Doubt (2008)

Director: John Patrick Shanely (Joe vs. the Volcano is his only other movie)
Stars: Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Synedoche, NY, Patch Adams)
Meryl Streep (The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Devil Wears Prada)
YesNoSoso: 2

In this age of Megan Fox's, Channing Tatum's and the Twilight losers its refreshing to see a movie that can subside solely on the amazing performances of four actors. Hoffman and Streep are their usual amazing selves (Streep's Brooklyn accent was particularly believable)and Amy Adams is solid but the best, or at least most heralded performance, comes from Viola Davis. Shanely adapts his own play in his first foray into directing since Joe vs. the Volcano and it is thankfully a much more successful turn (well at least artistically).
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Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)

Director: Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas [which was quite good], nothing else really)
Stars: Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad [both of which were great])
Kat Dennings [The House Bunny, Big Momma's House 2 [both of which were terrible])
YesNoSoso: 0

Horrible, just horrible. The only saving grace was that the movie is essentially a Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle set during a night out in NYC. The visiting of so many familiar and famous NYC spots was pretty cool and Michael Cera gives a great performance, but its really hard to buy him as the object of someone's unbridled lust. All the other characters in the movie act completely illogically. The character that Kat Dennings plays is really embarrassed that her father is a very famous producer and yet completely without provocation brings her new love interest, Michael Cera, to her father's studio. Michael Cera's extremely shallow ex is a fellow classmate of Kat's character and is constantly ragging on her for the benefits she enjoys due to having a famous father, such as skipping every velvet roped off line. Wouldn't someone who can get you into any exclusive club in the city be someone a shallow person would make nice with? The movie is rife with actions by its characters that make little to no sense and there are really no other redeeming qualities. Plus Jay Baruchel is completely unbelievable as a tough guy.
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Ghost Town (2008)

Director: David Koepp (Stir of Echoes [which was mediocre], Secret Window)
Stars: Ricky Gervais (Stardust, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian)
Greg Kinnear (As Good as it Gets, You've Got Mail)
YesNoSoso: 0

It's not that I thought this movie was bad. Ricky Gervais is indisputably a comedic genius and it has a solid supporting cast, Tea Leoni, Aasif Mandi, and Kristin Wiig, but the movie just didn't really come together. I smirked at the scene with Wiig (cause she's incredible) and the enormous hospital lawyer explaining to Gervais's character that he died for a short period of time but there wasn't really a single moment that I laughed out loud. I debated giving this a YesNoSoso 1 because I was mildly amused during the 2 hours, but when I consider what I could've been watching I realized my, and your, time could be much better spent.
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Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Director: Kevin Smith (Dogma, Jersey Girl)
Stars: Seth Rogan (Superbad, You, Me and Dupree)
Elizabeth Banks (Wet, Hot American Summer, Meet Dave)
YesNoSoso: 2

This was the most commercially unsuccessful movie for both Kevin Smith and Seth Rogan and I think its among both of their bests (I think it is by far Seth Rogan's best movie). It's the second of Smith's movies to exist outside of the so-called View-Askewniverse and the realistic air of Zack and Miri is what I believe makes it so special. It has that same brand of Clerks style humor and dialog but in a much more believable setting. Kevin Smith's movies are generally very polarizing; people either love him or hate him. I enjoy them because they employ an intelligent dialogue about everyday topics and because Smith creates genuinely funny movies that have actual stories and character development. Zack and Miri Make a Porno represents a great step forward in Kevin Smiths development as a director (unlike Jersey Girl).
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Choke (2008)

Director: Clark Gregg (the only thing he's ever directed, although he's a recognizable character actor)
Stars: Sam Rockwell (Moon, G-Force)
Anjelica Huston (The Royal Tenenbaums, Addams Family Values)
YesNoSoso: 2

I'm a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan, and really wish more of his books would be adapted to movies because although this movie doesn't fully capture the tone of Chuck's book, it still makes a damn fine entertaining film. Sam Rockwell turns out amazing performance after amazing performance and Choke is no exception. Its not that he pulls off some mind-bendingly difficult role, but he does very subtly portray the traits of the character while still infusing a touch of his own style.
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Street Kings (2008)

Director: David Ayer (the only other thing he's directed is something called Harsh Times)
Stars: Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, The Lake House)
Forrest Whittaker (Blown Away, First Daughter)
YesNoSoso: 0

I never in a million years would've thought I'd hate a movie based on a James Ellroy book as much as I hated Street Kings. I guess Keanu Reeves can do that to a movie where's he's not there to act like a shocked idiot. There are things constantly happening in this movie and yet its still boring as sh!t. The entire premise is stupid as hell, Keanu plays a reformed dirty cop who witnesses the murder of another cop. We all know how it ends and who did it and yet we have to wait 2 f@cking hours for Theodore Logan to figure it out. Dear G-d skip this crap.
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Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

