Well this is a first, a Western movie comes out in Japan well before the American release date.  Any reason in particular why they're taking so long to bring it to the U.S?

Anyway, along with Good Night and Good Luck (which came out here this spring) so far it's my pick for movie of the year.  With the exception of one slightly implausible getaway scene I can't think of one negative comment to make towards the movie.  The acting is solid with not a single weak link, the pacing is spot-on, and the cinematography is splendid with a sort of thick, muted mood I haven't noticed since M Night Shyamalan's earlier movies.  There's a healthy heaping of political commentary and surprisingly the final act pulls off urban warfare more effectively than movies devoted to the topic.

For the most part it's not a cheery movie at all and is better that way.  I strongly hope the late U.S. release isn't for the sake of making any alterations.

I was very surprised by Children of Men. I went to see it on a whim, had absolutely no idea what it was about and was blown away by it. A very well-made movie and I'd also say it was my movie of the year.

For those about to look it up now - I can't help thinking that seeing it how I saw it maximised the impact. There are some early plot points that, if most modern trailers are anything to go by, I'm almost certain that the trailers will blow. Especially if it does take ages to reach the US. I'd recommend just filing the name under 'W' for 'well worth checking out' and leaving it at that for now.

Funny, I just went to see this last night. I don't know why, but I had high hopes for this film....I was disappointed. The first 15 minuted were so incredibly boring, and after that it just turns into a decent excitement Hollywood film with no emotions. This one is up there with 'War of the Worlds' in my list of biggest disappointment in the futuristic sci-fi genre of lasts years. It's not bad, just decent and certainly not worth going to the theatre for. I'd rather have watched this at home on a random evening.

If we go talking (Western) movie of the year, I'd shout out Borat and Babel.

I'll toss up a high scoring rank for BABEL as well.

Global-minded people, such as the folks here at STC, should really enjoy it.
Sometimes small actions of ours can affect more people than we know.