Movies Seen in 2011

[Captain Craig]

Spoiler: Rest of my list

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

This indie style British movie came up in the ole Netflix "you might like" suggestion. I guess cause it's an indie film mostly.
It was bad, really bad, thank goodness it was only 1hr 25min but I almost stopped it 30min in it was that bad.

It's about a May-Dec type love affair between an American student, Lisa, and a British climatologist, Matt (who seems older imo) who meet at a live music venue. From what I gather they have two things in common, live music and sex. Neither are what I'd call "good looking" people either.

Matt is on his way to Antarctica for some field work and begins to recall Lisa cue flashback. The movie bounces back and forth of him working in the Antarctica and recalling his time with Lisa. The dialogue is bad, the sets very tame and the editing choppy when they didn't do a fade to black for transition. I was a bit surprised as the movie went on towards the end at just how graphic the sex got. In the first half it was the tamer tit flash, implied oral, implied intercourse type fare. In the end you see intercourse and him ejaculating after she gives out a BJ to him.
Now you'd think this might at least raise the movie a letter grade but these are not 'hot' scenes or attractive people involved.

Good thing I was cropping photos for future Ebay auctions while this played otherwise the time would've been totally wasted.

 

[Harvey]

92. Bridesmaids (B+)
93. High Sierra (B)
94. The Roaring Twenties (A-)
95. Super 8 (B+)

Bridesmaids: Much, much better than The Hangover Part II, a film series which this one has been compared to. I would have shaved it down to an even two hours if I were editing it, but it wasn't much longer than that (wikipedia says 125 minutes). It's nice to see that room exists for comedies starring women that aren't part of the romantic comedy formula. And although Chris O'Down has amused me in the odd episodes of The I.T. Crowd I've seen, this is probably his break-out role in terms of American comedies. I bet it won't be long before he's headling a Judd Apatow produced movie.

High Sierra: I enjoyed this one, but I liked the second half of the double bill even more (I caught these in 35mm in Los Angeles a few weeks ago). It features another great performance by Bogie (actually, it's his breakout performance in terms of being a lead) and a nice supporting turn by Ida Lupino, who is grossly under-appreciated today, both as an actor and as a director.

The Roaring Twenties: Time to eat crow on this one. Earlier in the year, when I was enrolled in a film genre class studying the gangster film, this was one of the final films screened, and I felt it was an example of how tired the genre had become by the late 30s. It's pretty clear that I was just burnt out on the whole genre, because coming back to it with a few weeks distance, it was like watching an entirely new movie.

Honestly, the only part that doesn't quite work for me is the ending. First of all, I can almost buy people being killed by gunfire without blood in the films of this period, but not if they're dressed in pure white like Bogie is in the finale. Instead of being dramatic, it looks like the kind of play-acting a child might engage in. Second, while the tracking shot of Cagney's dramatic (and ultimately failed) escape is beautiful, his actions don't make much sense. By the time he's making that get away, only one of Bogie's goons is left alive. Why doesn't he just wait by the door and finish the last guy off? The answer, of course, is that the outlaw had to be punished with death in the films of this period due to censorship, but Walsh and his screenwriters could have left more goons alive to make Cagney's mad dash a little more logical.

Still, a damned fine movie, with plenty of great performances, both by the leads and the multitudes of terrific character actors in supporting parts.

Super 8: J.J. Abram's latest film is an entertaining one, and quite well made, but it isn't quite the great film I was hoping it would be. The performances and relationships between the young actors/characters are a joy to watch (I'm dumbfounded by another poster here who didn't find them at all amusing), but the alien is rather rote for a creature in an Abram's movie. It's no wonder that the film keeps it hidden for so long, since it's the weakest component. I was hoping the container would have something a bit more interesting and original, but it's really no bother -- the film is about the kids, not the monster.

I think I'll likely be watching this one again. I love the period setting of the seventies, and the numerous visual allusions to Spielberg's earlier work (though there are some shout-outs to his later films, especially War of the Worlds) result in a traditional look that is pretty rare these days.

Also, a small note: I've ended up with a TA-ship for a film history class, and also am helping to program a year-long screening series for 2011-2012, so the number of films I've been watching has been quite a bit, even for me. I've seen 112 films so far, so I will probably be eternally behind on this until August at the earliest (when the TA-ship ends).

 

[Captain Craig]

Spoiler: Rest of my list

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-

So glad to follow up my last movie with one entirely on the other end of the quality spectrum.

This is one of those movies that I've heard all the hype, seen all the accolades and sometimes that works against a film as far as personal expectations go. Glad to not be let down.

This is a true actors, acting movie. The story is all about the relationships with George and those closest to him. How is Dad views him, brother, wife, nation and then Lionel.
All the actors really sell the relationships and that is what is important in a film with no 'splosions, sex or stupid humor.

