And B's Nominees Are...

And now for the post you have all been waiting for - The First Annual PB Award Nominees, Part I (B's Nominees). We'll be posting nominees in two parts, first my nominees, then P will post his sometime over the next week (from what I gather, P saw no more than 3 quality movies this year and is in the midst of a week-long 2007 movie-catch-up marathon). We'll be nominating for awards in the standard categories Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Actor, plus a few PB originals, like Most Entertaining Movie, Most Original Movie, Best "Bad" Movie, Best Ending, and Breakthrough Performer of the Year.

P and I will not be maintaining a requisite number of nominees per category. If we feel there were a ton of excellent performances in a particular category (e.g. Supporting Actor), there will be a ton of nominees. Likewise, if there was a dearth of quality in a category (e.g. Supporting Actress), we aren't going to give out charity nominees.

This year was a terrific year for quality film. After a few years in a row with only sporadic highlights, 2007 kept the good flicks and excellent performances coming one after the next. Without further ado, these were the best of the best:


Best Screenplay

• Diablo Cody – Juno: Hilarious but poignant dialogue in the mouths of Ellen Page, Michael Cera and J.K. Simmons takes Juno from a Knocked Up-esque summer comedy to a serious award-contender.

• Brad Bird – Ratatouille: The wittiest, most sophisticated animated movie I have ever seen. Particular highlights are the characters of Anton Ego, the food critic, and Gusteau, the deceased chef.

• Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton: The scribe of the Bourne screenplays, in his directorial debut, provided some of the best dialogue of the year in the extremely talky, but riveting Michael Clayton.

• Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood: The sheer weight of silence in There Will Be Blood magnifies the impact of what little dialogue there is.

Best Director

• Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood: A work of originality and genius that succeeds as both a captivating character study and a commentary on the dark faults of humanity. Anderson deserves a lion's share of the credit for bringing the story together with tremendous cinematography and editing.

• Ridley Scott – American Gangster: Ridley Scott pulls off yet another epic, deftly combining terrific performances, engaging action, and an authentic re-creation of 1960s Harlem.

• Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton: Michael Clayton is well paced, well acted, well shot, and extremely well written, all a credit to Gilroy.

Best Supporting Actress

• Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton: In my opinion, Swinton's performance as the all-too-human General Counsel for evil fertilizer company UNorth was the best female performance of the year, period.

• Ruby Dee – American Gangster: If you can steal scenes from Denzel Washington, you deserve an award. Plus, Dee plays the main role in the most unintentionally hilarious bit from the film and trailer (Mama Lucas: Whose house is that? Frank Lucas: It's your house mama!).

Best Supporting Actor

• Robert Downey Jr – Zodiac: Zodiac didn't nearly satisfy my lofty expectations, but Downey Jr.'s performance as journalist Paul Avery single-handedly prevented me from fast-forwarding through the first half of the 2 hr 40 min film.

• Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War: Hoffman is always a pleasure to watch, and his role as humorously irreverent CIA agent Gust Avrakotos is one of his best.

• Tommy Lee Jones – No Country for Old Men: As the "Old Man" in No Country, Tommy Lee Jones delivers one of the best performances of his career and provides the moral center to a film of violence and greed.

• Dillon Freasier – There Will Be Blood: While everyone seems to be giving Paul Dano all the credit for his supporting role as a small-town preacher, my vote for the best supporting performance in There Will Be Blood goes to the young boy Dillon Freasier who flawlessly plays Daniel Day-Lewis' character's adopted son in his first acting job ever (see how he got the role here).

• Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton: Wilkinson's dynamic performance as a mentally troubled lawyer with a newly developed conscience fuels the first half of Michael Clayton. In a lesser year, Wilkinson would walk away with this award. Unfortunately for him, this is the strongest slew of Supporting Actors I can remember.

Best Actress

• Ellen Page - Juno: I don't know where Ellen Page came from (supposedly she was in X-Men 3: The Last Stand, but I don't remember her), but I hope she's here to stay. She is hilarious and refreshingly frank as Juno's title character.

• Keri Russell – Waitress: Keri Russell is as delicious as the pies she bakes in Waitress.

Best Actor

• Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood: Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as There Will Be Blood's Daniel Plainview is easily the best acting of the decade, and possibly the best since Dustin Hoffman in Rain Main or even Marlon Brando in The Godfather. It is that good.

