Julie and Julia - 4 stars

Julie & Julie is what chick flicks ought to be. The true story of a wanna be writer working her way through the entire Julia Child cookbook in 1 year in order to prove to herself that she can finish what she starts.

At the same time, Julia Child is rising from a bored ambassador's wife, to a cooking phenom. Meryl Streep plays her to perfection, in a way that only She can. Is there nothing that this woman can not do? It looks like she packed on a few pounds and grew a few inches to play Child. How is that possible?

Amy Adams is cute as a button. Make-up makes her appear as a plain Jane, although she still is dazzling.

The writing is delicious, constantly laugh-out-loud funny, with barely a dull moment. This is the kind of movie that you will want to re-watch on rainy Sundays.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 3 stars

I didn't really care for the first 2 X-Men movies. The first one was a mediocre action flick. The second one sucked. The story attempted to be a good versus evil megapic, but failed to tell a cohesive story. So, I wasn't all that psyched to watch the third installment.

Lo and behold, it was good! Hugh Jackman does a great job of playing Wolverine. There is a clear, good storyline that you can follow and is interesting.

No surprise that Origins goes back to the beginning for Wolverine. It's personal and descriptive, and you can root for the hero. It's worth watching when you want to zone out.

American Gangster - 4 stars

Denzel Washington can't make a bad film. Throw in Russell Crowe and you have a must-watch movie. Excellent all around and deserving of its 2 Oscar nominations.

American Gangster is a true story about the rise of gangster (Washington) and his pursuit by a NYC policeman (Crowe). One of the reasons why this story was such a big deal is that the black driver of a Mafia boss rose to power and superseded the entire NYC mafia scene.

The story is tight, the acting is perfect, and the drama is real. Rent it today.

Last Chance Harvey - 4 stars

Last Chance Harvey stars the Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, and delivers on its star power.

Hoffman plays Harvey who is at the end of his career, divorced, and lonely. He goes to London for his semi-estranged daughter's wedding where he meets Kate (Thompson). It's patiently paced, thoughtful, and revealing. The film poses the question of how someone ends up where they are in life - how much of it is luck and how much of it is your own doing. Perfectly acted, excellently written, beautifully shot, Last Chance Harvey is a very well made film.

Doubt - 4 stars

The first 102 minutes are great. The last 2 minutes were terrible. Did they have some high school student write the ending? It stars 3 of the best actors on screen - Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. The writing and directing are very carefully nuanced. I love how they set up the power dynamic with subtle little plays like someone sitting behind the desk when it isn't his office.

Definitely worth a watch.

Two Lovers - 1 star

It's probably not fair to review a movie that I haven't watched all the way through, but I will.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Leonard, a loser Brooklynite whose fiance left him, who tried to kill himself, who is living with his parents. Somehow, gorgeous Gwenyth Paltrow's befriends him.

That's where they lost me. Never has the beautiful, charming, independent babe made friends with the boring, ugly loser who lives with his annoying parents. If I lived in the same building as this guy, I wouldn't even talk to him.

No wonder Phoenix decided to join a band.

Slumdog Millionaire - 4 stars

This isn't at all what I expected. With all of the hype, and the cute song & dance at the Oscars, I thought I would watch a light Bollywood movie. Instead, it was more along the lines of the Kite Runner. A poor man makes it onto the Indian Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He does so well that the host thinks he's cheating. That part you already know. What you may not know is that there is a back story to each of the questions. He knows each answer because it connects to a tramatic event in his life. Difficult to watch, but very good.

The Code (Thick as Thieves) - 3.5 stars

Jim had to remind me that I saw this movie, so it obviously wasn't that memorable. It was pretty enjoyable though. It's a light heist flick with Morgan Freeman, Rhada Mitchell and Antonio Banderas. The Code has some predictable moments, but has some surprises, as well. The heist is similar to the Ocean's 11 series or to The Score (Edward Norton). Antonio Banderas can't carry his own weight, but is fine with 2 the other two outstanding actors flanking him.

Religulous - 4 stars

Religulous is a documentary by political commentator/comedian Bill Maher. If you aren't familiar with him, he's similar to Michael Moore (Farenheight 911).

If you don't like his politics, you won't like this film. If you are religious, you won't like this film. In fact, you should probably stop reading this review. If you want to watch the whole thing from begining to end, you probably won't like this film. However, if you are like me, then you will like this film. Jim & I watched it over several days because we are new parents and keep falling asleep.

Bill interviews religious leaders or profiteers from various religions and makes them look like they don't know what they are talking about. Frequently he will have written on the screen "not true" or "no it's not" as someone is speaking. He also gets people to don a quizical look as he asks pointed questions or challenges their beliefs. He has clearly done his research. I learned plenty of new things about Christianity, about which I'm not very educated.

The Contract - 3 stars

The Contract is a "thriller" about a nice guy, layed by ultimate nice guy John Cusack, who stumbles into the life of a contract killer, played by Morgan Freeman. The film had potential, but you can tell that they ran out of money while filming so they cut a bunch of corners. There are a couple of noticable plot holes. Also, it appears that they were trying to edit out language for ratings. A thug comments on a woman's "tush." Not language you expect to hear from this character.

Ultimately, the movie is worth watching if you run across it on TV. Freeman and Cusack can do no wrong, and it's not much worse than most of the films out there. I wouldn't rent it though, there are too many other good movies to choose from.