Kabei: Our Mother (PG) 8.0

Kabei: Our Mother (2008): Based on childhood days of Teruyo Nogami. (7.4)

Director: Yôji Yamada
Writers: Teruyo Nogami (biography), Yôji Yamada (adaptation)
Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Mirai Shida and Chieko Baishô
Language: Japanese (w/ English subtitles)

A simple story about one man's "thought crimes" against the Imperial Japan during WWII turns into an emotional train wreck at the end. Gives the viewer a glimpse of what it was like in Japan at that time, what ordinary people may have thought. It shows Japanese cultural intricacies. At the end, it shows that people and human emotions are the same everywhere. My Rating: 8.0

Taking Chance (PG) 8.0

Taking Chance (TV 2009): Based on real-life events, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort officer, accompanies the body of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming. (7.3)

Director: Ross Katz
Writers: Michael Strobl (journal), Michael Strobl (screenplay)
Stars: Kevin Bacon, Tom Aldredge and Nicholas Art

Poignant story about caring for a solder who has died in combat. Elegantly photographed and respectfully told. If we as a civilization were to survive, humans must evolve beyond the war, conflict and fighting. Yet, during every step of that slow evolution, we must honor those who make the ultimate sacrifice when called upon to fight for the country. That's a conflict in my mind that I don't know how to resolve. This movie is a step in the right direction. Like the escort (Strobl) I've often wondered if I have side-stepped from serving in the forces by not being in the right place at the right time (in US or SL). (During many scenes, I wondered how many would show up at my own funeral ... heh! a handful, at most.) My Rating: 8.0

Cars (G) 7.0

Cars (2006): A hot-shot race-car named Lightning McQueen gets waylaid in Radiator Springs, where he finds the true meaning of friendship and family. (7.4)

Directors: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft
Stars: Owen Wilson, Bonnie Hunt and Paul Newman

It is a pixar animation. Very good original story. Tried and true, yet wonderful message and theme. Very well done animation. Now I've seen this movie three or four times, but it still holds my attention throughout. Very well done movie. My Rating: 7.0

Watchmen (R) 7.0

Watchmen (2009): In an alternate 1985 where former superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach into his own sprawling investigation, uncovering something that could completely change the course of history as we know it. (7.7)

Director: Zack Snyder
Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson and Carla Gugino

I have not read the comic series. So, while this is my second viewing of the movie, I come into it with a fresh mind. Unlike other superhero characters, the ones in Watchmen are complex, with lots of faults of their own and all too human. Each superhero character tells a different story. It gets in some digs at how 1985 finally turned out and also spoofs of other well known stories and events. The use of popular scores is really nice. In the final analysis, even for superheros the life is not fair. My Rating: 7.0

God Grew Tired of Us (PG) 6.0

God Grew Tired of Us (2006): Four boys from Sudan embark on a journey to America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety. (7.9)

Directors: Christopher Dillon Quinn, Tommy Walker
Stars: Panther Bior, John Bul Dau and Nicole Kidman

This is a documentary film. The first part is about what happened in Southern Sudan as a result of the civil war; specifically the hardship some 27,000 boys had to endure for many years. The second part is about four of those boys who were fortunate enough to be granted refugee status in the US and how they adjusted to life here. Made me think of my (similar) experiences as an immigrant, but I didn't have to flee a war zone for thousands of miles when I was 13. But by trying to make it a personalize story, I think, the documentary lost a bit of the big picture of the plight of the Sudanese villages. My Rating: 6.0

A Scanner Darkly (R) 7.0

A Scanner Darkly (2006): An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result. (7.1)

Director: Richard Linklater
Writers: Philip K. Dick (novel), Richard Linklater (screenplay)
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr.

This Rotoscoped movie could possibly become a cult classic. The use of the filming technique is exactly suited for the content of the story--addiction to mind altering drugs. The story isn't preachy about right and wrong but there are lots of grey areas in the movie, such as various drug uses, police methods, surveillance, corporate and police mixing, true nature of treatment, etc. There's lots of details about the movie and the story in this Wikipedia article (contains spoilers). Good movie, but perhaps, not for everyone. My Rating: 7.0

The Lost Room (PG TV) 8.0

The Lost Room (TV mini-series 2006): A detective investigates a mysterious motel room, which acts as a portal to alternate universe. (8.3)

Stars: Peter Krause, Julianna Margulies and Peter Jacobson

Surprisingly original and well thought-out story. It is complex and has many twists and turns. Had this been a longer series, it could have gone in many wild directions for several seasons. It has the right amount of suspense, humor and intrigue. Very interesting how it uses various human tendencies to build the characters. Took me several days to watch all the episodes. Highly recommend it. Read more in the Wikipedia entry if you wish, but it contains spoilers. My Rating: 8.0

