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Big Miracle was a little manipulative (though since it's based on a true story, I guess I have to be okay with that). I sort of have a hard time watching "animals in danger" movies. My soul is too sensitive, I guess.

I enjoyed John Carter overall. It had great effects and even though I think I understand why people might not have enjoyed it (it drags in spots), I feel like it deserved a better fate than it received. It was just a hard film to sell.

The Lucky One is awful. Terrible. Horrible. I, um, really like Zac Efron, but I swear that if I never see another Nicholas Sparks adaptation again, I won't mind. It felt like it would never end.

Apparently, I really like Tim Story as long as he's not directing Fantastic Four movies. Or Taxi. Okay, I really like Tim Story when he's directing Barbershop and Think Like a Man. I laughed a *lot* and it seemed like everyone involved was having a really good time. No one knows who Gary Owen is, but I hope he gets a lot more work because of his role in this film.

Safe was too noisy and violent for me. I realize that I'm probably not the target audience for a Jason Statham film, but it was hard for me to get past the constant blood. I do believe there was a pretty good story hidden in there, though.

I watched The Game for the first time ever, and it was a truly enjoyable experience. David Fincher can be a little cold and distant in his films, but I think that's less evident here.

Lockout is a surprisingly fun sci-fi flick. I think David referred to it as Taken in Space, and I guess that works, but Guy Pearce doesn't shoulder all the awesomeness like Liam Neeson does in Taken. Maggie Grace at least is allowed to be tough, too (whereas in Taken, she is pretty much the helpless victim). I liked the dynamic of the two villains quite a bit.

David Mumpower: I have watched 21 films since the previous conversation. So I will pick ten to discuss and save the rest for next time.

Movies almost never earn the rarest of rare F Cinemascore. Over the past couple of weeks, I watched two that did. I would preface my remarks by stating another movie that qualifies under this umbrella, Solaris, was a BOP fave that proved competitive during The Calvins that year. So just because the average consumer hates these movies does not mean I automatically will. It just so happens that I did. The Devil Inside is the worst sort of lazy storytelling and its ending is every bit as obnoxious as you have heard. The movie literally ends in the middle of a key sequence. It's like they ran out of film or something. The scary part (and not because we are discussing horror films) is that The Devil Inside is better than Silent House. Longtime BOP readers may recall that Haute Tension was one of my most hated movies of 2005. Silent House somehow tells a similar story in more repugnant fashion. This is the rare instance where I advise people not to watch the film because the subject matter is so reprehensible that it deserves none of your attention.

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