Movies Seen in 2011

Stardust Memories (1980)

I really enjoyed this movie. Would like to call it "standard Woody Allen fare" but I haven't seen enough of his movies to know. It started out extremely funny, but seemed to slow down quite a bit in the middle, and I got distracted by how skinny Dorrie looked. But then it picked up again near the end and became not only funny but extremely touching and personally introspective as well. My favorite of his movies so far.

 

Spoiler: #1-159.

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+)

Watched this with mom earlier today. The process of selecting it really drove home how greatly my tastes diverge from hers, because I had about dozen unwatched films to choose from, and only a handful were suitable for her. I didn't think she'd be much interested in my collection of depressing foreign art films; so instead we went with the crowd-pleasing foreign film.

Anyway, the Blu-Ray I watched is the original theatrical cut; I understand that there's a considerably longer extended version (which was what I was under the impression I had) that, from what I've read, revises your perceptions of it considerably. In any event, the theatrical version that most people saw is a genial movie, though I don't think it's nearly as good as many people say. It has a lot of endearing elements, but never really develops (or, for that matter, tries) to have much of an arc. The most interesting aspects are the presentation of the vanished old culture of cinemagoing (I was reading a piece on the end of music stores earlier today that parallels this). Some of the acting (particularly from the kid) I thought was kind of hammy, but that may just be them being Italian.

 

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. Obviously it's Star Wars, and it's pretty great. Watching this movie again brought back some weird repressed memories of being totally freaked out by the Rancor when I was a kid. I can't really grade the Blu-ray transfer because I had just gotten my TV and it wasn't properly calibrated at the time. I think that I'll take the side of blasphemy here and state that the blinking Ewok and the "Nooooo" were actually pretty cool additions. That musical number in Jabba's palace that they added in the first remastering is still cringe-inducing, however. It's the most out of place thing in the entire remastered OT. It's not so much the song as it is the cheesy cartoony CGI that goes with it. I can understand what Lucas was going for there, to lighten the mood for kids (the first 20 minutes of ROTJ is actually pretty grim), but then again that was kind of the point wasn't it? I digress.

83. Robocop - B. Probably my first front to back watching of this movie all the way through. The special effects look surprisingly good on Blu-ray. Does a good job of walking the line between over-the-top action and satirical humor. Very, very funny at times. Definitely worth the $8 I payed for the Blu-ray at Wal-mart.

84. Hellboy (rewatch) - A. I like this movie maybe a little more than it deserves, but hey, it's Del Toro. I loved the Cthulu refs. I think the Hellboy character strikes a great balance between being relatable and all-powerful. You've also got David Hyde Pierce in there and some amazing effects sequences. There are many layers of win to be had here.

85. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition) - A. My first time with the extended editions, which I finally broke down and bought after a financial windfall. I tend to agree with Peter Jackson here in saying that this material is supplemental and not intended to replace the theatrical cuts. The additional material here is nice but, sometimes you just don't want to set aside nearly 4 hours to watch a movie and the theatrical cut hits more or less all of the same notes in less time. It's nice to have both however, this is most definitely my favorite Fantasy series of all time and high up there in my list of favorite movies of all time. There is a lot of talk on the net about how this transfer has too much Green / Cyan but I honestly could not tell at all, it looked great. Probably the greatest-looking Blu-ray I've watched on my new TV, but then I am mostly talking about the costumes and sets here, which you won't find finer examples of in all of cinema. I can't say much about the supplemental material- you've got more Bilbo narration, which is pleasant but hardly necessary; an early reference to the elves leaving middle-earth, which was covered pretty well in the later movies; more Aragorn angst regarding his position as heir to Gondor, but then that probably belonged mostly in the later movies anyway. The extended Lothlorien sequence is probably the most valuable addition, expanding Galadriel a bit as a character and giving Gandalf more of a proper send-off (though, of course, he returns anyway).

86. This is Spinal Tap - B. Manages to still be funny while at the same time feeling dated. A lot of this movie probably worked as shock humor when it was first released but now the concept of the stupid rock/reality television star is so ingrained that it feels a bit pat. Not all the jokes have lost their punch though, the metal detector sequence and of course the "eleven" bits are classics. The songs themselves are also very funny and hold up well.

87. Ghostbusters (rewatch) - A. Pretty uneven Blu-ray transfer which is fairly typical of 80s movies. Petty grainy for about the first 2/3rds of the movie and then clears up for the big effect sequences at the end. The film is a classic of course. Where's the third?

88. Vertigo - A-. Continuing my acquaintance with Hitchcock's classic material. This is a good film but Rear Window has more to like I think (if Rear Window is an A, I have to give this an A-).

 

Spoiler: #1-159.

