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I am a big fan of film. I only rate films below that I've seen in the theater. In the Nashville area, the best way to find movie information over the internet is to use Citysearch. Filmography links courtesy of International Movie Database.

My rating scale is a follows:

A - Must see. See twice. See in a theater.
B - Should probably see in a theater. Maybe worth a second look on video.
C - Probably worth seeing sometime on video.
D - Well, maybe if you're in the mood. Don't pay full price at a theater, though.
F - Don't waste your time. I wasted mine, and that's enough for both of us.
I'll give an A+ to movies that I think are truly great films. Some of my biases are: I like Hong Kong films, even in their cheesiness. Somehow they're more honest than many Hollywood productions. I don't like movies where I can't figure out what's happening-- Koyaanisqatsi is a good example: Interesting for a few minutes, but...

Cars A Great animated story, if a little too Disney.
X-Men: The Last Stand B Another good comic book movie.
The Da Vinci Code C Wait for it on video. An ok adaptation until the end.
Ultraviolet F Boring fight scenes; lots of incoherence in the plot.
V for Vendetta B Cool visuals, nicely done atmosphere.
Underworld: Evolution C Worth a look. Werewolves vs. Vampires II.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire B A good adaptaption of the story.
Aeon Flux C Worth a look, good live version of the anime.
Pride and Prejudice F Dreadful. A gothic recasting of the book!
Serenity A Firefly lives! A fantastic transfer of the series to the big screen.
The Constant Gardener B Suspenseful and highly entertaining, the movie is a bit too distant to be engrossing.
The Island C Watchable modern re-telling of Logan's Run.
Batman Begins A Wow! It rocks!
Fantastic Four B Great rendition of the comic book.
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith A It's Star Wars. The third best Star Wars movie.
Constantine B A good adaptation; exciting.
Hitch D Not much to recommend it - a few laughs.
Million Dollar Baby B Fine performances, good story - very enjoyable.
Sideways B A good movie, not a great one, but interesting and worth seeing.
Assault on Precinct 13 C Not a bad action flick; worth checking out.
Elektra F A dismal movie, both boring and exasperating.
National Treasure B No surprises here, but the well-told adventure is worth watching.
The Incredibles A Pixar's best so far, it's really for the adults.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow B Didn't achieve all it went for, but interesting and worth seeing.
The Manchurian Candidate B For the most part predictable, gripping and well-paced.
Fahrenheit 9/11 A Propaganda, but well-done propaganda.
The Bourne Supremacy C An OK sequel; lots of action, confusing editing.
I, Robot C An entertaining action-flick, but it's not Asimov.
Before Sunset A A conversation movie; an enchanting sequel, though it stands on its own .
Spider-Man 2 A Very engaging action. In many ways superior to the first film.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban B Entertaining and good, but definitely an adaptation.
The Day After Tomorrow D Many incongruities. Forget everything you know about heat transfer.
Man on Fire C Some good things here, but cliche in many ways.
Van Helsing C OK. Dracula meets the Werewolf meets Frankenstein with Bond gadgets thrown in.
Super-Size Me B An interesting documentary, in the style of Michael Moore.
Hellboy B A pretty good comic-book adaptation.
Cold Mountain A Ignore the bad southern accents and you've got a great Civil War film.
Last Samurai C Shogun-lite.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King F Take away the special effects and, well, you have nothing.
Mona Lisa Smile D Total miscasting in Julia Roberts. The film can't decide what story its telling.
Paycheck B One of the better Philip Dick adaptations. Engaging if typical.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World A A rollicking naval saga. Extremely well-done and interesting.
Elf F This movie fails in about every way possible: not funny, not coherent.
Love Actually A One of the best Christmas movies to appear in a long time. A great braided narrative.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life B Quite satisfying as an action film.
Pirates of the Caribbean B Very entertaining and very Disney-ish.
Alex and Emma F Unfortunately, this movie is simply mediocre in all ways.
The League of Extraordinary Gentleman C Not boring, but badly lacking in disbelief suspension, continuity, and fight choreography.
Finding Nemo B Fantastic animation and graphics. While very funny in places, the story is so-so.
Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines D Formulaic, lacking the suspense of its predecessors. One long chase with lots of explosions interspersed.
