110. The November Man ★★ Generic, forgettable spy thriller. With a little more character development and a little less confusion, it could have been good. WAY too much going on in this movie.
Have you ever figured out a joke years after you didn't get it the first time you heard it? McKay and Mrs Miller.
Spoiler: Movies Seen January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August & September The Devil's Double - Netflix Instant MST3K: Future War - Netflix Instant Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Graveyard Shift - Netflix Instant Charge - Netflix Instant The Eiger Sanction - Netflix Instant MST3K: Laserblast - Netflix Instant The Joneses - Netflix Instant The Reich Underground - Netflix Instant In the Loop - Netflix Instant The Other Man - Netflix Instant Our Nixon - Netflix Instant Broadcast News - Netflix Instant MST3K: Final Justice - Netflix Instant The Blob (1958) - HuluPlus American Breakdown - HuluPlus Spy Kids 3: Game Over - Netflix Instant The Beast with a Million Eyes - Netflix Instant Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - Netflix Instant Escape from Alcatraz - Netflix Insant River of No Return - Netflix Instant The Apartment - Netflix Instant Rewind This! - HuluPlus Ping Pong - Netflix Instant Schooled: The Price of College Sports - Netflix Instant Bronies - Netflix Instant Le Lac Des Zombies (aka Zombie Lake) - Netflix Instant Cockneys vs Zombies - Netflix Instant Humanoids from the Deep (aka Monster) - Netflix Instant The Haunting in Connecticut - Netflix Instant The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia - Netflix Instant Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis (1984) - Netflix Instant Dinosaur Island - Netflix Instant Age of Dinosaurs - Netflix Instant The Dinosaur Project - Netflix Instant Baby Boom - Netflix Instant Blindsided - Netflix Instant Hobo with a Shotgun - Netflix Instant Stranded - Netflix Instant MST3K: The Phantom Planet - Netflix Instant Looney Tunes: Back in Action - DVD The Crow: Wicked Prayer - Showtime Extreme Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home - Starz Kids & Family Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit - HBO on Demand Bullet to the Head - Cinemax on Demand Howard the Duck - HBO Family Battlefield Earth - HBO on Demand Me, Myself & Irene - HBO on Demand Bad Milo! - Netflix Instant The Final Cut - Netflix Instant Starship Troopers: Invasion - Netflix Instant P!nk: The Truth About Love Tour - Netflix Instant Saving Mr. Banks - DVD Avengers Confidential: Black Widow / Punisher - DVD Suddenly - Netflix Instant Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2D - theater Turbulance - HBO Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor - BBC America Fearless- Cinemax Blly Crystal: 700 Sundays - HBO Jay Mohr: Funny for a Girl - Showtime Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) - Cinemax The Natural - MoviePlex Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie - Cinemax She's the Man - HBO Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995) - Movieplex The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D - Alamo Drafthouse Justice League: War - DVD Son of Batman - DVD Prisoners - HBO A Day at the Races - free admission The Lego Movie 2D - discount theater Non-Stop - discount theater Godzilla 2D (2014) - free admission The Grand Budapest Hotel - free admission Neighbors - free admission X-Men: Days of Future Past 2D - free admission Million Dollar Arm - free admission Grudge Match - DVD The Monuments Men - DVD 3 Days to Kill - DVD Maleficent 2D - matinee The Family - Netflix Instant Romancing the Stone - Netflix Instant The Jewel of the Nile- Netflix Instant The Sklar Brothers: What Are We Talking About? - Netflix Instant Robocop (2014) - DVD Lone Survivor - DVD Knights of Badassdom - DVD Frozen - DVD Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - DVD Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Netflix Instant A Million Ways to Die in the West - free admission Wolverine: Weapon X - Tomorrow Dies Today - DVD Dumb and Dumber: Unrated Edition - DVD Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special! - Netflix Instant Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - DVD Escape from Tomorrow - Netflix Instant 22 Jump Street - theater Edge of Tomorrow 2D - theater Harlem Nights - Netflix Instant JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - DVD Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 - Netflix Instant The Raid 2 - DVD The Wolf of Wall Street - DVD Homefront - Netflix Instant Out of the Furnace - Netflix Instant Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 2D - theater Stan Lee's Mighty 7 - DVD Hot Coffee - Netflix Instant Transformers: Age of Extinction 2D - theater Odd Thomas - Netflix Instant Bad Words - DVD 300: Rise of an Empire - DVD Her - DVD Under the Skin - DVD Sabotage - DVD Lewis Black: Old Yeller - Live at the Borgata - Netflix Instant Emperor - Netflix Instant Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction - YouTube Guardians of the Galaxy 3D/2D - theater/theater Batman: Assault on Arkham - DVD You're Next - Netflix Instant The Nut Job - Netflix Instant Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project - Hulu Plus Dennis Miller: America 180 - Netflix Instant The Sons of Katie Elder - Netflix Instant Doctor Who: Deep Breath - DVD Draft Day - DVD A Walk Among the Tombstones - theater The Equalizer - theater Space Station 76 - DVD Thanks to store credit & a coupon, I was able to get a couple of free rentals from Hasting's the other night. Watched SS76 last night...a scifi dark comedy with Patrick Wilson & Liv Tyler in the style of the 1970s look & politics. And it was pretty damn bad. I'm beginnin' to think that Watchmen & The A-Team are the only good movies Patrick Wilson will ever be in.