MOVIE REVIEW - Suspicion (1941)

Hitchcock at his best with the suspense - you didn't know if Cary Grant was good or bad until the end. But overall, this thriller is just fair - the acting was pretty bad (even though Joan Fontaine won a Best Actress Oscar), and it wrapped up much too quickly in a nice neat package. Could've been great with some tweaking, and it was fine, but lacking.

MOVIE REVIEW - All The Real Girls (2003)

Indie flicks are often depressing, but so many of them - like this one - tend to be fairly pointless. Mediocre acting by my friend Zooey and Paul Schneider. Even the amazing Patricia Clarkson seemed lost in this dull role and movie.

MOVIE REVIEW - Prairie Home Companion (2006)

Nice depiction of a fake last taping of the long-running PBS radio show. If you like the radio show, you'll probably enjoy this casual, fittingly mildly humorous move to the big screen. Garrison Keillor plays himself and is exactly I would've expected, based on his radio program. Salt of the earth, decent, good-natured fun and musing. As with the radio show, I was ready for it to be over about 20 minutes before it got there - but still, you're glad you listened in for the night.

MOVIE REVIEW - Cars (2006)

Why did this movie take SOO long to get into? For the first 45 minutes, I was not in the least interested - it was more like watching a commercial than a movie. Once Lightning finally got stranded in the small town, it finally developed some heart and has plenty of nice moments. But I needed it to be more interesting throughout - decent kid flick, but not for me.

MOVIE REVIEW - Superman Returns (2006)

Decent enough, but not spectacular. About half the time, Superman looked animated, or overly puffy, or like they were trying too hard to make him look like Christopher Reeve. Kate was a terrible choice for Lois - not nearly enough depth or grit. Kevin Spacey enjoyed making Lex sinister, which helped the mediocre effort of the other leads. The story was fine, the effects were good (I liked the pseudo-earthquake in Metropolis). The nods to the prior incarnations (Brando, "Great Caesar's ghost") were understandable, but these, as well as much of the movie, seemed forced.

MOVIE REVIEW - In The Bedroom (2001)

I'm a little confused why this movie received such acclaim. I did appreciate Sissy and Marisa's performances; but the movie itself was deliberately slow, as though it was trying too hard to be pensive. In general, I like Tom Wilkinson, but here, his acting seemed forced. It is a sad and slow movie in any hands, but it was just in the wrong hands.