RED (2010, U.S.)

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Look, I am not a huge Bruce Willis fan, but I thought the concept of this one looked pretty good, and the "supporting" cast (Mirren, Malkovich, Freeman, Urban) was a dream. And when I first started this, watching Frank Moses (Willis) go about his boring, retired day, I thought, "Hey, this might be good." It was all downhill from there. The characters were great, and they could have populated a great movie. Instead, they have this meandering plot that makes very little sense. The characters just aren't used as well as they could have been, and many of them have too little screen time. (One even bites the dust before the end, which was quite a shock.)

Verdict? A forgettable, disappointing waste of time. Especially because it had the potential to be great.

Rating: 2.0

Burn After Reading (2008, U.S.)

I love Brad Pitt, and that is why I watched this movie. I thought it was going to be funny. Or somewhat entertaining. Instead it was confusing, barely funny, violent, and kind of stupid.

Positive things I will say: Firstly, the acting was phenomenal. The cast was great, and they all played their various levels of paranoia/insecurity/cruelty/stupidity/self-centeredness/greed to a T. As an ensemble, they worked smoothly.

Second, the concept was good, and I have to say that there were some funny moments.

Really, I just don't know what to say after that. Ages after I watched it, I'm still thinking, "What?" But maybe it's just me.

Rating: 2.0

Changeling (2008, U.S.)

Obviously I was going to see this one, because I absolutely adore Angelina Jolie. And she was nothing short of brilliant in this one. Brilliant.

I truly cannot say enough about this film. The cinematography was astounding , from the very first black and white fade to color until the final fade back to black and white. (Very effective in introducing the film, a sort of eerie "once upon a time.") The costumes were perfect (and let me tell you, Jolie should have been a '20s/'30s film star—she rocked that cloche hat). Mis en scene in general was good. Very few anachronisms.

And the score was incredible. I nearly died of shock when I saw it had been written by Clint Eastwood. It was mostly a serious of variations on a very simple theme, using a violin (I think) and a solo trumpet. It fits the time period well with its slight jazziness, but it especially fits the plot because it is so dark and sad. I actually bought the score, and I'm glad.

The film was much darker than I thought it was going to be. Obviously, the disappearance of a child is enough to make a film pretty depressing, but add to that police corruption, a serial killer, and an eery psychiatric hospital, and wow. It was a very strange, subtle kind of suspense, and it was very effective.

This is really the first Clint Eastwood film that I've really, really liked. (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil isn't bad, but it doesn't hold up compared to Changeling.) Angelina Jolie really made it what it was, but I think it would have been good even without her (though I'm glad we'll never know). This film blew me away, and I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4.5