Director: Christine Jeffs (Sylvia [but I didn't see it], and I didn't see anything else she directed])
Stars: Amy Adams (Catch Me if You Can, Enchanted)
Emily Blunt (Charlie Wilson's War, The Devil Wears Prada)
YesNoSoso: 1

A solid movie, just not spectacular. Adams, Blunt, Alan Arkin and the always awesome Steve Zahn deliver good performances in a relatively fresh idea, its just that the implementation is a little stale and predictable. Worth a look, but not much more.
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Harold & Kumar Escape from Gauntanamo Bay (2008)

Director: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (directorial debut, they wrote this as well as the original)
Stars: John Cho (Better Luck Tomorrow, In Good Company)
Kal Penn (Van Wilder [a...decent movie], Son of the Mask)
YesNoSoso: 1

I really wrestled with this rating, cause I thought the movie was a huge disappointment, but then I wised up and realized I was just comparing it to the original, which I loved. I finally arrived at the fact that I enjoyed the 2 hours and was just being stubborn. Heck I could watch Rob Corddry make funny faces for 2 hours and be entertained. Overall though, this sequel is just too haphazard for my tastes. Nothing really makes sense and things are way too convenient, even for a absurd comedy such as this.
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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Director: David Fincher (Fight Club, Panic Room [which I actually liked])
Stars: Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds, Cool World)
Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There, nothing I've ever seen of hers has really been that bad)
YesNoSoso: 1

I didn't think this movie was bad and perhaps I'm just overreacting to all the positive hype that surrounded this movie, but I didn't think it was anything special. As the YesNoSoso mantra dictates for a 1, I enjoyed my 2 hours (or rather 2 hours and 46 minutes) but wouldn't go back for a second helping. Maybe the ridiculous length had something to do with it (I saw no reason for this movie to be so long), but I also just didn't find the premise to be all that interesting and didn't really identify with the titular character at all. I suppose it was just me, but I simply didn't think The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was all that great. As a fun side-game, look at Brad Pitt's IMDB page and see how far back you have to go before you find a truly bad movie. Some would argue that he doesn't even really have one, and has been in 62 movies plus 25 more in production. Hot damn he's awesome.
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Man on Wire (2008)

Director: James Marsh (The King [never saw it, heard it was good], nothing else I've ever heard of)
Stars: Phillipe Petit (the movie doesn't contain actors, its a documentary)
YesNoSoso: 2

An extrodinary documentary about Phillipe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in 1974. When I first heard of this documentary it was accompanied by lots of hype but I was skeptical. How could a movie about a high-wire act entertain me for two entire hours? But Man on Wire is stylized as more of a caper documentary than anything else. Highly entertaining and beautifully shot.
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Taken (2008)

Director: Pierre Morel (has only directed one other French movie that I've never heard of)
Stars: Liam Neeson (Batman Begins, Evolution)
Maggie Grace ("Lost", The Fog)
YesNoSoso: 2

Ok, so the internet doesn't love this movie (57% on Rotten Tomatoes, 50 on Metacritic) but I am not (that) ashamed to admit that I did. This should come as a surprise to those familiar with my movie tastes. I am usually pretty hard on action flicks because quite frankly they are ususally f-cking terrible. Too many action movies use camera tricks and special effects as a substitute for a plot or interesting characters. While Taken isn't heavy on either, it is solid. Nothing too flashy, just a good old fashion action flick.
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Valkyrie (2008)

Director: Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Superman Returns)
Stars: Tom Cruise (Minority Report, Cocktail)
Kenneth Branagh (Frankenstein, Wild Wild West)
YesNoSoso: 0

I'm sorry, I really tried to enjoy this movie. I know I always say I try and desire to go into every movie as fresh as possible but I really wanted the writer/director team behind The Usual Suspects to pull out a win and go on to make more movies of that caliber. Its not that this movie was atrociously bad, it just didn't hold me for any extended period of time. The very definition of bland. And watching Nazi's talk in British accents is inexplicably infuriating. I'm sure some of you will find it good enough for a watch, but I wanted my time back.
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Blindness (2008)

Director: Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener)
Stars: Julianne Moore (The Big Lebowski, Nine Months)
Mark Ruffulo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 13 Going on 30)
YesNoSoso: 1

I have never wrestled with a YesNoSoso rating more than I did with Blindness. To start with, everybody is well versed in my hard-on for awesome concepts and apocolyptic themes and Blindness has both in spades. In the movie, an unexplained mass epidemic of blindness ravages the world causing a total breakdown in society. Julianne Moore's character is the only person unaffected by the disease and the story follows her and her affected husband, Mark Ruffulo, as they navigate the dangers of a society in collapse. But there were times between the :30 to 1:00 hour mark, where I found the movie to really drag. There were also multiple moments that deeply disturbed me. All in all I'm happy I saw the movie and appreciate the aggressive artistic direction, but wouldn't watch it again.
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Generation Kill (2008)