White, and Blonde Legally Blonde 2: Red D Trite, pink, and cutesy. Agonizing in many places, funny in a few.
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle B So campy and flashy that it's fun to watch.
Whale Rider A A captivating movie with a sense of place reminiscent of The Secret of Roan Innish.
The Hulk C Watchable but uneven; the story needed editing.
The Italian Job C A predictable if enjoyable caper film.
Bend It Like Beckham B A feel-good movie - fun to watch.
The Matrix Reloaded C Yawn. Another triumph of style over substance.
X2: X-Men United A The bad guys are better in this great comic-book movie.
The Recruit D Full of plot holes, quite predictable.
Daredevil C Enjoyable, but nothing particularly great.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers F Very bad. I could elucidate, but why kick a dead horse?
Star Trek: Nemesis A Star Trek! Star Trek!
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets A A better Potter movie, with more character and plot .
Die Another Day B A pretty good Bond film.
Catch Me if You Can B An interesting and enjoyable tale, surprisingly well-acted.
The Santa Clause 2 C An OK sequel. Entertaining and watchable.
My Big, Fat Greek Wedding A Fresh and Funny.
The X-Men B Nicely done comic-book movie.
Attack of the Clones A It's Star Wars (a better Star Wars than Episode I).
Spider Man A Very much like a comic book, and very well done.
A Beautiful Mind B A very well-acted, well-directed, and entertaining story.
The Count of Monte Cristo C Incredible liberties with the story, but entertaining nonetheless.
The Lord of the Rings D An incoherent travesty of a Tolkien adaptation. Bakshi was better. A longer review is here.
Amelie B Funny, original, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Vanilla Sky D Hmmm. Good acting but an essentially pointless movie.
Monsters, Inc. B Great animation, pretty good story.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone B Remarkably true to the book. Maybe you won't read the book after seeing it.
The Musketeer F Bad in all respects, but especially bad fight choreography.
The Others D A yawn-inspiring, exploitive ghost story with many "ice-box" moments.
K-PAX B Unusual, entertaining, and well-done.
The Score B A bit slow, a bit predictable, but a well-acted and interesting story.
The Fast and the Furious C An enjoyable cheap thrill.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire B Entertaining. A welcome release from the usual Disney cliche.
Shrek C Great animation, but only moderately engaging.
Planet of the Apes F What a horrible movie. See the original.
Jurassic Park III D A tired, cliched plot with nothing extra in terms of special effects.
Final Fantasy C Great graphics, so-so animation, no plot.
Legally Blonde D Totally cliche, mildly amusing in spots, but mostly boring.
Down From the Mountain A A look behind the scenes at the bluegrass music in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider B A surprisingly good adaptation of the video game.
Swordfish B Entertaining with a couple of good plot twists.
The Mummy Returns C Not as good as the first: silly, visually uninteresting, mildly entertaining.
Gladiator B Not deep, but highly entertaining with good special effects.
Battlefield Earth F Probably the worst movie I've ever sat through.
Rules of Engagement D Mostly unconvincing and unappealing.
Erin Brockovich C More Julia Roberts.
Mission to Mars C Incrediby corny, in several places quite bad, yet it manages to be entertaing.
The Cider House Rules A A well-told tale; altogether enjoyable.
The Hurricane C Too long and not edited well, but a great performance by Denzel Washington.
Any Given Sunday B Interesting; one of Oliver Stone's best movies.
Galaxy Quest A A hilarious spoof of TV science fiction and its fan culture.
Man on the Moon D Dissapointing. More wierd than funny.
The Green Mile B The time flies in this long but well-told story.
Bicentennial Man D Maybe it will appeal to adolescents, but I found it superficial.
End of Days C Reasonably entertaining, lots of gore, typical Schwarzenegger.
Anywhere But Here B Low on plot, high on acting, enjoyable.
Sleepy Hollow C Entertaining with good special effects, but predictable.
The Best Man C A funny derivative of The Big Chill .
Dogma D Long on the sermon, short on the humor, Mallrats was funnier.
The World is Not Enough B A more intriguing Bond movie than many, but a bit low on action.
Random Hearts D Implausible, cold, and unappealing.
