187. Mimic [Director's Cut] (C) I picked this up for less than five dollars through Amazon, so I can't say I was too disappointed by the purchase, although the film wasn't as good as I had hoped. Visually, it's obviously from Guillermo Del Toro (and as excellent in look as you would expect), but on other levels the film isn't nearly as successful. The characters, for one thing, are barely developed. Even the lead, played by Mira Sorvino, is pretty thin. She's a scientist, she loves her husband, and she's pregnant. That's about it -- and she's the most developed character in the movie! Still, in terms of atmosphere, the movie is an excellent work of horror-sf. When it gets down to having a handful of capable people trapped in the underground of New York, fighting off giant insects, it's executed about as well as a movie with that premise could be. Alas, with a re-write or two, it could have been so much more. For one thing, the original ending that Del Toro describes on the DVD is chilling just to hear. It's a shame he was never able to film it. I caught a preview screening of Sleeping Beauty last night, but I think I need to let the movie sit with me before I make any judgments about it. Tammy Macintosh (Jool of Farscape has a supporting role -- it's nice to see her getting work in something this visible internationally).
Spoiler: #1-169. 1. In the Heat of the Night (A) 2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B) 3. The Passion of the Christ (A) 4. Mamma Mia! (B) 5. All About Eve (A) 6. Looking for Anne (C+) 7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+) 8. The King's Speech (A) 9. How Green Was My Valley (B-) 10. Black Swan (B+) 11. Made in Dagenham (B) 12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-) 13. Barney's Version (A-) 14. Out of Africa (B) 15. The Social Network (A-) 16. The Sound of Music (B) 17. Pulp Fiction (A) 18. Forrest Gump (A) 19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+) 20. The Illusionist (B-) 21. The French Connection (B+) 22. Network (A+) 23. Incendies (A+) 24. Mrs. Miniver (A) 25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+) 26. For A Few Dollars More (B) 27. WALL-E (A+) 28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A) 29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B) 30. Gigi (B-) 31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+) 32. How To Train Your Dragon (A) 33. Tarzan (B+) 34. Oliver! (B+) 35. Gosford Park (A-) 36. The Princess Bride (B+) 37. All the President's Men (A-) 38. Oliver Twist (B+) 39. My Fair Lady (A+) 40. Hanna (A-) 41. The Godfather (A+) 42. The Godfather: Part II (A+) 43. The Godfather: Part III (A-) 44. Dog Day Afternoon (A) 45. Taxi Driver (A-) 46. Great Expectations (B+) 47. The Last Airbender (D-) 48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+) 49. Raging Bull (B+) 50. GoodFellas (A-) 51. Spartacus (A+) 52. The Deer Hunter (B+) 53. Reservoir Dogs (A) 54. A Clockwork Orange (A) 55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+) 56. Gone With The Wind (A+) 57. On the Waterfront (A) 58. Thor (B+) 59. The Seventh Seal (A-) 60. Hamlet (A) 61. All the King's Men (A-) 62. Roman Holiday (A+) 63. Rebecca (A-) 64. Notorious (A) 65. American Madness (B+) 66. It Happened One Night (A-) 67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-) 68. You Can't Take It With You (B+) 69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-) 70. The Heiress (A+) 71. X-Men: First Class (A-) 72. Super 8 (B+) 73. Dr. No (B-) 74. From Russia With Love (A) 75. Captain Blood (A+) 76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+) 77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+) 78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+) 79. From Here To Eternity (A) 80. To Have and Have Not (B) 81. The Big Sleep (A-) 82. Barry Lyndon (B+) 83. The Snake Pit (B+) 84. Hoosiers (C-) 85. Rocky (A-) 86. Midnight in Paris (B+) 87. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (B+) 88. Key Largo (B-) 89. Bridge on the River Kwai (A) 90. The Apartment (A-) 91. Captain America: The First Avenger (A-) 92. Ordinary People (A-) 93. Days of Heaven (B+) 94. Yojimbo (A-) 95. Tangled (A) 96. Cowboys and Aliens (B) 97. Crazy, Stupid, Love (A-) 98. Beginners (A-) 99. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (A+) 100. Bonnie and Clyde (A-) 101. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 102. Elmer Gantry (B+) 103. Sanjuro (A-) 104. The Help (B+) 105. Dark Passage (B+) 106. Easy A (B) 107. Rob Roy (B+) 108. The Great McGinty (C+) 109. Christmas in July (B-) 110. The Tree of Life (B+) 111. The Lady Eve (A-) 112. Sullivan's Travels (B+) 113. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 114. A Passage to India (A-) 115. Glengarry Glen Ross (A-) 116. Hail the Conquering Hero (B-) 117. The Great Moment (C+) 118. Platoon (A) 119. Atonement (A+) 120. Patton (A) 121. Pan's Labyrinth (A+) 122. The Debt (B+) 123. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (A-) 124. The Pawnbroker (A-) 125. Double Indemnity (A) 126. Mildred Pierce (B+) 127. The Postman Always Rings Twice (C-) 128. The Great Dictator (A+) 129. La Belle et la Bete (B+) 130. Contagion (B+) 131. The Age of Innocence (B+) 132. The Remains of the Day (A+) 133. His Girl Friday (A) 134. Howards End (B+) 135. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (A) 136. The Lion King 3D (A+) 137. Paths of Glory (B+) 138. Big Fish (B+) 139. The Magnificent Ambersons (B+) 140. Dumbo (A-) 141. Smiles of a Summer Night (A) 142. The Ides of March (B) 143. Moneyball (A-) 144. A Few Good Men (A+) 145. Some Like It Hot (A+) 146. The Talk of the Town (B-) 147. The Last Picture Show (A-) 148. Attack the Block (B) 149. The Awful Truth (A-) 150. Ben-Hur (B+) 151. Only Angels Have Wings (B) 152. Midnight Cowboy (B-) 153. Holiday (B+) 154. Modern Times (A+) 155. Singin' in the Rain (A) 156. A Star Is Born (1976) (C-) 157. A Star Is Born (1954) (A-) 158. Time Bandits (C) 159. Kagemusha (B) 160. Immortals (C+) 161. J. Edgar (B) 162. City of God (A) 163. Cinema Paradiso (B) 164. Three Colours: Blue (B+) 165. Three Colours: White (A-) 166. Three Colours: Red (A-) 167. The Muppets (B+) 168. Election (A) 169. Le Havre (C+) 170. Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut (A+) 171. About Schmidt (A-) 172. Drive (B) 173. Hugo (A) Martin Scorsese's megabudget 3D children's film was, from a distance, one of the odder projects scheduled for this year. Notwithstanding the fact that Scorsese, regardless of his place in the popular imagination as the director of gritty crime dramas, has always had considerably more range (he directed a musical with Liza Minnelli, after all), it still seems like a particular stretch. The first trailer was a little confusing. Then the critical acclaim started, and became an avalanche; now it's one of the year's best-reviewed movies, and the newly-minted winner of the National Board of Review's Picture and Director prizes. Virtually all the reviews and even cast interviews for this film spoil the central plot twist, the true identity of "Papa Georges", around which the whole plot turns. I'll omit that here, in case you haven't heard it, but in any event, it turns out that this project is really a vehicle for Scorsese's love of film, and film history, which powers the whole second half of the movie. It's quite magical. I do wonder, though, whether this ostensible children's film would really be that appealing to children (not being one myself anymore, I can't say). Scorsese incorporates plenty of whimsical humour, but the story is generally pretty measured in pace, and I don't know whether the film history angle would hold interest. I hope so, because it's a wonderful film, one of the best I've seen this year, but this seems like a dicey commercial venture (the trailers make it look rather fantastical, but there's at most a small dose of steampunk, and a lot of Dickens). Performances are strong across the board. The eponymous main character is played by Asa Butterfield (who I swear looks like a young Stanley Kubrick in certain shots; it's mostly the eyes), and he's an able lead, though his character arc feels progressively more sidelined as the movie goes and and becomes more and more about Sir Ben Kingsley's Papa Georges. Kingsley's become a great thespian most notable for doing paycheck work most of the time, but he's wonderful here. Chloe Moretz, one of the up-and-coming child actors, and she's very fun as the Hermione-ish Isabelle. There's a large adult supporting cast of secondary characters, including Sacha Baron Cohen as the seemingly cartoonish station superintendent who pleasingly turns out to have some depth. This is a lovely demonstration that Scorsese can deliver one of the year's best films without any of his usual dark storytelling motifs.
Funny People: A Judd Apatow comedy that was more like a drama with some poignant humor. Seth Rogen was his usual self and Adam Sandler did quite will in his dramatic role. I found it to be an enjoyable movie. Yep. It's her.
Spoiler: New Movies Seen in 2011 Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief - HBO Tron Legacy 3D - theater Clash of the Titans (2010) - HBO on Demand Take Me Home Tonight - free screenin' Sanctum - free screenin' The Green Hornet - free screenin' Green Zone - HBO Fantastic Mr. Fox - HBO True Grit (1969) - AMC Ringu - DVD Black Swan - Alamo Drafthouse (its not just a movie theater) Unknown - free screenin' The Losers - HBO The Sunset Limited - HBO on Demand Starsky & Hutch (2004) - Cinemax Kick-Ass - DVD The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - DVD The Adjustment Bureau - free screenin' Rango - theater Red (2010) - DVD rental Hot Tub Time Machine - DVD rental Harry Brown - DVD Faster - DVD rental Jonah Hex - DVD rental Battle: L.A. - theater The Girl who Played with Fire - DVD The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - DVD rental Leaves of Grass - DVD Whiteout - Cinemax on Demand Sucker Punch - free screenin' Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - DVD Paul - theater Source Code - theater Rio - free screenin' The Fighter - DVD rental Invictus - Cinemax Scream 4 - theater Fast Five - midnight screenin' THOR - free screenin' Priest - theater Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - midnight screenin' X-Men: First Class - theater Ramona and Beezus - HBO Shrek Forever After - HBO Super 8 - theater Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - HBO Devil - Cinemax on Demand Green Lantern - theater Killers - Netflix Instant Push - DVD rental Ron White: Behavioral Problems - DVD rental All*Star Superman - DVD rental Captain America: The First Avenger - midnight screenin' Dylan Dog: Dead of Night - DVD