My version of Noel just shipped. Wasn't this movie nominated for best foreign language film?

Yes it was.

To be fair, A Midnight Clear is one of my all-time faves, so the bar was set pretty high. Both films tell small stories within much greater wars, but somehow Midnight Clear felt more intimate and real.

Incidentally, I also viewed another Best Foreign Film nominee this week, Sophie Scholl, The Final Days, and also found it somewhat lacking, falling a little short of the power of the story it was trying to tell, plus hindered by some over-the-top acting by one of the film's minor characters.

The Conversation
Stars Gene Hackman, Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Nominated for Best Picture 1974

Coppola made this film in between Godfathers 1 & 2.

The Searchers HD DVD
Stars The Duke

Both, I think, qualify as 'An oldie, but a goodie!'

An Inconvenient Truth - Al Gore's environmental opus shows us some interesting, and frightening, evidence of global warming and the effects it's having on our planet, but frankly, the movie is dull. Gore has about as much charisma as a pencil eraser.

Don't be surprised if Gore wins an Oscar.

If anyone who has seen "The Departed" but not the source material get your hands on "Infernal Affairs" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/

In my opinion Infernal Affairs is the better of the two and some of the scenes from The Departed are carbon copies. Really makes me wonder why Scorsese is getting so much praise for it. Funny thing is my favorite scene from the original was cut from Scorseses version.

The Lake House: I would only give this one a 5 out of 10. The concept was dumb and not very well exploited.
I would always give Sandra Bullock a perfect 10 and she is the reason I even watched it.

Kandahar: Very interesting, informative and disturbing. 6 1/2 out of 10.
It seems like a documentary, and is the story of an Afgan woman who was raised in Canada and is now trying to get back the Kandahar to be with her sister who stayed there and is now in a bad way emotionally. The movie shows the woman's journey from Iran and the hardships and scares she gets along the way.
You sure wonder at how these people live their lives in these conditions, while we are watching films about them in the comfort of our Canadian homes with all our electronic gear.

OK, I'll be the dissenter here and say the despite all his antics I still enjoy
most of Tom Cruise's movies.
So I bought(yes, bought) MI:3 on DVD. Quite good, several good action scenes (especially the one on the bridge), but again being the odd man out in here - I actually prefer MI:2. That being said - it's definitely worth a look, definitely a rental, possibly a buy.

Also, because of how much my 6-year-old (OK, OK, me too) enjoyed Ice Age 1 - I also bought Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. Once again hilarity ensues
mainly thanks to John Leguizamo's amazing voice-over for Sid the Sloth.
Definitely worth a rental if you have young kids.

King Kong Extended DVD - Can't say much more about this movie. The extended/added scenes are flawless and don't distract from the movie at all. Audio was excellent, as was video.

I just delved into the HD DVD market by purchasing the XBOX 360 HD DVD drive this past Sunday. Having said that, here are the movies I have seen since then.

King Kong (Comes with the HD DVD Drive): This movie was a feast for the eyes and ears on DVD. On HD DVD, it's a whole new experience. The detail and clarity is out of this world. Very enjoyable to watch, especially the scene where Kong takes on the T-Rex. 8/10

Pitch Black(HD DVD): This movie was intended to be a horror flick and it does come across that way. Even though there wasn't big budget for it some of the computer generated graphics are nice to look at. 7/10

Chronicles of Riddick(HD DVD): This movie very well may be the reference DVD for HD DVD. The video is just about flawless, the sound is very enveloping and the action scenes are very well done. If you like a base thumping action movie then this is what you need to see. I'm a bit biased here becasue I am fan of the whole Riddick series. But just based on video/audio quality I'm giving it 9/10

Syriana (DVD): This movie must have hit a nerve somewhere, depicting the things the American Government would do to get their hands on any oil, anywhere. The movie focuses on different characters that are not related but they somehow all intertwine at some point. So, the movie jumps from one characters story to the next. It got a little confusing at times but it did get the message across in the end. It may require a couple of views to catch some of the minute points that may have been missed the first time around. 7.5/10

X-Men: The Last Stand - Great twists and turns, and leaving it open at the end was great. Audio was excellent (DTS-ES) and Picture was clear as can be.

Brothers of the Head - A stylish, imaginative, lurid, off-beat mockumentary that tells the brief, tragic story of Tom and Barry Howe, punk rockers in the mid-70's who also happen to be conjoined twins. Brilliant performances by the leads, Harry and Luke Treadaway, a rockin' soundtrack and a stunning, haunting last shot. The dvd also includes 14 deleted scenes.

CLERKS II - if you like potty humor, Smith hits another homerun. I can sum it up with two words: donkey show.

Troy - A bloated, overwrought, cliché-filled "epic" based only very loosely on "The Iliad".

Watched Lucky Number Sleven, and has knocked off Snatch, as my favorite movie of all time

Clerks 2, just liek Jem said, its potty mouth humour, but very very funny

History of Violence- Meh, it was decent

Quadrophenia - A "youth angst" film based on a concept album by The Who and set in 1960s England.

Although I hadn't seen this movie since the late 1980s, I found that it has held up quite well and was fun to watch, particularly since the music is, in my opinion, some of The Who's best.

(Note: The remastered anamorphic widescreen video on this recent (Aug./06) re-release looked great, but the Dolby ProLogic II surround audio track - DD5.1 not available - was a bit of a let-down.)

It was mostly documentaries for us this weekend, with An Inconvenient Truth and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices. Both disturbing, both recommended.

Also caught the Director's Cut of Blade Runner for the first time. Was Deckard a replicant? I'm inclined to say yes after seeing this cut of the film. But I missed having a decent sound mix, it's still in 2.0 (but looked great).

Clerks II? I loved the first one, and have always given Smith some slack. I was one of the few people who actually enjoyed Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. But I turned off Clerks II about halfway through; just wasn't getting it this time.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Captain Jack is looking for Davy Jones' heart, blahblahblah.

This movie has a bad case of "sequel-itis", which is to say "more is less": There was a tremendous amount of stuff going on, but none of it was any more interesting or clever than what was in the original. As a result, it was overly-long, overly-busy and a chore to watch.

I expect that the next sequel will be similarly afflicted.

Watch out Matey, the pirates are looting your wallet.;)

I thought there was something missing in Cpt Jack Sparrow's character , Not sure what it was but there was something in his character in the first movie that was not there in the second.... he seemed dry

Watch out Matey, the pirates are looting your wallet.;)Perhaps I should have clarified that the pirates will have to look elsewhere for their booty as I won't be renting the next sequel. :p