Films Seen: In 2007
Submitted by Kza on Tue, 01/02/2007 - 02:33
Tags:
- 87. (30 December) Bug (2007, William Friedkin)(v) [48]
- 86. (28 December) /Zodiac/ (2007, David Fincher) (v) [68]
- 85. (27 December) Bender's Big Score (2007, Dwayne Carey-Hill) (v) [66]
- 84. (26 December) The Simpsons Movie (2007, David Silverman) (v) [55]
- 83. (26 December) Juno (2007, Jason Reitman) (f) [60]
- 82. (25 December) /The Host/ (2007, Bong Joon-Ho) (v) [89, up from 86. Almost ended my filmgoing year with the film that started it.]
- 81. (19 December) Superbad (2007, Greg Mottola) (f) [85]
- 80. (19 December) I Am Legend (2007, Francis Lawrence) (f) [58]
- 79. (18 December) No Country For Old Men (2007, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen) (f) [82]
- 78. (18 December) The Mist (2007, Frank Darabont) (f) [77]
- 77. (27 November) Spider-Man 3 (2007, Sam Raimi) (v) [73]
- 76. (21 November) Hairspray (2007, Adam Shankman) (v) [55]
- 75. (15 November) Mr. Brooks (2007, Bruce A. Evans) (v) [57]
- 74. (14 November) /Grave of the Vampire/ (1974, John Hayes) (v) [37]
- 73. (9 November) /The Return of Count Yorga/ (1971, Bob Kelljan) (v) [68]
- 72. (6 November) Day Night Day Night (2007, Julia Loktev) (v) [76]
- 71. (5 November) /Zombie a.k.a. Zombi 2/ (1979, Lucio Fulci) (v) [34] [This was one of the first movies I ever saw on a VCR, 'round '82 or so. Double featured with Richard Pryor's The Toy. Good times.]
- 70. (31 October) /Fright Night/ (1985, Tom Holland) (v) [71]
- 69. (28 October) 30 Days of Night (2007, David Slade) (f) [65]
- 68. (26 October) 1408 (2007, Mikael Håfström) (v) [22]
- 67. (26 October) Hostel Part II (2007, Eli Roth) (v) [59]
- 66. (20 October) Transformers (2007, Michael Bay) (v) [25]
- 65. (19 October) Reign Over Me (2007, Mike Binder) (v) [40]
- 64. (19 October) The Darjeeling Limited (2007, Wes Anderson) (f) [42] [Yes.]
- s01. (19 October) Hotel Chevalier (2007, Wes Anderson) (v) [A grim warning of things to come?]
- 63. (11 Oct) 28 Weeks Later (2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) (v) [85] [Domo arigato, Mr. Intacto.]
- 62. (10 Oct) Music and Lyrics (2007, Marc Lawrence) (v) [49]
- 61. (5 Oct) Next (2007, Lee Tamahori) (v) [63] [Don't listen to me. I mean, it's directed by Lee Tamahori, for godsakes.]
- 60. (2 Oct) Fracture (2007, Gregory Hoblit) (v) [53] [Stupid Fall TV get in way of movie watching.]
- 59. (28 Sep) Black Book (2007, Paul Verhoeven) (v) [61]
- 58. (26 Sep) Knocked Up (2007, Judd Apatow) (v) [31] [Not all it's knocked up to be. Wait, that doesn't make any sense.]
- 57. (25 Sep) The Upside of Anger (2004, Mike Binder) (v) [58]
- 56. (21 Sep) Smokin' Aces (2007, Joe Carnahan) (v) [80]
- 55. (20 Sep) Zoo (2007, Robinson Devor) (v) [66]
- 54. (19 Sep) Captain Blood (1935, Michael Curtiz) (v) [78]
- 53. (18 Sep) Slither (2006, James Gunn) (v) [73]
- 52. (14 Sep) The Sea Hawk (1940, Michael Curiz) (v) [70]
- 51. (13 Sep) Hot Fuzz (2007, Edgar Wright) (v) [45]
- 50. (13 Sep) In Her Shoes (2005, Curtis Hanson) (v) [50]
- 49. (9 Sep) 3:10 To Yuma (2007, James Mangold) (f) [57] [Good, solid script marred by the usual pedestrian direction. Also: . EDIT: on second thought, make this a 57, down from 62; there are lots of moments that should be wonderfully tense, but it all just lopes along at a monotonous rhythm. Copland is looking more and more like a career peak.]Spoiler: Highlight to viewAlan Tudyk: Still A Leaf
- 48. (7 Sep) Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004, Peter Weir) (v) [80] [Love the part where Spoiler: Highlight to viewMaturin is revealed as a figment of Aubrey's imagination.
