Movies Seen in 2010

[Wynterhawk]

Aha. Gotcha. Thanks!

[Too Much Fun]

I felt the same way about "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", but it got me extremely excited about Vol. 2 and after months of feverish anticipation, that was one of the most satisfying moviegoing experiences of my life.

A friend of mine didn't like the second one as much because he said the first one had him psyched for an action movie and he found it boring with all the constant talking, but I had the opposite reaction.

I totally ate up the dialogue in Vol. 2. I completely adored it and truly believed Carradine deserved a best supporting actor nomination. I was also surprised by how much heart it had. At the end, I was more moved than I've ever been by a Tarantino movie. I didn't think he had it in him.

To this day, "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" is my second favourite Tarantino movie after "Pulp Fiction". After watching it, I spent like an hour talking to a friend about how awesome it was.

I guess your reaction depends largely on your expectations and preferences. I'm big on dialog and character more than action and spectacle, so it was right up my alley.

[Joel_Kirk]

I recently saw:

*Broadway Danny Rose (Pretty good!)

*Public Enemies (Meh...)

*The Ghost Writer (Meh...)

Looking to see The Karate Kid, as it is released on DVD today...!

[CaptainCanada]

70. The American (B+)
71. The Kids Are All Right (B+)
72. The English Patient (A-)
73. The Town (B+)
74. The Social Network (A)
75. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (B+)
76. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (A-)

As rumoured, Tarantino ups his game with the second volume, though one unfortunate consequence of this is to illuminate ever further how the first part lacks depth. Frankly, I suspect you could watch Part 2 without having seen Part 1 without feeling like you were missing much of anything. Some quick, brutal action scenes here, which in some ways would also play better without having seen Part 1, since once you've seen the Bride mow down like 100 guys, seeing her struggle with one at a time is a little strange. Uma Thurman gets more to work with here, and a big reason that this one is better than the earlier movie is the increased role for David Carradine. Theirs is an oddly compelling relationship.

[Captain Craig]

I just saw The Evil Dead all the way through for I'm pretty sure the first time. It is a true to form B-movie of the strictest sense.

Taking into cosideration when it was made, the production was reminiscent of the original TCMassacre, it was a fairly decent horror movie. I've not seen the sequels either but they are next in my Netflix queue provided my 'short wait' is gone. Did Ash survive that ending, guess I'll know soon enough.

[Harvey]

224. The Plainsman [C-]
225. The Jazz Singer [F]

The Plainsman: This is a wildly revisionist western, which mixes and matches characters and history to unintentionally hilarious results. Jean Arthur is entertaining as Calamity Jane, until she's forced to become the emotional woman when the script demands it. Cary Cooper is passable as Wild Bill Hickok, though this version of the character would be quite out of place on Deadwood. And that doesn't even begin to cover the heroic vision of Custer (charging into battle with the American flag waving high), the American Indians who are a collection of every western cliche in the book (Anthony Quinn passes for one in a scene, speaking absolute gibberish), and a completely tone-deaf prologue with Lincoln just before he goes off to Ford's Theatre ("I've never seen him in better health!" exclaims one of his advisors"). The film is well-shot, at least, and the performances (most of them) are passable, but it never reaches any heights worth noting.

The Jazz Singer: This film has such an overinflated reputation in film history books. Mostly, it's a silent film, complete with mimed dialogue and intertitles. With one exception, all the sound portions are musical numbers (one scene involves a musical number and a little dialogue). Warner Bros. had been showing such musical performances for a year with short films--this just seeks to package them together with a silent movie. The transition between sound and silent segments are awkward, and the complete lack of camera movement leaves the proceedings feeling extra-stilted. And don't get me started on Al Jolson in blackface. It's not just offensive, but it prevents any emotions in the film's climax from registering (Racial tension aside, Jolson just looks silly in the make-up, which isn't what you want when the film is supposed to be reaching its emotional climax).

[zakkrusz]

Aliens in the Attic (6)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Big Battle (7)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Roots of Ambition (8)
Armored Trooper Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder (8)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Pailsen Files: The Movie (7)
Batman: Under The Red Hood (9)
Boondock Saints (10)
Boondock Saints: All Saint's Day (9)
The Book of Eli (8)
Broken Blade (7)
Cargo (7)
Cencoroll (8)
Les Chevaliers du Ciel (8)
Clash of the Titans (2010) (8)
Crazy Heart (6)
Dante's Inferno (2010) (7)
Date Night (7)
District 9 (8)
Eden of the East: The King of Eden (8)
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost (8)
The Edge of Darkness (9)
Evangelion 2.0: You Can [Not] Advance (9)
The Expendables (9)
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (8)
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works (9)
Fist of the North Star (1995) (4)
G-9 (6)
Gamer (6)
Green Zone (7)
Higurashi no Naka Koroni Chikai (7)
Inception (10)
Inglorious Bastards (7)
Iron Man 2 (9)
Jonah Hex (6)
The Killers (6)
Kino's Journey: Life Goes On (7)
Kino's Journey: The Country of Disease (7)
The Last Airbender (8)
Law Abiding Citizen (9)
The Lovely Bones (6)
Lupin the 3rd: First Contact (7)
Lupin the 3rd: Green VS Red (6)
Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Konan (7)
Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Mamo (9)
Lupin the 3rd: The Last Job
My Name is Bruce (5)
Naruto Shippuden Movie 3 (8)
Oblivion Island (6)
Oceans (Documentary/ Rating is NA)
Oldboy (9)
Pandorum (7)
Plan Zet (5)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (8)
Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind (8)
Summer Wars (9)
Sunshine (4)
Sword For Truth (6)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen (8)
They Were 11 (9)
The Triplets of Belleville (5)
The Uninvited (7)
Walking Tall (7)
Waltz With Bashir (9)
Wicked City (8)

