101. The Initiation ★ - Horrible 80's slasher film 102. Honeymoon ★ 1/2 - Horrible 2014 horror film 103. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure ★★★ 104. Night of the Creeps ★★★ - Such a fun movie 105. 7500 ★ - Terrrrrrible horror movie 106. 13 Sins ★★ 1/2 - Kind of oddly forgettable. Cheap Thrills is definitely the better of the two similar films. 107. Transformers: Age of Extinction ★★ - I was pleasantly surprised that this movie exceeded my expectations. It's still not good, though.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) This was chronologically the first of the "big three" Merchant Ivory films, alongside fellow E.M. Forster adaptation Howards End and my favourite of the bunch, The Remains of the Day; but it was the last of those films I saw, and I'd say it's easily the least-compelling of the bunch. I read the book years ago, but I don't remember much about it. This is a pretty standard story about emotional repression, etc., and I don't think any of the characters stand out in the same way as they do in the later films by the same team. Kind of interesting seeing Helena Bonham Carter in an ingenue role, since her choice of roles in the last 15+ years has been pretty far away from this sort of period piece (The King's Speech aside). The early work by Daniel Day-Lewis is standout, adding a surprising degree of humanity to what is basically a caricature. 89. The 400 Blows (A-) After watching Jules and Jim, I decided to look at Truffaut's first film. After watching it I read the Wiki entry which explains the title, and the apparently common confusion that I shared about it, as the combination of that and the poster had given the impression that corporal punishment factored into it (though at times you begin to think the protagonist could use a bit of that). This is much more straightforward, tonally, than Jules and Jim. The severity of the French children's law system in this period is rather astonishing, I have to say, assuming this is accurate. Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 27 Streaming Service: 28 (+2)
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) Tom Hooper's 2012 film adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical attracted a vicious hatedom in certain critical and audience quarters as soon as it debuted, a mix of people who didn't like the original play, hated Hooper personally for having the temerity to win Best Director two years earlier, or disliked the shooting style. I don't hold with any of those groups. I unabashedly loved this film when it came out, and I think it holds up, revisiting it nearly two years later. Russell Crowe I recall finding a bit jarring at first, but I actually think he's adequate, and in selected scenes, actually quite effective ("The Confrontation", especially). He's no Quast, but he doesn't sink the production, as I know some people claim. The rest of the cast is performing at a very high standard. Hathaway won a deserved Oscar, but I think Eddie Redmayne should have been nominated alongside her and Hugh Jackman. I've seen several versions of this story, and his is easily the best Marius I've seen. The pacing is breakneck, and I think a few extra minutes judiciously sprinkled could probably have eased the transitions a bit (also, they cut the heart out of "A Little Fall of Rain", which is the only song sequence in the film I think doesn't really work). Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 28 (+1) Streaming Service: 28
Godzilla - I'm not sure how to classify this movie. Is it a bad movie, with some good parts or a good movie, but with only a few redeeming parts. This movie suffers from the exact same thing as Pacific Rim, the creatures are only shown for the most part in darkness and rain or fog. While I get going for the "atmosphere" there are parts where you can't even discern whats going on screen. The worst part of this movie, is you don't really care about anyone, not the humans and definitely not the monsters. Godzilla just moves from place to place, following the action. Why are we suppose to love Godzilla, we're never given a reason to. He's just there to be bad ass and for the most part he is. While I did like the redesign, especially the fire breath and how his spine light up. Something that was prevalent in the Godzilla movies from Japan was empathy. None of that shows up here. Going in to the movie, I was aware of the lack of Godzilla in the movie. Believe it or not, that didn't bother me so much. You would think a movie called Godzilla would have a little bit more of Godzilla in it. The parallels between Ford and Godzilla were nice, I was waiting for Godzilla and Ford to fist bump at the end, before both fell over from exhaustion. So to answer my own question, I think this was a good movie but hamstring a lot by a lackluster script. I hope that they don't include the Ford character and family in the upcoming sequel. That would move this into Jaws 4 territory.