Listen to Your Heart (PG-13) 6.5

Listen to Your Heart (2010): A singer/songwriter falls in love with a girl who can't hear the music she inspires him to write. (6.1)

Director: Matt Thompson
Stars: Alexia Rasmussen, Kent Moran and Cybill Shepherd

A love story. A bit on the soapy side, but a few twists here and there makes it a unique story. The acting is pretty good, including that of the supporting cast. New York as a backdrop is always a safe bet with a story like this. For a movie about a singer/songwriter, the music/songs presented (at least to me) weren't all that great. Original scores could have been supplemented with a couple of well known songs (like this one by Roxette as the title song), just IMHO. My Rating: 6.5

Shanghai Triad (R) 7.0

Shanghai Triad (1995): A provincial boy related to a Shanghai crime family is recruited by his uncle into cosmopolitan Shanghai in the 1930s to be a servant to a ganglord's mistress. (7.2)

Director: Yimou Zhang
Stars: Li Gong, Baotian Li and Wang Xiaoxiao

Another of Zhang Yimou movies with nice visuals and great cinematography. Great use of the color filters to give a sense of the time period and, frankly, to get nice imagery. Love seeing Li Gong in yet another commanding role. (I don't understand a word of what she says, but something about the way she speaks is nice; as is the way she smiles.) The story is a bit thin. For a gangster movie, I wanted to see a bit more action; then again, it shouldn't be (isn't) Godfather done with Chinese actors. The kid's character needed a bit more. (heh, I didn't know that "Triad" means something like "mafia") My Rating: 7.0

Megamind (PG) 7.0

Megamind (2010): The supervillain Megamind finally conquers his nemesis, the hero Metro Man... but finds his life pointless without a hero to fight. (7.3)

Director: Tom McGrath
Stars: Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt

Not your average Super-hero vs. Villain story. Nice parodies and spoofs. I laughed out loud a few times. Good animation. What else do you want. This is a nice movie. My Rating: 7.0

Crimes of the Heart (PG-13) 4.5

Crimes of the Heart (1986): Three sisters with quite different personalities and lives reunite when the youngest of them, Babe, has just shot her husband. (6.3)

Director: Bruce Beresford
Stars: Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek

Three big names in the lead roles, but acting is bad in that they try to do the southern-ness a bit over the top. The giddy interactions between the sisters is a bit unreal too. Then again, what do I know about either of those! The story is good, but it lacks any and all emotional punch in delivery. Great potential and opportunity lost. Meh. My Rating: 4.5

Mary and Max (PG-13) 7.0

Mary and Max (2009): A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York. (8.2)

Director: Adam Elliot
Stars: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana

This is clay animation and that's tedious, hard work. Apparently, it took 57 weeks to complete this movie. It is well made movie. The story deals with grown-up themes such as loneliness, obesity, depression, etc. Yet, it is quite funny. The voice over narration is the main voice heard in the movie. That works, but I would have liked more of the actors voices. They could have used the New York and Australian accents to differentiate just like they did with the colors. My Rating: 7.0

The Last Airbender (PG) 6.5

The Last Airbender (2010): The story follows the adventures of Aang, a young successor to a long line of Avatars, who must put his childhood ways aside and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations. (4.5)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone

Watching this movie the second time around, knowing that the movie lacks quite a bit of detail from the animation series, left me with the sense of "um, did they just gloss over a whole lot of things there?" kind of feeling. See my previous comments, too. So, the concept of Avatar is borrowed from the Tibetan Buddhism's Dalai Lama? My score is still higher than the average IMDB score. My Rating: 6.5

9 (PG-13) 6.0

9 (I) (2009): A rag doll that awakens in a post-apocalyptic future holds the key to humanity's salvation. (7.0)

Director: Shane Acker
Writers: Pamela Pettler (screenplay), Shane Acker (story)
Stars: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly and Crispin Glover

Good animation considering that this is not meant for kids. But, the story is weak. It is the same old story: a rag-tag group/army is fighting a big, bad, evil thing and ... uh, where's the humanity's salvation? At the end of the day, it is one scientist's big bad machine against his own the cute, tiny and fragile rag dolls. Well, the machines also have human emotions (okay, really evil, but still) and I could go either way. {grin} With the star-power in the lineup, this could have been a really good movie. We watch movies for a good story that we remember for a long time. This movie missed the opportunity. My Rating: 6.0

Sleep Dealer (PG-13) 7.5

Sleep Dealer (2008): Set in a near-future, militarized world marked by closed borders, virtual labor and a global digital network that joins minds and experiences, three strangers risk their lives to connect with each other and break the barriers of technology. (6.1)