[Too Much Fun]

Captain Craig wrote:

---

I just saw The Evil Dead all the way through for I'm pretty sure the first time. It is a true to form B-movie of the strictest sense.

Taking into cosideration when it was made, the production was reminiscent of the original TCMassacre, it was a fairly decent horror movie. I've not seen the sequels either but they are next in my Netflix queue provided my 'short wait' is gone. Did Ash survive that ending, guess I'll know soon enough.

You're lucky to be in a position where you can watch those for the first time. I had so much fun watching "Evil Dead 2" for the first time, it's one of those movies that almost makes me wish I could erase it from my memory just so I could have the thrill of experiencing it for the first time again.

I wasn't sure about it at first, but it didn't take long before I totally got why it has a cult following, why Bruce Campbell has a worshiping fan base, and why people like to dress up as his character for Halloween or conventions.

"Army of Darkness", the second sequel, was also a blast the first time I saw it, but I don't think it holds up as well to repeat viewings. I think it's more silly and less original that the first two evil dead movies, but it's entertaining and has some wicked one-liners.

I saw "Easy A". It kinda suffers in comparison to the infinitely smarter and more mature "The Social Network" (which I'd seen in theatres the week before), but it was fun, light entertainment. I rarely go to two movies in the same month, but I'm glad I did this time.

"Easy A" had some plot contrivances that I found lame and sometimes the overuse of 'clever' one-liners was a bit much, but it was a pleasure to watch Emma Stone carry a whole movie, and she definitely deserves to become a star after appearing in every scene and being funny and adorable the whole time.

My favourite thing about it was the references to 80s teen movies. In one scene, she reenacts a hilarious moment and copies dialog from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" in a very subtle homage that warmed my eighties movie geek heart immensely.

[Harvey]

226. The Earrings of Madam de… [B+]
227. Night of the Hunter [A]
228. The Room [F]
229. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 [F]

The Earrings of Madam de...: This is widely considered to be one of Max Ophul's masterpieces. It's certainly a well-made film, with several instances of long, mobile takes that would be impressive today, and excellent performances (including a turn by Vittorio Di Sica, of Italian neo-realist fame). Still, I find it hard to be invested in the emotional machinations of characters who live such incredibly wealthy and opulent lifestyles, though the film manages to do it by the final act (when Andre gives the earrings to his wife only to immediately take them away, it's heartbreaking). Definitely worth seeing if European cinema of the period appeals to you.

Night of the Hunter: In a word, magnificent. Robert Mitchum thought this was his best role on screen, and it would be difficult to argue with him. He embodies pure evil, yet does it with such charisma that it's hard to take your eyes off of him. The rest of the cast is equally good. The music, like the rest of the movie, is over the top and very effective. The cinematography is some of the best you'll see in black and white. I was lucky enough to catch this in 35mm, and it does not disappoint on the big screen (shots of the two children rowing down the river are just stunning).

The Room: Apparently, this is a big hit as a midnight movie here in Los Angeles, but I experienced it with a few friends on home video, so the atmosphere wasn't quite the same. It might be the worst movie ever made, though that's a big label to brandish, so I'll just say that it's one of the worst. It's a shame I was the designated driver, because everyone else was wisely hammered by the end. There is ridiculous dubbing, plot lines introduced than dropped, set dressing that seems to have been purchased from Target (including picture frames with the sample pictures still in!), the performances range from awful to unbelievably awful (the star/writer/director/executive producer/everything else) turns in a performance that you have to see to believe, and i could go on and on. But it's not worth it, really.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2: In a way, it's more shocking that this sequel was ever made than The Room. With the exception of a few new scenes, the entirety of the film is a character reciting the events of the first movie even though he is an infant or not present at all in may of these "flashbacks." So much of it is recycled (and, no doubt, to pad out the running time) that the entire cast of Silent Night, Deadly Night is listed (a cast which is larger than the actors brought in for the new scenes by a wide margin!).

[Too Much Fun]

"Night of the Hunter" is so, so awesome. I usually don't pay much attention to cinematography, direction, and all that stuff as I'm more of a dialog guy, but good gawd was that movie beautifully shot. The angles and the black and white cinematography were gorgeously haunting. Robert Mitchum was unforgettable too. Transcendently scary and cool at the same time. I love the way he would say, "chillllllldren!!!" and what happens at the end made me want to cheer for guns. I've never been so glad someone had a gun. Very few movies have blown me away as much as that one did.

