I am Legend (2007)**

I decided to wait to see this movie after reading the reviews. Watching it a few nights ago and I though that it was visually amazing, set in post-zombiefied New York. Will Smith’s acting was overall very strong. I couldn’t figure out why the reviews were so bad, that was until I came to the last 10 minutes of the film. It’s interesting how an ending can really make or break a film. As much as hate the late Charleston Heston’s support for the NRA, I think his version of this film titled Omega Man is better, simply because it has a tighter ending. It is a shame. Had they added another half hour to Legend, drawing out the ending and adding to the character development, this could have been a great film.

Watch the bonus feature if you can stomach the clips from a gruesome promotional graphic novel based on the film that was written by Orson Scott Card.

For a Few Dollars More (1965)***

With a weaker storyline that its predecessor, A Fist Full of Dollars and the capstone of the trilogy, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, A Few Dollars More is a mildly entertaining shoot-em-up western (many people get shot in this film, including a crazy-eyed hunchback named Wild). Eastwood is as cool as ever but A Few Dollars More doesn’t have the psychological complexity of these other films. The cinematography is good though and if you have seen any of Sergio Leone films, you’ll know that the musical score is an interesting one. The composer, Ennio Morricone, won a lifetime achievement award from the Academy, but that doesn’t seem to make his scores any less strange. I would like to see the films re-released with a score from the White Stripes. Now that would be awesome.

Michael Clayton (2007)****

Clooney has an uncanny ability to be cast in amazing films (We’ll forgive him for Batman & Robin and everything he did before ER). Michael Clayton is an intricate film that slowly unfolds. Tom Wilkinson deserved the Oscar nod, if not the win, for his supporting role in the film as the big business defense attorney who has a psychotic break in court. Wilkinson does one of the most convincing on-screen portrayals of bi-polar manic symptoms that I have seen. Tilda Swinton, who won an Oscar for her role in this film, proved she can also play a witch outside of Narnia. And then there is Sydney Pollack who played the head of the law film. It is interesting to see him in front of the camera for a change. What I really like about this movie is that it has a terrific ending, but still leaves you with some interesting unanswered questions.