What movies have you seen this year, new or old? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) [A] It's barely an A, mind you, I think it could have been trimmed by about 30 minutes Hancock [C] I really enjoyed the first half of the movie, and then the script just falls apart. The Ex [C] It's unbelievably corny. Blue Velvet I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It was very weird. [*]The Visitor [A] One of last year's sleeper hits. [*]My Best Friend's Girl [C] Watchable, but corny. [*]Winter Passing [B-] Does Will Ferrell even try to play other characters? [*]Zack and Miri Make A Porno I laughed all the way through this movie. [*]Crank It's stupid, but It's fun stupid. [*]Pulse [F] One of the worst films I've ever seen. [*]Saw V [C] The last 20 minutes or so are cool. Most of it's a drag. [*]Pathology I highly recommend this. Despite some bad acting, it's a really cool story. [*]Dazed and Confused [B-] Nothing happens, but it's pretty good. [*]Fast Times at Ridgemont High [D] Overrated. [*]Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist [A] I usually don't like stuff like this, but this was one of the best movies I saw from last year. [*]Changeling [B+] Good movie, needed some major editing [*]The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Depressing, but not very effective overall [*]Blindness [B-] Could have been so much better, I'm interested in seeing the book [*]Elegy [B-] Too long in parts, but worth watching [*]Slumdog Millionaire [A+] By far the best movie of last year. Great film. [*]Mojave Phone Booth An interesting little film. Highly recommended. [*]X-Men Origins: Wolverine [C] Kinda boring, honestly [*]Star Trek [A+] [*]The Executioner's Song (TV) [C] Tommy Lee Jones won an emmy. I think it's mostly silly [*]Taken Solid film. I'd probably rewatch it. [*]The Alphabet Killer [D] Eliza Dushku couldn't even save this crap. [*]Prince of the City Too similar to Serpico, another film directed by Sidney Lumet. [*]Helter Skelter (TV) Enjoyable [*]The Last Emperor [A] One of my new favorite films [*]Valkyrie [A] I had heard a lot of negative buzz, but I enjoyed it [*]Twilight [B-] I was shocked I liked it. I know I know... [*]Serpico Pretty good film [*]Appaloosa [B-] Not as good as 3:10 To Yuma, but I'm glad to see the Western genre back [*]Revolutionary Road [C] Overrated [*]Frost/Nixon [A] loved it
Let's see, I've seen a bunch, but here's what I remember right off: Star Trek X-Men Origins: Wolverine Valkyrie Terminator Salvation The Hangover Hellraiser Hellbound: Hellraiser II Sixteen Candles (don't ask, I just never got around to watching it) Weird Science (same predicament) Collateral Damage Commando Observe and Report Caprica Innocent Blood Feast II: Sloppy Seconds The X-Files: I Want to Believe The Day the Earth Stood Still (Keanu Reeves) Evan Almighty The Invasion A View to a Kill The Rundown Red Heat Legend Pineapple Express W.
Oh yeah... I forgot about The Hangover . I would also like to add Friday the 13th (2009) [F] to this list. I'm such a fan of most of the original films, but boy this movie was boring.
I keep all my movie tickets, so I can be pretty precise about this: Gran Torino Slumdog Millionaire The Reader Watchmen X-Men Origins: Wolverine Star Trek (twice) Up DVD: Elephant Man
Star Trek. Enchanted. a Kevin Pollack movie about nuclear war that I can't recall the title of. The Replacements(whenever I can). Major League. We Are Marshall. American Gangster.
Deterrence! I saw American Gangster for the second time this year. It was the extended version, which I thought was ever better.
