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Ten Inch Heroes can be best described as a  movie about some eccentric, but very entertaining people. The main character, Piper, moves to Santa Cruz and ends up taking a job at a sandwich shop in order to get by. There, Piper meets some very interesting employees, who she quickly builds a rapport and then becomes friends with. While the lives of all these characters unfold, Piper has a big secret she’s trying to hide from her friends/coworkers. In the end, this is a good movie about good people. While most of the characters are eccentric in one way or another, this eccentricity makes them seem very realistic and believable. The movie does not have a strong central plot that holds everything together, but that’s fine for this specific movie. While not a “must see”, this movie is certainly a “should see.”

After reviewing the Da Vinci Code, I had to go and watch Angels & Demons as well, and I’m glad I did. Having the same main character (Robert Langdon), but a different plot, Angels & Demons turned out to have even more action and suspense than The Da Vinci Code. Along with the action, there is also many of the same controversies that surrounded the first movie. I considered the plot to Angels & Demons superior to the one for The Da Vinci Code. Angels & Demons was far easier to follow along with, but the plot was intricate enough for the entire thing to still be intriguing. Interesting, yet not completely over the top, this movie leaves me anticipating more adventures from Robert Langdon.

A Beautiful Mind continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time. Based partly on the real life of John Nash, A Beautiful Mind chronicles the life of a genius who begins to have trouble telling the difference between imagination and reality. It is hard to categorize the movie, as it is not exactly like any of the other movies I’ve reviewed. It is rare for a movie without a lot of action to be as captivating as A Beautiful Mind is. This movie is the perfect example of the fine line between genius and insanity, and how it may be crossed sometimes without realizing it. The ending is also very touching, and connects the movie together in a way that I did not expect. This is a must see movie for all.

Based on a book that’s as popular as it is controversial, it’s easy to see that the movie would get the same reactions. Having not read the book, this was my first time getting to know what all the fuss was about, and I can see how religious groups might take offense to come of the implications in this movie. Having said that, it’s the controversial aspects of the movie that make it the most interesting. It seems like it would be very hard to create something interesting focused on religion without having it be controversial, and I’m glad Dan Brown didn’t shy away from the controversy. To be completely honest, I did not understand parts of this movie, but most if it came together in the end. Maybe a second viewing is in order here.

Frontrunners is the first documentary reviewed by me (and hopefully not the last.) Based in the prestigious Stuyvesant High School in New York City, this documentary takes you through the experiences of the students there running for class president. Some parts of it were interesting, but overall, it’s not something I’d watch again. The documentary isn’t really on anything too interesting, and seems to drag out far longer than it should. While it’s interesting getting the perspectives of the students actually running, this is not nearly as interesting as the makers of the documentary think it is. If you have high schoolers at home, or work with a lot of kids around this age, this might be an interesting look into their heads, but otherwise, I’d recommend skipping Frontrunners.

What if you’re one vote could change the entire election? What if that one vote had a direct influence over over 300 million Americans, as well as the rest of the world. And what if you didn’t really care. This is the basic plot behind Swing Vote, where the entire presidential election lies on a single vote. Perhaps not too believable, the plot still makes for a good movie. While parts of the movie seem like fluff, other parts were terrific and seemed very realistic and genuine. In the end, we are never told who wins the election, but there is an obvious change in the attitudes of a single previously apathetic voter. An interesting what-if scenario, this movie was decent, but not too great. I would watch it if it ever came on television and there was nothing else to do, but would not recommend paying to watch it.

I’m not a big fan of iron man, so I was hesitant to watch an entire movie about him. It quickly became apparent however, that my hesitations were unfounded. This is perhaps one of the most solid superhero movies of all time, with a great storyline which seems oddly plausible (no magical green rings or evil alien monsters included). A large portion of the movie centered around how Iron Man came to be, which seems like it would be boring. Fortunately, even the backstory was fascinating and left me wanting more. Only a small portion of the movie was actually Iron Man vs. a villain, but the way the plot was set up, it didn’t even matter if that ever happened. I’m still not a big fan of the original iron man shows, but this movie has almost made a believer out of me.

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog isn’t your average movie. Hell, I’m not even sure if it can be considered a movie. Consisting of three short acts (about 15 minutes each) that were released online at different times, it’s almost like a mini online show. Not only is this concept unique, but Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog is also unique in many other ways. Instead of a superhero movie, this is a supervillian movie. The main character is a supervillian, and it the movie is able to humanize him to the point where you can’t help but root for him. And while you’re breaking ground, why not make it a musical too? That’s exactly what they did with this, and it turned out very well. While I’m not a big fan of musicals, it’s hard to help but sing along to some of the songs, and I’m hoping this won’t be the last we see of Dr. Horrible.

Independence Day is one of those movies where no matter how many times I watch it, I never get tired of it. Good thing too, since it always appears to be on television every year on independence day. Destined to be a classic, the movie revolved around an alien race landing on planet earth. As things unfold, it is clear that the government has prior knowledge of aliens. The plot of this movie unfolds at a decent pace, and it’s always been able to keep my interest, even after multiple watchings. Throughout the movie, it is clear that the aliens are more powerful, and the only way to beat them would be to try to find a weakness in their technology. Along with the solid acting and plot, this movie also comes with the best movie speeches of all time. While not too long, the speech seems perfect for the movie, and was oddly inspiring considering it was about an alien invasion.