I know internally it was important in the second act to really draw out all the Lionel & George exercises with mechanics as far as building the relationship but I did feel it dragged a bit. As if they perhaps overdid that bit of exposition.

I was also impressed with the film for showing that as he gave that Sep. 3 speech it inter-spliced among those listening his mom, brother and Wallace cause by that point in the film I'd actually forgotten about them. Nice bit of continuity to show their surprise/approval as they listened to the speech.

 

[Harvey]

96. TRON: Legacy (B-)
97. The Tree of Life (A)
98. Singin’ in the Rain (A)

Tron Legacy: Visually, this was a very appealing movie (although I'm not sure why they went for such a monochromatic color palette -- the original was much more colorful). In terms of performances, it's okay (Jeff Bridges is terrific as always, Michael Sheen is wonderfully hammy in his small but crucial role, but most of the rest of the cast is merely okay, including the competent but rather bland unknown playing the lead). Where it really falls to pieces (no different than the original film, really) is in the writing. The story is, actually, pretty straightforward, but the way it comes off is rather convoluted. I'm also not thrilled that the Dude looks to be gone. Boxleitner could still be around, but without Bridges I'm just not interested in a third movie. My last complaint, about the "de-aging" effects, is that they don't quite work. Actually, that's not quite right. It's the best work of this kind I've seen thus far, and as long as the character's are silent and inexpressive, it's pretty believable. But once they start to move their faces in any fashion, they start to look pretty plastic.

The Tree of Life: A breathtaking movie that leaves you with a lot of questions -- not incomparable to 2001: A Space Odyssey, in that regard. The film even includes visual effects by Douglas Trumball, and a long digression documenting the origin of the universe that is rather like the Star Gate at the end of 2001. Actually, that may be a pretty good litmus test for seeing this movie or not. If you think Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film is plodding or pretentious, Terrence Malick's 2011 film won't be for you.

Of course, I've totally neglected the humans at this point, which isn't quite fair. Brad Pitt and the rest of the cast (save Sean Penn, playing the older version of a character we mostly see as a child in the movie) are excellent, and far from the cold ciphers of Kubrick's movie. Penn has a few good moments, but his role feels as if it has been rather truncated for this version of the film's release (apparently Malick has a 6-hour version ready for home video).

And, as you might expect from Malick, it's a beautiful movie to look at -- just gorgeous. It's worth seeing for the visuals along, if that's at all your thing.

Singin' in the Rain: A delightful musical that I've seen a number of times before, the sequence featuring the title song is simply transcendent, although the rest of the movie is quite enjoyable, too. Considering it was made mostly from songs in the MGM library, it's incredible how well (most) of them fit together. Of course, it gets a bit of film history wrong (nobody at the transition to sound would have used the term "musical," nor ever imagined being able to completely transform a movie into one in a matter of weeks), but who cares? It's a lot of fun.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiler: The rest of my list

1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
4. Mamma Mia! (B)
5. All About Eve (A)
6. Looking for Anne (B-)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
8. The King's Speech (A)
9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
10. Black Swan (B+)
11. Made in Dagenham (B)
12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
13. Barney's Version (A-)
14. Out of Africa (B)
15. The Social Network (A-)
16. The Sound of Music (B+)
17. Pulp Fiction (A)
18. Forrest Gump (A)
19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
20. The Illusionist (B)
21. The French Connection (B+)
22. Network (A+)
23. Incendies (A+)
24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
27. WALL-E (A+)
28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
30. Gigi (B-)
31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
33. Tarzan (B+)
34. Oliver! (B+)
35. Gosford Park (A-)
36. The Princess Bride (B+)
37. All the President's Men (A-)
38. Oliver Twist (B+)
39. My Fair Lady (A+)
40. Hanna (A-)
41. The Godfather (A+)
42. The Godfather: Part II (A+)
43. The Godfather: Part III (A-)
44. Dog Day Afternoon (A)
45. Taxi Driver (A-)
46. Great Expectations (B+)
47. The Last Airbender (D-)
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+)
49. Raging Bull (B+)
50. GoodFellas (A)
51. Spartacus (A+)
52. The Deer Hunter (B+)
53. Reservoir Dogs (A)
54. A Clockwork Orange (A)
55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+)
56. Gone With The Wind (A+)
57. On the Waterfront (A)
58. Thor (A-)
59. The Seventh Seal (A-)
60. Hamlet (A)
61. All the King's Men (A-)
62. Roman Holiday (A+)
63. Rebecca (A-)
64. Notorious (A)
65. American Madness (B+)
66. It Happened One Night (A-)
67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-)
68. You Can't Take It With You (B+)
69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-)
70. The Heiress (A+)
71. X-Men: First Class (A-)
72. Super 8 (B+)
73. Dr. No (B-)
74. From Russia With Love (A)
75. Captain Blood (A+)
76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+)
77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+)
78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+)
79. From Here To Eternity (A)

