Justin Cox
A Year in Movies: January
Welcome to the first post in a year long series titled A Year in Movies. Basically on the last day of each month I’ll be listing all the movies I watched that along with a short review. If you have suggestions for things I should watch next month, drop them in the comments. So here we go with everything I’ve seen in January.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
I really enjoyed the first National Treasure so you could say I was looking forward to the sequel. It wasn’t as good, very few sequels are, but it wasn’t bad. It was still silly yet action packed bringing together the best of Indiana Jones and what The Da Vinci Code movie could have been. A solid 4 stars.
Rocket Science
This is a rather silly tale of a stuttering guy who joins the debate team to meet a girl who switches schools to win a state title; the guy then searches out a new mentor to beat the girl. It’s cute and simple, but very well done. 4 stars.
Eagle Eye
Evidently the government can see and hear everything going on in every room of every building in the country. Because of this, they — or someone else — can get anyone to do their bidding. At least, that’s what this movie want’s us to believe. It’s action packed but completely unbelievable. 3 stars.
Tropic Thunder
My opinion hasn’t really changed since the first time I saw Tropic Thunder. It’s hilarious, a very nice dig at Hollywood stereotypes, and overall very well done. It’s also interesting to note that Robert Downey Jr. got a dark horse Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This movie is worth 5 full stars.
Smoking Aces
This is one of those movies that’s so over the top and ridiculous that it’s hard not to watch whenever it’s on. It’s the story of a large number of assassins trying to kill a Vegas magician. It’s has fast paced as Crank and stars Jeremy Piven. What more could you want? 4 solid stars.
So Close
You might know this movie by it’s original title, Chik Yeung Tin Sai. No? Well, alright. It’s a film out of Hong Kong about a team of assassin sisters who are hunted by a police woman and an evil corporation. There’s not much more to it than that. A lot of gun play, martial arts, and Chinese actresses make up the story. 3 stars.
Jumper
I don’t know what I’d do without Netflix and HBO On Demand. The two go hand in hand and make up a majority of my movie watching. It was HBO On Demand where I picked up Jumper. There isn’t really a lot to say about this film about people who can teleport and the people who hunt them. It’s pretty simple actually. It stars Rachel Bilson which is nice though Anakin Skywalker Hayden Christensen doesn’t do much to add to the film. 3 stars.
Jumper
1/31/09
Nick Tabick
Out of all the movies you’ve listed, I’ve only seen the National Treasure sequel and Jumper. Both of your reviews are close enough to my own feelings, though your rating for Jumper might be a little optimistic.
As far as regular features go, this one sounds like it will be very interesting to watch develop. Perhaps you’ll have to make some star graphics (or Justies) to go with the ratings, though.
to Nick Tabick
2/1/09
Justin
Good idea. I’ll look into adding that for February’s installment.
to Justin
2/28/09
Year in Movies: February | Justin Cox's Mindless Chatter
[...] It’s time for the second installment of the Year in Movies feature here and it’s also the conclusion of the successful February Blog-O-Rama. Needless to say it’s a pretty big day around these parts. But you didn’t come here for my babbling, you want to know what movies I watched and what I thought about them. So here you go, complete with graphical star ratings thanks to a suggestion by Nick Tabick. [...]
to Year in Movies: February | Justin Cox's Mindless Chatter