• Ulrich Muhe – The Lives of Others: The Lives of Others won Best Foriegn Language Film at last year's Oscars, but it wasn't released in the U.S. until 2007. Muhe's performance as an eavesdropping Stasi (East German Communist Secret Police) captain makes the movie a masterpiece. Sadly, Muhe passed away this past July, leaving the incredible The Lives of Others behind as his legacy.
  

Now for a few original categories...

Most Entertaining Movie

• Shoot 'Em Up: Per my review earlier this year, Shoot 'Em Up was by far the most enjoyable 90 minutes I spent in a movie theater this year. If you still haven't seen it, this needs to be at the top of your rental queue.

• Superbad: Hilarious in the theater and equally hilarious upon repeat DVD viewing. Instant classic.

• Hot Fuzz: While the first 2/3rds of Hot Fuzz was enjoyable but not spectacular, the final 20 minutes of over-the-top mayhem is non-stop laugh, cringe, laugh, cringe.

Most Original Movie

• Once: This small-budget independent Irish film features two musicians acting the lead roles of "Guy" and "Girl," lending serious authenticity to the songs that make up the bulk of the dialogue. Equally heart warming and heart wrenching, Once is a dysfunctional love story, a romantic comedy, an inspirational drama, and a rock musical all at the same time. The feature song, "Falling Slowly," deserves to win an Oscar and be in your iPod.

• There Will Be Blood: I had never seen anything like There Will Be Blood before and I don't think I ever will again. I can't even really describe what it is other than to say that it sticks with you.

• Beowolf 3-D: I hope the box office success of Beowolf means that we will see quite a few more high-quality 3-D films in the years to come. I hadn't watched a movie in 3-D since going to Epcot Center more than fifteen years ago. The quality entertainment of Beowolf assured me that I would be returning for another 3-D adventure far sooner than that (particularly if it features a digitally enhanced Angelina Jolie).

Best "Bad" Movie

• Transformers: As bad as Transformers was, I loved watching blatant product placement ads (e.g. the Mountain Dew machine) turn into murderous robots. Plus, Shia LaBeouf made the most of bad material, Megan Fox was hot, and John Tuturro, though entirely unnecessary, was extremely entertaining.

• Shoot 'Em Up: Some critics said that Shoot 'Em Up was bad - The NYT even went so far as to call it a "worthless piece of garbage" - and bad it was... bad ass!

Best Ending

• The Lives of Others: The film seems to end twice, and both endings would have been sufficient, but it is the unexpected final scene that adds a perfect post-script to a perfect film and keeps resonating long after the credits have finished rolling.

• Bourne Ultimatum: I'll try not to spoil it for those who haven't seen the final Bourne - suffice to say, I enjoyed the swimming.

Breakthrough Performer of the Year

• Michael Cera: 2007 was the year Michael Cera broke out. With "Arrested Development" firmly in rearview, Cera gave us memorably hilarious turns in Superbad and Juno, while also co-leading the internet comedy revolution (see Cera at http://www.clarkandmichael.com/, and check out http://www.funnyordie.com/ for more internet comedy).

• Josh Brolin: Josh Brolin is the one actor who gets no credit for his solid performance in No Country for Old Men, and he certainly gets no credit for his equally solid performance in American Gangster. Maybe it is because he is so good at playing unlikeable sleaze balls? Regardless, he gets his props here on PB & Movies.

Oscar Rewind: Brokeback Mountain

Each year, Entertainment Weekly includes a retrospective article in its Academy Awards preview issue. For me, it's kind of a hit-or-miss component of the preview. I was definitely excited to read an account of Rocky's underdog performance at the 1977 Oscars, but for the most part, I don't really care that much about award shows that took place before I was born.

To me, the recent history of the Oscars is much more compelling. For example, I'm sure you remember the controversy surrounding Brokeback Mountain, which ultimately earned 7 noms and 3 Oscars in February 2006. But how is the movie perceived today, two years removed from that triumphant night? Has anyone who didn't see the movie at the time even watched it?

For the benefit of our loyal readers, I sacrificed one of my Blockbuster queue spots and finally sat down to watch Brokeback this week. My initial post-viewing thoughts:

• It's a well-crafted film - definitely worthy of the Best Director award (Ang Lee).


• Not as graphic as bible-thumping critics had suggested, but I'll admit the Heath Ledger-Jake Gyllenhaal sex scene was a bit...weird. If it had been two no-name actors, it probably would have been less so...