80. To Have and Have Not (B)
81. The Big Sleep (A-)
82. Barry Lyndon (B+)
83. The Snake Pit (B+)

1948 drama that is in a lot of ways a precursor to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - it's not a work of art on the same level as the later film, but it's undoubtedly a more balanced assessment of psychiatric care as practiced in the mid-20th century (since the author wasn't writing a Beatnik statement against The Man). The film is really quite unusual in its focus on the perspective of a protagonist who is genuinely mentally ill; the only other film like that that readily springs to mind is A Beautiful Mind, and even that kept it as a surprise reveal halfway through.

The film is basically a one-woman show starring Olivia de Havilland, in a powerhouse performance (the trailer calls it the most complex role ever played by a woman at that point in film history; I suppose you could make a case for that, though the same trailer also claims the film has an all-star cast when it in fact consists of de Havilland, Oscar-winner Celeste Holm in a really minor part, and a bunch of nobodies). The story does quite a good job of representing de Havilland's viewpoint, and you can even see strands of logic in how she interprets her surroundings, even though she's wrong. The issue I had with it is that there's not a whole lot to the movie beyond de Havilland's performance; the supporting cast is indistinct (despite a significant portion of them being other inmates) and unmemorable.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: Movies Seen in 2011

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief - HBO
Tron Legacy 3D - theater
Clash of the Titans (2010) - HBO on Demand
Take Me Home Tonight - free screenin'
Sanctum - free screenin'
The Green Hornet - free screenin'
Green Zone - HBO
Fantastic Mr. Fox - HBO
True Grit (1969) - AMC
Ringu - DVD
Black Swan - Alamo Drafthouse (its not just a movie theater)
Unknown - free screenin'
The Losers - HBO
The Sunset Limited - HBO on Demand
Starsky & Hutch (2004) - Cinemax
Kick-Ass - DVD
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - DVD
The Adjustment Bureau - free screenin'
Rango - theater
Red (2010) - DVD rental
Hot Tub Time Machine - DVD rental
Harry Brown - DVD
Faster - DVD rental
Jonah Hex - DVD rental
Battle: L.A. - theater
The Girl who Played with Fire - DVD
The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - DVD rental
Leaves of Grass - DVD
Whiteout - Cinemax on Demand
Sucker Punch - free screenin'
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - DVD
Paul - theater
Source Code - theater
Rio - free screenin'
The Fighter - DVD rental
Invictus - Cinemax
Scream 4 - theater
Fast Five - midnight screenin'
THOR - free screenin'
Priest - theater
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - midnight screenin'
X-Men: First Class - theater
Ramona and Beezus - HBO
Shrek Forever After - HBO
Super 8 - theater
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - HBO
Devil - Cinemax on Demand
Green Lantern - theater

Killers - Netflix Instant

Stayin' out here in North Carolina for awhile, and my friends have Netflix Instant & I've been told I can watch whatever I want...so, I've been watchin' a lot of scifi tv shows.

Yesterday, Kol decided to watch Killers, a gawd awful rom com with Ashton Kutcher & Katherine Heigl.

I spotted the twist comin' a mile away, while Kol was just sittin' there sayin, "I wonder who wants to kill him?" Really?!?

Not gonna let Kol pick any more movies.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiler: The rest of my list

1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
4. Mamma Mia! (B)
5. All About Eve (A)
6. Looking for Anne (B-)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
8. The King's Speech (A)
9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
10. Black Swan (B+)
11. Made in Dagenham (B)
12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
13. Barney's Version (A-)
14. Out of Africa (B)
15. The Social Network (A-)
16. The Sound of Music (B+)
17. Pulp Fiction (A)
18. Forrest Gump (A)
19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
20. The Illusionist (B)
21. The French Connection (B+)
22. Network (A+)
23. Incendies (A+)
24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
27. WALL-E (A+)
28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
30. Gigi (B-)
31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
33. Tarzan (B+)
34. Oliver! (B+)
35. Gosford Park (A-)
36. The Princess Bride (B+)
37. All the President's Men (A-)
38. Oliver Twist (B+)
39. My Fair Lady (A+)
40. Hanna (A-)
41. The Godfather (A+)
42. The Godfather: Part II (A+)
43. The Godfather: Part III (A-)
44. Dog Day Afternoon (A)
45. Taxi Driver (A-)
46. Great Expectations (B+)
47. The Last Airbender (D-)
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+)
49. Raging Bull (B+)
50. GoodFellas (A)
51. Spartacus (A+)
52. The Deer Hunter (B+)
53. Reservoir Dogs (A)
54. A Clockwork Orange (A)
55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+)
56. Gone With The Wind (A+)
57. On the Waterfront (A)
58. Thor (A-)
59. The Seventh Seal (A-)
60. Hamlet (A)
61. All the King's Men (A-)
62. Roman Holiday (A+)
63. Rebecca (A-)
64. Notorious (A)
65. American Madness (B+)
66. It Happened One Night (A-)
67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-)
68. You Can't Take It With You (B+)
69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-)
70. The Heiress (A+)
71. X-Men: First Class (A-)
72. Super 8 (B+)
73. Dr. No (B-)
74. From Russia With Love (A)
75. Captain Blood (A+)
76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+)
77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+)
78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+)
79. From Here To Eternity (A)