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) I'm notionally part of the generation that should feel tremendous nostalgia for this film, but I never actually saw it as a child, unlike all the other major Disney films of the Renaissance period. I didn't watch it for the first time until high school, when my English teacher did a session on why Disney is evil and there were three film-watching groups, the other two (Peter Pan and Pocahontas) being films I had already seen). This is the first time I've seen it in its proper widescreen medium, and I have to say, it looks stunning on Blu-ray. The disk comes with a BTS look at the use of actors to give inspiration to the animators, particularly regarding Ariel's facial expressions, and the work definitely shows. There's some surprisingly grisly bits in this, like Ursula's death, which is basically her being gutted by a ship. Cinema: 34 DVD/Blu-Ray: 32 (+1) Streaming Service: 30
The Signal - On Demand - I remembered seeing the trailer for this a while back, thinking it looked interesting. It got some good reviews, mostly positive. When it popped up On Demand, I decided to watch it immediately, because if I don't I usually forget to watch it and then it's years before I do. This happen both with Melancholy & Another Earth. On the surface, the movie is very good. The story pulls you in, the acting is very good and the effects are excellent. However if you start to scratch the surface, it breaks down pretty quickly. If you start to apply even a bit of logic to the story, then it becomes completely frustrating. The entire story is there because of the ruse and once the ruse is shown, then the story doesn't make sense. However much of it is easily discern throughout the movie. Even with all that, I did enjoy the movie. 12 Years a Slave - HBO Go on Apple TV - I have been avoiding watching this for a while. I never felt in the right state of mind or situation to watch it. I would see it available and I would continue on, picking something else. I was suppose to be doing some writing, I had the house to myself. The kids were all asleep and the wife was working overnight at the hospital. I just couldn't bring myself to do any writing and decided that it would be the right time. This movie wrecks you, I cried so many times during it. The movie is so good, the acting, the writing and the direction. It's gut wrenching to describe this movie as beautiful, for the subject matter is so brutal. Yet, there are several extremely long takes that just linger there in your mind and the way the shot is composed, the lighting and framing of the shot. Its absolutely beautiful, showing the most heinous thing imaginable. I loved Chiwetel Ejiofor as an actor long before this, he was great in Dirty Pretty Things, Kinky Boots, Children of Men and of course Serenity. His work here is simply amazing, his portrayal of Solomon Northup is moving beyond measure and he imbued Solomon with a righteous dignity. Hans Zimmer score is haunting, he only did two songs for the movie but his Solomon score is used throughout it and it is so powerful, a fitting song for the man. I could go on and on about the other performances, especially Lupita Nyong'o and Michael Fassbender. This movie deserved Best Movie, it should have also won Best Director for Steve McQueen.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) 97. Gone Girl (A) I haven't read the popular novel on which this is based, but I understand it's fairly faithful. This is a great companion piece to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher's earlier stylish pulp exercise; this one has a more interesting plot, I would say (it ends up being, as much as anything, a very, very black media satire). I've been a huge fan of Rosamund Pike since Pride & Prejudice (she was also easily the best thing about Die Another Day), and I hope this film leads to more lead roles for her. Ben Affleck, who I've always found affable, if somewhat limited as an actor, gives his best performance here. Indeed, the movie is full of surprises, such as Tyler Perry (who steals every scene he's in), and the lead model from the "Blurred Lines" video, who's a decent actress in the one scene where she's really called on to show emotion. Also, Nancy Grace is a horrible, horrible human being, and any satirical attack on her gladdens my heart. Cinema: 35 (+1) DVD/Blu-Ray: 32 Streaming Service: 30
Spoiler: The Complete List January 1. The Manor (✩✩✩✩) 2. Pain & Gain (✩✩✩✩) 3. Runner Runner (✩✩✩) 4. Battle of the Year (✩✩) 5. Byzantium (✩✩✩ 6. Our Idiot Brother (✩✩✩) 7. The Spectacular Now (✩✩✩½) 8. Blue Jasmine (✩✩✩) 9. Carrie (2013) (✩✩✩) 10. Closed Circuit (✩½) 11. Drive (✩✩✩½) 12. The Roommate (✩✩½) 13. Rocky (✩✩✩) 14. Rocky II (✩✩✩½) 15. Rocky III (✩✩✩) 16. Rocky IV (✩✩✩½) 17. Rocky V (✩✩✩) 18. Rocky Balboa (✩✩✩✩) February 19. In a World… (✩✩✩½) 20. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (✩✩✩½) 21. A Late Quartet (✩✩✩✩½) 22. Justice League: War (✩✩✩½) 23. ATM (✩✩✩✩) 24. That Guy… Who Was in That Thing (✩✩✩½) 25. Cleanflix (✩✩✩½) 26. Side by Side (✩✩✩✩) 27. RoboCop (2014) (✩✩✩½) 28. Adult World (✩✩✩✩½) 29. Oldboy (2013) (✩✩✩✩½) 30. Oldboy (2003) (✩✩✩✩½) 31. Cry of the Owl (✩✩✩✩½) March 32. Kiss at Pine Lake (✩½) 33. Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (✩✩✩½) 34. Sleeping Dogs Lie (✩✩✩✩) 35. The Future (✩✩) 36. Frozen (✩✩✩✩) 37. American Hustle (✩✩✩) 38. The Right Kind of Wrong (✩✩✩✩) 39. Passion (✩✩✩) 40. Afternoon Delight (✩✩✩½) 41. Breaking the Girls (✩✩✩½) 42. Noah (✩✩✩✩) 43. American Mary (✩✩✩½) April 44. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (✩✩✩½) 45. Game Change (✩✩✩✩) 46. I Don't Know How She Does It (✩✩✩) 47. Trance (✩✩✩) 48. Indigo (✩✩✩) 49. In Our Nature (✩✩✩) 50. Riddick (Unrated Director's Cut) (✩✩✩✩) 51. Contraband (✩✩✩) May 52. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D) (✩✩✩½) 53. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (✩✩✩½) 54. Godzilla (✩✩✩✩) 55. X-Men: Days of Future Past (✩✩✩✩) 56. Non-Stop (✩✩✩½) 57. Parts Per Billion (✩✩) June 58. Edge of Tomorrow (3D) (✩✩✩✩½) 59. Sleeper (✩✩✩✩) 60. 22 Jump Street (✩✩✩✩) 61. The Poker House (✩✩✩½) 62. Snowpiercer (✩✩✩✩½) 63. Endless Love (✩✩✩) 64. My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (✩✩✩✩) 65. The Internship (✩✩½) 66. Transformers: Age of Extinction (3D) (✩✩✩½) 67. Pretty Maids All in a Row (✩✩✩✩) 68. Some Velvet Morning (✩✩✩) 69. Under the Skin (✩✩✩) 70. Bad Words (✩✩✩½) 71. Syrup (✩✩✩) July 72. I Think I Do (✩✩) 73. The Wedding Date (✩✩✩½) 74. Breathe In (✩✩✩½) 75. Premature (✩✩✩✩) 76. Somewhere (✩✩✩✩) 77. The Councelor (✩✩✩) 78. Flakes (✩✩✩½) 79. The New Year (✩✩✩✩) 80. Dead Man Down (✩✩✩½) 81. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (3D) (✩✩✩✩) 82. Safe House (✩✩✩) 83. Fun with Dick and Jane (✩✩✩) 84. About Sunny (✩✩✩✩) 85. Heaven Is for Real (✩✩✩) 86. Not Another Happy Ending (✩✩✩) 87. Colombiana (✩✩✩½) 88. Hercules (✩✩✩½) 89. Lucy (✩✩✩✩) 90. Transcendence (✩✩✩✩) 91. Ruby Sparks (✩✩✩✩) 92. The Pretty One (✩✩✩½) 93. Some Girl(s) (✩✩½) 94. Fruitvale Station (✩✩✩✩) 95. Guardians of the Galaxy (3D) (✩✩✩✩½) August 96. Sharknado (✩✩✩½) 97. Sharknado 2: The Second One (✩✩✩✩) 98. Rubberneck (✩✩✩) 99. Need for Speed (✩✩✩) 100. Grand Piano (✩✩✩✩) 101. Haywire (✩✩✩) 102. Magic Mike (✩✩✩) 103. My Life Without Me (✩✩✩½) 104. In the Blood (✩✩✩½) 105. Best Man Down (✩✩✩✩) 106. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3D) (✩✩✩½) 107. Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (✩✩✩½) 108. Monte Carlo (✩✩½) 109. The Expendables 3 (✩✩½) 110. Beastly (✩✩½) September 111. The Fault in Our Stars (✩✩✩½) 112. The Captive (✩✩✩½) 113. The Other Woman (✩✩✩) 114. Honeymoon (✩✩✩½) 115. Begin Again (✩✩) 116. Neighbors (✩✩✩½) 117. The Double (✩✩✩½) October 118. The F Word (✩✩✩) 119. Night Moves (✩✩✩½) 120. White Bird in a Blizzard (✩✩✩✩) 121. Chef (✩✩✩) 122. In Your Eyes (✩✩✩✩½) Selected Reviews… 112. The Captive (✩✩✩½) - Another Canadian film from Atom Egoyan. A girl is kidnapped and her father spends years agonizing over having lost her and even becomes a suspect. Stars Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Kevin Durand and Rosario Dawson. Reynolds doesn't do drama as well as he does humor but it's nice to see him shake it up a bit. I also found this film to be more clear and less artsy than Egoyan's usual work. 113. The Other Woman (✩✩✩) - The one with Cameron Diaz. It's pretty much what you might expect but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau stands out with some pretty good comedic talent. 117. The Double (✩✩✩½) - Jesse Eisenberg plays an unnoticed introverted cubical worker who one day meets a doppelganger at the office who is the exact opposite and wows everyone. What makes this movie interesting is that it's heavily stylized in a way that emphasizes the cold impersonal nature of the modern working world. Go to work, go home, watch TV, etc. It's worth a look just for that. 118. The F Word (✩✩✩) - I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did Zoe Kazan's previous works but I did find it nice to see Daniel Radcliffe continue to successfully move beyond Harry Potter. 119. Night Moves (✩✩✩½) - Jesse Eisenberg and Dakota fanning play eco-terrorists who plan to blow up a dam. It's a quiet piece but the young idealistic characters and the build up will hold your attention. 120. White Bird in a Blizzard (✩✩✩✩) - Shailene Woodley plays a girl who's mother just disappeared one day. Eva Green plays the mother and we get to know more about her life as a miserable housewife through flashbacks. This movie also has an excellent soundtrack. If you aren't enticed yet, Woodly also appears nude. 121. Chef (✩✩✩) - The first 45 minutes were pretty good but the movie took an unusual turn and lost something as a result. Still pretty good though and I was impressed with all the big names who played small roles, from Dustin Hoffman to Scarlett Johansson, to Robert Downey Jr. 122. In Your Eyes (✩✩✩✩½) - Another Zoe Kazan piece. This time she plays a young married woman who learns that she has a 'psychic' connection to an ex con on parole several states away that allows both of them to see and experience what the other one is seeing and experiencing. Much of the movie is about them dealing with their lives while they communicate with eachother by talking out loud, sometimes much to the puzzlement of onlookers and Kazan's character's husband. This is a pretty good concept for a story and it's worth a look. And you'll either love Kazan more or you'll want to see more of her stuff if you haven't already.
1) Wargames - B+ 2) Play The Game - B 3) Battle Los Angeles - B+ 4) Despicable Me 2 - B 5) Minority Report - C- 6) District 9 - B+ 7) How Do You Know? - F 8) Walk The Line - A- 9) The Butler - A+ 10) Captain Phillips - B 11) Sky High - C+ 12) Draft Day - B- 13) Nuremberg - B 14) Love & Other Drugs - D 15) We Were Soldiers - B+ 16) A Walk To Remember - D+ 17) Gridiron Gang - C 18) 42 - B 19) The Monuments Men - A- 20) The Rebound - D- 21) Saving Mister Banks - A- 22) Last Vegas - D+ 23) Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit - B- 24) Maleficent - D 25) Now And Then - C 26) Machete - B 27) 3 Days To Kill - B- 28) The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - A- 29) Escape Plan - A- 30) Hotel Transylvania - B+ 31) Little Black Book - C- 32) The Bourne Identity - B 33) To Be Fat Like Me - D 34) Poseidon - C 35) The Bourne Supremacy - C+ While still a fun action flick, Damon suffers without someone to play off of for the action scenes. He is just sort've there while everyone else drives the action.
