Mission: Impossible III

IMDB link: Mission: Impossible III
Source: Cinema
Date viewed: May 13, 2006

Philip Seymour Hoffman may be the best thing about this movie. The action at the Vatican is clever and entertaining. I never like the family-member-as-hostage angle. - A

A fast-moving and entertaining thriller. Sure, Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise, but Philip Seymour Hoffman is also Philip Seymour Hoffman! This was 100 times better than the first Mission Impossible, and although that doesn't sound like much of a compliment, I really did enjoy this one. - T

Troy

IMDB link: Troy
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: May 12, 2006

Not as bad as some people said it would be. It's a good thing that it was called Troy instead of The Iliad for at least two reasons. One, no one would have seen it if it had been named The Iliad. Two, it diverges a bit from Homer's version. I watched it with a chapter-by-chapter summary of the Iliad open on my lap, and many of the events in the book were represented in the movie, but they seemed to have left the gods out of the story entirely, and, they tacked the end on from other sources. I don't think the movie made any claims of adhesion to the literary canon, it's just another version of the story, but I still think Homer would have liked it if he could have seen it. - A

This wasn't all that bad, really. A fairly accurate re-telling of Homer's account of the fall of Troy. Oops! Did I give away the ending?? Sorry. - T

The American President

IMDB link: The American President
Source: Borrowed from a friend.
Date viewed: May 11, 2006

This movie was okay, in a predictable, politically liberal kind of way. Let's save the earth from global warming! Yay! - A

Heck, I'd vote for Michael Douglas if he ran in the next election. I'd vote for anyone or anything as long as it's not named Cheney, Rummy or Condi. - T

A Dirty Shame

IMDB link: A Dirty Shame
Source: Netflix
Date viewed: May 8, 2006

Odd movie. Funny in the beginning, then weird, but not terrible. - A

God bless you Mr. Waters. This is a movie with a message. The message is about people with unusual preferences, and when you make a movie about unusual people, it will turn out, apparently, as a very unusual movie. The acting is terrible, but irrelevant. Tracy Ullman is amusing. - T