80. To Have and Have Not (B)
81. The Big Sleep (A-)
82. Barry Lyndon (B+)
83. The Snake Pit (B+)
84. Hoosiers (C-)

The AFI designated this the fourth-best sports movie in history (I bought it as part of a three-pack of Blu-rays along with Rocky and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story for 19.99; good deal, considering the same story had a solo Blu-ray of Rocky for 16.99), but for the life of me I can't figure out why.

There's very little development for any of the characters (the students on the team are so generic I probably couldn't put most of their names to faces; this is especially problematic when the movie tries to give them individual moments of triumph, as with the short kid who scores two baskets to tie the game), and for the life of me I couldn't figure out exactly what the coach did that led to the team's success. If anything, the team sucks under him, and only improves once they get their star player back, something that the coach, so far as I can see, had nothing to do with; they had a single conversation much earlier in the movie, and there's never any exploration of the player's thought process. Then, in the final game, the team wins by doing the opposite of what the coach wants to do. The whole movie seems dedicated to disproving the coach's initial statement that there shouldn't be an indispensible man on a team, because the key to success ends up being "give the ball to Jimmy". There's also the late Dennis Hopper in a really pointless role that ended up being nominated for an Oscar for some reason.

 

[Kegg]

Tree of Life
Is this the first film to both win the Palme d'Or and have dinosaurs in it?

Perhaps in a sense that only exists in the peculiar insistence of my unconsciousness, I could never shake the image of Sissy Spacek in Badlands when watching Jessica Chastain, who is absolutely tremendous in this film - a breath of life, and love, and love, and pain. Ethereal redheads glimpsed through Malick's lens; it feels like he's filming the same woman, now slightly older and a mother - but still full of the strangest observations. Like Sissy, she softly narrates stretches of the film (though not alone) and she's also involed with a man who is a little consumed by... well, his own issues, let's say.

Life is a continuum. There is a wonder here to be found in tall skyscrapers, a baby peering at his brother, or the vastness of the cosmos. And throughout the film there are the tensions between love and success, righteousness and suffering. It is wholly appropriate that the film opens with a quotation from the Book of Job (also, predictably, referenced in a brief scene of a homily in church). That this quotation is not Job's frustration with God but God's declaration of the great, powerful majesty of his creation is singularly apt - we see the stars and the planets and the epic sweep of creation... as characters are touched by a terrible, personal loss.

Sean Penn's presence in this film is almost deceptive. He is barely here. You will see much more of Brad Pitt, who is very good indeed.

This film... it's a Terence Malick film. If you like Malick you want to go see this. If you don't like Malick I doubt this will convince you. If you've never seen a Malick film, go rent Badlands (which is considerably more accessible) and make up your mind with that. Or something.

Liked this, though. Liked it reasonably well.

The Tree of Life: A breathtaking movie that leaves you with a lot of questions -- not incomparable to 2001: A Space Odyssey, in that regard. The film even includes visual effects by Douglas Trumball,

Wait, really?

No wonder that eerie vastness felt familiar. The movie did make me think I hadn't seen space portrayed with such raw wonder since, well, 2001, but that almost seemed a pat thing to say.

 

[zakkrusz]

50. Paprika - B+. Was on a short list of best animated movies of all time that I read recently, so I Netflixed it. It was really very good, though the story was a bit silly and I think doesn't hold up under scrutiny. B story with A+ visuals. A great looking Blu-ray. Similar dream/reality themes as Inception or the Matrix

.

I'd also recommend Perfect Blue. It's also a film by the late Satoshi Kon and really good. Very talented man that died before his time.