Spoiler: Full 2014 List 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End (9) 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope (9) 20th Century Boys 3: Redemption (9) 300: Rise of an Empire (10) The Amazing Spider-man 2 (7) Anohana-The Flower We Saw That Day: The Movie (8) Black Rain (7) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (9) Columbiana (7) Divergent (7) Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods (7) Edge of Tomorrow (10) The Expendables 3 (8) Fairy Tail The Movie: The Phoenix Priestess (8) Garden of Sinners: Blessings for the Future (9) Garden of Sinners: Blessing for the Future-Extra Chorus (9) Godzilla (2014) (9) The Grand Budapest Hotel (9) Guardians of the Galaxy (8) Heat (1995) (8) Hercules (2014) (7) Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (9) John Q (9) Kick Ass 2 (8) Lone Survivor (8) Lucy (9) Lupin the 3rd: Bye Bye Liberty (7) Lupin the 3rd: The Hemingway Papers (7) Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Konan: The Movie (8) Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (7) Mission Impossible II (8) Mission Impossible III (8) Monuments Men (8) Mr. Popper's Penguins (7) Need for Speed (8) Non-Stop (10) The November Man (7) The Odessa File (1974) (10) Oldboy (2013) (9) Pack Up Your Troubles (7) Patema Inverted (Sakasama no Patema) (9) The Raid: Redemption (8) Red Dawn (2012) (5) Robocop (2014) (8) The Rover (5) Short Peace: Possessions (9) Short Peace: Combustion (7) Short Peace: Gambo (8) Short Peace: A Farewell to Weapons (9) Snowpiercer (6) Stargate SG1: Children of the Gods (8) Tales From Earthsea (5) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) (7) Transformers 4: Age of Extinction (8) Walking Tall: Lone Justice (6) White House Down (7) The Wind Rises (7) Wolf Children (8) X-Men: Days of Future Past (9) Recently Seen: A Walk Among the Tombstones (8) Running Total: 60
Love Punch. B+ Emma Thompson and Pierce Bronson are divorced and hate each other in the completely civilized English way. Pierce loses all their money to a swindler, so they plan a heist to steal a multibillion dollar diamond from a High Society Wedding. In the sitcom, 'Til Death, one of the characters "Doug" claims to have had a relationship with Emma Thompson before he met his wife, he says that the tabloids referred to them as "The Dougar and the Cougar".
1) Wargames - B+ 2) Play The Game - B 3) Battle Los Angeles - B+ 4) Despicable Me 2 - B 5) Minority Report - C- 6) District 9 - B+ 7) How Do You Know? - F 8) Walk The Line - A- 9) The Butler - A+ 10) Captain Phillips - B 11) Sky High - C+ 12) Draft Day - B- 13) Nuremberg - B 14) Love & Other Drugs - D 15) We Were Soldiers - B+ 16) A Walk To Remember - D+ 17) Gridiron Gang - C 18) 42 - B 19) The Monuments Men - A- 20) The Rebound - D- 21) Saving Mister Banks - A- 22) Last Vegas - D+ 23) Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit - B- 24) Maleficent - D 25) Now And Then - C 26) Machete - B 27) 3 Days To Kill - B- 28) The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - A- 29) Escape Plan - A- 30) Hotel Transylvania - B+ 31) Little Black Book - C- 32) The Bourne Identity - B It's a good action flick, one I hadn't seen before even though it is over a decade old. I could've done without the Brian Cox/Chris Cooper storyline and focused more on Matt Damon trying to figure things out and us figuring it out with him. I had forgotten about Julia Stiles, the girl who was in every movie from 2000-2003 and then dropped off the face of the Earth.
1) Wargames - B+ 2) Play The Game - B 3) Battle Los Angeles - B+ 4) Despicable Me 2 - B 5) Minority Report - C- 6) District 9 - B+ 7) How Do You Know? - F 8) Walk The Line - A- 9) The Butler - A+ 10) Captain Phillips - B 11) Sky High - C+ 12) Draft Day - B- 13) Nuremberg - B 14) Love & Other Drugs - D 15) We Were Soldiers - B+ 16) A Walk To Remember - D+ 17) Gridiron Gang - C 18) 42 - B 19) The Monuments Men - A- 20) The Rebound - D- 21) Saving Mister Banks - A- 22) Last Vegas - D+ 23) Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit - B- 24) Maleficent - D 25) Now And Then - C 26) Machete - B 27) 3 Days To Kill - B- 28) The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - A- 29) Escape Plan - A- 30) Hotel Transylvania - B+ 31) Little Black Book - C- 32) The Bourne Identity - B 33) To Be Fat Like Me - D It was a Lifetime movie from 2007 and if not for Kaley Cuoco's strong performance, I doubt we'd be talking about it. Sure, it's nice to say "look at us popular kids being nice to the fat kids." This is never going to change and one cute little movie is not going to fix it.