In the past five weeks--there's been a few more films in theaters before this... Jury Duty In the Heat of the Night Harold and Maude Persona Non Grata Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian Terminator: Salvation The Royal Tenenbaums Dark City (Director's Cut) Star Trek (2009) Drag Me To Hell Hellraiser: Bloodline His Name Was Jason My Name is Bruce Half Nelson Chalk The Hangover Land of the Lost (2009) Woody Allen: A Life in Film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters Night of the Living Dead (1990 remake) Fido Spielberg on Spielberg The Boondock Saints Capturing the Friedmans You, Me, and Dupree
The International - Will Watch this weekend. What Just Happened? - HORRIBLE MOVIE! Quantum of Solace Bolt Doubt - Great movie Changeling Lakeview Terrace Frost/Nixon The Caller In the Electric Mist The Tale of Despereaux - Bad Movie Seven Pounds Body of Lies Hancock Babylon A.D. Behind Enemy Lines 3 Miracle at St. Anna WALL-E Blindness Spartan Burn After Reading The Dark Knight Eagle Eye Righteous Kill Batman Begins Traitor
I almost never watch films theatrically anymore. I watch them on Blu-ray and/or Sky Movies HD instead. I keep track of the films I watch as I see them for the first time. So far this year I've seen 97 films that I hadn't seen previously: Mr. Brooks (2007) - very effective film; unexpectedly funny in a very dark sort of way Run Fat Boy Run (2007) - a good light comedy Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) - I was a bit disappointed with it on first viewing, but it grew on me when I watched it again later; great production design Wedding Daze (2007) - awful Black Sunday (1977) - pretty good Hoodwinked (2005) - a decent storyline is undermined by cheap, lousy animation Nancy Drew (2007) - pretty good The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) - beautifully filmed and well acted, but overlong; there have been a lot of Jesse James films but none have really stuck to the historical record The Dark Knight (2008) - the greatest superhero film made to date Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007) - reasonably entertaining with some cute moments, don't see why so much hate was aimed at it Them (2006) - a very effective French horror film, although the claim that it's based on a true story doesn't hold up to scrutiny In the Land of Women (2007) - a good film, and it was nice to see Meg Ryan looking more like her old self again Breaking and Entering (2006) - a good film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) - good, but not quite as good as its reputation Cloverfield (2008) - a good idea, but the extent of the shaky cam was too damned annoying for it to be enjoyable McLintock! (1963) - rousing good fun, although it'll give feminists fits The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) - very cheesy and low budget, but kinda fun The Good German (2006) - pretty good in parts, but too self-conscious The Goonies (1985) - lots of fun; I'm a child of the 80s, but somehow this one slipped through the net and I only got around to seeing it now A Bridge Too Far (1977) - a good film, but the outcome of the battle doesn't make for a good cinematic ending The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - pretty good, but not as good as Wes Anderson's previous films Edison (2005) - awful St. Trinian’s (2007) - even more awful The Great McGinty (1940) - a good film The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) - a very good film, much better than the remake How to Steal a Million (1966) - a charming film with Audrey Hepburn looking especially great decked out in mod fashions House of Bamboo (1955) - interesting to see all of the location shooting in 1950s Tokyo, but a dull film overall The Duellists (1977) - Ridley Scott's first feature film and a fine one at that Definitely, Maybe (2008) - pretty good Derailed (2005) - pretty good 1408 (2007) - good, but not quite as good as I'd heard A Clockwork Orange (1971) - great film, worthy of its status as one of the classics of science fiction cinema The Wicked Lady (1983) - crap, but cheesy fun; lots of nudity, including from Marina Sirtis Howard the Duck (1986) - awful, even worse than its reputation The Virgin Suicides (1999) - pretty good, but doesn't amount to much Frenzy (1972) - latter day Hitchcock with some very dark comedy; London and its inhabitants never looked grubbier The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) - a good film Mama’s Boy (2007) - pretty bad The High and the Mighty (1954) a decent film, a prototype of the disaster genre Battleship Potemkin (1925) - interesting for its place in cinema history as a film that advanced the art of editing and screen composition and fascinating as a time capsule; the plot is pure commie propaganda Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997) - a good film The Cotton Club (1984) - great production design and the young Diane Lane is ravishingly beautiful, but the plot meanders around and doesn't amount to much Southland Tales (2006) - awful Zulu (1964) - a very good film, although the battle scenes have dated somewhat (the stabs with spears and bayonets are very obvious in how they were faked) Blow Out (1981) - an effective chiller with an unsettling ending The Front Page (1974) - pretty good Lemmon/Matthau remake True Grit (1969) - rousing good fun with John Wayne in great form; "Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!" Charley Varrick (1973) - pretty good crime film with Walter Matthau playing against type Romeo and Juliet (1968) - a very well-staged adaptation; the most accurate and complete cinematic adaptation of the play ever made To Catch a Thief (1955) - Hitchcock in fine form in one of his lighter outings; Grace Kelly is at her most