[Temis the Vorta]

^^I love that movie, too. Very intense.

Here's an eclectic bunch...

My One and Only - eh, okay
The White Ribbon - strange
All the President's Men - surprisingly, doesn't hold up well
Kick-Ass - hilarious, mainly for Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz; looking forward to the sequel
All Quiet on the Western Front - holds up very well
Ajami - complex and disturbing; maybe a bit too contrived in its structure
John Rabe - it's a bad sign that I had to look this movie up to remember what it was about; sort of a Schindler's List but played a lot flatter; Steve Buscemi was annoying
Date Night - it's hard to screw up a romantic comedy with Tina Fey and Steve Carrell, but the inane script almost succeeds
Me and Orson Welles - the most interesting part is the re-creation of Welles' daring fascist-esque production of Julius Caesar
Temple Grandin - uplifting and visually imaginative; highly recommended
Black Narcissus - weeeeeird-ass movie, made by the same folks as made The Red Shoes, and having a lot of the same hothouse hysteria elements

[JacksonArcher]

I saw Let Me In and The Town in a double feature. I was very impressed by Let Me In, even though I enjoyed the original more. However, this remake is still very well done, with a terrifically written script and some really solid direction. The performances are fantastic all across the board, especially from the younger cast and the two leads in particular. I wasn't quite impressed with Cloverfield but Let Me In is an entirely different breed of animal; whereas Cloverfield was choppily edited and shakily filmed, Let Me In was gorgeously filmed with beautiful shot composition. It makes me actually anticipate Matt Reeves' next project.

I was less impressed with The Town, although I'll admit it was a solid film if a little generic and derivative. Still, I think Ben Affleck is a talented director and created some very thrilling bank robberies and car chases. The performances are good, and there's a certain authenticity that makes you believe in these characters and this setting, even if you can telegraph certain characters' motivations in advance. Affleck brings nothing new to the crime thriller genre, and I was often reminded of greater heist movies like Heat, but The Town is a simple yet effective film.

[Harvey]

230. When a Man Loves [C-]
231. Baby Face [B+]
232. The Reckless Moment [B+]

When a Man Loves: One of the first silent films with a synchronized soundtrack using vitaphone technology, that doesn't help this film from being an excruciating bore at most times.

Baby Face: Brilliant, as long as you're watching the original, uncensored version (the censored edit contains a new ending that is totally nonsensical and edits several other moments due to sexual innuendo). Stanywck is at her best, sleeping her way to the top of a bank (including, for a very brief time, with a young and heavily made up John Wayne). Every time she should be fired, she manages to weasel her way higher in the ranks, instead. The final tragedy of her husband's suicide doesn't quite work, because their love affair isn't quite believable as anything beyond her usual use of seduction for career advancement, but it makes for a far better ending than having the husband survive and go to work in a steel mill! Yeah, right.

The Reckless Moment: Incredibly well-shot, and well-acted by all around (including excellent performances from James Mason and Joan Bennett, among others), this family melodrama is more in the style of film noir and is definitely superior to the 2001 adaptation of the same short story starring Tilda Swinton, The Deep End. Both films suffer the same problem, however. Darby's death isn't well staged in either version, leading to some moments of confusion and ambiguity that the films don't seem interested in exploring. But the rest of the film more than makes up for that here.

[Captain Craig]

Went to a screener showing of RED. Since I wasn't sure whether to expect it to be heavily satirical of the spy/comic genre or just be Grumpy Old Leathal Weapons I came away enjoying it. It's a movie worth your time and I would see it again.

[CaptainCanada]

70. The American (B+)
71. The Kids Are All Right (B+)
72. The English Patient (A-)
73. The Town (B+)
74. The Social Network (A)
75. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (B+)
76. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (A-)
77. RED (B+)

Enjoyable, though it won't go down as one of the classics of the genre. The tone veers a bit between being serious and being buoyant in a way that I'm not sure completely works.

The death of Morgan Freeman's character seems a bit at odds with the rest of the film, though it does supply the climax with a bit of actual jeopardy, something you rarely get in this sort of movie (in particular, you can almost believe that Helen Mirren is done for as a result).

Speaking of Freeman, the movie's an interesting case of how advertising can shape your perception of the movie; he's all over the trailers, but Bryan Cox is nowhere to be seen in them. My favourite parts where the scenes between Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker, which managed a nice balance between being funny and being sincere. They also do a neat trick with the bad guy reveal. The film is also an interesting case of how things feel different in the post-Bush era; while tropes like the evil VP and corrupt corporations predate the Bush years by quite a bit, during them it became so intensely associated with them in the media (there was a faux-Cheney in every other action/spy movie) that it feels a bit weird to see them in use when the current VP is, well, Joe Biden, who's like your goofy uncle.