I don’t know whether it was because I was sick while I sat at home and watched this movie, or because it was just so touching, but I literally cried at least twelve times throughout my viewing. I had been weakened by the ravages of the stomach flu for the prior three days straight, and my will to exist was dwindling as I hadn’t eaten much and my body weight had dropped five pounds. That’s when I popped in the DVD for Fireproof, a low-budget film made by Sherwood Baptist Church and shot entirely in digital. The church has made other films and the production value for such a grassroots project is evident in the caliber of special effects. The acting is even good from the main characters and passable from the extras and minor roles.

However, the most endearing thing about this charming movie is the storyline, which begins with a troubled marriage and deals with the process Caleb Holt (played by Kirk Cameron) and his wife go through as they face divorce. The plague of divorce is an important issue to discuss, and it affects our society on the deepest levels, so this one is worth seeing whether you’re a Christian or not.

If you manage to pay attention closely enough to stick with the complicated and sometimes under-emphasized twists in the plot of this film, it delivers with a bang. The ending was the best part, and it was completely worth getting there for me. The movie uses a stylistic ‘trading’ of various scenes arranged in a square box, with each scene taking up a quarter of the film screen. This effect acts as a transition from one period of time to another, so that it becomes more clear when certain elements of the story are being told out of order. Actually, it’s supposed to do that, but it doesn’t really achieve its goal. It wasn’t until halfway through the film that I realized this was actually what was happening, but hopefully in reading this you are now prepared to see it. In any case, this film gets 4 flames from me because it’s just that good – a solid, original film with Clive Owens and Julia Roberts at the helm and backed by several other powerful names makes this a fun one to watch.

I’ve gotta be honest. I mean, I’m always honest, but in this case I’m being super honest. I really didn’t dig this one too much. Even though it stars Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah, and Dakota Fanning, the story was kind of a less than stellar drama about a young girl in the south who runs away from her neglectful and abusive father and serendipitously ends up at the same bee farm where her deceased mother had lived years before. This falls into the category of movies with great acting but a humdrum plot. I gave it a 2, because it wasn’t terrible. Just didn’t really do it for me.

A remake – this time of the 1957 classic by the same name. Even so, it’s been awhile since a good western came out. I was especially impressed with Ben Foster’s performance, since I remember him from the Disney Channel back in the day when he played the dorky Tucker on Flash Forward.

He’s come into his own as an actor, and alongside Russell Crowe they make a great villainous duo. Foster has been playing a lot of less-than-savory roles in his recent film career, and he does an impressive job at most of them. Christian Bale, who plays the protagonist in the film, also happens to be one of my faves, so even the somewhat cliche storyline of a rancher being driven off his land by a greedy, crooked rich guy holds water. Still, mostly enjoyable.

Two of the most talented and successful actors of our time come together in this film to form a lovable duo of old codgers who have both been pronounced dying by their doctors. They set out to make the most of their last days on earth by creating a master to-do list and checking off each item as they complete it.

A very unique story that stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, The Bucket List makes you laugh, it makes you cry (I did get a little misty there for a second) and most of all, it makes you appreciate the life you’ve been given. No matter how bad you may think you have it there’s someone out there who’s got it worse, and this film does a good job of making you realize that.

Chiefly because I was forced to watch it (my eyes weren’t taped open, but my interests at the time benefited from doing so) I sat down with a friend to see Enchanted. The fact that it is a childrens’ movie that teaches kids to have completely unrealistic expectations of love is enough to make one cringe. Add in a cast of bumbling characters and you have a slapstick adventure about romance between cartoon characters and real life people. Wonderful!

The leading actress is gorgeous, but that’s only a factor for me because I’m not a kid. I have to admit the film wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but it was still pretty horrific. It gets one and a half flames on the scale.

I guess this is supposed to be heartwarming, somehow? A mentally ill man orders a life-sized female doll from the internet and starts to pretend that it’s his girlfriend. Very weird, and kind of disconcerting. Lars is played by Ryan Gosling, who does a fantastic job in being both innocent and socially unstable. His new “girlfriend” Bianca, whom he fully believes to be real, is a delusion he has created to deal with emotional problems he has been dealing with for a long time. His family and friends begin to help him through it as they realize that by playing along with his delusions they can give him the necessary time he needs to work out his issues. In short, it’s a good rental but I wouldn’t have seen it in theaters.

I’ll be the last person to admit I’m a Michael Moore fan; I’ve at most tolerated or mildly enjoyed any of his previous films I’ve watched. Everything posed in Sicko has to be taken with a grain of salt as usual, but even as politically conservative as I tend to be I found there to be several poignant moments that made me think.

If the definition of a successful film is one that makes you think, Sicko does the job well. Even if it doesn’t make you agree that socialized health care is something this country needs or could benefit from, I think if Moore at least causes you to take a second look into how the system is currently structured it fulfills its purpose. Many have been calling for health care reform for a long time now, and it’s true that even though we’re not a third world country, our setup isn’t exactly ideal. That’s an opinion, by the way. If this sounds like a boring picture, I can assure you it’s not. It pertains to all of us; anyone who’s ever gone to the doctor has a reason to watch Sicko.

Seth Rogen is a really funny guy, and a great screenwriter. This movie does knock it out of the park comedically, I just had a hard time believing that Katherine Heigl would ever go for a dude like Seth Rogen. Even if she was wasted out of her mind, would such a hottie lower her standards enough to become impregnated by such a fat loser? I doubt this.

So that kind of ruined it for me. But if you can make yourself believe, even for only 2 hours and 9 minutes, that big dumb lose-bags have any kind of a chance with gorgeous, mentally stable women, then not only will this one make you laugh – it may touch a heartstring or two along the way. Awww, now wasn’t that a sappy closing line? Four!

If I was a strung out hippie, I would’ve loved this movie. It didn’t make up its cost at the box office, but I actually did enjoy it somewhat even though it is a musical and I’m morally opposed to musicals. To put it simply, Across the Universe takes an original story and puts it to Beatles music. The characters are named after Beatles songs (Jude, Prudence, Lucy, etc.) and the tunes are interwoven – sometimes stitched in haphazardly – through the story.

The film is stunning in its own right, focusing on bright, vibrant colors and strong visual imagery – the scene with the strawberries comes to mind first and foremost. The acting is good from several relatively unknowns (Jim Sturgess’s film career is blossoming as we speak) and, although somewhat disorganized, it’s a fun love story set to some of the most well-known pop music in history. I struggled with giving this a 3.5, so I settled for a 3 because I just can’t get around the awkward placement of “Dear Prudence” and the clunky subplot that brings about its inclusion in the film.