104 - Sweeney Todd

I rarely watch musicals and Ithink the last one I really liked was......All that Jazz? But with Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman, and Helena Bonham Carter coming together for Sweeney Todd, I guess it was worth watching.....and I did like it. I was most impressed by Ed Sanders (who portrayed Toby). And to consider that none of the actors were really singers by trade, I think the whole cast did a great job.

103 - Margot at the Wedding

Riding on high with admiration for Noah Baumbach's "The Squid and the Whale", I watched Margot at the Wedding with somewhat of an expectation, even though this was a different film. Noah used more dialog this time, which I think must have been because he had Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh running the shop. Laura Linney and Jeff Daniels had more depth in their delivery with shorter dialog and silent queues. Nicole and Jennifer used more dialog and emotional expression to reach the same level.

Still, I think this film deserves credit for exploring dysfunctional relationships between siblings and all the nearby relationships it impacts. I don't think it was that much of a stretch for Jack Black. Ciaran Hinds was actually more refreshing to watch in a role that is low key compared to his previous characters.

102 - Into the Wild

"Wild" being the location here really isn't confined to the great outdoors (or great outdoors probably doesn't necessarily mean mountains and forests), but everywhere else, including cities, towns, and middle-of-nowhere's. I couldn't help but thinking that this film is really more about life as a floater more than this strong principle of non-materialism and nature love. Emile Hirsch did give the role a good shot, but I think he was overshadowed by the cinematography and Eddie Vedder (you could probably remove all the sound and just play the movie with Eddie's soundtrack and you'd still be able to appreciate this film).

Sean got a great supporting cast with Catherine Keener, Brian Dierker, Jena Malone, and Vince Vaughn. Kristen Stewart looked familiar but I couldn't really pin down where I've seen her before 'till I looked her up in IMDB and finally found that she was Jodie Foster's daughter in Panic Room (i knew those droopy eyes looked familiar :) ).