• The screenplay was decent but the story was a bit slow. It was clearly the acting that elevated this movie near to Best Picture level. Emphasis on "near", because to me this just didn't feel like a Best Picture. It had the "epic" cinematography and score that Academy voters love, but honestly, if I had seen this movie before reading or hearing any reviews, I would have said, "Good movie - well-acted, well-directed, but ultimately not that entertaining."


• It's not nearly as iconoclastic as fans and critics made it out to be. First off, it takes place in the 1960s and 70s, so it makes it easy to write off the type of homophobia (and homophobia-related violence) depicted in the film as signposts of a bygone era. Second, it's way too tragic and depressing to be a touchstone for gay rights advocates (in my humble opinion). Maybe the fact that a movie about "gay cowboys" entered the mainstream consciousness at all was seen as victory enough for the gay rights movement at the time. However, so many people trivialized this movie as "the gay cowboy movie" that I don't really see it having a long-term impact on American culture - or even on Hollywood, for that matter. It'll probably be the first film mentioned in the review for any future movie featuring gay protagonists that flirts with mainstream acceptance. Is that really a victory after all?

Brokeback Mountain: 2 PB Jars

It made me nauseous, but I liked Cloverfield anyway

I probably should have put on sea bands or popped some dramamine before heading to the multiplex for a late-night showing of Cloverfield last weekend but, to be honest, I didn't really believe that the entire movie was going to be shot in first-person handycam. I am not a J.J. Abrams fanatic, I don't watch "Lost," and I had not been frequenting the Cloverfield clues blogs prior to checking out the film, so all I knew about Cloverfield going in was what I had gleaned from the trailer - a monster strikes NYC, threatening the safety and love lives of a few early-20-somethings. Frankly, I thought the first-person camcorder footage in the trailer was more of a trailer concept than a feature-length concept. That said, and despite my traditionally unstable stomach (I don't fare well on roller-coasters and even OmniMax films make me queasy), I was completely enraptured by Cloverfield's 85 minutes of herky-jerky mayhem.

While the novelty of an entire movie shot from a first-person-holding-a-camcorder point of view may have worn off about 30 minutes into the film, I was impressed with Cloverfield's religious dedication to maintaining its concept. From the opening color bars to the start of the end-credits, the film is presented as a single videotape that has been catalogued by the U.S. government as evidence regarding the destruction of New York City by a mysterious monster, code-named "Cloverfield." (note: the picture below is not an actual frame from the film, as the film only contains frames that would have actually been shot by the camcorder.) There are no real sub-plots, but the film does ingeniously interweave a parallel narrative by occasionally cutting to previous footage on the same videotape, footage that has for the most part been filmed over during the monster attack. The primary narrative follows the events of a few friends who are thrust from the banality of a going-away party into a frightening fight for their lives as their city is besieged by a giant monster.

Ignoring obvious reality-check issues such as battery life and the ability of a camcorder to withstand a serious beating, I loved the originality of the film's concept. While the first-person handheld video camera concept movie was introduced by The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield takes it to another level by throwing serious special effects and big-budget action into the mix. It felt fresh, personal, and immensely entertaining. By focusing on the plight of its protagonists rather than the details of the monster, Cloverfield actually becomes a lot more realistic and a lot scarier than most of its monster-movie brethren. I imagine that Cloverfield is roughly equivalent to what my or my friends' home movies would look like if we found ourselves holding a video camera at the moment that our lives became threatened by terrifying evil - whether that evil was a monster, a war, a natural disaster or a supernatural encounter.

Check it out, but don't forget the dramamine.

Cloverfield - 2.0 PB Jars

007 Returns in... Quantum of Solace?

The new Daniel Craig Bond film has officially been named. The result? Quantum of Solace. Wha? That's right, Quantum of Solace. Apparently the name was an Ian Fleming original, taken from a short story that was part of the "For Your Eyes Only" anthology. Authentic or not, it still makes no sense. Literally translated into normal-people language, "quantum of solace" means "a particular amount of comfort in sorrow or distress." I prefer the physics definition, which would give us "an indivisible entity of energy yielding comfort in sorrow or distress," or something like that. What happened to the good old days of Dr. No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, and Goldeneye? Regardless of its meaning, Quantum of Solace should give us 007 delivering particular amounts of comfort to a few distressed Bond girls, combined with a significant amount of indivisibly energetic ass-kicking.

