As promised, I will now provide you with 239 movies. Feel free to cut and paste the following to your Facebook account to show all of your friends up:
People say there's no such thing as watching "too many movies," but once I filled this out, I started to wonder. The titles are familiar, but how many have you watched? Cut and paste this to your account, place an "X" next to the movies you've seen, and see where you stand.
() Lawrence of Arabia
() The African Queen
() Beetlejuice
() Do the Right Thing
() The Third Man
() Breakfast at Tiffany's
() Forbidden Planet
() The Searchers
() North by Northwest
() Bringing Up Baby
Total:
() The City of Lost Children
() Amelie
() Goldfinger
() Blade Runner
() The Blues Brothers
() The Great Escape
() From Here to Eternity
() The Incredibles
() Metropolis
() Sexy Beast
() Punch-drunk Love
() Enter the Dragon
() Citizen Kane
() Touch of Evil
Total so far:
() M
() The Bicycle Thieves
() La Strada
() 8 1/2
() Jules and Jim
() The 400 Blows
() The Virgin Spring
() The Seventh Seal
() Rashomon
() Seven Samurai
() Yojimbo
Total so far:
() A Fistful of Dollars
() For a Few Dollars More
() The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
() Hang 'em High
() Unforgiven
() Where Eagles Dare
() Dirty Harry
() The Bridges of Madison County
() The Outlaw Josey Wales
() Every Which Way But Loose
Total so far:
() Casablanca
() The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
() The Happening
() The Graduate
() Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
() Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
() Sleeping Beauty
() Alice in Wonderland (1951)
() Young Frankenstein
() Ferris Bueller's Day Off
() Pretty in Pink
Total so far:
() Tron
() The Goonies
() Commando
() The Piano
() Love Story
() Faces of Death
() The Godfather
() The Godfather Part II
() The Godfather Part III
() Apocalypse Now
() The Deer Hunter
() Gojira
Total so far:
() A Fish Called Wanda
() The Fugitive Kind
() Robocop
() The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
() Pootie Tang
() Back to the Future
() Escape from New York
() Troll 2
() Pee Wee's Big Adventure
() The Big Lebowski
() The General
() Pan's Labyrinth
() The House on Haunted Hill
() The Sound of Music
Total so far:
() Dazed and Confused
() Slacker
() The Thing from Another World
() The Thing
() In Bruges
() Oldboy
() Taxi Driver
() Goodfellas
() After Hours
() The Departed
Total so far:
() Time Bandits
() Brazil
() Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
() Dead Man
() Say Anything
() Black Dynamite
() Pineapple Express
() Heathers
() The Fifth Element
() Bull Durham
() Field of Dreams
() Real Genius
() Ed Wood
() Pink Flamingos
() The Natural
Total so far:
() The Rock
() Sunset Boulevard
() Stranger Than Fiction
() The Thief of Bagdad
() Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
() Easy Rider
() The Kid Stays in the Picture
() What's Up, Doc?
() Sling Blade
() Point Blank
() Alien
() The Wild Bunch
() American Graffiti
() Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
() Ghostbusters
() Desperately Seeking Susan
Total so far:
() Network
() Night of the Living Dead
() Doctor Zhivago
() Harlan County, USA
() Jaws
() Close Encounters of the Third Kind
() Caddyshack
() City Lights
() The Fountain
() Cool Hand Luke
() Spartacus
() Annie Hall
Total so far:
() Hoop Dreams
() Slap Shot
() The Apartment
() Singin' in the Rain
() Jackie Brown
() My Fair Lady
() One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
() Chinatown
() The 'Burbs
() Arsenic and Old Lace
() 2001: A Space Odyssey
() A Clockwork Orange
() Full Metal Jacket
() The Shining
Total so far:
() Heat
() Carnival of Souls
() My Own Private Idaho
() Leon: The Professional
() The City of Lost Children
() Monster Squad
() The Thin Blue Line
() Stagecoach
() Heist
() The Jerk
() Bonnie and Clyde
() The Prestige
() The Aristocrats
() South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
() Sleepy Hollow
() Modern Times
() The Gold Rush
() The Great Dictator
Total so far:
() The Maltese Falcon
() A Christmas Story
() It's A Wonderful Life
() Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
() No Country for Old Men
() There Will Be Blood
() Pride and Prejudice
() Howards End
() Elizabeth
() The Big Sleep
Total so far:
() Batman (1989)
() Batman Returns
() Batman Forever
() Batman & Robin
() Batman Begins
() The Dark Knight
Total so far:
() Lost Highway
() The Elephant Man
() Blue Velvet
() Scanners
() Videodrome
() The Exterminator
() Rushmore
() The Royal Tenenbaums
() The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
() Fantastic Mr. Fox
Total so Far:
() Drunken Master 2
() Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior
() Double Indemnity
() Under Siege
() Die Hard
() Avatar
() The Frighteners
() Dog Day Afternoon
() All the President's Men
Total so far:
() Friday the 13th
() The Road Warrior
() Lethal Weapon
() An Officer and a Gentleman
() Dirty Dancing
() Showgirls
() Night of the Lepus
() The Toxic Avenger
() Hearts of Darkness
() A Scanner Darkly
Total so far:
() Conan the Barbarian
() The Nightmare Before Christmas
() Gladiator
() Rock 'n Roll High School
() The Philadelphia Story
() Dracula
() Frankenstein
() The Bride of Frankenstein
() The Wolf Man
() The Mummy
Total so far:
() JFK
() Platoon
() Clerks
() Cannibal! The Musical
() Plan 9 from Outer Space
() The Last Man on Earth
() The Omega Man
() I Am Legend
Total so far:
() Gone with the Wind
() Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
() C.H.U.D.