radiant in this October Sky (1999) - a very good movie, very straightforward and sincere in its drama Custer of the West (1967) - mediocre Torn Curtain (1966) - a mostly boring Hitchcock outing with a scene showing how difficult it is to kill someone in a hand-to-hand fight being the sole standout Barefoot in the Park (1967) - a funny, effective comedy; the producers of Dharma and Greg obviously thought so, too The Killers (1964) - a decent crime drama Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) - a very good biopic with Genevieve Bujold in fine form The Enemy Below (1957) - an entertaining submarine versus destroyer World War II film that shows both sides in a humane fashion Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) - reasonably entertaining followup to The Robe Sunset Blvd. (1950) - a great film; it stands up extremely well Cries and Whispers (1973) - an Ingmar Bergman masterpiece with one of the most realistic and harrowing depictions of someone dying of cancer ever put on film Indiscreet (1958) - reasonably entertaining West Side Story (1961) - I'm not usually one for musicals, but this one is great The Big Country (1958) - rousing western with a great cast Viva Zapata! (1952) - a good film, nicely directed by Elia Kazan The Night of the Hunter (1955) - good, with some very memorable moments, but not quite as good as its reputation The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) - a reasonably effective, if somewhat humdrum, war drama; I can't imagine a studio film having a downbeat ending played in such an abrupt and matter of fact way these days Burn After Reading (2008) - pretty good, but a lesser Coen Bros outing; John Malkovich is the highlight Speed Racer (2008) - a great film, very underrated Wanted (2008) - crap WALL-E (2008) - a great film Kung Fu Panda (2008) - very funny Juno (2007) - pretty good, but overrated The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) - crap Get Smart (2008) - mediocre The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) - better than its reputation, it stands as a more fitting wrap-up than the awful series finale Wonder Woman (2009) - a very good film from the DC Universe DTV line, best one yet in fact Appaloosa (2008) - an effective western with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in fine form; Renee Zellweger lets the side down, though My Best Friend’s Girl (2008) - a few funny moments, but mediocre overall; Jason Biggs now looks pretty bad playing increasingly lame versions of his American Pie character 27 Dresses (2008) - reasonably entertaining Jumper (2008) - dull Panic in the Streets (1950) - pretty good Elia Kazan drama Cat People (1982) - cheesy, but fun; Nastassja Kinski and Annette O'Toole are both gorgeous in it Silent Running (1972) - a hokey hippy trippy sci-fi film Outland (1981) - an entertaining sci-fi take on High Noon The Omega Man (1971) - dated, but still rousing entertainment The Thing (1982) - a great film, John Carpenter's best and one of the best of the genre Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) - a great adaptation of Orwell's novel THX 1138 (1971) - I saw an edited version of this on television when I was a child, but this was my first time seeing the full director's cut; it's a very effective low budget dystopian sci-fi outing from the young George Lucas (with some scenes spruced up a bit with modern FX in the director's cut) 10,000 B.C. (2008) - mediocre, dull The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - good production values for its time, nicely made and acted The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) - so-so at the start, but it ended up being a good film Brazil (1985) - at first it seems like it might be one of Gilliam's cacophonous, messy endeavors, but it comes together and hits the target, ultimately living up to its good reputation Bedtime Stories (2008) - mediocre Australia (2008) - seems like it's going to be awful in the early going, but ends up being reasonably entertaining Quantum of Solace (2008) - a step down in quality from Casino Royale, in fact a couple of steps down The Black Swan (1942) - mediocre The Black Hole (1979) - some dated FX and production design (particularly regarding the robots and the visible wires), but good fun nonetheless and generally better than its reputation; the model work for the spaceships holds up well
Just watched Let the Right One In . It's good, but I definitely think I deserve to give it another go when they release the new version with the updated subtitles. Apparently these are "turkey subtitles." The dialogue is reasonably bad in places due to it.
These are some very small movies that peoples should watch. Noise (2008) It's a really cheap movie about a NYC man who get's sick of useless car alarms so he decides to break the car alarms out. Cashback - It's about an early 20 something guy who gets dumped by his girlfriend and can't sleep. So to pass the time he takes up a job working for some grocery store overnight. He hates the job so to make it go by faster he pretends he can stop time. You can see it for free with Netflix Viewer.
I think I only remember the movies I've seen in cinema. And those were (in chronological order): 1) Milk 2) Frost/Nixon 3) Watchmen 4) Star Trek 5) Star Trek 6) Terminator Salvation
Here's what I've seen this year so far (in order of viewing): Burn After Reading Vantage Point Appaloosa Doomsday Passchendaele Quarantine Elizabeth: The Golden Age Beverly Hills Chihuahua Twilight Earth (@theater) Layer Cake The Incredible Hulk Star Trek (@theater, twice so far) Eagle Eye Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Seven Pounds
It's fun, the leader actor, whose name I can't remember, is good. I saw it On Demand for free somewhere.