rental Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One - DVD The King's Speech - DVD rental Get Low - DVD rental Dan in Real Life - DVD Thor: Tales of Asgard - DVD rental Green Lantern: Emerald Knights - DVD rental Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths - DVD Planet Hulk - DVD rental Alien vs Predator: Requium - Unrated - DVD rental Fright Night (1985) - DVD John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) - DVD 50/50 - free screenin' Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules - DVD Repo Men- Unrated - DVD Earth Girls Are Easy - DVD Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey - DVD Tangled - DVD Kung Fu Panda 2 3D - dollar theater Dolphin Tale - free screenin' Mad Money - DVD The Ron Clark Story - DVD Nico the Unicorn - DVD Jungle Boy - DVD Killer Wave - DVD Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - Netflix Instant Steve Harvey - Don't Trip...He Ain't Through With Me Yet! - Netflix Instant Mel Brooks' Silent Movie - DVD Steve Harvey - Still Trippin' - Netflix Instant Secretariat - Netflix Instant From Dusk 'til Dawn - Netflix Instant From Dusk 'til Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money - Netflix Instant From Dusk 'til Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter - Netflix Instant Kevin Smith - Too Fat for 40 - Netflix Instant Dream House - free screenin' Machine Gun Preacher - free screenin' The Ides of March - free screenin' Real Steel - free screenin' 127 Hours - HBO on Demand Fireflies in the Garden - free screenin' The Thing (2011) - free screenin' The Crow: City of Angels - Netflix Instant Poltergiest II: The Other Side - Netflix Instant Poltergiest III - Netflix Instant The Way - free screenin' Beneath the Planet of the Apes - HBO Family Escape from the Planet of the Apes - HBO Family Conquest of the Planet of the Apes - HBO Family Knight and Day - More Max/Cinemax The Last Man on Earth - AMC on Demand The Kids are Alright - Cinemax on Demand The Rite - HBO Unstoppable - HBO on Demand Psycho (1960)- Cinemax on Demand Psycho III - Cinemax on Demand Jeepers Creepers - FLIX on Demand Black Sunday - Cinemax John Carpenter's Halloween - AMC Halloween III: Season of the Witch - AMC Psycho II - Cinemax Land of the Dead - HBO Zone Psycho (1998) - DVD The Muppets - theater Death at a Funeral (2007) - DVD The Frighteners: Director's Cut - DVD My friend D & I got this one out of the five dollar bin at Wal-Mart last week (or the week before, I forget), and finally got around to watchin' it last night. I've seen the theatrical cut, but not the director's. It was her first time watchin' the movie, period. She liked it, thought it was pretty funny. I still like it, but don't think the added scenes really do anything to majorly alter the movie one way or the other.
Updates in Bold: Adieu Galaxy Express 999 (8) The Adjustment Bureau (8) Afro Samurai: Resurrection (7) Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion (4) Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (7) Armored Trooper Votoms: Alone Again (7) Armored Trooper Votoms: Finder (8) Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (8) Babylon 5: River of Souls (7) Babylon 5: Thirdspace (7) Beverly Hills Cop (7) Beverly Hills Cop 2 (6) Beverly Hills Cop 3 (7) Blue Remains (6) Black Swan (9) Bleach Movie 4: Hell Chapter (9) Broken Blade 3: The Mark of the Assassin's Dagger (9) Broken Blade 4: The Land of Disaster (9) Broken Blade 5: Death's Horizon (9) Broken Blade 6: Bastions of Sorrow (9) Captain America: The First Avenger (8) Coicent (10) Cowboys and Aliens (8) Cutthroat Island (9) The Debt (8) The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (9) Drive Angry (7) Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance (9) Five Numbers (9) Gantz (9) Godkiller (6) Green Lantern (8) Hanna (8) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (8) Honey and Clover (6) I Am Number Four (8) Immortals (7) Infernal Affairs (7) Kamui (4) Galaxy Express 999 (9) The Garden of Sinners Movie 8: Epilogue (9) Loups=Garous (8) Macross Frontier: The Wings of Goodbye (9) Mardock Scramble: The First Compression (9) The Mechanic (2011) (9) Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Awakeening of the Trailblazer (8) Munto: The Movie (6) Musashi Miyamoto (6) Outlander (8) Pirates of the Caribean: On Stranger Tides (9) Priest (5) Real Steel (8) Rise of the Planet of the Apes (9) Scream 4 (6) Source Code (9) Super 8 (8) Tekken: Blood Vengence (4) Thor (9) Three Musketeers, The (2011) (5) Time of Eve (10) Transformers: Dark of the Moon (9) Trigun: Badlands Rumble (8) Unknown (7) Urusei Yatsura Movie 1: Only You (8) Urusei Yatsura Movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer (9) Urusei Yatsura Movie 3: Remember My Love (8) Urusei Yatsura Movie 4: Lum the Forever (7) Urusei Yatsura Movie 5: The Final Chapter (8) Urusei Yatsura Movie 6: Always My Darling (8) Versus (6) X-Men: First Class (8) Your Highness (3)
