Bourne Ultimatum

I finally saw the final installment of the Bourne Trilogy and it lived up to my expectations. A smart thrill ride. I didn't find it as compelling as Supremacy, but it was still heads and tails above most films of its genre.
The story was a little convoluted with all the zipping around Europe hoping to find "the source." I also found Bourne's character less compelling in this installment. He was too flat.
While it did a great job of wrapping up most of the questions about Bourne, the movie left one gapping question open: what is the relationship between Nikki and Bourne? It is odd that she shows up in all three movies because she is a very minor player in the plot. They could have left her character out after the first movie. The plot device bringing her into the second movie was plausible, but not great. The device used to bring her into this installment was lame. Add that to the comment "with you it was hard" and the obvious disappointment she displays at separating from Bourne and the look on her face when she sees Bourne kill Deft. There is a relationship of some kind there. Nikki clearly has/had feelings for Bourne/Webb.
While I don't really want to see this franchise keep churning out sequels, I would like to know what that relationship was. Maybe they could make a chick flick called Romancing the Bourne or the Bourne Tryst....

I Am Legend

"I Am Legend" is an interesting movie. It falls squarely into both the post-apocalyptic genre and the zombie genre. I'm pretty sure its intended more as a post-apocalyptic movie than a zombie movie since the zombies play a minor role and are technically not zombies (the 28 series of movies shares the same non-zombie zombie problem as "I Am Legend" but are most definitely zombie movies).
Will Smith puts in a solid performance as the sole survivor of a global holocaust. He makes the character's delicate grip on sanity, his loneliness, his monomaniacal drive, and his innate nobility tangible. The character could be either too easily pitied or loathed in lesser hands. Instead, Smith's portrayal makes him human.
The CGI and the setting shots are erie. The CGI effects are kept to a minimum and look natural. The New York of the movie is too easily recognizable in its emptiness. Instead of being devastated, it is just empty. Like a ghost town, nature has started to reclaim what man wrought.
My only complaint with the movie is that the story begs for more than a 1.5 hour screen play can deliver. The movie does an admirable job of staying focused. However, there are questions around the edges that are never tackled.
The question about the infected's humanity is the biggest one for me. It is clear that the battle between Smith and the infected is over a woman - yet the infected are treated only from Smith's perspective. He views them as both less than human and in need of saving (from a disease he had a hand in creating). Have they really been reduced to inhumanity? Does the drive to protect a mate only make it more imperative that they be "cured"? Or are they simply transformed into something beyond Smith's understanding and deserve to be left alone?
Perhaps the infected deserve to inherit the earth than Smith's kind nearly destroyed?
There is irony in the movies premise also - but letting out of the bag would spoil things....

Charlie Wilson's War

Good movie with solid performances. Not really worthy of multiple nominations however. The performances are what audiences should expect from seasoned veterans - no more no less. Think place kicker hitting an extra point.
The script is disjointed but not fatally. The biggest example I can think of is the scene where Wilson is throwing away all of his booze - there is no explanation about why such a hard drinking womanizer would randomly toss out his booze. The underdeveloped love story between Wilson and the rich lady is also distracting.
The meat of the story - the Afghan War - is done well. I imagine the other stuff was tossed in to maintain some sense of historical accuracy.
It does provide an interesting look at how the Soviets were beaten back and how the Islamic terrorist movement made such a quantum leap. The relationship is not entirely causal - the terrorists may have found another home and eventually developed the skills needed to be a serious global threat without the Afghan War - but the two are tightly bound.
The closing quote is the most profound statement of US policy failure and continued failure - "we fucked up the endgame."

Lucky's

It must be pretty lucky if it hasn't gone out of business yet. A restaurant in the basement of a warehouse in the middle of an unpopulated part of town that does not have a sign must be pretty spectacular if it can survive year after year. Right?
Not Lucky's. It is good, but not great. The service was above average, the food decent, the atmosphere forgettable, and the prices steep.
Luckily the quality of the company makes just about any locale fun.

Bourne

So it's a thriller series and not "serious" cinema. The Bourne movies are good fun and far smarter than the Bond flicks. The scene is Ultimatum where Bourne confesses to the girl - heartbreaking. Damon makes an excellent good guy turned bad guy searching for his soul.
Only question I have is why waste Julia Styles in such a minor role?

Funny thing happened on the way home from school today

I was sitting at a light, behind a white work van of some type as there were ladders and tools in the back. Just sitting there, getting ready to turn right when the light changed...then a man opened the passenger side door of the white van and spit a few times. Of course, I was like "oouuuhhh, gross". But then he began to vomit! And vomit. And vomit. Again I was like "gross!" but kept on watching. Then the light turned green. The van began to creep slowly forward but the man kept the door open and threw up some more. And I kept on watching. I slowly made my right turn but managed to see the van go straight with the man puking on the street. It did look like the van was going to turn into the Bickford's parking lot which I was thankful for. But then I was so intrigued with the fact that I was fixated on watching this person throw up repeatedly, from a moving van, even as I was making a turn. Why? It struck me as very odd to see this image at 3:30 on the afternoon on a weekday. I wouldn't be so surprised if it was at night or even on a weekend. So, then I began thinking of reasons why this man was sick. Was he starting his weekend really early? Did he and the boys have too many beers at lunch break? Or was he just sick with a stomach bug...

Do Ninjas Bleed?

So there have been a few crooks in the news who have styled themselves as ninjas. These crooks deserve extra punishment for imitating (poorly) a ninja.
One crook had a gun and was a bad shot.... A ninja would not use a gun and if it did it would not miss. Ninjas use silent weapons like daggers and throwing stars for their stealth qualities. They are known for their deadly accuracy. The A-Team could have learned a lot from a ninja. The only time a ninja would miss is if it wanted to leave its prey alive.
The more recent ninja was stabbed and got caught by bleeding. It is well known that ninjas are wicked hard to stab. They are masters of close combat and they are more likely to stab than be stabbed. This does not mean they cannot be stabbed... However, if a ninja is stabbed it would not bleed all over the place. Ninjas have training that allows them to control their body functions, they have excellent healing powers, and they have superb field medic skills. A ninja would be able to stop any bleeding well before it left a trail.
The biggest clue that these are faux ninjas is that they were stealing things. Ninjas are killers not thieves.

Sunshine

I had high hopes for this film. It is not often that you get an indie sci-fi flick that looks this good.
It started off strong. The film is gorgeous. It is obvious that someone spent a lot of money crafting the scenes. The dialog is also excellent, even if the basic plot line is typical. It is the archetypal "crew isolated in space" story. Early on there they through in a twist though. The crew psych officer says that unlike absolute darkness, absolute lightness is overwhelming fullness. I thought it could be an interesting twist.
While the plot follows along a well worn path - the crew alters path to find an abandoned ship, things break terribly, the crew realizes that they are never going to be able to return home - the level of dialog and the beauty of the film makes it above average.
Sadly, when they find the abandoned ship, the whole plot goes the shit. What was once a smart, considerate character study turns into a standard sci-fi slasher flick. It did the beginning of the movie a huge disservice.
With the sad ending, Sunshine is an unfulfilled promise.