1) Wargames - B+ 2) Play The Game - B 3) Battle Los Angeles - B+ 4) Despicable Me 2 - B 5) Minority Report - C- 6) District 9 - B+ 7) How Do You Know? - F 8) Walk The Line - A- 9) The Butler - A+ 10) Captain Phillips - B 11) Sky High - C+ 12) Draft Day - B- 13) Nuremberg - B 14) Love & Other Drugs - D 15) We Were Soldiers - B+ 16) A Walk To Remember - D+ 17) Gridiron Gang - C 18) 42 - B 19) The Monuments Men - A- 20) The Rebound - D- 21) Saving Mister Banks - A- 22) Last Vegas - D+ 23) Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit - B- 24) Maleficent - D 25) Now And Then - C 26) Machete - B 27) 3 Days To Kill - B- 28) The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - A- 29) Escape Plan - A- 30) Hotel Transylvania - B+ 31) Little Black Book - C- 32) The Bourne Identity - B 33) To Be Fat Like Me - D 34) Poseidon - C A giant meh. A movie like this becomes a betting game on who survives, though it was fun playing "The Barbie Counter" as Mike Vogel (Barbie from Under The Dome) shows up, playing much the same character.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) Kathryn Bigelow won the Oscar for The Hurt Locker, but this followup is the superior film, in my opinion (though I'll grant it's been some years since I've seen the latter film). This is my first rewatch this initial theatrical viewing. It remains a compelling piece of filmmaking, and as a huge fan of Jessica Chastain, I love her work in the lead part here (as an aside, a minor moment with Chris Pratt's SEAL team leader listening to music on his way into battle is a bit funnier in retrospect). At times it feels like the story of how this film was made would be as interesting as the actual film, given that Bigelow and Boal completely scrapped their original plans when Bind Laden was killed midway through development, and engaged in quite extensive journalistic inquiry to gather information. Along the way, of course, that attracted people questioning whether they were unwittingly suckered into making a film that endorses the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program. I don't think the film is a pro-torture manifesto, but it's not aiming to condemn the CIA either -- I can easily see why people might take issue with this approach, but I think Bigelow's approach is best for a film so grounded in contemporary military/political events (as a rule of thumb, there are few great war movies made while the war is still going on). Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 29 (+1) Streaming Service: 28
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) I was seriously underwhelmed by this. It's clearly aiming at black comedy, but I didn't think any of the jokes were especially funny. The way the protagonists treat O'Houlihan, especially, is plain sexual harassment, and when it isn't bleakly funny, all you're left with is the unpleasant content of the acts themselves (I don't object to handling this sort of action as comedy, by any means; I was a huge fan of Killer Joe, which is as pitch-black a comedy as you can get; but when it's not funny, it doesn't work). Ah, well, at least I've acquired a dissenting opinion on a very popular film. Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 29 Streaming Service: 29 (+1)
Watched only X-Men Days of Future Past, Godzilla and Transformers Age of Extinction so far. I'll just say I enjoyed them all.
Spoiler: Full 2014 List 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End (9) 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope (9) 20th Century Boys 3: Redemption (9) 300: Rise of an Empire (10) The Amazing Spider-man 2 (7) Anohana-The Flower We Saw That Day: The Movie (8) Black Rain (7) Captain America: The Winter Soldier (9) Columbiana (7) Divergent (7) Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods (7) Edge of Tomorrow (10) The Expendables 3 (8) Fairy Tail The Movie: The Phoenix Priestess (8) Garden of Sinners: Blessings for the Future (9) Garden of Sinners: Blessing for the Future-Extra Chorus (9) Godzilla (2014) (9) The Grand Budapest Hotel (9) Guardians of the Galaxy (8) Heat (1995) (8) Hercules (2014) (7) Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (9) John Q (9) Kick Ass 2 (8) Lone Survivor (8) Lucy (9) Lupin the 3rd: Bye Bye Liberty (7) Lupin the 3rd: The Hemingway Papers (7) Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Konan: The Movie (8) Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (7) Mission Impossible II (8) Mission Impossible III (8) Monuments Men (8) Mr. Popper's Penguins (7) Need for Speed (8) Non-Stop (10) The November Man (7) The Odessa File (1974) (10) Oldboy (2013) (9) Pack Up Your Troubles (7) Patema Inverted (Sakasama no Patema) (9) The Raid: Redemption (8) Red Dawn (2012) (5) Robocop (2014) (8) The Rover (5) Short Peace: Possessions (9) Short Peace: Combustion (7) Short Peace: Gambo (8) Short Peace: A Farewell to Weapons (9) Snowpiercer (6) Stargate SG1: Children of the Gods (8) Tales From Earthsea (5) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) (7) Transformers 4: Age of Extinction (8) A Walk Among the Tombstones (8) Walking Tall: Lone Justice (6) White House Down (7) The Wind Rises (7) Wolf Children (8) X-Men: Days of Future Past (9) Recently Seen: The Equalizer (10) Running Total: 61
