The Red Shoes (1948)

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: *****

I'd been putting off seeing this since I was seventeen and first heard of it. I guess I was just afraid of not liking it after hearing such praise from the likes of Marty Scorcese. While the film didn't change my life like it did for him, it certainly won me over. The ballet sequence is beyond words--"breathtaking" or "astonishing" are practically downplaying its power. The love story worked wonders for me, too. I didn't know who I wanted to get the girl, and I can't remember ever being so split during a viewing of any other film. And the cinematography; acting; directing--yeah, they were all top notch, too.

A Child Is Waiting (1963)

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 2.5

Bed & Board (1970)

Location: Home
Seen Before: Yes
Rating: 5.0

Live Flesh (1997)

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 4.0

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

Location: Maxi-Saver
Seen Before: No
Rating: * 1/2

Ron Howard has done an unbelievably good job of taking Dan Brown's pitifully dull prose and turning it into equally pathetic images on the screen. This whole thing is so laughable and hollow that it almost knocked me off of my seat. I found the book contained a fascinating story, but Howard can't pinch an ounce of life into this awful mess; 95% of the time I felt completely uninvolved with what was happening. This is, perhaps, a career low for Tom Hanks and, as for Howard, he already made The Grinch That Stole Christmas, so what was I really expecting?

Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 4.5

Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976)

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 5.0

Rear Window (1954)

Location: Home
Seen Before: Yes
Rating: 5.0

Adam's Rib (1949)

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 4.5

Clerks II (2006)

Location: Southside Works
Seen Before: No
Rating: 3.5

I have no problem admitting that I was once, in my juvenile years, a Kevin Smith apostle. Naturally (and thankfully) I shed that skin and now mostly look back on those films simply a part of me growing up. So, as an attempt to relive my "best" years, I headed out to the theater and threw down my Lincoln and grabbed a seat. Did it live up to both the original Clerks and the sensation (all sarcasm there) of my high school days?

Well, not exactly. I laughed a lot and loved seeing my old pals onscreen, but it certainly doesn't hold a candle to the original. And here's the problem: Smith can be vulgar, gross, and cinematically-inept, but he earned that in the original Clerks. They weren't getting paid; the budget rested on their credit cards and sales from comic-book collections; shoots lasted all night after the close of the Quick Mart. This follow-up, however, was handed to Smith on a silver platter by the Weinsteins: Rosario Dawson; a Jackson Five song; CGI effects; digital video over film. He didn't have to work as hard and, in the end, it shows.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Locations: The Oaks Theater
Seen Before: Yes
Rating: 5.0

Brilliant as always. Kubrick should only be seen on the big screen.

Scoop (2006)

Location: Manor Theater
Seen Before: No
Rating: 2.0

So here is Woody trying to have the best of both of his worlds: his new found love of Scarlett Johansson and London, and his anxiety-ridden version of himself that he's been playing for almost forty years. You figure the mix could work well--Allen has proven himself a great filmmaker--but it crashes so horribly that it's tough to even sit back and enjoy the picture's silly aspect. The story itself isn't the problem, but instead two God-awful performances by Johansson and Allen. They are so bad that I felt like I was watching one of my classmates' shittiest efforts. No kidding. I got a few laughs, but mostly I just felt sorry for them. Hugh Jackman does a good job of being tall and charming, but, c'mon, is that really so tough for him?