- DNF. (7 Sep) The Lost Patrol (1934, John Ford) (v) [0:20] [All filler, no killer.]
- 47. (1 Sep) Slipknot vs. Droogie (2007, Robert Zombie) (f) [36] [Probably the highest grade you'll find for this.]
- 46. (29 August) Ratatouille (2007, Brad Bird) (f) [74]
- 45. (13 August) The Corporation (2003, Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbott) (v) [50] [Nearly turned this off after 15 minutes, as the style (A corporation is like a shark? Let's show a shark! It's like a Frankenstein monster? Let's show that!) was incredibly patronizing. Calms down and gets better (and more intense) as it goes, but still, some docs would be better as books. Oh, wait.]
- 44. (2 August) Little Watchmen (2006, Todd Field) (v) [54] [Really awful drama or pretty-okay droll comedy? You decide, because I sure as hell can't. Also: I'm now officially behind the casting of Wilson and Haley in the 2009 adaptation of the Best Book Ever.]
- 43. (15 July) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007, David Yates) (f) [65] [Imelda Staunton ownzors]
- 42. (16 June) The Master of Ballantrae (1953, William Keighley) (v) [38]
- 41. (31 May) The Ice Harvest (2005, Harold Ramis) [82] [Knew I shoulda caught this in the theater.]
- 40. (19 May) Fucking Hate Her (2005, Thomas Bezucha) (v) [37] [Sad that the best thing about this is the title they didn't use.]
- 39. (16 May) The Covenant (2006, Renny Harlin) (v) [51] [Not as bad as I'd feared, but I'd rather watch the WB series this so desperately wants to be.]
- DNF. (9 May) Three Times (2006, Hou Hsiao-Hsien) (v) [Babies and Triple H don't mix.]
- 38. (4 May) Mudhoney (1965, Russ Meyer) (v) [43]
- 37. (1 May) Deja Vu (2006, Ridley Scott) (v) [70]
- 36. (29 April) Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (2007, Matt Maiellaro & Dave Willis) (f) [53]
- 35. (29 April) L'Enfant (2006, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne) (v) [75]
- 34. (25 April) Duck Season (2006, Fernando Eimbcke) (v) [68] [Please please please someone tell me that the version shown at festivals begins with the mom in the corridor, and not with the super-pretentious montage and the slowest. Credits. Ever. Seriously, I nearly bailed.]
- 33. (25 April) Failure to Launch (2006, Tom Dey) (v) [57]
- 32. (8 April) Grindhouse (2007, Robert Rodriguez/Rob Zombie/Edgar Wright/Eli Roth/Quentin Tarantino) [81 (not an average); Planet Terror: 66; Death Proof: 87; I love you Zoë Bell.]
- 31. (31 March) Zodiac (2007, David Fincher) (f) [68] [Here's the scary thing -- well, for me at least -- I'm thinking I gave Memories of Murder short shrift.]
- 30. (30 March) Cthulhu (2007, Dan Gildark) (f) [47] [Apparently Gus Van Sant was there. A friend said, "He was the guy with the greasy hair." Well fuck, that describes 90% of Seattle.]
- 29. (25 March) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America Make For Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006, Larry Charles) (v) [78]
- 28. (23 March) Invincible (2006, Ericson Core) (v) [48] [Ohh, I get it -- "Vince", "InVINCible". Clever.]
- 27. (22 March) Stranger Than Fiction (2006, Marc Forster) (v) [66] [Hey -- Spoon!]
- 26. (20 March) Tarantula (1955, Jack Arnold) (v) [42]
- 25. (18 March) /It Came From Outer Space/ (1953, Jack Arnold) (v) [52, down from 59]
- 24. (16 March) 300 (2007, Zack Snyder) (f) [40] [I know all there is to know about the crying room.]
- 23. (15 March) The Holiday (2006, Nancy Meyers) (v) [32] [Christ, we already have one Nora Ephron...]
