Movie #363 - Analyze This

Analyze This
1999 - Rated R - 1 hr 43 min
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Chazz Palminteri, Joe Viterelli, Molly Shannon

While the sequel Analyze That should never have happened, this first installment is actually kinda funny.  De Niro plays the gangster under pressure who resorts to getting help from Crystal, a regular psychiatrist who'd rather not be involved with the mob.  De Niro pushes and prods, Crystal resists but in the end resolves to help him confront his anxiety.

Mostly though, it's just a comedy.  And there are little tributes to The Godfather here, including a dream sequence that's shot-for-shot from the classic.  Nice.

Overall, this one's just for fun.  De Niro and Crystal are fun to watch together -- totally worth it.

Movie #188 - Evan Almighty

Evan Almighty
2007 - Rated PG - 1 hr 36 min
Director: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, John Michael Higgins, Jonah Hill, Molly Shannon

Technically, this is the sequel to Bruce Almighty but it has very little to do with Bruce.  And Jim Carrey's not even in it.  But Evan Baxter, a side character from the first movie, gets his own God encounter in this movie. But instead of being God himself, he gets to play the underrated role of Noah.  Set in modern day, poor "Noah" gets a bad rap, but I'm sure it must have been tough for him to get people to believe him, even back then.  Now, talking to God is a symptom of insanity, so Evan's lucky he doesn't get locked up.

I'm glad Morgan Freeman is in this again, since he's an excellent God. (hahaha) And it provides some consistency as well.  The flood scene is fun, but a bit disappointing after all the buildup.  I mean, do we really need gazelles and giraffes for this? But the good guys win in the end, and Evan's family becomes stronger for the experience. Also, they adopt a homeless dog. Everyone wins.

And so they get to do the dance.