() Shaft
() Being John Malkovich
() Miller's Crossing
() Hamlet
() Planet of the Apes (1968)
() Robinson Crusoe on Mars
() Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Showing posts with label The Movie Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Movie Game. Show all posts
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Some Thoughts on Movie Memes
I imagine that in this social networking world, most of you have Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or whatever the newest one is that people are going to be harassing the Cap'n to join up because "you just gotta!" only to express shock that I finally did two years later. One of the things about Facebook that I'm still getting a hang on is the idea of being tagged in "Notes"*, especially notes that don't mention your name anywhere in them.
The idea, it seems, it to try to cajole you into partaking in these memes or to try to get you to read the note (which functions not dis-similarly from what the Cap'n does here most days) and comment on it. I get the latter, but I've never been a big "meme" person. I don't like filling out surveys or answering random "tell us about yourself by using a song title for each category" etc. I also don't forward emails to ten people, even if it means using the inexplicable wizardry of the internet to grant wishes. I guess that if the wish is that important to someone else, then they can fill up your "spam" inbox to win the lottery (or whatever people wish for... dry cleaning?)
But every now and then I'll get tagged in one of these Movie memes, presumably because the Cap'n is "the movie guy" and thusly would want to break his normal habit of having nothing to do with them and will jump right in. The most recent one is a variation of something I've been seeing for years (right down to the movies listed): the "check off how many you've seen to demonstrate what a loser you are."
To wit:
SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life (good to know.) . Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own Facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom.
() Rocky Horror Picture Show
() Grease
() Pirates of the Caribbean
() Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
() Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
() Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
() Airplane
Total:
() The Princess Bride
() Anchorman
() Napoleon Dynamite
() Labyrinth
() Saw
() Saw II
() Saw III
() Saw IV
() White Noise
() White Oleander
() Anger Management
() 50 First Dates
() The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far:
() Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
() American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:
() Harry Potter 1
() Harry Potter 2
() Harry Potter 3
() Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
() The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
() The Village
() Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:
() Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
() Signs
() The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
() I, Robot
() Robots
Total so far:
() Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
() Deep Impact
() KingPin
() Never Been Kissed
() Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
() KING KONG
Total so far:
() A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
() Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber
Total so far:
() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
() Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far:
() The Day After Tomorrow
() Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
() Sixteen Candles
() Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
() The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
Total so far:
() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
() Ocean's Eleven
() Ocean's Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremacy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
() Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far:
() Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
() ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far:
() Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
() Ever After
() Wizard of Oz
() Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far:
() X-Men
() X-2
() X-3
() Spider-Man
() Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
() The Little Mermaid
() Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
() Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
() Shrek
() Shrek 2
Total so far:
() Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street
() Old School
() The Notebook
() K-Pax
() Krippendorf's Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
() The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far:
() Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
() Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
() Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
() Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
() Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
()Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far:
() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
() Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
() American History
() Three
Total so Far:
() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
() Monsters Inc.
() Titanic
() Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far:
() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
() Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Office Space
() Waterworld
Total so far:
() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far:
() Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
() Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
() Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
() Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
() Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
() Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far:
() The Matrix
() The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
() Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
In the spirit of hipster irony, people have been floating this around Facebook as a badge of pride, "look how I have no life but that actually makes me cool by having no life etc." Look, nothing personal against the people taking it; I understand. It's a challenge of your movie watching acumen, and it creates a handy number with which you can gauge your relative cinephile-ness against your friends. Fair enough.
The problem I have with the list - which, as I've said, hasn't changed that much in the last five years or so, right down to the fact that you can almost tell when it was written by the most recent movies listed - is that it's not terribly imaginative. This variation dropped the "add five movies when you finish this and pass it on" component that I remember, which is why it's so haphazard as is, but White Oleander? Really? Ice Castles? Joy Ride?
Look, I've seen Joy Ride (in the theatre) but I sincerely doubt 90% of the people taking this have. Ditto for The Jacket, which while I enjoyed it, is not something that even played in theatres for long enough for most folks to be aware of. (Oh, if you're wondering, I top out at 162).