Spoiler: Movies Seen January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August & September The Devil's Double - Netflix Instant MST3K: Future War - Netflix Instant Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay - Netflix Instant Stephen King's Graveyard Shift - Netflix Instant Charge - Netflix Instant The Eiger Sanction - Netflix Instant MST3K: Laserblast - Netflix Instant The Joneses - Netflix Instant The Reich Underground - Netflix Instant In the Loop - Netflix Instant The Other Man - Netflix Instant Our Nixon - Netflix Instant Broadcast News - Netflix Instant MST3K: Final Justice - Netflix Instant The Blob (1958) - HuluPlus American Breakdown - HuluPlus Spy Kids 3: Game Over - Netflix Instant The Beast with a Million Eyes - Netflix Instant Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959) - Netflix Instant Escape from Alcatraz - Netflix Insant River of No Return - Netflix Instant The Apartment - Netflix Instant Rewind This! - HuluPlus Ping Pong - Netflix Instant Schooled: The Price of College Sports - Netflix Instant Bronies - Netflix Instant Le Lac Des Zombies (aka Zombie Lake) - Netflix Instant Cockneys vs Zombies - Netflix Instant Humanoids from the Deep (aka Monster) - Netflix Instant The Haunting in Connecticut - Netflix Instant The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia - Netflix Instant Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis (1984) - Netflix Instant Dinosaur Island - Netflix Instant Age of Dinosaurs - Netflix Instant The Dinosaur Project - Netflix Instant Baby Boom - Netflix Instant Blindsided - Netflix Instant Hobo with a Shotgun - Netflix Instant Stranded - Netflix Instant MST3K: The Phantom Planet - Netflix Instant Looney Tunes: Back in Action - DVD The Crow: Wicked Prayer - Showtime Extreme Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home - Starz Kids & Family Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit - HBO on Demand Bullet to the Head - Cinemax on Demand Howard the Duck - HBO Family Battlefield Earth - HBO on Demand Me, Myself & Irene - HBO on Demand Bad Milo! - Netflix Instant The Final Cut - Netflix Instant Starship Troopers: Invasion - Netflix Instant P!nk: The Truth About Love Tour - Netflix Instant Saving Mr. Banks - DVD Avengers Confidential: Black Widow / Punisher - DVD Suddenly - Netflix Instant Captain America: The Winter Soldier 2D - theater Turbulance - HBO Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor - BBC America Fearless- Cinemax Blly Crystal: 700 Sundays - HBO Jay Mohr: Funny for a Girl - Showtime Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) - Cinemax The Natural - MoviePlex Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie - Cinemax She's the Man - HBO Godzilla vs Destroyah (1995) - Movieplex The Amazing Spider-Man 2 3D - Alamo Drafthouse Justice League: War - DVD Son of Batman - DVD Prisoners - HBO A Day at the Races - free admission The Lego Movie 2D - discount theater Non-Stop - discount theater Godzilla 2D (2014) - free admission The Grand Budapest Hotel - free admission Neighbors - free admission X-Men: Days of Future Past 2D - free admission Million Dollar Arm - free admission Grudge Match - DVD The Monuments Men - DVD 3 Days to Kill - DVD Maleficent 2D - matinee The Family - Netflix Instant Romancing the Stone - Netflix Instant The Jewel of the Nile- Netflix Instant The Sklar Brothers: What Are We Talking About? - Netflix Instant Robocop (2014) - DVD Lone Survivor - DVD Knights of Badassdom - DVD Frozen - DVD Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - DVD Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Netflix Instant A Million Ways to Die in the West - free admission Wolverine: Weapon X - Tomorrow Dies Today - DVD Dumb and Dumber: Unrated Edition - DVD Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special! - Netflix Instant Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit - DVD Escape from Tomorrow - Netflix Instant 22 Jump Street - theater Edge of Tomorrow 2D - theater Harlem Nights - Netflix Instant JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time - DVD Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 - Netflix Instant The Raid 2 - DVD The Wolf of Wall Street - DVD Homefront - Netflix Instant Out of the Furnace - Netflix Instant Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 2D - theater Stan Lee's Mighty 7 - DVD Hot Coffee - Netflix Instant Transformers: Age of Extinction 2D - theater Odd Thomas - Netflix Instant Bad Words - DVD 300: Rise of an Empire - DVD Her - DVD Under the Skin - DVD Sabotage - DVD Lewis Black: Old Yeller - Live at the Borgata - Netflix Instant Emperor - Netflix Instant Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction - YouTube Guardians of the Galaxy 3D/2D - theater/theater Batman: Assault on Arkham - DVD You're Next - Netflix Instant The Nut Job - Netflix Instant Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project - Hulu Plus Dennis Miller: America 180 - Netflix Instant The Sons of Katie Elder - Netflix Instant Doctor Who: Deep Breath - DVD Draft Day - DVD A Walk Among the Tombstones - theater The Equalizer - theater Space Station 76 - DVD Chef - DVD Star Wars: Rebels - Spark of Rebellion - DVD Jon Favreau's response to the Hollywood studio system (and possibly Marvel in particular) was the second free rental I got from Hasting's the other night. A successful chef who is bored with his career of makin' the same stuff over & over loses his job at a flame war/meltdown with an online food critic and winds up gettin' a food truck. Together with his young son & a buddy from the kitchen he was fired from, they drive cross country from Miami to Los Angeles, becomin' an internet sensation doin' what they love to do, rather than what they are forced to do. I rather liked it, and not just they make a stop in Austin. Jon Favreau wrote, directed & starred in the movie with Oliver Platt, Dustin Hoffman, Scarlett Johannson, Robert Downey, Jr, Sofia Vergara & Bobby Cannavale givin' support. And the kid, played by Emjay Anthony wasn't too fuckin' annoyin', which is always a plus when there's a kid central to the movie plot. Shoppin' at Wal-Mart earlier this afternoon, found Star Wars: Rebels - Spark of Rebellion was already out on DVD for thirteen bucks. I went ahead and bought it, since I don't have Disney XD and wanted to see what they cancelled Star Wars: The Clone Wars for... ...I admit, I kinda liked it. Not great, but certainly better than the film that got released to theaters to kick off SWTCW's series. My younger nephew enjoyed it, too, so that's a plus. The oldest nephew is still upset that SWTCW was cancelled, so he refused to watch it with us. Bonus features on the DVD include the four shorts focussin' on the main characters and a look at the rest of season one, introduced by Dave Filoni. No, the best thing about Die Another Day was Halle Berry in the orange Dr. No bikini.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) 97. Gone Girl (A) 98. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (A+) As Michael Bolton put it, I just got done with the Pirates of the Caribbean marathon. I saw this movie four times in the summer of 2003, which remains the most times I've ever gone to the theatre for a movie; in the fall of the same year, it became my first ever DVD purchase with my own money. I would have been about 16 at the time, so this movie holds an enduring place in my memories of my teenage years. I had no real expectations for it going in, and I loved it -- indeed, I still do. Rewatching it for the first time in a few years, it still holds up like I remember, even if I've seen it so many times that inevitably it's quite familiar now. Inevitably the first thing people talk about with these movies is Depp, and there's good reason for that, as this performance was just a blast to watch, from the moment he appears onscreen, nimbly stepping off the mast of his sinking ship as if that was what he meant to happen all along. But overly focusing on Depp's brilliance masks the depth of the talent assembled, and the amount of personality imbued in even minor characters. Amongst the major cast, Geoffrey Rush is an indispensible as Depp (indeed, Rush was born to play a pirate), and I think people underrate the importance of Orlando Blook and Keira Knightley as the straight men to the wackier characters. Regarding Knightley, watching these reminded me how much fun she is an an actress, something that kind of got lost in various dour roles at the end of the last decade (I liked many of those things, don't get me wrong), before she started doing things like this year's Begin Again again. But (even before the sequels swell the cast even further), there's even more beyond that, and people like Norrington, Governor Swann, etc. are all handled with a fine touch that keep them above being one-dimensional. I'll say, having watched these three movies, I'm almost ready to say that my favourite character in the series is Kevin McNally's Mr. Gibbs, Jack's diehard right-hand man. All three movies, especially the last two, were dogged by complaints in some quarters that they're overlong, and (in the case of the last two) overcomplicated. I think there's some truth to that, but I always found the overstuffed nature of the proceedings part of the fun (and, unlike some, I never had a problem following along). In this, the slimmest of the three, there's less you could argue should be cut, but there are indeed some ways the film could have been edited down if need-be. On the production side, the CGI effects hold up pretty well going on a decade, even though there's been better work oft his type done since, obviously. There's a lot more regular stunt-work than there would be in the sequels, and some great swordplay. There's also the score by Klaus Badelt, whose career is otherwise completely unremarkable, but he had this in him, and I consider it one of my personal favourites (and it was one of the scores that really made me pay attention to the use of instrumentals in film). One complaint: The script by Ted Rossio and Terry Elliot is extremely witty (augmented, of course, with great line delivery), so why did the trailers repeatedly hammer at us with the "try wearing a corset" line, which is literally the only major punchline that doesn't land? That line sucked then, and it sucks now. 99. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (A) Moving into the first sequel, pretty much everybody is back (except the two comic relief British soldiers, who have to wait for the third film). It's "bigger" in the way sequels aspire to be, and I think it pretty much all works, even when some of the concepts verge on being slightly recast versions of things from the first film (e.g., Davy Jones and his crew of mutated creatures instead of Barbossa and the cursed skeletal pirates). The aforesaid Jones is a triumph of CGI; I recall being astonished by the work at the time of release, and it holds up remarkably well almost ten years later (cripes, the time does fly). Then there's the East India Company and Cutler Beckett, who don't recall making the connection at the time is played by Keira Knightley's Pride & Prejudice costar Tom Hollander, which is amusing. This whole plot, which runs through the two sequels, is basically about how a ruthless corporation is trying to wrangle the entire world into a neat little order, stamping on all the magical elements in the process -- insert "this film was made by Disney" joke here. The main problem I have with this movie is the weird, hinted-at attraction between Jack and Elizabeth. This really seems to come from nowhere, and the third movie sweeps it under the rug (well, I think the end of this movie is a good explanation for that, granted). Why was this thought necessary? Certainly this movie had an insane shipping fandom at the time (one of the bigger ones of the mid-2000s, as I recall), but the entire angle is extremely underdeveloped, and I really can't see what purpose it serves. It seems to be hinted that Jack's attraction to Elizabeth (as developed offscreen) is screwing with his ability to use the compass, and Elizabeth seems to entertain the idea for about five minutes before concluding that Jack is an unreliable and cowardly asshole. Eh. 100. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (A) The other thing that's really notable about the sequels is the gradual tonal shift. The first film had some spooky bits, but it was by-and-large an adventure romp with its tongue heavily in cheek. That tone remains for some of the time, but the second movie's opening scenes include a crow pulling out a man's eyeball, and the third opens with a bunch of innocents, including a little kid, getting hanged (incidentally, I never made the connection until now that the "song's been sung" refrain that Barbossa is harping on whenever the issue of summoning the Brethren Court is raised is in reference to that opening scene, which gives it a purpose beyond atmosphere). The movie also replaces the fairly traditional romantic narrative of Will and Elizabeth with a much more bittersweet one, and kills off a number of characters, like the Governor and Norrington. I think it all works ultimately (the Governor's appearance is a quite quietly beautiful scene), but it's certainly different. Having already mentioned the Brethren Court, I gather the production of these two movies was a bit slipshod, as when the third movie opens we're plunged into the middle of goings-on that substantially carry over from the previous film, but at the same time the story has been recalibrated to introduce several new plot pieces that weren't established at all in Dead Man's Chest: whereas retrieving Jack was suggested initially as an emotional thing, here it's because he's apparently a "pirate lord" needed to summon the Brethren Court (and to free Calypso); the reappearance of Barbossa, implied to be necessary because he's done what they'll need to do to free Jack already, seems less necessary when here he really has no more idea than anyone else (though he also has one of the nine pieces of eight, I guess). These plot elements all play out fine, in my opinion, but they neverthless just kind of spring up. So, having rewatched all three, I'm pleased at my overall opinion of the trilogy. The first is still the best, but the sequels, which I don't believe I've seen since they initially aired in theatres, retain what I loved about the first one, and don't just feel like retreads (even if the second movie initially relies a bit too much on dialogue callbacks). Going back to the idea of the films as overstuffed, the films are a bit long, but Verbinski and co. just pack the movies with every idea they have, and I think that pays off. Cinema: 35 DVD/Blu-Ray: 35 (+3) Streaming Service: 30
