Being a huge fan of John Cusack I watched Pushing Tin in the theaters when it first came out. I wasn't that impressed by it, and sort of forgot about it over the years. I was loaned the DVD, and with the wonderful cast staring back at me from the cover, I knew I had to give it another chance.

I'm always into movies that show us careers that you don't see in the movies all the time. I'm sick to death of ad executives and architects being the main occupation of movies about "normal" folks. It was fun to see a behind-the-scenes look at what air traffic controllers go through. The stress it puts on their life. I liked the chemistry between Cusack and Billy Bob Thorton, as they jockey for top spot. The relationship stuff with the women kind of brings the rest of the film down. It's something we've all seen a million times before. I'm glad I gave the film another chance, it was worth watching again, but I don't know if I'll ever bother again.

A romantic comedy in the Sundance vein, you know, quirky acting and multiple characters and story lines. Jay Mohr stars as a man who's about to get married to the girl of his dreams. In a departure from the norm, the girl decides that she hasn't had enough meaningless sex in her life and wants to see other men. He's completely against the idea, feeling he's had his fill. But she wins out and the wackiness ensues. He ends up sleeping with a variety of hotties, that can only happen in the movies for such a "normal" guy. She ends up falling into another relationship. They have a variety of friends that get into witty conversations with them, and we see a bit of their relationships as well.

Despite the pretty predictable set-up, the film is a winner. It kept me laughing at the unrealistic situations. Not a classic, but worth a watch if you're a romantic-comedy fan.

I'd heard from somebody that this was a wonderful kids film; when they're done well I can forget my age and enjoy them on that level. And I do think it's not a bad film for kids, something I probably would have liked when I was 10, but it wasn't well enough made for me now. The acting was uniformly bad. I was cringing throughout at the bad line deli every. The film has an interesting set-up with the magical stuffed bunny and the other stuff that goes along with it. So it kept me going for a while, but once they started to get into the new-agey ideas that went along with it, the film really started to lose me. If you've got young ones, maybe give it a chance, otherwise ignore it.

I'd heard good things about Arctic Son, and wanted to see it when it played the 2007 Ashland Independent Film Festival, but I never got a chance. Thanks to PBS and their wonderful documentary series P.O.V., I didn't have to wait till the film is barely released on DVD and then the long wait in my queue to see it.

"Before enlightenment, chop and carry wood. After enlightenment, chop and carry wood." - Wu Li

Stan Jr. the subject of Artic Son wouldn't have understood and probably would have laughed at this quote (which opens the film) before his life changing journey; which was captured by filmmaker Andrew Walton. Afterwards it would be something to live his life by, though he would never admit to it. Stan Jr. is like a lot of disillusioned young men in this country, he has no motivations beyond where to find his next drink or high. He's a decent artist, but it's not something he yearns to be, only something to pass the time or pick up girls with. Living with his mother in Seattle, he has no ambitions to change himself for the better. His father Stan Sr. is upset by his son's behavior, so he brings him to live with him in the extremely isolated town of Old Crow in the Canadian Yukon.

Coming from a big city, of course the small, mostly native community is a major culture shock for Jr. But this isn't a simple fish-out-of-water story; it goes deeper than that, not going for the easy confrontations. With nowhere to go for entertainment, no bars to get drunk in, nothing to do but live an off-the-land life; Jr. is soon rebelling against father. Sr. is patient with him; letting him detox from his aimless lifestyle. He teaches him how to fish and hunt in the same way their elders did. They take long snowmobile rides through the untouched landscape, often stopping to repair the run-down models. It is a life that demands patience.

Slowly Stan Jr. begins to change. He still enjoys the occasional drink of his homemade beer; still has harsh words with his father about things they disagree on; still scowls and yells "fuck!" anytime something upsets him. It's not easy to see, but there has been change within him; there is a love and respect for life that wasn't there before. He is a new man. His mother calls for him to come home to Seattle and he agrees to go. This proves to be the true test of his fortitude. Will his old demons come back to haunt him?

Arctic Son is a meditative documentary; a quiet and slow film that lets you wallow in every scene. It is not a film for people with short attention spans, but if you stick with it, you'll find it more rewarding than a lot of flashier documentaries. Stan Jr. and Sr. are both extremely private people, it's a surprise that they allowed the intrusion of a film crew into their life at all. At no time do they truly open up to the filmmakers; never giving any immediate insight into what they are feeling about the situation. Everything is told through their minimal dialogue and their change of attitude towards each other; the filmmakers let their story develop naturally.

