BradWesley123's Movie Journal- February 2014

Very well-made and adequately thrilling, but slow and incredibly dry.

Light and fun with a strong cast, but very predictable; everything goes according to plan, and it doesn't leave you much after the movie's over.

A much more thematically rich coming-of-age than usual; using WWII as the backdrop really allows us to see the boy "grow up" onscreen. A very young Christian Bale gives a preview of the actor he would become with a great performance here. He's aided strongly by Spielberg's sure-handed direction, John Williams' usually wonderful score, and beautiful cinematography by Allen Daviau.

I had seen bits and pieces of this from TV, but never fully. After fully seeing it, I think I was better off with the bits. It's perfectly entertaining, but the film's episodic nature does get repetitive and, unfortunately, boring.

Pretty much every Ahnold film thrown in a blender, but without much of the camp (it's still there, but it's been dialed way down). Still, its moderately entertaining, with some solid action.

If I were to ever need a reminder to stay away from drugs, I'd pop this movie in. Danny Boyle's Trainspotting captures the frantic and grisly lifestyle of drug addicts brilliantly, immersing the audience in shock after shock. The cast is quite game as well. If there's one criticism I had with the movie, it's would have to be repetitiveness; thing's sort of go in circles for a brief time.

Smart, tense and thrilling indie flick featuring a great performance from Melissa Leo.

Goofy as hell, but well-made and incredibly entertaining.

If you've seen a romantic comedy before, you've seen this movie. Only here, being the original screwball/romantic comedy, it all feels fresh, with every seen pure joy.

Redford is incredible here, and there are a few thrilling sequences, but this movie just bored me. There are slow movies and there are glacially slow movies; this is the latter.

An old-Hollywood epic with a sweeping scope, and yet a surprising intimacy. The cast is as good as it gets, arguably the most well-rounded ensemble of all-time, and the direction by Fred Zinnemann brings them all together.

It's a bit familiar, but Marty is so damn charming that you can't help but fall in love with it. Much of this rests on Ernest Borgnine, playing the title character, and he sets the earnest and sweet tone for the film.

It's definitely well-intentioned and well made, but Gentleman's Agreement is really outdated, and entirely manufactured.

While the story is incredibly unoriginal, An American in Paris is so beautifully and stylishly choreographed that it's never less than entertaining. A visual marvel.

Expertly made and performed, yet unbelievably dull and contrived. The movie keeps going and going and going. To quote Seinfeld, "Quit telling your stupid story, about the stupid desert, and just die already! Die!!"

What new could be said about a movie that's been written about for nearly four decades? It's amazing, and I'll leave it at that.

One of the earliest examples of alcoholism in film done competently. Billy Wilder's direction is sure-handed and subtle, never lowering to caricature or exploitation. The film does ultimately rest on Ray Milland's performance and, luckily, he gives a tour de force.