- 22. (13 March) Syriana (2005, Stephen Gaghan) (v) [68]
- 21. (7 March) Babel (2006, Alejandro González Iñárritu) (v) [37]
- 20. (27 February) /The Departed/ (2006, Martin Scorsese) (v) [79, up from 77]
- 19. (29 January) Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2006, Michael Winterbottom) (v) [68]
- 18. (27 January) The Descent (2006, Neil Marshall) (v) [50] [Was a 60, until the obnoxiously stupid resolution to that one subplot, and the plain obnoxious British ending.]
- 17. (27 January) The Wicker Man [Theatrical Cut] (2006, Neil LaBute) (v) [36] [This is either a nice bit of snark or the best stealth advertising campaign of 2007. Worked on me, regardless. NOTE: the awesome "my eyes!" ending is on the DVD's unrated alternate version.]
- 16. (26 January) Feast (2006, John Gulager) (v) [33]
- 15. (25 January) 4 (2006, Ilya Khrzhanovsky) (v) [81] [This is what Carlos Reygada thought he was making with Japón. NOTE: If you watch this on DVD and don't want to be spoiled on the semi-famous opening shot, press "play" immediately -- don't watch the DVD menu.]
- 14. (25 January) /Mission: Impossible III/ (2006, J. J. Abrams) (v) [76, up from 75]
- 13. (24 January) Silent Hill (2006, Christophe Gans) (v) [62] [Not a typo.]
- 12. (23 January) Miami Vice (2006, Michael Mann) [38]
- 11. (22 January) V for Vendetta (2006, James McTeigue) [57]
- 10. (22 January) /L'Intrus/ (2006, Claire Denis) (v) [70, down from 73]
- DNF. (17 January) The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2006, Cristi Puiu) (v) [1:03] [Paused this, wondering why I was bothering with this episode of Pricks in Prickville; went online to see if it was worth it; found this on Theo's site: just solid detail, well-placed jokes (Torino/Toronto) and enough skill to keep things going for two and a half hours; determined that if the "Torino/Toronto" thing was the best this had to offer in "well-placed jokes", I was the wrong fucking man watching the wrong fucking movie.]
- 9. (16 January) /Inside Man/ (2006, Spike Lee) (v) [81, up from 78] [Okay, I could actually follow the end this time. Thank you, subtitles!]
- 8. (16 January) Idiocracy (2006, Mike Judge) (v) [72] [Scarier than Children of Men.]
- 7. (16 January) Little Miss Sunshine (2006, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris) (v) [48] [I think I prefer the Korean original. Wait, there wasn't a Korean original?]
- 6. (11 January) The Break-Up (2006, Peyton Reed) (v) [51]
- 5. (10 January) Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2006, Michel Gondry) (v) [83]
- 4. (4 January) /Taking Off/ (1971, Milos Forman) (v) [94]
- 3. (2 January) Only Yesterday (1991, Isao Takahata) (v) [90] [Rating is a little misleading, since I found the first half a little boring. But it steadily builds in power, and the ending killed me. Fuck Fireflies in my opinion.]
- 2. (2 January) Down in the Valley (2005, David Jacobson) (v) [54]
- 1. (1 January) The Host (2007, Bong Joon-Ho) (v) [86] [Crack rock.]
Author Comments:
/title/ seen before
(f) seen on film/in a theater
(v) seen on TV (DVD, VHS, TiVo, etc.)
[xx] rating
DNF - Did not finish
TV - made for TV, and thus does not count towards the Listology Scoreboard
[Above Average, Average, Below Average] Talking-head documentaries and shorts are rated using the Leonard Maltin Made-For-TV rating system.
Rating system adapted from the one used by SteveR:
100-97 = Masterpiece (A)
96-90 = Fantastic; best of the year (A-)
89-80 = Remarkable (B+)
79-70 = Very Good (B)
69-60 = Good (B-)
59-50 = Okay (C+)
49-40 = Mediocre (C)
39-30 = Bad (C-)
29-20 = Horrible (D+)
19-10 = Torture (D)
9-1 = Would end a war if dropped on opposing country (D-)
0 = Uwe Boll (F)
Fuck Grave of the Fireflies? Aww, I think that's like the best animated movie ever made. Though, to be fair, I've not yet seen Only Yesterday.
Fireflies is expertly told and wonderfully animated. It's also about watching two kids starve to death, and I guess I have a problem annointing it "the best" because of that. (Not picking on you, of course -- lots of people think it's the best.) Yesterday has its downer moments as well, but it's ultimately a lot more hopeful.
(Well, to be completely fair, it's totally different in story, tone, etc.)