So I'm going to give it a go. Tomorrow, I'll put up a list of 239 movies, many of which I have the feeling more people know the names of, but I'm curious to see how many you've seen. It's true that the Cap'n could simply throw up a list of 200 obscure films that I've seen to prove how much cooler I am blah blah blah. But that's not how this is going to work. In honor of the inclusion of some very random films in the other meme (including I Spit on Your Grave, Lone Star, and Mars Attacks), I'll throw in some out-of-left-field ones to see just how deepis your love your viewing tastes go, but it's not strictly "what is that movie omgz?!?!?!"
So look forward to that tomorrow. If you're feeling bold, please feel free to take the above meme and leave it as a comment. I'm sorry that I failed you guys in not having watched Cruel Intentions, The Whole Nine Yards, and Broken Lizard's Club Dread.
* I understand the tagging on all that other crap, even though people seem to hate it when I "tag" them in pictures. Well, now you know how the Cap'n feels. I like taking pictures of people, but I do not like being in them.
The idea, it seems, it to try to cajole you into partaking in these memes or to try to get you to read the note (which functions not dis-similarly from what the Cap'n does here most days) and comment on it. I get the latter, but I've never been a big "meme" person. I don't like filling out surveys or answering random "tell us about yourself by using a song title for each category" etc. I also don't forward emails to ten people, even if it means using the inexplicable wizardry of the internet to grant wishes. I guess that if the wish is that important to someone else, then they can fill up your "spam" inbox to win the lottery (or whatever people wish for... dry cleaning?)
But every now and then I'll get tagged in one of these Movie memes, presumably because the Cap'n is "the movie guy" and thusly would want to break his normal habit of having nothing to do with them and will jump right in. The most recent one is a variation of something I've been seeing for years (right down to the movies listed): the "check off how many you've seen to demonstrate what a loser you are."
To wit:
SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life (good to know.) . Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own Facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom.
() Rocky Horror Picture Show
() Grease
() Pirates of the Caribbean
() Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
() Boondock Saints
() Fight Club
() Starsky and Hutch
() Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
() Airplane
Total:
() The Princess Bride
() Anchorman
() Napoleon Dynamite
() Labyrinth
() Saw
() Saw II
() Saw III
() Saw IV
() White Noise
() White Oleander
() Anger Management
() 50 First Dates
() The Princess Diaries
() The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far:
() Scream
() Scream 2
() Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
() American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
Total so far:
() Harry Potter 1
() Harry Potter 2
() Harry Potter 3
() Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
() The Wedding Singer
() Little Black Book
() The Village
() Lilo & Stitch
Total so far:
() Finding Nemo
() Finding Neverland
() Signs
() The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
() White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
() 13 Going on 30
() I, Robot
() Robots
Total so far:
() Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
() Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
() Along Came Polly
() Deep Impact
() KingPin
() Never Been Kissed
() Meet The Parents
() Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
() KING KONG
Total so far:
() A Cinderella Story
() The Terminal
() The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
() Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
() Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
() The Ring
() The Ring 2
() Surviving X-MAS
() Flubber
Total so far:
() Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
() Practical Magic
() Chicago
() Ghost Ship
() From Hell
() Hellboy
() Secret Window
() I Am Sam
() The Whole Nine Yards
() The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far:
() The Day After Tomorrow
() Child's Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
() Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
() Nightmare on Elm Street
() Sixteen Candles
() Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
() The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
() The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
Total so far:
() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Slevin
() Ocean's Eleven
() Ocean's Twelve
() Bourne Identity
() Bourne Supremacy
() Lone Star
() Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
() Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
Total so far:
() Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
() ET
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
() Maid in Manhattan
() War of the Worlds
() Rush Hour
() Rush Hour 2
Total so far:
() Best Bet
() How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
() She's All That
() Calendar Girls
() Sideways
() Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
() Ever After
() Wizard of Oz
() Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
Total so far:
() X-Men
() X-2
() X-3
() Spider-Man
() Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
() Catch Me If You Can
() The Little Mermaid
() Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
() The Skulls
() Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
() Shrek
() Shrek 2
Total so far:
() Swimfan
() Miracle on 34th street
() Old School
() The Notebook
() K-Pax
() Krippendorf's Tribe
() A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
() The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far:
() Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
() Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
() Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
() Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
() Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
()Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far:
() Baseketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
() Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
() American History
() Three
Total so Far:
() The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
() Monsters Inc.
() Titanic
() Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
Total so far:
() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
() Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
() 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Office Space
() Waterworld
Total so far:
() Kill Bill vol 1
() Kill Bill vol 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
Total so far:
() Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
() Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
() Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
() Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
() Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
() Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far:
() The Matrix
() The Matrix Reloaded
() The Matrix Revolutions
() Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
() Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
() Silence of the Lambs
() Hannibal
In the spirit of hipster irony, people have been floating this around Facebook as a badge of pride, "look how I have no life but that actually makes me cool by having no life etc." Look, nothing personal against the people taking it; I understand. It's a challenge of your movie watching acumen, and it creates a handy number with which you can gauge your relative cinephile-ness against your friends. Fair enough.
