I went to go see The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 at the Regal Meridian in downtown Seattle tonight with my buddy Tom. Tom, a college roommate and one of my best friends, is one who you should go to the movies with not at all, depending on your movie watching preferences. There’s nothing wrong with Tom, you see, but Tom has the strange ability to attract the crazies to the movie theater – so if you need peace and quite while watching a movie, he is not the guy to go see a movie with. (more…)

As the New Year fast approaches and the first week of January 2008 beckons, there are a slew of new pictures out at theaters, some of them good and some of them not-so-good. I’ve seen a lot of movies over the last couple of weeks, and while I haven’t posted reviews for all of these films, I wanted to share what I’ve seen and make recommendations. Keep in mind that this time of year I am most interested in seeing dark and depressing pictures (Atonement) rather than mindless entertainment (National Treasure), and that I will generally avoid chick flicks (P.S. I Love You).

Here are the movies you should see:

• Atonement
  The best movie of 2007 so far, though I’m still holding out hope for There Will Be Blood…
• Juno
  Funny and oddly powerful, this will have females going “awwwww…” (seriously, there were several) and guys cracking up. Also has a potential Oscar winner starlet in the form of Ellen Page.
• No Country for Old Men
  Still one of the front runners for Best Picture of the Year. An awesome thriller, even if the ending stumbles a bit…
• I Am Legend
  If you want mindless entertainment, go see this one. Some people haven’t liked it, but it’s a tense thriller, at least until the final act. Will Smith is also great in it.
• American Gangster
  This one is still playing in many theaters, and while it doesn’t blow one away, it’s still quite good.
• Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
  Impress people by seeing movie slightly off the beaten path. Luckily, it’s still a pretty slick crime drama.
• The Golden Compass
  It is a bit rushed and could have benefited from a better director, but if you don’t mind anti-Christian themes, The Golden Compass is a lot better than what critics give it credit for.
• National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
  I can’t believe I’m putting this one on my list, but despite the fact that it sometimes doesn’t make much sense or isn’t even slightly plausible, going in with low expectations meant that I actually found this one pleasingly entertaining.

Movies I haven’t seen but plan to shortly (because I hear they’re good)

• Charlie Wilson’s War
• The Great Debaters
• The Kite Runner
• The Savages
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Movies to avoid at all cost

• Sweeney Todd
  Yeah, this one just sucked. I like musicals, but no one told me that Sweeney Todd was going to be a boring movie with some of the worst music I’ve ever heard in my life.
• Fred Claus
  I didn’t see this movie, but it just looked bad.