Spoiler: #1-169. 1. In the Heat of the Night (A) 2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B) 3. The Passion of the Christ (A) 4. Mamma Mia! (B) 5. All About Eve (A) 6. Looking for Anne (C+) 7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+) 8. The King's Speech (A) 9. How Green Was My Valley (B-) 10. Black Swan (B+) 11. Made in Dagenham (B) 12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-) 13. Barney's Version (A-) 14. Out of Africa (B) 15. The Social Network (A-) 16. The Sound of Music (B) 17. Pulp Fiction (A) 18. Forrest Gump (A) 19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+) 20. The Illusionist (B-) 21. The French Connection (B+) 22. Network (A+) 23. Incendies (A+) 24. Mrs. Miniver (A) 25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+) 26. For A Few Dollars More (B) 27. WALL-E (A+) 28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A) 29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B) 30. Gigi (B-) 31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+) 32. How To Train Your Dragon (A) 33. Tarzan (B+) 34. Oliver! (B+) 35. Gosford Park (A-) 36. The Princess Bride (B+) 37. All the President's Men (A-) 38. Oliver Twist (B+) 39. My Fair Lady (A+) 40. Hanna (A-) 41. The Godfather (A+) 42. The Godfather: Part II (A+) 43. The Godfather: Part III (A-) 44. Dog Day Afternoon (A) 45. Taxi Driver (A-) 46. Great Expectations (B+) 47. The Last Airbender (D-) 48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+) 49. Raging Bull (B+) 50. GoodFellas (A-) 51. Spartacus (A+) 52. The Deer Hunter (B+) 53. Reservoir Dogs (A) 54. A Clockwork Orange (A) 55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+) 56. Gone With The Wind (A+) 57. On the Waterfront (A) 58. Thor (B+) 59. The Seventh Seal (A-) 60. Hamlet (A) 61. All the King's Men (A-) 62. Roman Holiday (A+) 63. Rebecca (A-) 64. Notorious (A) 65. American Madness (B+) 66. It Happened One Night (A-) 67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-) 68. You Can't Take It With You (B+) 69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-) 70. The Heiress (A+) 71. X-Men: First Class (A-) 72. Super 8 (B+) 73. Dr. No (B-) 74. From Russia With Love (A) 75. Captain Blood (A+) 76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+) 77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+) 78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+) 79. From Here To Eternity (A) 80. To Have and Have Not (B) 81. The Big Sleep (A-) 82. Barry Lyndon (B+) 83. The Snake Pit (B+) 84. Hoosiers (C-) 85. Rocky (A-) 86. Midnight in Paris (B+) 87. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (B+) 88. Key Largo (B-) 89. Bridge on the River Kwai (A) 90. The Apartment (A-) 91. Captain America: The First Avenger (A-) 92. Ordinary People (A-) 93. Days of Heaven (B+) 94. Yojimbo (A-) 95. Tangled (A) 96. Cowboys and Aliens (B) 97. Crazy, Stupid, Love (A-) 98. Beginners (A-) 99. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (A+) 100. Bonnie and Clyde (A-) 101. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 102. Elmer Gantry (B+) 103. Sanjuro (A-) 104. The Help (B+) 105. Dark Passage (B+) 106. Easy A (B) 107. Rob Roy (B+) 108. The Great McGinty (C+) 109. Christmas in July (B-) 110. The Tree of Life (B+) 111. The Lady Eve (A-) 112. Sullivan's Travels (B+) 113. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 114. A Passage to India (A-) 115. Glengarry Glen Ross (A-) 116. Hail the Conquering Hero (B-) 117. The Great Moment (C+) 118. Platoon (A) 119. Atonement (A+) 120. Patton (A) 121. Pan's Labyrinth (A+) 122. The Debt (B+) 123. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (A-) 124. The Pawnbroker (A-) 125. Double Indemnity (A) 126. Mildred Pierce (B+) 127. The Postman Always Rings Twice (C-) 128. The Great Dictator (A+) 129. La Belle et la Bete (B+) 130. Contagion (B+) 131. The Age of Innocence (B+) 132. The Remains of the Day (A+) 133. His Girl Friday (A) 134. Howards End (B+) 135. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (A) 136. The Lion King 3D (A+) 137. Paths of Glory (B+) 138. Big Fish (B+) 139. The Magnificent Ambersons (B+) 140. Dumbo (A-) 141. Smiles of a Summer Night (A) 142. The Ides of March (B) 143. Moneyball (A-) 144. A Few Good Men (A+) 145. Some Like It Hot (A+) 146. The Talk of the Town (B-) 147. The Last Picture Show (A-) 148. Attack the Block (B) 149. The Awful Truth (A-) 150. Ben-Hur (B+) 151. Only Angels Have Wings (B) 152. Midnight Cowboy (B-) 153. Holiday (B+) 154. Modern Times (A+) 155. Singin' in the Rain (A) 156. A Star Is Born (1976) (C-) 157. A Star Is Born (1954) (A-) 158. Time Bandits (C) 159. Kagemusha (B) 160. Immortals (C+) 161. J. Edgar (B) 162. City of God (A) 163. Cinema Paradiso (B) 164. Three Colours: Blue (B+) 165. Three Colours: White (A-) 166. Three Colours: Red (A-) 167. The Muppets (B+) 168. Election (A) 169. Le Havre (C+) 170. Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut (A+) 171. About Schmidt (A-) 172. Drive (B) 173. Hugo (A) 174. Ed Wood (A+) Ah, 1994. Johnny Depp being in a Tim Burton movie did not yet feel obligatory, and Burton had not yet completed his descent into self-indulgence. This is Burton's best film, bar none, turning "Hollywood's worst director" into a Don Quixote out to realize his passion for film in spite of a total lack of talent. Depp is in top form, and Martin Landau's performance as Bela Lugosi is excellent (I've always been torn between him and James Whitmore for Best Supporting Actor that year; Lugosi certainly has more screentime). A lone discordant note is the climactic scene involving a fictionalized encounter between Wood and Orson Welles, which is well-written, but I'm always thrown by the fact that Vincent D'Onofrio's voice is blatantly being dubbed by Maurice LaMarche (whose Welles impression I'd recognize anywhere).
