Movies Seen In 2008
Submitted by Rushmore on Tue, 01/01/2008 - 02:13
Tags:
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- --------Newest Additions To The Bottom-------
January
- 1/1 The Hurricane (A- / B+)
- Denzel's Performance is amazing, captivating, and helps push this film up, that does have some narrative issues and some (for me anyway) irritating plot elements and characters (the care social workers)
- 1/1 I Am Legend (A- / B+)
- 1/4 The Great Debaters (A+)
- 1/6 Sin City (B)
- I had previously seen the first 20 mins of sin city, disliked it and bailed out at 20 mins in. However i like it more this time round, finished it, though i still have my issues with it
- 1/6 St. Trinian's (C- / D+) (Russell Brand "german" scene was the highlight)
- 1/8 The Number 23 (C-)
- 1/8 Hairspray (A- / B+)
- Fantastic performances by all, however the comedy seems to decline during final periods of the film but still a VERY solid fun film
- 1/9 The Squid and the Whale (A+) (No brainer i was gonna like this really lol)
- 1/9 Blood Diamond (A-)
- With Blood Diamond i was always expecting a gripping ation, great direction and emersing story. However i expected that from The Constant Gardener, but i've always had issues with Policital thrillers , i could never seem to fully get into them. However Blood Diamond has totally challenged my views on this genre. The action was amazing, the violence disturbing only adding to a real sense of danger you feel for the characters within this film. Leo did a great job here. He and Djimon Hounsou mixed very well and made for a great on-screen team. However where this film slips for me is within the Romantic narrative between Danny (Leo) & Maddy (J.Connelly). For me this is where the film slips into the norm you are likely to see and i prefered the two when they didn't like eachother. However this is not enough to take away from what is a brilliant film.
- 1/10 Shoot 'Em Up (B-)
- 1/12 Doom (C)
- 1/13 / The Simpsons Movie / (A- / B+) (4th Viewing!!)
- Maybe never before has a movie challenged my opinion so much. My last rating of The Simpsons Movie (only in december) was B / B- and now A- / B+. There were jokes i missed last time and i got a good kick out of. i still think there are major narrative issues (russ gargil - why not Mr. Burns? or a story involving Sideshow bob?) Colin (why not milhouse?) some joeks feel way to much like set pieces (chores, the HORRIBLE fishing joke) however there are some very solid lines in here ("black, thats the worst colour!" ect ect.) and i enjoyed the film a lot this time around. Maybe it was just the mood i was in not sure.
- 1/13 / South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut / (A+) (3rd Viewing !)
- 1/14 / Inside Man / (A+)
- 1/15 / 16 Blocks / (A+) (3rd Viewing) (With Alternate Ending)
- Judge me if you must, but i'm a huge fan of this film. I remember loving it in the cinema and even on 3rd viewing, still awesome, tense action, cat and mouse style stuff that i really enjoyed. Mos def was brilliant, Bruce willis was doing the usual and David Morse nearly ran off with the movie.
- 1/15 Serenity (B-)
- I had my serious doubts about this film from the start, many performances seemed shakey and felt very much like a TV movie ("Feature length stargate") however, it pulled me in, the lead performance was fairly weak but performances from Summer Glau & Chiwetel Ejiofor really help elavate this film, still, just not totally my thing
- 1/16 Traning Day (B+) (Denzel's Performance reminded me that of Al pacino in scarface)
- 1/19 Aliens vs Predator - Requiem (D-)
- 1/20 / Inside Man / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 1/20 3:10 To Yuma (B)
- 1/21 Zodiac (A+)
- Not quite Seven but then again, what is? however this is a gripping and involving film. I enjoyed the way Gyllenhaal's character wasn't key to the story for the first hour, he was mainly secondary. Deffinatly felt like a rewatch after seeing it and for a 150+ minute film, it must of done something right. Fincher again proves himself, one of my fave directors for sure. Great piece of film making here
- 1/22 Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (A- / B+)
- Starts off very funny, gets bit boring in the middle but John C. Reilly really held the film well. It felt more like a Adam McKay fil m than an Apatow film to me, bit more slapstick than other Apatow directed / produced or Written films. In terms of his other movies, i would say this film actually showed some weaknesses in Superbad, which now on reflection was a little to crude at times. Dewey Cox is a VERY solid, funny comedy that i very much enjoyed...though anyone else feel Jack Black was pretty bad in his cameo..and i like Jack Black.
- 1/24 / Shattered Glass / (A+)
- I liked it the first time, i LOVED it this time. A totally compelling film with two oscar worthy lead performances from Hayden & Sarsgaard. It worked for me, during the scenes where Sarsgaard's character was begining to see through Hayden, i was hooked. I honestly believe these guys were overlooked for oscar nods here. Hank Azaria & Steve Zahn also there with great results. One of the best films ever, IMO.
- 1/24 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (A+)
- 1/30 Juno (A-)
February
- 1. 2/4 Cloverfield (A+)
- Wow...VERY VERY Impressive. This guy directed The Pallbearer!? i love that film in my top 5 but this is so different. What really impressed me about Cloverfield was during the party scenes i was so into the characters and in that moment that when the monster did attack, i was suprised i'd forgotten that had to happen to one point. It's scary , it's tense, it's emotional. It doesn't over look the personal lives of the characters and how this effects them.If i was to pick one thing i didn't like When Hud turns around and the monster is right behind him and kills him this for me was too un-realistic and made them the main characters. Before that they were just people trying to survive while all this was going on , during that scene, it was him and no one else, that took me out of the film and the characters. Other than that though that is a small gripe in a film that gripped me and had me on the edge of my seat...in fact i originally said to my friend after we left the cinema "masterpeice". I may be jumping the gun, because obivouslu theres elements of stuff we've seen before. However, i was blown away by this film, i left in silence because i was drained, it was engaging and tense, 2008 is looking good (yes i know i hand out A+ like candy but this WAS AMAZING)
- 2. 2/6 / Cloverfield / (A+)
- 3. 2/6 1408 (Director's Cut) (B-)
- 4. 2/7 The Bourne Identity (A- / B+)
- Marks taken off by the fact that i saw the third film first and noticed alot of the same conventions used twice (probably three times once i see the second film) However this is still a very solid flick. I guess if anything i should take points of Ultimatum, as that proceeded it, therefore stole ideas. But hell i loved Ultimatum so i can't :) that being said Identity was VERY solid.
- 5. 2/8 Million Dollar Baby (A-)
- The last 30 minutes or so are some of the most tear-jerking stuff i have seen, a truely moving final act. To be honest, a lot of the film before that was good, but we'd kind of seen it before, it was the final act for me that really elavates the film, truely moving.
- 6. 2/9 / Cloverfield / (A+) (3rd Viewing!) (3 Times - The most i've seen a film at the cinema)
- 7. 2/13 / Juno / (A-)
- 8. 2/16 / Ratatouille / (A-)
- 9. 2/18 Jumper (C-)
- 10. 2/19 / Reservoir Dogs / (A- / B+) (5th Viewing !)
