Cut Bank (2014)

A young man's life is unraveled after witnessing a murder that he filmed in his rural town of Cut Bank.

Nicely made thriller on Coen Bros. territory has a great cast and a lot going on, but seems a bit lazy and tired.

The Astronaut Farmer (2006)

A NASA astronaut, forced to retire years earlier so he could save his family farm, has never given up his dream of space travel and looks to build his own rocket, despite the government's threats to stop him.

Slow-paced, good-natured satire, implicitly celebrating American wayward entrepreneurship; Billy Bob Thornton is perfectly cast in the title role.

Maltin**1/2: "Thornton is ideal...Capraesque story...is beautifully rendered; only problem is that the guy in question is nuts!"

The Ice Harvest (2005)

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money, but his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Somnambulant - and humorless - heist thriller takes its time till it reveals that it actually does have a plot; good cast is hardly faced with any challenge.

Maltin**: "Mostly unfunny black comedy must have worked better on the pages of Scott Phillip's novel..."

Armageddon (1998)

After discovering that an asteroid the size of Texas is going to impact Earth in less than a month, N.A.S.A. recruits a misfit team of deep core drillers to save the planet.

A classic doomsday premise executed with a big budget is ruined by a silly plot and a chaotic ending.

On renewed viewing: a bit more entertaining, if you don't take to too seriously.

Halliwell (no star): "Loud and brainless action movie that was among the top box-office successes of 1998."

Maltin**: "Opens with a bang, and sets up an exciting (if improbable) story...After a while it becomes so routine, so predictable, and so redundant that all the fun is drained away."