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Movies Seen in 2010

Sherlock Holmes [B-]
Men in Black [A]
Up in the Air [A]
Star Trek: The Motion Picture [D+]
I'm Not There [A]
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) [D-]
American Violet [B ]
Inglourious Basterds [A]
Death at a Funeral [B ]
A Serious Man [A]
The Hurt Locker [A-]
Mad Max 2 (AKA The Road Warrior) [C]
The Book of Eli [C-]
Elegy [B+]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind [A]
The Invention of Lying [B-]
Gamer [C]
Timecrimes [A]
Metropolis [A]
Pandorum [B ]
Raiders of the Lost Ark [A]
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [A]
Moon [A]
Fun with Dick and Jane [C]
Sunshine [C]
Stanley Kubrick's The Killing [B+]
Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (1964) [A-]
Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (1946) [B+]
Glengarry Glen Ross [B-]
Gattaca [A]
The Big Chill
The Producers [A]
Rent [C+]
Blade Runner [A]
My Cousin Vinny [B-]

I have no idea why this comedy is ranked so highly, nor why Marisa Tomei's performance was even the subject of an Academy Award nomination, let alone a win, but I'll admit that I was amused by this film for two hours, even in the face of a few unbelievable twists and some jokes that work better than others.
 
Films seen for the first time in 2010 -

Where The Wild Things Are - B+
Up in the Air - A
Avatar - C+
Precious - B
Invictus - C+
Inglourious Basterds - A
Twilight - C
 
Starship Troopers - C+
District 9 - A
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - B+
The Wrestler - B
V for Vendetta - C+
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone - C
Corpse Bride - C
Battlefield Earth - F
There Will Be Blood - A
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - B
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - B
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - A
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - B-
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - B
Faust (1994) - A

The fifth Harry Potter film is fairly solid, though disjointed at times. Events often proceed one right after the other without any thread of explanation. Nice cinematography and sets, and the "Dumbledore's Army" plot line is fun. B

Faust - Jan Svankmajer is not for everyone, but I love what he does. This retelling of the classic Faust tale about a man of science who sells his soul to the devil for magical powers opts for both a modern re-envisioning of the myth and a traditional retelling of the tale involving folk puppets from Svankmajer's native Czechoslovakia, often blurring the line between the two. There are puppets interacting with actors, actors who are also puppets, and actors inside of giant puppets. At one point, a giant puppet head spawns other, smaller puppets, which fight with other puppets. I believe "surreal" is the best word here. Faust's mephisto in the modern tale looks like the man Faust himself, reminding us that we all create our own temptations. Several seemingly random events throughout the movie come together in a surprising and satisfying conclusion at the end. Definitely an art film, but one I truly enjoyed. A
 
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Movies Seen in 2010
Duplicity - C-
The Hurt Locker - A
Moon - A
The Princess and the Frog - B
Crazy Heart - B+
Julie & Julia - A-
A Serious Man - A

This movie was very interesting, but very weird. How low can someone go in terms of problems and more problems. It was actually quite fun watching all this unfold, and while my parents seemed to Hate it, I actually had a blast watching it. Michael Stuhlbarg did a great job, and I still need to think about the beginning and ending, but overall I really enjoyed it.

 
DVD:

Adventureland [B+]
Samaritan Girl [C+]
3-Iron [A]
The Hurt Locker [A-]
Citizen Kane [A]
Planet Hulk [B+]
High Society [B-]
The Philadelphia Story [A-]
The Pianist [A-]
Murder By Decree [A-]
A Man For All Seasons [B+]
A Patch of Blue [B+]

Theatre:

Avatar [ B]
Precious [A-]
Invictus [ B]
A Single Man [B-]
Crazy Heart [A-]
A Serious Man [A-]

Bringing the number of Best Picture nominees I've seen to eight of ten, this is the Coen's latest movie, one of the minor-league nominees. It's a dense film, and probably too purposefully inscrutable for me to really love it in the way I love, say, Miller's Crossing, but it's well-worth seeing. Strong performances all around from the cast (which includes a few recognizable character actors in supporting roles). There are a bunch of different recurring thematic motifs here, such as Schrodinger's Cat-type scenarios, the Book of Job (commonly mentioned in reviews), and also Abraham and Isaac (though that's not a perfect reference, as Isaac was never actually in danger).
 
