Because I Said So  was cute, but I don't think there's much else to really say about it. For the most part, the movie was very typical and somewhat predictable. I will say the movie was funny, so if you have the opportunity to watch it and you typically like movies like this, give it a shot -- I don't think you'll be disappointed.

When Crush  first started, I have to admit that I was worried this was going to be a horribly slow and ultimately bad movie. Luckily, I was proven wrong -- and quite to my surprise, I might add. I'm about to ruin the the movie, so if you haven't seen it, skip to the 2nd paragraph. I know some people are going to disagree with me here, but I think the movie would've been slightly "better" if it would've ended directly after the scene where Jed was hit by the truck. Everything after that part was just useless filler. This ending would've made the movie very tragic and would've left a more significant impression on the audience. As is, the current ending tries to make the audience feel better about Kate and her coping with her loss. Think about City of Angels . Everyone I know who's seen this movie has a love-hate response -- they loved the movie, but hated the ending. I think Crush could've had the same effect. There aren't too many movies which strike at you like that and I think it's a very strong emotion to pull on.

I'm curious what others think about the movie and my suggested ending. I mentioned it to my girlfriend and she had thoughts of City of Angels, which definitely struck a chord with her. I think many would get this same reaction. Let's face it, most people remember City of Angels for its strong ending. It's a bold move, but one that can be very successful, if done right.

I loved The Illusionist . Honestly, I wanted to see it in the theaters, but I'm not really sure why I never did. I also wanted to see The Prestige , which came out in the same time frame. I'm not sure which one did better in the theater, but if I had to guess, I'd say Illusionist overshadowed Prestige. This has happened before, which can suck because good movies don't seem to get the chance they deserve. One example is The Thirteenth Floor , which came out at the same time as Matrix . If you haven't seen that one, check it out.

Anyway, back to Illusionist. This is a definite must-see movie. If you like suspenseful movies, this is a great one. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Dying Gaul  was about a man who writes a script about a gay couple and ends up getting offered a movie deal. Unfortunately, they don't want to create a movie about a gay couple. Instead, they want it to be rewritten with a straight couple. Of course, the writer feels like this would be against his beliefs and doesn't want to. Everyone has their price, tho, don't they? What ensued was mildly predictable. I didn't really expect the movie to end as it did, but I don't know that I really had any thoughts about how it would end.

One remark I have to make is that the Peter Sarsgaard , the man who played the writer, sounds remarkably like John Malkovich . Maybe it's just me, tho. After thinking about it, Malkovich is kind of a big name -- or, at least that's the impression I have. I'm not sure why, tho. I first saw him in Being John Malkovich , which was a pretty good movie, from what I remember. All-in-all, tho, I haven't really seen too many movies with him. Then again, I did just see Ripley's Game  a few weeks back.

When I got The Shipping News , I wasn't really sure why. My Netflix  queue is pretty long and it's been that way since I started it years ago. Sometimes movies bubble up to the top without me realizing it and I end up with some real winners... ok, that was intended to be sarcasm. Luckily, this one was pretty good. If my powers of deduction are working today, I got this movie because of Jason Behr , which is perhaps the unlikeliest of actors after taking into consideration the fact that Kevin Spacey  and Julianne Moore  are the major headliners. Behr played in Roswell , which I really liked, so I had to find out if he was in anything else. He's made a fairly sizeable list of appearances, but most of those have been in minor roles -- as was his role in The Shipping News.

Anyway, the movie was good. One thing I thought was interesting is that Quoyle and Bunny both seemed to have visions, which were never explained. Perhaps the "bloodlines" concept set in during the move was the intended to be explanation enough. All-in-all, I was suprisingly pleased. Spacey proved his acting skills once again in his quirky character. I did notice his character's quirkiness being chipped away over time. I'm assuming this was due to the positive reinforcement he was getting, which was a first. He wasn't the brightest of folks, but ended up proving he had more strength than he himself thought.