Director: Susanna White/Simon Cellan Jones (Some TV shit I've never heard of)
Stars: Alexander Skarsgard (Zoolander, "True Blood" [I've never seen the show but I've heard good things)
James Ransone ("The Wire", "The Third Watch")
YesNoSoso: 2

I was hesitant to even put this on YesNoSoso, seeing as it was a mini-series on HBO, but it only had seven episodes and was awesome so I thought I'd spread the word. From the same writers as "The Wire", Generation Kill tells the story of the first Recon Marine Battalion in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like "The Wire" its full of pithy dialogue and vastly complex characters and it does an incredible job of parlaying the frenetic/mind-numbingly-boring duality of war.
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JCVD (2008)

Director: Mabrouk El Mechri (some French crap you've never heard of)
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme (Bloodsport, Double Team)
A bunch of French people you've never heard of
YesNoSoso: 0

The concept of this movie is one of the most original and incredible I've heard in a long time. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Jean-Claude Van Damme, aging and struggling to find work. Fighting to gain custody of his child, JCVD suddenly finds himself in the middle of a bank robbery. I know, it sounds awesome, its just not. The movie has some cool, JCVD-type action (a lot of badguys staying still while JCVD does some ridiculous moves) but it really drags. The knowledge of its existence provides more cinematic satisfaction than actually watching.
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Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Director: Charlie Kaufman (directorial debut, but one of the greatest writers ever)
Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman (25th Hour, Patch Adams)
Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, Out of Sight)
YesNoSoso: 2

I'm gonna give this one the literal YesNoSoso 2, meaning I want to watch it again, but not because it I was so enthralling. Don't get me wrong, I was thoroughly entertained by the typical Kaufman quirkiness but this one was even stranger than some of his previous works. All his movies have required AT LEAST a second viewing for me to fully appreciate them and I'm sure Synecdoche, New York is no different. As with all his movies, there is still an impressive amount of detail, with no lack of wit and PSH is amazing as always.
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The Reader (2008)

Director: Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours [didn't really like either one])
Stars: Kate Winslet (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Titanic)
Ralph Fiennes (In Bruges, Maid in Manhatten)
YesNoSoso: 1

The Reader was alright. Not that good, not particularly bad and Kate Winslet's performance was particularly underwhelming. When the Oscars were on I was enlightened, by my roommate, to the fact that the Oscars are like the Super Bowl for women. I didn't realize this and was rather disappointed in the viewing preferences of the opposite sex (but not very surprised). That was until the Best Actress category came up and my roommate (a relatively well-informed movie enthusiast) said, "God, I hope Kate Winslet wins." To which I replied "Have you even seen The Reader?" To which she stated she hadn't, causing irreparable and permanent strain on our relationship. Check it out I suppose, but prepared to be disappointed.
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Recount (2008)

Director: Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers in Goldmember)
Stars: Kevin Spacey (LA Confidential, Pay it Forward)
Laura Dern (Wild at Heart, Jurassic Park III)
YesNoSoso: 1

I almost gave this a YesNoSoso 2. I loved it but I realized that my biased love of well made political themed movies was clouding my judgment. Still it is a very well made movie, that is surprisingly entertaining considering you know the ending and its not pretty. There was a moment were I actually caught myself being hopeful that Gore would win. It also sports an amazing cast including Ed Begley Jr., John Hurt, Denis Leary and the entirley underrated, Tom Wilkinson and Bob Balaban.
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Let the Right One In (2008)

Director: Tomas Alfredson (Some Swedish shit I've never heard of)
Stars: Kare Hedebrant (Nothing else)
Lina Leandersson (Nothing else)
YesNoSoso: 1

I heard a lot of really good things about this Swedish vampire movie, but mostly it was a disappointment. Perhaps I built it up in my mind too much, but I just thought it didn't bring enough of a new spin to a very well traveled path. Don't get me wrong, it was a good movie, but its more of a tween love story than a vampire movie, and not a very entertaining one at that. Still as far as vampire/monster movies go, its certainly in the upper echelon and worth checking out.
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Role Models (2008)

Director: David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, "Stella"
Stars: Paul Rudd (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy, Clueless)
Seann William Scott (American Pie, American Wedding)
YesNoSoso: 2

Hilarious. A lot more true to reality than Wain's opus, Wet Hot American Summer, but with plenty of tongue-in-cheek references for the enthusiastic. For as many horrible movies as Seann William Scott has done I still like the guy (seriously click on his IMDB link above, its basically a list of what not to watch), and Paul Rudd is infallibly hilarious, definitely one of my favorite actors. McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and the Tracey Jordan Jr. (Bobb'e J Thompson) are the perfect complementary ensemble.
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