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+)

The first film in Kieslowski's "Three Colours" thematic trilogy, a virtual one-woman show starring Juliette Binoche as a grieving widow who has just lost her husband and child. Very unsentimental, and starts you off at a remove from the central character (unlike most approaches to a subject like this, we pointedly don't meet the protagonist prior to the accident, nor are we given the opportunity to forge an emotional connection to the deceased). Binoche's performance is excellent, and the visual style of the film is very memorable. Ultimately the things it's saying about grief are pretty unremarkable, but it's well-done.

 

182. The Descendants (B-)

As a big fan of Alexander Payne's Sideways and an admirer of his About Schmidt, I really wanted to like this movie. Unfortunately, it's just not as good as either of those films (I haven't seen Payne's earlier movies, although I should).

Part of the problem is the character of Matt King, played by George Clooney. Despite being in practically every scene of the movie, we never learn as much about him as we should. His past with his wife is particularly vague, which causes trouble because the film is hinged on King dealing with his baggage from that relationship when his wife slips into a permanent coma after a boating accident.

In the film's opening narration, Payne uses King to suggest that this won't be a typical film about Hawaii, simply portraying the islands as an exotic locale of endless vacation. Yet, in the final analysis, beyond this voice over, Payne does exactly that. For all the suggestions that King is a workaholic, we don't see him doing much work. It really does seem like an endless vacation.

183. The Fly [1986] (A)

Cronenberg's remake remains a classic of sf and body horror, and I'm happy that I got to see it on the big screen (for the film's twenty-fifth anniversary). All three actors in the movie (there are others, but the action is surprisingly limited to Goldblum, Davis, and Getz) are terrific, the script is excellent, the direction good, and Howard Shore's operatic score perfect (it's no wonder he turned it into an actual opera recently). Even the effects (most of them practical) hold up very well.

184. Dead Ringers (C+)

Cronenberg's next film, unfortunately, doesn't hold up nearly as well. Jeremy Irons is good in a dual role as twin brothers, but the rest of the cast (especially Geneviève Bujold) is wasted. A times the movie feels completely aimless, and although Irons is excellent at differentiating between which twin he is playing, at times the film is downright confusing.

 

Spoiler: #1-159.

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-)

The second of Kieslowki's trilogy (though "white" as a theme isn't nearly as visually striking as "blue" was); from some of the reviews I've read, such as James Berardinelli's, this is held to be the weakest of the three, but I think I enjoyed this more than Blue. Has a much more comic tone throughout, though there's a lot of sadness and the ending isn't really that funny at all (the final shot of Delpy's character, a last-minute addition, seems kind of out of place to me). Apart from the "liberty, equality, fraternity" theme, there's a recurring element of commentary on the status of the new Europe created by the fall of Communism, something the Polish Kieslowski would be ideally placed to discuss.

 

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-

Adam Sandler is I think making a public cry for help in this dark comedy that is 30 min too long. The film clocks in at 2hr20min and the best part of the film is the abundance of celebrity cameos in the film. Seriously I think every know famous stage comedian/actor made a cameo in this film that is alive. I actually liked Seth Rogan in this movie as well he could actually be a decent actor not just doing comedy. He shows signs here and there that it's in him. This film has to be a cry for help I mean did you see those previews for his latest film Jack&Jill??

Closing in on 100 finally.

 

Spoiler: #1-159.

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-)

Kieslowski's trilogy concludes with Red, starring Irene Jacob (I spent the movie trying to recall where I recognized her from, but checking the IMDB she was in Oliver Parker's Othello). Here the theme is "fraternity" (with bonus "fate and circumstance"), which manifests as an exploration of society (that one of the main characters is a retired judge speaks to this, especially). Much as with White, some of the characters' actions are really stylized rather than naturalistic, so it's obvious this is an Idea piece, but overall I think it works pretty well. The bond between the two main characters works well, and the whole thing ends up being a kind of macabre "meet cute"; it's fun to imagine an alternate reality where this script was massively altered to become a studio rom com.

167. The Muppets (B+)

Jason Segel spearheads the revival of the Muppets franchise, and largely succeeds. I'm of the generation that came after The Muppet Show and the Henson films, so I've never been that familiar with their stories, though of course I know who the major players are. Tonally the movie manages to incorporate irony without be really cynical, which is the right balance for the property, and has a lot of fun celebrity appearances (including Jack Black's best live action role in years; but the one that really brought down the house at my theatre was The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons as the "human" Walter). This is about as good a family entertainment as you're likely to find (something made especially clear by the trailer for the third rancid Chipmunks movie that screened before it; God, and the 80s cartoon was so funny).

It's accompanied by a very funny Pixar short focusing on Buzz Lightyear. Nice to see the gang still in action.

 

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

Went to a Saturday mornin' matinee of the new Muppets movie with my friend D.

