Juno (2007)

Juno

The Good:
This is a quirky character driven film.
The directing is fantastic - the framing was very cool, the movement of the entire piece was fluid and the timing was great.
The actors were all very good.
Great plot progression and truthful theme and moral.
The feel was suburban storybook almost.
Great soundtrack.

The Bad:
Some of the writing was too good, almost too smart to be believable.
Character development must be assumed for some of the characters.

Overall: I liked it a lot. Funny, fun, it has heart, it feels both real and surreal. It may not be the greatest film ever, but it was pretty awesome.

He Was A Quiet Man (2007)

He Was A Quiet Man

If you are in the mood to see a film that has a similar dark comedy tone to Swimming With Sharks, with a hint of the feel of Office Space, with the burdensome sadness of a Falling Down, and a few drops of the quirkiness of Fight Club, then He Was A Quiet Man is for you. I enjoyed it a great deal. I usually dislike Christian Slater, but he was quite good in this movie. It made me laugh, it made me sad, it made me smile. Some of the film was predictable, but I think that was contextually a strength for it. The direction was interesting and the subtle and not-so-subtle special effects were pretty nice. It is definitely not the greatest film of all-time, but if you've ever worked in an office, you will more than likely get where the film is coming from... unless you feel you are "on the edge" at your office right now... then don't watch it :-)

Balls of Fury (2007)

Balls of Fury

The Good:
There were a few laughs in the film: a couple of laughs were provided by Dan Fogler (who seemed to be playing Jack Black), a number of decent chuckles created by Thomas Lennon (Dangle of Reno 911! fame - also one of the writers) and the portions with Diedrich Bader were funny(who only had a bit part).
I liked the music.
The beautiful Maggie Q.
The credits.

The Bad:
It wasn't really that funny overall, too much slapstick that wasn't really working.
The plot... I know, I know, what did I expect.

Overall: It is exactly what you expect it to be. Not great, not terrible, your average formula comedy.

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Eagle vs Shark

The Good:
I enjoyed the story in general.
Lily was a neat character.
The framing and shots were pretty cool.
The theme and moral of this tale was positive.

The Bad:
I wasn't a big fan of the stop animation in it, thankfully there was very little.
The film moved a little slowly.
It wasn't much of a comedy.

Overall: The film was alright, very much like Napoleon Dynamite in its delivery, though not as believable. I would not highly recommend this film, but it would be a decent Sunday afternoon movie to see if there's nothing else on.

Daywatch (2006)

Daywatch

The Good:
I enjoy the world in this series. The dark vs light universe in these movies is a bit light-hearted and yet very gritty.
The special effects were very cool.
The story was decent, though not nearly as good as the first film.
The characters are pretty interesting.
I love the weirdness of Russian cinema.

The Bad:
It didn't flow like the first film did. It didn't really hit its stride until about 45 minutes in it (the film is 2 hours and 20 minutes long).
A few of the actors were annoying.
Some of the plot elements were lacking.
Sadly, I watched the dubbed version of the film. Part of the coolness of the first movie was the artistic way the subtitles were presented.

Overall: This trilogy would have made a fantastic television series. I enjoy Day Watch a lot, but it was nowhere nearly the film Nightwatch was.

D-War (AKA Dragon Wars)

D-War (AKA Dragon Wars)

The Good:
The Battle in the 16th century was neat, if unbelievable.
Did you know it was part high-flying kung-fu movie?
There were a few stupid laughs in it.
There was a kinda cool King Kong homage of sorts.
The monster movie carnage was fun to watch.

The Bad:
It allowed no time for a suspension of disbelief to set in.
Wow... the plot was similar to badly written episode of Charmed.
I think I saw Sauron in 16th century Korea.
Some stuff just didn't make any sense at all.
Jason Behr's acting was the same as it was in Roswell (funny, I thought his acting was stilted there because he was an alien, I guess not).
The end was confusing and dumb, but it was interesting visually.

(The version I watched didn't have subtitles for the foreign language parts - not sure if it usually does or not)

Overall: It was alright as long as you don't care about plot and all you want to see is Magic vs. Military. If you'd rather see a monster movie with heart, I recommend The Host (for my review of it click here).

I Am Legend (2007)

I Am Legend

The Good:
I dig the premise of this story, it seems nearly every few years has a retelling of I Am Legend (copyright 1954) in one way or another. I suppose the modern zombie film has Matheson to thank for its basic plot.
I enjoyed following the character around the empty streets of New York, the little things really made the role believable.
I liked the dog.
The action was alright in it.

The Bad:
It just felt like something was missing... hard to say what, but at the end I was just saying to myself, "Well, I guess it was a movie." Nothing really excited me.
The end - blah and boo!
I would have liked a little more explanation about the "main bad guy", I mean I guess I get it but... really...
The science versus religion thing was done better in earlier film.

Overall: It was a decent enough movie, but it was better as The Omega Man or even better than that as The Last Man on Earth (for my review of it click here)!