01/01 Black Swan (2010) ✭✭✭✭ 01/03 Winter's Bone (2010) ✭✭✭½ 01/22 Buried (2010) ✭✭✭✭ 02/05 The King's Speech (2010) ✭✭✭✭ 02/07 Catfish (2010) ✭✭✭ 02/09 The American (2010) ✭✭ 02/09 Frozen (2010) ✭✭½ 02/10 Dinner For Schmucks (2010) ✭✭½ 02/10 Case 39 (2009) ✭✭ 02/11 Cyrus (2010) ✭✭✭✭ 02/11 Piranha (2010)✭✭✭ 02/11 Julie & Julia (2009) ✭✭✭½ 02/11 From Here to Eternity (1953) ✭✭✭✭ 02/12 Over Her Dead Body (2008) ✭✭ 02/12 Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) ✭✭½ 02/12 The Kids Are All Right (2010) ✭✭✭½ 02/13 The Last Exorcism (2010) ✭✭✭✭ 02/14 The Other Guys (2010) ✭✭½ 02/14 Saw 3D (2010)✭✭ 02/14 Nowhere Boy ✭✭✭✭ 02/18 Due Date (2010) ✭✭ 03/16 Goldfinger ✭✭✭ 03/26 Thunderball 03/26 The Bride of Frankenstein ✭✭✭ 03/27 Phantom of the Opera (1925) ✭✭✭ 04/02 A Single Man ✭✭ 04/03 Big Fan ✭✭✭ 04/04 Grimm Love ✭ 04/05 Stolen ✭✭✭ 04/10 The Fighter (2010) ✭✭✭ 04/11 Spartacus (1960) ✭✭✭ 1/2 05/11 The Graduate ✭✭ 05/13 127 Hours (2010)✭✭ 1/2 06/02 Walkabout ✭✭ 1/2 06/10 Thor (2011) ✭✭✭ 1/2 06/12 Super 8 (2011) ✭✭✭✭ 06/15 X-Men: First Class (2011) ✭✭✭✭ 06/17 The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) ✭✭✭ 06/19 Kalifornia ✭✭ --/-- Deliverance ✭✭ 1/2 06/29 Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) ✭✭ 1/2 09/26 Let Me In ✭✭ 10/01 The Masque of the Red Death ✭ 10/03 Trollhunter ✭✭✭ 10/04 Skyline ✭✭ 10/04 Halloween Resurrecton ✭ 10/05 The Perfect Host ✭✭ 1/2 10/08 Manhattan Murder Mystery ✭✭✭ 10/10 I Love You Phillip Morris ✭✭✭✭ 10/26 Captain America ✭✭✭✭ 10/26 Red State ✭✭✭ 10/28 Lake Mungo ✭✭ 10/28 In the Mouth of Madness ✭✭ 11/09 Insidious ✭✭ 11/10 A Little Help ✭✭✭ --/-- The Captains ✭✭ 12/01 Hanna ✭✭✭½
I'll have to look at my Netflix account and see what was up haha... I watched an embarrassing amount of Law & Order: SVU during that time period.
Love & Savagery: This is a Canadian film that stars The Republic of Doyle's Allan Hawko as a geologist who travels to a small town in Ireland and meets a young beautiful woman who's about to become a nun. She struggles with her love for him and her dedication to becoming a nun. He on the other hand is sure about her but has to put up with with her overprotective friends and family. This isn't the kind of film that gets people's attention and I haven't done justice in selling it here, but it really is a good movie.
Melancholia (2011) ✭✭✭ Las von Trier is one messed up individual. This is nowhere near as controversial as Antichrist, but his comments about Hitler and Nazis or whatever it was was certainly in my mind as I began watching this field. Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Gainsborough, Stellan Skarsgard, and others make for an all-star cast. Udo Kier has a particularly great scene of comic relief near the beginning of the film. Basically, a woman goes a little nuts before a rogue planet begins it collision path with Earth. I recommend you at least see it, although it's pretty bizarre.