(Another aside: not to say Yesterday is the best either. Any right-thinking individual knows that Totoro is the best :-)
Ah, I've been meaning to see that for ages!
The Host is pretty darn awesome. I wonder who'll be in the American remake...
*rolls eyes*
Hopefully, when it's released in March, there'll be a Crouching Tiger-style marketing and media push and there won't be a need for a remake.
One can dream, at least.
which version of Miami Vice did you see?
According to the Netflix envelope, it was a director's cut. Is there a big diff between the two versions?
I haven't seen either. but yes i read that they are quite different, and many people believe the Director Cut is inferior.
Your "Silent Hill" and "Miami Vice" ratings make me wish that you were writing blurbs again, even though I don't agree with either of the numbers. :-)
I think you got those numbers reversed there, Mr. Kza. ;-)
Hopefully this will tide you over. More to come, too.
More to come, indeed.
Congratulations! on the Dragon Magazine Archive, the free-lanceriness, the birthday and the early Valentines Day bundle of joy... in just about reverse order.
Nice work... in exactly that order.
Mazel tov!
Jeez, now I wish I'd waited to see 4 before sending in my ballot. I can still sneak it in for the Onion AV Club Poll, though.
I've seen that Wicker Man video too. Does it become less funny once you actually see the movie and watch the scenes in context?
Only the stuff that's funny because of the lack of context ("get off the bike!", the bear suit, etc.), and even then, it's only slightly less funny. Anything that has to do with Cage's performance remains chuckleworthy. Also: there's a recurring bit involving Cage's vision of a little girl and a speeding truck that's quite hilarious and really should've been part of the video.
The Descent (2006, Neil Marshall) (v) [50]
You've got the guts to call this one correctly.
Look for my Descent/Silent Hill/Wicker Man "Women in Horror" post this week... soon as I figure out how to explain why I like Mission Impossible: III.
...soon as I figure out how to explain why I like Mission Impossible: III.
Philip Seymour Hoffman? He's the only thing I really liked in the movie.
That's a good portion of it for me as well, but I think there's more, as well. Hopefully by tomorrow night I'll have it figured out.
Just 2 movies inmore than a month? , being a parent is hard isn't it?
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: .....yes.
Isn't Ms. Bell just tits? I've been a booster since seeing her in that female-stuntwoman documentary Double Dare.
I'd never heard of her, and didn't even know she was a stuntwoman, and I totally fell for her long before the Ship's Mast. And then... holy shit. I'll definitely have to check out the doc.
I'm with you. Never heard of her before, but she's the perfect combination of hip and hots in this flick.
Right on right on.
Really awful drama or pretty-okay droll comedy?
I say the former. I liked In the Bedroom, but much of Li'l Chillren made me want to vomit.
Just found this:
DNF. (9 May) Three Times (2006, Hou Hsiao-Hsien) (v) [Babies and Triple H don't mix.]
Ha! Toddlers don't mix any better. It took me almost a week to plod thru this, and then I kinda felt like I lost the thread along the way. Beautiful , but slooooow.
Yeah, looks like I'm gonna be deficient in the slow arty movie category for awhile. Hence the Renny Harlin hacktaculars and family dramadies. :)
So, little Laura is letting you watch movies again, eh?
Too bad she didn't keep you from watching Smokin' Aces and rating it an 80!? ;-)
We seemed to have negotiated a truce, whereupon having some food, agrees to nap for 1-2 hours, as long as it's in my arms. And hey, when in Rome, do as the Romans do: watch movies.
Honestly, I'm surprised as anyone about that rating, which is why I marked it on Twitter as "pending". (Note to anyone who cares: Scott and I are posting 140 character reviews on Twitter. Twit now or forever hold your peace.) I did watch it with the subtitles on (which I do for 90% of the movies nowadays), and being able to follow all the dialogue and appreciate it as it was written, along with how it's spoken, might be a factor in my enjoyment. And boy, I really enjoyed it.
Yes to the 80 if you're talking about the last half hour. The rest of it is like a 40 in my opinion.
I did watch it with the subtitles on (which I do for 90% of the movies nowadays)...
I thought Julia & I were the only ones who did that. I especially like doing it for dialogue-heavy films, although I guess that would be considered blasphemy amongst the Movie Hitler® crowd.
I've been doing that a bit more often than usual myself lately, mainly because my wife tends to go to sleep before I do and she's a light sleeper. I don't see what the problem would be in my opinion.
