A very entertaining sequel with lots of action and fun pirate adventures. 4/5 stars.

This exciting thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio portrayed many sides of the controversial issue of conflict diamonds. When a poor country is full of items of such high value, the people tear each other apart in the hopes of being able to afford a way out. Politics, ethics, journalism, racism, love, and aggression are all explored. The director passed up many opportunities to make this movie into a series of Hollywood clichés and I applaud that. 5/5 stars.

Chock full of characters, but missing that great character development of the first two movies. If you’ve seen the first two movies, see this one. Otherwise, you’re not missing much. 3/5 stars.

Forest Whitaker’s Oscar acceptance speech was so moving, it made me want to see this movie. He is truly an amazing actor and he said that Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator he portrays, was the most complex role of his career. The movie is historical fiction. It tells the story of a fictional Scottish doctor who through a chance encounter becomes Idi Amin’s personal physician in 1970. It is a great illustration of corruption, conflicts of interest, politics, and power. I love complex characters and Whitaker’s Amin was so many things rolled into one: charming, brutal, immature, angry, lighthearted, popular, and despised. I think this movie was more of a character study than a great story, but the story is interesting and unique. 4/5 stars.

Nominated for four Academy Awards, Notes on a Scandal delivers some intense, creepy, and complex drama. Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench are at their finest. I wish the movie was longer! 4/5 stars.

This adaptation of the book by Jhumpa Lahiri was an enjoyable experience, through and through. It spans about 30 years of the lives of a Bengali family who struggles with the competing desires to adhere to tradition and to fit into their new home in the US. 4/5 stars.

I was excited to see this movie because I felt as though I might be able to relate a bit to the main character: trying to get his act together and make it big in the business world (although I am not homeless and do not have a child). The plot was inspiring and the movie was well-made. Will Smith has a great personality, but none of the characters had much depth. All in all, this was a “nice” movie but nothing special. 3/5 stars.

Fucking awesome! Perfect for a guy’s night out, this gruesome double feature was one hell of a good time. Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” is a completely over-the-top tongue-in-cheek zombie movie filled to the brim with gore and violence… Tarantino’s “Death Proof” was 1/2 boring conversation and 1/2 edge-of-your-seat action. 4/5 stars.

I had never heard of this before hearing it mentioned during the Oscars. Nominated for best actress, supporting actor, and adapted screenplay, this film should have been nominated for best picture. A truly stunning drama about the intersection of the lives of several people living in a small suburb, trying to get what they want out of life. A must-see. 5/5 stars.

Martin Scorsese finally got his Oscars for this film, so congratulations Marty! Give me a call, we’ll get lunch sometime and celebrate!

I really enjoyed The Departed, which was one of the best crime dramas I’ve ever seen. Leo, Matt, and Jack were at the top of their game. Intense! I waffled a bit as to how to rate this, but I will rate it with respect to its genre and give it 5/5 stars.

This 1994 Coen Brothers classic really blew me away. It was highly stylized, tongue-in-cheek, and a lot of fun. It reminded me a lot of Brazil, another excellent movie with similar themes. Tim Robbins plays an unlikely hero who gets catapulted to the top of the corporate world and shows people the beauty of simple elegant ideas. 5/5 stars.

The movie was written especially for Jack Black, and Jack Black was born to play this role. The kids’ innocence is a great complement to Jable’s craziness. I had a feeling this would be a fun movie, which it was, but I also found it inspiring. 5/5 stars.

Brick is a very unique take on the much-cliched film-noir genre. Instead of the classic detective and mafia, it features a group of high-schoolers. As much as I wanted to like it, I found that underneath the intriguingly intricate plot, there was very little of interest. Maybe that’s what film-noir is about but I guess it just doesn’t do it for me. 3/5 stars.

Not to be confused with the more recent movie of the same name, Kicking and Screaming was Noah Baumbach’s 1995 directing debut. This is the story of four guys who have just graduated from college and don’t know what to do with the rest of their lives. It’s also the story of their relationships, and the ensemble cast has superb chemistry on screen. 4/5 stars.

Since I am currently obsessed with poker, I felt I had to see this movie. I am very glad I did. Not only does this movie feature lots of poker, but it also has complex characters, a great plot, and a stellar cast of actors: Matt Damon, Ed Norton, John Malkovitch, John Turturro, Gretchen Mol, and Famke Janssen. There are many parallels between the game of poker and the game of life, and this movie illustrates that very well (e.g. escalating commitment to a bad hand). I have no choice but to give this movie 5/5 stars