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Movies Seen in 2012

Kicking off my 2012 list:

1. Edge of Darkness: A
2. Star Trek: The Motion Picture: B+
3. Repo Men: B-
4. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: B-
5. Underworld: Awakening: B
6. Lost City Raiders: C+
7. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist: B+
8. Contraband: B+
9. Kick-Ass: B+
10. Hereafter: A-

The Clint Eastwood directed, Matt Damon vehicle about a man who can talk to dead people. The story weaves together 3 characters who meet at a London Publishing Expo in the end. A twin who loses his brother, a French news reporter,Marie, who dies in the Sumatra flood but comes back to life and Matt Damon's character George.
George just wants to live a normal life. His brother thinks this "gift" should be used to help people...and making a profit along the way isn't a bad thing. George however, living day in/day out with this knows it to be a curse. He isn't able to have a normal relationship with anyone when they uncover his secret. This is driven home in Act II with an attempt at a relationship with Melanie, played by Bryce Dallas Howard.
Ultimately I like the film cause our French news reporter Marie is also being shunned when she reveals how her experience has changed her. With George and Marie together the film ends in a type of romanticized way that I enjoyed.
 
1. My Week With Marilyn (B-)
2. Fantasia 2000 (B+)
3. Blade Runner (B)
4. The Hidden Fortress (A-)
5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (B+)
6. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+)
7. The Descendants (A-)
8. Monsieur Lazhar (A)
9. The Prestige (A+)
10. Blood Simple (A-)
11. The Big Lebowski (B+)
12. West Side Story (A-)
13. The Hours (A-)
14. Lady and the Tramp (B)
15. An Officer and a Gentleman (B)

Since Valentine's Day is soon upon us, my recent viewing has involved a number of romance-heavy films. This was one of the first of a series of blockbuster 1980s romantic dramas (and the first of two to have a chart-topping love duet featuring Jennifer Warnes; looking back, the 1980s really were the golden age of the movie soundtrack). The strongest aspect of it is the romance between Richard Gere and Debra Winger, particularly Winger's wonderful performance. The weaker elements on the movie relate mainly to Gere's character, whose psychological drama is incredibly obvious from the first frame; and Gere, while capable, isn't nearly dynamic enough as an actor to make this sort of character all that compelling. The climactic suicide of a supporting character seems rather unmotivated. Conversely, I suspect that if this movie were made today there'd be a lot more grrrl power drama about side-character Seeger, but the more understated approach I think works a lot better. Lou Gossett Jr. won the Oscar for his role as a drill sergeant (the first black actor to win Best Supporting Actor; director Taylor Hackford is, at present, the only man to direct two black actors to Oscars, though Tate Taylor may join him within the month), and it's a good performance, though I don't think it stands out that much. But watching him made me realize how rarely this sort of role is a real character anymore; most movie drill sergeants now are somebody riffing on R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket (whereas here Ermey was only Gossett's technical advisor).

Cinema: 4
Home Video: 9
Computer: 2
 
1. Chasing Amy - C+
2. Where The Wild Things Are - C
3. The Tree of Life - C+
4. Source Code - B
5. Kung Fu Panda - B.
6. Ponyo - B+
7. Shaun of the Dead - A-
8. Thor - B
9. Win Win - B+
10. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - B
11. Porco Rosso - B
12. Eden of the East: Movie 1 - C-
13. Cool World - F

14. 50/50 - B+. Pretty funny, and probably pretty realistic about it's subject matter.
 
22. The Artist

Great, great film, I loved it. The fact that it is a silent film has been called a gimmick, but I think it used it perfectly (there are a few wonderful scenes that only work because of "the gimmick").
Another important part is the music, since it's basically the only thing you hear and it's got one of the best soundtracks of the last year.
The film could have gone wrong very easily, but thankfully it didn't.
 
