| 45, 46, 47, 48 |
[Oct. 13th, 2008|11:28 pm] |
- In the Mouth of Madness on the SciFi Channel
Pretty awful...though not as awful as the movie that preceded it -- All Souls Day -- of which I only caught the last half. At least Madness gets points for creepy children and unsettlingly impossible limb dislocations.
- Dagon on the SciFi Channel
Cheesy Lovecraft adaptation. Of course, I'm not sure there's any other kind. I mean, there's The Dunwich Horror. And Cthulhu Mansion -- the only Lovecraftian aspect of which is the title. You'd think the man's oeuvre would lend itself to some seriously creeptacular film adaptations. But not so much, apparently.
- Beneath Still Waters on the SciFi Channel
This wasn't as bad as the previous two, but it wasn't great, either. Sadly, the 5th of SciFi's "31 Days of Halloween" wasn't terribly impressive. On the other hand, it was truly awesome that this movie and Dagon were both sponsored by the Long John Silver's restaurant chain.
- City of Ember
Well-cast, adapted from the book relatively faithfully, and full of cool sets, props, and overall cool visuals. Unfortunately, the movie shares the weaknesses of the book: many of the social aspects and plot details either don't ring true or aren't sufficiently explored. Still, it was a fun movie, and most definitely a visually impressive one.
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| 157 - 170 |
[Sep. 28th, 2008|07:20 am] |
And I actually wanted to take a break from American movies...
( cut for length ) |
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| 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 |
[Sep. 24th, 2008|10:44 pm] |
| [ | Rating |
| |  full | ] |
- Wall-E
Fun movie. Really impressive animation -- though that's par for the Pixar course. Made me want to go out and exercise.
- Big Fish on DVD
The trouble with waiting so long to update my list here: I can't remember exactly when I watched this one...or the next two movies, for that matter. However, I'm almost certain it was this year. Maybe even this summer....
Anyway, I really love this movie. It's all whimsy and poignance and color, a family drama that oscillates between sideshow and tall tale. At some point, I really need to read the book.
- Star Trek: Generations on DVD
I hadn't seen this in a while, and so had forgotten how many gratuitous strike-a-pose moments Shatner got. Still, good fun.
- Star Trek: First Contact on DVD
Yay for Picard and Data and uber-creepy Borg!
- The Dark Knight
Really good, but really...well...dark. (Talk about truth in advertising.) Given that this was Heath Ledger's swan song, I'm glad the movie and his role in it were so successful.
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| Movies 21-40 |
[Sep. 24th, 2008|11:07 am] |
21. Revolver
22. Southland Tales
23. Enchanted
24. Atonement
25. I Am Legend
26. Lake of Fire
27. Sasquatch Gang
28. Our Very Own
29. Wristcutters
30. April Fool's Day
31. Skid Row
32. The Kite Runner *
33. Jimmy Carter: The Man from Plains
34. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (re-watch)
35. Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom (re-watch)
36. Prime of Miss Jean Brodie *
37. Indiana Jones: Last Crusade (re-watch)
38. Mama Mia!
39. Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg
40. Sex and the City |
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| First Six Movies (much thanks to Orientation Film Series) |
[Sep. 20th, 2008|12:12 am] |
1. Can't Hardly Wait
2. Across the Universe
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall
5. Homeless to Harvard (Lifetime)
6. Girl Positive (Lifetime)
7. Rocky Horror Picture Show (Cast Screening) |
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[Sep. 19th, 2008|09:52 pm] |
52. Somersault- Australia/2004/directed by Cate Shortland: 4/5
53. Black Book- Netherlands-Germany-Belgium/2006/directed by Paul Verhoeven: 2.5/5
54. The Lookout- USA/2007/directed by Scott Frank: 3.5/5
( YTD ) |
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| Movies 1-20 |
[Sep. 19th, 2008|08:43 am] |
I am so desperatelly behind in posting movies for this year that there isn't a hope in hell I'll catch if I review them all. I'll just be noting what I've seen, then, and letting you know which ones I thought were most worth watching (*). I also seem to have misplaced the list of what I saw in the first 2 months of the year, so this won't be a complete year this year. :(
1. Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont *
2. Redacted
3. Operation Filmmaker
4. My Kid Could Paint That *
5. Awake
6. Into the the Wild
7. Hitman
8. August Rush *
9. Dan in Real Life
10. The Englishman's Boy
11. Neverwas
12. Sleuth (2007)
13. Outpost
14. No Country for Old Men *
15. Blade Runner (final director's cut)
16. Whisper of the Heart
17. The Cat Returns *
18. Lake of Fire
19. The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
20. Revolver |
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[Sep. 7th, 2008|09:57 pm] |
49. The Ten- USA/2007/directed by David Wain: 3.5/5
50. Pineapple Express- USA/2008/directed by David Gordon Green: 4/5
51. Charlie Bartlett- USA/2007/directed by Jon Poll: 3/5
( YTD ) |
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[Aug. 7th, 2008|01:59 pm] |
41. In Bruges- UK-Belgium/2008/directed by Martin McDonagh: 5/5
42. The Love Guru- USA-Canada/2008/directed by Marco Schnabel: 3/5
43. The Dark Knight- USA/2008/directed by Christopher Nolan: 4/5
44. Atonement- UK-France/2007/directed by Joe Wright: 4/5
45. Juno- USA-Canada/2007/directed by Jason Reitman: 4.5/5
46. There Will Be Blood- USA/2007/directed by Paul Thomas Anderson: 4.5/5
47. Step Brothers- USA/2008/directed by Adam McKay: 4/5
48. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay- USA/2008/directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Scholssberg: 2/5
( YTD ) |
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[Jul. 31st, 2008|05:38 pm] |
I need to pick up the pace if I'm going to make it to 50.
One of these days I will figure out why it is so march harder for me to make time for movies than to make time for books.
Until then . . .
The Contract
Morgan Freeman and John Cusack is a thriller that puts Freeman in the role of the assassin. What could go wrong? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
No, this is not a bad movie, but when you have two of the best actors out there in your film, you had better be able to produce something better than average. A nice enough way to pass the time if you are crocheting or something similar, but not a film to go out of your way for.
Films Watched:
Time Remaining: |
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| 23/50 movies |
[Jul. 30th, 2008|08:11 pm] |
Oh my, I haven't posted since April. That's about 10 movies ago
The P/F is whether it passes or fails the Bechdel Test 1) there must be 2 female characters, 2)who talk to each other, 3) about something besides a man.
( Read more... )
14) Howl's Moving Castle. Anime. Very interesting piece about a wizard, a girl and all sorts of complications. Billy Crystal is pretty good as the fire demon. (p)
15) Godspell. Musical. Actually, we saw this at Easter. The Gospel as musical. More stylized and less grim than Jesus Christ Superstar. We IMDB'd the cast. Three are dead. Victor Garber is still working. And the rest did nothing else. Wonderful piece full of early 70's Jesus people zeitgeist. My favorite bit "It says 'rejoice'!"/"It says Keds." (hard to tell, no conversations, really)
16) The Court Jester. Danny Kaye in fine form. Basil Rathbone being villainous and Angela Landsbury being very very young. The Induction of the Knights and the Pellet with the Poison sequences are classics. (p)
17) The Sun also Rises. Lady Brett and her four admirers go to Pamplona for the fiesta. IOW, a bunch of drunks do dumb things and realize nothing ever changes. Entertaining in spots, downer. Errol Flynn spent most of the filming as drunk as his character. (p)
18) The Young Rajah. One of Valentino's Lost Films, this was a reconstruction with stills, extant footage and titles. Very beautiful man. Odd plot. (f)
19) Dogma. A dead black apostle, two foul-mouthed prophets, a muse and Jesus' great-great-ever-so-great-grand-niece team up to stop a pair of renegade angels from entering a church and negating all existence. Brilliantly funny. Alan Rickman (as the Voice of God) alone is worth the price of a rental. Bun about fell out of her chair laughing several time. The scene with God and Bartleby always makes me cry. (p. Bethany talks to her friend and the muse and God (Alanis Morrisette) on all sorts of things.)
