Some recently watched product:
Shutter Island
Very well executed psychological thriller. In style, a throwback to Hitchcock kinda stuff, and very good for it.
The Men Who Stare at Goats
Meh. Clooney is almost always good to watch, but this movie doesn't hit the right note.
Up In The Air
Much better Clooney vehicle. An enjoyable comedy drama.
True Legend
A very familiar kind of Chinese action hero story, but with some really odd propaganda notions... there's some kind of "sick man of Asia but still kicking ass" foundation.
Pandorum
Dumb title, but very decent action/psycho-thriller sci-fi.
Mao's Last Dancer
Such an accurate throwback to 70's midday movies it's almost uncomfortable to watch. Depends how you felt about the 70's I guess.
Elmer Gantry
Always good.
JCVD
This is a very cool movie. The JCVD of the title is Jean Claude Van Damme and in this movie he plays "himself". It's not a documentary at all, though. The "himself" role is a heightened artistic conceit. However, the monologue to camera about 3/4 of the way through is exceptional viewing, not just because it's unusual but because it's himself. I suppose one could call this movie Portrait of JCVD as the Artist.
Kick-Ass
Now this movie is something new too. It combines several Hollywood movements--the gross out nerd comedy, the superhero story, and something not quite seen exactly before which I think I'll claim is an emerging anime influence. That third factor is actually more like a Kill Bill influence, but it's transgressive because it consciously aims at a lower age group. Mainstream murder porn for 12-year-olds! I didn't know this when I started watching. I thought I was in for a fairly standard teen drama acceptable to boomers. And so it is for the first fifteen minutes or so until Nick Cage shows up.
Too much free time.