Cowboys & Aliens - DVD
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - DVD
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - free screenin'
Limitless - Netflix Instant
The Next Three Days - Netflix Instant
Man on a Ledge - free screenin'
Red State - Netflix Instant
Mars Needs Moms - Netflix Instant
S.W.A.T.: Firefight - Netflix Instant
Red Tails - free screenin'
Resident Evil: Degeneration - Netflix Instant
The Last Exorcism - Netflix Instant
Frozen - Netflix Instant
The Perfect Host - Netflix Instant
Tucker & Dale vs Evil - Netflix Instant
Brooklyn's Finest - Netflix Instant
Stone - Netflix Instant
The Woman in Black - free screenin'
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - free screenin'
Haywire - free admission
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - free admission
The Artist - free admission
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - free admission
Ted & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie - tech screenin'
Hugo - free admission
Safe House - free screenin'
The Captains - Netflix Instant
Troll Hunter - Netflix Instant
The Evil Dead (1981) - Netflix Instant
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D - tech screenin'
Underworld Awakening 3D - free admission
We Need to Talk About Kevin - free admission
The Innkeepers - free admission
Big Miracle - free admission
Chronicle - free admission
Underworld: Unrated Extended Cut - DVD
The Grey - free admission
Contraband - free admission
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D - free admission
One for the Money - free admission

Spent my day off at the movie theater...

Started out with Contraband, which was pretty good. I really like Ben Foster in movies, but I don't care how many tatts, how much facial hair or how often ya show him with a gun, Giovanni Rabisi will never be a bad ass.

Journey 2 would have been a lot better without Luis Guzman's character. He took bromance to an extreme level with the Rock. The 3D wasn't bad, either. I especially liked the bee stuff, but wish the ants they showed had been more threatenin'.

And One for the Money was way better than I expected, considerin' its a Katherine Heigl movie...still not very good, but not as obnoxiously bad as her rom coms.
 
Alien 3 (Assembly Cut)

I watched Alien 3 for the first time last year and didn't really like it at all. However, the Assembly Cut with over 30 minutes of extra footage makes for a pretty good movie. I still think it's the weakest of the Alien films, though. My absolute favorite part of the movie is near the end where they are trying to trap the creature in the lead. The tunnel chase scene is pretty sweet.
 
1. Holy Rollers (B-)
2. The Kids Are All Right (B)
3. History of the World, Part 1 (C-)
4. Blazing Saddles (A+)
5. Scarface [1932] (B-)
6. The Purple Rose of Cairo (A)
7. Rampart (B+)
8. We Need To Talk About Kevin (A+)
9. Tucker and Dale vs Evil (B+)
10. They Live (B-)
11. Darling Companion (D)
12. A Dangerous Method (B-)
13. Haywire (C+)
14. Mission: Impossible (B+)
15. Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (B+)
16. Twixt (C+)
17. Burn After Reading (B+)
18. Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy (B-)
19. Drive (A)
20. Crazy Stupid Love (A)
21. The Omega Man (D)
22. The Adjustment Bureau (B+)
23. The Artist (A-)
24. Lady and the Tramp (B)
25. Hugo (A-)

Hugo: I'm glad I got to see the latest Scorsese picture, which has briefly returned to theaters as a result of its Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It's not a perfect movie (for a film that's allegedly aimed at kids, it's a little long), but I really enjoyed it. Even the 3-D was okay, although not worth the expense, nor particularly essential to the movie. I thought it would be hard to look past where the story mythologizes history, but the film doesn't do it as often as I thought it would (although we get to see people screaming and running during the Lumiere train short twice, an event that historians seem to think never happened). But it's a kid's movie, and a genuine love letter to silent cinema. On top of that, it's easily Scorsese's best movie since his last collaboration with screenwriter John Logan, The Aviator.

(Which makes me wonder even more: how did that guy write such an awful Star Trek movie?)

Theatres: 9 +1
Home Video: 15
Computer: 1
 
Harvey said:
(Which makes me wonder even more: how did that guy write such an awful Star Trek movie?)
Click to expand...
He's working with a better director and, in this instance, adapting a strong preexisting source.

I agree that I found it a somewhat odd duck as a kids' movie; seems more like a kids' movie for adults. But it was great and it exists now, nonetheless.
 
Starbreaker said:
I'm pretty sure Stuart Baird completely ruined the script when he started filming, but that's just a hunch.
Click to expand...

Baird's direction was flat-footed, and his lack of interest in the source material only further hampered the movie, but I've read Logan's screenplay for the movie, and it's a mess. CaptainCanada's explanation seems more likely.
 
Theatre/Cinema
DVD

1. Meet the Robinsons
2. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
5. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (3D)

I thought it was a good movie when it came out, and I still hold to that assessment.
Jake Lloyd was only annoying a couple of times, and Jar Jar not at all.

