Super High Me

Decent comedy/documentary by a stand-up comic who loves to smoke weed. He spoofs Super Size Me by first abstaining from pot for 30 days, then smoking constantly for the next 30. He does some perfunctory things to test the difference, like taking the SAT during both periods, getting regular medical tests, testing psychic ability, determining sperm count, etc. The pic is a bit disjointed (haha, unintentional pun), not quite a marijuana advocacy movie, but certainly not objective either. It was based on a joke Benson made about "how cool would it be to make a film like that McDonald's guy did but with weed...", and then that's what he did.

There was a bit of a look into the lives and neuroses of stand-up comics. Overall they do seem like a pretty miserable bunch. There was also very interesting info on the number of dispensaries that have popped up in California since 2005, and the whole State vs. Federal law struggle as the DEA constantly swoops in to bust these places despite their legal right to do business.

Resolved

Documentary about high school debating that really gets into the borderline absurd way the "art" has developed in the United States. This style of "debating" doesn't resemble anything close to what a lay person would envision it as. It is speed reading at its best, and while those who advocate for it as the ultimate in intellectual warfare, it seemed so absolutely insane to me that I thought the first five minutes of the film, where you get to see some of the best high schoolers in action, was a joke. The story was put together extremely well, and is riveting as it follows two principal groups of debaters through two years of travel and tournaments, anxiety and drama. Highly recommended.

Jumper

Highly disappointing because the concept is very cool, and the possibilities that go along with teleportation are very intriguing. That said, this movie was flawed on so many levels. First of all, why is every big blockbuster these days only about 90 minutes long? Am I alone in thinking movies should be 2 hours? Secondly, Jumper glossed over a lot of back story and left me confused about the main characters powers. What were the limitations? For example, could he have donned a space suit and gone to the moon or something? Anyway...I felt like I was re-watching some of the crappiest scenes from the updated Star Wars trilogy, with Christensen and Sam Jackson, plus Rachel Bilson is a Natalie Portman lookalike. I liked that the beginning of the movie was set in Ann Arbor, but it really could have been any nondescript town. The plot seemed thin, and the movie felt like a setup for sequels...which I hate. Any decent movie in whatever genre should be able to stand alone as a work, and not rely on what may or may not come in the future. For all its big budget special effects and glamor, Jumper was forgettable at best...

Shortbus

Weird, arty film. A little too much male frontal for me, and kind of a draggy, unstable plot. Didn't make a hell of a lot of sense, but then again I don't suppose it was meant to. I fell asleep half a dozen times watching it, and for good reason. Oh yeah, it was a Canadian film...set in NYC. Probably filmed in Toronto. Gotta love it.

Georgia Rule

For all the big names that were in this movie, including director Garry Marshall, the story was pretty piss-poor. And we don't even get the convenient "moral wrap-up" at the ending. Lindsay Lohan is a horrible actress, but I suppose she was sort of in her element playing a slutty teenager. I felt bad for Jane Fonda...when she finally decides to unretire and make another film, she is handed this pile of shit. The only thing memorable about this was that it was set in Idaho. Not too many films can say that... maybe Napoleon Dynamite.

Bottom line: barely watchable, even on cable.

Semi-Pro

Not as bad as everyone said it was. Low expectations, and sometimes you get a surprise...

Varsity Blues

Oh, Dawson, where for art thou, Dawson? This flick may have be the pinnacle of James Van Der Beek's film career, and a good one it was. Saw this on TNT...even though I'm not a big repeat film watcher, I've probably seen it at least three times. It's kind of fun to watch movies again a decade later to see which actors are still around and which have faded into obscurity. Varsity Blues is full of both. Feels like an episode of Friday Night Lights without all the melancholy music and dramatic pauses.