Movie reviews!

Okay, so for some reason, I suddenly watched a whole bunch of movies this week. Let me give brief reviews for them.

Amazing Grace - The story of the abolitionist William Wilberforce in England. Main character played by the guy who plays Mr. Fantastic in the two Fantastic Four movies. The story is uplifting (although massive liberties were taken), but the movie does not excite me. I found it dull and distant. The scenery is great and the costume work is fantastic, but I'm not one of those people who gets all excited about the frills. This was a movie that should have stirred me, but instead left me cold. A 3 out of 10. I will probably watch it again with my wife, but I'm pretty sure I'll either sleep through it, or get on my computer and start playing EverQuest after about 15 minutes.

Evan Almighty - Newly elected Congressman Evan Baxter prays for help to "change the world" and he gets it. God commands him to build an Ark. You might think the storyline is trite, but I am a "true believer." Sometimes God tells us to do things, and He doesn't care about our financial well-being, or our health, or our job, or our friendships. He cares about our spiritual well-being. Granted God doesn't ever appear to me as Morgan Freeman or dance with me under a tree in a field, but His glory is around me every single day if I open my eyes to see. I loved this movie. It was funny, it was moving, and even though I think the directors actually TRIED to make it trite and silly, they failed. Evan Almighty is a keeper. 9 out of 10. I'm going to buy it and watch it over and over again.

Shoot Em Up - A random guy gets involved in a plot to indirectly kill a Congressman. The details are too stupid and gruesome to share. The movie is bloody and stupid. It came across to me as being like "Planet Terror" with higher production qualities, only the plot was even dumber. I could go on, but why bother. 1 out of 10, never see it again, demand to see the EEG printout of anyone who says it was "great" or even "good."

3:10 to Yuma - a "modern" western, starring Russel Crowe and Christian Bale, the characters are overly nuanced and in the case of Crowe's character, unbelievable. The sets were gorgeous, the costumes were great. It has a gay train-robber in it, even (which struck me as just dumb, but whatever). Also, should be nominated for absolutely positively the WORST EDITING JOB EVER in a movie. Whoever edited it, took out a 2 minute long scene that would have left the viewer at the end thinking "ahhhh, I understand." Instead, at the end of the movie you think to yourself "hmm, I didn't quite expect THAT, but something close to it." Watch the deleted scenes and suddenly you'll think "OHHH! THAT'S what was going on." 6 out of 10. I'll probably watch it again with my wife and we'll probably talk about the hidden meanings of some of the scenes afterwards.

So, there you have it. Those are the movies I've watched recently. I'm also looking forward to seeing Cloverfield, The Mist, and a new movie with Nicole Kidman in is that is very similar to "The Forgotten."

I've also read a terrifying zombie book called "The Missing" which literally gave me nightmares for two days. I'm currently wading through a Clive Cussler book called "Golden Buddha" which is weak and tedious.