Updates in Bold:

The Adjustment Bureau (8)
Afro Samurai: Resurrection (7)
Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (7)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Alone Again (7)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Finder (8)
Babylon 5: River of Souls (7)
Babylon 5: Thirdspace (7)
Black Swan (9)
Broken Blade 3: The Mark of the Assassin's Dagger (9)
Broken Blade 4: The Land of Disaster (9)
Broken Blade 5: Death's Horizon (9)
Cutthroat Island (9)
Drive Angry (7)
Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance (9)
Godkiller (6)
Green Lantern (8)
Hanna (8)
I Am Number Four (8)
Infernal Affairs (7)
Kamui (4)
The Garden of Sinners Movie 8: Epilogue (9)
Loups=Garous (8)
The Mechanic (2011) (9)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Awakeening of the Trailblazer (8)
Munto: The Movie (6)
Musashi Miyamoto (6)
Outlander (8)
Pirates of the Caribean: On Stranger Tides (9)
Priest (5)
Source Code (9)
Thor (9)
Time of Eve (10)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (9)
Unknown (7)
Versus (6)
X-Men: First Class (8)
Your Highness (3)

 

[Admiral_Young]

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" C 2.5/4 stars

Overall an enjoyable improvement after 2009's disastrous "Revenge of the Fallen". It also didn't induce a migraine like the last one did and make me almost leave the theater. Since Ehren Kruger wrote the script it still has a lot of the same flaws the last one does but with a slightly improved part and some new characters. I wrote a more detailed review in the discussion thread for the movie. I would actually buy the DVD to this movie and watch it again. I can't say that for the previous film.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiler: The rest of my list

1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
4. Mamma Mia! (B)
5. All About Eve (A)
6. Looking for Anne (B-)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
8. The King's Speech (A)
9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
10. Black Swan (B+)
11. Made in Dagenham (B)
12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
13. Barney's Version (A-)
14. Out of Africa (B)
15. The Social Network (A-)
16. The Sound of Music (B+)
17. Pulp Fiction (A)
18. Forrest Gump (A)
19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
20. The Illusionist (B)
21. The French Connection (B+)
22. Network (A+)
23. Incendies (A+)
24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
27. WALL-E (A+)
28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
30. Gigi (B-)
31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
33. Tarzan (B+)
34. Oliver! (B+)
35. Gosford Park (A-)
36. The Princess Bride (B+)
37. All the President's Men (A-)
38. Oliver Twist (B+)
39. My Fair Lady (A+)
40. Hanna (A-)
41. The Godfather (A+)
42. The Godfather: Part II (A+)
43. The Godfather: Part III (A-)
44. Dog Day Afternoon (A)
45. Taxi Driver (A-)
46. Great Expectations (B+)
47. The Last Airbender (D-)
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+)
49. Raging Bull (B+)
50. GoodFellas (A)
51. Spartacus (A+)
52. The Deer Hunter (B+)
53. Reservoir Dogs (A)
54. A Clockwork Orange (A)
55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+)
56. Gone With The Wind (A+)
57. On the Waterfront (A)
58. Thor (A-)
59. The Seventh Seal (A-)
60. Hamlet (A)
61. All the King's Men (A-)
62. Roman Holiday (A+)
63. Rebecca (A-)
64. Notorious (A)
65. American Madness (B+)
66. It Happened One Night (A-)
67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-)
68. You Can't Take It With You (B+)
69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-)
70. The Heiress (A+)
71. X-Men: First Class (A-)
72. Super 8 (B+)
73. Dr. No (B-)
74. From Russia With Love (A)
75. Captain Blood (A+)
76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+)
77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+)
78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+)
79. From Here To Eternity (A)

80. To Have and Have Not (B)
81. The Big Sleep (A-)
82. Barry Lyndon (B+)
83. The Snake Pit (B+)
84. Hoosiers (C-)
85. Rocky (A-)

Finally got around to watching this; I've seen a couple of the sequels on TV or in theatres (in the case of Rocky Balboa), but I never got around to seeing this - partly because Rocky is one of those films that people feel they've seen even when they actually haven't. Most sports movies (and virtually all subsequent boxing movies) have a lot of Rocky in their DNA; and between this and the Karate Kid movies, director John Avildsen should perhaps earn an honourary Oscar for outstanding contribution to the training montage.

Compared to subsequent films in its own series (apart from the last two) and other populist sports movies, the griminess of the original Rocky is notable; this vision of Philadelphia isn't that different from the New York presented in Taxi Driver the same year (or earlier in the decade in The French Connection). Stallone's Rocky is an engaging lug; he'll never be confused for a great actor, but he sells this character well. Burgess Meredith's Mickey is the film's other main contribution to pop culture, and while he has less screentime than you might think, he's also fun to watch; beneath the schtick he feels authentic. Some of the stuff with Paulie is a bit histrionic, but it's nonetheless a very strong film (one might think even more of it if it didn't feel so familiar).

The makes the 70s the second full decade of BP winners I've watched (though I have only vague memories of The Sting and Kramer vs. Kramer).

