Movie Micro-Reviews: Edition 81

As I said last week, the final few days of Leah's break contained movies.  She had been told by friends that they were surprised she had never seen "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" so we saw that.  And we finally got to see "The Help."  Lots of movies worth seeing.  (I find it hard to believe I liked Ocean's Twelve better than Ocean's Eleven, but that's what you get sometimes when you rate things immediately after seeing them...)

Ocean's Eleven	75	Sorry, Sherry, but I like caper movies.  This was not as good as "The Sting" but certainly had the style.  And wow, lots of actors:  Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Roberts, Garcia, Reiner, Gould, Cheadle. [Originally reviewed in Edition 11.]
Monty Python and the Holy Grail	83	And now for something completely Python.  Actually, it’s less Pythonesque than one might expect – there is a story running through it.  But there was plenty of irreverent nonsense!
Mystery Men	78	A send-up of comic books that is a comic book at the same time.  I laughed so hard at this when I first saw it, and I still laugh.  The Shoveler is the best.  It’s still the best thing I’ve ever seen Ben Stiller do. But, I will admit, it’s not for everyone.
Shakespeare in Love	92	Tremendous weaving of what might have been with what probably was with what never could have happened.
Ocean’s Twelve	77	Caper films are best when you like the thieves (we did,) they pull off complex heists (they did,) and there are surprising payoffs (there were!)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine	88	Very fun, and since I didn’t know most of the story ahead of time, I got to be surprised.  “The best X-Men movie?”  Not quite.  But very good.
Mamma Mia!	74	This was fun!  It took a few moments to get going, but once it started, it kept delivering: smiles, laughs and songs.  Stay through the first set of end credits!
Help (The)	86	When your movie is going to tell a story, and everyone knows the general story going into it, you need to make it excellent.  They did.  Bravery was required, and these women found their bravery.

 [P.S. Clearly I liked the fourth Mission Impossible more than most of my friends. Ah well...]