Bright Star

Rating 6.5

It has some wonderful moments but it's mostly a conventional love story. And though romantic period dramas aren't really my thing, the costumes are pretty neat (my god, those hats!)

The preview for the roller derby movie Whip It showed before this one and found myself wishing I'd seen that one instead. Check back tomorrow for a Whip It review!

It Might Get Loud

Rating: 9

It's so sexy it'll turn you into a devil-worshiping deviant. Is that what you want, heathen?

Great stuff here, including tv footage of an adorable 12-year-old Jimmy Page and Jack White playing until his hands bleed....literally. My one complaint is that, though all these guys are fascinating, there's too much talking and not enough music. Would it be so hard to show the entire clip of Whole Lotta Love? Yeah, I know it would probably be too Robert Plant-centric, but still. I guess that's what YouTube's for.

Inglourious Basterds

Rating: 9

'Basterds' is a total fucking riot. It's been a while! Since Pulp Fiction, most of Tarantino's flicks seem disappointing. My usual complaint is that they're heavy on elaborate action scenes and weak on story. This one has an enormously entertaining story, incredible cast and of course great music and visuals.

Moving on to a tangent unrelated to the movie itself: being a Big Hollywood Star causes a crippling mental disease which makes people say things like, "The dialogue I write isn't poetry, but it's close. It isn't rap, but it's close." I heard this cringe-worthy spiel from Quentin today in an interview and wished some publicist would put a muzzle on him or teach him a yoga pose where he can at least blow himself in private.

It's a great movie from a great director and writer. Shut up and let the work speak for itself. Please?

District 9

Rating: 9

Original and deeply disturbing.

Julie & Julia

Rating: 8.5

I hope Meryl gets another Oscar for this.

She is great.

That is all.

Ponyo

Rating: 7

I know many Miyazaki enthusiasts, and I know he's enormously talented and crazily prolific, but I'd prefer a Pixar movie any day. I'm not knocking Ponyo. It's beautiful and cute and sweet and I'm just a philistine. The kids in the audience today were captivated and I was a little bored, and for that I envy them and their undisturbed, dreamlike imagination.

Funny People

Rating: 7

It's ironic that this is the least funny of Apatow's comedies. It's a little serious, and good. Adam Sandler is pretty impressive when he's doing good work. My biggest complaint is how every plot point is revealed in the trailer, but that's my complaint with all trailers. They should just call them Spoilers.