Ten Inch Hero (R) 2.5

Ten Inch Hero (2007): Piper moves to Santa Cruz to go to the Institute of Art. When she was 15 she gave birth to a daughter ...

Director: David Mackay
Stars: Elisabeth Harnois, Clea DuVall and Sean Patrick Flanery

Cheesy. Predictable. 102 minutes I'm never going to get back. Seriously, I don't see what those who think this movie is worth 7.3/10 (IMDB) or 3.8/5 (Netflix) saw in it that they couldn't have seen coming all along. My Rating: 2.5

Rashomon (PG) 7.5

Rashomon (1950): A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view. (8.4)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Machiko Kyô and Masayuki Mori
Language: Japanese (w/ English subtitles)

I've seen bits and pieces of this movie before, but this is the first time I saw the entire thing. For its time, that is said to be quite a different type of a movie. The story is not what happens on the screen, but the telling of it, both in story-teller's perspective and also in cinematography. As in Seven Samurai, there are open leads to this story that go nowhere. In Seven Samurai, all the samurai are killed in a certain way. In this movie, the crime is committed by the story-teller, except perhaps, the (last) observer. My Rating: 7.5

All Good Things (R) 6.5

All Good Things (2010): A love story and murder mystery based on the most notorious unsolved murder case in New York history. The original screenplay uses newly discovered facts, court records and speculation as the foundation for a story of family, obsession, love and loss. (6.3)

Director: Andrew Jarecki
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst and Frank Langella

The moral of the story is that people with money and connections can get away with anything. Good acting and kind of a frustrating story. Not a "movie" ending, then again, RL is never all wrapped up and tied with a bow at the end. My Rating: 6.5

Pink Floyd The Wall (R) 8.0

Pink Floyd The Wall (1982): A troubled rock star descends into madness in the midst of his physical and social isolation from everyone. (7.8)

Director: Alan Parker
Writers: Roger Waters (album "The Wall"), Roger Waters (screenplay)
Stars: Bob Geldof, Christine Hargreaves and James Laurenson

As the Wikipedia article says, this is a very symbolic and metaphorical movie, and much has been written about the movie and the group. So, this here are my memories... I saw this movie for the first time when I was a freshman at USC. Being an FOB, I wasn't crazy about it the first time. (I didn't get it.) However, along with Brazil and The Graduate, this got repeated almost every semester at USC on Friday nights, so I got another chance to see it the following year. Loved the Another Brick In The Wall ever since, specially the "We don't need no education ... no dark sarcasm in the classroom" part. Of course, at 'SC there was a building where lots of our Engineering classes were held called Olin Hall. Our inside joke was to call it "Olin Hall--another brick in the wall." My Rating: 8.0

Cashback (R) 6.5

Cashback (2006): After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild. (7.4)

Director: Sean Ellis
Stars: Sean Biggerstaff, Emilia Fox and Michelle Ryan

I liked the story. I liked the way the move was constructed. Still, the sexy pictures get in the way of a good storytelling. Yeah, definitely a European film ... can't get away with that sort of images in the US mass market. My Rating: 6.5

Futurama: Bender's Big Score (PG) 6.0

Futurama: Bender's Big Score (Video 2007): Planet Express sees a hostile takeover and Bender falls into the hands of criminals where he is used to fulfill their schemes. (7.6)

Director: Dwayne Carey-Hill
Writers: Matt Groening (creator), Matt Groening (developer)
Stars: Billy West, Katey Sagal and John Di Maggio

Okay, I'm not that much into Futurama cartoons. Watched this because someone recommended this for a good time-travel movie. Um, okay, I get that they thought about all the time-travel related stuff and even got the various spoofs into the movie and all ... still, left me thinking, "meh, not enough." I think, for someone who likes Futurama, this is probably a very good movie (or rather a longer episode). My Rating: 6.0

Minority Report (PG-13) 7.5

Minority Report (2002): In the future, criminals are caught before the crimes they commit, but one of the officers in the special unit is accused of one such crime and sets out to prove his innocence. (7.7)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Philip K. Dick (short story)
Stars: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell and Samantha Morton

Very intriguing premise: if you are caught before the crime is committed, are you still guilty? Of what?? Makes you think ... I want to read the short story and I'd bet it is much more nuanced than the movie. The movie is a very fast paced action thriller and it is well done. My Rating: 7.5

Never Let Me Go (R) 8.5

Never Let Me Go (2010): As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them. (7.3)

Director: Mark Romanek
Writers: Kazuo Ishiguro (novel), Alex Garland (screenplay)
Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield

Heartbreaking, yet wonderful. "We all complete. Maybe none of us really understand what we've lived through, or feel we've had enough time." My Rating: 8.5

Happy Accidents (R) 7.5

Happy Accidents (2000): Ruby Weaver has man trouble: she tries to fix them, so she's stuck herself with a string of losers. Her current lover, Sam Deed, seems different ... (7.3)

Director: Brad Anderson
Stars: Marisa Tomei, Vincent D'Onofrio and Marty Davey

This certainly is a different kind of a movie. As someone says on the IMDB site, this is Science Fiction for the adults. It is definitely cerebral. I'm still going "um ... really? Is it, uh, maybe." And, I've been a fan of Marisa Tomei since since her role in My Cousin Vinny. Great acting. Nice movie. My Rating: 7.5

Confederate States of America (R) 6.5

C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America (2004): Through the eyes of a british "documentary", this film takes a satirically humorous, and sometimes frightening, look at the history of an America where the South won the Civil War. (6.4)

Director: Kevin Willmott
Stars: Greg Kirsch, Renee Patrick and Molly Graham

This is satire (mocumentary) at its best. The attention to detail is what keeps it entertaining and the movie premise going for 90 minutes. At times, you can't help but wonder if the actors delivering the lines were splitting up in laughter or crying at the irony of it all right after the scene was filmed. What brings a bit of scare into the satire are the grains of truth listed at the end of the movie. Yeah, just ask Aunt Jemimah and Uncle Ben. My Rating: 6.5