The Terminator

The ending gives a shout-out to the works of Harlan Ellison, whose "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" influenced "V for Vendetta." Might be worth checking out.

Son of Rambow

Not as great as the previews would have us believe, but not without its endearing moments. "Rushmore" was better at addressing similar themes.

Redbelt

A good movie! 2008 has now seen two movies that will be worth watching next year: "Rambo" and this. The story brings to mind "Ghost Dog" in its depiction of applying samurai and martial arts principles to modern life. Like in "Spartan," David Mamet's great recent film, the dialogue in "Redbelt" is incomparable. Every line is active: it is one character doing something to another, forcing him or her to respond. Every line propels the story forward. And how significant too that Mamet, one of Hollywood's best dialogue writers, chooses to end his film in silence.

Thriller: A Cruel Picture

Christina Lindberg is the Ludivine Sagnier of her time, here playing the character of One Eye, so named because she has one eye. I saw the unrated version, but I would recommend the rated, since the unrated scenes are clearly not the actors and are just gross.

This film has influenced Quentin Tarantino, so we know it was made in the '70s and isn't good. Aside from the occasional inspired moment, such as the ultra-slow-motion beating she gives to two police officers with somber music playing, there's not much here that isn't done better in "I Spit on Your Grave."

Alien 3

For whatever reason, my personal favorite of the Alien films. Maybe it's the shaved heads. Or that David Fincher is behind the wheel.

Aliens

Like "Alien," but this time, it's different. More actiony than the horror-laden original. Several parts of "Halo" are clearly derived from this film.

Personal Best

"Chariots of Fire" meets "Brokeback Mountain." A very sweaty, physical depiction of athletes training for the 1980 Olympics, which the US boycotted so the finale is not what we'd expect. Two what-whats to Mariel Hemingway for getting in shape and letting the camera film every piece of her in slow motion while running and exercising. Not many people would let that happen, and even fewer could have it look good.

Embrace of the Vampire

Scrumtrulescent.

Fools Rush In

No, fools sit through the whole movie.

Tropic Thunder

Watchable, but it should have been funnier. Robert "Lead Farmer" Downey Jr. and Tom "F*** Stick" Cruise are the without-a-doubt standouts. But for everything else in the film but them, the word that comes to mind is "amusing." Perhaps mildly amusing or slightly amusing might better capture it, for what it's worth.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

And there was much rejoicing.

Mandingo

A take-your-pick-ploitation depiction of the antebellum South, what with all its cousin kissing, jungle fever, and vice versa. There are some negatives: too much effort on "genuine" accents so that the lack of subtitles is a definite drawback, the film is not very insightful or entertaining, and it's kind of racist. And now for the positives:

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Maybe an interesting play, but not a great movie.

Conan the Barbarian

In this classic co-written by Oliver Stone, the daughter of King Osric (Max von Sydow) has been kidnapped by Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones), leader of an up-and-coming snake cult. Arnold must get her back, and on the way he flexes and gets the chicks and punches a camel. He also describes the greatest pleasure in life: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."

Beyond all my reasonable expectations, the movie is truly engrossing, if not altogether transporting, because it portrays a different world so effectively and completely. Well worth the time. "Conan" is good. Who knew?

The Counterfeiters

A good film, no doubt, but no way it was the best foreign language film of the year (see instead "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days," which was probably the best film period of last year). We see the life of a professional counterfeiter who, in a concentration camp, is given the choice task of helping Nazis counterfeit the dollar and the pound. He faces an ethical dilemma: to do the task allows him a chance to live, but it also helps prolong the German war effort.

The ethical issues are tricky and nicely presented, but not as profound as in the recent "Black Book." And the film also, admirably, does what few other WWII films do: it comes close to portraying the Germans as human beings, which is one reason "Stalingrad" has stuck with me every since I saw it years ago.

Be Kind Rewind

Michel Gondry -- this guy, this is not my kind of guy. Neither are Jack Black or Mos Def. Gondry may be clever and creative, but I just don't care. This film plays like an extended rip-off of the SNL skit "Laser Cats," but "Laser Cats" is funnier and better.

Alien

"In space no one can hear you scream." With all due respect, I don't think the lack of hearing screaming is what's terrifying about this film. Rather, it's the alien coming out of your chest and then dismembering you. The tagline should have been, "In space aliens come out of your chest."

Blade Runner: The Final Cut

I've seen it before, I'll probably see it again, but I still find it slow and dull. The world depicted in "Blade Runner" has a lot of detail, but there's not much of a story here. The "Final Cut" version has no narration, and it probably has other differences from the other three or four versions, but I don't know what they are. No idea why Ridley Scott keeps churning out different versions of the same movie. He's like P. Diddy, remixing the same ol' stuff, hoping against hope that for whatever reason this time it will sound better.