Before I say anything else about this movie, let me offer one piece of advice: don't sit too close to the screen. I was in the second row, and between the hand-held camera, the frenetic action and cutting, and the frequent close-ups, it made the film difficult to watch. There. Now that that's done, let's talk about the rest of the movie. Friday Night Lights is one of the best sports movies I've seen. In a way, though, it's not even really about the sports. Well, that's a little misleading. It is a football movie, but it's much more about the town of Odessa, Texas and the way in which the town's obsession with high school football affects the people in it than it is about the sport itself. In that way it's a little like Varsity Blues, but where Blues is funny, Lights is gritty. Everything about the movie enhances that effect. The film is grainy, the camera is shaky, and the performances are so natural that you can even forget that you're watching actors. If you're looking for a movie that's uplifting or heartwarming or fun then this one isn't for you. But if you want a serious movie, a great movie, check this one out.

Viewed: 2004-10-15 | Released: 2004-10-05 | Score: A

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I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy this book. Ross' story shows us the world of the Big Sur coast as it was in the mid-nineteenth century. Life is hard, but the land is beautiful. We follow the main character, Zande Allan, through the changes his life makes when he marries his mail-order bride, Hannah. On the one hand, the story resonated with me in much the same way that Steinbeck's works do. I have spent a lot of time in Big Sur; I've even lived there a couple of times. So, as I made my way through Stranger, much of description was familiar to me and made me feel connected to the story. On the other hand, I don't know that I really cared for the story or the way it was written. Ross wrote the story in the first person and so decided to write her prose as Zande Allan would say it. It added to the ambience, but made it harder to read. But even more, I just didn't care for Zande. In some ways his actions and attitudes can be excused as a product of the world he lived in, but even by the end of the story I just couldn't find it in me to like him. Even so, if the character tale was lost on me, I still found the book fascinating as a description of life on the coast.

Started: 2004-09-23 | Finished: 2004-10-07

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This film aims to take you for a ride, and while on a certain level it succeeds, the journey is not as fun and the ending is not as satisfying as other, similar movies. While I disagree with many reviewers who found the film's main idea stupid, it still didn't really grab me. And I left the film feeling a little frustrated that so many of my questions remained unanswered. True, most of my questions were arguably not that important to the main action, but I think most viewers will share my frustration. Another problem I had was that the scenes shot with a hand-held camera gave me a bit of a headache. I'm not a big fan of that particular technique, and unfortunately it seems to be getting more and more widely used. The one particularly good thing about The Forgotten was Linus Roache. His character is listed in the credits as "A Friendly Man," and he managed the perfectly creepy performance.

Viewed: 2004-10-01 | Released: 2004-09-23 | Score: B

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I love baseball movies. This one may not have been a Bull Durham, but even so I liked it quite a bit. I think that some people might go see it and be disappointed because it's not as funny as the previews make it out to be. Indeed, Bernie Mac is practically subdued compared to some of his other films. But even though he's not as funny as he could be, Mac manages a surprisingly nuanced performance that, by the end, even managed to get me a little choked up. Really, there's more of drama to Mr. 3000 than comedy, but there are enough laughs to keep the general tone light and the rest of the story works pretty well.

Viewed: 2004-10-02 | Released: 2004-09-07 | Score: B

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This movie had a lot of potential. I wanted to see a story about the life of a firefighter, about what his life and relationships are like, what his job entails, how he starts a rookie but grows into a veteran. And I did see that, but it just wasn't very well done. The film touches on all of these things, but it never delves very far below the surface. To make matters worse, the ending made no sense. I can't say much more about it without giving too much away, but I just didn't understand the writer's choice of ending; it didn't match the rest of the movie very well. The acting was hit or miss. Joaquin Phoenix was pretty good and most of the other firefighters were fine. Travolta was good in some parts, unbearably cheesy in others. The only performance that didn't work at all was Jacinda Barrett, who played Joaquin Phoenix's wife. It's not that she was particularly bad; she just didn't bring anything interesting to her character. I did enjoy the film, but I won't be looking for it on DVD.

