Movie #396 - Layer Cake

Layer Cake2004 - Rated R - 1 hr 45 min
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Daniel Craig, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Tom Hardy, Colm Meaney, Tamar Hassan, George Harris

Pre-Bond Daniel Craig is fun to watch in this movie about a drug-dealer trying to get out of the business.  Based on the book of the same name, the unique narration style and larger-than-life characters make a tired premise fresh.  Craig's character puts up with a lot, gets stuck in a lot, and manages it in a cool, collected way. He really just wants to sleep with Sienna Miller, guys. Really.

I won't give away the ending -- which is just awesome, if you like sick twists the way I do -- but it makes the whole movie that much better.   With a great cast, and enough twists to keep you on your toes, it's definitely worth a watch.

Movie #219 - G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
2009 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Sienna Miller, Byung-hun Lee, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Marlon Wayans, Dennis Quaid

In the grand tradition of comics and cartoons turned big-screen blockbusters, this movie tries to capture the magic of the rebooted Transformers franchise with another American hero.  I was not a G.I.Joe fan as a kid (I'm a girl, ok?) but I hear that the characters are all pretty much in line with the originals, so it's got that going for it.

Mostly, this feels overcomplicated. It's one big excuse to blow stuff up, but it wants you to take it seriously.  This movie wants to be a real action/adventure when it grows up, not just a cartoon turned live action. And as one friend commented, the good guys kill more people than the bad guy. Speaking of bad guys, I could not take Joseph Gordon-Levitt serious in this movie. At. All.

It was a worthy effort, but at the end of it, GI Joe failed to pull me in.