The problem I have with the list - which, as I've said, hasn't changed that much in the last five years or so, right down to the fact that you can almost tell when it was written by the most recent movies listed - is that it's not terribly imaginative. This variation dropped the "add five movies when you finish this and pass it on" component that I remember, which is why it's so haphazard as is, but White Oleander? Really? Ice Castles? Joy Ride?
Look, I've seen Joy Ride (in the theatre) but I sincerely doubt 90% of the people taking this have. Ditto for The Jacket, which while I enjoyed it, is not something that even played in theatres for long enough for most folks to be aware of. (Oh, if you're wondering, I top out at 162).
So I'm going to give it a go. Tomorrow, I'll put up a list of 239 movies, many of which I have the feeling more people know the names of, but I'm curious to see how many you've seen. It's true that the Cap'n could simply throw up a list of 200 obscure films that I've seen to prove how much cooler I am blah blah blah. But that's not how this is going to work. In honor of the inclusion of some very random films in the other meme (including I Spit on Your Grave, Lone Star, and Mars Attacks), I'll throw in some out-of-left-field ones to see just how deep
So look forward to that tomorrow. If you're feeling bold, please feel free to take the above meme and leave it as a comment. I'm sorry that I failed you guys in not having watched Cruel Intentions, The Whole Nine Yards, and Broken Lizard's Club Dread.
* I understand the tagging on all that other crap, even though people seem to hate it when I "tag" them in pictures. Well, now you know how the Cap'n feels. I like taking pictures of people, but I do not like being in them.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009 Recap: Honorable Mentions
Welcome to part one of today's Blogorium madness! In this half of the Year End Recap, I'd like to spend a little time with movies the Cap'n saw this year that, while pretty to very good, didn't make the list of "Favorites". There's nothing about these movies that should prevent you from seeing them, and I recommend them highly. Unlike my favorite films, I'm not going to insist you see them as soon as possible, but I think most readers here will enjoy the "Honorable Mention"s of 2009.
Whenever possible, I'll try to link to the original review and keep my thoughts to a minimum. There's a lot of writing left to do, you see. In no particular order, the movies that weren't my favorite but are still pretty nifty:
I Love You, Man - Still a fun movie to watch, and probably as good as the "Bromantic Comedy" subgenre is going to get. Anchored firmly by Paul Rudd and Jason Segel with some clever supporting roles for Jon Favreau, Jaime Presley, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Jane Curtain, Rob Huebel, Andy Samberg, Jo Lo Truglio, Thomas Lennon and Lou Ferrigno of all people, it's a consistently funny comedy that just missed the cut. Still, if you like Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man is right up your alley.
Star Trek - It only really didn't make it to "favorites" because upon reflection, I honestly can't find a plot to attach the film to. As I've said before, it's a testament to JJ Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with the cast and some great visual effects that for Star Trek's two hour running time you hardly notice. There's not a lot about the film that's hard to like, but I wish that it held up better when put to closer scrutiny. Still, it's not "your father's Star Trek", to be sure, but my dad still liked it. So did I. I just didn't love it.
Coraline - While Coraline has as good a chance as any at dislodging Pixar's Up for Best Animated Film (something I'll get to during the "Favorites"), I think that perhaps my polite admiration for the film is tempered in some way by knowing the story so well. I read Coraline two or three times after its publishing, and as a result, the movie lacked tension to me. It's a completely personal issue, I admit; Henry Selick's animation surpasses The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, and the film has no shortage of amazing sights, but as much as I appreciate Coraline, I just didn't love it. Which is a pity, because I suspect many of you will.
Funny People - I thought long and hard about where Funny People fit in the "Best Of", because I do sincerely recommend you check it out, provided you understand that it's not necessarily a comedy. Perhaps the biggest reason I left Funny People out of my "Favorites" is the length: Apatow's film covers a lot of ground and a lot of characters, and the shifts are a bit awkward, especially when moving back and forth between George (Adam Sandler) and Ira (Seth Rogen). I will note that I watched the theatrical cut and not the extended version, but even at its shortened length I felt Funny People had a bit too much padding. Still, I highly recommend the movie as a character study, and length aside, it's easily the best Judd Apatow movie yet.
Sherlock Holmes - Blame it on all the negative reviews I read after watching the film, which rightly point out things I overlooked because of how charming and fast paced Sherlock Holmes is. It's still a fun movie, and I'll gladly pick it up on Blu-Ray, but it's just shy of my top films.
