Letters from Iwo Jima, Mephisto, Stranger than Fiction, The Prestige, Stardust, Hard Candy, & The Matrix: Reloaded

Letters from Iwo Jima made me think about how much I have changed from being a young boy who read everything he could about war, spend many hours playing with guns, and watching everything he could about war. I can't imagine anyone watching this film and thinking that war was remotely something that's acceptable. I can't watch films like this and feel good for a while. It was considerably better than Flags of Our Fathers.

Mephisto is about an actor who was a communist in early 30s Germany, and then is willing to do anything to keep acting. Klaus Maria Brandauer is the main, and almost only, unless you want to see Karin Boyd naked (not a bad thing, by any means), reason to see the film. He's mesmerizing. It's too long, but he is worth watching. One of the great performances make a movie worth watching singlehandedly.

Stranger than Fiction was extremely disappointing. A magic watch? Will Ferrell is no... Adam Sandler. Punch-Drunk Love had a lot more talent behind it, but man, Will is not very good. Although Maggie Gyllenhaal is certainly good, and Tony Hale doesn't get enough work. The almost constant math references just got annoying, and Crick just makes me think of Waterland, which was unfortunate. I liked that movie.

The Prestige has David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. Unfortunately, that's the high point. That's not to say it wasn't fitfully enjoyable, but it felt like it was twisty just to be twisty. And I don't like that very much.

Stardust was very long, but ultimately, enjoyable. Even with De Niro as a gay sky pirate. Michelle Pfeiffer was deliciously evil, Claire Danes was not bad (as much as I loved My So-Called Life, she's not a particularly strong actress), and the risque humor was fairly enjoyable. I really need to read more Neil Gaiman.

Hard Candy made me feel dirty. And that was just the Sandra Oh scene. Man, I hate her so much. Arli$$ cannot be condemned enough. Ellen Page is disturbing, and Patrick Wilson is suitably creepy. I think it's just one of those films I will never feel the need to see ever again.

When I told someone I was watching The Matrix: Reloaded, I was told, "I hope you have scathing things to say when you are done." Well, I'm done, and this is what I have to say: As ridiculously stupid as the plot and philosophy of The Matrix was (and dear frikkin' lord, it was stupid), this takes all the stupidness of it and multiplies it by the number of Agent Smith's in the Burly brawl. If it weren't for the car chase, there would be utterly nothing to recommend the film to anyone other than people who thought that the "brain in a jar" philosophical experiment was the most brilliant theory of the universe ever come up with. And Keanu Reeves... well, what can you say about him, he's the worst actor ever to star in so many films. He is just painful. And that "rave" scene? Who the hell thought that was a good idea? I really have to see Revolutions just because I can't imagine that film could be any worse than this one. I need to see it with my own eyes.