Just watched Blade Runner: The Final Cut in hi def. It was like seeing it for the first time. I wanted to just lean out and lick the rain off the Tyrell Corporation building.

1. The Fountain
2. Blade Runner
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Batman Begins
5. Ghostbusters
6. Barton Fink
7. Old Boy
7. Iron Man
9. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
10. District B-13

I really enjoyed this movie, but I can understand why some people will hate it. I don’t think a lot of people will consider that when Lucas and Spielberg shift the era in which the story is told, they will also shift the genre to the pulp stories of that time. I think it is too much to expect from today’s audience that they will be familiar with the genre.

To me, it was textbook pulp adventure, blending a lot of familiar themes and stories to give it a classic feel. I think anyone who has made up their mind about what an Indiana Jones movie must be about will be hugely disappointed. But if you take it in context, it is a classic pulp adventure story.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
8. District B-13
9. Cradle Will Rock
10. My Left Foot

J’avais entendu “le parkour” séquences ont été incroyables, mais je n’avais aucune idée de comment serré le reste du film allait être.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. District B-13
8. Cradle Will Rock
9. My Left Foot
10. Ratatouille

How did such a wonderful film escape my notice until now? It reminds me a lot of Illuminata, and not just because John Turturro and Susan Sarandon feature prominently in both. And Paul Giamatti has yet to disappoint. Plus it has the Cusacks! And where else can you see Bill Murray and Tenacious D as 1930s vaudevillians? It feels a lot like a P.T. Anderson film by way of Turturro. Dry and authentic with flashes of humor and magical realism.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. Cradle Will Rock
8. My Left Foot
9. Ratatouille
10. Gone Baby Gone

I was worried during the first act as it was full of lengthy exposition. I thought “Shouldn’t there be some racing?” But after that, it was a fun ride.

This is definitely a kid’s film. The humor and wacky action is definitely aimed for 10 or 12 year olds. So there’s that. The style is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a crazy twisting neon kaleidoscope of races and fight scenes witnessed previously only in anime. Everything about the races is over the top. Cars don’t spend more than two seconds going straight ahead. The rest of the time they are drifting into impossible spaghetti curves or flipping through the air or cartwheeling along mountainsides.

The editing and visual style definitely overwhelm everything else. Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Christina Ricci hold their own like pros. Emil Hirsch does a fair job competing against the visual effects to be a likable Speed. The kid playing Spritle is the Jar-Jar of the film, though he has some genuinely funny moments. And there’s a monkey. Who doesn’t love monkeys?

My favorite character was Racer X. I kind of wish the movie was called “Racer X’ instead of “Speed Racer”, but that’s me.

The second act is the most fun, with all kinds of crazy racing, Dragonball Z fight sequences and ninjas. You already know how the third act is going to go down about halfway through the film, but it was still fun to watch.

If you can get past the groan-worthy first part of the movie, there’s a lot to enjoy. Whoever cut this film is a true artist. The mind that could think in the same way that this film moves brushes against the alien.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. My Left Foot
8. Ratatouille
9. Speed Racer
10. Gone Baby Gone

Exceeded all expectations. Awesome. Remember to stay until the after credits for maximum geek impact.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. My Left Foot
8. Ratatouille
9. Gone Baby Gone
10. Cloverfield

“Can ten years of imaginary training be put to use? Apparently, it can.”

“Let’s show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown.”

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. My Left Foot
7. Ratatouille
8. Cloverfield
9. Juno
10. 9 Lives

I had forgotten how amazing Batman Begins was. I hadn’t seen it since the theater. The cast is just saturated with talent, a who’s who of amazing non-genre actors bringing their A game to a genre film. As far as I know, this is the only superhero film to have pulled that off.

Since Nukes is sadly behind in his watching of the Coen Brother’s filmography,  we watched Barton Fink last night. This was the first Coen Brothers film I had ever seen. It had been part of a class in college. I don’t think I appreciated it nearly as much as I did last night. It is definitely up there as one of the top Coen Brothers films.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Barton Fink
4. My Left Foot
5. Ratatouille
6. Cloverfield
7. Juno
8. 9 Lives
9. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
10. Charlie Bartlett