The Oscars... ain't got nothin' on the Peanut Butter Awards!

The nominees for the 80th Annual Academy Awards were announced today and were significantly overshadowed by the surprising death of Heath Ledger. It seems that details are still forthcoming about the death, but rest assured that Peanut Butter & Movies will not be keeping you updated (that's what sites like tmz.com are for) other than to confirm that the most anticipated movie of 2008, The Dark Knight, is still on track for summer release.

Meanwhile, the continued writer's strike threatens to take down the annual Oscar ceremony in much the same fashion that it dispatched with the Golden Globes. If that turns out to be the case, then this year's nominees will undeservedly be getting the short end of the stick. So, while actors and award shows may be dropping like flies, Peanut Butter & Movies is here to brighten your award season with the first annual PEANUT BUTTER AWARDS!

We will be revealing our award nominees later in the week, but first and foremost we need your help. The Academy Awards wouldn't be squat without the sweet golden Oscar, so we here at Peanut Butter & Movies need a kickass statuette, medal, trophy or knickknack to virtually give out. Three leading contenders are pictured below. Vote on the left, and we'll make the leading vote-getter the official "Peanut Butter Award."

The Olympic Gold Medal Peanut Butter Award:

The Atlas World of Peanut Butter Award:

The Paul Revere Silver Trophy Peanut Butter Award:

John McCain is a HUGE "Die Hard" Fan

My friend sent me this email today at work:
______________________________________________
From: D.D.

Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 12:36 PM
Subject: Live Free or Die...

The T-shirt says "Live Free or Die" which is the state motto of New Hampshire.
Whoever submits the funniest line in the space gets a beer on me (see attachment)...

Instead of a simple quote, I decided to write a mini-dialogue:

* * *
[McCain notices the woman’s "Live Free or Die" shirt and immediately thinks of his favorite movie, Live Free or Die Hard]

MCCAIN: It’s "Hard."
WOMAN: What?
MCCAIN: I said, "It’s ‘Hard’."
WOMAN: Huh?
MCCAIN: I was looking at your chest, and I just wanted to let you know that it’s "Hard."
WOMAN: Excuse me!?!
MCCAIN: You know, Bruce Willis and…uh…that guy from the Apple commercials. Car chases, explosions… [Still staring at her chest while thinking about the movie] Man, those blockbusters really get my blood pumping…
WOMAN: You pervert! I’m leaving!!! I hope there’s still room at the Obama rally across the street.

[End scene]

* * *

Feel free to post your own "McCain quote" suggestions in the Comments...

As Hot as a Robot

T2 + "24" = "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (Mondays 9/8c on FOX)

This week's two-night premiere proved the Terminator franchise can survive, and thrive, in the post-Schwarzenegger world. This time, it's the mother of humanity's savior who is back. Don't spend too much time trying to fit this show into the established Terminator timeline or you'll get a headache. Let's just say that T:SCC picks up in the aftermath of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, with new threats and new protectors on the horizon. Is it wrong that there's sexual tension between young John Connor and his mechanical bodyguard (played by Summer Glau, below left)? Maybe - but it's definitely going to be an interesting dynamic to watch. I'll admit that the new bad guys are not nearly as menacing as Arnold's original T-800 or Robert Patrick's liquid metal T-1000, but I'm sure Skynet has some surprises up its sleeve.

Report Card

"The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Pilot

• Sarah Connor - Lena Headey (300) doesn't have Linda Hamilton's edginess, but she's shaping up to be a compelling heroine. B


• John Connor - It won't take much for Thomas Dekker ("Heroes") to out-act Eddie Furlong. Just try to keep the cheesy lines to a minimum and you'll be all set. B+


• "Bad Terminator" - Career stunt double David Kilde plays Cromartie, the latest cyborg assassin to target young John Connor. First off, it's weird that the Terminators in this show have names that don't sound like serial numbers. Second of all, after John escapes out of a classroom window, Cromartie pauses his pursuit to turn around and say (to the camera), "Class dismissed." Would the T-800 or T-1000 ever have wasted time with such a pointless comment? Negative. It would be inefficient. C-


• "Good Terminator" - Summer Glau plays Cameron, a "teenage" cyborg and potential love interest for John (as weird as that sounds). If the show's producers can get Kristanna Loken to guest as the T-X, we could be privileged to see the hottest cat fight of all time...fembot vs. fembot*, if you will. A-
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  

* I hope their CPUs are KY jelly resistant.