20) Winter Solstice. A father and his two sons try to connect after the death of his wife. I watched it mainly because Aaron Stanford is in it. Artsy, quiet, not a movie for people who don't know how to interpret movies. For those who want plot, it's thin on the ground. The dialogue is leaden and mundane, reflecting their lives and inability to really talk. Awkward pauses abound. This is more a series of images and feelings set to slack-key guitar music. Iron and Wine's "Sunset soon forgotten" lends the perfect touch to the sound track. Left me all sad and melancholy. (f, 2. 3 female characters, none share a scene, but nobody really has conversations in this film)
21) The Adventures of Errol Flynn. Biographical documentary made in 2005, using archival movie, interviews and TV footage. Patrice Wymore and Olivia DeHavilland do most of the talking, along with second wife, Nora Eddington and daughters Deirdre and Rory. Excellent. And the To Tell the Truth segment where Don Knotts--sporting a pencil thin mustache--claims to be Errol is worth watching. (f, since the whole movie was talking about one man)
22) The Seventh Seal. Ingmar Bergman's classic, starring Max von Sydow. A knight journeying across Plague ravaged Sweden plays a game of chess with death to buy time. (f, 2. 4 female characters but none of them talks to each other, one doesn't talk at all from trauma)
23) The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex. Beautiful technicolor piece about Elizabeth I, and her love/feud with the earl of Essex. Olivia DeHavilland is the bad one here, in the hire of Vincent Price. (p) |
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| 118 - 135 |
[Jul. 21st, 2008|06:28 am] |
jeez I watch really much this year
( cut for length ) |
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[Jul. 16th, 2008|07:23 pm] |
3:10 to Yuma
I hate Westerns.
With the white hot passion of a thousand suns, I hate Westerns.
And yet, I really enjoyed this movie, and not just because Christian Bale is carrying one of the leads.
Films Watched:
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[Jul. 14th, 2008|09:37 pm] |
Being John Malkovich
Utterly warped.
Utterly brilliant.
Beyond description.
Charlie Kaufman was smoking and not sharing and he had the good stuff.
Films Watched:
Time Remaining: |
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[Jul. 14th, 2008|09:19 pm] |
City Hall
They just do not make movies like this any more . . . mores the pity. Al Pacino in an unusually restrained performance. John Cusack at his usual brilliance. A script that isn't afraid to be smart, and a director that isn't afraid to let story proceed at its own organic pace, without a jillion bells and whistles.
Movies Watched:
Time Remaining: |
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[Jul. 8th, 2008|09:28 am] |
32. Three Men and a Little Lady
Starring: Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenburg, Ted Danson
33. The Happening
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel
Seriously this film was friggin' terrible! The acting was bad, the plot was bad and the script was bad. What was Shyamalan thinking?!
34. Kung Fu Panda
Voices from: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie
This film felt really short, but hey it was a good laugh.
35. Love Actually
Starring: Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Alan Rickman
Best. Film. Ever.
36. Wanted
Starring: James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman
Enjoyable film, but just a bit too silly. |
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| 93 - 117 |
[Jul. 7th, 2008|06:13 am] |
over 100 already, I wonder if I can reach the 200^^
( cut for length ) |
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| 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 |
[Jul. 6th, 2008|08:41 pm] |
- Get Smart
Really fun. I laughed a lot more than I expected.
- Freaks on DVD
I'd seen this a few years back when I rented it with a few friends. Since then, I've done a lot of reading on circuses and sideshows, so it was that much more interesting to watch the performances of actual circus prodigies. The commentary on the DVD is also quite informative.
- Hancock
Another really fun movie. I laughed a lot, though there were some unexpectedly touching moments as well. And I'm really liking Will Smith these days: regardless of the role, he just runs with it.
- The Sixth Sense on DVD
Here's one I hadn't watched in a while...but after seeing the epic failure that is The Happening, I guess I needed to remind myself why I like M. Night Shyamalan.
- The Man in the Iron Mask on DVD
Good cheesy fun. Pretty costumes. And, of course: mmmmm, Gabriel Byrne.
- Finding Nemo on DVD
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...."
- The Last Unicorn on DVD
A perennial favorite. FYI: The 25th anniversary DVD includes commentary from Peter S. Beagle.
- Stand By Me on DVD
Wow. I'd forgotten how many stars were in this movie. (I was especially surprised to see John Cusack in the little-more-than-a-cameo role of Gordie's late brother Denny.) At some point, I should read the source, King's novella The Body.
- This is Spinal Tap on DVD
Remarkably, I'd never seen this one before. Good fun, though I think this is one of those movies that's funnier when you watch it with friends, rather than alone in one's living room, while waiting for your husband to get home from work.
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[Jul. 6th, 2008|06:08 pm] |
38. Baadasssss!- USA/2003/directed by Mario Van Peebles: 3.5/5
39. Be Kind Rewind- USA/2008/directed by Michel Gondry: 3/5
40. Shrek the Third- USA/2007/directed by Chris Miller and Raman Hui: 2.5/5
( YTD ) |
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50filmchallenge
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