Contagion (2011) ✭✭✭ A pretty excellent cast. It's seeminly very realistic, but falls a little short in the emotionally engaging department. Probably not very rewatchable either. On the bright side I did get to see Gwyneth Paltrow's scalp pulled over her face. Moneyball (2011) ✭✭✭✭ I like baseball so I'm biased, but I really liked this movie. Brad Pitt is one of the few high profile actors I know that actually blends in with the movie. He was a great Billy Beane. Didn't expect a happy ending going in, but I was surprised at how well they ended the movie.
194. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (B+) I'd hesitate to call this the best in the series, since I have a soft spot for Brian DePalma's 1996 movie, but it's a terrific blockbuster, especially for being the fourth in an action franchise. Simon Pegg steals the show, but Cruise is very good. The rest of the cast doesn't leave much of an impression (including Jeremy Renner, who won't be taking over any time soon, I think, despite pre-release rumors) but they get the job done. There are three cameos by characters from previous movies, all of which brought a smile, and two of which totally surprised me. Brad Bird has transitioned well to live action, overall. Only two scenes ring false: Renner's backstory explanation, and Ethan Hunt's over-the-top admiration for his team at the end. They did well, but the script has him lay it on a little thick. The IMAX, by the way, is very well done. It's a shame the whole movie wasn't in the format. The Dubai skyscraper sequence in particular really benefits from the huge screen -- I haven't been legitimately on the edge of my seat like that in a while. Go see it in a real IMAX theatre, though.
^^^ I agree about the Dubai sequence and I was seeing it in IMAX until I got a call from my neighbor that sparks were shooting out from behind my shrubs. She wasn't home and her 13yr old son was trying to find out how to unplug the lights sitting atop the shrubs. I live 5min away luckily. Ergo, I left the movie as the whole satellite uplink sequence was wrapping, just in time to see the missile launch. How much time was left in the movie from there? Once I see it fully I'll add it to my list. Also, Simon Pegg was great.
I think you missed about 20-25 minutes, including a pretty surprising cameo/twist at the end, as well as a less surprising (but welcome) cameo.
20 or so minutes? That's more than I thought. I was thinking there may have only been about 10. I for sure have to go back, but damn that IMAX ticket was $17!!!
Fright Night (2011) ✭✭✭ Ahhh...this movie was shaping up to be a ✭✭✭✭ from me, but it kind of lost my interest in the last laugh. I've never seen the original, so I'll probably check that out at some point in time.
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) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (9) 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: 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+ 95. Jurassic Park (rewatch) - B+ 96. Tron (rewatch) - A 97. The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear - C 98. Jackie Brown (rewatch) - B 99. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - A 100. The Lion King - B 101. Alice (Svankmajer, rewatch) - B- 102. X-Men (rewatch) - B- 103. Lost in Translation (rewatch) - B 104. Malibu Express - D 105. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time - B 106. Mimic - C- 107. Scarface (rewatch) - B+ 108. X2 (rewatch) - B+ 109. Mystery Train (rewatch) - C+. Series of vignettes loosely themed around Elvis and the city of Memphis. I'd reviewed this pretty favorably in 2010 but on watching it again on Blu-ray, only the first segment is really good. 110. Hot Tub Time Machine - C+. I have nothing really insightful to say about this one. Pretty funny. A little predictable. 111. X-Men 3 - B-. Not as bad as I was expecting based on it's reputation. I'm not sure why they felt the need to kill off/character assassinate so many key players. There's some fun to be had and some neat f/x sequences.
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 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows - theater Good Luck Chuck - DVD D woke me up a quarter to nine yesterday to go to a ten am matinee for the Sherlock sequel. I was grumpy about it, but the movie was totally worth it. Loved Jared Harris as Moriarty, and the Holmes/Watson relationship was even more bromantic in this one than the first. Good action, funny bits, and a great villian. Kinda hope they go ahead with a third, too. Saw the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises...really wish that were in theaters right freakin' now, too!!! - edit, to add - I have no excuse for watchin' a Dane Cook movie, except to say it had Jessica Alba in her undies. I'm so ashamed...
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+ 101. American Ninja: D 102. Revenge of the Ninja: D 103. Lonesome Dove: A 104. Black Swan: B 105. Westworld: B- This 1973 movie about a company who specializes in fantasy vacations using robots as participants is very dated. It stars Yule Brenner and James Brolin with a cameo by Trek's own Majel Barrett as a tavern madam. I tried to keep in mind the era it was made when watching this even still it felt like a mashup of period era TOS episodes. Jumping around from Western World to Medieval World and Roman World. The sets just looked bad. They only mentioned how the robots were programmed to not hurt humans about 7 times in the first 30-40 min of the movie that they all but put up a sign saying, "Wait for robots to malfunction and kill humans". Then the control room door locking shut in a power outage and them suffocating. Really, all this high tech and you don't have the control room ventilated? When our hero runs into the tech guy and he mentions that acid would help take out the lead series robot chasing him I just waited. Sure enough when he enters the lab there is a try with 4 bottles clearly labeled 'Acid'. Wow, didn't see that coming. I feel my B- is actually generous.