Goin' by my LJ entries, here's what I've seen in theaters since '09 started. Gran Torino* Frost/Nixon Inkheart* Fanboys Friday the 13th (2009)* The International* Watchmen* Monsters vs Aliens* Fast and Furious* Star Trek (2009)* The Soloist* Battle for Terra* X-Men Origins: Wolverine Band from TV Concert Video Drag Me to Hell* I used a coupon to get into Frost/Nixon, which came with a copy of Lost in Translation on DVD. I saw Watchmen twice, once for free and later with friends. Austin was one of a couple of dozen cities that got Fanboys as a theatrical release, even if it was only playin' at one theater in the city. I saw Star Trek four times in theaters, the first only four seats away from Leonard Nimoy. Two of the screenings were free, and the fourth time was in IMAX. I saw Monsters vs Aliens twice, once for free & again with friends. I walked out of Drag Me to Hell, but I think it should still count. And each movie with a * means I saw it at a free advanced screenin'.
Netflix always makes this easy...for ease of scanning, I've boldfaced my recommendations. In the theater: STAR TREK!!! Woo-eeeee! Via DVD: Zak & Miri Make a Porno - Worth watching but a tad predicable. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Okay, but I found the ending too melodramatic. Defiance - Errrr - definitely over the top and melodramatic. The Eagle Has Landed - Great classic action flick but there's no way I buy Michael Caine as a German WWII soldier. Bolt - Fun, but fairly formulaic. Valkyrie - Better than you'd expect; Tom Cruise is more convincing than the aforementioned Michael Caine and I bet people weren't bitching their heads off about Caine with his quarter-assed attempted to disguise his Cockney accent when that movie came out, were they? 42nd Street - Sometimes old movies are surprisingly good, but this one, not so much. Busby Berkeley routines were still great tho. The Sand Pebbles - A neglected classic and surprisingly modern feeling. The Thin Man - Boring, couldn't finish it (go ahead and call me a troglydyte nyah). Frost/Nixon - THIS one should have won the Oscar! Baby Face - Terrific movie, holds up after many decades. A Chorus Line - Someone should remake this someday; Attenborough really didn't get it. The Wrestler - Good. Just what I expected. Stagecoach - The kind of movie that shows you exacly why it has become a classic. The Twilight Samurai - See it. It's not what you expect. Doubt - Definitely see it. Not sure I liked the ending, tho... Frozen River - Gripping, worth seeing. And didn't fall into the predicted patterns. Role Models - Okay if you're in the mood for a big dumb comedy. Of Human Bondage - Interesting to see Bette Davis's big debut. The film desperately needs to be restored. Bram Stoker's Dracula - Saw it just to see how bad Keanu Reeves really was. Yeah, bad. It was a hoot, tho. Smokin' Aces - Just wanted to check our our new James T. Kirk. Don't bother otherwise. Wotta mess. Miracle at St. Anna - For frak's sake, Spike, TURN DOWN THE FRAKKIN' MUSIC! The Kingdom - The usual action pablum. Kiss Me Deadly - Fairly entertaining noir flick. Milk - If Frost/Nixon didn't win, this should have. Changeling - Hard to sit through; too disturbing. To Catch a Thief - Sorry, Hitch, I fell asleep. The Bank Dick - Shockingly, I've now learned that W.C. Fields really isn't funny in the least. People must have been desperate for entertainment to sit thru such boring crap. Guess it beat peeling turnips. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Wow, anime isn't for me. Couldn't get thru 20 minutes. Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa - Errr, well. The part with the penguins and the plane crash was funny, I guess. Bottle Shock - Nice cast, James Tiberius as a surfer dude was fun, but way to predictable for me to give a frak about. Fame - Holds up very well after all this time. Burn After Reading - Just plain fun! Kung Fu Panda - Labored. Was this really up for an Oscar? Tropic Thunder - One of the funniest movies I have EVER seen! Ok time to bite at some recommendations: first up- I'll be back with my revieeeeewwww....