Fight Club C Surprising, a bit long, pointless, with some great one-liners.
Happy, Texas B A funny movie that exploits the talents of the actors, especially Steve Zahn , very well.
Three Kings C An entertaining western disguised as an Iraqi war movie.
American Beauty A An extremely good film with excellent acting about a dysfunctional family coping with mid-life crisis.
Double Jeopardy C Mildy entertainting, the plot is predictable and the acting seems a bit tired.
The Sixth Sense B A cool drama, one of Bruce Willis ' better roles.
The Thomas Crown Affair D This movie is cold, and pretty boring, although it does have a few moments. Not enough though.
Blue Streak D A comedy-caper movie, it's not very good.
Deep Blue Sea F Could this movie have been any more stupid? I don't think so.
The Blair Witch Project C A great idea, but as a movie it kind of failed.
American Pie D A very juvenile drive-in movie (that's where I saw it).
Tea with Mussolini B An interesting movie taking place around WWII, with a great cast and very good role for Cher .
EdTV B Entertaining. Similar to The Truman Show, but better.
Shakespeare in Love A Witty and entertaining, Tom Stoppard is in top form.
Dancing at Lughnasa D I expected a lot from such a good cast, but this moving is pretty boring.
Patch Adams C Robin Williams in another dramatic role.
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me C Funnier, though more tasteless, than Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery .
A Civil Action D A boring court-room drama about evil polluters. Robert Duvall does a great job.
At First Sight D A love story, involving a blind man, yawn.
The Phantom Menace A It's Star Wars.
Elizabeth A An enthralling historical drama similar to Queen Margot .
Waking Ned Devine B A very funny comedy about winning (or trying to win) the lottery.
You've Got Mail B So it's another Meg Ryan love story, it's still really well done.
Stepmom C A typical tear-jerker, only Jena Malone breathes some life to this movie.
Star Trek: Insurrection A It's Star Trek, you can't expect me to be objective, can you?
The Siege D An utterly forgettable movie.
Practical Magic B An entertaining magic and love story. The book is better.
Pleasantville B A very well-made and well thought-out film, almost an A, that has a lot of interesting detail.
A Bug's Life C Gorgeous animation, tired story.
The Prince of Egypt D The story of Moses for Saturday morning cartoons.
Meet Joe Black C A good job by Claire Forlani , with beautiful photography, it's still a bit long.
Enemy of the State C Conspiracy-theorist as hero, it's cliche but fairly enteraining.
Antz D Extremely tedious for the few cool bits of animation.
Next Stop, Wonderland A A very well-made movie (except for the camera work). It does everything well.
Pecker F Could this movie be any more cliche? I don't think so. Nothing works.
Ronin C Great car chases; in the style of French Connection and Three Days of the Condor.
One True Thing B Incredibly well-acted, this movie avoids a lot of cliches, and is better than the book.
Rush Hour B A "finesse" Jackie Chan movie; Chris Tucker is funny too.
Rounders C This movie is entertaining, and good because of the Poker, but it never quite works.
The Parent Trap C Pretty good once it gets over being cutsie.
Snake Eyes C It's very watchable, although pretty predictable.
There's Something About Mary A Absolutely hysterical. The funniest movie since Chasing Amy .
Six Days, Seven Nights C A cliche story with good performances by Harrison Ford and Ann Heche.
Saving Private Ryan B Good acting, lots of violence, predictable plot.
The Opposite of Sex C A good but very off-beat comedy
The Negotiator C Good acting, but way too predictable.
The Mask of Zorro C Enjoyable, but it never really clicks.
Lethal Weapon 4 B Better than 2 and 3
Hope Floats C Sandra Bullock does an ok job in this very predictable but watchable movie.
Ever After C Chick-flick!
Blade C This is actually entertaining in a C-movie kind of way.
The Avengers D Only go to see Uma Thurman in a skin-tight rubber outfit.
54 B Entertaining, but not as good as The Last Days of Disco .
Armageddon D Lots of explosions. Otherwise it's inconsistent, incoherent, and hokey.
Out of Sight A It's witty, well-made, and entertaining. George Clooney's best film.
The X files B A two hour TV episode.
Mulan A A good Disney film, well-animated. I liked it better than The Lion King.