Spoiler: #1-179. 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) 176. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (B-) 177. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (A) 178. Jackie Brown (A) 179. Fanny and Alexander - Theatrical Version (A-) 180. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (A-) 181. 50/50 (B+) 182. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (A-) Two adaptations starring Daniel Craig that couldn't be less alike, other than both being very good. And wow, four trips to the theatre in about a week; can't remember the last time that happened. I saw this yesterday, my first encounter with the franchise (I haven't read the books or seen the Swedish film versions), so I was mostly unfamiliar with the source material. I debated the grade for this one for a bit (A or A-), because most of this film is excellent and hard to take any real issue with; but it does have a few notable flaws, which I imagine are inherited from the book. Most notably, the ending is overlong and awkwardly continues for about twenty minutes after the main plot has been resolved, resolving a sideplot in a way that doesn't really feel like a natural progression. The understated final moment, though, is great. But that aside, the central story is exceptionally well-done, and it features two superb lead performances. Craig has the more everyman part, the sort of role that it's hard to make especially distinct, but he hits all the right notes. And it's especially hard to make Blomkvist stand out when he's alongside one of the most novel cultural figures in some time. Rooney Mara would definitely be on my Best Actress shortlist for this year (she couldn't be more different from her minor role in the last David Fincher movie). I also liked Christopher Plummer as the Vanger family patriach (though the Vanger family itself, I must say, really doesn't seem all that bad as a group, the killer notwithstanding). So I guess call this a strong A-. 183. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (A) The first of two Spielberg films I'll be seeing this week, with Craig this time playing a supporting role (I appreciate that Spielberg doesn't use motion capture to make the characters look like the actors playing them, which tends to just make the motion capture feel unnecessary). My only past experience with the Tintin character was coming across the old animated show a few times as a child, but I found that show extremely dull, so I don't have any nostalgia for it (I thought Tintin was the dog at first). Nonetheless, this a wonderful success, and possibly Spielberg's best since Catch Me If You Can and Minority Report (we'll see if the other half of the double-bill can live up to it). It's almost entirely plot-driven, attempts to put in a bit of a redemption arc for Captain Haddock aside, but it's a raucous good time, and by far the best use of motion capture I've ever seen. The climactic Morocco chase is easily the best action sequence I've seen in years.
195. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 (C+) 196. Reel Injun (B+) 197. Hannah (B) Harry Potter 7.5: This suffers from the same problem as the previous film in the series -- it's only half a movie. Many of the characters aren't around to do anything other than show up and quickly die -- even Snape is barely in the movie before his big death scene. Considering how long the end credits were (12 minutes), this could have easily been combined with the last film to create a 4-hour movie, but Warner Bros. wanted the extra income, I suppose. Hopefully they'll edit the two together at some point on home video, because as they stand, neither really works as a complete film. I should confess that I stopped reading the books years ago, at number three, so I hadn't read the epilogue before, though I had heard about it. Besides a look of respect between Draco and Harry, it adds nothing of value to the story. On top of that, the halfhearted attempt at old age make-up on all the regulars is awful. And while we're on the subject of awful work, the dragon CGI at the beginning was some of the worst CGI I've seen in a movie this big in a while. Reel Injun: This film works as an introduction to issues of American Indian depiction in Hollywood, but it's not long enough to discuss things in depth. Mostly, it manages to explain the major stereotypes, and why they're problematic. Besides being constrained by the running time, the only real flaw is the narration, which takes itself a little too seriously at times. I'd like to see a longer series tackle the topic, with more people offering their viewpoint, and more in-depth analysis of films (a few are discussed closely, like Stagecoach and Dances with Wolves, but most just appear as brief clips). Hannah: Technically, this movie has a few excellent examples of the long take (quickly becoming a signature of director Joe Wright), but I wasn't blown away by the movie. It's certainly a more than competently made action film (few and far between these days), but the story is rather straight-forward, and the twist at the end didn't catch me off-guard like it did some critics. Apologies for the lousily worded post. Doing four things at once.
