Who has time for movies? Me, once in a while...

I'd like to thank Netflix and some recent insomnia for allowing me to see a number of movies recently... and whatever luck that most of what I've seen recently has been pretty good. Quick rundown:

The Departed ****
I'm generally not a fan of Scorsese or DiCaprio, but I thought this was excellent. A dizzying spiral of who's-working-for-who and who's-betraying-who. Loved the parallel stories of the Matt Damon and DiCaprio stories - nice to see Damon has some range, here playing the bad guy for a change - with increasing tension as you know eventually they're going to come to a head. Jack Nicholson is over-the-top as ever, but there's a very nice understated Martin Sheen to balance him out. Pretty bloody, but not so much as a lot of gangster movies.

Children of Men *** 1/2
Dystopian near-future story, fabulous cinematography. Well-done overall.

Casino Royale ****
Worth watching for the few seconds Daniel Craig is in the blue bathing suit. Just kidding, husband of mine! Seriously, the best action movie I've seen in a long time, as it's just as character-driven as action-driven. The riveting opening action sequence involves "Free Running", starring the founder of this unique sport himself. The film tells the story of Bond just after he's been made a 00 agent, and he's a very different Bond... gritty, physical, ruthless, street smart, tough. Not so much the buttoned-down tuxedo-wearing martini-drinker of later films. Nice to see a smart, quick-witted Bond babe, too.

Curse of the Golden Flower ** 1/2
Thought this was going to be an Arty Kung Fu movie, along the lines of Hero... was disappointed that it was mostly Arty, not so much Fu. Depressing, tragic, full of opulent cinematography.

Cars ****
My 2-year-old son's favorite movie, I think he would watch it twice a day if I let him. Fortunately it's quite good, with two very nice voice performances by Paul Newman and Owen Wilson, and a little lesson about stopping and enjoying life rather than racing through and focusing on fame and glory.

The Devil Wears Prada ***
Light little movie, lots of fashion and a silver-haired and silver-tongued Meryl Streep.

The Prestige *** 1/2
Well-done, suspenseful, great performances by Michael Caine and Christian Bale. Rival magicians in 19th century England sabotage each other's careers and personal lives. I was shocked that I figured out the big twist of the end partway through the movie and turned out to be right. I never see these things coming but I thought this one was telegraphed... still a good movie. Disturbing the lengths to which a man will go for his art/career.

Munich ** 1/2
Very, very violent. Moving on some levels, but not sure it really worked. Seems like it wants you to sympathize with the Israeli assassins hired to retaliate for the murder of Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists, but that didn't work for me. Sort of questions the wisdom of retaliation and the endless cycle of killing the other side, but not enough.

Wes Craven's "Red Eye"

Nothing quite like finding a movie that vastly exceeds your expectations. Such was my experience with Wes Craven's "Red Eye." I knew it would be at least okay, because the trailer looked quite good. Now that I've seen it, I call it excellent.

Wes Craven? Yeah, Mr. Nightmare on Elm Street himself. Script by first time writer Carl Ellsworth. It is one of the tightest, most cleverly written action thrillers I've ever seen. It's quite short, only 1:20, but it doesn't make one false step from beginning to end. And in the first 2 minutes, it presents so many plot points for the audience to absorb, that I had to stop the movie and just go... "Whoa..." for a few seconds. (I'm sure there were those who urged Mr. Craven to pad it out, to stretch the scenes, or add more backstory, at least to get it over 90 minutes. He didn't. He crushed the edit down as tight as it can go, and the film just flies. This was the right choice.)

It's as good a movie in this genre as Die Hard. Now, to qualify that a bit, Red Eye is a small movie. It has none of the Summer Blockbuster, James Bond-like scale of Die Hard. The entire 2nd act takes place on a plane. But it is just as tight, just as intelligent a film as that 1988 classic. Very interesting, really, to see how a sharp director can create a first rate action thriller on a very small budget. There are only 3 major characters in this whole movie.

If you enjoy this sort of film, by all means check this one out. Really well done.