Knocked Up (2007, Judd Apatow) (v) [31]
Thank you! Definitely agree with your Twitter blurb.
Oops, just realized that your blurb is protected...I still agree with it, though.
Protected no longer! Thanks for pointing that out -- I didn't even know about that setting.
Thanks, man. I'm always worried when I agree with Chicago Reader's Pat Graham, so it's nice to have someone else have my back :-)
Come on, Paul Rudd at least gets 15 points on his own! :-)
"I love this chair!"
I love the Rudd, but I found him subdued and not really that funny here. In fact, the only time I laughed out loud was for Ryan Fuckin' Seacrest, which says everything about what's wrong with this movie.
Don't listen to me. I mean, it's directed by Lee Tamahori, for godsakes.
Remember Once Were Warriors and how that didn't suck? That was awesome.
Actually, I haven't seen Once Were Warriors, and at this point, I've a feeling it would be like discovering that Ratner's first movie was, oh I don't know, Ulee's Gold or something.
On that note, I haven't seen it since I was fifteen, and I'm afraid that if I saw it today, I'd find it manipulative and overbearing. But then, maybe not -- the mere thought of Temuera Morrison seething and hissing through his teeth, "Uncle Bully... Uncle FUCKING BULLY..." still gives me a bit of a frisson.
I saw the movie a long time ago too, i thought it was the most predictable movie i have seen until that point. I was seeing it with a couple of friends, and every thing i said happened. But, the acting was so good, that it didn't matter.
63. (11 Oct) 28 Weeks Later (2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) (v) [85]
Dude, I tried to tell you...
Reign Over Me [40] really? wow apart from some uneeded characters (sandler's fiancial advisor) i thought this film was fantastic
I don't know if you read Lopate's Totally, Tenderly, Tragically, but he has this part where he mentions films by major filmmakers that reveal some 'smug' side to them ... for me, Darjeeling revealed that in Anderson. Ironically, this is just as I rewatched The Life Aquatic and thought a little better of it....
I have the Lopate book, but I haven't read it in years, so I don't remember the "smug" bit. But yeah, it holds for Darjeeling. I'd like to see Anderson tell a story that isn't about young (or old) rich fuckups. Boo hoo, poor little rich fuckups.
69. (28 October) 30 Days of Night (2007, David Slade) (f) [65]
Say what?
Nah nah nah. You explain the "D". I can understand a "C" -- that it's completely average. I think it's just slightly better than average, but I could understand it. But a "D"? This isn't the conflictless 1408, fer chrissakes.
I thought it was obvious. Crap direction, crap writing, zero scares, weak gore, three colors in the film's visual palette and the only genuine actor in the cast is relegated to wearing giant black contacts and emoting in a fake language through huge fake teeth. The audience I saw it with was more entertaining.
Crap direction? It won't win any awards, but I found it just fine -- especially the frequent use of off-screen space, which I feel like I haven't seen in awhile (the woman looking through the binocs then saying "get into the truck", the screams while they're in the attic, the mercy-killing, etc.) I know the shutter effect has been derided, but it worked here for me --particularly the moment when the vampire is thrown off the truck and rolls through the snow, a completely black figure against the white. It looked like a flipbook, harking back to the original comic. Oh, and no Avid farts, amazingly, shockingly.
Crap writing? Well, the writers have a fucking impossible job, and I can't hold it against them. 30 days of night? You can't do that in a 2 hour movie. A comic book, a book, a TV show, sure, but not a movie. 3 days of night, yes, that's perfect, and I suspect there'd be less naysaying if that was the premise. But I guess the producers said, "this comic we paid out the yin-yang for is called "30 Days", so that's what it's called". What's there is a little rote, but I thought it got through it with a minimum of fuss.
Zero scares? (Shrug.) I was tensed up and jumped a few times. It's not 28 Weeks Later, but few are.
Weak gore? (Shrug.) Gory enough for me, but that's never anything I'm checking off my list.
Palette? It's snow and night!
Huston? I liked him where he just had to use his face and body. My beef is that all his dialogue sounded like fortune cookies from Monsterland. Also, thought Ben Foster was better here than 3:10 to Yuma -- a shame they get rid of him so quick.
Awesome, you have Superbad a higher grade than No Country ;-)
You know, I liked No Country, I really did, but damn if it doesn't feel like Sober Art Movie, American Division at times -- i.e., a bit flavorless. And it's the Coens!