Directed by James Mangold
Written by Patrick O'Neil
IMDB

Tom Cruise is a rogue agent trying to clear his name, protect a young scientist who has invented a perpetual source of energy the size of a battery, and bring down the real rogue agent.  All the while, he must protect Cameron Diaz, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
A surprisingly good flick.  Funny and action-packed.  Cruise and Diaz are both good.  The poster is fantastic, by the way.  Cool movie.

7/10

Directed by Brad Bird
Written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec
IMDB

Tom Cruise is broken out of a Russian prison and brought back to the IMF for another impossible mission.  When the secretary of state (I think) is killed, the IMF is disavowed.  Cruise and his three co-workers decide to still go through with the mission.  Lacking some of the high-tech gadgets and access to satellites and databases, this proves to be the most impossible mission yet!
This movie is non-stop action.  It never lets up for more than a minute or two.  Brad Bird did a great job with this film.  It has a nice sense of humor, which is aided by Simon Pegg being in a starring role this time.  Definitely worth seeing.


8/10

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and J.J. Abrams
IMDB

Tom Cruise is back and his mission is more impossible than ever.  He must retrieve the rabbit’s foot for a terrorist (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who has his wife kidnapped.  Is there a traitor in the midst of the IMF?
A fun action movie.  Some of the wife storyline slows the film down here and there, which is not a problem in MI4.  This is still a good popcorn movie.


6.5/10

Directed by Miguel Arteta
Written by Phil Johnston
IMDB

Ed Helms is a small town insurance agent who is sent to the big city of Cedar Rapids when his co-worked dies from auto-erotic asphyxiation.  He parties and befriends other insurance agents.
A pretty fun little comedy.  Not much to dislike in this film.  Good cast, a fun story and paced pretty well.  Not hysterically funny, but there’s some laughs.


7/10

Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Written by Keinosuke Uekusa and Akira Kurosawa
IMDB

An alcoholic doctor gets a yakuza man with TB as a patient.  The yakuza man refuses to take the treatment offered, but keeps ending up back with the doctor.  When another yakuza man is released from prison, both the doctor and his patient are affected by his presence.
Another great film from Akira Kurosawa.  This is a noir drama.  It is gritty and has crime elements, but the focus is really on the characters and their drama.  Recommended.


9/10

Directed by Patrick McBrearty
Written by Reese Eveneshen
IMDB

The Good:  This movie is ridiculous.  It’s shot on digital film and looks good, visually.
The Bad:  Almost everything else.  The acting is atrocious.  There is racism that is unnecessary (“Everybody knows asians can’t drive!”).  Everybody speaks with a very thick Canadian accent and deliver the lines very woodenly.  Trish Stratus is an attractive woman, but this movie manages to make her look odd in some moments and attractive in other.
The Ugly:  This movie is not quite so bad it’s good.  It’s just bad.  There is some entertainment value to it, of course, but I don’t think a normal person would enjoy it very much.

4/10

Directed by Justin lin
Written by Chris Morgan
IMDB

A high school student is sent to Tokyo to live with his father when he gets arrested because he was street racing against the oldest kid from “Home Improvement.”  In Tokyo, he picks right back up where he left off in the states.  He is street racing again and is now enemies with a mob boss’ son or nephew.
Another fun entry in this ridiculous series.  Lots of good racing scenes in this one.  Justin Lin did a very good job directing this one.  It has a really good visual style.  Really, it does.  The race at the end reminded me heavily of the ski race at the end of “Better Off Dead.”


7.5/10

Directed by Justin Lin
Written by Chris Morgan
IMDB

Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster and Paul Walker are on the run from the FBI after breaking Diesel out of prison.  The Rock heads the Feds.  Meanwhile, Diesel and O’Conner have their sights set on a notorious mob boss in Rio.  They plan on robbing him of all of his money, and they call up their old friends in order to help out.
Holy shit this movie is ridiculous, and so much fun.  While the other films in the series are centered more around the cars and street racing, this one adds a very generous amount of gun fighting.  Lots of silly fun.


8/10

Directed by Brett Ratner
Written by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson
IMDB

Ben Stiller and two of his co-workers (Casey Affleck and Michael Pena) get fired from their job in a luxury hotel when Stiller smashes up the car of a man who defrauded the workers out of their pensions.  They team up with Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick and a maid to rob him of the supposed $20 million he has hidden in his room.
Not a bad movie, but not very well made, either.  The editing is bizarre and some of the pieces just do not fit together.  The movie is very uneven.  Also, this movie has some truly funny parts.  It could have been much better than it was, but it was still pretty entertaining.


6/10