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- Law Abiding Citizen ~ D+ Sherlock Holmes ~ B An Education ~ C+ The Blind Side ~ D- A Serious Man ~ C Crazy Heart ~ B+ Julie & Julia ~ B- The Princess and the Frog ~ B- StepBrothers ~ B- The Prophecy ~ F Green Zone ~ B- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus ~ B Kick Ass ~ A Iron Man 2 ~ C+
Saw A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). Give it **1/2 stars. It is decent, with some interesting character development for the lead, making things more relatable by having the teenagers Freddy attacks actually be people that Freddy harmed as kids, however as a film it is uneven, with mediocre writing and uninteresting characterization for Freddy himself. Jackie Earl Haley does the best job he can given the material, but his Freddy is slightly unmemorable and the film is ultimately forgettable.
64. Notes on a Scandal [A-] 65. Shutter Island [B-] 66. Gosford Park [A] 67. The Third Man [A] 68. Fantastic Planet [A] 69. Pandorum [C] 70. Trancers [D-] 71. D-Tox [F] 72. Whatever it Takes (2010) [B-] 73. Mystic River [A-] 74. 2012 [D] 75. The Fog of War [A] 76. The Octagon [F] 77. Leprechaun In The Hood [C-] 78. Ninja Assassin [D] 79. Modern Times [A] 80. Full Frontal [B-] 81. Dazed and Confused [B ] 82. Sherlock Holmes [B-] 83. From Russia with Love [B+] 84. Dr. Strangelove [A] 85. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train [C+] 86. The Graduate [A] 87. Return to Me [C] 88. Amelie [A] 89. Blind Date (2008) [D+] 90. Time Runner [F] 91. Time Indefinite [A] 92. Film Geek [C+] 93. A Nightmare on Elm Street [B-] 94. Girl, Interrupted [C] 95. Kramer vs. Kramer [A-] 96. Sleepaway Camp [D+] 97. Sleepwalkers [D] 98. Network [A] 99. Wet Hot American Summer [C+] 100. Monty Python's Life of Brian [A] 101. The Losers [D+] 102. Dead Snow [C] Zombies and Nazis--how could a movie go wrong? Well, it could spend too much time focusing on the frat boy antics of the characters, for one. The final act, which pits the remaining survivors against a plethora of Nazi zombies, is pretty entertaining, and incredibly gory. But the first two thirds, or at least the first half, just go through the motions, leaving the only entertainment to the poorly translated subtitles.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightining Thief - juvenile fluff, but Uma Thurman briefly reprises her role as Poison Ivy...okay, Medusa. Sean Bean in a togo! Typical black sidekick character who makes jokes and lusts after women constantly! Tough girl falls for hero who has an arguably more feminine face than he does! Katherine Keener as a MILF! I need to see lame movie like this to remind myself how much I loathe stories about juveniles with special powers/destinies (Star Wars being an exception...hey, Luke was grown up enough! Oh, yeah, then there's Anakin's destiny...that sucked. Fuck it, never mind. All such stories suck on some level.)
Decided to go with the drama after those musicals (albeit one of them not exactly light), but I'll watch Bullets Over Broadway next, after that either Unforgiven or The Lion in Winter. 60. Brief Encounter (B+) The last of David Lean's four collaborations with famous British entertainer Noel Coward, and the film that really put him in the map, earning him his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. This was released as part of the fifth volume of the "Essential Art House" series, which seems a bit of a misnomer to me: this was a rather popular movie when it came out. At only 86 minutes, it's less than half the length of the films most people think of when David Lean's name is mentioned today, and it's a much more intimate sort of story: two married individuals, Laura and Alec (the latter is played by Trevor Howard, Calloway in The Third Man), have a few chance meetings, and gradually fall into something like an affair, though, this being the 1940s, it's not consummated (one imagines that they'd at least have sex if this movie was made today). It's told entirely from Laura's perspective, with a lot more narration than would probably be in the movie today, but it's quite a nice little story. The focus on Laura always leaves you kind of waiting for there to be some twist involving Alec, but there isn't - or if he is, I suppose, Laura never learns about it; he's just what he seems to be. Consistent with Lean's later films, the sets and look of the film are impeccable, and you get a really effective look at trying to carry on an affair in small-town England. Some details really do seem like a completely different world from the one that exists now, such as the tea house/bar just off the train station where everybody congregates.