Viewed: 2004-09-30 | Released: 2004-09-19 | Score: C

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Steve Martin has a real way with words. His first novel, Shopgirl, had a sort of whimsical, lyric quality to the writing that I liked rather a lot. The problem was that the style had the effect of distancing me from the characters. I think Martin has solved that shortcoming in The Pleasure of My Company. It has the same sensitivity, the same dry humor, but it also manages to keep me very close to the main character. It's a very quick read, and the plot is rather sparse, but the character is rich enough to provide substance to the book. The story revolves around Daniel Cambridge and his host of obsessive-compulsive behaviors. But Martin is a skillful enough writer to help you see the person underneath the neuroses. I found myself becoming very attached to the characters in this book, despite the fact that it was so short. Interestingly enough, for most of the book I was able to hear Martin's voice in the prose; this is one of only a handful of books that have ever done that to me. It actually made the book seem more personal, almost conversational. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

Started: 2004-09-19 | Finished: 2004-09-21

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What this movie is: quite possibly the most amazing display of computer-generated imagery I've ever seen. What this movie is not: a great adventure film. As I'm sure everyone has already heard, the entire movie was shot in front of a blue screen; all of the sets and locations were computer generated. You could tell that this was the case, but it was very well done. Still, the film didn't really grab me. I appreciated the stylistic elements, but I just didn't get caught up in the action. Jude Law was pretty good and Omid Djalili made me chuckle, but Gwyneth Paltrow seemed out of place to me, except for a few moments of repartee with Law here and there. I did enjoy the movie, but it'll never hold the same place in my heart as, say, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Viewed: 2004-09-24 | Released: 2004-09-13 | Score: C

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It's being marketed as a romantic comedy, but Wimbledon is really more of a romantic sports movie, if there is such a thing. The reason I say that is because, despite the fact that it does have a lot in common with romantic comedies, it is not particularly funny. In fact, for most of the film it's not even trying to be funny. There are some moments of comic relief, but, overall, Wimbledon is more about the love story and the sports story than laughs. The sports story was actually very good. I don't even like tennis and I still found the game scenes tense. The love story was, on the other hand, rather a flop, mostly because Kirsten Dunst isn't much of an actor. Fortunately, Paul Bettany is good enough to carry the film by himself.

Viewed: 2004-09-17 | Released: 2004-09-12 | Score: C

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Anyone who has ever enjoyed a solo hike knows that there's a certain something to being alone with nature that, though wonderful, is difficult to put into words accurately. In this book, Jerry Kobalenko gives us an insight into that feeling in his description of Ellesmere Island, one of the most northern places in the world. Kobalenko touches on nearly every aspect of the island, from the history of its exploration to its geography to its ecology, but what really comes out is his deep love of the place. It's enough to make me want to see the place myself—although given the difficulty I have carrying a pack with supplies for one day, I know I wouldn't last long dragging a hundred-pound sled for thirty miles a day. Even so, I really enjoyed reading about it.

Started: 2004-08-30 | Finished: 2004-09-15

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This is probably the most beautiful film I've seen all year, and if you look over my film history for 2004, you'll see that this is no light praise. From a technical standpoint, Hero approaches perfection. Lighting, color, choreography, and camera work were all flawless. What keeps it from being a four-star movie is the writing. The story uses a very unusual structure, almost everything being told in flashback. It didn't quite click for me. And much of the dialogue in the present time portion was very stilted—at least, it came across that way in the subtitles. The overall message of the film, too, was just too bluntly delivered for me, though I hear it was received very well in its native China. Still, some of the performances worked well—I especially liked Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Broken Sword—and the visuals were so breathtaking that I still really enjoyed the movie.

Viewed: 2004-09-10 | Released: 2004-01-13 | Score: B

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