- I've Just noticed i've seen this film once for every year from 2004-2008, lol i didn't mean to, i guess it has good replay value!
- 11. 2/20 / The Naked Gun / (A+) (3rd viewing!)
- 12. 2/20 No Country for Old Men (A-)
- there was something playing on my mind (NO not the ending) that i couldn't fully love it, i'll have to rewatch but its for sure a brilliant piece of film making, its basically an A+ but there was something that i cant put my finger on not allowing me to give it that +, rewatching at end of the month anyway
- 13. 2/23 / The Darjeeling Limited / (A+)
- 14. 2/24 / Die Hard / (A+) (5th Viewing - while on listology, god knows otherwise)
- For me, the perfect movie, brilliant. It's the 5th time i've seen it while on listology, God knows how many times i've seen this film overall. Alan Rickman gives a outstanding performance, Bruce Willis is at his action hero best and each time i see it i love more and more how darkly comic it is too. So many memories, if i was to pick a movie that i could watch all day, Die Hard would be it.
- 15. 2/25 / Die Hard / (A+) (6th Viewing - while on listology, god knows otherwise)
- Well....Yup 2 nights in a row!
- 16. 2/27 Be Kind Rewind (B)
- 17. 2/28 / Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 18. 2/29 / Transformers / (B / B-)
- I've kind of changed my mind on this. Yes it's corny and a lot of style over substance but hell, this time around i settled into it better. It's quite funny in places, not ironically but at times legit funny. Shia labeouf does a solid job here too, the scenes with his parents also funny. It's a bit of fun and i enjoyed it a lot more this time around. No classic but the visuals are solid and its not harming anyone, good pop corn flick i guess. Though i still take issue with some apsects such as the over use of the male gaze on Fox's character
March
- 1. 3/1 / No Country For Old Men / (A-)
- Liked it even more this time, however there was one apsect i didn't like as much. This time around i strongly felt that Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin should of got more praise for their roles than Javier did for his. Don't get me wrong, he was great in the role but it wasn't has deep or far ranging as Brolin or Tommy. For instance i love that moment where Tommy is talking to Kelly Mcdonald's character and goes on about how they used to kill cattle with a gun or something but now they use air pressure because it doesn't leave an exit wound, then you get that he is sub-coniciously realising the death of the man on the road, yet not quite realising it himself, brilliant.
- 2. 3/4 I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (B- / C+)
- This movie suprised me. Like Click last year, i enjoyed this alot more than i expected too. It's bad in it's attempt in turning it into a soppy "they learnt their lesson, they see the world different" slushy narrative, however some of the jokes had me laughing for quite a while. Kevin James who i had not seen any of previously put up a good showing here. Some of the awkward moments between him and sandler and the over compensating to get over their sexuality was pretty funny. You have to forget some of its falls to fully enjoy the humour. Sandler is one of those that has a certain screen presence but i do wish he'd grow up in some of his humour. I also dislike how he fills his films with over the top character actors in bit parts. Oh and has there ever been a sandler comedy where a character hasn't shouted out "You suck!"..i'd put money that there hasn't. It's fairly stupid and immature in places, it's not looking to be keyed up on the subject matter and bows out to a slushy ending but the chemistry between Sandler and James is great and when the jokes work, they really work. They just don't work all the time, but fairly suprisingly funny film. (though it is pretty easy to make me laugh) but hey.
- 3. 3/5 Semi-Pro (C)
- 4. 3/5 Michael Clayton (Unranked - Just couldn't get into it, FINISHED it, gonna rewatch beofre rating)
- 5. 3/7 Vantage Point (B- / C+)
- 6. 3/14 / Spider-Man / (A- / B+)
- 7. 3/15 / Wayne's World / (A+)
- 8. 3/16 / American Gangster / (A-) (Extended Cut) (Prefered the final shot/ending of theatrical version)
- 9. 3/16 / Wayne's World 2 / (A+) (Granted it's basically Wayne's World 1 again narrative wise but it's still funny)
- 10. 3/22 / The Darjeeling Limited / (A+) (3rd Viewing)
- 11. 3/24 / Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan / (A-) (3rd Viewing)
- It's VERY VERY funny, hillarious. The only thing stopping me from awarding the A+ is that it has such a strong narrative thread through it that it blurs the line too much between what we are meant to beleive is real or staged. Still though a laugh out loud comedy, but as i say i felt in elements it was a little over-produced and should of opted for a more handheld hidden camera approach
- 12. 3/24 / Toy Story / (A+) (3rd Viewing - while on listology, god knows otherwise)
- It amazes me more everytime i see it. Noticing the brilliant little touches. Such as near the end of "Strange things" montage it pans over to woody in the toy box and for a few seconds you can see slinky dog sleeping on the shelf, twiching and moving his leg as if he's dreaming. The interaction "you are a toy!!" betwee buzz and woody is a joy to watch. A true materpiece that will never get old
- 13. 3/25 Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Somewhere between B+ to A+)
- Cheesy, tacky but VERY enjoyable 80's comedy. Sean Penn takes a role that reminds me of Keanu Reeves in Bill and Ted, given he later went on to dull roles, much like Penn. My Favourite character was Brad Hamilton "Hope You had a hell of a piss, Arnold!". Charming and very funny movie!
- 14. 3/26 Jackass 2.5 (A- / B+)
- 15. 3/27 Step Up 2 the Streets (F)
- 16. 3/27 / Batman: Mask of the Phantasm / (A+)
- 17. 3/28 / Death Sentence / (C+)
- 18. 3/31 / Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story / (A+) (Seriously Underrated)
- Laugh out loud funny. With a kind of almost Naked Gun/Airplane style humour, more about sight gags and clever puns. Whacky and more carefree than appatow's other projects. Only let down by the fact it does drag in the middle some of the spoof didn't work for me (the dylan era) and i'm not a huge fan of the beatles scene (but i feel i'm the only one). It However this is a refreshing comedy away from the self concious ones we've seen lately, its just whacky and fun, a underrated film of 2007
April
- 1. 4/3 Brian Pillman: Loose Cannon (B+)
- 2. 4/4 Son of Rambow (A+)
- 3. 4/7 / Juno / (A-) (3rd Viewing)
- 4. 4/7 / 300 / (C) (really dragged this time)
- 5. 4/7 / Shoot 'Em Up / (B- / C+)
- 6. 4/8 / Smokin' Aces / (A+)
- 7. 4/11 21 (C)
- 8. 4/11 / Cloverfield / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 9. 4/13 Drillbit Taylor (C+)
- 10. 4/14 / Predator / (A+)
- 11. 4/18 Street Kings (D / D-)
- 12. 4/19 / Planet Terror / (A-)
- 13. 4/20 / I, Robot / (A- / B+)
- 14. 4/20 / Dumb & Dumber / (A+)
- 15. 4/21 / The Sixth Sense / (A+)
- 16. 4/21 / Signs / (B+ / B)
- 17. 4/22 / I Am Legend / (A- / B+)
- 18. 4/24 / I Am Legend / (A- / B+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 19. 4/25 Forgetting Sarah Marshall (A , Maybe A+, rewatch needed )
- 20. 4/26 / The Village / (B+ / B)
- I like it, it's slower than his others, not as scary either, it's more of a character study. Bryce Dallas Howard (Ivy Walker) was fantastic, the best performance of the film, with also solid turns from Brody and Hurt. However Joaquin Phoenix, comes off weak, i'm not biggest fan of his performance or others i have seen of his.
