Movies Seen in 2011

[stj]

I Am Cuba, from 1964, a Soviet-Cuban coproduction. Yevgeny Yevtushenko cowrote the screenplay. This is one movie that has very long stretches without dialogue, so it is much more a cinematographer's/director's movie than most I think.

The film is B&W, but the cinematography is gorgeous. There are some apparently white plants in sections of the movie, which is baffling, but it is beautiful to look. The movie is divided into four sections. The first shows Cuba as tourist resort, where a Cuban woman prostitutes herself with a tourist. The second shows Cuba as sugar plantation, where a Cuban sugar worker loses his farm, sets it on fire and dies. The third shows a student who can't bring himself to assassinate a police chief, but is then assassinated by the man during a demonstration as it is violently repressed. The last shows barbudos in the Sierra Maestra.

The takes are long, but unlike the usual arthouse cliche the camera moves. Mostly it glides like a swan, and any cuts are hidden for an even more smooth pace. When it is static, it is usually tilted. Yet, when there is action the camera swerves and swoops. At one point, it whirls around 180 degrees. As the camera swims through the stories, there are reveals of social context.

For example, the camera starts with a parade of women. The camera moves and you see they are carrying number placards. They are beauty contestants. The camera keeps moving and the POV slowly tumbles down the side of the building. The beauty contest turns out to be atop a towering hotel and the camera is descending into the earth of the more common masses.

There is a rippling effect to signal flashbacks and a death experience that is rather different from any I ever recall seeing. The foreign visuals are rather interesting. There is a repetition in different forms of jagged lines of light in one form another crazed across the screen, suggesting the conflict within society (I think.)

Each section is introduced by a poem. Some dialogue is repeated aloud in Russian with the English subtitled in the version I saw. (Netflix) Songs incidental are also highly significant in the film, with repetition and distortion emphasizing the symbolism.

Obviously any preconceptions about drab realism, socialist or otherwise, should be thrown out.

It was a remarkable viewing experience.

 

[Harvey]

123. Rear Window (A-)
124. Captain America: The First Avenger (B)

Rear Window: One of the classic Alfred Hitchcock films, although I would rank Psycho and North by Northwest slightly higher. Really, the only problem with the movie is the relationship between Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart. It's difficult suspending my disbelief that a 46 year old Jimmy Stewart would be of any interest to a 24 year old Grace Kelly, especially considering the way he demeans her throughout the movie. This ends up being only a minor complaint, though. It's still quite a good movie, at times both funny and suspenseful.

Captain America: The First Avenger: This is a good superhero movie, but it's also one that never manages (nor tries) to transcend the rather conservative conventions that govern the genre. It is helped along by a strong cast, with Stanley Tucci being the standout (the movie isn't as good once his character is killed), but Tommy Lee Jones does good supporting work and Chris Evans is perfectly good in the title role. The premise, of course, is a bit silly (Whether he's in his fancy costume or not, Captain America would be dead meat in those bright colors, shield or otherwise), but this was never going to be serious drama.

What I'm not especially fond of (and this has been discussed to death in the grading thread) is the film's insane momentum towards getting Steve Rogers to the present day. I'm not convinced a WWII-era sequel would have much to offer that wasn't a retread of this film, but the quick montage of action scenes and the sudden turn of events at the end of the movie seem more like the momentum of marketing (and The Avengers) than natural narrative progression. I also find the racially integrated unit that Rogers rescues/assembles to be a bit hard to swallow given the historical context of WWII, but they hardly have a chance to be in the movie before it's over, so, whatever.

I've seen 135 movies this year. Slowly but surely catching up...

 

[doubleohfive]

^^

Rear Window is very possibly my favorite film ever. Yeah, the relationship is a bit of a stretch but not so much to detract from the otherwise masterful film it is a part of. (I figure, if I'm going to be an apologist, I might as well be so for Hitchcock!)

 

[CaptainCanada]

This is a good superhero movie, but it's also one that never manages (nor tries) to transcend the rather conservative conventions that govern the genre.

What I liked about Cap was its embrace of the conventional superhero in a way that most recent films haven't; no irony or cynicism, things that wouldn't be appropriate to Steve (they would be appropriate in other characters, as with Iron Man). They took his straightforward character and made it work, a more serious version of Johnston's The Rocketeer.

As to Rear Window, that was the first Hitchcock film I ever watched, some years ago. I found it very dull; I've since watched a couple of his other movies and liked them a lot more.

Spoiler: #1-99.

