Mostly I saw this film because I wanted to see Johnny Depp dressed in drag and parading himself among the denizens of a Cuban prison. However, it turned out to be quite good. I’ve never really felt much of a response to poetry, but Reynaldo Arenas has a way with words that an illiterate such as myself can appreciate.

Jackie’s definitely getting old and can’t kick ass quite like he used to, but the dramatically increased production budget, addition of a funny white-boy side-kick (Owen Wilson, still playing the same character he did in his first movie, Bottle Rocket), and the liberal inclusion of lesser-known Chinese actresses and actors that do kick some serious ass, make for as fine a movie-going experience as Mr. Chan has put forth to date.

Wong Kar Wai is the mack daddy! Oh wait, I think I said that the last time I reviewed one of his movies. He’s just the right combination of hopeless romantic, inimitable style and Amelie-style wackiness (more than a decade before Amelie, I might add). I want to see his movies again and again.

An above-average platformer which blatantly attempts to appeal to teenage boys, resulting in a character interaction and dialogue that can just barely be tolerated long enough to appreciate the interesting array of gadgets that are used to navigate the levels and bosses of the game. When I could manage to get the flashbacks of Jak and Daxter out of my head, I mostly enjoyed it.

Crazy Australians; putting a man on the moon; overcoming great odds to triumph in the name of science! Fine entertainment, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Sheer brilliance. If this book is for kids, then I don’t want to grow up. Dr. Seuss doesn’t hold a candle to Norton Juster, even with all his fancy pictures.

I admit to not having read any of Virgina Woolf’s works, Mrs. Dalloway included, but that probably worked to my advantage as I could take the filmmaker’s presentation at face value rather than pitting it against my own feelings and thoughts about the author and her works. Sure it’s probably not historically accurate, but what do I care? I’m having more fun experiencing the life of the author, some random woman, her son, and the woman he calls Mrs. Dalloway, wrapped up into some package of dramatic entertainment than I’m likely to ever get out an authentic biography. I can only hope that someone pays me the same compliment long after I’m dead.

I was convinced that this movie was going to suck, but it turned out to be a laugh. More Addams antics! I did have the good sense to turn off the DVD player immediately upon seeing the credits so as not to be thrown into another fit of involuntary muscle contractions by whatever coke-fueled abomination M.C. Hammer wrote for the sequel.

Having finally gotten to the point with Age of Empires: II that I could compete sufficiently well with my friends that I actually had fun, I was wary of the prospect of taking the pain all over again to learn a whole new set of tactics and counter-tactics. I can’t say that I got completely over the hump, but I think I got back to the point where I was actually having fun rather than being annoyed at the inhumanity of it all after spending multiple hours of uninterrupted concentration looking down the business end of a crushing army. None the less, I’m of the opinion that modern RTSs have become more of a lifestyle decision than a genre and one with a level of commitment that runs counter to my polygamorous inclinations.

I appreciate sci-fi that dares to explore ideas that aren’t pulled from so far off into the future as to border on fantasy. Down and Out covers a range of topics, some closer to home than others, but all nicely woven into the backdrop of an otherwise well-told tale of neurotic freakout and redemption. I admit to hoping that Doctorow would jump right in with the big boys, like Vernor Vinge and Greg Egan, but he deserves another decade and half a dozen more novels before he’s held up to such high standards.

Clearly this film’s reputation speaks for itself. Having finally gotten around to seeing it for myself, all I can say is, “Yeah, what they said.” Humphrey Bogart is the mack daddy.