- 21. 4/26 / Death Proof / (B+)
- I LOVE the first half, i find the first set of girls more interesting as characters than the second, i find the fact the 2nd lot all work in the movie bizz i bit shallow of a choice. I like the beginning of that segment, however the times from the talk in the diner through to when the chase starts i found pretty boring. The chase itself is great. As i say i love the first bit but feel it kind of loses its appeal with me quite a bit from that point on, untill interest is spiked again with the chase. Pretty much A- / B+ but i felt due to a noticable change in my attitude to this film, safer to go with solid B+.
May
- 1. 5/1 Lady In The Water (D-)
- 2. 5/1 / Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story / (B+) (3rd Viewing!)
- Liked it a little less this time, felt it dragged a little too much in the middle but still one of best comedies of recent years. If you want comedy like Naked Gun, don't see the Scary Movie / Date Movie crap, see this, its 200x better. I did watch the directors cut so could be the reason for it's drop in grades
- 3. 5/2 Iron Man (A-)
- 4. 5/5 / Forgetting Sarah Marshall / (A+)
- 5. 5/6 / Smokin' Aces / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- My love for this movies comes partly from being a big Die Hard fan, so the genre of "shoot up in a building" appeals. I also love how it is totally bonkers, all the characters are totally hyper-bolic, but i loved the ride. I also like films where you get a chance to see varied different level of actors/characters interacting with eachother in different combinations. I know i'll get a lot of complaints and what not for rating this so high, but i guess, its just the die hard thing. I like action movies. It won't make you think but it'll let you escape for 2hrs and thats all i needed from this film. Hell of a lot of fun
- 6. 5/7 Half Nelson (A-)
- Rating may be higer, i was quite tired on viewing, but i enjoyed it a lot, so i imagine my rating would only go up with a totally awake head :) What i liked about this film was that Dan Dunne never makes any attempt to help himself, it doesn't bow out to a clean and happy ending, he has this drug problem, and never makes an effort to help himself, which makes his descent even more disturbing. The Character of Drey isn't there to make him realise something, she is purely a witness of his downfall, they connect yes, but its never in a "wow now i see life totally different" there was no saving dan dunne, i also love the open ending As i say, could be an A, maybe A+, deffinatly gonna rewatch without tired eyes :)
- 7. 5/8 Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (A- / B+)
- 8. 5/11 American Splendor (A- / B+)
- 9. 5/12 Speed Racer (B / B-)
- Yup, i kind of liked it. Yes it was cheesy, deffo could of done with out that kid and the damn monkey, the fighting scenes were bit stupid, but, i felt it did enough narrative background (the brother) made the characters real enough considering the style of the film. Very good also at making Anime to a live action. It is WAY too bright, blindingly bright but hey, its based on a cartoon. The final race was thrilling. Deffo some bad elements to the movie, a lot of cheesy stuff, but i enjoyed it more than i thought i would.
- 10. 5/15 The Orphanage (A+)
- So scary. Creepy stuff, much like The Others & The Innocents (both fantastic) it creeps into your mind, and uses old fashioned style of scares. Brilliant movie, one of the best of 2007
- 11. 5/16 There Will Be Blood (A+)
- How can a movie about oil be this amazingly good and engaging?? i have no idea, but it was.
- 12. 5/17 / The Orphanage / (A+)
- 13. 5/18 Brokeback Mountain (Unranked - explained below)
- I'm going to re-watch. I was watching this at about 1am, so i had to have the volume down quite a bit, so i couldn't get into it fully as hearing it was an issue. So to be fair, i'm going to rewatch it in perfect conditions before ranking. I did however like it quite a bit, and i'd probably go for B+ or B+/A- for unofficial rating. But probably best to class as unranked untill rewatch, as i have with some others in the past.
- 14. 5/21 Eagle Vs Shark (B+)
- could well be higher, i love quirky films. Though (and i know this was the point) but i really disliked the Jarrod character, so couldn't quite love it. However i love the character of Lilly and feel Loren Horsley gave the best female performance of the year
- 15. 5/22 / Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery / (A+) (3rd Viewing! - on Listology, God Knows Otherwise)
- 16. 5/23 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (B-)
- 17. 5/24 Paranoid Park (A- / B+)
- 18. 5/24 Beowulf (C)
- 19. 5/25 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (A-)
- The only aspect that is preventing me from present this film with an A or A+ is...The Narration. At times it work but at others (and the majority) at seemed to just talk down to the viewer, explaining things we could already understand. It just seemed dumbed down, it was Like telling a joke then explaining why it’s funny, ain’t funny anymore is it ? However i loved every other aspect of this film. The visuals (much like There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men) were breathtaking. The cast were on tip-top form. Not only Casey Afleck, who does indeed give a stunning performance, along with Brad Pitt but the supporting players too. Jeremy Renner who i had seen previously in 28 weeks later but wasn't that impressed, was brilliant here. Paul Schneider was very watchable and Sam Rockwell nearly ran off with the whole movie. Highlight of 2007, not quite There Will Be Blood, but really only due to that horrible narration. Plus, get to see Zooey Deschanel dance with feathers, which is always a plus.
- 20. 5/27 / The School of Rock / (A+)
- 21. 5/28 / Hot Fuzz / (A+) (5th Viewing!)
- 22. 5/29 / South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut / (A+) (4th Viewing !)
- This movie just seems to get better with every viewing. The songs are brilliant, the story is grand and epic enough to warrant a movie, and its f'n hillarious. This movie, not only is the best movie based on a TV show, but IMO is a comedy masterpiece. When people talk about the greatest comedy movies...hell movies in general this should be mentioned
- 23. 5/29 / Team America: World Police / (A)
- 24. 5/30 / Rushmore / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- I always know this film is great as i watch it but i never realise how great it is untill Faces "Ooo La La" kicks in at the end, perfectly summing up everything that has gone by. Nearly always brings me to tears, i love this film
June
- 1. 6/1 / Children Of Men / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 2. 6/2 / Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery / (A+) (4th Viewing! - on Listology, God Knows Otherwise)
- 3. 6/6 Superhero Movie (C+ / C) (not as bad as expected)
- 4. 6/7 Rescue Dawn (B+ / B)
- 5. 6/8 / No Country For Old Men / (A-) (3rd Viewing!)
- 6. 6/8 / Reign Over Me / (A+)
- 7. 6/9 / Cloverfield / (A+) (5th Viewing!)
