The Sheep Detectives

I thought this movie looked awful but then I saw good reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm glad I didn't listen to what I initially thought and saw the movie for itself. This was one of the best films I watched in the movie theatre this year. It was funny, cute, and original. A shepherd (played by Hugh Jackman) reads mysteries all the time to his sheep. When he mysteriously dies they are on the case. You not only get to know the sheep you get to know about the eccentric people in the small town where the shepherd lived. Nicholas Galitzine, who played the good looking guy in Masters of the Universe, plays a dweeb here. He has quite a range. Emma Thompson stars and the voice actors include Bryan Cranston and Patrick Stewart.

Farewells (aka Lydia ate the Apple)

When I was in my early 20's I watched this movie and gave it a 3 out of 5 on Amazon. I received an email saying they liked my review but asked why I gave it such a low rating. For the past twenty years I've wanted to watch it again. It stuck with me. After I rewatched it I went back to Amazon and edited it to a 4. It's an early movie from director Wojciech Has (who later made The Saragossa Manuscript). A man (Tadeusz Janczar) has a one night stand with a girl from a bar. However, it ends up changing both of their lives. After the war the guy has become penniless but the woman has married into wealth to spite him. Yet it is clear she loves him still and is very unhappy. Even though this makes a statement about the social classes, it has enough soap opera to make it more than just a statement movie. Janczar delivers a great Bogart like performance.

Forgotten Island

I wasn't planning on seeing this. The previews made it look so bad. Then I saw it had a good rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The previews picked the worst scenes in the movie. Sometimes you can't trust previews. This movie was original and kind of funky. It goes over Filipino mythology, something that I know nothing about. I like learning about different mythologies so I have to say it was worth watching for that alone. It was interesting. Two friends get stranded on an island but one of them has to make a plane the next day so that they can make it to college. But their friendship is tested on the island and so are their memories. I like how the movie goes over the value of friendships. I recommend Forgotten Island. It was different.

Michael

This was an entertaining movie about the life of Michael Jackson. It covers his life until the "Bad" tour. The allegiations against him aren't discussed since the movie focuses on his life before them. It's mostly about him trying to free himself from his abusive dad. It shows him from his Jackson 5 period and also focuses on his amazing success with Thriller. The movie is packed with music. Jaafar Jackson, Michael's nephew, did a great job playing the pop star. He should get nominated but I can see this unfortunately being overlooked. We'll see. I watched this in the theatre and I have to say it wouldn't have been as good at home. The critics hated it but I thought it was all right.

The Thief (La Voleuse)

Romy Schneider gives a good performance in an otherwise boring movie. It was based on a true story and written by Marguerite Duras who has done better work. It's about a woman who takes her biological child back. The foster family made the mistake of not officially adopting him so they really have nothing to say legally. But when the foster father stages a suicidal stunt what is Romy supposed to do. This stresses an awfully bad marriage between Romy and her husband. Will they be able to live with themselves? I would say you should only watch this if you're a fan of Romy.

Project Hail Mary

This was the best movie I've seen in the theatres this year. It was an intelligent science fiction film. It starred one of the most charismatic talented male stars in the movie world today Ryan Gosling. It's about a middle school teacher who is forced to go a journey to space. He gets amnesia along the way but things get better when he makes friends with an alien called Rocky. Their friendship is adorable and so is the ending. I hope this isn't forgotten when the Academy award nominations are made. Otherwise that would be a shame.

The Year my Voice Broke

This was one of my favorite movies as a teenager. I rewatched it after not seeing it for more than twenty years and it still held up. It's an Australian movie about a geeky boy who has a crush on an older blonde. She just sees him as a friend. She's interested in a petty criminal in town. Noah is the only character who is nice to her in this movie. The town sees her as a loose girl and that reputation gets worst when she gets pregnant. I bought a dvd from Australia. This movie should be more available than it is. It's out of print and really shouldn't be. It's one of my favorite coming of age movies.

Masters of the Universe

This was one of the worst reviewed movies of the year but I didn't think it was as bad as people said it was. It was a good popcorn movie. It took me a while to get interested as the movie began in Eternia but once it got to present day it was all ok. I thought the funniest parts were when Adam (He-Man) was in the human world and trying to get people to believe in his earliest memories of Eternia. Eventually he does make it back to Eternia mostly with the discovering of a sword he once owned. He saves the day against Skeletor. I could tell Jared Leto had a fun time playing the villain. There was room for a sequel. Not everything was resolved but that's not going to happen since the movie bombed.