Year of the Dog

This film is well made by the talented Mike White and it gives Molly Shannon a great oppurtinity to display her skills. It does however do too much preaching, which is regrettable. White does however have a great filmmaking style and voice, which should be rewarded once his masterpiece comes in, probably within a few years. The story is of Peggy, an animal-lover, who fights the "animal-hunting" in society. Yet, Peggy also fights people's opinions and she fights it without awareness of other's judgment in perspective. It puts into debate the contemporary animal action and relative inaction. I like this filmmaker, but i felt too manipulated with its interest. The cast works well too. Grade: B-

Black Snake Moan

This was a very well made film, dealing with the support that everyone needs and the conflict that creates it. This film is brilliant acted by Christina Ricci and Samuel L. Jackson, the film works more than it doesnt, while still feeling flawed. Justin Timberlake disnt seem real to me and i felt like he ruined the cast a bit. Director Craig Brewer has some really good moments and i found that it was a success for the most part because of the strenght of their main actors. He really has the talent of building a culture with his cinematic energy, but this film didnt have the final touch in storyline that the better "Hustle & Flow" did. After the four films that ive seen this year, this would be 2nd to Zodiac. 3rd would be The Lookout or Standing Still. Hopefully, this year will give us better films later on. Grade B-

Standing Still

This film is about a group of friends that join together for the celebration of two of its' members' marriage. Every person has a debate in their worlds that they are combatting. It is a pretty obvious and common story but i actually saw some good things in this. I saw some great scenes of truth here and the cast worked well together. It did lose some steam in some lesser moments but the good moments were well made. Again, this was a hard film to make, so in that respect, it was solid. I liked the cast. Nothing was resolved, and i kind of liked that, whether or not it was their intent. Grade: C

The Lookout

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is one of the biggest names in the small Independent scene. He has defined his career in small, risky films and this one doesnt differ. I saw this film as an interesting tale of criminality, morality, persuasion and illness. It didnt connect with me that much with any of those four, yet it did challenge my viewing. It was solid, but un-spectacular. It doesnt work as well as Memento, which i felt it was a parody of. The supporting cast was solid. Grade C+