The Bounty Hunter (2010, U.S.)

Blah, blah, blah. Another romantic comedy with a good idea and a terrible execution.

Milo is a bounty hunter with bad luck, and then he gets an assignment to track down his bail-jumping journalist ex-wife, who's doing a story on a dirty cop murder cover up. They find themselves on the run in a ridiculous, unbelievable adventure.

Look, people. Jennifer Aniston is not a good actress. She never has been, she never will be. She plays the same character over and over again. Rachel Green, Brooke Meyers, Nicole Hurley... they're all the same. (I will say that she was actually excellent in The Good Girl, but that was an exception and not a rule.) Gerard Butler, on the other hand, is a wonderful, wonderful actor. He was the Phantom of the Opera, for crying out loud. And now he's doing crap like The Bounty Hunter and The Ugly Truth. Also he's looking kind of rough. It's just not right.

Rating: 2.5

The History Boys (2006, UK)

In 1980s Yorkshire, a close-knit group of gifted boys works their way through school, sport, and sex, all trying to get into Oxford while enjoying their education. This film is a character study with an ensemble cast, which is pretty ambitious if you ask me. However, the group was very good, and you could really believe they really were a bunch of school boys who'd known each other forever. The group dynamic was fascinating, probably the best part of the film.

It was at times sad and at times funny, but it was always real. Triumphs, disappointments, and above all the ennui of the smartest, most charismatic guys you've ever seen trapped in a stifling, uncreative educational system. The only real support they get is from an aging teacher who sometimes touches his students inappropriately; the strangest thing is that he doesn't seem ill-intentioned, and they all like him anyway. Like I said, interesting characters.

Rating: 3.0