It was cute, with a couple of good cameos, but overall, I'm thinkin' its just coastin' on nostalgia for the Muppets & their increased popularity on YouTube more than anything else.

And my friend freaked out when the first musical number started...turns out, she didn't know that they sing in Muppet movies.

The Toy Story short was alright, too, nice to see that the toys don't always have to be rescued...

 

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

Win Win - Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan star in this movie that is a dramatic comedy if I had to categorize it. Giamatti stars as Mike, a simple lawyer in a small New Jersey town whose practice isn't doing so well. One of his clients, Leo, has a nice sized trust but Leo(Burt Young) is having on set of dementia and needs a legal guardian. His only known relative, his daughter can't be found. Mike convinces the judge to let him become the guardian and thus he'll gain the $1500 monthly check. The twist happens a few days later when his grandson, Kyle, shows up running from his mother whose back in rehab. Leo has never met his grandson. As things go Kyle moves in with Mike and his family and the story really grows some heart. Really good movie and I'm not going to elaborate too much but suffice to say Mike's seemingly selfish motivation for the money to help out his family ends up redefining all their lives....for the better. Well except Cindy whose probably still strung out back in Ohio.


Everything Must Go - Will Ferrell stars in this dark comedy about a sales rep whose alcoholic ways help lead to his marriage and job coming to an end. His wife changes the locks, freezes their joint account, cancels the cell phone and places all his belongings onto the front lawn. The movie is about how in a weeks time he comes to do soul searching about ways to change his life for the better...finally. I wasn't sure I'd like this at first as dark comedies tend to be hit or miss for me but this one was a hit imo.

So what will movie 100 be for me? My next Netflix movie,Scott Pilgrim, or a cinema film? Still want to see Immortals.

 

Spoiler: #1-159.

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)

Alexander Payne's second movie, the one that really got him noticed, and it's at least arguably still his most famous. I recall seeing bits of this on TV at some point in the past, but this is the first time I sat down and watched the whole thing (complete with all the swears). Reviews of Glee in its original, satirical configuration always made comparisons with Election, and I can definitely see that (Tracy and Rachel, in particular, have a number of similarities). It's quite adroit at balancing people's sympathetic and unsympathetic qualities (apart from Chris Klein's character, where his incredible decency is probably the main joke).

169. Le Havre (C+)

One of the more successful foreign films of this year, and Finland's entry for the Best Foreign Film Oscar (tipped to be one of the nominees). A comedy-drama about illegal immigration from Africa, it has a purposefully detached style and seems to be aiming for dark humour in places; there are a couple of really good moments, but I mostly thought it was listless and neither funny nor dramatic. A largely unsuccessful attempt at absurdism.

 

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+)

Arguably the highwater mark of Cameron Crowe's career to date: the 80s and 90s were his gradual ascent, capping it at the turn of the New Millenium with this autobiographical story that won him his Oscar. And he was on the precipice of a "low, dishonest decade" where his two features would both be poorly received (though the first one made lots of money), and take a nearly six-year break between films. We Bought A Zoo is getting very strong reviews, so perhaps he's finally back is business.

I vaguely recall watching this on TV, but I only remembered scenes are a very general sense of the plot going in. This is the director's cut, which is about 40 minutes longer, and it's a sign of a good director's cut where I can't really imagine where those 40 minutes were cut out (from what I've read, there are only a few new full scenes, but a lot of extended existing scenes). It's a great, great movie, with a lot of great performances. Patrick Fugit really hasn't done much since (but he's in Crowe's new film; loyalty!), which is a bit disappointing. It's always surprising and sad to see how magnetic Kate Hudson is as Penny, considering what happened later. Then there was the minor find that Cam from Modern Family is in the movie as a hotel clerk.

 

Saturday night, I attended a screening of Gone With The Wind at the Egyptian and went to see The Muppets last night.

Gone With The Wind was an amazing, magical experience; I've been a fan of the film for a long time, but this was the first time I'd had the opportunity to see it on the big screen and it was well worth the wait!

Muppets was fun too. Lots of great songs and cameos and an all-around good tme.

 

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

I had a freebie rental coupon from Blockbuster, and used it to watch the original Death at a Funeral.

I'm sure it would have been funnier if I hadn't seen the American remake first, since the scripts are almost exactly the same.

Still a good movie, and I was amused that Alan Tudyk played the unliked boyfriend in the original while Ron Glass played the father who didn't like the boyfriend in the remake.

Can't stop the signal!

 

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-. I'd actually watched this a couple of week ago but forgot to review it. Suitable end to the series but not among the strongest of the films in my opinion.

