Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

700 A.D. is now 21st Century American 3-D. It's a hell of a transformation.

If Robert Redford had made Lions for Lambs 30 years ago, it would have been a sharper, smarter film.

When American Gangster was announced, with actors Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott, it seemed like a can't miss project.

It missed.

When you see No Country for Old Men, leave your preconceptions at home.

But bring your Alfred Hitchcock lenses. They're useful.

George Clooney is Kentucky's answer to Cary Grant.

"Into The Wild" is a staggering motion picture.

Based on actual events, captured in book form by Jon Krakauer, "Into The Wild" has been made into a prayer of a motion picture by Sean Penn.

Going to a showing of In the Valley of Elah transports one back to the theaters of the 1970's or even 1960's.

Terrence Howard has starred in two major releases so far in 2007 -- The Brave One and The Hunting Party. Unfortunately the films are not as good as the performances he gave in them.

This has been a great summer for movies -- one of the best ever.

Some movies that have excelled in one way or another are The Bourne Identity, Ratatouille, Live Free or Die Hard, The Transformers, and Harry Potter

When It first was announced that there was going to be a remake of 3:10 to Yuma, it seemed like a really bad idea. 3:10 to Yuma was a very good western... in 1957. But in 2007 the western genre seemed comatose.

Resurrecting the Champ is a movie I was going to recommend. It was contrived and dopey, but it seemed like pleasant entertainment. Then came the terrible last ten minutes when it casts itself on the rancid junk heap of hokum.

When is a rat a lark? When he's created by Brad Bird. Brad Bird, the animation maestro from Pixar, invents a spunky, gourmet rodent in the lively, spicy romp Ratatouille.

Jason Bourne is so cool.

In The Bourne Ultimatum, the intrepid rogue agent continues on his heady spree of action and intrigue. He's always on the run, and always in trouble.

Who is David Yates? If you don't know, don't worry, nobody does. He's a director. He directed the unabashedly liberal movie, The Girl in the Cafe (2005) with Bill Nighy, which was on HBO. It's a charming pie-in-the-sky movie.

So?

Usually summer brings disappointments at the movies -- overhyped underachievements, such as Bad Boys II or Poseidon or Miami Vice.

Live Free or Die Hard is an over-the-top, fun rampage.

What's the difference between slasher films and chick flicks? In slasher films they suffer less, and they die quicker. Evening, bless its banal heart, is a chick flick in all its fatuous glory.

David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, is my hero. He is under attack for his controversial final episode of the HBO series. Like a politician who tells the truth, he is being savaged by those who have simpler agendas.

Knocked Up is like a Hallmark Greeting Card with crude verse.

Knocked Up is an uneasy mix of ethnic humor, slacker humor, and human drama -- some is amusing, some is indulgent, and some is strained.

So far I've attended Q&A sessions after three movies. They may be instructive.

The small theater was about half-filled for the showing of Bad Habits. The same theater had more of an audience for Loren Cass.

Pirates of the Caribbean: at World's End is a hearty, bumpy sea marathon. For some, it will be a fun ride; for others, it will be an ordeal. I'm somewhere in between.

Bad Habits

Shrek the Third has the curse of the third in a bankable series. It is too often sappy, tiresome, and overblown.

When you see a lot of movies, you fervently hope they won't blow it at the end. There's a legion of movies that are fine until the moment of truth, and then they collapse or turn mediocre. Sometimes they just end.

I don't think I believed the movie Lucky You, but I sort of enjoyed it.

A caveat: I enjoy watching poker on ESPN. If you don't, this movie will bore you.

You know that the third Spider-Man had to be bigger. The third movie in a franchise goes for broke.

And Spider-Man 3 is bigger, if not better. It's overdone, overlong, and overplotted. It's all over the place.

"Disturbia" is a well-made, very entertaining thriller.

It shouldn't be. Reflecting Alfred Hitchcock, it should be just another in a long line of Hitch wannabe retreads.

The Hoax is the real thing.

It's a breezy, engaging caper. It's like a heist film of the 1970s, but the pilferers are literary men not bank robbers.

The best young actor in movies today may well be Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

A few people may remember him from his five-year stint (1996-2001) as adolescent Tommy Solomon on the television situation comedy Third Rock from the Sun.

Reign Over Me is like spending two hours with a shrink.

Self-absorbed and repetitive, it has an occasional moment of truth, and a lot of hot air.

300 is a fun-fest of blood, mayhem, and absurdity.

At its best, it is entertaining; when it's not at its best, it's pretty dumb. It's pretty dumb much of the time.

Zodiac is a thinking person's film. It isn't a mass audience movie.

Although it received an 85 from critics as compiled by Rottentomatoes, Zodiac opened weaker than expected at the box office.

The Astronaut Farmer is one of those movies that you don't believe for a moment while you're watching it, but you leave with a warm glow. But by the time you've driven home, you realize you've been conned.

Seeing Ghost Rider is like going to Saturday matinee serials at the Rialto eons ago.

There are chick flicks and upchuck flicks. The movie Because I Said So is an upchuck chick flick.

Don't worry, Ben. Your marriage to Jennifer is still safe.

Pan's Labyrinth is a punishing, evocative poem. It is part ferocious reality and part fearful fantasy.

Letters from Iwo Jima Destined to Become a Classic

The most important film of 2006 was Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima."

Children of Men is a glorious mess. It's a Frankenstein monster of a movie. Part sci-fi, part thriller, part action genre, part religious allegory, it flays and lumbers after meaning-- sending off occasional sparks of style.

The Good German is the bad movie.

Except for the ambience -- the look of the film -- it stumbles awkwardly on every level.