 

[Captain Craig]

^^^
I just got the BluRay Rocky set of all 6 films Friday.
I haven't Seen Rocky in a good 15yrs and outside of pt4&6 about the same for the other installments.
Looking forward to watching them in order in the near future myself.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Spoiler: Rest of list

1. Alien 3 (assembly cut) - B
2. Let the Right One In - A
3. Inception - B.
4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - B+
5. Lilo and Stitch - A
6. Despicable Me - B
7. Forbidden Planet - B+
8. Clerks - B
9. Metropia - C+
10. Brand Upon the Brain - B
11. Beltesassar Animation Festival 17 - A
12. Buried - B+
13. How to Train Your Dragon - A
14. Monsters - C+.
15. The Tune (Bill Plympton) - C
16. House (1977) - B
17. Institute Benjamenta - B-
18. The Triplets of Belleville (rewatch) - A
19. Lunacy (Jan Svankmajer, 2005) - B
20. Paradise Lost (1999) - C-
21. Daybreakers - C
22. The Wizard of Oz (rewatch) - A
23. Winnebago Man - A
24. The Social Network - B+
25. Book of the Dead (2005) - C
26. Megamind - B
27. North By Northwest (1959) - A
28. The Plague Dogs (1982) - B+
29. Burn After Reading - B
31. The Incredibles (rewatch) - A
32. Fire and Ice (1983) - D
33. Bad Santa - B
34. Twelve Monkeys (rewatch) - A
35. Sweeney Todd - B+
36. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 - B
37. Alien IV (Blu-ray) - D
38. American Movie (1999) - B
39. Naked (1993) - B
40. My Neighbor Totoro - B+
41. Pulp Fiction (Rewatch) - A+
42. Fight Club (Rewatch) - B+
43. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams - B
44. Falling Down (Rewatch) - B
45. Crazy Heart - C+
46. Confessions of a Superhero - B
47. The King's Speech - B+
48. Pinnochio (Disney, rewatch) - B
49. Network - A
50. Paprika - B+
51. All The President's Men (1976) - A

52. The Illusionist (2010) - B. Pretty good movie but a bit disappointing compared to The Triplets of Belleville which was the last Chomet film that I'd seen. I'm not sure that I understood the motivations of the girl in this movie. Has some funny parts, and was quite sharply satirical, which I did enjoy.

 

[zakkrusz]

Updates in Bold:

The Adjustment Bureau (8)
Afro Samurai: Resurrection (7)
Arashi no Yoru ni (One Stormy Night) (7)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Alone Again (7)
Armored Trooper Votoms: Finder (8)
Babylon 5: River of Souls (7)
Babylon 5: Thirdspace (7)
Black Swan (9)
Broken Blade 3: The Mark of the Assassin's Dagger (9)
Broken Blade 4: The Land of Disaster (9)
Broken Blade 5: Death's Horizon (9)
Cutthroat Island (9)
Drive Angry (7)
Evangelion 2.22: You Can (Not) Advance (9)
Godkiller (6)
Green Lantern (8)
Hanna (8)
I Am Number Four (8)
Infernal Affairs (7)
Kamui (4)
The Garden of Sinners Movie 8: Epilogue (9)
Loups=Garous (8)
The Mechanic (2011) (9)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Awakeening of the Trailblazer (8)
Munto: The Movie (6)
Musashi Miyamoto (6)
Outlander (8)
Pirates of the Caribean: On Stranger Tides (9)
Priest (5)
Source Code (9)
Super 8 (8)
Thor (9)
Time of Eve (10)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (9)
Unknown (7)
Versus (6)
X-Men: First Class (8)
Your Highness (3)

 

[SPCTRE]

Dude You guys seem to watch a lot of movies.

I could probably count them on the fingers of one hand right now

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiler: The rest of my list

1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
4. Mamma Mia! (B)
5. All About Eve (A)
6. Looking for Anne (B-)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
8. The King's Speech (A)
9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
10. Black Swan (B+)
11. Made in Dagenham (B)
12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
13. Barney's Version (A-)
14. Out of Africa (B)
15. The Social Network (A-)
16. The Sound of Music (B+)
17. Pulp Fiction (A)
18. Forrest Gump (A)
19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
20. The Illusionist (B)
21. The French Connection (B+)
22. Network (A+)
23. Incendies (A+)
24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
27. WALL-E (A+)
28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
30. Gigi (B-)
31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
33. Tarzan (B+)
34. Oliver! (B+)
35. Gosford Park (A-)
36. The Princess Bride (B+)
37. All the President's Men (A-)
38. Oliver Twist (B+)
39. My Fair Lady (A+)
40. Hanna (A-)
41. The Godfather (A+)
42. The Godfather: Part II (A+)
43. The Godfather: Part III (A-)
44. Dog Day Afternoon (A)
45. Taxi Driver (A-)
46. Great Expectations (B+)
47. The Last Airbender (D-)
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+)
49. Raging Bull (B+)
50. GoodFellas (A)
51. Spartacus (A+)
52. The Deer Hunter (B+)
53. Reservoir Dogs (A)
54. A Clockwork Orange (A)
55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+)
56. Gone With The Wind (A+)
57. On the Waterfront (A)
58. Thor (A-)
59. The Seventh Seal (A-)
60. Hamlet (A)
61. All the King's Men (A-)
62. Roman Holiday (A+)
63. Rebecca (A-)
64. Notorious (A)
65. American Madness (B+)
66. It Happened One Night (A-)
67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-)
68. You Can't Take It With You (B+)
69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-)
70. The Heiress (A+)
71. X-Men: First Class (A-)
72. Super 8 (B+)
73. Dr. No (B-)
74. From Russia With Love (A)
75. Captain Blood (A+)
76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+)
77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+)
78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+)
79. From Here To Eternity (A)