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 (B+)
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+)
88. Key Largo (B-)
89. Bridge on the River Kwai (A)
90. The Apartment (A-)
91. Captain America: The First Avenger (A-)
92. Ordinary People (A-)
93. Days of Heaven (B+)
94. Yojimbo (A-)
95. Tangled (A)
96. Cowboys and Aliens (B)
97. Crazy, Stupid, Love (A-)
98. Beginners (A-)
99. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (A+)

100. Bonnie and Clyde (A-)
101. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (A-)
102. Elmer Gantry (B+)
103. Sanjuro (A-)
104. The Help (B+)
105. Dark Passage (B+)
106. Easy A (B)
107. Rob Roy (B+)

Braveheart's overlooked younger brother, loosely adapted from a novel by Sir Walter Scott that was itself a fairly loose telling of the story. Some lovely scenery (they make great use of the mists), and some great action (I knew going in that the final duel has been held up as one of the best, and having seen it I would agree). A bit more balanced in its portrayal of the English and the Scots than was Braveheart. The main villains are a depraved lot, as the movie wastes no opportunity to show us, though I like the more reserved portrayal of the Marquess of Montrose by contrast. The main strengths are Liam Neeson (who projects nobility in the same way Gregory Peck did, but Neeson is much better at adding shadings and character than Peck was) and Tim Roth - this was one of the roles that led to him being typecast as a villain.

 

[Harvey]

Rear Window is many things, but I don't think I could ever call it dull. It definitely sounds like something you might enjoy revisiting.

As far as The Rocketeer goes, I sure wish that movie was available on Blu-Ray (or even a half-decent DVD). It's terrific, fun, and quite a bit better than Captain America: The First Avenger in my estimation -- probably because it doesn't have to serve the monster that is the Marvel Universe.

125. The Godfather (A-)
126. After Last Season (F)

The Godfather: What more can be said about Coppola's classic gangster movie? I waffle between liking it and The Godfather Part II more -- this time I felt the pendelum shifting to the sequel -- but it's still quite a good movie. The performances are, from beginning to end, quite excellent, as are the music, writing, direction -- you name it. Kay is such a thankless part, though, especially in the first movie. And Brando's part has been so parodied over the years that -- through no fault of the movie -- it is hard to take him seriously.

After Last Season: Perhaps the worst movie I've ever seen to have a trailer hosted on itunes, it has the production values of a high school video project and writing and acting to match. And when I say high school video project, I'm serious -- the "sets" are nothing more than an abandoned building with plain white butcher paper and cardboard pasted on the walls. I saw it with friends during our semi-regular "bad movie night." We expected something so bad it was good -- like The Room -- but ended up seeing something so bad it was just...awful. An unwatchable movie.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Rear Window is many things, but I don't think I could ever call it dull.

I think tension is one of those things you either feel or you don't; at no point watching it did I think Jimmy Stewart was in trouble.

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: New 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
Push - DVD rental
Ron White: Behavioral Problems - DVD rental
All*Star Superman - DVD rental
Captain America: The First Avenger - midnight screenin'
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night - DVD rental
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One - DVD
The King's Speech - DVD rental
Get Low - DVD rental
Dan in Real Life - DVD
Thor: Tales of Asgard - DVD rental
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights - DVD rental
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths - DVD
Planet Hulk - DVD rental
Alien vs Predator: Requium - Unrated - DVD rental
Fright Night (1985) - DVD
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) - DVD

Stayin' with auntiehill the last couple of days, I pulled DVDs off her shelf to watch. Most of the movies in her library I've already seen, so I went with two I haven't, both from when I was a kid & my dad could decide if I was old enough to watch 'em yet (I wasn't).

Fright Night was such a cheesy vampire movie, but Roddy McDowall really added some class to it as Peter Vincent, the horror movie host. IMDB.com says there was a sequel in '88, so I may track that one down before the remake of the original comes out.

The Thing was pretty good...I actually dozed off watchin' it yesterday afternoon, but I finished it last night. What an endin'! Very cool.

Tonight, I'll be goin' to a free screenin' of 50/50 with my friend Julie before I leave Houston. A buddy comedy about cancer - how could it not be fun?

 

[Harvey]

Rear Window is many things, but I don't think I could ever call it dull.

I think tension is one of those things you either feel or you don't; at no point watching it did I think Jimmy Stewart was in trouble.

Fair enough. Except for the very end, Grace Kelly is probably in more danger than Jimmy Stewart. I still think it's a stretch to call the movie dull, though, but your mileage may vary.