- Still in my mind, a masterpiece..a flawed masterpiece. I deffinatly feel if you wanted to pick it apart, it could be done. As mentioned before i didn't like the bit where The monster eats Hud, picking off the main characters, as i said like "well i could go over there or i could go to the stars of the film which i felt tainted the feeling of them just being anyone caught in this situation. I also feel, mainly because of that moment, it could of ended after the helicopter crashed, when the radio said "creature is still active" something like that, it would of left it more open ended to not only the state of the creature but the fate of our heroes if it had ended at that moment. However, i don't believe i have watched a more engaging experience. As i say, a flawed masterpiece, but the key word being Masterpiece.
- 8. 6/11 / Cloverfield / (A+) (6th Viewing!)
- I actually tried something out this time. Once it got the the helicopter scene and the voice goes "Target still active" i hit skip a scene on my remote which brought me to the credits. Just wanted to see how it would be if they had left out hud Vs clovey scene. It worked pretty well. I went back and watched the ending aswell but it was a good test. I like the "I've had a good day" ending VERY much, it's the scene with hud that i hate. Anyway still A+ but if anyone else doesn't like that scene i recommend you pressing forward a scene after the voice on the radio
- 9. 6/13 The Incredible Hulk (B-)
- 10. 6/14 / Smokin' Aces / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 11. 6/17 Memento (A- / B+)
- Look up mind-f*ck in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of this film, that point alone maybe the reason i could not award this a solid A- or beyond. I watched this by borrowing a friends 1 disc edition DVD but i would be interested in viewing the 3 disc DVD for the movie in chronological order as stated at this site : http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=55610 (just beyond half way down page, under extras : Disc 2). However as the film goes, i really enjoyed it more so than i expected as i'm not usually one for confusing movies. Guy Pearce was fantastic as was Joe Pantoliano who i was a fan of from his memorable turn in The Sopranos. Memento is deffinatly up for a rewatch but maybe in chronological order, for both contrast and enjoyment. A very well made film indeed, boy that nolan kid has talent. Roll on Dark Knight i say...
- 12. 6/18 The King of Kong (A)
- 13. 6/19 / No Country For Old Men / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- I still think Tommy Lee Jones gave the best performance of the film, theres so much going on in his performance, so much so its a front runner for my favourite dramatic (by genre not dramatic in a over emotive sense) performance of all time. I love his reading of the opening narration. His delivery of this line later in the film : "he ought to. He's seen the same things I've seen, and it's certainly made an impression on me" gives me chills, it tells you so much about the character.
- A quick note in the changing grades (as seen above with no country). It's fair to say, from A-, A & A+, these are all fantastic films. So the distance between the grades is much shorter in my mind than say B/B+ or so on, as with a film that gets A- or A it already has the elements of an A+ film, where anything lower doesn't. When it comes to grading it an A+ rather than A- or A its really about very little details in VERY VERY good films. These details are minor in that they could be overlooked in rewatch depending on the mood. For example , i made a big deal about Hud/clovey scene in cloverfield. Now i will admit this was a big deal for me and was close to down grading the film. However, i was so taken with every other aspect of it (especially in the cinema with booming audio) that i overlooked this point to award it an A+. Basically what i'm saying is A- is still a bloody brilliant film
- 14. 6/21 / Shoot 'Em Up / (B- / C+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 15. 6/23 / The Royal Tenenbaums / (A+) (5th Viewing!)
- It's funny how Owen & Luke wilson seem to give by far their best performances in Wes Anderson films. Anyway, even on 5th viewing this is still a total delight, never fails to amaze me how much i still care for the characters and laugh, as i say even on 5th viewing it still has the power to keep me hooked in the story & characters.
- 16. 6/24 / Shattered Glass / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 17. 6/25 Wanted (A- / B+)
- 18. 6/27 / Shattered Glass / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- What i love about this film is that you don't have many A-list stars. Guess the closest is Hayden Christensen, but who really only gets negative critical response. I wouldn't class Peter Sarsgaard as A-list in terms of noterioty. Then you have two people known for comedy Hank Azaria & Steve Zahn. However what i love, is that all gives performances on equal to any A-list star. Hayden Christensen completely redeems himself from Aniken rubbish in the star wars films, Peter Sarsgaard gives a amazing performance, and both Azaria & Zahn prove they can do serious. Together the entire ensemble create a totally involving and well excuted drama. I truely don't think i'll ever get bored of this, not with captivating scenes such as Chuck fully testing Steve lies by visitng the places mentioned in his stories, or chuck explaining the seriousness of the situation to Caitlin. I love this film.
- 19. 6/28 / Live Free or Die Hard / (C+ / C)
July
- 1. 7/1 Jarhead (B+ / B)
- Interesting movie. For a war movie, theres not much war. In that sense i mean theres no big battle sequence, its more about the training, the day to day stuff, walking the desert, the friendships that are formed. It's not a bad movie, not by any means, its just..not what i expected. Fine performances by Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard & Foxx. It may have a higher rating on rewatch, i enjoyed the stuff about what the people you leave behind are doing, i like the day to day aspect, i just expected more action i guess. It's a visually impressive movie then again it's Roger Deakins so what else can you expect? I just felt the movie was a little talky, but theres something i liked about it. i think i'll pitch at B for now but i deffinatly will rewatch. I didn't hate it, but i didn't like it that much either, it was solid just not, special.
- 2. 7/3 Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs (A- / B+)
- 3. 7/4 / The Shawshank Redemption / (A-)
- 4. 7/4 Hancock (C-)
- I really enjoyed the first half, when will smith was playing the reluctant hero, but once he cleaned up his act it got boring, aswell as it went totally mad towards the end, shame really. Bateman was fantastic as was smith but the story took a huge nose dive. shame. also it was shot weird at times like a doc, handheld and peoples heads got in view, bit strange.
- 5. 7/4 / Batman Returns / (A+) (3rd Viewing! - while on listology, god knows otherwise)
- Remains my favourite Batman movie. It may be mostly due to fact this is the batman film i grew up on, i must admit i saw Batman (1989) also when i was young, but i had the Batman returns video game (SNES) and this film seemed to have a bigger effect on me. I'm really disliking some comments i'm hearing since the release of Batman begins (and hype for Dark Knight) people crapping on Burton's batman films, especially this one. I personally think this is a strange but brilliant take on the batman universe that though having a lot of burton in it, still remains a batman film. Plus Danny DeVito & Michelle Pfeiffer give amazing performances. People talk about Jack as the joker, and yes he was great, but people..did you not see these two in Batman Returns?! IMO, worthy of equal praise as jack in Batman.
- 6. 7/5 / Be Kind Rewind / (B / B-)
- 7. 7/7 / Lost in Translation / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 8. 7/7 Kung Fu Panda (A+)
- Wow. Impressive. I was laughing nearly all the way through, Jack black was fantastic. I loved the little moments where he'd do one of his usual mannerisms. Dustin Hoffman also provides brilliant voice work. Enough action, loads of comedy and a solid story make this one of the best of the year so far. Without a doubt the best Dreamworks animation company film since Shreck.