Star Trek - A- (Fun film) Role Models - B+ (I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I really didn't think I'd like it, but it was really good. Especially loved the ending.) X-Men Origins: Wolverine - B (This film felt off. Some really good scenes mixed with some mediocre ones. Hugh Jackman was awesome again in the role and I really liked Liev Schreiber.) Norbit - B- (I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I liked this movie. I heard so much bad stuff about it, but I found myself laughing. It was so goofy and silly, but it worked for me. I liked that Rasputia was totally unlikeable.) The Fisher King - C+ (Not bad. Kind of weird at times and somewhat predictable, but entertaining.) Lonesome Jim - B+ (Pretty good little indie flick. Similar in tone to Garden State and Elisabethtown. I've really been into these types of movies lately.) The Miracle Match - C- (Forgettable sports movie. The actors did the best they could, but it was just too bland and boring. Surprisingly it came from the director and writer of Hoosiers and Rudy which I loved.) Pineapple Express - B+ (Good comedy. Cool to see Franco and Rogen together again after Freaks and Geeks.) Enemy Mine - B (I had fun revisiting this 80s sci fi movie after all these years. The alien make up was actually really good. I think they must have spent most of the budget on that cause everything else looked cheesy. The monster under the sand looked like it was from The Muppet Show. Still, the story was good. My favorite part was the stuff with the kid alien and Dennis Quaid.) Be Kind Rewind - F (I rarely ever turn off movies, but I only made it through 40 minutes of this. I just couldn't take it anymore.) Primer - C+ (This was probably one of the most confusing time travel films I've ever seen. The middle was really interesting, but by the end they had lost me. I'll probably watch it again to see if it makes more sense the second time around.) Waitress - B (Nice little film. Rented it because Nathan Fillion was in it.) Speed Racer - B (I really thought I was going to hate this, but it was actually pretty good.) Cellular - C+ (Ridiculous plot, but somewhat entertaining.) Sunshine - A (My favorite science fiction film of this decade.) Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins - C (Totally predictable comedy. Not much laughs. I like the cast though.) Drillbit Taylor - C- (Best part was the cameo by Adam Baldwin. The rest stunk.) The Mummy (1932) - A- (First time seeing this and it was really good. Karloff's mummy makeup looked really cool. I had no idea what to expect, but the story was pretty interesting. Love these old Universal horror films.) The Incredible Hulk - C (I'm probably in the minority, but I liked the Ang Lee movie much more than this. The battle between Hulk and Abomination at the end was pretty lame and I was close to turning it off a few times. I liked Ed Norton as Bruce Banner, but that was about it. Sam Elliot and Jennifer Connelly were way better than William Hurt and Liv Tyler.) Raiders of the Lost Ark A+ (Classic film that I never get tired of.) Vanilla Sky - B+ (What a weird film, but by the end it all made sense and I really liked it.) Halloween remake - D (It took me two years but I finally broke down and watched this movie. It wasn't as horrendous as I thought it would be, but wow, what a mess. Right off the bat, the dialog was so over the top and ridiculous. I knew going in that they were going to make the Myers family white trash (which I hated), but this was way worst than I could have imagined. It was so laughably bad the way they spoke to each other. If it was toned down just a little it would have helped. The scenes in the sanitarium were my favorite parts and the kid playing Myers was really good. I would have loved to have seen the whole movie just focus on him. As soon as they switched to the adult Myers is where it all went down hill for me. The actress who played Laurie Strode was so bland and unmemorable. I was hoping Myers would kill her off which is the exact opposite feeling I had with the original. Danielle Harris would have done a much better job. They should have had them switch parts.) The Wrestler - A (Great film.) Slumdog Millionaire - A+ (Loved it.) Mad Max - A The Road Warrior - B+ Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - B+ (First time seeing all three of these and really enjoyed them. The first one is my favorite of the bunch.) The Big Boss - B+ (Pretty good.) Way of the Dragon - A (My second favorite Bruce Lee flick. Enter the Dragon is my fav.) The Chinese Connection - A- (Awesome film.) Game of Death II - C (I had no idea they made a sequel to the first one. It came with my box set. This was very cheesy, but entertaining. Interesting to see how they onece again splice in Bruce Lee.)
The stuff I remember particularly liking is bold... I know there is more good stuff in here I but my memory is not that good. Netflix: Nowhere in Africa Late Autumn Something the Lord Made Gonzo Slumdog Millionaire Blaze Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan A Scanner Darkly King of California The Conformist Frost/Nixon Repulsion Sergeant York Futurama: Monster Robot Maniac Fun Baraka Risky Business Milk Trekkies 2 Trekkies The Postman Always Rings Twice Moby Dick The Final Countdown The Sweet Hereafter Grand Illusion 42 Up Synecdoche, New York Man on Wire Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 28 Days Later Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? Zatoichi: Vol. 1: The Tale of Zatoichi Now, Voyager Pinocchio Sunrise The Visitor Hellboy Chronos Once The Long Goodbye A Simple Plan Suspicion A Bridge Too Far Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder Body of Lies Burn After Reading Eastern Promises All This, and Heaven Too The Asphalt Jungle Face/Off Standing in the Shadows of Motown Appaloosa Miss Potter Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed The Taste of Others 35 Up Where Eagles Dare Gentleman's Agreement This Gun for Hire Spanglish You Don't Mess with the Zohan Serpico Fracture The Rainmaker Frisky Dingo: Season 1 Fail-Safe Short Cuts Written on the Wind 28 Up Trouble in Paradise The Dead Pool Mildred Pierce In the theater: Star Trek X-Men Origins: Wolverine Fast & Furious The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Yes Man Valkyrie