Quick and dirty updates for you on some of the 200 + movies I've gotten from Blockbuster since last August.  Good, bad, and often surprising -- it's always an adventure.

Rocket Science: My rating - $5.00 (1.-9.)

Stuttering freshman boy has issues.  Mom has had her Asian physician boyfriend and his son move in their home.  He's hit on by the most popular girl in school to join the debate team.  Thinking he's really got some hidden magnetism for this girl after they make out in the janitor's closet, he dedicates himself to learning to over come his stutter (which is worse when he's stressed).  At the first meet, she's defected to a private school leaving the boy with no motivation to continue.  This is a painful adolescent pseuo-comedy where the boy struggles with his feelings, his home's invasion by Mom's lover, and tasting some independence.  He really can't get over the girl even though it's obvious to us she used him.  The worse thing, his stutter never does get better.  The good thing, he learns to not care so much.  Written and directed by Jeffry Blitz (directed episodes of 'The Office'), it's rated 'R' and runs about 1 hour 40 minutes.  Stars: Nicholas D'Agosto, Anna Kendrick, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Aaron Yoo.

Lars and the Real Girl:  $7.25 (1.-9.)

Man name Lars with autistic tendencies including touch phobia, lives in the garage apartment next to the home of his brother and sister-in-law.  Sis tries to draw him over to visit them going as far as cornering him at his car and tackling him in the driveway to keep him from slipping away from her.  He holds down a day job, drives, but eschews people whenever possible.  Everyone thinks he should have a girlfriend ignoring his obvious signs of discomfort with people.  (He's got a blink 'tic', too.) One day, his whole personality changes as he announces he has a g foreign girlfriend who doesn't speak English well, does philanthropic volunteer work, and is disabled in a wheelchair.  She's a very expensive and life-like manniquin (anatomically correct, mind you).  Thus begins a tale like 'The Emperor's New Clothes' where everyone buys into Lars' delusion that 'Bianca' talks and interacts.  She's elected to the school board, reads to school kids, volunteers at the hospital, etc.  It's great fun and very heartwarming.  Nothing slapstick or cynical at all.  Written by Nancy Oliver and directed by Craig Gillespie, it's rated 'PG-13' and runs 106 minutes.  Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Patricia Clarkson.

Above and Beyond: $8.00 (1.-9.)

I just love epic war movies of which this is one.  A TV mini-series on DVD without commercials that runs 3 hours (in 2 parts), this story retells how some brilliant and heroic men made it possible for enough planes to reach England at the start of WW II to protect England from Hitler's annihilation.  Featuring Jason Priestley on the cover as Sir Banting, inventor of insulin, he actually only has about 10 minutes in the movie.  The other, less well known actors do a marvelous job developing the characters till I was totally engrossed.  I sat and watched all 3 hours not being able to get away.  There's plenty of romance, nostalgia, as well as the trials and tribulation of impending war.  Written by John W. Doyle and Lisa Porter and directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, it's safe for all family members to watch.  Stars: Liane Balaban, Jonathan Scarfe, Allan Hawco, Peter McNeill, Kenneth Walsh, and Joss Ackland.

Black Water:  $4.50 (1.-9.)

Two Aussie couples go on holiday in the swamps of Northern Australia -- yeah, that's where'd I go.  They hire a local to take them out on his little aluminum boat to fish.  There are only 5 humans in the cast.  The 2 women are sisters.  One just finds out on the trip she's pregnant with her first child but wants to tell her husband at just the right time.  Sis is the more carefree one who comes with her boyfriend.  Not 15 minutes into the movie, a pesky and intelligent crocodile (aren't they all?) dumps them over in the swamp with no warning.  Their guide gets no more screentime.  Up in a tree they sit.  Unmarried sis ends up on top of the overturned boat and has to walk to the them through waist-deep water in which a croc, who can eat a man, can easily hide.  Their cell phone has no reception, but wait, they drop it in the water anyway!!  They get stalked and chomped.  Who lives, who dies, and how it all happens is just anxiety producing enough to be fun.  Written and directed by David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki, it's rated 'R' and doesn't outstay it's welcome with a comfortable 90 min run time.  Stars: Diana Glenn, Maeve Dermody, Andy Rodoreda, Ben Oxen bould.

Loch Ness Terror:  $3.50 (1.-9.)

Originally fon the Scifi channel. Loch Ness really had a monster, a dinosaur-era creature that hides in deep sea caves and comes up only every 30 years or so to spawn.  A boy sees his father and uncle eaten by the creature at age 13.  He is scarred from being batted by the thing's tail.  He grows up to become a cryptozoologist.  As an adult, he finds his way to an American seaside town where Nessie has chosen to spawn.  There's a cute lady sheriff in the 3 person police force, her cute son who is smart but chose to stay and run a bait shop for his mother, and the girl with whom he is enamored who dates the rich bully.  It doesn't take long for people to start disappearing and reappearing as torsos.  The photography is nice, the acting isn't bad, but it's a 'C' story and script.  But it was fun to watch for me.  Written by Jason Bourque and Paul Ziller.  Ziller also directed.  The run time is about 100 minutes and it should be rated 'PG-13' for lots of raw, human meat all over.  Stars: Amber Borycki, Sebastian Gacky, Neil Denis, Brian Krause, Carrie Genzel, Niall Matter.

OK, I'm tired now.  Tomorrow I'll give you the lowdown on 'Iron Man'.  If you have comments or suggestions, you can make them here or e-mail me at seenamovie@yahoo.com [1].  I'll try to get back to you when I can.