Movies Jef Saw in Theatres
NOTE: Jef hasn't kept good records of these until lately. He's seen quite a few movies over the past couple of decades.

2007
7-27TransformersCute movie, great special effects. Only problem is melding to the lame shallow children's cartoon.
4-27300Well done movie. Good acting, really good special effects. Good plot, although not very realistic or believable.
1-2Cosmic Collisions with Kathy and HolleyNice movie. Great seeing it in Imax in the Hayden Planetarium with that great sound system.
1-2Roving Mars with Kathy and HolleyAn okay movie, but could have had more stuff.
2006
12-27Night at the Museum with Kathy and HolleyCute movie. We saw it in Southhamption on Long Island, and actually went to the museum the following week.
11-26Deja Vu with Kathy and HolleyAnother time-machine movie. Interesting variation. Well acted. Well paced.
9-3World Trade Center with Kathy and HolleyInteresting perspective -- from 2 people on the scene who barely survived.
8-4My Super Ex-girlfriendGood effects. Interesting plot. Pretty funny.
6-30Superman Returns with Kathy and HolleyGood effects. Certainly better than 1977 Superman movie it was based on, but too slow and with religious implications.
6-7Da Vinci Code with Kathy and HolleyGood movie. A bit too much believing the car chases, however.
6-6X3 with Kathy and HolleyGood movie. Nice effects, good plot.
1-27Mystic India with Kathy and HolleyGood movie. Interesting travelog about India.
2005
10-1Proof with KathyGood movie. Similar plot to "A Beautiful Mind".
8-12The Great RaidGood movie! Good acting and realistic re-creation of actual history. FDR was an awful commander in chief (as well a being a bozo with his socialist policies) - he was responsible for the situation in the first place.
8-5Hustle and FlowExcellent movie! Good acting and great plot. Shows the difficulties in breaking into the music biz.
7-29StealthGreat special effects, and interesting plot -- shows how problematic 'learning-machines' can be. Altho, certain characters were pretty cliche.
7-22War of the WorldsNice remake. Great special effects, and good perspective: from the point of view of the typical uprepared and technology-dependent American.
7-15Fantastic FourExcellent movie. Good flow of action. Interesting adaptation to original comic book.
7-1Batman Begins with momExcellent movie. Good flow of action. First non-comedy batman, more true to original. Inventive.
6-24Mr. and Mrs. SmithPretty good comedy, similar to True Lies
6-3Star Wars Episode 3, Revenge of the SithWell done. Blends pretty good with original.
5-20Kingdom of HeavenPretty good rendition a transitional period of the Crusades. Good acting, cinematography, effects. Probably aimed in this period at current president, as the evil French Templar, who became king of Jerusalem in the movie, rushed to battle against the muslims without much thinking. The heroes were non-religious, but tolerant. Jerusalem at the start of the movie was a melting pot, and analogous to America.
5-6The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyPretty good rendition of Douglas Adams book. Silly British humor. Good acting and effects. Vogons were good.
4-29The InterpreterNot bad, but a little slow. Much closer to being possible and believable than any other movie i've seen in a long time -- and therefore, not as entertaining. Has to do with violence in many African countries. Nicole Kidman was good. Sean Penn did a good job, as well.
4-8Upside of AngerNot bad, but a definite chick flick. Characters and relationships are somewhat shallow. Some relevant interesting subplots.
3-25SidewaysGood movie. Recognize a lot of the scenery, as it all takes place near the freeway between S.D. and Solvang. Realistic. Don't care for their likes/dislikes in wine, however.
3-4Million Dollar BabyAnother great movie! Won best picture at the Oscars. Sad, tho. Basically a feel-good Rocky kind of movie of a person achieving on her steam and direction, turning into tragedy, and climaxing in euthanasia. Side stories, such as controlling bleeding to keep a boxing match going, and such.
2-25The AviatorGreat movie! Had to leave early for tennis, but first 2 hours were well done. Good special effects, good history lesson. Good acting.
2004
12-17CloserGood movie, but shallow (albeit quirky) relationships. Good acting. Julia Roberts and the same guy who played Sky Captain.
11-29The IncrediblesGood movie. Good music, animation, storyline. Demonstrates comic book cliches well.
10-15Team America: World PoliceCute movie. Liked the big sound with the amateurish special effects. Similar to Southpark plotline.
10-8Shaun of the DeadAmusing little movie, but could of been done better.
9-24Sky Captain and the World of TomorrowExcellent movie! Has the slickness of modern techniques with the feel of adventure movies of the 30s and 40s.
9-17Alien Vs. PredatorNice special effects. Liked the rasta-predators. Simple plot, but well done.
9-10HeroArtsy movie. Subtitles went too fast in a few places, tho. Good acting, cinematography.
6-25The TerminalGreat movie. Good acting from Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta Jones, and bit actors. Demonstrated some of the idiocies of American beaurocracy, and was an amusing tale of survival in an unusual situation.
5-21Eternal Sunshine of the Empty MindGreat movie. Interesting special effects, good acting, unusual screenplay and concepts. Not a light movie, so could give you a headache -- as a mind is being wiped during most of the movie.
5-14Kill Bill Vol. 2Classic movie. Not as good as K.B. Vol. 1, as most of the cool characters were killed off in that one, but Q.T. continued with a smorgasbord of genres, doing some neat b/w, grainy film, some spaghetti western stuff, exagerated close-ups in places, etc. First rate performances, good music. Cleared up mysteries of Vol. 1.
4-23Connie & CarlaContrived musical movie. Somewhat entertaining, but a more believable and smoother plotline would have been better. Debbie Reynolds is still alive!
4-2Ladykillers with RoxieGreat movie. An adult comedy, with some original film-making. Like the 'helmet-cam'. Tom Hanks did an awesome southern gentleman performance, and the other characters were great, too. A believable movie, except for the irony, which makes it so funny. Rox didn't like it only because of one character's "hippity-hop" language.
3-12Hidalgo with RoxieGood movie, except for the gratuitous violence and unbelievability. Across between The Black Stallion and and Indian Jones film. Omar Sharif played the shiek and Malcolm McDowell played a small role. Well crafted, good acting, and keeps your interest.
2-27Touching the Void with RoxieGreat movie! Good scenery, unbelievable, but apparently factual plot, great ice climbing photography, unique screenplay.
1-30In America with RoxieWell acted and realistic movie. The young girls were especially good. Movie slowed down on last half, and this is a sappy movie. Roxie didn't especially like it.
1-23Calendar Girls with RoxieGood movie. A bit slow, though, but good scenery, acting.
1-2Lord of the Rings, Return of the KingGood movie. A bit slow in spots, but a fast paced action movie in many parts. Good acting, excellent special effects, and music.
2003
DateMovieDescriptionRating
12-28Big Fish with RoxieGood movie. Somewhat of a comedy, but with a message about how important we feel our lives have been. Good acting, special effects, and music. A little slow in parts.
12-12Master and CommanderGood movie. Authentic early 19th century naval life is represented well (a hard life!). Good and fairly realistic story, but a little slow in parts. Nice scenery in the Galapagos.
12-5The Last SamuraiGood action movie. Good music. Computer-generated cast of thousands, much like Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. Far-fetched, but a good story on how Japan and American relations started pulling apart in the last decades of the 19th century.
11-21Mystic RiverGreat movie. Lots of high powered acting, good plot, well put together.
11-14RadioGood production - good acting. I would have preferred a more complex plot, but considering it's based on a true story, it was well done.
10-31the RundownOkay action/slapstick comedy movie. Christopher Walken did his usual offbeat bad guy character. Play on the Rock's fake wrestling career.
10-23Kill Bill Vol. IGreat movie! Good music, interesting Tarentino-editing, great action. Interesting mix of media - color, B/W, cartoons. Great acting. Mom said she didn't like it -- probably from the realistic blood and gore scenes -- which were pretty grizzly.
10-10School of RockOutstanding movie! Jack Black was great, kids were pretty talented. Good music. Actually have to stay to end of credits on this one.
10-3Secondhand LionsExcellent movie. A drama/comedy. Very well done.
9-26Matchstick MenExcellent movie. Similarities with Blow. Nick Cage played a neurotic like Monk, only on the other side of the law. Plot has some good switchbacks. Big sting was a bit far-fetched, tho.
9-19S.W.A.T.Finely crafted action movie. Kept up pace to very end. Plot is just a bit unlikely.
9-12American SplendorOddball movie! A biography of a real person who wrote the American Splendor comic from the 70s to the 90s. The first comic to reflect real life, the trend in movies these days, so you could say the guy, Harvey Pekar, was a pioneer.
8-29Open RangeGreat movie! Very realistic. Gunshots were actually as loud as in real life (not the watered down version in other movie!). Good acting. Too many people dawdled as targets in the open to be believed, however. And things were painted in black and white (bad guys were overly bad!). Cute little sub-stories.