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls:
It's probably a film best watched very late at night, when one is tired and isn't absolutely sure what the hell was in that drink you just took. This happened to be my mindset, so I wound up sitting through a whole film which I'd only intended to sneek a peek at a few minutes of on TV. So very, very Sixties, so of course it was made in the seventies. Rockers go to LA, get stoned, screw up their lives, a film with a tacky moral at the end as a deliberately half-witted excuse for all the debauchery somewhere in the whole rest of the thing.

Ultimately, I think it's a trifle overlong, and I found it amusing that as, er, exploratory as the film was - touching on homosexuality, drugs, multiple partners - miscegenation remained the last strictly adhered to taboo, as the black characters only acted erotically with each other.

There are some very funny moments, though, and the writing isn't half-bad for a futurely famous film critic Roger Ebert. A zonked out Shakespeare-quoting lunatic record producer steals just about every other scene he's in, and I can't fathom why. Even still he only seems more mildly peculiar than the whole rest of the cast, who seem to be wildly careening over a cliff of melodramatic excess and cornball come-ons. Or something.

Really, though, watch it for the hair. There is so very much of it.

CaptainCanada said:
and also Abraham and Isaac (though that's not a perfect reference, as Isaac was never actually in danger).
Click to expand...
Spoiler alert!

It's not like Abraham knew that, after all. And knowing - or rather the lack of knowing - is sort of important here.
 
The Departed (2006) [A] - the film that won Scorsese his Oscar, which consequently has led to some allegations that the award was really just a consolation prize for past great works not winning, but, while there's certainly some consolation involved, The Departed is a great film on its own. Really impressive cast, with actors like Alec Baldwin turning up in what are more or less bit parts. This is the third collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio (with the fourth due out shortly, and more in the works), and its a great performance (as well as from Matt Damon). The ending bit I found confusing; why didn't Madolyn say anything? Did she tell Mark Wahlberg ('cause I don't see how else he could have known)?
 
I saw Percy Jackson (I'm not even going to type out the full title). Directed by Chris Columbus (the Home Alone and Harry Potter films), non-surprisingly Jackson is another pedestrian foray into the tween/teen fantasy epic subgenre. The supporting cast is decently strong (Kevin McKidd and Sean Bean are woefully underused) and the main trio of young stars have mediocre chemistry (Logan Lerman exhibits some charisma).

Overall, it feels like a retread of Harry Potter and a purely fiscal attempt to regain the successful formula (in which it unabashedly follows).
 
Starship Troopers - C+
District 9 - A
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - B+
The Wrestler - B
V for Vendetta - C+
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone - C
Corpse Bride - C
Battlefield Earth - F
There Will Be Blood - A
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - B
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - B
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - A
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - B-
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - B
Faust (1994) - A
Night on Earth - B
Schizopolis - B-

Night on Earth - Has a reputation for being Jim Jarmusch's best film, but I'd have to give that nod to Dead Man (though, there's still two or three I haven't seen yet). Intelligent comedy about cab drivers and their fares in five different cities across the world. Somes bits stronger than others; the New York and Paris bits were the best in my opinion. Very funny in spots. Does a good job of capturing the feel of each city. Jarmusch's feel for dialogue and bent for finding the humorous in synchronicity is apparent throughout. Soundtrack by Tom Waits. B

Schizopolis - I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this movie. :lol: It's kind of an absurdist free-form comedy with a 90s soundtrack, all things I like. It wins points for being original and wacky and thought-provoking. It loses points for not following it's own internal logic- how can T. Azimuth Schwitters both give his speech and not give his speech, is the biggest example I can think of offhand. Still, it's not a boring movie, some parts tie together nicely, and the Elmo character is hilarious. B-
 