108. White Bird in a Blizzard ★★1/2 It's not bad, but it's nothing memorable. Shailene Woodley is topless a couple of times... I think that's enough for half of the population to watch. 109. 22 Jump Street ★★★ 1/2 Holy crap this movie is funny. Lofts of meta jokes that are great.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) My first experience with Andrew Dominik was seeing Killing Them Softly, which was one the most boring theatre experiences I can recall, but this earlier feature was so unanimously praised that I got around to watching it. It's definitely far, far better than the later film, though I think the middle of the movie could have been edited down noticeably (particularly as there's supposedly a lot cut from the post-assassination part of the film, and I thought that could have been explored more than it was). That said, the photography is truly stunning, and I don't think Brad Pitt has ever been better (though he, and for that matter, pretty much all the other actors, are playing characters much younger then they actually are). Casey Affleck is terrific, and most definitely not a supporting actor, however he campaigned for the Academy. I was disappointed at Mary-Louise Parker having so little to do (incidentally, Zooey Deschanel's cameo, together with things like Almost Famous, makes me wish she did more character acting these days). The supporting male cast is a rogues gallery of recognizable character actors (and a pre-stardom Jeremy Renner), all acquitting themselves well as well (though, pursuant to my comments about the middle section, I would probably have cut down many of their parts if I'd been in charge of editing). 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) The reunion of the directing/producing team from Beauty and the Beast was clearly intended to once again shatter expectations about what was possible in American animation, but it didn't quite work out that way -- the film underperformed commercially, as the studio's post-Lion King slide at the box office was beginning, and the critics were lukewarm. It's been my observation that the film has since become a bit of a dark horse favourite amongst many of the generation of kids who were around to watch it, and on my most recent rewatch, it's easy to see why that's the case. It has a lot of elements that you only really fully appreciate as an adult. At the same time, ironically, a movie that was aiming to demonstrate the range the studio could do ended up showing its limitations. The movie is much darker than a normal Disney film, but it's much lighter than the source material, and they really should have seen that the latter fact would prevent them from getting the plaudits they really wanted from the critics. Before the rewatch the main thing I remembered about the movie in terms of more mature content was Frollo's sexual fixation on Esmerelda and his desire to persecute Gypsies, but on seeing it I was repeatedly taken a bit aback by other details that I had forgotten over the years, such as Frollo locking some (non-Roma) villagers in their cottage and then setting it on fire to try and burn them to death, or talking about killing seemingly the entire Roma population of Paris, and, perhaps most of all, the scene where Quasimodo initially seems to have won over the Parisian population at the festival, only for them to decide that humiliating him for their own amusement is as fun as celebrating him would be. And all of this is happening in a movie with comic relief gargoyles. Speaking of them, their big song, the one that draws the most ire of fans for being out of place (which it is), is linked to another element that I'm of two minds about: namely, Quasimodo's being disabused of the idea that Esmerelda might be a romantic option for him, as she's in love with Phoebus. On the one hand, this is, again, mature -- the girl doesn't have to love the hero romantically, and Quasimodo learns to get past his disappointment and be a hero anyway. That said, this is, again, heavy stuff for a kids' movie, and since pretty much every Disney has to be judged not just on its own terms, but in relation to everything else the studio has produced, it's hard not to notice that it's only the "ugly" protagonist who is denied the girl (the DTV sequel, which I haven't and don't plan to watch even though it's also on the Blu-ray disk, gives him a girlfriend who's also a hunchback, which plays into another cluster of stereotypes). Okay, all that aside, I quite like the film, and I respect its ambitions. While the aforesaid tonal clashes recur throughout, the dark stuff is all really good on its own. Frollo is one of Disney's best villains, especially for adult audiences. The animation is gorgeous, reflecting when Disney's 2D animation studio was on the top of its game (at this point, sadly, I think we can say that CGI has won out on that front) -- there's one mixed 2D/CGI shot of Quasimodo swinging down from the cathedral at the climax and flying over a huge crowd gathered around that really stands out for its technical complexity. And Alan Menken was at the absolute peak of his powers in this period -- indeed, the trilogy of films beginning here and continuing through Hercules and Mulan show him experimenting with a range of musical styles, and producing some of his most distinctive work (even in the 21st century film musical revival, which has produced fresher stories and characterization in many respects, has not matched with Menken was doing musically in the late 1990s). Here we get a score and soundtrack heavily drawing on church music, with chants, bells, etc. all utilized to great effect (though why hire Kevin Kline if he isn't going to sing anything?). Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 31 (+2) Streaming Service: 29
RPG (A.K.A. Real Play Game.) C+ In the future, 10 trillionaires jack into an AR environment where they believe that they are young and vital again, but few memories of who they really are or how they got there. A holographic dungeon master manifests, explaining that they are in a game where they have to win, they have to murder one member of their collective every hour or face random terminal penalties. The "game" is more complicated, but that would be telling. B Movie fun.
Spoiler: 2010 viewed movies I didn't start in the thread till August that year, partial list Piranha 3D: C+ Book of Eli: B Lethal Weapon: A Lethal Weapon 2: A- Lethal Weapon 3: B Lethal Weapon 4: C+ The Crow: A Clash of the Titans: B+ Prince of Persia: B The Fountain: D Resident Evil: A- Resident Evil: Apocalypse: B Resident Evil: Extinction: B- Resident Evil: Afterlife: B Resident Evil: Degeneration(animated): B Bad Boys: B+ Zombieland: B The Evil Dead: B- R.E.D.: B 30 Days of Night: Dark Days: B+ Conviction: A- Crazies(2010): A- Paranormal Activity: A+ Paranormal Activity 2: A Shutter Island: B- Gamer: F Last House on the Left(orig): D+ Thirst(asian film): C- The Hills Have Eyes: B When In Rome: B- Dr.Horrible Sing-A-Long: A Expelled No Intelligence Allowed(doc): B Zombie Strippers: D Mammoth: D+ Everyone Else: D Dark Ages(doc): A Batman vs Dracula(anim): A- Independence Day: A Robin Hood(2010-Crowe): B Taken: A Only You: B- Momma Mia: C High Plains Drifter: C Joe Kid: A- Tron Legacy: B Voyage of the DawnTreader: B+ Tourist: B Duchess: B Blade Runner: B+ Men In Black: A Jumper: B- Interview with the Vampire: A- Brideshead Revisted: B Wizard of Oz: A Gone With the Wind: A True Grit: A Spoiler: 2011 viewed movies 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- 110. Belly: D- 111. Despicable Me: B+ Spoiler: 2012 viewed movies Kicking off my 2012 list: 1. Edge of Darkness: A 2. Star Trek: The Motion Picture: B+ 3. Repo Men: B- 4. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: B- 5. Underworld: Awakening: B 6. Lost City Raiders: C+ 7. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist: B+ 8. Contraband: B+ 9. Kick-Ass: B+ 10. Hereafter: A- 11. Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance: B 12. Act of Valor: C+ 13. John Carter: B 14. Hunger Games: B+ 15. Wrath of the Titans: C 16. Cabin In the Woods: B+ 17. The Rum Diary: C 18. The Eagle: C+ 19. The Avengers: A+ 20. The Adjustment Bureau: A 21. Sucker Punch: B- 22. Knight & Day: C+ 23. Mechanic: B 24. Devil: A 25. Dark Shadows: C+ 26. Men In Black 3: B- 27. Columbiana: B 28. Haywire: C 29. Snow White and the Huntsman: B- 30. Meet the Parents: A- 31. Meet the Fockers: B 32. Prometheus: B 33. Chernobyl Dairies: B- 34. Little Fockers: B- 35. Halloween III: Season of the Witch: B+ 36. Winters Bone: B+ 37. Battleship: A- 38. Much Ado About Nothing: B+ 39. Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs: B 40. Beauty & the Beast: A+ 41. Bambi: A- 42. Sex & the City 2: D+ 43. Top Gun: B 44. Abraham Lincoln-Vampire Hunter: B- 45. Brave: B+ 46. Kill Bill vol.1: A- 47. Kill Bill vol.2: B 48. The Amazing Spider-man: B- 49. Virgin Territory: C- 50. 21 Jump Street: B+ 51. The Dark Knight Rises: A- 52. Sicko: C 53. Capitalism A Love Story: C 54. Seven Pounds: B 55. Hot Fuzz: B 56. Total Recall (2012): A- 57. Total Recall (1990): B+ 58. Hardware: D+ 59. The Bourne Legacy: A- 60. Once Upon A Time in the West: B- 61. Expendables 2: B+ 62. Hangover 2: C 63. Moneyball: A- 64. Adventures of Tin Tin: B- 65. 2016 Obama's America: A- 66. Unknown: B 67. No Strings Attached: B+ 68. Megamind: A- 69. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies: A- 70. Halloween 4:Return of Michael Myers: A- 71. Halloween 5:Revenge of Michael Myers: B+ 72. Halloween The Curse of Michael Myers: B 73. Halloween H2O: A 74. Halloween Resurrection: C+ 75. The Day the Earth Stood Still(2008): B 76. Looper: A- 77. Smart People: C- 78. Atlas Shrugged-Part One: B 79. Dredd: A- 80. Bridesmaids: C- 81. Taken 2: B 82. Atlas Shrugged-Part Two: C+ 83. Alex Cross: A- 84. RockNRolla: B- 85. Paranormal Activity 4: B 86. Argo: A+ 87. Skyline: F 88. Cop Out: D 89. Skyfall: A 90. Red Dawn (2012): B- 91. Dracula (1979): B 92. Dracula (2009): C+ 93. Slither: B- 94. Your Highness: F 95. Goldeneye: A 96. Whistleblower: B+ 97. The Town: A+ 98. Ted: A 99. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: B+ 100. Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: A 101. Jack Reacher: A- 102. Django Unchained: B+ Spoiler: 2013 viewed movies The 2013 list: 1. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas: C- 2. Les Miserables(2012): B 3. Lincoln: A+ 4. Parental Guidance: C+ 5. Warm Bodies: B 6. Waiting for Superman: B 7. Grindhouse: Planet Terror: B- 8. Grindhouse: Death Proof: C+ 9. Zero Dark Thirty: A 10. Last Stand: B 11. Red Tails: A- 12. Hansel & Gretel-Witch Hunters: C- 13. Parker: B- 14. Bullet to the Head: B+ 15. Judge Dredd(1995): C 16. The Mist: B+ 17. A Good Day to Die Hard: B- 18. Fired Up: C+ 19. Fling: C 20. Ask the Dust: D+ 21. Mulan: A- 22. The Lovely Bones: B 23. The Initiation of Sarah: D 24. Jack the Giant Slayer: C+ 25. Oz the Great and Powerful: B+ 26. Olympus Has Fallen: A- 27. The Lives of Others: B+ (German film) 28. The Croods: B+ 29. Jennifers Body: D+ 30. Evil Dead (2013 remake): B+ 31. G.I. Joe: Retaliation: B 32. The Dark Knight Returns pt.1: A+ 33. The Dark Knight Returns pt.2: A+ 34. Batman: Gotham Knight: B 35. Superman/Shazam: Return of Black Adam: A- 36. Batman: Year One: B 37. Batman/Superman: Apocalypse: A+ 38. Superman vs The Elite: B+ 39. Justice League: Doom: A 40. Green Lantern First Flight: A 41. Oblivion: B+ 42. Iron Man 3: B- 43. Planet Hulk: A- 44. Welcome to the Jungle: F 45. The Time Travelers Wife: B+ 46. Star Trek into Darkness: A- 47. The Lost Tomb of Jesus: B 48. The Heat: C+ 49. Fast and Furious 6: A- 50. Hangover III: C- 51. Now You See Me: A 52. Boot Camp: B- 53. Green Zone: C 54. Ninja Assassin: B 55. Mr&Mrs. Smith: A- 56. Silver Linings Playbook: A- 57. Man of Steel: B+ 58. Doubt: A 59. Godfather: A 60. World War Z: B 61. Much Ado About Nothing: A- 62. The Lone Ranger: C+ 63. Godfather pt.II: A+ 64. Godfather pt.III: B 65. Beyond Sherwood Forest: D 66. R.E.D. 2: B- 67. The Wolverine: B+ 68. R.I.P.D.: C+ 69. Proof of Life: B- 70. The Conjuring: B 71. Pacific Rim: B- 72. Alone in the Dark: D 73. Apocalypto: A 74. Stargate: Ark of Truth: A- 75. Stargate: Continuum: A 76. Mortal Instruments: City of Bones: B- 77. Pi: C- 78. Riddick: B+ 79. Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief: B 80. The World's End: C+ 81. The Other Woman: B 82. The Other Guys: B- 83. The Sorcerer's Apprentice: C+ 84. Catfish: A- 85. Wild Hogs: C 86. Zach & Miri Make a Porno: B 87. Gravity: A+ 88. Supergirl: D 89. Escape Plan: B+ 90. Prisoners: A 91. Disappearance of Alice Creed: A 92. Deathrace 2000: C+ 93. Thor Dark World: A- 94. Superman Unbound: B+ 95. JCVD: B- 96. Drive: B- 97. Hunger Games: Catching Fire: B+ 98. War Horse: B 99. How to Train Your Dragon: A 100. Scrooged: A- 101. W: D+ 102. 127 Hours: A- 103. Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug: B+ 104. Moonrise Kingdom: A 105. Piranha DD: D Spoiler: 2014 First Time Viewed Films 2014 First time viewed films: 1. Saving Mr.Banks: A 2. American Hustle: A- 3. Larry Crowne: B+ 4. The Grey: C 5. Real Steel: B- 6. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit: B 7. Just Go With It: A- 8. The Road: B 9. Blue Valentine: B 10. Fifth Element: C 11. Boy in the Stripped Pajamas: A 12. Hachi: A Dog's Tale: A 13. She's Out of My League: C 14. The Lego Movie: A 15. Whip It: B 16. Up in the Air: B 17. 300: Rise of an Empire: B+ 18. Splice: C- 19. Mirrors: B- 20. Pitch Perfect: A- 21. Noah: C- 22. 2 Guns: B 23. The Seventh Seal: B+ 24. Mongol: A- 25. Captain America The Winter Soldier: A+ 26. Munich: B 27. Amazing Spider-man 2: C- 28. The Killer Inside Me: A- 29. Rio 2: B 30. Welcome to the Rileys: B+ 31. X-Men: Days of Future Past: A- 32. Atonement: B 33. Charlie Wilson's War: A 34. Frozen: A- 35. Rio: B 36. Godzilla: B 37. Bowfinger: B- 38. Transformers Age of Extinction: C+ 39. We Bought A Zoo: A- 40. Chronicle: D+ 41. Knights Tale: C+ 42. 9: D+ 43. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: A- 44. The Help: A 45. From Paris w/Love: B 46. Guardians of the Galaxy: A- 47. Wreck It Ralph: A 48. Land of the Lost: C- 49. Expendables 3: B- 50. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: B 51. Never Let Me Go: D 52. Ghostbusters 30th Anniversary viewing: A 53. Yes Man: B+ 54. The Joneses: B 55. The Informant: A- Starring Matt Damon about an Informant, Mark Whitacre, at a biochem/crops company called ADM who drops the dime to the FBI that the company heads are conspiring with their competitors to price fix the market. However, it all goes sideways on Mark when he spills the beans on his own embezzlement scheme he's got going on on the side. It doesn't really take long in the film to figure out that Mark is Mark's own worst problem. During the first 15-20 min there is a sporadic internal monologue voiceover that Mark has going on as a tangent to what's just happened. At first my thought was that this was to convey the genius of the man and an active mind is always thinking type narrative. It becomes more clear that it's to display his mental disorder, bi-polar, to the audience. I felt it was a strong piece of character acting on Damon's part. It's not the kind of film I'd want to watch and re-watch but it's worth a viewing.