8-22Pirates of the Caribbean: the Black PearlNot bad. A bit too long, tho
8-15The Swimming PoolInteresting oddball movie. Just a little slow for me.
8-1SeabiscuitGreat movie! Good writing, cinematography, acting, music
7-25League of Extraordinary GentlemenSome good effects, something different in mixing up characters from other stories, but pretty lame theme, which is loosely England being supplanted by U.S. at start of 20th century, but with future technology and problems being used as a backdrop. I liked Mr. Hyde and Mima effects. Cute having Captain Nemo being Indian.
7-8Terminator 3Good movie. Lots of action, good plot, acting, cinematography, music, etc.
6-2728 Days LaterPretty scary. Nice effects and editting.
6-24The HulkExcellent. Well put together movie. Good acting, good effects. Very slick.
6-20Hollywood HomicidePretty good movie, interesting locations, characters. Plot was a bit stretched, tho. Lots of action.
6-10The Italian JobGreat movie, lots of action, interesting plot, well acted, Pink Floyd background music!
5-23Matrix ReloadedGood special effects, great movie except for some lame music.
5-9X2Great movie, great special effects, lots of action, interesting characters, well acted.
4-4Lewis and Clark (IMAX) with Julie, Logan, ThorGreat movie. Good music, well editted.
3-7ChicagoGreat movie. Little slow in places, so can't give it my top rating.
2-14DaredevilGreat movie. Looks like movies are not only achieving comic-book quality, but now exceeding them.Great special effects!
2-7Gangs of New YorkGreat movie. Did a good job of capturing the history of the time (civil war).
1-31Lord of the Rings the 2 TowersBreakthrough special effects. Great New Zealand scenery. Well done.
1-3Catch Me if You CanInteresting plot, good acting, great movie
2002
12-13Star Trek: Nemesis with MaryhelenFair Star Trek movie. Darker sets made things more sinister. Next one will be The Search for Data, perhaps.
12-06Die Another DayJames Bond movies are improving. Good that he finally got caught and suffered 14 months as a POW for a change.
11-01Punchdrunk LoveOddball movie that works.
9-27Four Feathers met mom thereEpic adventure. Well done.
8-30GoldmemberAmusing
8-23Blue CrushRealistic surfing scenes
8-21My Big Fat Greek Wedding went with LinkroumsExcellent movie showing how difficult it is to break into closed cultures.
8-16XXXNice movie. Some stunts are ridiculous, but good 007 imitation.
8-09SignsNot bad cinematography, just a silly plot (extraterrestrials who can't get past a locked door, and such).
8-02Minority ReportInteresting idea of what future may be like. Good movie.
7-30Road to Perdition with Dick LinkroumGreat movie.
7-26Reign of FireNice special effects.
7-19Sum of All FearsNot bad.
7-12InsomniaGood suspense, nice scenery, and Robin Williams plays a bad guy
7-05Space Shuttle IMAX went with Dyer, Janis, JeannieSome cool images
6-21The Bourne IdentityGreat spy movie
6-16Bears went with went with mom, ThorNot bad.
6-10Spiderman went with mom, ThorReasonable conversion from comics to big screen
5-29Attack of the ClonesGreat movie.
2-15A Beautiful MindGreat movie.
2-08Royal TennenbaumsInteresting movie. Something different.
2001
DateMovieDescriptionRating
8-??MadeUnusual semi-gangster movie
8-??Enlightenment GuaranteedGerman. Camcorder quality. Wild circumstances. Not bad.
7-19Jurassic Park III went with ThorNice action movie
6-26The Road HomeChinese movie spanning a couple generations. Pretty good.
6-15MementoBizarre concept for a movie, interesting, but hard to follow
6-12ShrekNice special effects, pretty good.
6-08HimalayaTibetan film dealing with intergenerational conflict. Nice scenery.
6-01With a Friend Like HarryFrench. Interesting and bizarre murder movie with a twist.
5-??The Luzhin DefenceJohn Tuturo played an absent minded chess player. Unusual ending.
5-01BlowGreat movie, shows how unimportant money is.
??GreenfingersGreat little movie
??Crouching Tiger Hidden DragonChinese. Amazing effects.
1999
DateMovieDescriptionRating
6-18Star Wars Episode 1 went with DyerNice special effects.
1998
DateMovieDescriptionRating
6-06Bullworth went with KarynNot bad.
3-09Alaska in IMAX went with KarynHad a few good scenes.


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