Updates:
Armored Trooper Votoms: Big Battle (7)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Roots of Ambition (8)
Armored Trooper Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder (8)
Boondock Saints (10)
The Book of Eli (8)
Cencoroll (8)
District 9 (8)
The Edge of Darkness (9)
G-9 (6)
Inglorious Bastards (7)
Oldboy (9)
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen (8)
The Uninvited (7)
 
Sherlock Holmes [B-]
Men in Black [A]
Up in the Air [A]
Star Trek: The Motion Picture [D+]
I'm Not There [A]
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) [D-]
American Violet [B ]
Inglourious Basterds [A]
Death at a Funeral [B ]
A Serious Man [A]
The Hurt Locker [A-]
Mad Max 2 (AKA The Road Warrior) [C]
The Book of Eli [C-]
Elegy [B+]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind [A]
The Invention of Lying [B-]
Gamer [C]
Timecrimes [A]
Metropolis [A]
Pandorum [B ]
Raiders of the Lost Ark [A]
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [A]
Moon [A]
Fun with Dick and Jane [C]
Sunshine [C]
Stanley Kubrick's The Killing [B+]
Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (1964) [A-]
Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (1946) [B+]
Glengarry Glen Ross [B-]
Gattaca [A]
The Big Chill
The Producers [A]
Rent [C+]
Blade Runner [A]
My Cousin Vinny [B-]
Zombieland [ B]

It's the second time I've seen this film, and I still think it's fairly amusing. Shaun of the Dead is easily a superior zombie comedy, but we can't all be as good.
 
So I saw Towelhead on HBO and wow, I can't believe I missed this. Written and directed by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty, True Blood), the film stars Aaron Eckhart, Toni Collette and Lynn Collins and I can't praise this film enough. I don't really want to spoil the story since much is left best unsaid but it deals with a coming-of-age story mixed with some social-political commentary (the story takes place during the first Gulf War). It's just really exquisite, well-made, and gorgeous, with truly fantastic acting, writing, and direction. Absolutely marvelous.
 
I went to the cinema today and saw Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It was an average movie, nothing new but it was OK - 6/10

Movies I have seen recently on DVD

The Last King of Scotland - 7/10 (really liked Forrest Whittaker's performance as Idi Amin)
Orphan 7/10
Night at the Museum 2 - 4/10
The Taking of Pelham 123 - 5/10
Aliens in the Attic - 3/10
Is Anybody There - 5/10
Up - 8/10
Martyrs - 4/10 (Far to violent for me to like)
 
Sherlock Holmes [B-]
Men in Black [A]
Up in the Air [A]
Star Trek: The Motion Picture [D+]
I'm Not There [A]
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) [D-]
American Violet [B ]
Inglourious Basterds [A]
Death at a Funeral [B ]
A Serious Man [A]
The Hurt Locker [A-]
Mad Max 2 (AKA The Road Warrior) [C]
The Book of Eli [C-]
Elegy [B+]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind [A]
The Invention of Lying [B-]
Gamer [C]
Timecrimes [A]
Metropolis [A]
Pandorum [B ]
Raiders of the Lost Ark [A]
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade [A]
Moon [A]
Fun with Dick and Jane [C]
Sunshine [C]
Stanley Kubrick's The Killing [B+]
Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (1964) [A-]
Ernest Hemingway's The Killers (1946) [B+]
Glengarry Glen Ross [B-]
Gattaca [A]
The Big Chill
The Producers [A]
Rent [C+]
Blade Runner [A]
My Cousin Vinny [B-]
Zombieland [ B]
Infernal Affairs [A]

I've seen this film five times that I can remember now, and it remains a master of plotting and character. It's fascinating, also, to see how the Chinese directors handle scenes much differently than Scorsese would in his American remake. I'm especially thinking of the rooftop fall and the elevator scene. At times, the film is guilty of an excess of style, but, mostly, I don't care.
 
