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District 9
8/10
I loved the pseudo-documentary feel of the opening. The aliens managed to look realistic and fake at the same time, though, and I would've preferred a less bittersweet ending. Overall, it was an enjoyable film with a believable (for the most part) premise, almost like aliens meets Apartheid. Best part was when he got into the alien mech. Loved it when the general got his.
A Christmas Story
9/10
I've wanted to see this one for a while, based on its "holiday classic" status. I think it deserves it. We've all been there; what (Christmas-celebrating) kid didn't have that one toy they wanted so bad and as adults, treasured the memory of when they finally got it? The subplot with the lamp was well-executed and didn't get in the way too much.
Pan's Labrynith
8/10
I usually don't like watching movies with subtitles because it makes them hard to follow, but I had no trouble with this one. I enjoyed how well the film balanced wonderous fantasy with bleak reality. A lot of people have said the Pale Man sequence is really scary, but I didn't think it was too bad.
Falling Down
7/10
Joel Schumacher probably deserves more credit than he's gotten after ruining Batman movies until Christopher Nolan came along, but still...here, he takes an idea that could be anything from hilarious to terrifying and turns it into an arthouse movie for dummies. All the plot points and the visual connotations associated with them are completely obvious. Like Phonebooth, another Schumacher-led good idea turned meh, the depressing (yet inevitable) conclusion brings it down.
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