- 9. 7/8 / Uncle Buck / (A+)
- 10. 7/9 / Batman / (A+)
- 11. 7/10 / Batman Returns / (A+) (4th Viewing! - while on listology, god knows otherwise)
- 12. 7/14 The Forbidden Kingdom (B / B-) (actually quite good, chan was great but i hated that monkey king with a passion.)
- 13. 7/15 Heat (A+)
- 14. 7/16 Rambo (B / B-)
- 15. 7/16 25th Hour (A)
- 16. 7/18 WALL·E (A+)
- Oh my god. ALL HAIL PIXAR. This film is nothing short of genius. It's a lesson in animation, a lesson in storytelling (aren't all pixar films?) a lesson in subtlety. The interactions between WALL·E and EVE brought a tear to my eye more than once, as soon as he started edging closer to eve hoping to hold her hand, ..wow, soon brilliantly done. There i realised these guys can make you care about anything. Where Ratatouille was very talky, this is about emoting through movement, and it's all the better for it. Move over Toy Story? maybe, it is a masterpiece, but i think i'll have to rewatch it before deciding that
- 17. 7/24 / Half Nelson / (A)
- On rewatch i guess Dan shaving his beard off maybe a sign that he did attempt to make a change in his life, so i guess that goes against what i said in the other comments. However, this is the very last thing we see, and its not revealed whether this attempt to change his life is successful. It's still not one of those movies where we see him get better bit by bit untill he steps into the classroom, new respect for life and we get a freeze frame on his smiling face and for that i really respect this film
- 18. 7/26 The Dark Knight (A+)
- Lived up to expectations, and then some.
- 19. 7/28 / The Dark Knight / (A+)
- Oh my god, it wasn't first view hype. It is OUTSTANDING. It deffinatly should of got a 15 rating here in the uk (it got a 12a, which means any age below 12 can see it if with an adult) but i don't feel its 12a stuff. It not that theres a lot of blood just dark adult themes, such as jokers explanation for his scars, he talks about disturbing situations and issues. Plus Jokers speech about knives was very unlucky timming considering events over here in the UK. But of course you can't and am not holding that against it, just mentioning it. This movie is edge of your seat stuff, its truely a brilliant piece of work. Though on a trivial note...wouldn't maroni need more than a walking stick and a slight limp after his fall ???? Heath Ledger's performance gave me chills, its mind blowing. Gary Oldman also gives a brilliant performance, those two give the films best perfomances. I had a long thought of whether this should over take Cloverfield as my #1 movie of 2008. I was totally blown away by cloverfield. When i saw WALL E i considered placing that above cloverfield, but though i LOVED WALL E , i was as emotionally drained by the end of it, as i was with cloverfield. However with The Dark Knight, i was totally drained by the constant edge of your seat action (loved joker's theme which added to the action scenes). So they're on par with that but where dark knight takes over is that it didn't have one scene that i hated, but cloverfield did, hud vs clovey scene. Which i have said before i really hated, so The Dark Knight is ahead on points in my mind and therefore is the best of 2008 so far.
- 20. 7/31 / Donnie Darko / (A+) "Sometimes, I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion"
August
- 1. 8/1 / Wayne's World / (A+)
- 2. 8/1 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 3. 8/2 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (4th Viewing!) (the most i've seen a film at the cinema)
- 4. 8/2 Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (A- / B+)
- Ha! A nice suprise. I didn't know much about this film, thankfully Captmal filled me in on the details. I think it could of worked without the music, as personally i found the stuff inbetween funnier than the songs, though "Brand New Day" and Captain hammer's song at the townhall was pretty damn funny. However i felt the rest of the songs were funnier for the visual jokes, such as Dr Horrible spying on Captain Hammer by dishing out soup at the homeless shelter. Plenty of hillarious moments, let me share some of the top of my head : captain hammer being obviously uncomfortable at the homeless shelter, , the frozen yogurt bit especially when Dr Horrible opens the yogurt casually lays on the washing machines and goes "so how was your weekend" cracked me up, seeing him just trying way to hard. oh or this line where penny is telling dr horrible about her date with captain hammer:
- Penny : Actually i went on a date
- Dr Horrible : Get outa town how is that
- Penny : Unexpected, he's a really good looking _guy, i thought he was really cheesy at first...
- Dr Horrible : (quickly, and lower tone) Trust _your instincts
- and the fork bit after. Overall this isn't a _review its just a list of bits i liked, its _difficult to review a comedy, because its just a lot of "oh that bit was funny and that bit" but this was a great suprise, i could of done without a few of the songs for sure because i feel the other stuff was strong enough but still a great suprise!
- 5. 8/3 / Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog / (A-)
- 6. 8/5 Stuck On You (B+ / B) (Liked this a lot more than expected to)
- 7. 8/6 Clueless (B)
- 8. 8/7 / Shattered Glass / (A+) (5th Viewing!)
- 9. 8/10 / Brick / (A+)
- 10. 8/11 / Batman The Movie (1966) / (Unranked - Too fun and silly to rate)
- 11. 8/12 / Batman Forever / (B)
- god, how awful is tommy lee jones in this?? he spends most of time making weird sounds .. "hoo-hee!" "ha-e-ha!" "ta-da!" "oooo-eee" seriously, it has to be one of the worst performances in film history. He played NONE of the good side, none of the conflicted character. Luckily though this film has enough other factors going for it to make it worth it. chris O' Donnell i thought did a job robin and a robin that fit well in the film, it didn't like robin for robin sake, they built a motive and had him conflicted. Though batman was well out of line for killing two face, stealing robin's thunder lol "no don't give in to hate like i did...a man most go his own way....nah it's alright robin i'll kill him." damn :)
- 12. 8/13 / Cloverfield / (A+) (7th Viewing!)
- I love the viral marketing, including Myspace pages :)if you check HUD's page, you can see a comment where rob mentions My Fair Lady, which is mentioned in the movie during the party scene, man i'm geeking out.
- 13. 8/13 / Bruce Almighty / (A- / B+)
- 14. 8/14 Thank You For Smoking (A+)
- 15. 8/15 / Thank You For Smoking / (A+)
- 16. 8/17 / Jackass Number Two / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 17. 8/17 Star Wars: The Clone Wars (C- / D+) (Battles were awesome, rest was kind of lame)
- 18. 8/19 / Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street / (A+)
- 19. 8/20 Hellboy II : The Golden Army (A)
- 20. 8/20 Lars and the Real Girl (Unranked - To Rewatch)
- wow and i thought it was only action movies we had to suspend our disbelief for, but its not. Sadly much like the characters in this film, i had to suspend my disbelief for a little to long. I loved the first half, Lars introducing Bianca to Karin & Gus, Karin & Gus trying to reach out to him and i was consistantly with Lars (Ryan's performance) throughout but when the town started treating the doll like a real person, eh. I love quirky films but not even i could stop myself from going "what the hell?" at some of the stuff in this film. Like an ambulance would really come out to collect a doll. With the towns people accepting her as real, it made the film have this slushy sweet thing going on, which i wasn't a fan of. I was hoping for the film to be a bit darker but its fairly tame. theres great performances here Ryan Gosling, Paul Schneider and Emily Mortimer, all fantastic. meh i'm mixed on this film !