(I may have been alone in the theatre, but I chalk that up to it being a Wednesday afternoon session...)
 
Updates in Bold:
Bad Boys (8)
Daybreakers (5)
First Squad: The Moment of Truth (8)
Gantz: Perfect Answer (7)
King of Thorn (9)
Legend of the Millennium Dragon (7)
Nydenion (7)
Redline (10)
Safe House (2012) (8)
Salt (7)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (5)
Underworld: Awakening (8)
 
Cowboys & Aliens - DVD
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - DVD
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - free screenin'
Limitless - Netflix Instant
The Next Three Days - Netflix Instant
Man on a Ledge - free screenin'
Red State - Netflix Instant
Mars Needs Moms - Netflix Instant
S.W.A.T.: Firefight - Netflix Instant
Red Tails - free screenin'
Resident Evil: Degeneration - Netflix Instant
The Last Exorcism - Netflix Instant
Frozen - Netflix Instant
The Perfect Host - Netflix Instant
Tucker & Dale vs Evil - Netflix Instant
Brooklyn's Finest - Netflix Instant
Stone - Netflix Instant
The Woman in Black - free screenin'
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - free screenin'
Haywire - free admission
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) - free admission
The Artist - free admission
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - free admission
Ted & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie - tech screenin'
Hugo - free admission
Safe House - free screenin'
The Captains - Netflix Instant
Troll Hunter - Netflix Instant
The Evil Dead (1981) - Netflix Instant
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 3D - tech screenin'
Underworld Awakening 3D - free admission
We Need to Talk About Kevin - free admission
The Innkeepers - free admission
Big Miracle - free admission
Chronicle - free admission
Underworld: Unrated Extended Cut - DVD
The Grey - free admission
Contraband - free admission
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D - free admission
One for the Money - free admission
The Ouija Experiment - free admission

The Austin premiere of The Ouija Experiment was at midnight tonight. And even thought I still smelled like the theater's kitchen, I waited for a ticket & then a seat.

The director introduced four members of the cast, and then the film, and had a Q&A afterwards.

The movie is pretty simple - four friends use an Ouija board to contact spirits while a fifth friend films it, and they neglect to follow the rules of the board (don't ask a spirit how it died, don't ask how you will die, and always say goodbye before you leave the board). Due to their lack of respect, they are haunted by the spirits they contacted.

While the movie had more than a few issues (how did they find all this info online about the three spirits with just first names & general info about how they died?), it wasn't bad for an indie horror. And it was certainly better than The Innkeepers, as far as paranormal stuff goes...

The director is currently tourin' with the film, skippin' the film festivals to get direct audience feedback. Durin' the Q&A, I asked about On Demand/pay per view or Netflix options, and turns out Fangoria has already made an offer to put The Ouija Experiment on their website's "on demand" list after the tour.

So, that's good news for them, I suppose.

Afterwards, I took the flyers (I was told they were passes when I picked 'em up), and got signatures from the four cast members & the director. Nice folks...hope the movie does well for 'em. Kind of a bummer, though, that it played in the smallest of the Drafthouse's theaters, due to lack of advance ticket sales.

http://www.lalunaentertainment.com/La_Luna_Entertainment/The_Ouija_Experiment.html
 
Some of my favourites so far:

Ace Attorney, the latest by Takashi Miike: you either love it or hate it.

Kong Curling, bizarre humour and retro art direction from Norway.

The Hunter, beautiful and heart-wrenching movie about the hunt for the last Tasmanian Tiger. Great acting from Willem Dafoe. Wonderful views of Tasmania.
 
23. Happy-Go-Lucky

Quite funny, although I didn't think that they kept the energy from the first half of the film until the end. The scenes between Hawkins' character and Marsan's were the best part.
 
Another favourite of mine: The Artist

Talk about a tearjerker. I couldn't stop sobbing.

Jean Dujardin as George Valentin is a delight to watch. Costumes and art direction are gorgeous. And, as someone mentioned before, the music is phenomenal.
 