1. 50/50 2. Drive 3. The Ides of March 4. Conan the Barbarian 5. Cowboys and Aliens 6. The Rum Diary 7. Harold & Kumar 3 8. Let me In 9. Never Let me Go 10. South Park The Movie 11. Moneyball 12. Green Lantern 13. Captain America The First Avenger 14. X-Men First Class 15. The Adjustment Bureau 16. The Lincoln Lawyer 17. Source Code 18. The King's Speech 19. Scream 4 20. Thor. 21. Super 8 22. Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 23. Another Earth 24. Rise of the Planet of the Apes I'm sure there are countless others I saw on Netflix, but those are the ones I can remember or recall after seeing a 2011 movies list.
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+ 101. American Ninja: D 102. Revenge of the Ninja: D 103. Lonesome Dove: A 104. Black Swan: B 105. Westworld: B- 106. Fireproof: A- This Kirk Cameron drama that caught, ahem, fire a few years ago, made a killing on a minimal budget is actually a pretty good film. At times they pour the scriptures on a bit thick but even allowing for that the drama of what is going on with Caleb (Cameron) and his wife is still done quite well.
198. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (B+) An improvement on Guy Ritchie's first film in this series in just about every way (the series may end at two films, given the box office returns of this sequel, unfortunately), I'm still hesitant to see Sherlock Holmes re-imagined as a fist-fighting action hero, but I have a hard time denying how much fun this movie is. Every character is perfectly cast, with Jared Harris and Stephen Fry as wonderful additions to the cast of the first film. Rachel McAdams, sadly, is limited to a short cameo at the beginning, but there would have really been no room for her. There's some excessive slow motion in one or two scenes (the forest escape seemed to drag on using the effect), but for the most part it's wisely employed to portray Holmes' mental process rather than pad out the action. In any event, whatever my misgivings about the use of the Holmes character in this fashion, the movie was leaps and bounds better than any of the trailers for action movies that ran before it.
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+ 101. American Ninja: D 102. Revenge of the Ninja: D 103. Lonesome Dove: A 104. Black Swan: B 105. Westworld: B 106. Fireproof: A- 107. Mission Impossible(4):Ghost Protocol: A 108. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: A MI:4 - Really good film. I've seen the bulk of the film twice now. As mentioned in another thread I enjoyed there being much more spying and espionage going on in this film. It's been so long since I saw the first I don't recall where I'd rank it but this one and pt.3 are close. I hope this does well enough to merit all the talk of doing a fifth one. Girl/Tattoo - I never read the book(s) so I went into this knowing nothing. Was taken back at the 2hr40min run time but still had to see what merited that. The movie took about an hour for Michael(Craig) and Lisbeth(Mara) to even meet. Also the rape scene was very disturbing. A couple two rows up must not have known it was coming either, like me, they got up and left. The film did feel it was taking forever to up the pace until Michael's daughter visits and upon her departure tells him to "go easy on the Catholics". That one surprise revelation sets the movie on a faster pace. I will say I had suspected that Spoiler: conclusion of movie Harriet was alive, just not going to be a character we'd already met. Thought she might be a walk on bit part. I was right about the killer, just he wasn't Harriets killer, nor the only killer in the family. So I got some stuff figured, the rest I didn't. Thought that the 15min of epilogue was overdone. Maybe something in there ties to the next book but since I don't know I felt I was watching another movie start when Lisbeth goes into blonde embezzler mode. Also, and it may be because Craig is Bond, but the opening title sequence felt very pre-Craig Bond like. What with the oil covered withering bodies. Oh, and when Lisbeth gets her revenge on the rapist pig my audience actually had a few people applaud. Outside of comic films or Pirate films I see interaction like that rarely.
I would highly recommend seeing the original Swedish film now that you've seen Fincher's adaptation and reading the novel. They don't meet until a few chapters into the book or well until almost the end of the first act of the film either IIRC.
^^^^ Thanks for the recommendation. A coworker said the same thing. I'll put it into my Netflix queue. 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+ 101. American Ninja: D 102. Revenge of the Ninja: D 103. Lonesome Dove: A 104. Black Swan: B 105. Westworld: B 106. Fireproof: A- 107. Mission Impossible(4):Ghost Protocol: A 108. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: A 109. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows: A- It gets the 'minus' cause I felt it started slow and some of the overt buddy jokes in the first act felt heavy handed. However, once we get fully into the second act it drops that and the pace and intrigue pick up. I credit a large part of that to the increased involvement of Moriarity. I have high praise of Jared Harris as Moriarity. The two scenes they really engaged in were good but without a doubt the last one on the balcony playing chess at the climax was brilliant. He and Downey played wonderfully off of each other. I may end up seeing this again. Do we believe Irene is Spoiler: character motive/fate/destiny dead? I hope not, some cheat would be nice.