Dirty Work F An idiotic, poorly acted, tasteless and incredibly unfunny movie.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas D It's really boring unless you enjoy two actors acting stoned all the time.
The Truman Show C An entertaining film, but Jim Carrey doesn't quite pull a dramatic role off.
The Last Days of Disco B A great soundtrack only adds to this well-acted, wonderfully scripted film.
The Horse Whisperer B Overly-sentimental and predictable, this movie is still entertaining with beautiful cinematography.
Godzilla C A big lizard trashes Manhattan; you have to love it.
Deep Impact B Everyone does a creditable job in this entertaining but no surprises comet movie
The Spanish Prisoner C David Mamet's intellectual thriller is too predictable to be too thrilling.
The Gingerbread Man C It tries to be suspenseful; it ends up predictable.
Species II F You might imagine this is a terrible movie, and you'd be right.
The Chinese Box B An interesting film about a reporter's last days in British Hong Kong.
Sliding Doors A A very well-made and entertaining film about fate and parallel lives.
The Big Hit B A tongue-in-cheek action comedy in the Hong Kong style (without the fight choreagraphy).
Irma Vep A A delightful French satire.
The Object of My Affection C Entertaining fluff, with an ending that's a square peg fit into a round hole.
Ulee's Gold A Victor Nunez does another fabulous job.
Sling Blade A A carefully developed, enthralling story with great acting.
Wild Things B A nice twist on Body Heat.
Mercury Rising C A typical Bruce Willis film.
Lost in Space C An ok homage to the series, but substandard special effects
Primary Colors B Very entertaining, but too much of it we see coming. Travolta and Thompson are at the top of a wonderful cast.
The Wedding Singer B A nostalgic and funny romantic comedy, looking back at the 80's.
Dangerous Beauty B An entertaining film, but a bit too melodramatic in its closing moments.
The Big Lebowski C Pretty funny; it's not Fargo though.
U.S. Marshals D Predictable and trite. No surprises.
Sphere F Predictable. Mostly boring. Dumb ending.
Dark City C This style-over-substance film starts out well, but falters along the way.
The Apostle D Excruciating.
Replacement Killers C A John Woo tribute film.
Wag the Dog B A humorous political satire.
Good Will Hunting D Dissapointing. Tries to do lots, doesn't do anything well.
As Good As it Gets B Ejoyable for the acting of both Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt .
Wings of the Dove C I didn't think much of this movie that was carried by Alison Elliot.
Titanic A Wonderful. Moves quickly. The ship sinks in the end.
Tomorrow Never Dies A A breakthrough Bond movie.
L.A. Confidential B A very good Chinatown-ish movie.
Men in Black A Hilarious, inventive spoof.
Starship Troopers A A wonderful, over-the-top satire/parody with amazing special effects.
In & Out D Jeffrey was much better. This was tired.
Grosse Point Blank A Wonderfully funny black comedy.
The Full Monty B I thought this was pretty funny, but a friend hated it.
Air Force One B Non-stop action and suspense.
Mrs. Brown B A gorgeous period piece.
My Best Friend's Wedding C This movie is carried by Rupert Everett and Cameron Diaz .
Face/Off A Wow! John Woo all the way. Constant Action.
The Fifth Element B Luc Besson 's weakest film is highly entertaining.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park F The special effects don't save this one.
Donnie Brasco C A gangster film. With Al Pacino. Unremarkable otherwise.
When We Were Kings A A great documentary.
Event Horizon F Why did I sit through this?
Mimic F I tried to leave, but the person I saw it with was training for a marathon and learning pain endurance.
Spawn F This was so laughably bad I had to stay until the end.
Maia Lin: A Strong Clear Vision A+ The best documentary I've ever seen.
Mortal Kombat II: Annihilation F Why did I go to this?
Chasing Amy A Kevin Smith's best movie is hilariously funny.
Mallrats D Kevin Smith didn't do so well here.
Clerks B Hilariously funny, very raunchy humor.
Ruby in Paradise A A great coming of age story.
A Man For All Seasons A+ One of the best movies ever.
Tequila Sunrise A This is a great story. With Michelle Pfeiffer .

Home Research Publications Teaching Vita Students Personal


Bobby Bodenheimer
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