[adam]

I thought Cache was overrated.

I think A Scanner Darkly is a little hammy, and I think it inherited a flaw from the book. I think Dick's book tries to be a couple of things at once: a fond portrait of drug-fueled camaraderie and a science-fiction story. His afterword pretty much says so. I think those things are opposed to each other, and that they both weaken the other's role. It doesn't work. Plus the hamminess seriously bugs me...you listen to some of the special features and you hear things like Woody saying that he acted in a exagerrated fashion because he knew it was to be animated - he shouldn't have; it's cartoonish in a story that ultimately shouldn't be cartoonish. I don't think he's the only guilty party, either, he's just the one who said so.

All criticism aside, there are moments in the movie that I adore. In particular, the, "What does a scanner see? Into the mind? Into the heart? Does a scanner see clearly, or darkly?" scene actually gives me goosebumps. I love it, and so, I'm able to set aside my criticisms of the movie, which are fairly substantial, and find something that I do quite like in it.

The Departed was great. Alec Baldwin was fucking awesome. "You want a smoke? No? You one of those health nuts? Fuck you."

I liked The Fountain and would like to see it again. I liked the score, but it was too similar to the score he did for Requiem; it would have been nice to hear something a little more different. Clint Mansell's scores kind of annoy me, too, in CD format, because they're just little 2 minute chunks (like the movie) when I'd like to hear those themes developed in 6-7 minute pieces.

I can't remember anything from more than a few months ago so I'm pretty much useless.

Oh, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was this year, wasn't it? That's one of the best movies of the year, for reals.