Crank: High Voltage - I watched Crank: High Voltage again on Blu-Ray, and while the film is still insanely offensive and cartoonish in every regard, it just couldn't match the energy of opening "Bad Movie Weekend" at the premiere. There's nothing wrong with Crank: High Voltage - okay, that depends on your definition of the word "wrong" - but I fear that it may never be as fun as it was in The Carousel.
Public Enemies - I found Michael Mann's Public Enemies to be an exceptionally well made film. It's interesting, and the two-and-a-half hour run time never drags. The digital photography can be a little iffy: it alternates between "ye gods! look at that detail" to "yeesh! that digital grain is unbearable" and even into "should a period film look this contemporary?", but that's Mann's technique of choice and he gets better with it film by film. There's nothing wrong with the cast (more on that in a second), and the true story of Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) chasing John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is frequently riveting. At times it reminded me of Ridley Scott's American Gangster. My favorite scene has to be the moment - probably fictionalized- where Dillinger walks into the Federal Task Force office, totally unnoticed by ancillary agents, and looks around at their evidence boards.
Yet, Public Enemies left me feeling detached. It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie, because I thought there was nothing particularly "off" about it; it's just that I didn't really invest in any of the characters or feel much when Dillinger's men are killed off. Sure, it's a technically fine film, and well acted, but the end result was rather cold. I was never engaged in the story, which is a crippling problem for the Cap'n.
One thing that is likely to come out of Public Enemies is yet another excellent "Movie Game" film. Like Mann's earlier Heat, Public Enemies is filled with recognizable names in smaller roles. For example, in addition to Depp and Bale, you have Marion Cotillard (La vie en Rose), Stephen Lang (Avatar), Jason Clarke (Brotherhood, Death Race), David Wenham (The Two Towers, 300), Stephen Dorff, Channing Tatum (Fighting), Rory Cochrane (Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly), Emilie De Ravin (Lost, Brick), Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Crudup, Shawn Hatosy, Stephen Graham (Snatch), Lili Taylor, and Leelee Sobieski. There are a lot of ways to use Public Enemies in the "Movie Game".
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - After watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets again, I appreciated Half Blood Prince more for its willingness to move away from a "kid's movie", but again I must stress that it doesn't do the title of the film justice, nor does it properly convey the gravity of what's to come in The Deathly Hallows.
Extract - Mike Judge fans are going to enjoy Extract, with reservations. That's my suspicion. Extract is the King of the Hill of Judge's movies: the comedy is mostly understated, and only on rare occasions does the film reach the cartoonish levels peppered through Office Space and abundantly featured in Idiocracy. That said, there's a lot to like about Extract, and a whallop of an ending that reminds you who the director is. Ben Affleck is allowed to be funny again, which should be mandated for his roles from here on out, unless he plans to direct movies as good as Gone Baby Gone in the future.
Jason Bateman is saddled mostly with the "straight man" role, but then again most of the comedians you're expecting to go wild and crazy don't. Like I said, understated. Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., and Mila Kunis are all pretty reserved. Only Dustin Milligan's idiot gigolo Brad, Gene Simmons dirtbag attorney Joe Adler, and David Koechner's neighbor from hell Nathan get to cut loose. Extract is a fun movie, but it's not going to be the kind of film you drag people over to watch, like Office Space or Idiocracy.
World's Greatest Dad - Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, which is not exactly Heathers but does have a character named Heather, is an odd movie. I was expecting it to be much darker than it was, but the movie is kind of uplifting. Well, as uplifting as a movie about a father who fakes his son's suicide after he chokes to death masturbating can be.
The film, which is about Lance Clayton (Robin Williams), an unpublished writer who teaches a barely attended poetry class and has the worst son ever (Daryl Sabara of Spy Kids), is similar to Heathers in that after Kyle dies, a faked suicide note and "secret" journal (both written by Lance) make the little sociopath a school hero. It's never as outlandish as "I Love My Dead Gay Son!", but this kind of movie has to work pretty hard to distance itself from Heathers. World's Greatest Dad doesn't necessarily, but it's still an entertaining film, if you define entertainment by listening to a little shithead talking about felching and anal sex before accidentally strangling himself tugging it to pictures of his dad's girlfriend's underwear.
And yet, I tell you the film is kind of sweet, in ways I couldn't begin to explain without spoiling the film. For some of you, this is right up your alley, but for most it's probably best to move on to the "Favorites" list...
The Girlfriend Experience - I don't have much to add to my review here. I wish I'd seen Soderbergh's The Informant! now, but it'll be out on dvd before too long. While interesting, and certainly worth watching, The Girlfriend Experience isn't quite in the realm of "Best Movies I Saw This Year".
Whatever Works - It's not as good as Match Point, but it's better than Cassandra's Dream. The teaming of Woody Allen and Larry David isn't quite what some people expected, but I liked it.
Stay Tuned for the thrilling conclusion, which will probably be as long, but I'll try to keep things brief!