90. Heavy Metal (rewatch) - C+. Animated boobs and gore set to heavy metal music, how could this go wrong? Well, quite a few ways actually. Some of the animation is really ugly, I mean ugly from an aesthetic perspective but also ugly from a crudeness of the technique involved. I really am spoiled by the current animation renaissance we are living in, and movies like this that were made on the cheap just don't hold up to modern standards very well. It doesn't all look bad though, the last segment is pretty sharp. Most of my enjoyment here came from the satirical moments, in particular John Candy's narration of the Vallejo-inspired second segment and the Zap Brannigan-esque segment on the space station. The movie seems to lack a point, unless the point is to stay away from floaty green balls of evil, in which case point received.

91. Crumb (rewatch) - A+. Probably my favorite documentary of all time. Crumb's mix of genius and dysfunctional personality is absolutely mesmerizing. The outtakes on this new Criterion edition are really worthwhile, in particular there is one bit where Crumb is explaining the evils of American capitalism and he outlines pretty much note for note the exact same things that the OWS movement is saying now (and he was saying this 20 years ago).

92. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Extended Edition) - A+. The additional material here is really great. This is probably the best of the 3 films.

93. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Extended Edition) - A+. This is the longest and the best of the extended editions in my opinion. By best I don't mean the best film, I mean that it's the most improved of the three films by what is added back in. I think The Two Towers is still the strongest film overall, but the extended edition of Return of the King would probably be my second favorite.

 

185. The Muppets (A-)

Funny, moving, and with the right level of nostalgia. It's not The Muppet Movie, but it's close. Frank Oz seems like a bit of a stick-in-the-mud for not participating, and it's a shame, because if there's one aspect that falls short it's the voice of miss Piggy, which is just off without his voice behind her.

186. X-Men: First Class (B-)

I've been putting off seeing this film, after being so disappointed with the last two X-Men movies, but I'm glad I finally did. Having said that, although the leading actors are excellent -- especially Fassbender and McAcoy -- the supporting cast of mutants is pretty inconsequential. I'm sure Fox wanted to have more options for merchandising, but anytime a dramatic moments hangs on one of the tertiary characters it doesn't really work because they're so thinly developed. Also, January Jones is completely mis-cast as Emma Frost. Her shtick fits Betty Draper, but it's completely wrong for the icy manipulator she's playing here (and many of her line readings leave something to be desired, honestly). Other than that, though, it was a solid (if not great) superhero movie, and I dug that it was a 60s period piece.

 

127 Hours: The true story of that guy who got trapped in a narrow canyon with his arm wedged between the canyon wall and a boulder. James Franco is good in the leading role and the movie itself is gripping eventhough it's just Franco trapped in one place. The movie's full use of sights and sounds as well as the occasional dream sequence make the time go by. I was dreading the moment when he'd have to cut his own arm off, but it wasn't as grusome as I thought it would be and it was well shot, again making excellent use of sound and good cinematography to take us through the experience. I didn't recognize Clémence Poésy, but somehow, I knew she was French when I saw her move her lips without sound. Weird. Anyway, great movie. I wonder if they'll do a sequel where he gets the other arm trapped. I kid.

 

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-)
I've now seen all the majors in Alexander Payne's filmography, apart from The Descendants, which hasn't come to a theatre near me yet. Haven't seen Citizen Ruth, his first film, though. I remember all the acclaim for Nicholson's performance the year this came out, but I didn't see the movie (I didn't discover our town's arthouse cinema until the following year). And it is indeed an amazing performance, one of Nicholson's best (and chronologically the first performance I've seen of his in a long time that isn't dominated by his normal crowd-pleasing acting tics). Payne's movies acquire an increasingly elegaic and less satiric tone the more they go on; he can combine realistic sadness and humour, without falling into pointless bleakness, and always finds humanity.

172. Drive (B)

Nicolas Winding Refn's minimalist, but exceptionally stylish, thriller finally arrived in Charlottetown. Visually arresting, and featuring performances that are quite good within the constraints of the picture. Most of the attention has focused on Albert Brooks, who is indeed genuinely menacing as the film's main villain. The action sequences are short and amazingly bloody; Winding Refn's really not out to thrill the audience with his protagonist's actions here; you cringe every time. Ryan Gosling made three very different films this year, and displayed considerable range in all of them; here he's The Driver With No Name, and is a very credible action hero. Carey Mulligan is sweet as his love interest of sorts (after appearing in a couple of meh films post-An Education, she's also been having a very good 2011).

 

The final destination 5, The last air bender, Cow boy vs aliens, A walk in the cloud, maid in Manhattan, Harry Potter and the deathly hallows, Clash of the Titan, and Transformers 3. These are the movies I watched in this year.

 

(500) Days of Summer: A great love story with all the ups that come with a fun relationship and the downs that come with unrequited love. Lots of tragedy that's effectively made up for by a kick-ass ending. Zooey Deschanel is perfect as the cute girlfriend and Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a fantasic job in his role. I also found it interesting that the movie took place in the present but had a retro 50s-style look with the clothes and choice of locations.