Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For

Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For has a striking visual style, an engaging plot, and fun characters and cameos. 

I liked the first Sin City, although I haven't read any of the comics. I didn't remember much about it, so I read the Wikipedia article on it before watching this one. I didn't think it really helped; it was just a jumble of names - X did this, then Y did that, and I couldn't even keep the names straight while I was reading it. I think it actually was useful, though.

I love the visual style of the sequel. I wanted to see it at the theater, but it looks like it's not coming to the cheap one. It's amazing how much it looks like you're watching a live comic, and all the highlights and color pops were great. I liked the noir-style narration.

To Be Takei

To Be Takei is an interesting look into George's life, but it's more like an E! Special than a movie. 

I wasn't planning to see To Be Takei, but Roeper gave it a favorable review, and I decided it might be interesting just to watch in place of a TV show throughout the day. It actually took less sittings than I expected. Before and during watching it, I was most interested in the scenes of George's home life with his husband, but there weren't many of those. The internment camp stuff was interesting, though. I guess George really doesn't like William Shatner. I wonder why Shatner even agreed to do an interview for the movie.

I don't know how George can stand his husband being so critical all the time. I guess George is just a super easygoing, positive kind of guy. He seems nice. I like that he has a sense of humor about things. I kind of felt bad for his husband, since he wanted to retire, but instead they're constantly running around doing appearances.

There's really nothing more to it than advertised; it's just a little look into George Takei's life. I didn't feel like I wasted my time because of the way I watched it, but in terms of just sitting down and plunking two hours into it, I found myself wondering at the end why anyone would want to do that. It certainly didn't seem like the kind of thing that would be worth watching that way.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince moves along at a decent pace, without too many unnecessary distractions. There's not really anything "magical" about it, but it advances the plot, and it's better than the previous two Harry Potter movies.

I accidentally watched Harry Potter #7 before #6, but now that I've seen this one, I realize I really didn't miss much, even though it felt like I did when I watched #7. I probably should read a synopsis of "the story so far" before I watch the last one, though. I don't remember any of the Tom Riddle business, and apparently I should. I also don't remember what happened with Draco's father, but I guess something did.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 was a lot more engaging than I was expecting; I couldn't turn away for most of the movie. The story is simple, but it's told well; the characters are interesting; and the graphics may not be flawless, but they are impressive.

I should've gone to see How to Train Your Dragon 2 in theaters. I'm pretty sure that I was planning to after seeing the trailer, but then when it came to the discount theater I decided I didn't really need to pay to see it on the big screen. Once I actually started watching the movie, I immediately regretted *that* decision. I think it is actually still playing at the theater, but I wasn't about to watch it later just to see it at the theater. I think the colors and the vastness of things would've played better, though.

I pretty much forgot everything that happened in the first movie, but I think they reminded us well enough. Jay Baruchel's voice was a little distracting, but luckily Hiccup didn't hog all the screen time, so there were other characters to be interested in. I found Cate Blanchett's transformation into an animated character to be a little creepy as well, though. Having the kids grow up a little was a good idea. They were supposed to be about 20, but they didn't seem quite that old to me. The title seems pretty unoriginal, but I guess they can get the most marketability out of the old one if they basically keep the title the same.

A Coffee in Berlin

Niko's interactions with the people he meets in A Coffee in Berlin are interesting, but the unsatisfying ending left me feeling like there wasn't any point in watching it.
The trailer for A Coffee in Berlin looked interesting, and it has a 7.5 on IMDb, which is pretty good. I couldn't remember what it was about anymore by the time I saw it. I like it better that way, though. The trailers always give too much away. I was immediately put off by the "upbeat jazz" soundtrack. It's the kind of music that causes me to completely write off any movie that uses it in the trailer. It makes me feel like the movie isn't going to have any substance. In this case, it took any depth and sincerity out of the movie, and made it feel like I didn't really have to experience what was happening.

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon has some gorgeous settings, a fairly interesting plot, and likeable characters, but the atrocious CGI and bizarrely unrealistic action sequences are a little distracting.

The first Detective Dee movie was pretty disappointing, but I only watched it in the first place because this one looked interesting, so I was hoping it would be better. It was better, but not amazing or anything. I felt like the first one was a little hard to follow; this one was less confusing. The Empress' headdresses were supposed to be a big deal in the first one, but I feel like they were more impressive in this one. Dee didn't seem to do much "detecting" to me in the first one, and I think they did a better job of that with this one, too. This one is actually ranked slightly lower than Phantom Flame on IMDb, so I guess they don't agree with me.

The CGI was horrid in this one. It looked like a video game. It was tough to reconcile it with the live action stuff going on. The stunts were also pretty ridiculous; more like a cartoon than live action. There were some really beautiful shots of some of the sets, though. The scene at the dye shop with all the fabric was cool, although it took me a while to figure out why there was all that fabric hanging up; at first it seemed like they were just doing it to have an interesting set.

I thought Angelababy was in the first one; I must've been getting that mixed up with the Tai Chi Hero series. I was really confused about how Yin Ruiji got to the position she had in Phantom Flame, and why it didn't seem like Dee recognized her in that one. But it turns out Yin Ruiji wasn't in Phantom Flame, Shangguan Jing'er was, so now it makes sense.

Filth

The trailer for Filth makes it seem like it's going to be light-hearted, and while there are some funny moments, it's actually the most disturbingly depressing movie I've seen since Requiem for a Dream. James McAvoy delivers an impressive performance, but it's still tough to watch.

The trailer for Filth was pretty misleading. It makes it seem like it's going to be a funny movie about a guy who does some outrageous things, but there seems like there's a potential for him to change, which was what piqued my interest. It's actually about a severely mentally ill guy having a complete breakdown, and it's the most depressing movie I've seen since Requiem for a Dream. Movies like this should have with a disclaimer.

I love James McAvoy, but Filth was rough to watch even with him as the lead. He really does bring a lot to the character, though. He always pulls you in no matter what the role is, but in good performances like this (it reminds me of Heath Ledger as The Joker), it's always the small nuances, the facial expressions and mannerisms; it's not the over-the-top emotional stuff that makes the performance noteworthy.

I knew from the start I'd have to have subtitles on, and I was right. The accents and colloquialisms were Scottish, and they might as well have been speaking Spanish for all I could pick out on my own, which meant I had to read the movie about as much as I watched it. I probably missed out on some things, and I definitely didn't get to watch as much as I wanted to. Everything was shot super close-up; it felt really claustrophobic, and it didn't help that the subtitles were taking up a good portion of the screen.