All told - a good movie week---

FIRST WATCHES:

Die Another Day (2002) Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike.  Swore after I saw Dr. No at the drive-in back when it came out, that I would never watch another Bond film.  Silliness abounds.  This one is no different, but was interested to see Stephens as a villain. The sword fight is the only interesting thing about this mess.  Brosnan looks uninterested in the whole thing.  The gals are both gorgeous, and so is Toby.  Story is ridiculous.  6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246460/combined  

Fever Pitch (2005) Drew Barrymoore, Jimmy Fallon.  Obsession with the Boston Red Sox almost kills romance between teacher(Fallon) and workaholic(Barrymore).  Cute film based around the miracle year the Red Sox came from waaaay behind and won it all.  7/10 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332047/combined

We Own The Night (2007) One brother is a night club owner/manager.  The other is a cop as is the father.  The bad guys are the Russian Mafia that has taken over the clubs and drug trade.  After good cop brother gets gunned down, other brother decides to help get the guys who did it, ending up becoming a cop himself.  Pretty good drama.  7/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498399/combined

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) Mathew McConaughey, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Phillippe, William H. Macy, Laurence Mason.[/b]  Really interesting story of a defense lawyer, who spends a lot of time being driven around in his Lincoln by Mason.  His latest client has been accused of killing a woman after raping her.  A web of threads connecting previous clients with this case, and the danger our lawyer finds himself in, makes a riveting last hour.  Interaction between lawyer and his driver is one of best parts of film.  8/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1189340/combined

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Jessica Chastain.  The story of the 10 year pursuit of Osama Ben Laden and the woman who was obsessed with finding and bringing him down.  Naval special warfare development group (DEVGRU), or SEAL Team 6, and the operation to go in and get him is the most emotional part of the film.  The matter-of-fact way the men get ready and load up and go in and find and kill the terrorist, made me sob.  Can't help it - they were so young and so well trained.  No heroics - just another job to do.  Bigelow, the director, has done another marvelous job showing our men in action. We may not agree with the politics, but the guys doing the job are great.  Me?  I'm glad they got the SOB.  The torture scenes are made to seem like just another day at the office.  Which is probably about what it is like after the decision was made to do it.  Age-old question - does the end justify the means?   8/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/combined

ENCORES:

The Secret Garden (1949) Margaret O'Brien, Dean Stockwell, Herbert Marshall.  Great film of the childrens book.  9/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041855/combined

Bullitt (1968) Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Don Gorden.  The car chase.  Period!  Oh! And San Francisco.  8/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062765/combined

Foul Play (1978) Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Merideth, Dudley Moore.  Screw-ball comedy Goldie style.  Moore's scene in his lair is still hilarious.  8/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077578/combined

Excalibur (1981) Nicol Williamson, Nigel Terry, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi.  King Arthur and his knights.  Beautiful cinematography and score.  8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082348/combined

Good Will Hunting (1997)  Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgard, Minney Driver. Boston, Harvard and a near genius blue collar guy and his problems.  7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/combined

Transsiberian (2008) Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson, Ben Kingsley.  Trouble on a Russian train.  American couple go from China to Moscow on a harrowing journey.  8/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800241/combined

The Social Network (2010)  The story of Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook.  What a dog he was and is he still this unfeeling?  Well done film but subject is a complete monster.  7/10  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/combined