Before Sunset – directed & written by Richard Linklater
The sequel to Before Sunrise, a film about Jesse (Ethan Hawke) & Celine (Julie Delpy) spending the one night they have together walking around Vienna talking, philosophizing and falling for one another.  At the end of the film they made promises to meet in Vienna again.  Before Sunset picks up 9 years later, the two obviously missed their date in Vienna 6months after the initial meeting as they had promised each other. Where Before Sunrise was about young love, getting to know each other, Before Sunset is about the same subjects but with the experience of life tainting their views and changing the characters from what they were in Before Sunrise into what they are here in Before Sunset.  While it's not imperative you see the former before the later, it definitely helps you to identify with them and see how they've changed.  Done in real time the movie follows the two as they stroll the streets of Paris catching up, regretting the foolishness of their youthful love and ideas that resulted in the 9 years apart and realizing how their life has suffered because they chose to settle on the hands they've been dealt instead of staying true to themselves.  Quite possibly the best movie I’ve seen in 2004.  Perhaps some viewers will grow bored with 2 hours of dialogue but if you're looking for action and easily identifiable plot lines, Spiderman 2 hit theaters the same weekend.

Hellboy
This seems to be a love it or hate it movie.  I thought it was a great combination of the things I like about superheroes & the things I like about teen dramas with some weird possibly accurate christian ideas thrown in along with Rasputin.  I also liked the look of it, the use of color reminds me of the Amelie/City of Lost Children/Delicatessen guy.  I’m glad there will be a sequel coming out.

Starship Troopers 2
Given that the first film is a fantastic boy movie (giant bugs & naked chicks), this leaves a lot to be desired.  A whole lot.  I watched this while I was at work, so I earned about $20 watching it & I still felt ripped off.  That said, it would’ve made a good episode of Sliders.

Terminator 3
I really liked the first two Terminator movies a lot, so I guess I had high expectations for this.  Surprisingly the reason this sucks isn’t the plot or special effects or even the choice of actors, it’s the dialog.  Why do they have the character of John Connor say to the Terminator, “I’m going to have to teach you to say ‘Hasta la vista, baby’ all over again?”  I feel they really could have made this an acceptable movie with just an extra half hour of re-writing, but instead it kinda sucks to a point where it’s fairly unwatchable.