Whenever possible, I'll try to link to the original review and keep my thoughts to a minimum. There's a lot of writing left to do, you see. In no particular order, the movies that weren't my favorite but are still pretty nifty:
I Love You, Man - Still a fun movie to watch, and probably as good as the "Bromantic Comedy" subgenre is going to get. Anchored firmly by Paul Rudd and Jason Segel with some clever supporting roles for Jon Favreau, Jaime Presley, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Jane Curtain, Rob Huebel, Andy Samberg, Jo Lo Truglio, Thomas Lennon and Lou Ferrigno of all people, it's a consistently funny comedy that just missed the cut. Still, if you like Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man is right up your alley.
Star Trek - It only really didn't make it to "favorites" because upon reflection, I honestly can't find a plot to attach the film to. As I've said before, it's a testament to JJ Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with the cast and some great visual effects that for Star Trek's two hour running time you hardly notice. There's not a lot about the film that's hard to like, but I wish that it held up better when put to closer scrutiny. Still, it's not "your father's Star Trek", to be sure, but my dad still liked it. So did I. I just didn't love it.
Coraline - While Coraline has as good a chance as any at dislodging Pixar's Up for Best Animated Film (something I'll get to during the "Favorites"), I think that perhaps my polite admiration for the film is tempered in some way by knowing the story so well. I read Coraline two or three times after its publishing, and as a result, the movie lacked tension to me. It's a completely personal issue, I admit; Henry Selick's animation surpasses The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, and the film has no shortage of amazing sights, but as much as I appreciate Coraline, I just didn't love it. Which is a pity, because I suspect many of you will.
Funny People - I thought long and hard about where Funny People fit in the "Best Of", because I do sincerely recommend you check it out, provided you understand that it's not necessarily a comedy. Perhaps the biggest reason I left Funny People out of my "Favorites" is the length: Apatow's film covers a lot of ground and a lot of characters, and the shifts are a bit awkward, especially when moving back and forth between George (Adam Sandler) and Ira (Seth Rogen). I will note that I watched the theatrical cut and not the extended version, but even at its shortened length I felt Funny People had a bit too much padding. Still, I highly recommend the movie as a character study, and length aside, it's easily the best Judd Apatow movie yet.
Sherlock Holmes - Blame it on all the negative reviews I read after watching the film, which rightly point out things I overlooked because of how charming and fast paced Sherlock Holmes is. It's still a fun movie, and I'll gladly pick it up on Blu-Ray, but it's just shy of my top films.
Crank: High Voltage - I watched Crank: High Voltage again on Blu-Ray, and while the film is still insanely offensive and cartoonish in every regard, it just couldn't match the energy of opening "Bad Movie Weekend" at the premiere. There's nothing wrong with Crank: High Voltage - okay, that depends on your definition of the word "wrong" - but I fear that it may never be as fun as it was in The Carousel.
Public Enemies - I found Michael Mann's Public Enemies to be an exceptionally well made film. It's interesting, and the two-and-a-half hour run time never drags. The digital photography can be a little iffy: it alternates between "ye gods! look at that detail" to "yeesh! that digital grain is unbearable" and even into "should a period film look this contemporary?", but that's Mann's technique of choice and he gets better with it film by film. There's nothing wrong with the cast (more on that in a second), and the true story of Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) chasing John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) is frequently riveting. At times it reminded me of Ridley Scott's American Gangster. My favorite scene has to be the moment - probably fictionalized- where Dillinger walks into the Federal Task Force office, totally unnoticed by ancillary agents, and looks around at their evidence boards.
Yet, Public Enemies left me feeling detached. It's not that I didn't enjoy the movie, because I thought there was nothing particularly "off" about it; it's just that I didn't really invest in any of the characters or feel much when Dillinger's men are killed off. Sure, it's a technically fine film, and well acted, but the end result was rather cold. I was never engaged in the story, which is a crippling problem for the Cap'n.
One thing that is likely to come out of Public Enemies is yet another excellent "Movie Game" film. Like Mann's earlier Heat, Public Enemies is filled with recognizable names in smaller roles. For example, in addition to Depp and Bale, you have Marion Cotillard (La vie en Rose), Stephen Lang (Avatar), Jason Clarke (Brotherhood, Death Race), David Wenham (The Two Towers, 300), Stephen Dorff, Channing Tatum (Fighting), Rory Cochrane (Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly), Emilie De Ravin (Lost, Brick), Giovanni Ribisi, Billy Crudup, Shawn Hatosy, Stephen Graham (Snatch), Lili Taylor, and Leelee Sobieski. There are a lot of ways to use Public Enemies in the "Movie Game".
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - After watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets again, I appreciated Half Blood Prince more for its willingness to move away from a "kid's movie", but again I must stress that it doesn't do the title of the film justice, nor does it properly convey the gravity of what's to come in The Deathly Hallows.