127. Annie Hall (A)

In my opinion, this is the funniest movie ever made. Any time it's on, I can't help but get sucked in, laughing all the way through. The only time I stop laughing is when Annie is singing in the club. That sequence goes on a bit long and is probably a concession to Keaton's desire to sing (and she isn't bad). When you think of Allen's "earlier, funny ones" this might be the funniest.

 

[J.T.B.]

The only time I stop laughing is when Annie is singing in the club. That sequence goes on a bit long and is probably a concession to Keaton's desire to sing (and she isn't bad).

Huh. FWIW, I love the songs Keaton does in the movie; I love her unaffected, sweet, slightly melancholy renditions of those standards. I find myself hanging on every phrase and have never felt the club sequences drag the picture.

--Justin

 

[od0_ital]

Spoiler: New 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
Push - DVD rental
Ron White: Behavioral Problems - DVD rental
All*Star Superman - DVD rental
Captain America: The First Avenger - midnight screenin'
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night - DVD rental
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One - DVD
The King's Speech - DVD rental
Get Low - DVD rental
Dan in Real Life - DVD
Thor: Tales of Asgard - DVD rental
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights - DVD rental
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths - DVD
Planet Hulk - DVD rental
Alien vs Predator: Requium - Unrated - DVD rental
Fright Night (1985) - DVD
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) - DVD
50/50 - free screenin'

Went to a free screenin' of 50/50 starrin' Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Seth Rogan earlier tonight (or last night, dependin' on how ya look at it) with a friend of mine in Houston. Pretty good movie, I thought...and it had an effect on my friend, too...I think she cried for a bit there towards the end.

JGL's character is diagnosed with a rare cancer and has to deal with it. Seth Rogan is Seth Rogan - stupid stoner buddy tryin' to always get drunk and/or laid. Anna Kendrick is a therapist because JGL's bedside manner sucks ass. Bryce Dallas Howard is JGL's girlfriend. Phillip Baker Hall & Matt Frewer are fellow chemo patients. And Anjelica Huston is JGL's mother.

So, pretty good cast, and Rogan still looks like he's at his Green Hornet weight, so he's way more believable as a guy who can get laid fairly easily.

No trailers or freebies with the screenin'.

And the movie doesn't open for another month & a half (9/30/11), so I got no one to talk about it with...

 

[CaptainCanada]

In my opinion, this is the funniest movie ever made.

My choice for that designation is Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but Annie Hall is quite good too.

Spoiler: #1-99.

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 (B+)
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+)
88. Key Largo (B-)
89. Bridge on the River Kwai (A)
90. The Apartment (A-)
91. Captain America: The First Avenger (A-)
92. Ordinary People (A-)
93. Days of Heaven (B+)
94. Yojimbo (A-)
95. Tangled (A)
96. Cowboys and Aliens (B)
97. Crazy, Stupid, Love (A-)
98. Beginners (A-)
99. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (A+)

100. Bonnie and Clyde (A-)
101. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (A-)
102. Elmer Gantry (B+)
103. Sanjuro (A-)
104. The Help (B+)
105. Dark Passage (B+)
106. Easy A (B)
107. Rob Roy (B+)
108. The Great McGinty (C+)

Beginning my review of the golden years of writer/director Preston Sturges (seven of the eight, to be precise; the box-set doesn't have The Miracle of Morgan's Creek). This was his first film as a director, and it won him his only Oscar (for the screenplay).

The rudiments for a good film are here (a homeless man becomes a crooked politician, then turns honest and gets taken down immediately), but it doesn't quite come together. At 82 minutes, it's too short (from what I understand, Sturges was given a tiny budget and only three weeks to make this film, so that probably factors into it) to really cover all the terrain it tries to; events, particularly toward the end, happen much too quickly and cursorily (McGinty's fall from grace takes about a minute). The tone is also problematic; it mostly tries to be dry political satire, but there are moments of outright farce and seriousness that seem out of place (particularly the former; the film even ends on a farcical note that feels more like a Looney Tunes short).

 

[Harvey]

When I was younger, I might have said that about Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but as I've grown older I've found myself much preferring Monty Python's Life of Brian. "Older" of course, being relative, since I'm still in my mid-20s.

128. Get Shorty (B)

This was a decent gangster-comedy set predominately in the motion picture industry (with plenty of insider references), but I was never blown away by it. An entertaining, but not essential, movie. John Travolta is good as the lead, and I can see why they wound up making a sequel (though, apparently, it didn't turn out).

 

[CaptainCanada]

John Travolta is good as the lead, and I can see why they wound up making a sequel (though, apparently, it didn't turn out).

Be Cool. Comfortably mediocre, I thought, though with a very amusing performance from the Rock (I swear, one day Hollywood will figure out how to use him properly, because he has talent).

