February Screenings:

Shark Tale - **1/2 A decent animated comedy with an all-star cast. Personally, I don't think it deserved the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature over "The Polar Express." Time will tell which one we'll be referring to and enjoying 20 years from now.
Ray - ***1/2 Jamie Foxx deservedly won the Oscar for this powerhouse performance of the legendary pianist who changed not just rock-n-roll, but also set an industry standard by owning the masters to his own recordings. A wise man and talented man who struggled with demons throughout his career.
Chronicles of Riddick - **1/2 It could have been worse, right? Very visual but Riddick becomes more of the hero than the anti-hero he was in "Pitch Black" (which I highly recommend). If you're in the mood for sci-fi fluff, this is for you.
Jesus Christ Superstar - **** Fantastic interpretation of the famous rock opera. The print leaves something to be desired (especially a better print). Let's hope this can get some sort of special edition with a DTS soundtrack.
Deep Impact - *** No Bruce Willis or Ben Affleck (crying, as usual) but I'm a sucker for movies about asteroid's on a collision course with Earth and this is the adult version. And it has Lee Lee Sobieski (My Helen Hunt crush will live on in her for a long time)
The Village - ** Over the course of 4 films, M. Night went from overnight sensation to a one-trick pony. Easily the worst of his three films, and I've seen "Unbreakable" at least twice.
AVP: Alien Vs. Predator - **1/2 I expected much worse. It wanted to be "The Thing" (either version) so if that's what you want, rent "The Thing." Otherwise this is basically a live-action video game and you have no control over the plot. Like you care. Great production value shows the crew did their job, but as my friend Spencer put it, "it's a polished turd."
The Vagina Monologues - **1/2 Well written and performed. It's easy to see why every actress over 25 wanted a chance to perform this.
Road to Singapore/Zanzibar/Bali/Morocco/Utopia - **1/2 I'm sure they were much better when viewings were a couple years apart, but watching them back to back I lost a lot of that "here we go again..." feeling. Morocco was the first one I watched and stayed my favorite, although Bali was pretty good too.
Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie - *** I didn't care for the series much, but this film has some genuine laughs.
Bill Maher: Victory Begins At Home - *** Bill likes to say what he hopes we're thinking, and usually succeeds, at least for me.
Trekkies 2 - *** It's hard to critique this as a film, when you sit there open-mouthed at the crazy antics of the Trekkers (they don't like to be referred to as Trekkies... that's right...)
And Starring Poncho Villa As Himself - *** Enjoyable movie with great production value. Eion Bailey could have a promising career; losing out to Christian Bale for the role of Batman isn't the best of luck, but it's an honor just to be considered, right?
Margaret Cho: I'm The One That I Want - *** An homage to the stand-up films of the 70's and 80's make this production worth watching, and I find Cho's humor interesting; especially the imiation of her mother.
Margaret Cho: Notorious C.H.O - ** repeating some of the first film's material doesn't help this video-taped version of Cho in concert. Looks like cable access.
Margaret Cho: CHO Revolution - **1/2 By the time this film was made Cho had become the new Cher to several in the gay community, but, like Cher, the diva seems to be more important than the artist.
I, Robot - **1/2 Enjoyable but not spectacular sci-fi film with Will Smith saving the world. Again. That's so '95.
De-Lovely - *** Highly entertaining film about the life of Cole Porter. Sort of a Moulin Rouge but a musical and set mostly in Paris in the early 1900's. Wait. No, that's right... Great production design, performances and, of course, music make this an underappreciated gem of 2004.
Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow - *** As an homage to the serial adventure's of the 30's and 40's this film succeeds on every level of production. Miscasting, however tempers the enjoyment. Were the lead an unknown and not Jude Law making his 4th or 5th film appearance in as many months, this film may have gotten more word of mouth and been more successful. Sadly, Law has expressed interest in turning it into a franshise. Maybe we could hope his role would be restricted to just a Producer. Overall, writer/director Kerry Conran's personal story about how this project got off the ground is a great inspirational story for any aspiring filmmaker.
Collateral - ***1/2 Outstanding film in every aspect. Too much to get into for this little blurb.
Garden State - *** Good performances but a loose script that ties seemingly random events together keep this from becoming "The Graduate" for a new generation. Or maybe I'm too old. Writer/Director and star Zach Braff (TV's Scrubs - my favorite show) wears too many hats for his debut, but shows promise nonetheless.

January Screenings:

Gilmore Girls - Season 2 - My new favorite show. Thanks Darcy! (and every gay guy I've ever talked to)

Taken - (Sci-Fi Channel mini-series) I hadn't much interest in this until I discovered that Dakota Fanning was involved. She's my favorite actress and it's *amazing* what this kid can do.

My TV schedule is getting full again with 24 and Alias back on the air. I also started watching Desperate Housewives and believe it's worth all the hype; a really great show. This isn't your mother's night-time soap opera! (Well, it kinda is, which is why it's good and with a very pretty cast)

I spent the rest of the month watching porn.

What. Shut up.

December Screenings:

The projector screen fell down shortly before Thanksgiving, so I spent most of December watching Sex & The City episodes as I'd only seen a handfull. I'd be finished by now but the place I rent from lost their copy of Season 6: Part One - Disc 2. So I'm stuck until I Netflix it.

But I will comment that I liked the show more than I thought I would. I was resentful for many years for it winning so many awards and Sarah Jessica Parker winning every award. I don't see what she did that couldn't have been done by anyone else, not that she's not a good actress, I just don't think it stood out. I was impressed much more with Kim Catttrall (Samantha) and Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) while developing the biggest man-crush on Chris Noth.

I also started "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and have Seasons 2 and 3 ready to go. Larry David and I were separated at birth (albiet a few years apart).