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) 97. Gone Girl (A) 98. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (A+) 99. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (A) 100. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (A) 101. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (C+) Having rewatched the initial trilogy, I decided to belatedly view for the first time the fourth entry in the series, which made over a billion dollars but has receded from the conversation and doesn't have an especially favourable reputation. On the whole, I'd say it's deserved. It's not truly a bad movie, and retains some of the charms of the earlier films, but by and large it just calls the mind what's missing -- which, even more than some castmembers, is director Gore Verbinski. Verbinski is one of the most imaginative action directors working (often overlooked in that regard), and the action in the first three movies typically had a madcap brilliance to it. Rob Marshall never once approaches this; the flow of the scenes never quite works. This would be exemplified by the sudden arrival of the Spanish in the climactic fight. That said, the script Marshall is working with is a few cuts below what Rossio and Elliot gave Verbinski. This is the slimmest of the four movies, and while the previous three were called overlong, this one honestly needed to be longer, at least if it was going to do what it sets out to. The Angelica character, for instance, is given both a love/hate dynamic with Jack and a literally suicidal desire to please her newfound father, and while the former works okay (even in subpar circumstances, Penelope Cruz can generate some chemistry), the latter is barely there, which is a problem since the emotional center of the climax hinges on it. That climax also shows why Jack Sparrow going 'solo' without Will and Elizabeth is a bit of a problem, as they were the ones who handled the more serious emotional bits, leaving Jack to be flippant and chaotic. The writers, to their credit, largely don't try to compromise on Jack's nature here, but that leaves the movie devoid of emotional stakes (Jack's decision to renounce the Fountain of Youth, which he explains to Gibbs at the end, feels like the end of a character arc we never saw). Actually speaking of Will and Elizabeth, their quasi-replacements in this movie, a kidnapped cleric (Sam Claflin, later used to much better effect in The Hunger Games) and a mermaid (Astrid Berges-Frisbey; great name), are barely present at all. Their supposed emotional bond seemingly develops in a space of minutes, on the basis of very little interaction, and it's pretty much unrelated to anything else going on. In fact, speaking of the mermaid, she shows up at the climax to help Jack, who (unless I'm forgetting something) did exactly diddly-squat to assist her, to in turn help save either Blackbeard or his daughter, the two people who orchestrated her kidnapping and attempted murder. Why does she do any of this? I will say, though, that the initial sequence with the appearance of the mermaids is probably the strongest part of the film, and the only time where Marshall replicates the way Verbinski was able to make the magical elements of the franchise work. Cinema: 35 DVD/Blu-Ray: 36 (+1) Streaming Service: 30
The ABC's of Death II. A 26 short movies about death. 26 directors are randomly assigned a letter from he alphabet to pick a word from to use as a basis for their short film and go from there. Some of it, most of it is pornographic torture porn, and the rest is downright disgusting. My flatmate walked into my room and asked be to explain why there were two blood soaked naked hookers stabbing a guy over and over again with a screw driver. Yup, that one was V is for Vacation. I really need a lock on my door.
111. A Good Marriage (2014) ★ I really liked all the novellas from Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars. He wrote the screenplay for this adaptation, but it's poorly directed and poorly acted and just overall boring until the last five minutes or so. While the novella was creepy (not as much as 1922), the movie fails to capture any of the suspense.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - On Demand - I guess with Transformers: Age of Extinction about to hit on demand, they were offering it for free. Since I haven't seen it, I decided to watch it. For the first two hours of this movie, I wanted my money back. To call this movie stupid or insipid is pointless, I guess they are designed that way. You want some semblance of a coherent story but they refuse to provide one. Then the attack of Chicago happens, everything is put into autopilot and the best part of the movie. In fact the best part of any of the movies. Everything that set this up, pointless. Who cares, the attack of Chicago is all you need to watch of this movie. In fact, thats all you should watch of it. Transformers: Age of Extinction - on Demand - So this is suppose to be the "best" of the Transformers. Thats like saying its better to step in dog shit then horse shit, doesn't matter it's all shit. I couldn't believe Mark Wahlberg made me miss Shia LaBeouf, he seriously is a horrible actor. He's good in very limited roles, very limited. Totally unbelievable as a engineer or inventor. Why didn't you make him an ex-military guy, maybe involved with the Attack on Chicago from TFOM. Damn you could even sneak in a flashback showing him in action during the attack. You could have made him a mechanic, who worked on trucks and stuff. All would have been more believable. The handling of the relationship between the characters, is such bottom basement comedy writing. Did they get it watch after school specials? Unfortunately this didn't have the Attack on Chicago to save it. This movie sucks! Star Wars: Rebels - DVR - They called the first episode a movie, so I'm reviewing it here. I have to admit, after watching the commercials and stuff for it, I have very, very low expectations. I can tell you I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I liked it better then most of the prequels. I watched it with my boys, who both loved it. Chopper is their favorite character. Its a bit hokey but thats okay, doesn't weigh it down. I can't wait to watch more, especially to be able to watch it with my boys. Maybe I can start their love of Star Wars with it.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) 97. Gone Girl (A) 98. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (A+) 99. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (A) 100. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (A) 101. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (C+) 102. Sleeping Beauty (B) Presenting the only children's animated film starring three old biddies (that for some reason people thought needed to be given a feminist reimagining, even though it probably has Disney's all-time highest Bechdel Test score). Aurora herself has a great design, though not a ton of personality (par for the course with the classical leads, of course). The fairies are mcuh better-developed, who act a bit like supporting characters who've been shifted into the lead (which is, in fact, what they are). The animation style is amazingly intricate. Cinema: 35 DVD/Blu-Ray: 37 (+1) Streaming Service: 30