64. Notes on a Scandal [A-] 65. Shutter Island [B-] 66. Gosford Park [A] 67. The Third Man [A] 68. Fantastic Planet [A] 69. Pandorum [C] 70. Trancers [D-] 71. D-Tox [F] 72. Whatever it Takes (2010) [B-] 73. Mystic River [A-] 74. 2012 [D] 75. The Fog of War [A] 76. The Octagon [F] 77. Leprechaun In The Hood [C-] 78. Ninja Assassin [D] 79. Modern Times [A] 80. Full Frontal [B-] 81. Dazed and Confused [B ] 82. Sherlock Holmes [B-] 83. From Russia with Love [B+] 84. Dr. Strangelove [A] 85. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train [C+] 86. The Graduate [A] 87. Return to Me [C] 88. Amelie [A] 89. Blind Date (2008) [D+] 90. Time Runner [F] 91. Time Indefinite [A] 92. Film Geek [C+] 93. A Nightmare on Elm Street [B-] 94. Girl, Interrupted [C] 95. Kramer vs. Kramer [A-] 96. Sleepaway Camp [D+] 97. Sleepwalkers [D] 98. Network [A] 99. Wet Hot American Summer [C+] 100. Monty Python's Life of Brian [A] 101. The Losers [D+] 102. Dead Snow [C] 103. An Education [B+] 104. Deliverance [A] An Education: For some reason I had been putting off watching this film. From what little I had heard about it, I expected a much more dour tale, and having already seen two films about relationships between two people of vastly different ages (Elegy and Notes on a Scandal) I suppose I was in no rush to see a third. Much to my surprise, however, this film manages to have a lightness and a sense of humor about it that was refreshing. Alfred Molina is particularly amusing, while always remaining believable. The film is also far from nostalgic, allowing the racism and antisemitism of the period to come to the surface. The closing narration strikes me as too pat, as it is the first and only time the film uses narration, although I admit it's probably the easiest way to convey the needed information. Deliverance: What is their left to be said about John Boorman's film about four city-dwellers and their canoe trip down a dark river? Though I knew the basics (dueling banjos, sodomizing hillbillies, and which of the four died) it still surprised me on several occasions. I wonder, if the film was made today, what kind of contrived justice would fall upon the surviving characters?
I wrote that too in my review (many pages back). The script has an alternate ending, a final meeting between her and David, which appeared to me to be a better way to close the film. I liked it a lot, though, otherwise.
I wonder why that alternate ending was dropped? I would have preferred another scene with David before the ending myself, with or without the narration. Still, a most enjoyable film. Not one I'd want to own, but enjoyable nonetheless.
It was surprisingly lightweight to me. I mean, I believe the running time was around an hour and twenty minutes? I just remember enjoying it as a small little film, but it seemed highly unremarkable and forgettable, and I had wondered how it garnered a Best Picture nomination. It's good, but not that good.
Did the ending of that movie surprise anyone? I knew nothing about the story going into it, so finding out the guy was actually an asshole was a huge shock to me. I know there were clues (i.e. his mysterious, shady occupation), but I really didn't see it coming. Maybe, like the girl, I trust too easily. About "Deliverance", I really didn't understand the point of the rape. I was enjoying the movie until it happened (I was a little less ignorant this time...I knew something disturbing was going to happen), but when the movie ended, I couldn't really figure out what its purpose was besides to shock people with some gratuitous violence. I guess it's supposed to be making some kind of statement on 'Man vs. Nature', but that didn't seem natural to me. It's like they had a realistic, plausible story about men out in the wilderness and felt they had to punch it up with something grotesque. I was really digging the character development and scenery at the beginning. Then we got this hideous, ugly scene, and the movie kind of went nowhere. I think I would have preferred to see where the movie went without it. As it stands, I see half of a good movie that blows it in the middle with a big wtf. Actually I like a lot of scenes after the rape too, but like I said, I would have preferred a different climax and to see where it would take the story. Much like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974), it's a movie that I think has a good beginning and a good ending, but a disappointing middle, because the middle only tries to earn the movie a reputation based on 'freak show appeal'. And don't think I'm a prude about violence. I can enjoy excessive movie violence as much as the next guy, but in these cases it just struck me as stupid, irritating, and unnecessary. The movie is beautifully directed and has strong acting from all involved (also what a novelty to see Ronny Cox as a young man! He's one of those actors I'm so used to seeing as an old man, it's like I thought he was BORN an old man! ), but for me overall it's like one of those movies with a stupid twist that ruins the whole story and squanders great potential shown early on.
