Molly Shannon's performance in this film got a lot of hype from the critics and, truth be told, she did a pretty good job. It wasn't enough, though, to make me like the movie. The thing is, if you're not a dog person, I can't think of what you might like about the movie. And even though Juliette and I both love dogs now, the film really only appealed to us for its cute factor. It was just too weird. I think that the film probably wants or expects the audience to sympathize with PETA-style animal rights activism—it certainly treats human relationships, parenthood, and "normal" career development as shallow, annoying, stupid, or pretentious. But then, the other big animal lover in the film is portrayed as neurotic and ridiculous, and no matter what the protagonist says, by the end of the film you're still left with the feeling that her life is empty and unfulfilling. The ambivalence creates a film that neither has the strength to stand on its convictions nor the depth to create a particularly interesting character study.

Viewed: 2007-04-27 | Released: 2007-04-12 | Score: D+

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I'd been wanting to see this one since before the Oscars so I was pretty happy this past weekend when we finally got around to it. I can see why it won the Oscar—the film is freaking brilliant. I mean, not only was the acting amazing but I was fascinated by the glimpse it provides into life in East Germany. I have only some vague memories of news reports of the Berlin Wall coming down but I remember how much it affected my mom, who kept saying how she never thought it would happen in her lifetime. I was too young to appreciate the significance of it, but this movie has really sparked an interest in me to learn more about that part of history. I think that's one of the highest compliments I can give a film, really. It may be out of theaters already in your area, but if you get a chance to rent it you should definitely check it out.

Viewed: 2007-04-20 | Released: 2006-08-02 | Score: A

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The people at Entertainment Weekly didn't think much of this one, but I'm inclined to disagree. Sure, it wasn't on the same level as, say, The Incredibles or Monsters, Inc. but it was certainly head and shoulders above movies like Robots or Madagascar. The voice acting was decent and the humor worked pretty well for me. And although it didn't bring anything new to the time travel genre I still thought it was better written than most stories of that sort. It's definitely a kids' movie but if I were a parent I think this would be one that wouldn't make me groan when my kids wanted to watch it over and over.

Viewed: 2007-04-06 | Released: 2007-03-29 | Score: B

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We've been seeing some great movies this year and so far this one is my favorite. For those of you who haven't heard of it, The Namesake is the story of a family of Indian immigrants. Kal Penn plays the title role, a second generation Indian-American who struggles to figure out how to reconcile his parents' culture with the one he's grown up with. Despite the fact that I'm quite a bit more removed from the country of my ancestors (even by the shortest route, I'm still third generation), Penn's identity crisis still struck a chord with me and I recognized a lot of his issues as familiar. On the other hand, as Juliette and I discussed afterwards, a lot of it would be familiar to anyone because, in a way, every family has its own separate culture. In any case, I absolutely loved this movie. Those of you used to thinking of Kal Penn in movies like Van Wilder and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle may be surprised by how good a dramatic actor he is. His performance in this film is a little rough at first but he eventually finds his groove and does some really amazing work. Even better were Irfan Khan and Tabu, who played Penn's parents. I was just blown away by how beautiful their relationship was, by the quiet love that they shared both for each other and for their children. I really can't praise this movie enough.

Viewed: 2007-03-22 | Released: 2007-03-08 | Score: A

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It seems pretty clear that writer-director Mike Binder is having some sort of mid-life crisis. Why else would his recent work feature so many male characters who feel stifled by their marriages? Still, he does at least seem to realize that he shouldn't be feeling that way, which I guess sort of makes it better. I found this one to be a good deal more mature on that front than I was expecting, actually. Add in Adam Sandler's best dramatic performance to date and Don Cheadle—who is always good—and you have quite a good film. It's not without its flaws—the female characters are notably one-dimensional—but I think it's worth it for what it does right.

Viewed: 2007-03-24 | Released: 2007-03-22 | Score: B+

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I first read this book the summer before my freshman year of high school—it was our summer reading assignment. I ended up waiting until the last week before school started because, well, it was summer and I wanted to have fun, not do homework. Fortunately, I liked it so much that I tore through the book in about two days and was prepared for the test when I got to class on the first day. Coming back to it as an adult, I have to say that it holds up pretty well, although it does now feel strongly like a children's book. That's what it is, of course—the only reason I bring it up is that Watership Down is so often compared to The Lord of the Rings and while I can see the similarities, The Lord of the Rings brings me something new every time I read it, whereas this one is appealing more for the childlike point of view and the associated feelings of nostalgia.

Started: 2007-02-03 | Finished: 2007-03-12

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One problem with waiting a long time to see such a highly acclaimed movie is that it gives you time to hear and absorb the hype. I really liked Pan's Labyrinth, but unfortunately I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. It's not that the film wasn't brilliant. It was. I'm just not sure that any film could really live up to the kind of hype I'd been hearing for months before I finally got around to seeing it. But enough negativity—what was good about the movie? Well, the obvious thing is that the production design was nothing short of amazing. Tim Burton at his best manages a similar sort of dark weirdness, but where Burton—even in his good moments—usually feels a little cartoonish, this one really felt more like a fairy tale come to life. Which is, of course, what they were going for. There were also some very good performances—Maribel Verdú springs to mind in her role as Mercedes. My one complaint about the movie was that there were some violent scenes that I thought could have been less graphic.

