A Plethora of Movie Reviews

I think it's time to just collect all my movie reviews from the past 7-8 years, and post them here. So I'm going to post 4-5 reviews when I feel like it, and it'll start with movies from roughly 2002 and work its way to current day movies. I wasn't able to find my reviews of films earlier than that post online, so it's all I have. Of course, my feelings of some films have changed over the years, but it's been interesting to read over my initial thoughts and feelings of films shortly after viewing them.

American Idol season 7 - Top 2 finalists

Round 1:

David Cook - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - A solid rendition, but it didn't have the "wow" factor, and sounded okay.

David Archuleta - "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" - Vocally, he was on point a bit more than Cook, and moves into the lead.

Round 1 goes to Archuleta.


Round 2:

David Cook - "Dream Big" - A more upbeat song that Cook that would probably be representative of a typical Cook number for his next album, but not quite a winning performance.

David Archuleta - "In This Moment" - Not a great song, but it showcased his vocal range much better than Cook's performance.

Round 2 goes to Archuleta.


Round 3:

David Cook - "The World I Know" - An earnest performance, his best of the night, but it's just not good enough against the Archuletar.

David Archuleta - "Imagine" - Solid performance, did not lose any ground to Cook.


Round 3 goes to Archuleta.


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I'd be surprised if Archuleta did not win this season.

American Idol season 7 - Top 3 finalists

Round 1:

David Archuleta - "And So It Goes" - Though sung ernestly, it was coma-inducing. Seriously, if you have problems sleeping, just spin this up on your ipod, and you'll be counting sheep in no time. Who'd want to hear that rendition on the radio?

Syesha Mercado - "If I Got You" - Too much background singers in the mix, we'd like to hear Syesha first and foremost. Randy gave her a softball for this choice. It was serviceable.

David Cook - "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" - Vocals sounded a little thin, but much more sincere than his competitors, and then he tossed in a bit of rock twang to put his own stamp on it.

Round 1 goes to Cook.


Round 2:

David Archuleta - "With You" - The cadence of the song made his vocals sound like he was out of breath in the early parts of the song, but it was a bit too wishy-washy or sing-songy sounding.

Syesha Mercado - "Fever" - Hated the key that Syesha sang this song, it's just too high, and sounded too shrill to me. But she's got a broadway career ahead of her if she wants it.

David Cook - "Dare You To Move" - Typical performance, start slow, and build to a crescendo, collect a bunch of votes.

Not sure anyone won this round.



Round 3:

David Archuleta - "Longer" - Archie caught Kristi's squenchy eye disorder for this song but he was on point for most of the performance, but I still wouldn't want to listen to it on the radio.

Syesha Mercado - "Hit Me Up" - While it's true she can sing, but she simply lacks the X factor to push her over the top. It was a forgettable performance, and she threw in too many runs.

David Cook - "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" - Sheesh, what a weak start, did Jason Castro sneak on stage? This rendition made me appreciate the Aerosmith version.

Another average round, no winnahs.


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Rankings

Solid but could have been better
David Cook
David Archuleta

Under-performed
Syesha Mercado

Syesha is probably going to get the boot.

American Idol season 7 - Top 4 finalists

Round 1:

David Cook - "Hungry Like The Wolf" - boring rendition, lacked excitement and commitment. He needs a better second song performance.

Syesha Mercado - "Proud Mary" - Looks like Syesha wants to win this thing, good performance, but vocally, I'm still not all that interested in her vocal stylings, a little shrill at times. But for entertainment, she's bringing it.

Jason Castro - "I Shot the Sheriff" - Jason looked like he found his parents' sing-along apparatus and just started singing a song just for laughs. But that's his charm, right?

David Archuleta - "Stand By Me" - His fan base is going to eat his performance up, it was a crowd pleaser. His glazy breathing has returned, but it subsided in the last 2/3 of the song, so he did his thing and put the other 3 on notice he's here to win.


Round 2:

David Cook - "Baba O'Reilly" - Vocals were a little scratchy and strained, and I didn't like the slowed down tempo for this particular song, but he should be safe this week.

Syesha Mercado - "A Change is Gonna Come" - She got off quite a few big notes, and she busted out the pups, but the performance was too controlled and lifeless.

Jason Castro - "Mr. Tamborine Man" - Dude, he is so in the "Don't give a crap" zone tonight, forgetfulness is rampant for him tonight. Pretty inexcusable performance for a final four contestant.

