Starring Don Cheadle, Talk to Me is a biopic about Petey Green, an ex-con radio DJ. He's the straight-talking voice of DC during the civil rights movement. It's a refreshing film with lots to look at. The movie takes place through the 70s and 80s, so the scenery is amazing along with very colorful costumes.
Hairspray was excellent. It's a remake of the campy John Waters film from 1988. It's set in the 60s in racially divided Baltimore. You can't beat a socially conscious musical with John Travolta dancing in heels and a fat suit. The story was great, theme excellent, acting/singing/dancing very good. I didn't like the opening number, but the rest of the songs were fab.
Knocked up was surprisingly good. It was a good brainless comedy touching on a subject that hasn't quite yet been done to death. It's been a while since we've had good stories about accidental pregnancy. I was pleased that they don't take the easy way out with the story line -loser guy finds the light and becomes upstanding young father. It was excellently cast with Paul Rudd as adorable as ever. If you liked the lead male, Seth Rogan, check him out with one of the pothead sidekicks in Freaks & Geeks. This is a top notch TV show about high school kids in the 80s. It's only one season - rent it on DVD. 
Dream Girls would have been a really good movie if they had more than one song. They kept breaking out into song, each with almost the exact same tune. After 45 minutes I was forwarding through the musical numbers, not good for a movie about a musical act... The actors were quite good. I was surprised that Eddie Murphy can sing!
Let's face it - the real reason to rent Shooter is it stars Mark Walberg. He is a pretty good actor and quite easy on the eyes. The movie is enjoyable, but predictable. He's a disgruntled ex-military guy that is recruited to help stop a presidential assassination. A nice surprise is seeing Kate Mara as an adult. She played the older daughter in Brokeback Mountain.
Weeds a superior television series. I can't think of anything I would do different, other than provide more episodes to watch. Jim & I are equally as engrossed. The premise is that 40-something suburban housewife (played by Mary Louise Parker) is suddenly widowed. She wisely decides that the best way to support her 2 kids is to sell marijuana, which she knows absolutely nothing about. Kevin Nealon and Elizabeth Perkins are part of the stellar supporting cast. Nealon's character is surprisingly funny - he's a loser/pothead/accountant/city councilor. Season 1 certainly has some adult themes, but season 2 is even more adult. They humorously tackle race, politics, sex, raising kids, religion, local politics, obesity, and everything else facing Americans today. Season 2 is now available on DVD and Season 3 is being shown on Showtime.
It looks like I forgot to write up the last movie I saw, which was 6 months ago. Notes on a Scandal stars 2 Dame Judy Dench and Cate Blanchette. 2 actors that are a dream to watch. You can probably guess from the title that the story centers around a scandal. My problem with the movie is that I didn't believe the scandal. I don't want to give anything away, but I just didn't find the scandalous scenario plausible. The acting is good, along with the writing. The problem is in the casting. Cate Blanchette, for all her abilities, is just too stunning to play lowly. I don't buy it. Dench is a thrill to watch.
This is probably the first new movie I've seen in 6 months. Ocean's 13 was a big fat disappointment. I'm not a big fan of sequels. Generally I think they are a rip-off, recycling the same jokes and story lines as the first installment. I really enjoyed Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12, and was actually looking forward to Ocean's 13. Ocean's 12 did repeat the same formula as Ocean's 11, but it didn't feel formulaic. It was fresh and funny. Ocean's 13 is very poorly scripted, with the leads phoning in their performances. They don't even repeat the best stuff in the first 2 - they don't have the lumbering idiots trying to pull off something complicated. There is a busy scam, but it's not creative and they all act like they know what they are doing. The only good gag comes from Matt Damon.