- 21. 8/22 / Juno / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- The movie has finally fully won me over. It was always only a few minor problems away from a higher grade. I don't think anymore that the band references were too showey and saying "look at us we're cool" as AJDaGreat said it is more of a attempt at portrayal than a shout out. It's how i would talk with my friends, i guess i went in with a cynical mindset before. How Jennifer Garner didn't get an oscar nomination i'll never know. One moment i noticed this time around that i really liked was when juno says about having the baby to Jennifer's Vanessa character "well you're lucky its not you" and you can just see the look on Vanessa's face, like she would give anything for it to be her. just that coupled with juno's insensitivity at the nature of her statement was great. Allison Janney & JK Simmons are awesome in the film, i like their characters so much. Olivia Thirlby is a joy to watch, if you just listen to some of the little things she says, such as her response to "pie balls" and many other moments.
- 22. 8/23 [REC] (B-)
- i liked it but i wasn't as scared as i expected to be. I think i prefer the creepy old house types of scares than things running at me. I like the more subtle stuff. For instance, the moment that gave me the creeps in REC the most was near the nightvision scene, we see a thin, lanky figure, all black like a silhouette leaning against a banister, scary. The more straight out zombie type things running at me i'm not that bothered about and sadly for my enjoyment of this film, there was more of the latter. Though i am now in love with Manuela Velasco :)
- 23. 8/23 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (IMAX, baby!) (5th Viewing!)
- 24. 8/27 / Bottle Rocket / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 25. 8/27 / The Darjeeling Limited / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 26. 8/29 Get Smart (B / B-) (it's brutally predictable, but i had fun watching it. recommended!)
- 27. 8/29 / Cloverfield / (A+) (8th Viewing!)
- 28. 8/31 / Ace Ventura / (A- / B+)
September
- 1. 9/1 / Son Of Rambow / (A+)
- 2. 9/5 RocknRolla (A- / B+)
- 3. 9/11 Pineapple Express (A-)
- 4. 9/16 / Forgetting Sarah Marshall / (A+) (3rd Viewing)
- 5. 9/18 / Thank You For Smoking / (A+) (3rd Viewing)
- 6. 9/20 / Forgetting Sarah Marshall / (A+) (4th Viewing)
- 7. 9/23 / Adaptation. / (A-) (Cage is best at comedy, do more comedy, stop the action crap)
- 8. 9/23 American Beauty (Not Rated - Rewatch Needed! - Reason below)
- I'd been waiting a while to see this film, probably one of the biggest films i suprisingly never got around to watching. However i have now watched it but as part of my film making class. So it was pausing all the time to make comments on it and focus on it from a technical stand point, deconstructing it. So i can't really rate it as a piece of entertainment and my enjoyment of the film as a whole. However i will deffinatly rewatch normally.
- 9. 9/24 / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 10. 9/27 Tropic Thunder (B / B-)
- 11. 9/28 / The Mask / (B-)
- 12. 9/28 / Shattered Glass / (A+) (6th Viewing!)
- 13. 9/30 Run, Lola, Run (A- / B+)
October
- 1. 10/3 / Tropic Thunder / (B / B-)
- 2. 10/3 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (6th Viewing!)
- 3. 10/4 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (7th Viewing!)
- 4. 10/7 / The Usual Suspects / (B+ / B)
- 5. 10/7 North by Northwest (B+ / B)
- 6. 10/11 Taken (B / B-)
- 7. 10/11 / 16 Blocks / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 8. 10/17 / The Incredible Hulk / (B+ / B)
- 9. 10/19 Burn After Reading (A+)
- 10. 10/19 / Saw IV / (B- / C+)
- 11. 10/20 / Saw II / (Best Saw movie IMO) (A+) (6th Viewing!)
- 12 10/24 / Iron Man / (A+)
- 13. 10/28 Halloween (A- / B+)
November
- 1. 11/2 / Inside Man / (A+) (4th Viewing!)
- 2. 11/2 / Juno / (A+) (5th Viewing!)
- 3. 11/7 / Akira / (B-)
- Not as good as i remembered it. It looks amazing, the action is animated very well. I love the look of the city however the story is a total mindf*ck, more so than i remembered it being. i also felt it dragged in one too many places
- 4. 11/9 / Hostel / (B- / C+)
- 5. 11/11 / Shaun of the Dead / (A+)
- 6. 11/13 Kagemusha (Unranked - Watched As Film Reading - Film Course)
- 7. 11/16 / Saw III / (3rd Viewing!) (A- / B+)
- 8. 11/16 Wolf Creek (A- / B+)
- 9. 11/18 Sweet Sixteen (A)
- 10. 11/18 À Bout De Souffle (C)
- 11. 11/23 / Toy Story 2 / (3rd Viewing!) (A+)
- 12. 11/24 The Pixar Story (A- / B+)
- 13. 11/24 / WALL·E / (A+)
- WALL·E is truely something special. The bravery of pixar to make a film that is so about the little details, about character, about love, about emotion shocks and amazes me. It works so well (IMO). The scenes where they intend to tug at your hearstrings really worked for me. Scenes such as EVE watching the security footage or the final moments of the film are as effective as any live action film. Though i think Toy Story is still my favourite pixar movie, as i also think the relationship and human emotions they were able to put into woody and buzz were outstanding ("YOU ARE A TOY!" "You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity") coupled with it being their first outing was nothing short of genius. However as i said WALL·E is a masterpiece, if purely for its purity of vision and intention. It doesn't bow out, it keeps with its subtle approach and works on every level.
- 14. 11/25 / Finding Nemo / (A+) (4th Viewing)
- Out of all the pixar films, i've always felt this feels more like a classic disney film. Perhaps purely because use of family and father/son narrative, about growing up, about loss of family (bambi, Lion king). It's a beautiful film.
- 15. 11/27 / Shattered Glass / (A+) (7th Viewing!)
- 16. 11/28 / Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery / (A+) (5th Viewing! - on Listology, God Knows Otherwise)
- 17. 11/30 / Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi / (A- / B+)
December
- 1. 12/2 / The Science of Sleep / (A-)
- down 2 grades from a previous A+. I still really really loved the film. The highlight being the interactions between the 2 main characters and the character of Guy is good for a laugh. However, the constant use of the dream like state got on my nerves a bit this time around. I don't think they needed to use the whimsical element as much as they did. The scenes between the two that were grounded in reality were strong enough. Still a small gripe one that could disapear depending on my mood during a rewatch, nothing serious.