David Archuleta - "Love Me Tender" - He made it sound very gospel-like, but it was as intimate of a performance Archie is probably capable of for his young age.

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Rankings

Enjoyable
David Archuleta

Solid but could have been better
Syesha Mercado

Under-performed
David Cooke

Once was enough
Jason

Jason Castro should go home, but Syesha is very vulnerable to get the boot.

American Idol season 7 - Top 5 finalists

Round 1:

Jason Castro - "Forever in Blue Jeans" Dull, boring, weak.

David Cook - "I'm Alive" A typical performance, not great, not horrible, just serviceable.

Brooke White - "I'm a Believer" Such a cheery performance, but nothing too vocally challenging.

David Archuleta - "Sweet Carolina" Yet another safe vocal, but it wasn't all that memorable.

Syesha Mercado - "Hello Again" I'm grateful there is someone left who can carry a melody, though the song was so-so.

Round 2:

Jason Castro - "September Morn" wake me up when he's done, that was brutally boring.

David Cook - "All I Really Need is You" A sappy song, but it was a good vocal.

Brooke White - "I Said I Am" a better effort from Brooke, but nothing truly outstanding on this song.

David Archuleta - "America" the lyrics are too repetitive, makes his vocals drone on and on, not a good song voice, but ended well.

Syesha Mercado - "Thanks the Lord for the Night Time" At least she's comfortable moving around the stage (no one else left can do it as well as Syesha).


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Rankings

Enjoyable
Syesha

Solid but could have been better
David Cook
David Archuleta

Under-performed
Brooke White

Once was enough
Jason

I think or Jason Castro is going home.

American Idol season 7 - Top 6 finalists

Syesha Mercado - "One Rock-n-Roll too Many" Didn't care for the song, but she sounded pretty strong thorughout the performance, but if she had more lower registers to her voice, it might have sounded better, provided more grit to the song.

Jason Castro - "Memories" I want to stuff socks in my ears after listening to Jason's wispy performance. Ugh.

Brooke White - "You Must Love Me" Didn't love it. It started out really rocky, but I just never thought she really knew the song well enough to fake it.

David Archuleta - "Think of Me" He did all right with his spin of the song, and it almost sounded contemporary, but he's got that soothing glaze to his vocals that makes his songs sound pleasant and warm.

Carly Smithson - "Jesus Christ Superstar" I thought the backing vocals sounded better than Carly. Her vocals just sounded too thin to me, plus she's still trying to win us over with her power screams/vocals that do nothing for me.

David Cook - "Music of the Night" Pretty weak start, and had some problems with the melody, and basically framed his performance around 2 long notes. Not one of my favorites of his performances this season.


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Rankings

Enjoyable
Syesha Mercado
David Archuleta

Could have been better
David Cook

Under-performed
Carly Smithson

Once was enough
Jason Castro
Brooke White

I think or Jason Castro or Brooke White is going home.

American Idol season 7 - Top 7 finalists

David Archuleta - "When You Believe" I thought the band was playing a little loud (over-produced) in the middle of the song, but David did a good job with the song overall, without trying to sound like Mariah, but still doing justice to the song.

Carly Smithson - "Without You" Liked what she was doing with the low notes in the beginning, but her upper range got exposed because she was struggling during the last half of the song, and it was not a good performance.

Syesha Mercado - "Vanishing" Pretty strong performance by Syesha, but I didn't love it. I can't quite put my finger on it, but her singing seldom moves me.

Brooke White - "Hero" Oddly enough, Brooke started okay, but then was quivering mightily during the performance, and the pace was a little off at the end because she seem to be struggling to the end with slightly frantic singing, almost out of breath at times.

Kristy Lee Cook - "Forever" KLC sang the chorus great, but the melodies in the rest of the song got downplayed to somewhat boring singing until the chorus section, so it was about 50/50 of a good/bad performance. Is this the first time we see KLC's bare legs? Her singing posture is better, but she still closes her eyes through half the song.

David Cook - "You'll Always Be My Baby" Good twist on the original, it worked and probably gets the best performance of the night. David just looks the most comfortable on stage and performing.

Jason Castro - "Don't Wanna Cry" Most of the time, Jason sounds like he's always biting off more than he can chew with his singing. His performance was decent, but it wasn't fantastic.

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Rankings

Enjoyable
David Cook
David Archuleta

Solid but could have been better
Kristy Lee Cook
Syesha Mercado

Under-performed
Brooke White
Jason Castro

Once was enough
Carly Smithson

I think or Jason Castro or Carly Smithson is going home.