January 2011
32 posts
2011 Films - #31-33 I Melt With You/Margin...
Here’s a few thoughts about the films I saw on the last day of my Sundance 2011 trip. I’ve been back a few days and haven’t watched any more movies since then, but have caught up a bit on TV.
#31 - I Melt With You
I Melt With You is definitely an interesting film, but I’m not too sure how much I actually liked it. The film revolves around four college friends who meet...
2011 Films - #28-30 Hobo With A Shotgun/Perfect...
I’m a few days behind on my updates from Sundance, since I’m actually already back home in SoCal. I’ll catch up with this blog, as well as another, that will cover my days 3 and 4. Heres day 3.
#28 - Hobo With A Shotgun
Good Lord this was awesome. Went to see this alone whilst my brother was skiing. The above poster describes the entire movie. It is outrageously violent, and...
2011 Films #24-27 The Details/Gun Hill Road/The...
Second day of Sundance started with us getting up at 6am, and going to bed around 315am, only to get up again this morning again at 6. Pretty tired right now, but that was the worst turn around we’ll have. Caught a bunch of movies yesterday, so here’s what I thought of them.
#24 - The Details
Very funny and very dark film starring Tobey Maguire, Elizabeth Banks, and Laura Linney....
2011 Films #22-23 Another Earth/My Idiot Brother...
Just arrived last night to the Sundance Film Festival, a day earlier than originally planned, and kicked it off my getting up early this morning and seeing if we could snag some newly released tickets for some movies today. We were hoping to get tickets to see My Idiot Brother, which had a good buzz for it, and we had heard was one of the toughest and hottest tickets to get. Luckily we got tickets...
2011 Films #20-21 Horrible Bosses/The Way Back
#20 - Horrible Bosses
I signed an NDA on this one, so I can’t really say anything. But you should go see it.
#21 - The Way Back
Enjoyed this movie quite a bit, although more for the adventure and courage of the characters, and less about the characters themselves. Theres not a huge emotional pull to be drawn in by, but the sheer scale of their journey is incredible. Very solid movie.
2011 Films - #19 - No Strings Attached
Pretty much what you’d expect from a movie with this premise, and exactly what the trailers played it up to be. I enjoyed myself, and the film has both likable main and side characters, which to me is the key to a fun romantic comedy. Sadly was missing any N*SYNC references. Oh well.
2011 Films - #18 Red Riding Hood
Caught a screening of this tonight. It was atrociously bad. Worse than any of the Twilight films. The audience was laughing quite a bit at every serious moment. There is a sex scene focused around a woman kissing a man’s belly button. Total garbage.
2011 Films - #17 Despicable Me
What a fitting title. This movie was pretty despicable. Zero laughs in it for me. A few chuckles every fifteen minutes or so, each one either coming from the youngest of the girls in the film, or from the yellow “minion” creatures. Really a waste of talent. A good chunk of the visual gags fall flat for anyone over the age of six or seven, and the rest are reliant on 3D, which was not...
Scratching my Golden Globes...
…would’ve been a better use of my time than watching the award show this year. No big award surprises, and Ricky Gervais was a great douche, but hit-or-miss with his jokes. But I expected no less given how terrible the nominations were. Bring on the Oscars just to be done with this season. A great year of films, but Social Network has it in the bag, even if I would like to see Black...
2011 Films - #16 Takers
Mindless fluff. Not entirely terrible, and it passed the afternoon whilst waiting for the Golden Globes. Some nice action set pieces, but mostly just a lesser recycled version of The Italian Job, down to blowing up the street beneath a truck to rob it. And rappers are terrible actors. Disappointing that I didn’t get to see Chris Brown punch a chick. Also, look at the incredibly bad...
2011 Films - #15 The Exorcist
This was a big one on my List of Shame. What a great horror movie. Has a few great scares, but what holds up most in this is how truly disturbing it is. Still, I’ll be sleeping like a baby tonight.
Buy The Exorcist
2011 Films #11-14 Jack Goes Boating/The Running...
#11 - Jack Goes Boating
Spoiler Alert: Jack does go boating. And thats all that really happens in the movie. Came from a play, and definitely feels like it should have stuck to the stage. Great acting, boring and tiresome characters. Mediocre at best.
Buy Jack Goes Boating
#12 - The Running Man
Typical Arnold action movie, aka an instant classic for me. Gratuitous violence, one liners,...
2011 Films - #10 The Long Kiss Goodnight
I had seen trailers for this movie as a kid and always had wanted to see it. So last night, while trying to fall asleep, I kicked it on via Netflix Instant on my iPhone. It’s quite a bit of fun. Completely preposterous, and most recently comparable to Salt, only better. Geena Davis stars, and Samuel L. Jackson is awesome as her co-star.
2011 Films - #8-9 Inside Job/The Green Hornet
#8 - Inside Job
A great documentary, that all people should really see. I caught it at a second-run theater for $2, and was the youngest person in the theater by about 50-60 years(no joke). The film chronicles what led to the economic crash in 2008, how it happened, and whats happening now. Very illuminating and enraging image of what has become a global issue of financial fraud.
#9 - The...
2011 Films - #7 Barney's Version
I enjoyed Barney’s Version quite a bit whilst watching it, but discussing it with my brother afterwards we came to the conclusion that it is quite a flawed film. It flows quite well until the dragging last 15-20 minutes, but it could have flowed in a smarter and more meaningful way with some small changes. The screenplay was adapted, so the original book obviously will make more sense when...
Out from Under The Dome
Almost exactly one year ago, I purchased Stephen King’s Under The Dome, his most recent novel about what a small town goes through after being contained for unknown reasons within a forcefield that wraps around its borders. I know it’s been a year because I bought it along with DC Pierson’s The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep And Never Had To, and The Complete Bone Collection...
2011 Films - #6 True Grit (2010)
Planned to see this Christmas Day, but a family emergency delayed it until this morning. What a great flick. Funny, some good action, great music, and awesome posters leading up to its release. See it.
2011 Films - #5 Somewhere
Although I like seeing Stephen Dorff in movies, and he does have a few good moments, this film really seemed like Sophia Coppola was digging for another Lost in Translation, but unlike that film, you walk away from this with nothing. And the end is terrible. Watch Lost in Translation again instead.
Buy Lost in Translation
2011 Films - #4 Trash Humpers
I had heard some rumblings about this “movie” and had seen it even break into a few 2010 Top 10 lists, and of course the title alone forced a viewing from me. I’ll start by saying if you’re not sold on the title, don’t bother at all. It’s not really a movie…it’s more a mashup of Jackass and the floating trash bag scene from American Beauty. It...
2011 Films - #1-3 Arthur/Rambo III/Enter The Void
I’ve seen quite a few of my friends doing this, as well as some people I follow on Twitter, so I have decided to jump on the bandwagon and join in. Therefore I’ll be using my blog not only for my irregular blogging, but regular postings of movies that I see that are either new releases, or new to me. Since I decided to do this I have already seen three movies that qualify, so...