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If there is anything positive about the Writer's Strike, it's that T:SCC now has the chance to build a solid audience. (The premiere episode drew nearly 20 million viewers.) Don't worry if you missed the pilot and episode 2, because you can watch them for free on FOX's website: http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=tscc

2.5 PB Jars

EW's Soundbites from 2007

For your enjoyment, funny quotes from 2007 (borrowed from the Entertainment Weekly article found here):

''This guy is either going to think, Here's another kid with a fake ID, or Here's McLovin, the 25-year-old Hawaiian organ donor.''— Michael Cera in Superbad

''I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps, and, uh, I believe that our education, like such as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere, like, such as. And I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., er, should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future for our children.''— Miss South Carolina Teen USA Lauren Caitlin Upton, answering a question about why 20 percent of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map, on the Miss Teen USA pageant

''I've been to thousands and thousands of concerts in my life, and I can tell you these are the worst seats I've ever had.''— James Spader, commenting on the theater-in-the-round seating while accepting his Emmy for Outstanding Actor in a drama series

''At least I leave you funnier than when I found you.'' — Seth (Adam Brody), saying goodbye to Ryan (Ben McKenzie), on the series finale of The O.C.

''Do I look like I'm negotiating?'' — George Clooney in Michael Clayton

''Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does whatever a Spider-Pig does.'' — Homer Simpson in The Simpsons Movie

''This! Is! Sparta!'' — Gerard Butler in 300

''It's Britney, bitch!'' — Britney Spears, ''Gimme More''

''Give a black man a chance!'' — Kanye West, after losing five awards including Male Artist of the Year at MTV's VMAs

''Somebody needs to teach you some class, my friend. You don't go grabbin' somebody else's, somebody's husband's balls, you understand me? That's very disrespectful!'' — Faith Hill, chiding a randy concert fan in Louisiana

''Clothes don't make the man, God does. Stop taking credit, my pants!'' — Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report

''You are my heroine. And by 'heroine,' I mean lady hero. I don't want to inject you and listen to jazz.'' — Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), to her idol TV writer (Carrie Fisher), on 30 Rock

''You can stand under my umbrella.'' — Rihanna, ''Umbrella''

''Not my daughter, you bitch!'' — Mrs. Weasley, defending Ginny against Bellatrix Lestrange, in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

January TOTM...TO THE EXTREME!!!

The Signal - Feb. 22

http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/thesignal/trailer/high.html

Story seems loosely based on the Stephen King thriller Cell, and visually inspired by 28 Days Later.

January TOTM

It is fitting that the first Trailer of the Month for 2008 is for the film I'm most excited to see this year - The Dark Knight. Check out the full length trailer on The Dark Knight's official site http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/ or by searching for it on YouTube. While the new trailer isn't especially original, it does the trick and gets my blood pumping for the next installment in the Batman series. Based on the trailer, Heath Ledger's Joker is a nice blend of creepy and humorously wacky (though not as over-the-top as Jack Nicholson played it), and the Batcycle looks pretty slick. I was surprised to see what appears to be a less CGI-driven take on Gotham. Both this film and Batman Begins were filmed in my home city of Chicago, but in Batman Begins the city was barely recognizable through all the CGI additions. In a few scenes from The Dark Knight trailer, many buildings in downtown Chicago are immediately recognizable and don't seem to have been digitally altered much, if at all.

New Year's Resolution: See More Movies in the Theater!

Theaters make movies better. Yes, the prices are too high. Yes, there's the risk of an annoying person sitting next to, in front of, or behind you. Yes, your timing is restricted by the Fandango gods who set the film schedules. But, movies are so much more fun to watch in the theaters.

Theaters can enhance the movie watching experience in a handful of ways. Sometimes the enhancements are dramatic and depend on what the individual theater has to offer. Such was the case when I went to the Alamo Drafthouse and saw The Simpson's Movie with a bucket of Duff Beer. However, even at your local AMC, Landmark, Hoyts or Regal multiplex you've got the buttery goodness of overpriced popcorn, the Coming Attractions (those trailers look way better on the big screen than they do on my laptop), the reactions of your fellow moviegoers, perfect surround sound, ideal lighting, and, most important of all, a big ass screen. Even crummy movies can be entertaining and enjoyable when viewed as part of the entire theater-going experience. Case in point - National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Over the holidays, I saw a few movies in the theater with my folks. They paid for the movies on the caveat that I was stuck watching whatever they were interested in. So, no I Am Legend, Juno, Sweeney Todd, or Before the Devil Knows You're Dead for me. Instead, I was treated to Charlie Wilson's War and National Treasure Part Deux.