Viewed: 2007-03-03 | Released: 2006-12-28 | Score: A

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Juliette made an observation as we were leaving this movie that I think sums up the experience pretty well: she said that it was pretty slow, but that it was still tense and she was interested the whole time. Lack of action is a common problem for any psychological thriller but the good ones—and this is a good one—manage to maintain the tension somehow. Good performances are crucial, and that's where actors like Chris Cooper come in handy. I've liked Cooper since the first time I saw him (I believe it was in the '98 version of Great Expectations) and this one definitely continues that trend. Ryan Philippe also did a very good job as the young operative assigned to uncover Cooper's espionage. The only blip for me was Laura Linney's performance. When she's good she's really good, but at other times she can come off as a little too needy and "actorish" in her performances. Anyway, this was the first film we've seen that was released in 2007 and I'd say it's an auspicious beginning.

Viewed: 2007-03-17 | Released: 2007-02-11 | Score: B

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Huzzah! More than a full day remains before the Oscars and the SMAs are ready and rarin' to go!

OK, enough of that silliness, on with the show (I know you are all just waiting with bated breath):

Best Drama: The Departed

I really wanted to give this one to The Great New Wonderful—not only was it a really, really good movie but picking such an unknown film would have been really satisfying to my inner snob. In the end, though, I had to go with Scorsese. A lot of people think that this could be the one that breaks Scorsese's long streak of losing at the Oscars and I can see why. Thrillers don't get much more intense than The Departed and, besides, the whole cast was fantastic.

Runners-Up: Babel, Children of Men, The Great New Wonderful, Pursuit of Happyness, The Queen

Best Comedy: Little Miss Sunshine

I'm not completely sure why I picked this one. Borat was funnier, and all of the runners-up were smarter. Still, Little Miss Sunshine had a certain charm to it. I can't quite put my finger on what about it I like so much; I just like it. Not exactly high praise, I know, but there you have it.

Runners-Up: Borat: Cultural Learnings of American for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Stranger than Fiction, Thank You for Smoking, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story

Best Actor: Will Smith (Pursuit of Happyness)

This was another close one for me—Hugh Jackman really did a fantastic job in The Fountain. Ultimately, I chose Will Smith because I think his role was a little more challenging. See, the "down-on-his-luck guy who struggles and eventually makes good" story has been told enough times now that the shine has worn off, and it's really easy to let that role slide into cheese. Smith, though, actually brought tears to my eyes. I'm a pretty jaded movie snob but even I found this movie heart-warming, and that was entirely due to Smith's performance.

Runners-Up: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed), Paul Giamatti (Lady in the Water), Hugh Jackman (The Fountain)

Best Actress: Helen Mirren (The Queen)

So, it does turn out that Helen Mirren wins my award this year because she's the only one who qualified, but don't let that fool you. She really did do a fantastic job with this performance, investing her character with both authority and vulnerability. Mirren's performance inspired me to learn more about the real Queen Elizabeth—I can't think of much higher praise I could offer.

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)

Funny and moving—what more could you ask for? That's Alan Arkin for you. On the one hand, his grouchy old man schtick made me laugh out loud. At the same time, the relationship with his on-screen granddaughter was really quite touching. He really made the movie, for me anyway.

Runners-Up: Billy Crudup (Trust the Man), Robert Downey, Jr. (A Scanner Darkly), Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls), Mark Wahlberg (The Departed)

Best Supporting Actress: Emma Thompson (Stranger than Fiction)

What struck me about Emma Thompson in Stranger than Fiction was how old she looked. That's one of the things I find so interesting about her, the way she can look so different from movie to movie. In this one, she just nailed her character—a curmudgeonly hermit of a writer. I'm never surprised when Thompson does a good job, but I'm always impressed.

Runners-Up: Adriana Barraza (Babel), Jacinda Barrett (The Last Kiss)

Heavily theme-oriented movies tend to be problematic. Either they focus too much on the theme at the expense of plot and character or they develop the film well but fail to really delve into the theme. Babel, fortunately, manages to do both very nicely. The central idea of the film is human communication—or, more accurately, miscommunication—and what really impressed me about the movie was how when I thought back over it, nearly every single interaction between any of the characters involved miscommunication in some way. But rather than getting lost in mere ideas, the writer managed to construct a very compelling set of intertwining storylines, which were brought to life by some very skillful performances. My one complaint would be Brad Pitt. Not to say he did a bad job, it's just that I don't understand why they would pick such an iconically young and virile actor for a role and then age him with makeup. For one thing, there are plenty of older-looking actors out there who could have carried off the role as well or better, and, for another, there didn't seem to be any particular reason for his character to look old. It's a pretty minor criticism, though, and I'd definitely recommend this one.

Viewed: 2007-02-08 | Released: 2006-10-26 | Score: A

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