The Adjustment Bureau

Watched It - August 14, 2011

Stars - Matt Damon, Emily Blunt
Director - George Nolfi
Rating - PG-13

In 20 Words or Less - A young senatorial candidate must overcome the ultimate obstacle (literally) to be with the woman of his dreams.
Themes - Love, Fate, the Future, Free Will, Choices, Destiny, God
Pros - The movie provides a unique blend of sci-fi excitement with a deep discussion about the nature of reality and the administration of the universe.  It also provides an interesting insight into a view of God that is probably quite common among the masses.
Cons - The underlying attitude about God (referred to as "the Chairman") that drives the film is cynical, cold, and (in my opinion) misguided.  The acting of most of the "Agents" is stiff and contrived.
Movie Moment - The climatic chase scene was creative and offered the viewer a brief but exciting tour of New York City.
Genuineness - 4 out of 10

The Company Men

Watched It - August 12, 2011

Stars - Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner
Director - John Wells
Rating - R (primarily for language)

In 20 Words or Less - Three men at different stages of life must cope with the loss of their well-paying, white-collar jobs.
Themes - Family, Career, Pride, Success, Happiness, Uncertainty, Choices
Pros - The movie takes a very realistic, down-to-earth approach and has an overall positive message to communicate about what really matters in life.
Cons - The strong language seemed extraneous and a bit overdone.
Movie Moment - The scene between Ben Affleck's character and his wife when Ben feels he is an utter failure and his wife lovingly disagrees.
Genuineness - 7 out of 10

Don't Read This Part

I like watching movies.  I do this almost every Friday night.

I like talking about movies.  I do that regularly as well.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I have decided to blog about movies.

The idea behind this blog is simple.  I want to be able to record my thoughts and impressions of the movies I watch so that I can go back and remember what I thought when I watched a particular film.  I also want anyone who may be interested to be able to look back and remember what I thought.  So, here is what I intend to do.  When I watch a movie, I will create a short post detailing some basic information about the movie and some of my thoughts about its quality and "genuineness."  Nothing fancy or detailed here.  Just short movie reviews from me and a few others I may ask to serve as contributors.

Now, I feel I must explain a few things at the outset:

1)  I am not a formally trained film critic and I probably never will be.  I am just a guy who likes movies and knows what movies I like.  I have been accused of being a "movie snob" and that moniker is probably rather appropriate for me.  The point is, don't take my opinion as anything more than that.  (That's the nice thing about criticizing things--it's an extremely subjective field of endeavor.)

2)  The inclusion of a film on this blog by me or any other contributor should not be considered an endorsement or even a recommendation.  You make your own choices about what you want to watch.  I am simply recording for posterity what I have watched.  For the record, I am fairly particular about the kind of content we allow into our home.  We do utilize a system called ClearPlay that allows us to enjoy films without all of the gratuitous objectionable content.  Purists will take issue with our use of this system, but that's what we do.

3)  This is not just an exercise in vanity.  I have come to realize that films have an incredible power to teach, motivate, enlighten, move, and convince those who watch them about timeless truths and themes.  Some films (I call them "Genuine Movies") can even change your life.  I hope to be able to include many examples of this type of film in the posts to follow.  I feel there is a certain measure of a redeeming quality in that.

So, with no further delay, let's get to the reviews...