Once again, I find myself in the position of having to write a review without having done my homework. No, I've never read the Sin City graphic novels. My thoughts on the film, then, will be based on nothing more than the film itself and my reaction to it. The most obvious thing to say about Sin City is that it is violent. You knew that (or you should have). But I don't think I'm stretching to say that it is easily one of the most brutally, graphically violent movies I've ever seen. It was enough to squick me out, which is the only reason that I couldn't give this one a fourth star. The rest of the film was excellent. Much of the dialogue (and the near constant voiceover) approached campy cliché, but that never bothered me. In fact, I think it worked wonderfully with the noir style. And there was plenty of good acting: Mickey Rourke was intense as Marv, and I particularly liked Nick Stahl as the villain of the Hartigan story. Clive Owen did a decent job, but no matter how good an actor does otherwise, if he can't get the accent down, it pulls me out of the moment. On the other hand, nearly all of the female performances were either too flat or too overdone. Though, since a lot of the female roles only exist for skin, it doesn't hurt the movie too much overall. So, to sum up, if you don't like horrible violence and a lot of bare female skin, this isn't a good movie for you. But you probably already knew that. Otherwise, check it out.

Viewed: 2005-04-01 | Released: 2005-03-27 | Score: B

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This weekend marked our first trip back to the local arthouse theater this year. It seems like we go there so seldom, and nearly every time we go we wonder why we don't go more often. This was another one of those times. Dear Frankie was an excellent movie. It's a smaller, more humble movie than most of what we've been seeing this year, but it was very heartfelt. As you might guess from the title, much of the story revolves around letters. Frankie is a young deaf boy who has just moved to Glasgow, Scotland with his mother and grandmother. He has been writing letters to his father for his whole life, but doesn't realize that the letters never actually reach his father; his mother takes them and writes letters back, posing as the boy's father, who he thinks is a petty officer on a merchant ship. I tend to be drawn to stories about childhood and family, and this one certainly fits that bill. It also struck me as somewhat refreshing that Frankie is presented as neither a victim nor a hero because of his disability. Because it's not on the mainstream circuit, I doubt many people will see Dear Frankie, which is too bad because it's really quite a good movie.

Viewed: 2005-04-02 | Released: 2005-01-20 | Score: A

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I don't understand why this movie is being marketed as a comedy. I mean, there are many funny moments, but the rest of the movie is so full of tension and anger that the comedy seems almost out of place. I would definitely put it in the "Drama" category. By the end of the film I thought it was pretty well-written, but it started slowly and it took me a while to warm up to it. The acting was good across the board, and this may be Kevin Costner's best performance ever. Still, so much of the film is wrapped up in Joan Allen's character's wallowing in self-pity that I couldn't completely get into it. Not to say that it was a bad movie; it just wasn't great.

Viewed: 2005-03-25 | Released: 2005-03-10 | Score: C

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I blew through this one even faster than Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. Like the first one, this installment of the Hornblower series is a fun read, full of action and presented in a clean, straightforward style. Where Midshipman was more a collection of short stories, though, Lieutenant is a cohesive novel. I do hope the rest of this series continues to be this good.

Started: 2005-03-20 | Finished: 2005-03-21

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I'm not entirely sure that I liked this book, but for some reason I couldn't put it down. The paperback edition is 928 pages—long, no doubt—but the plot is so sprawling that it requires such a thick book to hold it. I found the plot and characters and ideas interesting, but the writing seemed a bit too fond of fantasy clich

Started: 2005-03-07 | Finished: 2005-03-19

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I think after seeing The Incredibles it would be hard for the next animated film I saw to measure up. In terms of animation, this one was actually at least as good, if not better. The story, on the other hand, was the same one that's been used in more kids' movies than I can count. My wife and I came away with the impression that a bunch of studio execs got together saying, "How can we repackage the same movie and get people to see it again?" "I know! We'll make all the characters into robots and then get some big names for the voice acting!" If you're tired of seeing the same old formula over and over again, it's probably best to skip this one. On the other hand, if your kids are old enough for PG-rated movies and you like Robin Williams, go ahead and give Robots a shot.

Viewed: 2005-03-11 | Released: 2005-03-10 | Score: C

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I've often considered it a tragedy of my life that I'm so fascinated by boats and the ocean, given that I get so violently seasick immediately upon setting foot aboard a boat of any size in even the calmest waters. This book, thick with nautical terms and high adventure, almost makes me want to sail bad enough to try getting over my seasickness. (Almost. I still know better.) The book is organized in ten chapters, each an action-filled episode in the early career of Horatio Hornblower. There are ten other books in the series, which documents Hornblower's rise from his beginnings as a young and inexperienced midshipman to his eventual position as admiral. Fortunately for me, I received all eleven as a Christmas present. I'm looking forward to reading all about Mr. Hornblower's illustrious career.

