Movies Seen in 2011

[CaptainCanada]

You seemed to give alot of credit to what RT Critics or Metacritic would say. Do you let that supercede what you know about your own tastes in movies?

Er, no. I don't know anyone who argues for that (and two of those things I cited, the IMDB and CinemaScore, are general audience reactions, not critics). I also know that when most people say it sucks, it probably does - and the trailers (not to mention Nicolas Cage these days) don't exactly make a great case.

 

[Captain Craig]

^^
Well when you cite the low critic scores it implies you are giving them credit and taking their opinons into consideration.

Also, who are the "most people says it sucks" if not the critics? I pointed out Yahoo! Users and BOM users have it at a 'B' score. Heck even RT community is 45% a full 40pts higher. I'm not saying Season of the Witch is Oscar bait but it was fun, imo.

Most people also watch AI, Jersey Shore and other reality crap. If I used that as a baramoter of cool I'd never actually see stuff I liked.

 

[Starbreaker]

I generally let Rotten Tomatoes decide what movies to watch for me.... I'll admit it. I tend to only watch stuff 50% or higher now. I've rarely come across something that is 50% or less that I like. Maybe Chaos Theory, which I loved.

 

[CaptainCanada]

^^
Well when you cite the low critic scores it implies you are giving them credit and taking their opinons into consideration.

Of course I am. Particularly the opinions of critics I have long experience with an know to be similar to my own (Ebert and Berardinelli, principally); no different than taking into account what other people I know say about a movie.

 

[od0_ital]

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

Caught the Saturday night premiere of Green Zone. I think I had passes for this back before it came out, but missed it for some reason or another.

Matt Damon looked heroic lookin' for WMDs in Iraq, and Greg Kinnear does political baddie pretty well, but I really could have done without that clip of Bush's "mission accomplished" clip.

 

[Harvey]

15. Action Jackson (C)
16. Blade Runner (A)

Action Jackson: If I were grading this based on enjoyment, it would deserve an A. If I were grading it based on quality, it would deserve an F. I'll just split the difference. Every cliché of 1980s action cinema is here, and every second tier actor from the same genre is here as well. About what you could expect from a movie that is under the impression that its title is both clever and a rhyme.

Blade Runner: Still love it.

 

[barnaclelapse]

The only two major critics I have any respect for are Roger Ebert and Peter Travers (although I often disagree wildly with Travers). They don't influence my opinions though.

I will say Ebert's review of "Season of The Witch" was pretty damn funny, and I like that he stuck up for Cage and Perlman, and not a lot of people are exactly rushing to Cage's defense these days after all the crummy movies he's been making (although I'll argue that his last really interesting films weren't all that long ago, and that he proved in "Kick-Ass" that he could still deliver a strong, interesting performance).

Anyway.

Fearless (1993): 4/5.
-How is it Bridges didn't win an Oscar until 2010?

 

[Stardate]

A-Team ✭✭✭
Up in the Air ✭✭✭✭
The Other Guys ✭✭✭
Centurion ✭✭
The Lovely Bones ✭✭✭
Kick-Ass ✭✭✭✭✭ (full house)
Frantic ✭✭✭✭

 

[LitmusDragon]

1. Alien 3 (assembly cut) - B
2. Let the Right One In - A
3. Inception - B.

4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - B+. Fun movie with lots of in-references to video games and some ridiculously over the top fight sequences. Several laugh-out-loud moments.

5. Lilo and Stitch - A. Solid Disney film. Some really cute and unusual (for them) character designs.

 

[Harvey]

17. Galaxy Quest (A)

I haven't sampled the special features yet, but apparently Nick Meyer calls this a "have your cake and eat it, too" movie. He's right--it both savagely lampoons the conventions of SF television (especially Star Trek) and is able to be a terrific entry into space opera in its own right. Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Sam Rockwell, and Tony Shaloub are all terrific, and Tim Allen channels a Shatner-type quite well.

I've heard talk of a sequel, but I'm glad it never materialized (though there are comics?). It's a fun, standalone movie that doesn't need any more follow-up. It just needs often revisiting.

 

[Captain Craig]

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+

Frozen: A DDVD starring Shawn Ashemore(Iceman in the X-Men films) about 3 college kids who get stuck on a ski lift chair. It's more a suspense film than a gore film. Which is good considering how with a bigger budget it could've been amped in that regards. For a DDVD film thought it succeeded well.

Due Date: with Robert Downey Jr and Zack Galifin... however it's spelled. The film just recently crossed $100m and I checked it out at the $1.50 cinema in town. It's a good mix of Hangover and Plains, Trains & Automobiles.

