Movie Saturday

I wasn't able to post anything yesterday because I spent the whole day watching 4 films up for Oscar contention. I will now give my reviews.

MILLION DOLLAR BABY
This one stars Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman and has boxing as its backdrop. OK, I don't like boxing, I mildly like Swank and Eastwood tho I adore Freeman. That said, this film was fantastic. Definitely the best of the day, possibly the year (tho it has stiff competition from Hotel Rwanda). Terrific pacing (thank you Clint -- hope he gets the Oscar), flawless acting and even had humor thanks in no small part to Jay Baruchel from the dead TV show Undeclared. A definite must-see.

THE AVIATOR
This one stars Leo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alan Alda and Alec Baldwin (yeah, that other Kate stars too I guess but in my opinion, she's barely in it, tho good) and directed by Martin "I need to be introduced to a good editor" Scorsese. I'm a Kate Hepburn buff so I was excited to see this solely for the performance of Blanchett, who plays her. And that part was indeed good. Unfortunately, it's such a small part of this very lonnnnnng film, it can't save you from feeling you might have just wasted 3 hours of your life. You'll be left thinking, "Huh?" a lot in this film. I think if you're obsessed with Leo (which I am so not), then it might be a tolerable film for you. For the rest of humanity, skip it.

GARDEN STATE
This one stars (written and directed too) Zach Braff from NBC's Scrubs and Natalie Portman. This was our favorite "feel good" movie of the day. Very sweet, well acted, good story and directing. While it was a bit predictable, that wasn't a detraction for me. Just a sweet, charming story that I really enjoyed watching. Not on par with Million Dollar Baby, but that's okay. Very few movies will be this year. I highly recommend this one.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
This one stars Gerard Butler (most of the people I saw it with were obsessed with him), Miranda Richardson, Minnie Driver and a host of rather forgettable actors and was directed by Joel Schlockmeister, I mean Schumacher. If you can watch it without your brain (so tons of holes, like why Madame Giry seems to be the same age as all the men, don't bother you, etc.), not care that Christine seems to be incapable of displaying an emotion and that it's filled with Andrew Lloyd Webber's usual crap, you should be fine. Sadly, I wasn't able to do this. It wasn't nearly as boring as The Aviator, but that's not saying a lot. Again, if you're obsessed with the star, in this case Gerard Butler, you'll have a great time. Or if you're a fan of rooting for unbelievably dysfunctional couples...