Extract - Mike Judge fans are going to enjoy Extract, with reservations. That's my suspicion. Extract is the King of the Hill of Judge's movies: the comedy is mostly understated, and only on rare occasions does the film reach the cartoonish levels peppered through Office Space and abundantly featured in Idiocracy. That said, there's a lot to like about Extract, and a whallop of an ending that reminds you who the director is. Ben Affleck is allowed to be funny again, which should be mandated for his roles from here on out, unless he plans to direct movies as good as Gone Baby Gone in the future.
Jason Bateman is saddled mostly with the "straight man" role, but then again most of the comedians you're expecting to go wild and crazy don't. Like I said, understated. Kristen Wiig, J.K. Simmons, Clifton Collins Jr., and Mila Kunis are all pretty reserved. Only Dustin Milligan's idiot gigolo Brad, Gene Simmons dirtbag attorney Joe Adler, and David Koechner's neighbor from hell Nathan get to cut loose. Extract is a fun movie, but it's not going to be the kind of film you drag people over to watch, like Office Space or Idiocracy.
World's Greatest Dad - Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, which is not exactly Heathers but does have a character named Heather, is an odd movie. I was expecting it to be much darker than it was, but the movie is kind of uplifting. Well, as uplifting as a movie about a father who fakes his son's suicide after he chokes to death masturbating can be.
The film, which is about Lance Clayton (Robin Williams), an unpublished writer who teaches a barely attended poetry class and has the worst son ever (Daryl Sabara of Spy Kids), is similar to Heathers in that after Kyle dies, a faked suicide note and "secret" journal (both written by Lance) make the little sociopath a school hero. It's never as outlandish as "I Love My Dead Gay Son!", but this kind of movie has to work pretty hard to distance itself from Heathers. World's Greatest Dad doesn't necessarily, but it's still an entertaining film, if you define entertainment by listening to a little shithead talking about felching and anal sex before accidentally strangling himself tugging it to pictures of his dad's girlfriend's underwear.
And yet, I tell you the film is kind of sweet, in ways I couldn't begin to explain without spoiling the film. For some of you, this is right up your alley, but for most it's probably best to move on to the "Favorites" list...
The Girlfriend Experience - I don't have much to add to my review here. I wish I'd seen Soderbergh's The Informant! now, but it'll be out on dvd before too long. While interesting, and certainly worth watching, The Girlfriend Experience isn't quite in the realm of "Best Movies I Saw This Year".
Whatever Works - It's not as good as Match Point, but it's better than Cassandra's Dream. The teaming of Woody Allen and Larry David isn't quite what some people expected, but I liked it.
Stay Tuned for the thrilling conclusion, which will probably be as long, but I'll try to keep things brief!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Fun for all ages... for about two turns.
Have you ever played "The Movie Game"? It was ubiquitous when I was at university the first time around, and I was quite pleased to discover that it exists outside of the world of college film dorks. I am going to do you a huge favor if you've ever tried the game and stalled out, but first let's catch up everybody else.
For those of you who have not or aren't sure, the game is remarkably simple. At a party or social gathering, take any circle of people (the larger the better), and start the game by naming a movie. The person to your left will then name an actor / actress from that movie, and moving clockwise, you will continue to name another movie they were in, someone in that movie, and so on.
Some folks play for points, and if you get to a certain number of "pass"es, you're out. Others will do an indefinite movement to keep the game going as long as possible, because it can be fun.
There are, invariably, two exceptions to the "fun" rule:
1) Someone who is moderately to very drunk will always insist that they're going to "kick your ass", only to complain about how hard the game is and wander off halfway through. Happens every time.
2) Two or three people will emerge as being very good at the game, and eventually as alcohol and party interests remove all other players, it will shrink to a very sad state indeed.
As a way to prevent the second from happening and to provide the drunken fool from the first point a fair shot, I'm going to provide you with the Rosetta Stone of "Movie Game" movies. It also happens to be the easiest way in or out of a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game you'll ever play, but that is another story.
Normally, I would tell you to study up on the filmographies of Wallace Shawn, Paul Giamatti, Bud Cort, Bob Balaban, or any number of terribly useful supporting actors that appear in just about everything, but for the novice, may I present a film so packed with actors and actresses that it's almost impossible not to immediately find another movie to go to.
I present to you, Michael Mann's Heat.