 

[CaptainCanada]

10. Black Swan (B+)
11. Made in Dagenham (B)

Self-consciously charming British period piece about a 1968 labour strike by female machinists at a Ford plant to secure equal pay. Features a great lead performance by Sally Hawkins as the working class ringleader (her best scene is probably when she goes to complain about her son's teacher, and his blatant snobbery leaves her almost in tears and unable to say anything). Also some memorable supporting parts, notably Bob Hoskins (as a sympathetic union rep) and Rosamund Pike (who really should be a bigger name than she is); also Andrea Riseborough, who's been getting a lot of namechecks as an actress on the make. By turns rather incisive and somewhat simplistic (though "equal pay for women" isn't really an issue with a lot of nuance, admittedly); cheerful fun. This had some Oscar hopes starting out that didn't materialize, but it would at the very least have made the Golden Globe for Musical/Comedy category a little less embarassing had it been nominated in lieu of The Tourist.

 

[Harvey]

18. Inception (B+)

I still like this film very much, but I don't love it. There's piles of exposition upon exposition that slow down the movie and are probably why the run time gets a little out of hand (2 hours, 20 minutes isn't nearly as long as it could be, but I'm sure a tighter re-write could have brought the film in at a straight 2 hours).

That said, it has some of the most creative action sequences seen in a Hollywood picture since The Matrix. It has a terrific cast. And it has an interesting concept at its core, which is more than I can say for most SF films with this sort of budget, sadly.

 

[O'Dib]

Buried A+
Paper Man B+
Conviction B-

 

[tomalak301]

1. Alice in Wonderland (2010) - C-
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) - A
3. Black Swan (2010) - A+
4. The Social Network (2010) - A
5. Cannibal! The Musical (1996) - B
6. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009) - B

This is a film I've been putting off for a while but it's one I had an interest in seeing. After hearing about the performances from Mo'Nique and Gabby (I'm not going to try to spell her last name so I'm being simple), and hearing an interview with the director, I was curious.

This is a very good, powerful and disturbing film. There were scenes here that made me sick to my stomach, while at the same times there were scenes that put the movie off track. I think I know what they were going for with the fantasy sequences, but I felt it kind of hindered the movie a lot. Yeah she dreams of that life but don't we all. However, what we see in the movie, Precious is never going to achieve that. It's unfortunate but I felt those scenes weren't really needed.

However, everything else was gripping and heart pounding. From the powerful scenes of the abusive mother (The scene were she brings home the new Baby is probably one of the most disturbing things I've seen in film this year, rivaling Black Swan but for completely different reasons) to her learning to read and being supportive by Ms. Rain and the others. Gabby gives a great performance here, and I actually thought it was so much better than Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (Which I also liked). Mo'Nique was powerful here too even though her emotional breakdown at the end almost seemed too darn fake. I didn't really like Carey in the movie too much, as she looked disinterested in the whole thing. Not a very good casting choice.

Still, this is a powerful and disturbing film, and I'm glad I finally saw it.

 

[Harvey]

19. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (A)

I saw this for the first time last year, and quite liked it, so I recently picked it up on Blu-Ray. Taking the chance to re-watch it, I still quite like it. It's perhaps a better film than the original, but in the very least it's just as good. And the cameos from original star Kevin McCarthy and original director Don Siegel are a nice touch, as well.

 

[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-

My first reaction on this was a little harsher, I think, however maybe Mark Wahlberg has grown on me as an actor more. Would've been curious to see how they might've continued this reboot that didn't quite get off the ground.

Anyone know if the Rise of the Apes film coming out this summer is part of this or if it's another reboot attempt altogether?

 

[Harvey]

I'm pretty sure it's another reboot altogether.

 

[tomalak301]

1. Alice in Wonderland (2010) - C-
2. Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) - A
3. Black Swan (2010) - A+
4. The Social Network (2010) - A
5. Cannibal! The Musical (1996) - B
6. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire (2009) - B
7. Winter's Bone (2010) - C+

Well, it's Award season so it's time to catch up on some movies. I rented this one today (It was either this or The Kids are All Right) given it is nominated for Best Picture and I really wanted to like it.

There are points in the film that I do like, such as the setting and the characters were spot on. Lawrence and Hawkes are both deserving of their Oscar nods. However, what makes this movie not as good as I hoped was the story. I wish the story would have gone deeper. Yeah it's about a girl trying to survive and keep everything together and how she goes to great lengths to do that, but I felt it could have been more involving. It just seemed like they barely scratched the surface on the subject matter and wasn't as emotionally affecting as I thought it would be. Also, they call this a thriller, but it's one of the more low key thrillers I've seen in quite some time.

 

[Harvey]

20. Notorious (B-)

I like this film, especially the second half (once Claude Rains has been introduced), but it's certainly not among my favorite Hitchcock pictures. The repeated use of rear-projection isn't as effective as it is in North by Northwest--instead, it's distracting. At times, it seems like Cary Grant, who is at his best a lively performer with a good sense of comedic timing, is wasted on a role that can be a little dull. Even when he's professing his love to Ingrid Bergman in the film's finale, it feels like he's holding back a little. The pacing is also a little odd. More than a few times, Hitchcock cuts in with scenes that last no more than five seconds. Other scenes take the opposite approach, with several beautiful long takes that last more than a minute. Together, they feel a little disjointed. And then in the ending, the emphasis is placed on Rains, not on Grant or Bergman. It's a chilling ending, but it feels like something is missing when it comes to the leads.