Spoiler: Movies Seen January, February, March, April, May, June & July The Devil's Double - Netflix Instant MST3K: Future War - Netflix Instant Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Graveyard Shift - Netflix Instant Charge - Netflix Instant The Eiger Sanction - Netflix Instant MST3K: Laserblast - Netflix Instant The Joneses - Netflix Instant The Reich Underground - Netflix Instant In the Loop - Netflix Instant The Other Man - Netflix Instant Our Nixon - Netflix Instant Broadcast News - Netflix Instant MST3K: Final Justice - Netflix Instant The Blob (1958) - HuluPlus American Breakdown - HuluPlus Spy Kids 3: Game Over - Netflix Instant The Beast with a Million Eyes - Netflix Instant Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - Netflix Instant Escape from Alcatraz - Netflix Insant River of No Return - Netflix Instant The Apartment - Netflix Instant Rewind This! - HuluPlus Ping Pong - Netflix Instant Schooled: The Price of College Sports - Netflix Instant Bronies - Netflix Instant Le Lac Des Zombies (aka Zombie Lake) - Netflix Instant Cockneys vs Zombies - Netflix Instant Humanoids from the Deep (aka Monster) - Netflix Instant The Haunting in Connecticut - Netflix Instant The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia - Netflix Instant Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis (1984) - Netflix Instant Dinosaur Island - Netflix Instant Age of Dinosaurs - Netflix Instant The Dinosaur Project - Netflix Instant Baby Boom - Netflix Instant Blindsided - Netflix Instant Hobo with a Shotgun - Netflix Instant Stranded - Netflix Instant MST3K: The Phantom Planet - Netflix Instant Looney Tunes: Back in Action - DVD The Crow: Wicked Prayer - Showtime Extreme Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home - Starz Kids & Family Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit - HBO on Demand Bullet to the Head - Cinemax on Demand Howard the Duck - HBO Family Battlefield Earth - HBO on Demand Me, Myself & Irene - HBO on Demand Bad Milo! - Netflix Instant The Final Cut - Netflix Instant Starship Troopers: Invasion - Netflix Instant P!nk: The Truth About Love Tour - Netflix Instant Saving Mr. Banks - DVD Avengers Confidential: Black Widow / Punisher - DVD Suddenly - Netflix Instant Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2D - theater Turbulance - HBO Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor - BBC America Fearless- Cinemax Blly Crystal: 700 Sundays - HBO Jay Mohr: Funny for a Girl - Showtime Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) - Cinemax The Natural - MoviePlex Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie - Cinemax She's the Man - HBO Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995) - Movieplex The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D - Alamo Drafthouse Justice League: War - DVD Son of Batman - DVD Prisoners - HBO A Day at the Races - free admission The Lego Movie 2D - discount theater Non-Stop - discount theater Godzilla 2D (2014) - free admission The Grand Budapest Hotel - free admission Neighbors - free admission X-Men: Days of Future Past 2D - free admission Million Dollar Arm - free admission Grudge Match - DVD The Monuments Men - DVD 3 Days to Kill - DVD Maleficent 2D - matinee The Family - Netflix Instant Romancing the Stone - Netflix Instant The Jewel of the Nile- Netflix Instant The Sklar Brothers: What Are We Talking About? - Netflix Instant Robocop (2014) - DVD Lone Survivor - DVD Knights of Badassdom - DVD Frozen - DVD Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - DVD Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Netflix Instant A Million Ways to Die in the West - free admission Wolverine: Weapon X - Tomorrow Dies Today - DVD Dumb and Dumber: Unrated Edition - DVD Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special! - Netflix