see director Peter Jackson trying his best to out-Spielberg Steven Spielberg. The Germanic ship captain was an interesting surprise. So was the Joseph Conrad reference. (Major props to Joseph Conrad.) I'm sure I'll have more to say about this movie later.

B. “Lick the Lightswitch”

I'm also re-watching my copy of the Wonderfalls DVD. Easily one of the best TV shows I've seen in a while even if it was canceled after a shamefully small number of episodes. I still find it a bit scary to picture Diane “Christina Crawford” Scarwid as a matriarch though. And here I was just getting used to Sonia Braga's performance as a Mexican-American hausfrau in American Family.