Spoiler: The Complete List January 1. The Manor (✩✩✩✩) 2. Pain & Gain (✩✩✩✩) 3. Runner Runner (✩✩✩) 4. Battle of the Year (✩✩) 5. Byzantium (✩✩✩ 6. Our Idiot Brother (✩✩✩) 7. The Spectacular Now (✩✩✩½) 8. Blue Jasmine (✩✩✩) 9. Carrie (2013) (✩✩✩) 10. Closed Circuit (✩½) 11. Drive (✩✩✩½) 12. The Roommate (✩✩½) 13. Rocky (✩✩✩) 14. Rocky II (✩✩✩½) 15. Rocky III (✩✩✩) 16. Rocky IV (✩✩✩½) 17. Rocky V (✩✩✩) 18. Rocky Balboa (✩✩✩✩) February 19. In a World… (✩✩✩½) 20. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (✩✩✩½) 21. A Late Quartet (✩✩✩✩½) 22. Justice League: War (✩✩✩½) 23. ATM (✩✩✩✩) 24. That Guy… Who Was in That Thing (✩✩✩½) 25. Cleanflix (✩✩✩½) 26. Side by Side (✩✩✩✩) 27. RoboCop (2014) (✩✩✩½) 28. Adult World (✩✩✩✩½) 29. Oldboy (2013) (✩✩✩✩½) 30. Oldboy (2003) (✩✩✩✩½) 31. Cry of the Owl (✩✩✩✩½) March 32. Kiss at Pine Lake (✩½) 33. Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (✩✩✩½) 34. Sleeping Dogs Lie (✩✩✩✩) 35. The Future (✩✩) 36. Frozen (✩✩✩✩) 37. American Hustle (✩✩✩) 38. The Right Kind of Wrong (✩✩✩✩) 39. Passion (✩✩✩) 40. Afternoon Delight (✩✩✩½) 41. Breaking the Girls (✩✩✩½) 42. Noah (✩✩✩✩) 43. American Mary (✩✩✩½) April 44. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (✩✩✩½) 45. Game Change (✩✩✩✩) 46. I Don't Know How She Does It (✩✩✩) 47. Trance (✩✩✩) 48. Indigo (✩✩✩) 49. In Our Nature (✩✩✩) 50. Riddick (Unrated Director's Cut) (✩✩✩✩) 51. Contraband (✩✩✩) May 52. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D) (✩✩✩½) 53. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (✩✩✩½) 54. Godzilla (✩✩✩✩) 55. X-Men: Days of Future Past (✩✩✩✩) 56. Non-Stop (✩✩✩½) 57. Parts Per Billion (✩✩) June 58. Edge of Tomorrow (3D) (✩✩✩✩½) 59. Sleeper (✩✩✩✩) 60. 22 Jump Street (✩✩✩✩) 61. The Poker House (✩✩✩½) 62. Snowpiercer (✩✩✩✩½) 63. Endless Love (✩✩✩) 64. My Girlfriend's Boyfriend (✩✩✩✩) 65. The Internship (✩✩½) 66. Transformers: Age of Extinction (3D) (✩✩✩½) 67. Pretty Maids All in a Row (✩✩✩✩) 68. Some Velvet Morning (✩✩✩) 69. Under the Skin (✩✩✩) 70. Bad Words (✩✩✩½) 71. Syrup (✩✩✩) July 72. I Think I Do (✩✩) 73. The Wedding Date (✩✩✩½) 74. Breathe In (✩✩✩½) 75. Premature (✩✩✩✩) 76. Somewhere (✩✩✩✩) 77. The Councelor (✩✩✩) 78. Flakes (✩✩✩½) 79. The New Year (✩✩✩✩) 80. Dead Man Down (✩✩✩½) 81. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (3D) (✩✩✩✩) 82. Safe House (✩✩✩) 83. Fun with Dick and Jane (✩✩✩) 84. About Sunny (✩✩✩✩) 85. Heaven Is for Real (✩✩✩) 86. Not Another Happy Ending (✩✩✩) 87. Colombiana (✩✩✩½) 88. Hercules (✩✩✩½) 89. Lucy (✩✩✩✩) 90. Transcendence (✩✩✩✩) 91. Ruby Sparks (✩✩✩✩) 92. The Pretty One (✩✩✩½) 93. Some Girl(s) (✩✩½) 94. Fruitvale Station (✩✩✩✩) 95. Guardians of the Galaxy (3D) (✩✩✩✩½) August 96. Sharknado (✩✩✩½) 97. Sharknado 2: The Second One (✩✩✩✩) 98. Rubberneck (✩✩✩) 99. Need for Speed (✩✩✩) 100. Grand Piano (✩✩✩✩) 101. Haywire (✩✩✩) 102. Magic Mike (✩✩✩) 103. My Life Without Me (✩✩✩½) 104. In the Blood (✩✩✩½) 105. Best Man Down (✩✩✩✩) 106. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (3D) (✩✩✩½) 107. Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (✩✩✩½) 108. Monte Carlo (✩✩½) 109. The Expendables 3 (✩✩½) 110. Beastly (✩✩½) September 111. The Fault in Our Stars (✩✩✩½) 112. The Captive (✩✩✩½) 113. The Other Woman (✩✩✩) 114. Honeymoon (✩✩✩½) 115. Begin Again (✩✩) 116. Neighbors (✩✩✩½) 117. The Double (✩✩✩½) October 118. The F Word (✩✩✩) 119. Night Moves (✩✩✩½) 120. White Bird in a Blizzard (✩✩✩✩) 121. Chef (✩✩✩) 122. In Your Eyes (✩✩✩✩½) 123. Open Windows (✩✩✩✩½) 124. Gone Girl (✩✩✩✩½) Selected Reviews… 116. Neighbors (✩✩✩½) - Your typical Seth Rogen fare but one thing really stood out… It's depiction of marriage. 123. Open Windows (✩✩✩✩½) - Stars Elijah Wood and Sasha Grey. I've never seen a movie like this before. It's quite an innovative piece of film-making. The movie involves a kidnapping, car chases and murder, yet the whole thing takes place from the perspective of various webcams and everything we see is happening on a computer monitor. Check it out just to see what they did and how they did it. …and to see Sasha Grey advance further into mainstream film. Sort of.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) 97. Gone Girl (A) 98. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (A+) 99. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (A) 100. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (A) 101. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (C+) 102. Sleeping Beauty (B) 103. The Graduate (B-) The last film in the original AFI Top 10 American films list that I hadn't seen before, this film helped launch the career of Dustin Hoffman, and has been the bane of middle-aged women surnamed Robinson ever since. There's a lot to be said in support of the film, from the acting (Hoffman and Bancroft are famously only six years apart, but they do a pretty decent job of selling you on the idea of being twenty years apart), to the cinematography, to the music of Simon and Garfunkel (though the movie version of "Mrs. Robinson", I must say, isn't markedly inferior to the radio version). However, I couldn't really get into the movie as a whole. The second half, especially, has not aged well. Ben, who appears to have been a relatable hero to the disaffected youth of 1967, alternates between being whiny and overly possessive, and Elaine (who largely takes over for her mother as the second character in the film at that point) is a character whose actions seems far more tailored to the plot then to any sort of internal consistency. 104. Raise the Red Lantern (A-) Midway through last week I discovered that the law library at Queen's University has a DVD collection. And a good one, at that, with a wide representation of classic and foreign films, including this, which is currently retailing used for $177 on Amazon.ca (needless to say, I haven't had the chance to watch it before now). I wish I'd noticed this before third year of going to this school. The various collaborations between Zhang Yimou and Gong Li have been talked up a lot in cinephile circles, but until now I'd never seen any of Zhang's work apart from his wuxia films from the beginning of the last decade. His use of colour is evident here as well, but otherwise it's a very different feeling (among other things, you can read this film as a critique of authoritarianism, instead of as an endorsement of China conquering Taiwan). Despite Gong Li's excellent performance, I didn't find myself especially emotionally engaged in the proceedings, but on an intellectual level I found the story quite interesting to contemplate (apart from the aforementioned authoritarian reading, there's also a very obvious feminist interpretation). Cinema: 35 DVD/Blu-Ray: 38 (+1) Streaming Service: 31 (+1)
112. Open Windows ★★ - It's an okay film. I really liked the first 30 minutes or so, but it falls apart near the end. Sasha Grey looks so much better as an actual actress than a porn star. 113. Stretch ★★1/2 - It's funny in some spots, but it seems like the script was threadbare and they just started filming random stuff. Oh well. 114. Horns ★★★★ - Love the book, love the movie. Highly recommended.