Theatre:

Avatar [ B]
Precious [A-]
Invictus [ B]
A Single Man [B-]
Crazy Heart [A-]
A Serious Man [A-]

DVD:

Adventureland [B+]
Samaritan Girl [C+]
3-Iron [A]
The Hurt Locker [A-]
Citizen Kane [A]
Planet Hulk [B+]
High Society [B-]
The Philadelphia Story [A-]
The Pianist [A-]
Murder By Decree [A-]
A Man For All Seasons [B+]
A Patch of Blue [B+]
Broadway Danny Rose [B+]
The Departed [A]
The Purple Rose of Cairo [B+]

Slowly making my way through the early-80s Allen box set (roughly speaking, the "Farrow period"), this is one of the few early Woody Allen movies with no Woody in it. It's basically a two-actor show, Farrow and Jeff Daniels in two parts. This is actually a sci-fi film, albeit one basically uninterested in the mechanics, so it might as well be magic: Farrow is Cecilia, an unemployed Jersey waitress in the Depression who escapes her poor economic situation and casually abusive husband through the cinema, when one of the characters in the film walks off the screen and declares himself to be in love with her. It's sort of a comedy most of the way through, albeit not one that's heavy on jokes so much as the absurdity of the whole situation (ie, everybody takes this occurence basically in stride, and the studio and the actor start fretting about all the legal technicalities, meanwhile all the rest of the characters in the picture sit around since they can't continue the story). It's an amiable film for most of the way through, though without a huge amount of plot; the characters are (or seem) likeable. What really sticks with you is the ending, which (in line with the theme of the film) is strongly unsentimental and 'real'.
 
Went to see The Wolfman tonight.

I can't believe Anthony Hopkins was cast to play Benicio del Toro's father...

:wtf:
 
The Wolfman- C-. Not the greatest movie out there, but it was all right as far as cheap, violent entertainment is concerned.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine- C+. Really liked Hugh Jackman's performance in this one. Made an otherwise dull movie OK.
X-Men: The Last Stand- C. Weakest of the X-Men trilogy. It started out decently, but then just kind of went downhill near the middle and then just fell apart at the end.
District 9- B+. This one was a lot of fun
 
I just turned 42 yesterday (the 16th) and I'll be going to see Avatar again for the 3rd time at the Coliseum 10-A in Mississauga (near Toronto) as well as take in some video game playing at the nearby Playdium arcade this weekend. Anything else worth seeing that I'll go and see? I'm not too sure, I'll have to check.
 
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Theatre:

Avatar [ B]
Precious [A-]
Invictus [ B]
A Single Man [B-]
Crazy Heart [A-]
A Serious Man [A-]

DVD:

Adventureland [B+]
Samaritan Girl [C+]
3-Iron [A]
The Hurt Locker [A-]
Citizen Kane [A]
Planet Hulk [B+]
High Society [B-]
The Philadelphia Story [A-]
The Pianist [A-]
Murder By Decree [A-]
A Man For All Seasons [B+]
A Patch of Blue [B+]
Broadway Danny Rose [B+]
The Departed [A]
The Purple Rose of Cairo [B+]
Zelig [B ]

Woody Allen's 1982 entry, this time a proto-Forrest Gump mockumentary about the life of a "human chameleon" named Leonard Zelig who has the ability to take on the characteristics of anyone around him. Much like the aforementioned Purple Rose of Cairo, Allen doesn't really dwell on this gimmick at all, which is the case with a lot of his films, presumably why he's largely escaped being labelled as a genre director despite about a dozen of his movies having clear genre SF/F content. The film is quite a technical achievement, seamlessly mixing Woody, Mia Farrow, and others in amidst real footage of the era, and recreating others. It generally feels quite like a documentary as well, and even has clips from a fake 1935 film about Zelig. Cute and worth seeing, if not remarkable.
 
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