Since I am always yacking on about the huge number of movies I know and love, I'm going to start splitting out my reviews of said movies from the theatres. Rating system is 0-10, with 10 being the best movie ever. So let's get caught up for this year, shall we?

Sherlock Holmes - 8.5
Sherlock Holmes was a downright impressive movie. It possessed nearly all of the spirit of the characters from the literary works while adding an action feel to them. The sets and old-time London cg was fairly seamless. The score was a unique and beautifully fitting journey which I had to acquire for myself afterwards. There has been a recent trend in Hollywood of making movies in pairs. The first is the pseudo-prequel, which sets up backstory and characters while setting up even more for a massive extravaganza in the second film. While this recipe is successful for certain franchises, I foresee it quickly being abused by the industry to our detriment. I therefore dub this technique "The Double-Tap" (we love you, Zombieland). The excessive blue-tint tinge to make the scene feel gritty and 19th century will probably be easily ignored, but I do think they need new techniques besides a color wash of the entire scene besides the actors. But regardless, this movie is just FUN.

Legion - 3
Oh Paul, you were doing so well. We didn't know who you were in A Beautiful Mind, but you impressed us. We loved you in Master and Commander. We didn't blame you for the horrible scriptwriting of Firewall. And now...this. You're better than this, you know that right? Ah well, everyone gets one mistake, and you've had yours now. Moving on...

Legion was an exercise in 'meh.' The entire movie is about the entire angelic host of heaven descending to Earth because God is pissed at us again for being retarded. They all come down to slaughter the world..all except Michael. The General of Generals, played by Paul Bettany, descends and cuts his wings off and attempts to protect a pregnant woman because her child is innocent and could prove to God how not-evil we all are. The Prophecy, we empathize, really we do. It's not our fault they stole your idea. Anyways, the acting is mediocre, the set is so limited it may have cost a total of $200, the plot is weak, the script is boring, and the action utterly predictable. But Paul was as good as he could be. I will probably end up purchasing this one on DVD just to satisfy my masochistic side, but I would wait on this one, if I were you...

Daybreakers - 6.5
Sam Neill jumps into the frame again, in a severely downplayed movie with Ethan Hawke. The world has become majority populated by vampires, and humans are farmed for blood. But the supply is running out, and everyone is immortal, jaded, and pretty pissed off about the shortage. Oh yeah, and if you are a vampire drinking vampire blood, you become a bat monster. This movie was an interesting blend of sci-fi, horror, action, thriller, and drama. I was impressed with the overall meshing of all of these elements. The blood and guts factor was a bit over the top (especially in the climax), and Ethan played his normal brooding wuss-turned-hero which has always made us smile and frown at the same time. Sam Neill was stunning and really really evil, while somehow still remaining Corporate. If you can get over the violence I highly recommend this one, if only for the really cool incorporation of vampires travelling in daylight technology they conceived of for the movie.

Alice in Wonderland - 7.5
I wasn't sure what to expect of this movie walking in, but that turned out to be a good thing. The inseparable foursome of Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, and Danny Elfman has returned, or as I shall now call them: BCDE. While the approach of BCDE is always the same, they did not try to emulate the original book or the animated Disney film. Instead they took an approach which was like a bizarre mesh of Disney's animated with American McGee's Alice. The costumes were fantastic, and everything was so thoroughly CG'ed and/or bizarrely costumed and painted that the visuals flowed better than you might expect. The music was mediocre for Elfman's typical fare, the acting was the same old stuff we're used too (good, but we've seen it before), but the plot was surprisingly entertaining. I recommend this one for everybody.

The Book of Eli - 9
You walk into this movie knowing it is post-apocalyptic, and that a book figures in somehow. But you have no idea about anything else, and so I shall strive to keep it that way for you. It must be said that during this movie, I had to urinate to the point of extreme pain and discomfort, caused by the fact the film was so good that I refused to leave my seat for fear of missing something. Yes folks, it's so good you might willingly piss yourself for the sheer pleasure of viewing the movie. The cinematography is impressive, and the direction in this movie is outstanding. The plot will throw you for a 180 at the end in a delightfully surprising way that specializes in blindsiding you. The picture of a post-nuke america 30 years after makes the Deathlands novels look light and fluffy in many cases, and the violence can be a bit sharp. But even if the violence is not your thing, you should watch it anyways and shut your eyes during the parts that make you grit your teeth, because this movie is an experience, and it leaves you feeling full and utterly entertained. Which is what we really yearn for in a movie, right?

The Wolfman - 4
We all know and love Anthony Hopkins. His talents are undisputed, and he will not disappoint in this remake of the original 70 minute 1941 feature. Sadly, the extra 32 minutes added by the new movie adds negative quality to it. Benicio del Toro, possibly one of the ugliest men to ever be on the silver screen, acts quite well, but the script cannot use him to his real potential, instead relishing in long pauses and cheap startle/scare tactics. Listening to Hopkins' golden tones as he cunningly drives his wayward heir into the depths of lycanthropy is the most rewarding part of the entire movie. The cinematography and costuming is exquisite though, and must be mentioned. Overall, this movie should be viewed once, then shelved like its 69 year old predecessor was.