 

[od0_ital]

Be Cool sucked ass!

Get Shorty was pretty damn awesome at the time, and I still like watchin' it.

 

[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+
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-

I enjoy the movie. I know it takes heat from most at the worst in the series. I think it flows better than Rocky II though. Plus there is no cheesy first act silliness like Rocky II has throughout the first act with those commercials he films.

Being that it's the first time I've seen it in over 10 years I like how it is a transition film into Rocky Balboa...or Rocky just never fully recovers after his accountant scams him. In hindsight it might've been nice if the film alluded to Adrian getting cancer but that's too much hindsight cause Balboa was never a thought back when this was made in the early 90's.

The ending does feel a bit rushed though. Tommy wins the title. Is ridiculed that night at the presser and then goes to confront Rocky in the neighborhood. That all feels very rushed but it does fit Tommy's impatient demeanor shown throughout the movie so maybe it's not too left field.

I had to watch this via Netflix cause my BluRay copy from my boxset would not play. It's been 2 months since I bought it, the receipt is gone and I know Best Buy is going to give me shit about it. I mean, hey, not my fault the manufacturer screwed it up.

 

[od0_ital]

^

If ya have a Best Buy Rewards card, they may be able to look up the purchase in their own system, ya wouldn't need the receipt.

 

[Captain Craig]

^^^
I do have one and I'm trying to recall if I used it. I had a gift card to buy it and I have so many of those "cards" I just keep them in my glovebox and I have at times gone in to browse and ended up buying. I don't think he asked my phone number to look it up either. I'm going to go tomorrow but thanks for the tip!!

 

[od0_ital]

^

Sure thing. I only know about it 'caused I've used it before after I've had a problem.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Spoiler: #1-99.

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 (B+)
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+)
88. Key Largo (B-)
89. Bridge on the River Kwai (A)
90. The Apartment (A-)
91. Captain America: The First Avenger (A-)
92. Ordinary People (A-)
93. Days of Heaven (B+)
94. Yojimbo (A-)
95. Tangled (A)
96. Cowboys and Aliens (B)
97. Crazy, Stupid, Love (A-)
98. Beginners (A-)
99. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (A+)

100. Bonnie and Clyde (A-)
101. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (A-)
102. Elmer Gantry (B+)
103. Sanjuro (A-)
104. The Help (B+)
105. Dark Passage (B+)
106. Easy A (B)
107. Rob Roy (B+)
108. The Great McGinty (C+)
109. Christmas in July (B)

Preston Sturges' second film, released in the same year as The Great McGuinty; he worked fast, though given this movie is only 67 minutes long, which wouldn't even qualify as feature length these days. That said, I liked it a lot more than his first film; despite being shorter, it feels more like a complete story. The leads are a bit more engaging (though I spent half the movie wondering if the female lead was actually Donna Reed; she is, in fact, not). The movie is also a lot more tonally consistent (though Sturges still occasionally resorts to outright slapstick that always seems out of place to me). I should also say that while I didn't love the movie, there's an enjoyable maturity to some aspects of the writing: the three guys who pull the initial prank are genuinely sorry about it, not soulless assholes, for instance. The film's final twist could be guessed by a three-year-old who had never seen a single movie in his life, though.

 

[Harvey]

129. The Kid Stays in the Picture (B+)
130. Blow Out (B+)

The Kid Stays in the Picture: A really fascinating documentary about the life of Robert Evans, who has worked as an actor, studio executive, and movie producer. Evans narrates (taken from the audio book version of the memoir the movie is based on) with archival footage of Evans and others talking about him interspersed between the narration. The only real stumble it takes is in its description of Evan's personal life. From the movie, you'd think that Ali McGraw was not only the sole woman he ever loved, but also the sole one he ever married -- but in fact Evans has been married seven times (for no longer than three years, and all ending in divorce).

Blow Out: I picked the Criterion release of this film up more or less blind, but I had heard only good things about the movie (from writer/director Brian De Palma), so I figured I would give it a shot. Mostly, it works, and works really well. Travolta is great in the lead role of a lonely sound man who works at a lousy B-movie company, and the rest of the cast (Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz) are good as well. It is a little bit of a bit of a plot contrivance that such a major political death, whether it's murder or not (A major Presidential candidate -- also the governor -- is killed), is so under-investigated. You'd think journalists would be more interested in the details, whatever they happened to be. Still, it doesn't ruin the film, which is really about one man's lonely obsession (the best sequences are when Travolta is piecing together the crime in his sound lab). The film's only other flaw is an astonishingly 1980s music score, which doesn't date so well.