Started: 2005-03-01 | Finished: 2005-03-05

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I still haven't seen most of Get Shorty, so maybe I'm not completely qualified to give Be Cool a fair review. I saw it, though, so you get my opinion anyway. Despite the fact that there were a lot of funny, clever parts, I found the movie in general a little boring. There just wasn't any sense of urgency. In most movies there's a general understanding that things will work out in the end, but that's different from a story in which everything works out at every turn for the good guys. If I gave out half-stars this would be a one-and-a-half for the clever metafilmic humor and the fun performances by Cedric the Entertainer, André 3000, and The Rock. As it is, it gets one star for not keeping me very entertained.

Viewed: 2005-03-05 | Released: 2005-03-03 | Score: D

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Juliette didn't want to see this one, so I went by myself on a Wednesday night. It was probably best that she didn't go; she probably wouldn't have cared for it. I, on the other hand, thought it was quite a fun movie. Keanu still can't act, but what I've come to realize is that he's only bad when he's talking. If you take into consideration only his physicality, he's actually OK. I know next to nothing about the comic on which the movie is based, but I found the writing to be pretty decent. The story was engaging, and if it wasn't particularly profound, so what? It's not that kind of movie.

Viewed: 2005-03-01 | Released: 2005-02-15 | Score: B

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In mere hours, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be handing out film's highest honors. But you don't have to wait that long to find out my favorites from the year. Without further ado, I give you the Sakeriver Movie Awards for 2004!

Best Drama: The Door in the Floor

This was a great year for film, and it was really hard for me to pick just one favorite. I eventually settled on The Door in the Floor because out of the two movies I saw this year with which I couldn't find any flaw, it produced a stronger response in me. It's a smaller, less well-known film than the runners-up, but it's got everything you could ask for: flawless, understated, moving performances bearing out an amazing script.

Runners-up: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Closer, Finding Neverland, Ray, Garden State, Friday Night Lights, Sideways

Best Comedy: The Incredibles

Interestingly enough, for the second year running I picked a smaller film for my Best Drama and a blockbuster for my Best Comedy. I've said it before, but I need to say it again (no matter how cheesy it sounds): The Incredibles is an incredible film. Not only is it a technically amazing film—the animation is superb—but it also had a great script and really wonderful voice acting. The result was a movie that was hilarious and touching in all the right ways.

Runners-up: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 50 First Dates, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, I Heart Huckabees

Best Actor: Jamie Foxx (Ray)

This category was the only easy decision for me. There were a lot of great performances this year, but there's just no question that this was Jamie Foxx's year. It wasn't just that he completely immersed himself in the role, making me forget that I was even seeing Jamie Foxx and not Ray Charles himself. It's that he made me feel Charles' life, all the joy and pain and wonderful, wonderful music. Foxx's Ray Charles isn't just my favorite of the year; in my opinion, it's one of the greatest performances I've ever seen.

Runners-up: Jeff Bridges (The Door in the Floor), Clive Owen (Closer), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Best Actress: Julia Roberts (Closer)

On the other hand, this category was the most difficult for me to make up my mind on. I finally settled on Julia Roberts because, while I think that Hilary Swank may have given a technically better performance, I'm so conflicted about Million Dollar Baby that I just can't bring myself to call hers my favorite performance of the year. Meanwhile, Julia Roberts was able for the first time to really get my attention and respect as an actress. As I walked out of the theater after Closer I found myself genuinely impressed by her acting in that film. It may just have been that the script was the first one I've seen that gave her a chance to flex her acting muscles, but if that's the case then I hope she continues to get such roles in the future.

Runners-up: Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby), Natalie Portman (Closer), Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village)

Best Supporting Actor: Peter Sarsgaard (Garden State)

I just watched Garden State again last night, and I was amazed that I had completely forgotten about Peter Sarsgaard's performance. He managed an incredibly natural performance that balanced the huge dichotomy of a character who is both a deadbeat lowlife and a good friend. It was really his performance that really made the film's sense of a young adult's homecoming ring true.

Runners-up: Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland), Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Ian Holm (The Day After Tomorrow), Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby)

Best Supporting Actress: Natalie Portman (Garden State)

It was a good year for Natalie Portman. With Closer she proved that she can handle more adult roles. But as good a job as she did with that performance, where she really shined was in Garden State. It was a more similar character to the other ingenue roles that she's played, so perhaps it wasn't as much of a stretch, but she really brought the character of Sam to life. I am still amazed that the woman who did such a great job with such a wide range of emotion portraying the mercurial love interest in Garden State was the same actress who fell so flat in the Star Wars prequels.

Runners-up: Kim Basinger (The Door in the Floor), Virginia Madsen (Sideways)