DVD 12: La Vie En Rose

Number of frogs: deux!

I'm tempted to dock the movie a star since I just read that Marion Cotillard is, believe it or not, a 911-truther.
But I won't.
La Vie En Rose:

DVD 11: Michael Clayton

Number of frogs: 0

"I am Shiva, the God of Death."

Michael Clayton receives:

DVD 10: Joshua

Number of frogs: 0 (but it does have a really cool giraffe "binky")

Take Vitus, mix with The Good Son, and you get Joshua.
Slowly paced, but the last twenty minutes or so are very effective.

DVD 9: Gone Baby Gone

Number of frogs: 0

Fantastic adaptation of the equally good Dennis Lehane novel.

Gone Baby Gone receives:

DVD 8: Rocket Science

Number of frogs: 0 (although one could say Hal's stuttering problem is due to a frog in his throat.)

"It's one of those two, love or revenge, I'm not really sure which one. But it's one of those two that made me throw a cello through somebody's window, so you figure it out."

High school introvert and horrible stutterer Hal Hefner gets recruited to the debate team by the star - does she like him, or is it a scheme?

The cliched mix of odd characters, but still quite charming. Bonus scene: a cello and piano duet of the Violent Femmes "Blister in the Sun."

Rocket Science gets:

DVD 7: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

Number of (computer) frogs: 2 or 3 shots of one of my tadpolehood idols, The Frog from Frogger.

A reviewer on Amazon.com had it exactly right: "You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wonder why you are laughing and crying about Donkey Kong." I became completely invested in the story of family man, anti-establishment "Good" Steve Wiebe vs "Evil" Billy Mitchell. Great stuff.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters:

DVD 6: Vitus

Number of frogs: 0, but the presence of Bruno Ganz makes up for the lack of froggieness.

Vitus stars an amazing 12 year-old (now 15) Swiss piano prodigy named Teo Gheorghiu. He does all his own playing both in the movie and on the soundtrack.

There are some silly or unbelievable parts to the story, but it is well worth seeing if just for the music.

DVD 5: 3:10 to Yuma

Number of frogs: 0

Arizona desert too dry for frogs. (Although I think a lot of it was shot in Saudi Arabia.)

3:10 to Yuma receives:

DVD 4: The Kingdom

Number of frogs: 0

Saudi desert too dry for frogs (although I think a lot of it was shot in Arizona.)

The Kingdom gets:

DVD 3: Stardust

Number of frogs: 0 (surprisingly, give the number of witches.)

Claire Danes is radiant, literally.

I give Stardust:

DVD 2: Eastern Promises

Число Лягушек: 0 (but considering the rather shocking scenes of violence, I'm kind of glad there were none.)

There's something about David Cronenberg that I just don't quite get. I had heard such amazing things about "A History of Violence" that when I saw it I was kind of underwhelmed. It was the same with "Eastern Promises." I can recognize that it was a very good movie, it held my attention, and I was interested throughout, yet I wasn't blown away by it. I don't know if it was the high expectations or what - I suspect there is something in the way Cronenberg writes and directs that puts me off - wish I could put my toe on it.

*SPOILER*
Plus, the twists were, not so much - I think I knew from the beginning that Nikolai was a cop. And it was obvious that he was being given the "Stars" to be set up.

*END SPOILER*

Having said that, I still rate Eastern Promises:

2008 DVD #1: Rescue Dawn

Number of Frogs: 0

Rescue Dawn is written and directed by Werner Herzog, so I had planned on letting my friend the Incredible Yodelling Lederhosen make this post, but he has not yet figured out how to use a computer.

Christian Bale plays a bomber pilot who crashes in Laos at the beginning of the Vietnam War. He ends up in a makeshift prison and together with his fellow POWs hatches a plan to escape.

I was a little worried because I know they eat weird foods in that part of the world. I was therefore surprised and pleased to see that when the camp ran out of rice, they served the prisoners live grubs. Yum! Christian Bale looks mighty happy to be greedily wolfing down lots of the wriggling, nummy-nummy bugs.

On a scale of 1 to 5 lily pads, I give this movie: