January 2010
53 posts
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#051: 17 Again
I think I enjoyed this more than I should have. Two main reasons: a) I totally love Leslie Mann and it’s great to see her as a female lead. b) Against all my better instincts, I think I actually quite like Zac Efron. He sings, he dances, he’s charismatic; he manages to be likeable despite his anger-making good looks. You have to hand it to him. Yes, it’s cringe-worthy that...
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#050: RocknRolla
No surprises here. Guy Ritchie Identikit Crime Caper #3 does exactly what it says on the tin. A little slow at the top, perhaps, but otherwise pretty engaging.
Grade: ***
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#049: Alvin and the Chipmunks
Y’know, the trailer for the Squeakquel was so brilliantly insane that it made me want to go back and watch this. It was a bad call. David Cross naturally manages to serve up some light relief, but it’s pretty brutal stuff from start to finish.
Grade: *
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#048: Into the Wild
Man, I absolutely loved this movie. Colour me surprised.
So beautiful and thoughtful, so full of poetry in both the writing and direction. Just really great. And I’m surprised because I’m usually not too good with stories about such reckless abandon and adventure. Neuroses, inhibition and introspection are much more my speed.
A definite case of opposites attract. Fantastic.
...
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#047: Frost/Nixon
Pretty enjoyable, but probably not as good as I was hoping. Langella was great as Nixon, but up until the climax some of the characterisations felt very crudely drawn and the story a bit hollow. A definite far cry from Ron Howard’s best work.
Grade: ***
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#046: St. Elmo's Fire
Although I admit I was slightly drawn in by the end, on the whole this was pretty turgid stuff. I mean, it’s bad news straight away when out of seven main characters I could only stand two. Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson and Rob Lowe especially deserve a punch in the neck each.
Ally Sheedy was really the only thing I actually liked about this movie. Lame.
Grade: **
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#045: A Serious Man
Y’know, I remember saying once that I find documentaries about religion frustrating because they refuse to offer any real ideas or answers at the end. That’s a little bit like how I felt about A Serious Man.
It’s an interesting and funny movie, certainly, but the questions it represents, the thought it provokes - fear of uncertainty, want for answers, frustration - by...
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#044: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Maybe not the masterpiece it’s often lauded as, but Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched is so good that I can happily forgive any of its perceived shortcomings. So righteous and restrained, so calculated and cruel. It might just be the best performance by a lead villain character I’ve seen in my life. Totally loved it.
Grade: *****
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#043: 300
It got too much hype, it looked like nonsense and it spawned one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I have to admit I’m slightly disappointed I didn’t hate this.
It’s thin on story and it definitely drags a bit, but Zack Snyder really does deserve some mad props for making a great looking movie. I mean, people (read: nerds) talk about “comic book framing” in...
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#042: The Blind Side
It’s pretty by-the-numbers cliche stuff, but I have to admit I enjoyed it. Whether it was Sandra Bullock (who was likeable, but surely not Oscar worthy) or the fact that I’m a sucker for cliches in rom-coms or sports movies, I couldn’t resist it.
It was like a football movie version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Full of cheap emotional manipulation but ultimately too...
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#041: Sunset Boulevard
“You used to be big”. “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small”.
What a line that is, and what a top movie. Super sharp writing, great performances, and all the thrust of noir driving the drama. Billy Wilder is brilliant.
Grade: *****
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#040: Sherlock Holmes
Okay, I suppose, but a little too lightweight for me to really enjoy. Downey was inevitably awesome and Guy Ritchie really nailed the look, but the story just wasn’t there. Hopefully the sequel will have more substance to go with the style.
Grade: ***
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#039: Once
Cute little movie, this. Before Sunrise but with songs where all the endless intellectual musing used to be. I liked it. Small and subtle in a good way, even the fact that I didn’t really like the songs didn’t detract from it too much. Good stuff.
Grade: ***
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#038: The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
It looked good and it did make me laugh, but even with a great performance from Bill Murray it just didn’t hook me in emotionally at all.
Not bad, but probably my least favourite Wes Anderson movie.
Grade: ***
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#037: Couples Retreat
Not good at all, but just about tolerable. Essentially it feels like Forgetting Sarah Marshall sanded down into middle of the road blandness. If not for the the natural charisma of Vince Vaughn and the rest of the cast I’m sure it would have been pretty brutal. Veronica Mars, Charlotte York and Michael Bluth ftw, yo.
Grade: **
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#036: West Side Story
I can’t say I loved it, but it was good. The opening was great, Natalie Wood makes an obvious ending surprisingly moving and there were plenty of bits I enjoyed in-between. Honestly, though, that is about all the praise I can muster. It’s solid, but definitely not the brilliant movie I was expecting.
Grade: ****
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#035: An Education
“Action is character, our English teacher says. I think it means that if we never did anything, we wouldn’t be anybody.”
Pretty good. A little languid at times, perhaps, but really one of the best depictions of youth that I’ve seen in a movie recently. Not gripping, but affecting and interesting.
Grade: ****
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#034: Deliver Us From Evil
I’m not even sure what to say about this movie, but I thought it was totally brilliant. It’s definitely the most eloquent and interesting case I’ve seen laid against the Catholic Church in regard to all the child abuse stuff, but it also contains the most affecting, confronting accounts of child abuse that I’ve seen in any context. It’s absolutely remarkable in its...
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#033: Deliverance
I think I had the wrong idea about this movie. All I really knew about it was banjos and “purty mouth”, but it’s actually an amazingly good horror movie. Terrifying and upsetting in all the best ways, yet rich in a way most horror movies aren’t.
Completely awesome.
Grade: *****
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#032: Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Considering I was stupidly expecting a mockumentary, Anvil! was a nice surprise. Definitely up there with the better documentaries I’ve seen in recent years, it’s honest, funny and genuinely fascinating. Mad fun, son. I enjoyed it a lot.
Grade: ****
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#031: Second Skin
Generally I love indie documentaries about American sub-cultures (Spellbound, The King of Kong) and I definitely do have some interest in the world of MMORPG, but I have to say I found this movie a little boring. It wasn’t bad, per se; it just didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know or couldn’t assume. I guess if I knew less about what it is to live in an online...
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#030: The Princess and the Frog
It’s a bit lacking in the jokes-for-adults department, and I did find Randy Newman’s songs a little too one-paced for a movie like this, but otherwise I’d have to say it’s a pretty decent Disney fairy tale. Not bad at all.
Grade: ***
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#029: The Graduate
One of the coolest things about this project is that it gives me the impetus to finally see all those movies I’ve meant to see but never have - and it’s something I’m genuinely excited about. The flipside, however, is that I then have to come here and admit to all of you that I’ve somehow gone 28 years without ever seeing these huge, iconic movies. Even though I’m...
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#028: The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Remember when I mentioned that I only like sci-fi when it’s really exceptional? Well, you can probably imagine how I feel when I’m watching really boring sci-fi like this. Honestly…I don’t know what there is to recommend about it. It looks pretty good, I guess, but that’s probably it. Super snore-fest.
Grade: **
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#027: It's Complicated
I thought this movie was alright. I definitely wouldn’t call it good - like most of Nancy Meyers’ work it’s a bit slow, a bit predictable and a bit too long - but it manages to be just charming enough to rise above those flaws. Meryl Streep is great (no, I won’t get bored of pointing that out), Alec Baldwin is Alec Baldwin, and the rest is just likeable fluff. Probably...
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#026: Up in the Air
I think the main word I’d use to describe Up in the Air is classy. Funny, interesting, subtle, charming; it may not be the spectacular return to classic Hollywood that Empire says it is, but I can definitely see where the comparison is born. It’s a very accomplished, polished piece of work.
Its only failing for me is that it treads a little too lightly; often backing off just as...
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#025: Atlantis: The Lost Empire
This was actually a bit better than I expected. Somehow surviving a genuinely lame collection of characters and the worst art I’ve ever seen in a Disney film, it’s a pretty reasonable (if thoroughly generic) adventure. Not good exactly, but passable. Avatar with the added charm of Michael J. Fox.
Grade: **
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#024: Antichrist
Blimey. What to say about Antichrist, eh? I’ve read a lot of really good things about it and a lot of really bad things - and I think I agree with practically all of it. The opening scene is something to behold: an exquisite perfume ad of sex and death. Really great. But beyond that, though, I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag. Boring and indulgent? At times, yes. Shocking? Most...
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#023: Moon
Generally speaking, for me to like sci-fi, it has be be some pretty damn good sci-fi. Moon qualifies. It surprised me actually. I knew it was supposed to be good, but based on the vague trailers I saw, I was expecting a really slow, ponderous, descent-into-madness type movie, when really there’s a lot more narrative thrust to it than that. Props to the marketing people for the fake-out.
...
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#022: Guys and Dolls
Y’know, for all my increased interest in musicals, there’s something about classic Hollywood musicals that often just doesn’t connect with me. Guy and Dolls is supposed to be a classic, right? Well, I only thought it was okay. I liked about three or four of the songs, and I enjoyed seeing Brando and Sinatra do their things, but I wasn’t really too captivated by any of...
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#021: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson’s an interesting case. I think he’s an absolutely brilliant filmmaker and yet I don’t honestly think that any of his films are absolutely brilliant. I just love his ability to make his movies so instantly recognisable as his. He has his own visual style, his own unique style of dialogue - he’s an auteur in the purest sense of the word. And now, even when...
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#020: Julie & Julia
I liked this so much more than I thought I would. It’s not riotously funny or anything, but it’s a complete delight. Meryl Streep is amazing, Amy Adams is lovely even despite her distracting short hair, and it’s inspiring. Definitely one to be added to the list of Nora Ephron successes.
Grade: ****
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#019: Big Fan
First The Wrestler and now this: Rob Siegel definitely knows the sad desperation that being a fan can bring. And he does a really good job bringing it to the screen. The final act is a bit disappointing and there’s not really much story, but up until then it’s probably the best portrait of an obsessive sports fan I’ve seen since Fever Pitch (the novel).
Grade: ***
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#018: Bee Movie
I actually kinda liked this. It wasn’t brilliant or anything, but there were plenty of nice little quips and other small things I enjoyed. Matthew Broderick’s Leo Bloom panic voice, John Goodman’s Southern Lawyer caricature, Patrick Warburton’s frustrated anger and pomposity, Renee Zellweger’s breathy wheeze - it all adds up to enough. Silly fun.
Grade: ***
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#017: Let the Right One In
I don’t think I loved it as much as most critics seemed to, but it was certainly a very well-made picture. Maybe it just stands out because it showed a touch of class in a genre so notoriously crass. Very good.
Grade: ****
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#016: Bruno
I’m not even sure what to say about Bruno. It is a bit too long, but I laughed at most of it. It’s really everything you’d expect.
Grade: ***
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#015: Paper Heart
A lead character who has never been in love and fears she’s not even capable of it? Yeah, it doesn’t take a psychotherapist to see why this movie would appeal to me, so unsurprisingly I liked it. But really only for the parts which actually felt like a documentary. Hearing old people tell their love stories and scientists ponder the brain chemistry of love was nice enough. Once the...
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#014: The Time Traveler's Wife
All I could think about during this movie was this: for the logic to work at all, it necessitates that time is just an eternally repeating loop of things that have already happened and that will happen again; everything we do completely pre-determined and unchangeable. It bummed me out, man. And it’s not very romantic either, is it?
Honestly the movie isn’t unbearable though, just...
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#013: Whip It
Whip It was an odd movie. Girl in a 1950’s life seeks refuge in a 1970’s fad - in 2009. It’s a weird puddle of anachronisms, isn’t it? I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. Okay movie though. A decent cast and some nice action scenes elevating a pretty generic, cliched script. Forgettable but nice.
Grade: ***
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#012: There Will Be Blood
Is it okay to gush a bit? What a brilliantly made movie this is. All the praise PTA got when this came out is completely justified. Easily the best-looking movie I’ve seen in ages, totally compelling, perfectly paced - just utterly fantastic direction. A work of supreme confidence and skill.
And you can definitely count me among the masses of people screaming, “I DRINK YOUR...
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#011: Paranormal Activity
Not the brilliant picture I’d been hearing about, but compelling enough, with a few decent creepy/scare moments. The only thing that really bugged me was that guy seemed like a dickhead beyond the point of belief. Honestly, with all that stuff happening in the house nobody would so stubbornly persist with recording evidence for so long rather than just getting the fuck out or seeking...
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#010: Post Grad
See a movie poster with Rory Gilmore on the front and what can I do? It’s a must-see. Sadly, what I thought might be a relatively interesting indie comedy ala Adventureland turned out to be garbage of TV movie proportions. Oh, Rory…I wanted so much more for you.
Grade: *
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#009: The Seventh Seal
My first foray into the world of Bergman and I have to say I liked it a lot. Not too much actually happens, but movies with a lot of philosophical chatter about life and death and god and the meaning of all existence? That’s my kind of jam, folks. Good stuff. I look forward to the next time Bergman appears on this list.
Grade: ****
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#008: In Bruges
How I managed to avoid In Bruges for so long I have no idea, but I definitely see why it got so much love when it came out. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are both fantastic, it looks good, Carter Burwell provides a typically moody score, and, for the most part, it’s a really compelling story. I didn’t love the final third as much as the rest, but even so…a very tight, tidy,...
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#007: Taking Woodstock
I can’t see anyone being blown away by Taking Woodstock, but I thought it was alright. A little dry perhaps, but by the end of it I felt like I understood more about the era and what it might have been like to be around Woodstock. Which I guess is the point of the movie.
I also wonder how accurate Ang Lee’s depiction of an acid trip is.
Grade: ***
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#006: The Invention of Lying
Not bad. A movie with such an elaborate conceit was always going to be somewhat difficult to pull off, but I think Gervais does a reasonable job rounding it out. What I personally liked most was how atheist it all felt and the suggestion that, in a truly honest world, good looks would be the greatest currency. I thought those two things were interesting. Oh…and Rob Lowe as a super-prick...
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#005: Ratatouille
Having just talked up Pixar I’d be remiss not to admit that I found Ratatouille a little disappointing. But really…that’s only because Pixar have set such high standards for themselves. On its own merit it’s still a nice little movie with plenty to recommend it. It even kinda made me wish I wasn’t such a lunatic when it comes to food.
Grade: ***
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#004: The Proposal
The standard rom-com that everyone always gets down on? I generally adore it. This, however…not so much. I didn’t completely hate it, but honestly I was more amused by my dad identifying Ryan Reynolds as the guy from “Three Girls and a Pizza” than I was by anything in the movie.
Heh. “Three Girls and Pizza”…
Grade: **
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#003: Up
I think the main thing to say about Up is that the person who doesn’t find the opening sequence utterly captivating and beautiful is a person who does not have a soul. Assuming you do, though, the movie’s about everything you’ve come to expect from Pixar. Visually arresting, heartfelt, funny, moving, exciting… These guys are just great at making movies. I really enjoyed...
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#002: Elf
Elf is kind of fantastic, isn’t it? I have to admit that the first time I saw it I wasn’t quite as won over, but seeing it on around Christmas over the years has given me a completely new appreciation for it. It’s just wonderfully warm. An old-fashioned Christmas storybook brought to life; all irresistable magic and charm. It’s everything I want to see at Christmas (or...