Watching it again this afternoon, as I seem to do every two or three years, I'm struck not only by how well it still holds up, but also at the almost ridiculous amount of "name" talent who appear in small roles. Starting with the leads, I'm just going to work my way through the cast - periodically identifying movies of names that don't seem familiar- and I guarantee your movie game has an ace up its sleeve from the get-go:
Al Pacino
Robert DeNiro
Val Kilmer
Jon Voight
Tom Sizemore
Ashley Judd
Natalie Portman
Jeremy Piven
Danny Trejo
Henry Rollins
William Finchter (Contact, The Chumscrubber)
Dennis Haysbert (24, Jarhead, Far from Heaven)
Hank Azaria (The Simpsons, Grosse Point Blank, Shattered Glass)
Ted Levine (Evolution, Birth, The Fast and the Furious)
Tom Noonan (Last Action Hero, The Pledge, Heaven's Gate)
Kevin Gage (Space Camp, The 'burbs, May)
Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans)
Xander Berkeley (The Grifters, Taken, Candyman)
Bud Cort (Harold and Maude, Pollock, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)
Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump, Con Air)
Diane Venora (Bird, The Substitute)
Amy Brenneman (Your Friends & Neighbors, City of Angels)
Tone Loc (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest)
You can get in and out of Heat in any number of conceivable ways, and believe me when I say I'm scraping the tip of the iceberg with the likes of William Finchter and Xander Berkeley's film work. The same goes for Hank Azaria, Danny Trejo, Kevin Gage, and Henry Rollins. Or hell, play it safe and work from the top of the list. And what did I say about Bud Cort? See how he pops up in the oddest places?
Watching Heat is a who's who of "hey, that guy!", and movies like this keep "The Movie Game" interesting precisely because they open up more opportunities for others. It can get you out of a sticky situation when someone drops a really random movie that only one big "name" is in. Suddenly you can whip out Heat and save the day!
For you trivia junkies out there, I imagine you'll be studying the bottom of the list, and you'll have a lot to work with. I look forward to locking horns with you in the future...
For those of you who have not or aren't sure, the game is remarkably simple. At a party or social gathering, take any circle of people (the larger the better), and start the game by naming a movie. The person to your left will then name an actor / actress from that movie, and moving clockwise, you will continue to name another movie they were in, someone in that movie, and so on.
Some folks play for points, and if you get to a certain number of "pass"es, you're out. Others will do an indefinite movement to keep the game going as long as possible, because it can be fun.
There are, invariably, two exceptions to the "fun" rule:
1) Someone who is moderately to very drunk will always insist that they're going to "kick your ass", only to complain about how hard the game is and wander off halfway through. Happens every time.
2) Two or three people will emerge as being very good at the game, and eventually as alcohol and party interests remove all other players, it will shrink to a very sad state indeed.
As a way to prevent the second from happening and to provide the drunken fool from the first point a fair shot, I'm going to provide you with the Rosetta Stone of "Movie Game" movies. It also happens to be the easiest way in or out of a "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game you'll ever play, but that is another story.
Normally, I would tell you to study up on the filmographies of Wallace Shawn, Paul Giamatti, Bud Cort, Bob Balaban, or any number of terribly useful supporting actors that appear in just about everything, but for the novice, may I present a film so packed with actors and actresses that it's almost impossible not to immediately find another movie to go to.
I present to you, Michael Mann's Heat.
Watching it again this afternoon, as I seem to do every two or three years, I'm struck not only by how well it still holds up, but also at the almost ridiculous amount of "name" talent who appear in small roles. Starting with the leads, I'm just going to work my way through the cast - periodically identifying movies of names that don't seem familiar- and I guarantee your movie game has an ace up its sleeve from the get-go:
Al Pacino
Robert DeNiro
Val Kilmer
Jon Voight
Tom Sizemore
Ashley Judd
Natalie Portman
Jeremy Piven
Danny Trejo
Henry Rollins
William Finchter (Contact, The Chumscrubber)
Dennis Haysbert (24, Jarhead, Far from Heaven)
Hank Azaria (The Simpsons, Grosse Point Blank, Shattered Glass)
Ted Levine (Evolution, Birth, The Fast and the Furious)
Tom Noonan (Last Action Hero, The Pledge, Heaven's Gate)
Kevin Gage (Space Camp, The 'burbs, May)
Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans)
Xander Berkeley (The Grifters, Taken, Candyman)
Bud Cort (Harold and Maude, Pollock, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)
Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump, Con Air)
Diane Venora (Bird, The Substitute)
Amy Brenneman (Your Friends & Neighbors, City of Angels)
Tone Loc (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest)
You can get in and out of Heat in any number of conceivable ways, and believe me when I say I'm scraping the tip of the iceberg with the likes of William Finchter and Xander Berkeley's film work. The same goes for Hank Azaria, Danny Trejo, Kevin Gage, and Henry Rollins. Or hell, play it safe and work from the top of the list. And what did I say about Bud Cort? See how he pops up in the oddest places?
Watching Heat is a who's who of "hey, that guy!", and movies like this keep "The Movie Game" interesting precisely because they open up more opportunities for others. It can get you out of a sticky situation when someone drops a really random movie that only one big "name" is in. Suddenly you can whip out Heat and save the day!
For you trivia junkies out there, I imagine you'll be studying the bottom of the list, and you'll have a lot to work with. I look forward to locking horns with you in the future...
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