Charlie Wilson's War, a film about a nobody Senator from Texas and his role in escalating the US's anti-Russian involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s, was quite good. Tom Hanks, as the Senator, and Philip Seymour Hoffman carry the film and their rapport alone makes it worth seeing. Hoffman, in particular, is brilliant as a rough around the edges CIA operative. Julia Roberts is outdone by the leading men, but is still quite watchable. The film struck me as somewhat uneven. The first three quarters of it play like a late 80s "let's go kill some Russians" Cold War movie. The last quarter puts more of a contemporary spin on the conflict, alluding to the impact it has had on our modern day issues in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the latter portion differs so greatly in tone from the rah-rah joviality of the earlier portion that it almost feels like an afterthought rather than the logical conclusion to the film. Nonetheless, I was glad that the contemporary connection was made because otherwise the film would have felt outdated and trivial. 2 PB Jars

National Treasure: Book of Secrets is a perfect example of why I will be going to the theater more often in 2008. This was not a "good" movie by any means. The plot is convoluted and cheesy, while still managing to be nearly identical to that of the first National Treasure. The overacting is just above tolerable. Yet, watching Book of Secrets on the big screen, I was thoroughly entertained. I laughed at the bad jokes while scarfing down my overly buttered popcorn. I jumped at predictable, not-very-scary moments. I rooted for Nicholas Cage's Ben Gates to win back the girl. I soaked in some beautiful scenery and special effects. And, I kept hoping that the next clue would lead them to the treasure (spoiler alert: eventually it does!). When the movie ended I promptly forgot pretty much everything that had happened in it, but was left with a smile on my face. Ultimately, that's all I was looking to get for my Dad's 10 bucks. 1.5 PB Jars

New Year's Resolution: Watch More DVDs

...if for no other reason than to justify my $20/month Blockbuster Online subscription. It'll be tough to do now that TV's "second season" is revving up (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles premieres a week from Sunday). American Idol be damned - here are some rentals to consider:

The Bourne Ultimatum - Paul Greengrass is a geinus. That's right - the guy who wrote that United 93 was overrated is calling Paul Greengrass a genius. He's got to be considered the top action director in Hollywood right now on the strength of his two Bourne sequels. I haven't decided whether I like Ultimatum more than Supremacy, which had one of the best car chase sequences of all time. The Manhattan car chase in Ultimatum doesn't match Supremacy's climactic Moscow tunnel sequence, but Ultimatum is superior in other ways. For one thing, I like how there are multiple assassins who duel with Bourne. Plus, there's that amazing great running-on-rooftops/jumping-through-windows/kicking-ass sequence. The final revelation about Bourne's identity isn't as earth-shattering as I had expected, but I'd still give this movie an exemplary 2.5 PB Jars.

The Kingdom - I didn't really buy the team chemistry when Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, and Chris Cooper investigate a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia. However, I let that slide because I was sucked into the story by the midway point. Sometimes movies feel too current and too political to be entertaining, but The Kingdom walks that fine line pretty successfully. Arrested Development fans, be prepared to see your boy get his ass handed to him by some Saudi extremists. 2.0 PB Jars

Failure to Launch - Scoff if you want, but this was a light-heartedly hilarious movie. The cast is very likable (with the possible exception of Sarah Jessica Parker, though she was aight). Best scene: The Daily Show's Rob Cordry plays a sheepish gun salesman. His performance, though brief, is an instant classic. 2.0 PB Jars

Rescue Dawn - This movie sucked. Critics who gushed about this movie should be ashamed. I'm not gonna give it a 0.0 rating or anything, probably because I have man-love for Christian Bale and can't bear the thought. Still, this movie sucked. It was boring. It felt like a re-make of other Vietnam movies. Part of the problem is that it's based on one guy's memoir (a German immigrant who joined the U.S. Navy during Vietnam), and you can tell that the guy did everything possible to make himself look like a hero in the story. I'm not saying that surviving in a Viet Cong prison camp was easy; it just wasn't very interesting in this case. Steve Zahn was pretty worthless as the second lead actor. I can't recommend this movie in good conscience, unless you really admire Christian Bale's method acting and want to see him drop some LB's like he did for The Machinist. 0.5 PB Jar

