Even Money: three plot-lines intersect as people find themselves involved in gambling problems. Small twist at the end is mildly interesting. Cast is far better than the movie. No real sympathy for any of the characters. Maybe it was a good book, not such a great movie. Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, Ray Liota, Tim Roth. Don't bother to rent it.
Rescue Dawn: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn: navy pilot shot down, pow, jungle survival, eventual rescue. Not bad, not great. Not much personality. Maybe rent it.
The Invisible: highly improbable story of high school classes at odds, supernatural elements are interesting, transformation of lead antagonist from thug to sexy beauty feels unbelievable, no real sympathy for the characters involved. Don't bother to rent it.
Next: another stupid movie concept, Nicolas Cage as hero of the most improbable plot line imaginable. Has some mildly interesting action sequences, but the basic premise is so shabby so as to make this movie pretty silly. Maybe rent it if you need a movie playing in the background.
Hairspray: Singing, dancing, chunky girls, John Travolta in drag, 60s hair-styles, Christopher Walken dancing. Everyone else loves this movie. My daughter watched it over and over. I couldn't sit through the whole thing. Rent it for other people to watch -- you will probably love it, too. I didn't.
Deck the Halls: Christmas movie with Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito. The ideas in this movie are funnier than the movie itself. The humor seemed forced and the plot highly contrived. Rent it to watch at Christmas time if you need to fill your empty house with the sound of something but you don't wanna be tied to the screen watching it.
Civic Duty: The star is fun to watch, the plot is creatively simple, kinda represents the paranoid mindset of that might have existed in the minds of some people in the time immediately post-911 WTC attacks. The movie is well done, with a minimal plot that is heavy on character exploration. The star is a study of a man under stress, much like Bruce Dern would have portrayed in the past. Rent this DVD. Get the popcorn and diet coke ready ahead of time.
It has been some time since I first saw this movie, accompanying my eight-year-old daughter and my wife. I was expecting good production quality because it was a Pixar-Disney film. What I was pleasantly surprised to find out was that the movie was also humorous, psychologically savvy, and inspirational. I watched UP another time with other relatives and found it to be equally delightful the second time.