Spoiler: Rest of my list 1. The Fighter: B- 2. Batman(90's saga): A-,B-,C-,D 3. Star Wars OT-Special Edition: B+, A, B 4. The Green Hornet: B 5. True Grit(1969): C+ 6. Lord of the Rings saga: (A,A,A) 7. The Machinist: A- 8. Season of the Witch: B 9. Frozen: A- 10. Due Date: B+ 11. Planet of the Apes(2001): B- 12. Faster: C 13. Romance: D (French film, subtitled) 14. YPF: C- (YPF=Young People F*&^ing) 15. The Beautiful Truth: B- 16. Strictly Sexual: C+ 17. DOOM: C 18. Brothers: B+ 19. Men In Black II: B- 20. The Crow: Wicked Prayer: C- 21. The Soloist: C 22. Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love: C+ 23. I Now Pronounce you Chuck & Larry: B- 24. Battle in Heaven: C+ (Mexican film, subtitled) 25. Legion: B- 26. Battle: LA: B+ 27. Righteous Kill: B 28. Dracula II: Ascension: B- 29. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li: D 30. You Don't Mess With the Zohan: C+ 31. Finding Bliss: C 32. Dracula III: Legacy: B- 33. Tangled: B+ 34. Paul Blart Mall Cop: C- 35. Chloe: B 36. Kung Fu Panda: B- 37. Centurion: B 38. The People I've Slept With: C 39. Grown Ups: B- 40. The Conspirator: A- 41. XXX: State of the Union: C+ 42. Fast Five: B+ 43. THOR: A- 44. Priest: D+ 45. The Fourth Kind: B+ 46. POTC: On Stranger Tides: B- 47. Turtles Forever: A- 48. Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story: B+ 49. Easy A: A 50. Inception: B 51. #1 Cheerleader Camp: D 52. Freakanomics: C+ 53. Green Lantern: C 54. The American: C- 55. Super 8: A 56. Green Lantern: First Flight: B 57. Transformers: Dark of the Moon: B- 58. 9 Songs: F 59. Kings Speech: A- 60. Whiteout: C+ 61. Passion Play: D+ 62. Captain America: The First Avenger: A- 63. Marley & Me: A 64. Date Night: C+ 65. Frantic: B+ 66. Presumed Innocent: A 67. Invictus: A 68. Rocky: A 69. Hurt Locker: A+ 70. Rocky II: C+ 71. Rocky III: B+ 72. Rocky IV: A 73. Cowboys & Aliens: B 74. Wonder Woman (DC Animated): B+ 75. Rocky V: B- 76. Conan The Barbarian('11): B- 77. Dinner for Schmucks: D 78. Nothing But the Truth: B 79. Snow Angels: B+ 80. Everybody's Fine: C- 81. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: A+ 82. Fragments: C+ 83. Fright Night ('11): A- 84. Cold Comfort Farm: D 85. Machete: C- 86. The Queen: A 87. Public Enemies: B+ 88. Drive Angry: D 89. Red Riding Hood: C+ 90. Fright Night ('85): B 91. Love & Other Drugs: B 92. X-Files: I Want to Believe - B+ 93. Source Code: A- 94. Paranormal Activity 3: A 95. Rachel Getting Married: C 96. Love Guru: F 97. Funny People: C- 98. Win Win: B+ 99. Everything Must Go: B 100. Scott Pilgrim vs The World: D+ All I really want to say is, I don't get it. Heard plenty of hype about this film on various sites and it didn't deliver for me. Wish film #100 had been better but hey not a bad total. I'll maybe get to 105 before years end. Wish I could recall how many I had on my 2010 list?
Heretic, that movie was quirky and wonderful! Spoiler: #1-169. 1. In the Heat of the Night (A) 2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B) 3. The Passion of the Christ (A) 4. Mamma Mia! (B) 5. All About Eve (A) 6. Looking for Anne (C+) 7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+) 8. The King's Speech (A) 9. How Green Was My Valley (B-) 10. Black Swan (B+) 11. Made in Dagenham (B) 12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-) 13. Barney's Version (A-) 14. Out of Africa (B) 15. The Social Network (A-) 16. The Sound of Music (B) 17. Pulp Fiction (A) 18. Forrest Gump (A) 19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+) 20. The Illusionist (B-) 21. The French Connection (B+) 22. Network (A+) 23. Incendies (A+) 24. Mrs. Miniver (A) 25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+) 26. For A Few Dollars More (B) 27. WALL-E (A+) 28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A) 29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B) 30. Gigi (B-) 31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+) 32. How To Train Your Dragon (A) 33. Tarzan (B+) 34. Oliver! (B+) 35. Gosford Park (A-) 36. The Princess Bride (B+) 37. All the President's Men (A-) 38. Oliver Twist (B+) 39. My Fair Lady (A+) 40. Hanna (A-) 41. The Godfather (A+) 42. The Godfather: Part II (A+) 43. The Godfather: Part III (A-) 44. Dog Day Afternoon (A) 45. Taxi Driver (A-) 46. Great Expectations (B+) 47. The Last Airbender (D-) 48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+) 49. Raging Bull (B+) 50. GoodFellas (A-) 51. Spartacus (A+) 52. The Deer Hunter (B+) 53. Reservoir Dogs (A) 54. A Clockwork Orange (A) 55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+) 56. Gone With The Wind (A+) 57. On the Waterfront (A) 58. Thor (B+) 59. The Seventh Seal (A-) 60. Hamlet (A) 61. All the King's Men (A-) 62. Roman Holiday (A+) 63. Rebecca (A-) 64. Notorious (A) 65. American Madness (B+) 66. It Happened One Night (A-) 67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-) 68. You Can't Take It With You (B+) 69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-) 70. The Heiress (A+) 71. X-Men: First Class (A-) 72. Super 8 (B+) 73. Dr. No (B-) 74. From Russia With Love (A) 75. Captain Blood (A+) 76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+) 77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+) 78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+) 79. From Here To Eternity (A) 80. To Have and Have Not (B) 81. The Big Sleep (A-) 82. Barry Lyndon (B+) 83. The Snake Pit (B+) 84. Hoosiers (C-) 85. Rocky (A-) 86. Midnight in Paris (B+) 87. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (B+) 88. Key Largo (B-) 89. Bridge on the River Kwai (A) 90. The Apartment (A-) 91. Captain America: The First Avenger (A-) 92. Ordinary People (A-) 93. Days of Heaven (B+) 94. Yojimbo (A-) 95. Tangled (A) 96. Cowboys and Aliens (B) 97. Crazy, Stupid, Love (A-) 98. Beginners (A-) 99. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (A+) 100. Bonnie and Clyde (A-) 101. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 102. Elmer Gantry (B+) 103. Sanjuro (A-) 104. The Help (B+) 105. Dark Passage (B+) 106. Easy A (B) 107. Rob Roy (B+) 108. The Great McGinty (C+) 109. Christmas in July (B-) 110. The Tree of Life (B+) 111. The Lady Eve (A-) 112. Sullivan's Travels (B+) 113. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 114. A Passage to India (A-) 115. Glengarry Glen Ross (A-) 116. Hail the Conquering Hero (B-) 117. The Great Moment (C+) 118. Platoon (A) 119. Atonement (A+) 120. Patton (A) 121. Pan's Labyrinth (A+) 122. The Debt (B+) 123. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (A-) 124. The Pawnbroker (A-) 125. Double Indemnity (A) 126. Mildred Pierce (B+) 127. The Postman Always Rings Twice (C-) 128. The Great Dictator (A+) 129. La Belle et la Bete (B+) 130. Contagion (B+) 131. The Age of Innocence (B+) 132. The Remains of the Day (A+) 133. His Girl Friday (A) 134. Howards End (B+) 135. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (A) 136. The Lion King 3D (A+) 137. Paths of Glory (B+) 138. Big Fish (B+) 139. The Magnificent Ambersons (B+) 140. Dumbo (A-) 141. Smiles of a Summer Night (A) 142. The Ides of March (B) 143. Moneyball (A-) 144. A Few Good Men (A+) 145. Some Like It Hot (A+) 146. The Talk of the Town (B-) 147. The Last Picture Show (A-) 148. Attack the Block (B) 149. The Awful Truth (A-) 150. Ben-Hur (B+) 151. Only Angels Have Wings (B) 152. Midnight Cowboy (B-) 153. Holiday (B+) 154. Modern Times (A+) 155. Singin' in the Rain (A) 156. A Star Is Born (1976) (C-) 157. A Star Is Born (1954) (A-) 158. Time Bandits (C) 159. Kagemusha (B) 160. Immortals (C+) 161. J. Edgar (B) 162. City of God (A) 163. Cinema Paradiso (B) 164. Three Colours: Blue (B+) 165. Three Colours: White (A-) 166. Three Colours: Red (A-) 167. The Muppets (B+) 168. Election (A) 169. Le Havre (C+) 170. Almost Famous: The Bootleg Cut (A+) 171. About Schmidt (A-) 172. Drive (B) 173. Hugo (A) 174. Ed Wood (A+) 175. Out of Sight (A) In my review of Almost Famous I remarked how it was odd to look back a decade to when Kate Hudson gave an amazing performance and seemed to be an emerging talent. Much the same is true here with Jennifer Lopez, whose decline was slightly more gradual than Hudson's (who literally never made another worthwhile film), but not by much. In the late 90s, Lopez seemed like she was going places, but she and Hudson both got taken out by the rom-com vortex of suck (as well as, in Lopez's case, a serious overdose of publicity). George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh, of course, did go places after this (including trips onto the stage at the Academy Awards); this is where Clooney became a movie star. Clooney and Lopez's interplay is fantastic to watch. Leonard influenced Tarantino, and this feels like a more low-key version of a Tarantino film (though with very similar editing). The supporting cast is likewise very good, and I got to wondering while watching this why Ving Rhames hasn't done anything notable in a while. #175, 75 more than I reached last year. Don't think I'll make 200 before the year is out, though.
188. Sleeping Beauty [2011] (C) After some deliberations I have to express profound ambivalence about Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty. The lead character is too much of a cipher and the narrative is too fond of rambling ellipses for me to come away with much of anything besides a distaste of old men and an appreciation of the film's performances and cinematography (The film's use of long takes that often look like portraits is truly gorgeous). I am happy to report that the movie is never exploitative; despite being filled with nudity, it's never very sexy. Still, too many of the main character's relationships are left unexplained. It's a pretty, but empty movie. Not sure if I'll reach 200 films this year, although I'm heading to my parents for winter break and may manage a slew of films before the end of the year. RE: Kate Hudson -- it's a shame The Killer Inside Me wasn't more worthwhile. She's managed to pick a mix of projects that looked terrible from the outset and movies that fell apart in the process. RE: Scott Pilgrim -- Heresy, indeed! One of my favorite films of 2010.
After Another Earth, this came to mind. Glad to hear that it's available. Yeah, it was the fact that it was so unusual that made it appealing.