Batman Begins - After seeing the 6-minute prologue for The Dark Knight during the I Am Legend IMAX previews, I was pumped to re-watch Begins. It's even more enjoyable the second time around. I still think the movie is a little on the long side, but otherwise it's a flawless comic book adaptation. Not that I'm going to miss Katie Holmes, who bows out of the series in favor of Maggie Gyllenhall in Dark Knight. 3 PB Jars

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - I endeavored to watch it straight through during Christmas week, but it proved impossible to find a 10-hour block of uninterrupted time. Nevertheless, I'd highly recommend watching the three movies on back-to-back-to-back days. They really do play like three chapters of one giant movie. Having never read the Tolkien books, I understood the story and characters much better this time around. And as epic trilogies go, LOTR rivals The Godfather and Star Wars - and in my opinion, surpasses them both. 3 PB Jars

AVP-R = All Very Predictable-Regrettably

Anyone who knows me knows how much I wanted to love Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. I didn't have great expectations when it comes to dialogue or acting. I just wanted to see some crazy alien-on-alien violence, with unwitting humans caught in the crossfire.

Unfortunately, the poor dialogue/acting steal more screen time than the P vs. A grudge match. With a cast of TV second-fiddles, I shouldn't have been surprised; Steven Pasquale (aka Sean Garrity on "Rescue Me"), Reiko Aylesworth (aka Michelle Dessler on "24"), and Johnny Lewis (aka Marissa's surfer friend Chili on "The OC") round out the list of D-list "headliners". I don't think these are horrible actors in their respective shows, but this screenplay certainly did them no favors.

The action sequences, though decent, were not much more intense than the fight/death scenes in the first AVP. The producers ratcheted up the MPAA rating without a proportional ratcheting up of the action and violence.

What does AVP:R have going for it?

1. A good premise. Even if the execution was less than stellar, the movie's storyline was intriguing. AVP:R picks up immediately after the previous film, opens with a bang, and makes the Predator a more interesting character. As the directors have revealed in interviews, the Predator of AVP:R is loosely based on Harvey Keitel's "Wolf" character in Pulp Fiction. He's a cleaner, sent to mop up a disgusting mess, and he's damn good at his job. The humans in this film are in the mold of the hapless Quentin Tarantino character. Knowing the cinematic inspiration for the Predator's character made watching the movie at least slightly mentally stimulating.

2. A tip of the hat (in fact, several) to the fans.
The new movie certainly honors its roots, while taking some steps to extend the AVP mythology. We get a look at the Predator home planet when the "Wolf" Predator takes off on his mission. We are introduced to the newest Alien form, the Predator-like "Predalien", and we soon discover that it has a unique method of procreation. In terms of story, the writer-directors unabashedly combine the plots of the original Predator and Aliens movies, as illustrated by their frequent homages to the previous films: "Hold on!" (as Aylesworth's Ripley-inspired character prepares to accelerate the military vehicle), "Get to the chopper!", etc. Seeing scrawny Steven Pasquale utter this line while trying to channel his inner Arnold Schwarzenegger was (unintentionally) hilarious.

Here are several things that still confuse me about AVP:R (don't worry - these aren't spoilers):

1. Is it just me, or does fandango.com list this movie as "Alien [singular] vs. Predator: Requiem"? The opening title of the film most definitely reads "AlienS", and the movie's website confirms that this is the correct title. Seems strange that no one corrected fandango. Did no one notice? Did no one care...?

2. Wasn't Shareeka Epps supposed to be in this movie? She was listed AVP:R's imdb page within a month of the movie's opening. I was hoping the young co-star of Half Nelson would bring a little credibility to this film. Not so much...

3. (Ok, this one could be a SPOILER, but I won't be too specific) Why are the deaths in this movie so freaking random? It seems like the two directors ("the Brothers Strause", as they tout themselves in the credits) just sort of had fun randomly killing off characters, often without much fanfare. The trailer definitely gave away some of the flashier deaths. This could be one reason I left this movie feeling unfulfilled. But honestly, if they were going to put all of the great parts in the trailer, then why did I have to pay $10 for this in the first place?

Aliens vs. Predator: Reqiuem, 1.5 PB Jars