Ordered from most enjoyable to least.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Emily and I are slowly watching the rest of the Harry Potter movies. Irrespective of your feelings on the Harry Potter franchise, this is a solid movie. There is a lot of cute, funny romantic tension between Hermione and Ron. Dumbledore displays a little bit of power, reminiscent of Yoda. Harry is maybe not a complete weenie.
Enter the Dragon
I’d seen parts of this over the years but never watched the whole thing all the way through. I expected it to be cheesy and low quality, but it’s not. The production value is high, the story is contrived but well-executed, and Bruce Lee gives an insane display of martial arts dominance, holy shit.
Scoop
Here are the genres that Netflix lists for this movie: “Comedies, Romantic Movies, Thrillers, Romantic Comedies, British Movies, Crime Thrillers, Mysteries, Supernatural Thrillers.” Kind of crazy, right? But it makes sense after you see the movie. It’s funny and has a story line that keeps your attention. Woody Allen, Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman. Fun for the whole family!
Yojimbo
Akira Kurosawa movie about a Samurai who pits two competing crime families against each other–the same story as A Fistful of Dollars. Clint Eastwood isn’t in this one, but I thought this was more enjoyable. A Fistful of Dollars is a little too understated for my taste.
True Grit (2010)
Eh, not bad. The most memorable thing to me was the dialogue. It was different… formal, and kind of quick and even paced.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Meh. The screenplay is a little scattered. There are bits that don’t seem relevant, and other bits that seem poorly explained. Nothing in the movie really stood out for me.
There Will Be Blood
I was skeptical that there would be blood when the first 20 minutes were just some dudes digging around in holes. But by the end of the movie there was indeed blood. Acting was great, cinematography was great. The score was more classical than most movies, but also really good. There were parts of this movie that I liked (the sequence of the burning oil well was bewitching), but in general it’s not the type of movie I enjoy. No respectable characters. Scenes and conversations that seem unlikely and weird. Lots of drama.