Movie Reviews Part I

So I've done exactly as I planned for my weekeend away in Boston - I've seen a movie a day since Saturday. And I hope to continue my movie-a-day streak in the coming week as I'm off, yes off!, from work thank god.

Here are my reviews so far, following in my father-in-law's tradition of grading movies on an A-F scale:

1. Pursuit of Happyness -- B. Will Smith's performance was surprisingly good and the direction was impressive, but it's hard to give a movie this predictable a much higher grade.

2. The Good Shepherd -- B+. Even though it is close to three hours, it held my attention the entire time. I actually thought Matt Damon was miscast and Angelina Jolie was a waste. And even the other star roles -- a tiny one by Joe Pesci, a somewhat larger one by Robert DeNiro - were nothing special. So I guess it says something about the movie itself that I thoroughly enjoyed it despite most of the acting.

3. Dreamgirls -- B+/A-. As far as musicals go, this was pretty awesome. It had some flaws as a movie, but I was entertained and got goosebumps every time JHud opened her mouth to sing. Eddie Murphy was particularly good too.

What did others think of these movies? Next on my list for this week: Notes on a Scandal, Children of Men, Volver, Babel, and The Painted Veil. Grades to come.