Movie Micro-Reviews - Edition 70

Rent	78 84 87	Originally reviewed in Edition 13 (a).  I’ve changed its rating, over time.  And now it’s on blu-ray! This has grown on me more as I’ve seen it more.   The sticking points below have faded. Here’s what I wrote initially: Loved the story.  Loved the characters.  Loved the primary songs.  So what was wrong?  Well, if you’re going to do a rock opera, there should be no un-sung dialog.  However, this was NOT a rock opera, and I agree with that choice.  So why was there so much singing of dialog?  Most of the Mimi/Roger relationship was sung, but most of it was not a song – just sung dialog.  Considering that a main plot point was that Roger could not write a song, it seemed incongruous.  Still, “525,600 Minutes” is excellent, and I had never heard “La Vie Boheme” and it was fantastic.  Mark, Angel, and Maureen are the best characters. I like Mimi/Roger more now.  And the other songs are great.
The Tourist	66	A clever thriller with a good cast.  It’s strange seeing Depp play a man who is unsure of himself – typically so confident, even if crazy.  Anyway, fun. Not sure it was internally consistent, though.
X-Men 2: X-Men United (aka X2)	90	What a fun, intense story!  We get Nightcrawler!  We give Phoenix a reason to arise.  We get some of Logan’s mysterious past, but not all of it.  And we see just how dangerous mutants can really be.  Loved it.
Inception	93	Complex, mystifying, excellent.  I expect I will see it several more times.  Will I change my mind about the end?  Depends on how much I think Nolan cares about Point of View…
Letters to Juliet	69	There are romances where you know what’s going to happen and it’s still a fun story.  This is one.  And the casting was brilliant.
Remember Me	62	Messed-up twenty-somethings meet, fall for each other, have trouble.  Worth a viewing, ending that surprised, but still just so-so.
A-Team (The)	71	This was a fine installment in what could be a series, but probably shouldn’t be.  Everything that made the TV show so good was here – OK, except that Liam Neeson, good as he is, doesn’t have the impishness of George Peppard. Loads of explosive fun, though.  Good film adaptation. Lots of Easter Eggs.   Liked the TV show?  You will like this.  Didn’t like the TV show?  Probably not for you.
Thor	75	Beautiful.  Images inspired by Jack Kirby.  OK, they ignored the actual story, but sometimes that’s better for the franchise.  It was better here.  Still, this ranks below Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk and Batman Begins.  But much better than Spiderman 3.
The Da Vinci Code	83	Cool concepts, great use of symbology, a nice conspiracy story.  There were times when it tried too hard to misdirect.