80. To Have and Have Not (B)
81. The Big Sleep (A-)
82. Barry Lyndon (B+)
83. The Snake Pit (B+)
84. Hoosiers (C-)
85. Rocky (A-)
86. Midnight in Paris (B+)

As a rule I prefer Allen's dramas/dramedies to the outright comedies, but this was quite charming (I saw it with my mother, who also really liked it). It's a very light piece of filmmaking, but Allen himself acknowledges this in-text, when Owen Wilson describes his final revelation about nostalgia as a "minor" truth. It's a lot of fun, all the same, though only for the very culturally literate (though many of these writers, painters, etc. are still household names). Owen Wilson is a good fit for the Woody Allen role, and there's an all-star roster of actors playing cameo parts as famous people in the past (though the show is stolen by Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway). Rachel McAdams is kind of wasted as the obviously-inappropriate fiancee; Marion Cotillard is lovely.

 

[Captain Craig]

Spoiler: Rest of my list

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+

This Kate Beckinsale thriller/action film takes place in the Antarctic. Kate is a US Marshall who takes the post as a means to rehab a tragedy that happened to her with her former partner during another posting in Miami(I think Miami).

I was thinking this movie might skew more towards something "otherworldly" aka The Thing. I can chalk that up to my expectation and lack of research on the movie I suppose. I watched it cause I like Kate. She did a fine job but at times it seemed her and the cast were playing very flat. That can't be a coincidence, I tried to rationalize that as them "acting" like people surrounded by the elements.

Anyway my lead and first suspect turned out to be the actual baddie. As other red herrings are seen I think that played to why I thought the acting was flat, not the elements. After basically giving away the baddie early every other character gives stoic, questioning postures/looks as if to say "Are you sure, maybe it's really me?".

The item everyone is in search of it also not as exotic, ie alien, toxic, as I'd hoped. Turns out it's a regular ole cliche item.

I give it a C+ for the uniqueness of the location, the action scenes were good given the limitations of the environment and Kate in the shower is always a plus, they should've done that twice probably.

 

[Harvey]

99. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended (A)
100. The Mark of Zorro [1920] (C-)
101. Transformers (D)

The Two Towers: I had only seen the theatrical version of this movie previously, but when the Extended Editions were shown in theatres I couldn't turn down the chance to see it (even if there were shown via digital projection). It's even better than I remember, and the only fat I notice in the Extended Edition is a bit of business between Sam and Frodo at the very beginning. Other than that, there isn't a scene that doesn't feel like it should be cut. Before my view was that the only great film in the series was the theatrical version of The Fellowship of the Ring, but I'm happy to say the Extended Edition of The Two Towers also qualifies.

The Mark of Zorro: This Douglas Fairbanks silent from 1920 was...hard to get through, to say the least. As Zorro, Fairbanks is delightful and convincing, performing stunts that are just as much fun as those in the more modern film versions of the character. But once Fairbanks takes off the mask it falls to pieces. Don Diego is grating -- laughing incessantly at everything that happens -- and without the aid of the black costume, Fairbanks reveals that he is far too old to be playing the part at this point in his life. Apparently there's a 90 minute version of the movie that exists, but unfortunately I saw the longer, 107 minute cut that has been released on DVD. Suffice it to say, it could easily be cut down to 90 minutes, just by shortening scenes. Actors seem to be speaking forever before the inter-titles appear...which then proceed to last as equally long.

Transformers: Until now, I had never seen a Transformers movie. After this, I probably won't be seeing another one. It's nothing but a loud, overlong, obnoxious movie that feels the need to plaster the walls with blatant product placement and a huge cast of actors, each playing a "character" flimsier than the next. Honestly, this shouldn't be a hard movie to pull off -- just give us a robot fight scene or two before the first 45 minutes. But, no, Bay fixates on his (barely) human characters for ages, and then when the fight scenes do come around they're so incomprehensible as to be meaningless. And this is the one Roger Ebert saw fit to give three stars. I have absolutely no desire to see the train wrecks that the second and third films in the series undoubtedly are.