1. My Week With Marilyn (B-)
2. Fantasia 2000 (B+)
3. Blade Runner (B)
4. The Hidden Fortress (A-)
5. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (B+)
6. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+)
7. The Descendants (A-)
8. Monsieur Lazhar (A)
9. The Prestige (A+)
10. Blood Simple (A-)
11. The Big Lebowski (B+)
12. West Side Story (A-)
13. The Hours (A-)
14. Lady and the Tramp (B)
15. An Officer and a Gentleman (B)
16. All Quiet On The Western Front (A)

We're a week or so away from the first potential silent film to win Best Picture since the 1st Academy Awards, and I just watched the winner of the 3rd ceremony, the second "talkie" to take the prize. I vaguely recall watching the 70s TV movie version of this story in one of my high school history classes (the teacher that semester showed a lot of movies; I think he just wanted to kill time).

Whenever one goes back to watch "the classics" there's an inevitable risk of disappointment, but I think this is definitely one that holds up extremely well. In fact, on a technical level, it rarely shows its age - the depiction of World War I would mostly hold up in a Hollywood film today (the depictions of injuries being the main difference, but they didn't have CGI or nearly the same skill with makeup and prosthetics). The camerawork is dazzling in places. The main niggle is that, this being the infancy of the talkie, acting in sound was in its infancy as well. Most of the performances, including the lead, are at least a bit hammy, and the dialogue tends to get very overwrought in "serious" moments. The only real standout is Louis Wolheim, who always feels natural.

Cinema: 4
Home Video: 10
Computer: 2
 
Daniel y Ana. Found this on the Netflix streaming page. It was a drama about the aftermath when a brother and sister are kidnapped and the sister is raped.

Well, that's what I thought.

By the way, my policy on spoilers in this thread is that since the overwhelming majority of films listed are the ones widely accepted as serious drama or art films and the standard classic films, the ones I watch will be seen by no one else. Ever. So spoilers are not a problem.

The gag in Daniel y Ana, first of all, is that it is supposed to be a true story. This is disturbing because the kidnapping is not for ransom, but for sole purpose of making Daniel rape Ana. The usual arthouse movies' relatively static takes, silences, full body shots, etc. are used. There is very little scoring, beyond some randomly inserted sequences of Wagner. Siegfried I'm guessing but I'm not much of a Wagnerian, and I suppose I could have gotten that wrong. I'm afraid I couldn't be bothered to read the credits that closely.

The punch line to the gag is that Daniel is inspired to rape Ana without guns pointed at them or benefit of Viagra. Amazingly enough, Daniel is adept enough to keep Ana from screaming loudly enough to waken their parents! After this, Ana decides to move with her fiance from Mexico to Spain. The End, except for solemn paragraphs about the problem of underground pornography. We are also informed that Daniel and Ana never found out what happened with their sex tape.

If of course none of this had ever happend, then the forced rape sex tape wouldn't emerge. The whole thing seems very much like a somewhat perverse sexual fantasy, delighting in its lurid imaginations, while tacking on a puritanical, sex panic-mongering moral. The very upperclass life of the siblings is another indication. One doesn't want to make light of anyone sincerely upset over the supposed problem. But it would be much safer to just hire two prostitutes who resemble each other a little and call them brother and sister, rather than risk getting caught kidnapping someone.

Spoilers are especially not a problem for this movie, as it is best avoided as too dumb to bother with.

This public service announcement was brought to you by
a gullible reader of Netflix blurbs.
 
Kicking off my 2012 list:

1. Edge of Darkness: A
2. Star Trek: The Motion Picture: B+
3. Repo Men: B-
4. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: B-
5. Underworld: Awakening: B
6. Lost City Raiders: C+
7. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist: B+
8. Contraband: B+
9. Kick-Ass: B+
10. Hereafter: A-
11. Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance: B

Don't believe the hate parade, it's not a horrid film. Now is it Oscar bait, of course not. Does it rank in the upper echelons even among it's own sub-genre, no there. The good news is that it's not in the lower ranks either. It's lazy to say is sucks. It's no Catwoman, Elektra, Losers, Tank Girl or Jonah Hex(ok Hex is barely here but I digresss). I left a review in the GR2 thread if you want to read my full thoughts on the film.
My caveat is I recognize it's not for everyone but objectively it's a fun film and not worth the hate parade.
 
24. Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Well, they obviously had the money to make a good film and - to write something positive - the design of the world is nice. Now, I didn't expect a great film and the basic storyline is fine for this kind of film, but there were so many stupid moments it took out all the fun of the film.
 
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