The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - $9

To use a tired blog cliche, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been a busy time in life and so I'll keep this one brief. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (TAJJCRF) was brilliant.

TAJJCRF grabbed me from the first moment. The visuals were outstanding, it is a crime that the director is not up for an oscar, the acting was amazing and even the narration is worth mentioning.

This is a long movie so be prepared for that and it is a bit slow in parts which is really the only thing keeping me from rating it at $10.

Amazingly though this is the second western in a row that I've loved.

TAJJCRF is on my 'Watch It' list and I give a value of $9.

Babel - $9

Babel is a movie about tragedy, human despair and the types of actions and decisions that people are forced to make during these times.

The characters are diverse and are all going through very different types of situations and yet as the story unfolds we see that Babel using a classic movie tool in drawing the viewer in; all the characters are connected in some way.

Babel was very good, it gripped me and had me involved in the story. I was concerned for those who were going through difficulties and found myself wishing some of them would make better choices. This kind of conscious involvement is always a good sign to me that I am being impacted by a movie.

The acting performances in Babel are superb. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are the biggest stars here but are only two of many strong performances I enjoyed in this film.

My favorite part of Babel however was the directing. The imagery and cinematography were fabulous. There a few different settings and each is shot beautifully and really captured in a detailed and yet broad sense at the same time.

Babel is one of the best movies of 2006. I put it on my 'Watch It' list and give it a value of $9.