Instant Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - DVD Escape from Tomorrow - Netflix Instant 22 Jump Street - theater Edge of Tomorrow 2D - theater Harlem Nights - Netflix Instant JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - DVD Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 - Netflix Instant The Raid 2 - DVD The Wolf of Wall Street - DVD Homefront - Netflix Instant Out of the Furnace - Netflix Instant Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 2D - theater Stan Lee's Mighty 7 - DVD Hot Coffee - Netflix Instant Transformers: Age of Extinction 2D - theater Odd Thomas - Netflix Instant Bad Words - DVD 300: Rise of an Empire - DVD Her - DVD Under the Skin - DVD Sabotage - DVD Lewis Black: Old Yeller - Live at the Borgata - Netflix Instant Emperor - Netflix Instant Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction - YouTube Guardians of the Galaxy 3D/2D - theater/theater Batman: Assault on Arkham - DVD You're Next - Netflix Instant The Nut Job - Netflix Instant Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project - Hulu Plus Dennis Miller: America 180 - Netflix Instant The Sons of Katie Elder - Netflix Instant Doctor Who: Deep Breath - DVD Draft Day - DVD A Walk Among the Tombstones - theater The Equalizer - theater Holy crap! I haven't made an update to this thread all month?!?! Even worse, its a stretch to think of what I actually watched... First off, the latest from Dennis Miller...I used to think he was funny and worth watchin' 'til I realized I'm a liberal and he isn't. Still, he makes some interestin' points in this one, and I think its worth watchin'. Watched a John Wayne movie that my dad always refused to rent or buy. It wasn't too terrible, but I can see why he wouldn't be interested in a story about lyin', deceitful, untrustworthy adult offspring that still have to be protected by their mother. Countin' the Peter Capaldi series premiere since it played in theaters. I bought the DVD at Wal-Mart...Matt Smith's 'The Eleventh Hour' is still my favorite new Doctor introduction. This one has far too many callbacks and references to bring in new fans. Rented the Kevin Costner football melodrama last week with store credit & a coupon. I have heard the phrase "sound and fury signifying nothing" before, but had never seen it in so perfectly done in a movie before. Drama is created for no good reason, characters are at each other's throats because they have to be to keep the plot goin', and in the end, nothin' is lost, very little is gained, and Kevin Costner got his way and every thing was quickly forgiven or resolved. Saw the new Liam Neeson last week on my day off. Fairly decent movie...I went just 'cause its the new Liam Neeson. Watched the trailer after, and got pissed, 'cause that thing gives the whole movie away. Went to see Marvel's big hit again over the weekend, this time with my sister & oldest nephew, and it was in 2D, so I've added that to the list. Only movie this year I've paid to see twice, since I don't get tickets for free anymore. Went to see the new Denzel today, as a birthday gift to myself. That one was pretty good, too. Dragged a bit in the end, but still worth watchin'. Didn't realize it was supposed to be an update of an '80s tv show. That wasn't obvious at all in the film or its marketin', at least not to me. Got a couple of more DVDs I've bought, and another rental coupon from Hasting's to use this week. Guess I should update this more often.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) My second Altman film in the last week or so, and thankfully a much better one than MASH. The highly naturalistic setting was very well-done, and I like the way the film's quasi-episodic opening act gradually transitions into the confrontation between the title characters and the company. Even the ending, which is still sad, of course, is against tradition in some respects as McCabe isn't making a bold stand on principle (though he starts to think he is), he's just a schmuck who is in way over his head. I think Julie Christie's character is a bit underserved in comparison (though it was her, ironically, who got the Oscar nomination). Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 31 Streaming Service: 30 (+1)