Spoiler: Rest of list 1. Alien 3 (assembly cut) - B 2. Let the Right One In - A 3. Inception - B. 4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - B+ 5. Lilo and Stitch - A 6. Despicable Me - B 7. Forbidden Planet - B+ 8. Clerks - B 9. Metropia - C+ 10. Brand Upon the Brain - B 11. Beltesassar Animation Festival 17 - A 12. Buried - B+ 13. How to Train Your Dragon - A 14. Monsters - C+. 15. The Tune (Bill Plympton) - C 16. House (1977) - B 17. Institute Benjamenta - B- 18. The Triplets of Belleville (rewatch) - A 19. Lunacy (Jan Svankmajer, 2005) - B 20. Paradise Lost (1999) - C- 21. Daybreakers - C 22. The Wizard of Oz (rewatch) - A 23. Winnebago Man - A 24. The Social Network - B+ 25. Book of the Dead (2005) - C 26. Megamind - B 27. North By Northwest (1959) - A 28. The Plague Dogs (1982) - B+ 29. Burn After Reading - B 31. The Incredibles (rewatch) - A 32. Fire and Ice (1983) - D 33. Bad Santa - B 34. Twelve Monkeys (rewatch) - A 35. Sweeney Todd - B+ 36. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 - B 37. Alien IV (Blu-ray) - D 38. American Movie (1999) - B 39. Naked (1993) - B 40. My Neighbor Totoro - B+ 41. Pulp Fiction (Rewatch) - A+ 42. Fight Club (Rewatch) - B+ 43. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - B 44. Falling Down (Rewatch) - B 45. Crazy Heart - C+ 46. Confessions of a Superhero - B 47. The King's Speech - B+ 48. Pinnochio (Disney, rewatch) - B 49. Network - A 50. Paprika - B+ 51. All The President's Men (1976) - A 52. The Illusionist (2010) - B 53. Rashomon (1950) - B 54. Wall-E (rewatch) - A 55. Tron Legacy - C+ 56. American Psycho - B 57. Rango - A- 58. Rear Window - A 59. Stranger Than Paradise (1984) - B 60. Get Low - B 61. Boken Flowers - A- 62. The Amazing Screw-On Head - A 63. Inland Empire (David Lynch) - B 64. Paul (2011) - B 65. Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch) - B 66. The Bad Sleep Well (Akira Kurosawa, 1962) - B+ 67. X-Men: First Class: B 68. The Fighter - B 69. Tangled - B 70. Be Kind, Rewind - C+ 71. Black Swan - B- 72. Howl's Moving Castle - B+ 73. Star Wars: A New Hope - Blu-ray Transfer Grade: B+ 74. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back - Blu-ray Transfer Grade: A. 75. Pulp Fiction (rewatch, Blu-ray) - Blu-ray transfer Grade: A 76. Brazil (rewatch) - B+ 77. Citizen Kane (rewatch) - A 78. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters - C 79. Magic Trip (2011) - B 80. The Lady of Names (2011) - B 81. Bright (2011) - A 82. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Blu-ray) - A 83. Robocop - B 84. Hellboy (rewatch) - A 85. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) - A 86. This is Spinal Tap - B 87. Ghostbusters (rewatch) - A 88. Vertigo - A- 89. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2: A- 90. Heavy Metal (rewatch) - C+ 91. Crumb (rewatch) - A+ 92. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) - A+ 93. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) - A+ 94. Kiki's Delivery Service - B+. Continuing my acquaintance with Miyazaki's back catalogue. Cute movie. Has an optimisitic tone that doesn't bother me in the way that some of the Disney movies bother me. 95. Jurassic Park (rewatch) - B+. Excellent Blu-ray transfer. Grainy yes, but that's how it was shot. Great DTS track. I find the last 1/3rd of the movie kind of tedious on rewatches. 96. Tron (rewatch) - A. Somehow this movie always surprises me. I mean I know what it looks like, but then I watch whatever new version comes out and I'm always impressed that it looks better than I remembered it. Great Blu-ray transfer. Not much of a story I guess but as a spectacle and a film with a truly unique look it's very successful. 97. The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear - C. Random animation buy I made off of Amazon. A french film from the same studio that made The Triplets of Belleville (but nothing at all like that movie). The DVD is fraught with transfer problems and bad de-teleclining. From the title I was expecting something whimsical, but this is actually pretty grim and not a whole lot of fun. The one good thing going for it is the watercolor backgrounds. 98. Jackie Brown (rewatch) - B. Watched this one a couple of weeks ago but forgot to review. Probably the most interesting thing about this movie is how some of scenes communicate their point non-verbally. Lots of long close-ups illustrating the character's emotional state (usually Jackie). Good caper film with some interesting cinematography. Not as much in common with Pulp Fiction as I remembered, except for Samuel Jackson who plays a very Samuel Jackson-esque character. 99. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - A. More Miyazaki, and at present the only one on Blu-ray (other than Ponyo). Very good. Imaginative creature design and a memorable fantasy world.
Crazy Stupid Love (2011) ✭✭✭✭ It's a romantic comedy. It's also romantic and funny. Great performances by the entire cast and very believable for the most part. It manages to avoid many cliches and produce something very worthwhile. Definitely my favorite movie not involving aliens, superheroes, or mythical creatures this year (so far). Apollo 18 (2011) ✭ I know why it got delayed now. It's bad... really, really, really bad.
I think that was the best rom-com I've seen in a long time. Between that and I Love You Philip Morris, I think directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are worth watching; they're more committed to being inventive in the comedy genre than most.
It was unusual in a manner not to unlike the Crank films are unusual. Not a fan of those either. It just didn't click for me. Glad you guys like it though.