"I blame the fish-people."

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, 2007. Two and a Half Stars.

Meh, kind of stopped caring about this franchise after the first movie. But whatever, it was entertaining.

I did like the whole "Island of Jack Sparrows" thing, and having to flip the boat upside down.

Kiera Knightley is pretty bad ass, per usual. And you can never go wrong with Bill Nighy!

I played a Dancing Pirate Girl in the Wollaston Elementary School's 5th grade rendition of "Peter Pan," and we danced to "A Pirate's Life For Me." It's a fun song to dance to, but pretty dumb to make a movie about!

"Time for lunch... in a cup!"

Wall-E, 2008. Three and a Half Stars.

Friends that have seen this movie looooooooved it! One went so far as to say it was his favorite Pixar movie ever. (Mine's still The Incredibles!)

My grandmother, on the other hand, hated it. She took my little cousin to see it, and said it was boring and not a very good kids movie. Also, as an avid recycler, she didn't appreciate being preached to. After the first half hour, my cousin, who was also bored, asked if they could leave. So, yeah, my gramma and cousin walked out on Wall-E!

I went to see it, and I enjoyed it. The characterizations of all of the robots, and the non-traditional storytelling (there was no dialogue in the first half of the movie, but it totally held my attention), was pretty amazing!! And I thought all the goo-shaped humans in hover chairs and sipping meals out of cups was right on and funny. Plus it had a happy ending, which always melts my heart!

But after hearing how my gramma reacted, I think I need to see this movie again. I liked it, but I'm 26. Buddies of mine that liked it are around my age or older, but not as old as my gramma. Maybe a second viewing would help me see if this is actually a successful kids movie or not. Because if grandmothers and little kids are walking out of this movie, maybe Pixar needs to reconsider who their audience is.

"You don't like Creedence?" "This is like having a pine cone shoved in my ass."

Live Free or Die Hard, 2007. Three stars.

I could probably say a lot about this movie, but I think the only important thing to say is: It's no way near as cool as the first one (WHICH ROCKS!!!), but it's one of the better sequels.

And The Mac Guy wasn't as annoying as I expected.

Also, someone should have told the writers that the internet doesn't work like magic.

Aaaaaaand, I first knew Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, so I still get stoked when he talks in movies!

"He must have had on some really nice pants."

The Pursuit of Happyness, 2006. Four Stars.

How can such an inspirational and uplifting movie NOT get Four Stars?? Well, I guess if the movie sucked, it wouldn't get Four Stars. But this movie didn't suck!

Before seeing it, I knew this was going to be a "trials & tribulations" story, but with an extremely happy ending. I looooooove happy endings (especially those inspired by true events), but I just wasn't sure how difficult it would be to get through the "trials & tribulations" part. I get pretty emotionally involved in movies. Consider yourself lucky if you've never had to experience watching a movie with me.

But the difficult parts of this movie weren't that difficult to watch. This is partially because it's so amazing to see all the crap that the main character goes through, and how his unflappable spirit, brilliant problem-solving skills, and awesome ability to think on his feet helps him beat it and get what he's worked hard for. My jaw dropped many times during this film. This dude rocks.

If you've avoided this movie because you think it'll be sappy-sweet and stupid to watch, drop that notion and go watch this sometime.

Fun fact about Will Smith that I picked up on imdb.com: Once stated that in his whole career, he most regrets turning down the part of "Neo" in The Matrix (1999) and the film that he most regrets making was Wild Wild West (1999). If I were him, I'd feel the same way!!

"Shit just got real!"

Hot Fuzz, 2007. Four Stars.

I'd seen this in the theatre when it first came out, and I really liked it. Saw it again recently, and realized: THIS IS THE BEST COP MOVIE EVER.

Firstly, who'd heard of a British cop movie? So, really, to finally make one's brilliant on it's own. Secondly, this movie just kicks so much butt!! Lots of explosions and violence towards the end. And lots of fun cop movie references. Very self-aware of it though, which I'm always a fan of. Just really kicks butt.

And there's the whole eerie townspeople aspect of it too, which lends a sort of supernatural quality for awhile. It's a big ol' mystery-thriller-action movie. Which is awesome!!

Another cool thing? The soundtrack, of course. And, yes, that is a Jon Spencer song used for when everyone's getting booked! It RULES.

And, yeah, obviously this movie's really funny!!!

I'm not sure this needs to be said now, but it did kind of needed to be a reminder when it was first released: You'll be disappointed if you're expecting Shaun of the Dead Part II. This is a completely different movie! And Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost have done a heck of a job with this flick.

"Someone is either a smoker or a nonsmoker. There's no in-between. The trick is to find out which one you are, and be that."

Dead Again, 1991. Three Stars.

Pretty cool movie! Caught it by accident: was once again going through the TV guide, was interested in the title of this movie, read the description, and decided to record it on the ol' DVR.

So it's like a love story that spans past and present, between two couples, but, they're the same couple... Pretty darn stylish and, as other reviewers have said, "noir-y." The ending was pretty surprising! At least, it was for me.

I HATED Kenneth Branagh's 90's hair, but I LOVE his 40's hair! For awhile I actually couldn't tell that these two character were played by the same guy, I kept thinking to myself, "So, where's Kenneth Branagh in the 40's?? He's starring opposite Emma Thompson, so he has to be here somewhere." That's my only real gripe about this movie: that I got confused by Kenneth Branagh's hair. But really, if the point of this story is that the couples are the same in the past and in the present, wouldn't you want to make it obvious that the couples were the same, hence making the similarities between the two couples undeniable? It was easy to spot Emma's characters, why not do the same for Kenneth?

Oh, and by the way, totally dug Robin Williams in this movie! I'm sick of his crazy/wacky/loud RobonWilliams-esque characters. I like when he strays from that comfort zone. Like he was so good in One Hour Photo. Same with Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy, which is a terribly underrated movie!

Your name is dumb bitch TOO? No wonder I keep getting all of your mail! You know, we could be related. There are a lot of us dumb bitches here in LA.

The Truth About Cats & Dogs, 1996. Three Stars.

I was hanging out at my friend Captain's one night, and I saw she had a copy of The Truth About Cats & Dogs next to her TV. I think I joked about it, because I'd heard it was such a chick-flick and was kind of lame. And I thought she started joking back about how it was her favorite movie and she could watch it all the time. Except, she wasn't joking! She really liked it, so we decided to watch it.

She's right: this is a great movie! It's fun, it has animals in it, the cast is cute-as-buttons, and the story is very sweet. Janeane Garofalo is absolutely adorable, more adorable than usual. I always think Uma's a hottie, but it was cool to see her play a fragile person. I don't really know who Ben Chaplin is, but, he's kind of charming in this.

And, though there's an obvious message, it's also a true one that's good to remember: a smokin' hottie on the outside might not necessarily be so great on the inside, and someone who you'd normally not cast a second look at could be the coolest person you'd ever meet.