W. (Stone, 2008) 
A surprisingly sympathetic take on our 43rd president, given Oliver Stone's previous exploits. The film plods along competently enough, with the first truly sincere portrayal of the junior Bush (Josh Brolin). The film does, however, take a definitive stance on the behavior of Bush's administration -- or rather, its motivations. The surrounding characters are mostly interesting, with standouts from Toby Jones (Karl Rove) and Richard Dreyfuss (Dick Cheney). Thandie Newton's Condi Rice, it should be noted, is so bad that it's a wonder anyone took it seriously on set.
The X-Files: Fight the Future (Bowman, 1998) 
Enjoyable TV-to-film transition with a sufficiently weird, unfolding mystery that steps up the scope set by the acclaimed series. The film tends to grind to an idle in places, but for the most part keeps up at a brisk and engaging pace with twists, turns, and tussles with men in... hazard suits? I have my doubts about how Mulder makes it to Antarctica so quickly with little or no friends in the FBI to help him, but with a show like
The X-Files, who's to argue plausibility? Still, a fun watch for the paranormally-entertained.
The New World (Malick, 2005) 
I've argued extensively with a friend over this film. He doesn't find much of a narrative in its beautiful picture-to-beautiful picture format, but I beg to differ. I find a wonderfully subtle, adventurous tale that romanticizes history probably more than it would like to admit. Malick's perennial theme of humanity's undulating relationship with nature is in full effect here, operating somewhat on the unsteady acquaintance between Native Americans and the first Europeans who arrived on their doorstep.
I've docked it one bucket because, where a fiction film like
The Thin Red Line can survive (and even thrive) on the ghost-like narration of its characters,
The New World stands on the shoulders of 300-year old historical figures, and therefore begs for a little more substance. In other words, it's not enough to hear their musings and relate... some of them are too far removed to bridge the gap with a modern crowd as well as Malick seems to have intended.
Badlands (Malick, 1973) 
Wow. I'm not sure if this is an intentional or accidental comedy, but I'm inclined to think it doesn't matter. I had a ball with this, and really identify with Malick even more as a filmmaker. You can see his artful approach seeping through, as its gotten thicker over the years. But the youthful commentary here coupled with the dastardly nature of the events is really effective. Something should definitely be said of Martin Sheen's command of this film, and in particular, his unfailing ability to state the obvious.
"You threw my hat out the window." Glorious.
Flight of the Phoenix (Moore, 2004) 
I've never seen the original, but this remake seems competent enough for a rainy day. It's an old-fashioned "we're stranded!" adventure with a variety of constrained personalities clashing from the prospect of slow death and desperation. This doesn't have the drama you'd expect from the Donner party, unfortunately, but I wouldn't say this is time wasted when you've got time to waste. Of course, watching this had me wondering if plane crash films are ever shown on airline flights. That's some bad karma.
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