- 2. 12/6 / Bowling for Columbine / (A+)
- 3. 12/7 / Home Alone / (A+)
- 4. 12/8 / Home Alone / (A+)
- 5. 12/9 / Hellboy II : The Golden Army / (A+)
- This might have overtaken Pan's Labyrinth as my favourite Guillermo del Toro film. It's much better than Hellboy 1, Freeing itself up to have more fun with the material. A total delight, funny, great story and beautiful visuals. In my opinion, although it got more critical success than Hellboy 1, it's a still overlooked film. Luke Goss (yes from boy band, Bros) is outstanding in this film, a performance that deserves more attention, its brilliant creating an evil yet understandable bad guy. Hellboy II is fantastic.
- 6. 12/10 / Hellboy II : The Golden Army / (A+) (3rd Viewing!)
- 7. 12/10 / Cloverfield / (A+) (9th Viewing!)
- 8. 12/12 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (8th Viewing!)
- 9. 12/12 / Batman Returns / (A+) (5th Viewing here on listology, God knows otherwise!)
- 10. 12/15 Failure to Launch (C- / D+)
- might be being a bit nice to the film with that ranking, didn't like much about it, however Zooey Deschanel proves she can steal any scene and in this case, the movie. Charming, sweet and funny, her character made the film for me. Plus a scene in which CPR is applied to a bird, thats pretty funny. nothing special but zooey is great in it
- 11. 12/16 / Die Hard / (A+) (7th Viewing - while on listology, god knows otherwise)
- 12. 12/17 / The Muppet Christmas Carol / (A+)
- 13. 12/21 Yes Man (A- / B+)
- 14. 12/24 / Home Alone 2 / (A+)
- 15. 12/26 / The Dark Knight / (A+) (9th Viewing!)
- 16. 12/28 Mamma Mia (B)
Author Comments:
This is a list of all the movies i've seen in 2008!
/ / - rewatch (usually to indicate a film i had seen before 2008)
Grades: A+ / A / A- / B+ / B / B- / C+ / C / C- / D+ / D / D- / F
______Amazing__________Good_________________Crap
Now Including Short films! for now i will include them in this author comment box so not confuse or take away my points on the scoreboard!
Shorts
2/12 The Adventures of André and Wally B
2/12 Red's Dream
2/12 Tin Toy
2/12 Knick Knack
2/12 Geri's Game
2/12 For the Birds
2/12 Boundin'
2/12 One Man Band
2/12 Lifted
3/22 Hotel Chevalier
Goals
- Too see more in a given month than i did in that same month last year, so saw 13 movies in Feb last year, must see more than 13 this year in feb or any given month FAILED (Passed up untill september)
Cloned From:
Nice to see you've started one for 08 too! Seen Blood Diamond? If not, I really recommend it, a terrific film.
ha funny you should mention Blood Diamond. I was at Morrisions the other day (£9 for chart DVd can't complain lol - no i don't work for them not promoting :)
but they had a few deals. 2 dvds for £5 and other sale DVDS for £5.99.
so i got Blood Diamond, along with Number 23, Squid & The Whale and Doom (not sure why i got Doom) all for £16.99. So i should be watching it soon
so good then is it ?
Amazing, DiCaprio really impressed me, his accent is quite weak at times, but his acting is top notch. It's an eye opener about the Diamond trade too, gives some shocking facts.
Very good to see your review of Blood Diamond, a very powerful film. Hey what's your opinion of Leo DiCaprio? (In the film and all of his work)
I like his work. Yes, i agree his accent was a little weak but not enough to take away too much from the overall film.
He's one of those actor's who is disliked because on the outside he seems like a pretty boy not taking too it seriously, and cus you're told "oh leo is terrible" you start to think it.
i remember i used to say i hated his stuff, then i realised i hadn't actually seen one of his movies all the way through, i was just going with the flow of opinions.
When i look at the films i've seen of his (Blood diamond, The Departed, The Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, This Boy's Life) they are all Very solid-to great films. i look forward to his movies for sure, i thought he out acted damon in The Departed.
Your cloverfield review makes me want to see it even more...
well i do have a tendency to over hype films but i really really liked this film, really engaged into it
Have you seen The Host? thats always Very good and same sort of film
I'd say so. Three times at the cinema!?! Wow! Right on guy! It's well worth it! Gotta get back to see it myself. ;)
lol yup and i still loved it. Funny thing, its been out a week here now and even this time, the cinema was the most packed out of the three viewings. all of the audience left in silence, everytime.
if you do rewatch would love to know your thoughts
Aww, Nathan Fillion's performance in Serenity wasn't weak...
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Actually it may be less about his performance and more about the Characterization of his ... charatcer :)
I wasn't sure whether his character was meant to be serious (like a legit attempt at Han solo) or a bit of laugh spoof (like Pullman's performance in Spaceballs) and i couldn't get into his character for this reason.
Well, he's a much much better character than Han Solo ever was or could ever be...
But then again, Serenity is my favorite movie of all time. ;-)
Mal's legit, without a doubt. There's no spoofing in Serenity, just inversions of typical sci-fi cliches which results in funny. Typical of Mr. Whedon.
haha well fair doos, i'd probably defend Royal Tenenbaums to the death so fair doos if you wanna support your favourite film.
As i say, i wasn't keen on some aspects of the presentation, and acting but i guess it may be more that i came in with the wrong idea of what the film was attemtping to be
Though generally I've discovered that Serenity works well for both hardcore Firefly fans as well as total Firefly virgins, I've heard several people say that they got the movie better after having watched the TV series.
awesome, as i say there was deffinatly parts i did like, visually it was a great film too.
firefly, well i've been looking for a new show to get into so i'll give it ago, were you a fan of the show before hand or did that come for you after the film ?
I was a fan from the night Firefly first aired in September '02! It was canceled three months later, but it was a damn good three months, let me tell you.
The reason I caught Firefly was because about a year prior I had come to love Buffy the Vampire Slayer and had begun ravenously devouring everything with Joss Whedon's name on it (not counting his butchered film scripts such as, say, Alien: Resurrection; little of his draft actually remains in the finished product).
oh awesome i'll check it out, cus i did enjoy Serenity so i'll give firefly a go
Alien: Resurrection i actually quite liked but it is a shame when the writers intentions are ruined.
Yeah, I like it too, but apparently he cried when he saw it.
Glad you loved Iron Man!
It's definitely not the best superhero movie ever, like some others are saying, but I had a great time watching it and plan on seeing it again some time this weekend.
yeah it really is great, i'd agree its not the best superhero movie, but its damn close.
I'm also hoping to see it again soon, probably thursday.
Woulkd you agree Downey's performance was the highlight, a highlight of a film with many highlights
Without a doubt.
Downey is a great actor, and he brings such energy and enthusiasm to the role. One of the best lead performances in a superhero movie to date. I also thought that the climactic battles were as good as any I'd seen lately; my only real problem with the movie was that the pacing seemed somewhat off at times. Other than that, it was just a blast.