Director: Alex Rivera
Writers: Alex Rivera (screenplay), David Riker (screenplay)
Stars: Luis Fernando Peña, Leonor Varela and Jacob Vargas
Language: Spanish (w/ English subtitles)

A nice story. A fresh perspective of the future from across the border. The storyline has many things happening that are extensions of today's immigration debate. Access to water controlled by mega multi-national corporations, VR soldiers fighting remote wars with drones, questions about farming (basic rights), can you trust when others can read your mind, ... lots of stuff going on in the plot. Nice touch with inference of the border control being outsourced to India. That's a minor thing, but like that, they have paid attention to detail. My Rating: 7.5

Four Lions (R) 6.5

Four Lions (2010): Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. (7.4)

Director: Christopher Morris
Stars: Will Adamsdale, Riz Ahmed and Adeel Akhtar

We don't have a Pakistani sub-culture in the US like that of UK. This movie takes a lot of nuances from the South Asian (they call them Asian in England) groups and makes valid points as well as hilarious situations. Wonderfully done. Funny. Morbidly so, at times. I wish I had the subtitles, because the British mumble-speak is difficult to understand at times, specially when they switch between English and Urdu really fast. My Rating: 6.5

Illusion (PG-13) 5.5

Illusion (2004): A once-powerful, but now ailing movie director nears the end of his life. As he awaits death, he slips into a "dream" and is shown three "snippets" of the movie of his son's life. (7.5)

Director: Michael A. Goorjian
Writers: Tressa DiFiglia, Michael A. Goorjian
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Michael A. Goorjian and Karen Tucker

This movie uses the movie industry theme to tell three (four, if you count the old man's life also) different stories, but none of them quite well. I guess, the lesson here is that people in the movie industry shouldn't try to write original stories, because they eventually fall into the industry-related material like screening, cutting/editing, stories about actors/directors, ... come on, there are other professions and other people in the world, you know. Get the story from a professional storyteller and make it into a screenplay. Perhaps, this was conjured up to get Kirk Douglas one last shot at starring in a movie, but, meh. My Rating: 5.5

Snow Falling on Cedars (PG-13) 8.5

Snow Falling on Cedars (1999): A Japanese-American fisherman may have killed his neighbor Carl at sea. In the 1950's, race figures in the trial. So does reporter Ishmael. (6.7)

Director: Scott Hicks
Writers: David Guterson (novel), Ronald Bass (screenplay)
Stars: Ethan Hawke, Max von Sydow and Youki Kudoh

This is a really well made movie. The depiction of WWII period era scenes is beautiful. The use of pacific northwest scenery is nicely done. More importantly, the story has several interwoven emotional themes: right and wrong; attitudes and traditions of the society and its people; love, betrayal, tradition, letting go, etc. I didn't know that this was based on a novel. The book must be twice as good, then. The way the story is told, the emotions come bubbling up from all sides; very powerful use of the flashbacks, historical events and timelines. IMDB's user review is spot-on, but don't read it before seeing the move. Highly recommend it. My Rating: 8.5

Dot the I (R) 7.5

Dot the I (2003): Young lovers in London are wrapped up in a love triangle that may not be exactly what it seems. (6.7)

Director/Writer: Matthew Parkhill
Stars: Gael García Bernal, Natalia Verbeke and James D'Arcy

The storyline in this movie has more twists than a pretzel. If I say more, I will spoil it for anyone not seen it. Suffice it to say that it is more than just a love triangle. What's the question that has entered our lexicon ... "what did the president know and when did he know it?" Hmmm... after the movie, you have to wonder what did he/she know and when did he/she know it for each of the characters. Then again, no matter how you cut it, there's deception lurking around the corner. Very interesting story, good acting, nice use of the, ahem, "footage" from the story itself to tell the story. My Rating: 7.5

The Final Cut (PG-13) 7.0

The Final Cut (2004): Set in a world with memory implants, Robin Williams plays a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger. (6.1)

Director: Omar Naim
Stars: Robin Williams, James Caviezel and Mira Sorvino

Contrary the IMDB blurb above, it isn't a memory implant; rather, it is an implant that records everything a person does (sees and hears). The storyline brings up a lot of ethical questions such as what are the responsibilities of the cutters, what becomes of the true identities of the implant wearers, do the wearers have to tell the by-standers of being recorded, etc. While the idea of implanted memory recorders is futuristic, the director has gone with the classic look of wood-paneled machines, old-time radio type consoles, etc, which is quaint and gives a nice touch. Very interesting story and Robin Williams plays another serious role wonderfully. My Rating: 7.0