Spoiler: The rest of my list. 1. Philomena (B+) 2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour (A) 3. Her (A+) 4. Bicycle Thieves (B) 5. Frances Ha (B+) 6. Inside Llewyn Davis (A) 7. American Hustle (B+) 8. East of Eden (C+) 9. The Hunt (A-) 10. Amadeus (A+) 11. The LEGO Movie (A-) 12. Nebraska (B+) 13. Short Term 12 (A) 14. The Square (B+) 15. The Act of Killing (A) 16. Metropolitan (B) 17. Almost Famous (A+) 18. The Ice Storm (C+) 19. 300: Rise of an Empire (B) 20. The Great Beauty (B+) 21. Network (A+) 22. The Palm Beach Story (A+) 23. The Past (B+) 24. The Royal Tenenbaums (B+) 25. The Grand Budapest Hotel (A-) 26. Room 237 (B-) 27. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (A+) 28. Noah (B+) 29. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (A) 30. Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (D) 31. Fantastic Mr. Fox (B+) 32. Independence Day (A) 33. Sherlock, Jr. (B+) 34. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (B) 35. Godzilla (B+) 36. Anna Karenina (B+) 37. X-Men: Days of Future Past (A) 38. Pride & Prejudice (A+) 39. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (A-) 40. Tess (B+) 41. Belle (B+) 42. Barton Fink (B+) 43. Miller's Crossing (A+) 44. Punch-Drunk Love (B-) 45. The General (A) 46. Ida (B+) 47. How To Train Your Dragon 2 (B+) 48. Jane Eyre (B+) 49. The Fault in Our Stars (A-) 50. Star Trek Into Darkness (B-) 51. 22 Jump Street (A-) 52. Chef (B+) 53. Begin Again (A) 54. The Immigrant (A+) 55. Sense and Sensibility (A+) 56. The Birds (B+) 57. Populaire (B+) 58. Tracks (B) 59. Fish Tank (A-) 60. Malena (B) 61. Paper Moon (A) 62. Guardians of the Galaxy (A) 63. Lucy (C+) 64. Raising Arizona (B+) 65. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (A-) 66. Looper (A+) 67. Footloose (B+) 68. Lola (B+) 69. Bay of Angels (B) 70. The Fisher King (C+) 71. Boyhood (A) 72. Oliver Twist (A-) 73. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (A+) 74. Bernie (B+) 75. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (C+) 76. Life Itself (A) 77. Being John Malkovich (A+) 78. The Young Girls of Rochefort (A) 79. Wadjda (A+) 80. Donkey Skin (C+) 81. Une chambre en ville (A+) 82. The Lady Eve (A) 83. The Earrings of Madame de... (A) 84. Jules and Jim (A-) 85. The Hunt for Red October (A-) 86. Young and Beautiful (B-) 87. Hoop Dreams (A+) 88. A Room With A View (B) 89. The 400 Blows (A-) 90. Les Miserables (A+) 91. Zero Dark Thirty (A) 92. MASH (C) 93. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-) 94. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (B+) 95. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (A-) 96. The Little Mermaid (A) 97. Gone Girl (A) 98. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (A+) 99. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (A) 100. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (A) 101. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (C+) 102. Sleeping Beauty (B) 103. The Graduate (B-) 104. Raise the Red Lantern (A-) 105. Where the Wild Things Are (A-) And with that, I've now seen the entire filmography of director Spike Jonze, which was rewarding, but is also a bit said, because he's only made four films. This came out the same year as Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, a weird boomlet of children's book adaptations by famous auteurs that are clearly not aimed at children. There's nothing here a child couldn't watch, but I can't imagine most of them would be that interested in it -- this is really an adult's meditation on childhood, but in terms of tone and substance (in that sense, I wonder if Jonze wouldn't have been better off doing an original work on this story). Anyway, while the film's commerce is a bit at odds with its art, the artistic portion is a success. Max Records is a terrific child actor. Cinema: 35 DVD/Blu-Ray: 39 (+1) Streaming Service: 31
1) Wargames - B+ 2) Play The Game - B 3) Battle Los Angeles - B+ 4) Despicable Me 2 - B 5) Minority Report - C- 6) District 9 - B+ 7) How Do You Know? - F 8) Walk The Line - A- 9) The Butler - A+ 10) Captain Phillips - B 11) Sky High - C+ 12) Draft Day - B- 13) Nuremberg - B 14) Love & Other Drugs - D 15) We Were Soldiers - B+ 16) A Walk To Remember - D+ 17) Gridiron Gang - C 18) 42 - B 19) The Monuments Men - A- 20) The Rebound - D- 21) Saving Mister Banks - A- 22) Last Vegas - D+ 23) Jack Ryan - Shadow Recruit - B- 24) Maleficent - D 25) Now And Then - C 26) Machete - B 27) 3 Days To Kill - B- 28) The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - A- 29) Escape Plan - A- 30) Hotel Transylvania - B+ 31) Little Black Book - C- 32) The Bourne Identity - B 33) To Be Fat Like Me - D 34) Poseidon - C 35) The Bourne Supremacy - C+ 36) 21 Jump Street - F Where to begin with this movie? Jonah Hill is the most over-rated actor in Hollywood and combined with a Channing Tatum, who decided he forgot how to act, a collection of supporting cast led by Rob Riggle, the man who acts like a man-child in any role you see him and a script that is brutal, this movie is rewarded with my second F of the year. Just in the first five minutes, you have our stars attempting to arrest someone, but he gets let go because Tatum forgot the proper Miranda rights. How does one even get out of police college without knowing that? It's not on one of those tests that Hill helped him pass? And no one finds it creepy that the twenty-something Hill character is crushing on a high school girl?