Mini-Review: A pretty enjoyable directorial debut for Drew Barrymore. The characters are interesting, the drama between mother and daughter compelling and well executed, and the sport is an unconventional one. On a side note, I approve of the use of The Breeders on the soundtrack.
Mini-Review: The plot is a good metaphor for the type of people the movie probably attracts. Actually, it's easy to forget what the plot is while you're just watching the actors be silly. Good for a cheap laugh though.
Mini-Review: At first, it's extremely mysterious and compelling, but then somewhere in the middle we are presented with some information that would have been more satisfying if the protagonist had actually figured it out first. Still, it's fully engaging, and has some really great compositions.
Mini-Review: It gets off to a bit of a slow start, but once the characters descend into the sewers, it gets moving quickly. The photography is great, and the ending is haunting, but I never really connected with the characters as much as I would have liked.
Mini-Review: "What's that? Matthew McConaughey is off filming a football movie? Hmm, who else can we get?" The story is worth telling, and that's what keeps it going, but it's a pretty standard sports movie. The sequence where the players deliver punchline after punchline about moving to El Paso is awkwardly terrible and forced.
Mini-Review: Gibson does a great job with an interesting character, and his relationship with Glover keeps you watching. Meanwhile, the bad guys are standard 80s action movie villains, but the action sequences are still entertaining.
Mini-Review: Shyamalan tries to correct past mistakes, prove that he can write clever dialogue and make a twisted horror movie again. He tries a little too hard and just buries a deeper hole for himself. I'm not sure why it was filmed with the visual flair of a comedy. Mark Wahlberg knowingly parodies himself, which is actually fun to watch, but doesn't help the film's cause. I knew things were going to be bad when I read about Shyamalan's self-proclaimed "return to form."
Mini-Review: The ending is the most intriguing part, and even then I'm not sure it really means anything. The cinematography is top notch, and it has some nice, subtle comedic moments at times. The rest unfortunately left me as bored as the boring characters.
Mini-Review: Bunuel does a standard Hollywood adventure film, and his signature is relegated to only a handful of images and scenes, like the one in which Friday questions the logic of Christianity. Worth watching, but not the best.
Mini-Review: An epic, contemplative action movie, brilliant in its depiction of a submarine crew's plunge (see what I did there?) into near madness. Too long for comfort, but it never actually gets boring.