The landscape is the third character in the film. There are long sequences of mild music and beautifully photographed vistas of the frozen tundra and the few animals that inhabit this harsh world. Much time is devoted to the way the men meticulouly set fish and rabbit traps in the traditional way. The film is a love song to this old world and way of life almost as much as it is the story of two men learning how to become father and son. Artic Son is a beautiful slice of life.

Who would have thought that the kid, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, from 3rd Rock from the Sun would go on to have a good acting career. After starring in the excellent high school-noir flick Brick two years ago, he shows up in this excellent bank robbery film. Brain damaged from a car wreck, he has a hard time with a life that used to come so easily. Duped by some new "friends" into helping rob a bank he works at. Yes, it's one of those films where everything that can go wrong does, but it does it in a unique way. And it's set-up so that you actually care. One of the better films I've seen lately.

Working my way up to the third film. A brilliant action film, with one of the best car chase scenes in film history. Paul Greengrass is quickly proving himself to be one of the best action directors in Hollywood. I love the way that Bourne becomes a machine bent on only one thing once his meaning in life, his girlfriend, is gone. He shows pain, but he never slows down. I'm dying to see the third one now, the only sequel I've looked forward to all summer.

I'm a huge fan of Tom Tykwer: Run Lola Run, The Princess and the Warrior, Heaven - So I was excited about Perfume, despite all the horrible reviews. About an hour through the film, I was really enjoying it, wondering what the hell was wrong with all the critics who bad-mouthed this film. But then it started to get worse and worse, really starting to drag. And then the ending was so ridiculously stupid that it just ruined everything that lead up to it.

If the script had been tighter, with a much better ending, I probably would have really liked it. Next time Tom.

You've seen the trailers and telling from the box office, you've probably seen the film as well. It's easily the funniest film I've seen all year, I was pretty much laughing non-stop. The three main characters, are all instant classics. I loved the raw language and the realistic akwardness of the teenage years. I could have done less with the cops, they kind of dragged it down. But otherwise, this will be one of those films I'll break out at least once a year from now on.

This film came out of nowhere. I was reading a forum about the new action film Shoot 'Em Up and somebody mentioned that director Michael Davis' previous film Monster Man was a fun ride. I instantly added it to the top of my Blockbuster queue, because I'm always looking for good horror films that I haven't seen before.

What I got was a complete surprise. A very funny, highly entertaining, full of great gore and one-liners. I'm amazed that I hadn't heard of the film sooner. If you're a fan of horror-comedies, this one will quickly become a favorite. Beautifully over-the-top with everything that you love.

I thought this film had a wonderful idea for a film; an invention which records your whole life via your POV, so your loved ones can watch a recap after you die. But the film itself wasn't that good. I was flipping through the channels and caught it near the beginning, so I thought I'd give it another chance. I think I liked it a little more the second time, but still didn't really get very involved in it. It was good enough, to make me watch out for whatever director Omar Naim does next.

I've become a big fan of the Polish brother's films; Northfork in particular. They've got a very weird sensibility; making films quite unlike anyone else. That itself is something that attracts me to any filmmaker. But they've got a wonderful style to go along with it.

I was highly anticipating The Astronaut Farmer. Excited to see what they could do with a Hollywood budget. I didn't get a chance to see it in the theater, and Blockbuster took forever to get a copy in that I could rent. But the wait was worth it.

It's a sort-of fairytale for adults; with you-can-do-whatever-you-put-your-mind-to morale to it. Billy Bob gives a good performance and it was nice to see Virgina Madison play a wife that gets her whole family behind her husband's cooky ideas, usually they play the wet-rag. It's not a perfect film, and if you watch it from a "realistic" view-point, you're not going to like it. But if you leave your mind open to the idea, you should have a good time with it, and come away a little more optimistic.

I'm a huge Paul Newman fan. Cool Hand Luke will forever be one of my favorite films. I hadn't seen Nobody's Fool before; so I thought I'd give it a chance. A typically charismatic performance from Newman. A sort of coming-of-age film about a guy who's let life slip on by. Filled with great supporting characters.

I was a huge fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a kid; I watched the cartoon, all the films, played the awesome video game, and played with the action figures. So I was a little excited when I saw they were updating the characters with a CGI film. I didn't expect much. But I hoped that it would be good enough to entertain me and my 3-year-old son for 90 minutes. He sort of lost interest pretty quickly, but I had an okay time with it. Enough to maybe try to get him to watch it again in a few years. Not a bad entry into the lexicon, not as good as the first film, but better than the sequels.

Rewatched this in preperation for the last film. It had been a while since I'd seen it. One of the better action films of the last ten years. You've all seen it, I don't have much more to say about it.