117 films so far this year. Still behind.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiler: The rest of my list

1. In the Heat of the Night (A)
2. The Passion of Joan of Arc (B)
3. The Passion of the Christ (A)
4. Mamma Mia! (B)
5. All About Eve (A)
6. Looking for Anne (B-)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (B+)
8. The King's Speech (A)
9. How Green Was My Valley (B-)
10. Black Swan (B+)
11. Made in Dagenham (B)
12. Gentleman's Agreement (A-)
13. Barney's Version (A-)
14. Out of Africa (B)
15. The Social Network (A-)
16. The Sound of Music (B+)
17. Pulp Fiction (A)
18. Forrest Gump (A)
19. The Shawshank Redemption (A+)
20. The Illusionist (B)
21. The French Connection (B+)
22. Network (A+)
23. Incendies (A+)
24. Mrs. Miniver (A)
25. A Fistful of Dollars (B+)
26. For A Few Dollars More (B)
27. WALL-E (A+)
28. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (A)
29. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (B)
30. Gigi (B-)
31. I Love You Phillip Morris (B+)
32. How To Train Your Dragon (A)
33. Tarzan (B+)
34. Oliver! (B+)
35. Gosford Park (A-)
36. The Princess Bride (B+)
37. All the President's Men (A-)
38. Oliver Twist (B+)
39. My Fair Lady (A+)
40. Hanna (A-)
41. The Godfather (A+)
42. The Godfather: Part II (A+)
43. The Godfather: Part III (A-)
44. Dog Day Afternoon (A)
45. Taxi Driver (A-)
46. Great Expectations (B+)
47. The Last Airbender (D-)
48. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 (A+)
49. Raging Bull (B+)
50. GoodFellas (A)
51. Spartacus (A+)
52. The Deer Hunter (B+)
53. Reservoir Dogs (A)
54. A Clockwork Orange (A)
55. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (A+)
56. Gone With The Wind (A+)
57. On the Waterfront (A)
58. Thor (A-)
59. The Seventh Seal (A-)
60. Hamlet (A)
61. All the King's Men (A-)
62. Roman Holiday (A+)
63. Rebecca (A-)
64. Notorious (A)
65. American Madness (B+)
66. It Happened One Night (A-)
67. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (C-)
68. You Can't Take It With You (B+)
69. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (A-)
70. The Heiress (A+)
71. X-Men: First Class (A-)
72. Super 8 (B+)
73. Dr. No (B-)
74. From Russia With Love (A)
75. Captain Blood (A+)
76. The Best Years of Our Lives (A+)
77. The Adventures of Robin Hood (A+)
78. The Treasure of Sierra Madre (A+)
79. From Here To Eternity (A)

80. To Have and Have Not (B)
81. The Big Sleep (A-)
82. Barry Lyndon (B+)
83. The Snake Pit (B+)
84. Hoosiers (C-)
85. Rocky (A-)
86. Midnight in Paris (B+)
87. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (B+)

Talked about this in the main review thread; a good conclusion to the series, though not the best.

88. Key Largo (B-)

The final of four collaborations between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, directed by John Huston in the same year he directed Bogart in the much-better The Treasure of Sierra Madre. Much like Bogart and Bacall's first collaboration, we're substantively ripping off Casablanca here with Bogart's character, yet another cynic faced with the opportunity to engage with the world. There are some good parts, but I never found it particularly engaging; the interactions between Bogart and Bacall are perfunctory. There are some enjoyable supporting performances, including Lionel Barrymore and Edward G. Robinson (whose film legacy has been rendered somewhat difficult to take seriously by the creation of Chief Wiggum). Claire Trevor won an Oscar for her role as Robinson's drunk girlfriend; it's an okay performance, but they'd have done better to give it to Jean Simmons for Hamlet.

 

[Captain Craig]

Spoiler: Rest of my list

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+

Starring Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Bill Murray this DDVD film about a down on his luck trumpet player who runs into a real angel is fairly mundane.

Mickey Rourke(Nate) sleeps with mobster boss Happy(Murray) wife and is to be taken to the desert and shot. Some rouge Indians(?), we never fully see them we just get Nate's description, kill the assassin. Nate wanders the desert and stumbles upon a carnival where Lily is being held as a side show.

Murray's Happy is the real treat of the movie imo and saves it from being utter crap. A nearly naked Fox for moments in the film is even bland if you can imagine that.

Then the ending implies that

Spoiler: Ending of Passion Play

Rourke got shot in the desert at the start all along and Lily, who can't fly in the film flies him into the afterlife. They pass over his body in the desert as they ascend.