105. Cutter's Way [B-] John Heard is fantastic in this film, and it makes me a little sad that he hasn't had a huge career in the decades since. Sure, he's been working, but playing the dad in a couple of Home Alone movies hardly compares to his performance here. Heard's Alex Cutter is profane, prone to violence, paranoid, a constant drunk, and at times simply mad. Yet we sympathize with him, find him funny, and at times the character is brilliantly insightful (his "I'm hungry" speech is dead on). The film is at it's best when the focus is on Cutter--I like Jeff Bridges, but his character of Richard Bone is the straight man here, and less interesting than the wild and unpredictable Cutter. The film treats Bridges as the protagonist, but it isn't nearly as interesting when his co-star is off-screen. The plot, since I haven't mentioned it, is rather simple. On his way to meet his friend Cutter at the bar, Richard Bone sees a mysterious car in the distance and the silhouette of a man dumping something into a garbage can. It turns out a young girl was murdered, and when (only for an instant) Bone is convinced that man he sees in a parade might be the killer, Cutter grasps onto this mystery with uncontrollable obsession. Is the man Bone sees in the parade the killer? The film never answers that question--and it's the kind of ambiguity that will drive some viewers mad. But in the end, it doesn't really matter, at least not to this viewer. This is a film about Cutter's decent into madness and paranoia--whether he's correct or not seems incidental. The very end, however, is somewhat unsettling. I'm not convinced that Bridges would buy into Cutter's conspiracy theory. Perhaps this is the point. I'll deduct a grade due to the music score, which is intrusive and cheesy (what sounds like a saw being played with a bow overcomes the score at several points, and it is a serious distraction). But it's a solid film--one of the last hurrahs of New Hollywood, although the look of the 1980s permeates the proceedings (despite the film being made in the first year of that decade). I can't agree. Without the violence that permeates the film (a rape and three deaths) there is no film. The character arcs of all four leads would be nonexistent without the rape and the subsequent killing of the hillbilly perpetrator. Ed would never regain his masculinity, Lewis would never have the fraud of his machismo exposed, Bobby wouldn't be traumatized, and Drew would never be forced to abandon his view of morality and justice. The violence isn't gratuitous if it's central to the story! Instead of being a movie about four "civilized" men facing destruction (both personal and moral) at the hands of "nature," it's a movie about a canoe trip where the characters learn nothing about themselves. It helps that it was very well-reviewed, and that the field was expanded to ten films, as well.
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 Fargo - A The Blind Side - B- The Informant! - C The Big Lebowski - A How to Train Your Dragon 3D - A Iron Man 2 - C- See my review Here
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 Fargo - A The Blind Side - B- The Informant! - C The Big Lebowski - A How to Train Your Dragon 3D - A Iron Man 2 - C- The Men Who Stare at Goats - D- What the hell did I just watch. This movie just felt like it went in so many different directions that by the end I felt lost, confused, and glad it was over. Granted, Bridges and Clooney do a great job, but that's pretty much it. Didn't really get invested in any of the characters and the story, if there was one, was flat at best. There were some good scenes, but when it cuts from flashbacks to present day Iraq, it just loses all sense of momentum. You wonder why none of that review includes any plot details. Well, it deals with some Jedi, LSD, and some other stuff like that. Like I said, a very disjointed, confusing, and not very interesting movie.
Avatar (2009)... B Amreeka (2009)... A Just Married (2003)... B- 2012 (2009)... B+ CSA: The Confederate States of America (2004)... A- Mississippi Masala (1991)... A- Terminator Salvation (2009)... C Hardwired (2009)... B Black Dynamite (2009)... A Black Dynamite is a great parody/homage to blaxploitation films. It was so faithful, down to the music, sets, picture quality, and camera shots,that my uncle actually thought it was from the '70s. He couldn't believe it was made in 2009. If you're into this type of movie, I recommend it.
105. Cutter's Way [B-] 106. Nine Lives [A-] 107. Wings of Desire [A] Nine Lives: This is a little seen, but well reviewed feature that is composed of nine short films from Rodrigo Garcia (developer of In Treatment). It's well acted, written, and shot (each vignette takes the form of one long, uninterrupted take). A few characters cross over between segments, but they're more related thematically than by character or plot. It's also a welcome change from male-dominated Hollywood to see nine shorts centered around women (though Jason Isaacs and William Fichtner give nice performances). Wings of Desire: It's taken me a long time to get around to this film, but I wasn't disappointed by it. Visually, there isn't a moment that isn't stunning in its beauty--even the use of color in a mostly black in white film is lovely. That the film is driven by an almost nonexistent plot is irrelevant. Who knew that such a fervent nonbeliever such as myself could be stirred by a film about angels? I just wish the Criterion Blu-Ray wasn't so damned expensive, because now I want to own it!
Updates (in bold): Armored Trooper Votoms: Big Battle (7) Armored Trooper Votoms: Roots of Ambition (8) Armored Trooper Votoms: The Last Red Shoulder (8) Armored Trooper Votoms: Pailsen Files: The Movie (7) Boondock Saints (10) Boondock Saints: All Saint's Day (9) The Book of Eli (8) Cargo (7) Cencoroll (8) Les Chevaliers du Ciel (8) Clash of the Titans (2010) (8) Date Night (7) District 9 (8) Eden of the East: The King of Eden (9) The Edge of Darkness (9) The Fantastic Mr. Fox (8) G-9 (6) Gamer (6) Green Zone (7) Inglorious Bastards (7) Iron Man 2 (9) Law Abiding Citizen (9) Lupin the 3rd VS Detective Konan (7) Naruto Shippuden Movie 3 (8) Oblivion Island (6) Oldboy (9) Pandorum (7) Summer Wars (9) Sword For Truth (6) Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-hen (8) They Were 11 (9) The Uninvited (7) Wicked City (8)