As for the best superhero movie, my heart still belongs to Spider-Man 2, though The Dark Knight could change that. ;-)
Dude, I literally agree with everything you said about Speed Racer. Like, 100%.
ah, cool !
yeah it suprised me and pretty much blinded me :)
Glad to see you gave There Will Be Blood an A+ :) What were your thoughts on it?
utterly involving. I mean after all its a story about oil, so i was thinking "eh, how good could this be?" expected it too look nice but be a bit drab and boring but i was totally hooked on it. Two fantastic performances by Lewis & Dano. The music score too, such a great score, and a visually brilliant film. At the moment it's my fave movie of 2007, managed to knock Darjeeling off the top spot (quite a feat for me, a wes anderson superfan lol)
Yeah I totally agree, just because it's fresh in the mind its still an instant classic. Day Lewis is also just an absolute god on screen in that film, one of the best performances of all time. Have you thought about making a best films of the 2000s list?
yeh i've given doing a list like that some thought i've started to do lists like that (fave films 196?-present and Masterpieces of cinema) after i felt i couldn't commit to an all time top 50. But i'll deffinatly give it some thought
theres a fair few i'd want to see before doing the list. Wouldn't mind re-watching No Country For Old Men first, be 3rd viewing, its on one night only on tuesday at local cinema so i might see it. Also The Assination of Jesse James is on my hitlist
Interesting reading your thoughts on Memento, I completely understand why you didn't give it an A+, perhaps a rewatch would push it up though?
Oh i could deffinatly could see it going up in ranking on rewatch(es). As i say it has lots and lots going for it, but maybe my mind wasn't the sharpest at the time to enjoy it to the full. I'll prob rewatch it again before returning the DVd to my friend, then i might buy the 3 disc version for the chronological order.
I thought Guy Pearce, who i had not seen in anything before was brilliant, brought some moments of comedy to the role, and played, lets face it a very complex role, VERY well.
Indeed, Guy Pearce plays the part exceptionally, you believe he is Leonard through the entire film, he plays it convincingly and emotionally which adds to the disorientation the already confusing plot brings.
A Rewatch does definitely help bring clarity, especially to the begining which on the first viewing seems absolutely meaningless mostly.
I actually read an interview with Guy Pearce where he said Memento was the easiest performance of his career because when you're acting, you have to take into account the character's previous life and backstory to make decisions about how to play the role. But in Memento, his character didn't remember his recent past, so it would be more realistic if Pearce didn't think about that stuff. I thought that was pretty funny since I thought he did a terrific job playing this complex character as well.
Ironic! Still, perhaps to fit the character this viewpoint towards his role was helpful and though it may have been easier than other roles, it still is a great performance.
Watched Juno today, loved it unabashedly except for some overly hackneyed dialogue in the first 20 mins ("honest to blog"? seriously, wtf). But great overall, fantastic plot and performances and the script did work well after the initial blunders.
Well heres the issues i had that made it an A- rather than A / A+, but as you can probably tell these are minor points
First, i agree dialogue was annoying at times. I agree also it was used way more in the first 20-30 mins for sure. Honest to blog, is shockingly bad. It really feels forced, which to be honest is my main over all problem, a lot of the dialogue i felt, felt forced.
2nd point, was i wasn't that keen on the references to bands and pop culture "man you haven't heard this album !?" "you haven't heard anything untill.." again i just thought felt forced, like they just had a tick box of the target audience, i felt the same way about those apsects in the film Garden State.
However in many ways these were my initials issues and having seen it 3 times now, these are becomming less and less annoying to me. Because it has a lot going for it, Jennifer Garner gives IMO one of the best performances i have seen. Allison Janney & JK Simmons give the film a solid ground in reality, and i like how you can view the film from juno view but because of great writting for the parents and brilliantly performed its just as easy to relate to them, a view i take when i watch it. It's got a heart and some great scenes and brilliant performances.
I disliked a few lines in the beginning of Juno too, but I thought that might've been just because I was still getting used to the film's style. If you've seen it three times and it still bothers you, maybe some of the lines at the beginning are just legitimately irritating. I'll have to check it out again and see if I still love it as much.
As for the band references, though, didn't you think that Juno and Mark Loring were just as much a part of that target audience as the target audience was? I know plenty of people with that sort of quirky taste who would make references just like these characters, and I thought more than a shout-out to the target audience, it was an attempt at a realistic portrayal of these people.
yeah you're probably right about Mark & Juno's band references, maybe its seeing conversations i may have with my friends on screen, a bit weird lol But it was funny because in the theatre i was in i actually heard some tuts and groans.. (..not like that :) from a guy, looked about 17 with his mates, he tutted every time they mentioned a band in this way.
However you are right, this is how i might talk with my mates, or people i know. Maybe they got it so accurate that i saw on screen convos i may have and thought "uh, thats annoying...oh wait" lol
i have a question, do you agree or disagree with my point i made to wezzo, that it's written in a way that you can relate to both juno and her parents (or in general the adults of the film, Vannessa for example) , and which do you find yourself feeling more empathy for?
I wholeheartedly agree with you about "Batman Returns", I believe it's the best in the series and the one I definitely enjoy! I think it's due to Catwoman. I was really a fan of the character from the Batman comics and thought Michelle Pfeiffer did and excellent job. I was, however, let down by the 'Catwoman' film. I guess I expected it to be somewhat the same, but to no avail. Anyway, great film!
Yeah i've heard terrible things about 'Catwoman' film, i'm gonna avoid it :)
Glad you liked Dr. Horrible!
I personally loved all the songs, especially "Everything You Ever Wanted," "My Freeze Ray," and "Brand New Day." Plus, Captain Hammer's song "Everyone's a Hero" really reminded me of something from the South Park movie (especially "If you're not a friggin' 'tard, you will prevail"), which is always good.
I wanna be Captain Hammer for Halloween. They're selling his shirt on the official site, and after that all I need is gloves and boots. Easiest costume ever.
Oh, and at Comic-Con I bought one of the Dr. Horrible groupie shirts! And then proceeded to wear it to two Dr. Horrible screenings. I love being a nerd. The cast/writers panel was a blast, too. Nathan Fillion pulled out Neil Patrick Harris' chair when he tried to sit down!
Ah, good times.
If I can manage to pull off the double-breasted look for Halloween...
I'm gonna go as a shoe fairy.
That is genius. NPH needs to take every opportunity that he possibly can which involves singing.
Well "Brand New Day." and "Everyone's a Hero" were the two i liked, ha yes i nearly fell out of my chair on the "If you're not a friggin' 'tard, you will prevail" line :)
ha nice purchase on the groupie t-shirt. They were hillarious ("we do the weird stuff") lol
I'm not sure if you check out the front page or not; if not -- It's Time.
dammit thats terrible news, theres no other site i'd like to post my stuff on, i guess i'll see where the rest of you guys go. anyways i've posted a longer commnet on Jim's article.
I agree with you. It'll be a great shame. Still, if nobody "saves the day", I'll be sure to keep in touch with you. Jim says he'd look at ways of keeping the community together anyway, so I'm hoping that'll be the case
I have to say something to you: you seem to be one of the little people that only enjoy movies and doesn't care about liking blockbusters and alike. Good job.
thanks ! yeah i have no shame in liking big blockbusters or disliking well respected movies, i pretty much am open to all movies