I was taken aback by how much better this movie was than the last one. I wasn’t expecting a serious film. I thought all of the subplots were handled deftly. I actually cared about the characters this time around. The best of the big summer movies so far.
1. Return of the King
2. Children of Men
3. Illuminata
4. Stay
5. Hot Fuzz
6. The Empire Strikes Back
7. American Astronaut
8. Pirates of the Caribbean 3
9. Shortbus
10. Hotel Rwanda
I just need to jot these down before I forget. Hopefully I will get back to more substantial posts once I have settled in here in Austin.
1. Return of the King
2. Children of Men
3. Illuminata
4. Stay
5. Hot Fuzz
6. The Empire Strikes Back
7. American Astronaut
8. Shortbus
9. Hotel Rwanda
10. Stranger Than Fiction
Originally I had no intention of seeing Grindhouse. I love Rodriguez and Tarantino, but this looked like an over the top gorefest a la From Dusk ‘Til Dawn and I really don’t like those types of movies. But I had the opportunity to see it with a unique crowd and a unique venue, so I didn’t turn it down. It was insanely gory and violent, but it was executed brilliantly. Rodriguez shot his segment digitally and then added tons of processing effects to make it look like it was filmed thirty years ago. Death Prook, Tarantino’s segment, was a bit like Reservoir Dogs: long stretches of dialogue punctuated by horrible violence.
1. Return of the King
2. Children of Men
3. Stay
4. American Astronaut
5. Shortbus
6. Stranger Than Fiction
7. Pan’s Labyrinth
8. Grindhouse
9. Apocalypto
10. Black Snake Moan
By some unknown series of misfortunes, Suzanne had yet to see Return of the King, so Lesley decided to remedy this by having a “Make Suzie Watch Return of the King” party. Since such a film deserves to be seen on a big screen, I volunteered my home theater. Little did I realize how many people would be attending. I must have had 10 people in my apartment! At last I was able to see if my seating calculations would prove true. My new folding chairs came in handy as well.
This movie will always be close to my heart. I cannot separate the experience of seeing it from meeting Peter Jackson at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, surrounded by fellow geeks. Peter had been walking down the aisle and, when he turned to wave at someone, had lost his balance and tumbled down a few stairs, landing in front of me. A wave of shock washed over the theater as we thought, “We killed Peter!” Without really thinking about what I was doing, I reached down, grabbed him under the arm and pulled him to his feet (he is a small man), pointing him in the direction of the stage. Later, when he came back down the aisle to sit with us, I told him, “Hey, watch your step this time.” He chuckled and said that a nearby serving table had helped break most of the fall.
1. Return of the King
2. Children of Men
3. Stay
4. American Astronaut
5. Shortbus
6. Stranger Than Fiction
7. Pan’s Labyrinth
8. Apocalypto
9. Black Snake Moan
10. Heavenly Creatures
This movie is so uncomfortably honest and raw and naked. It exposes sexual relationship issues in the most realistic way I’ve ever seen in a movie. My emotions and behavior are as confusing as the situations in this movie. It is so messy and complicated and simple and sad and joyous.
1. Children of Men
2. Stay
3. American Astronaut
4. Shortbus
5. Stranger Than Fiction
6. Pan’s Labyrinth
7. Apocalypto
8. Black Snake Moan
9. Heavenly Creatures
10. Uzumaki
I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. It was gorgeous to look at. I loved the visual style and character design. The blood particle effects were cool. But every battle is in slow motion. And by the time I accepted this as the visual language of the film, it was over. It was so overused that it was no longer a special effect. I mean, it still looked really cool, but it wore thin.
I didn’t expect as many quiet moments as there were. I expected a brief intro which ramped up to non-stop carnage. Instead the film is broken up into two storylines: the battle and life back home, which I will dub Rome Lite. If you’ve seen Rome, then you’ll get it. Although it was not a slavish adaptation of the graphic novel a la Sin City, it did adhere fairly closely to some of the most memorable panels. I had seen all of the intense scenes from the trailer so many times that by the time they happened in the context of the film, they were stripped of power. Overall, it was gorgeous, but diluted. It became a sprawling epic film for tiny slices of time and then shrunk down to very small moments. It was worth seeing, but it was not the mind-blowing action film I was expecting.
I went to add this to the top ten list, but realized that it would be #11. I enjoyed The Host more.
1. Children of Men
2. Stay
3. American Astronaut
4. Stranger Than Fiction
5. Pan’s Labyrinth
6. Apocalypto
7. Black Snake Moan
8. Heavenly Creatures
9. Uzumaki
10. The Host
I have no idea how this film came to be in my NetFlix queue, but I’m glad I finally popped it in. Imagine if David Lynch wrote and directed an episode of Firefly. As a rock musical. This is one of those low budget films where such constraints actually elevate the art. The costumes and props are brilliant. The special effects are barely there, with fantastic still frames standing in for any sort of animation. And it stars The Man Who Looks Exactly Like Hugh Jackman But Somehow Isn’t.
Anyone considering this film should be warned that it is an acquired taste, not for casual consumption. If you couldn’t sit through Eraserhead or Mullholland Drive, then American Astronaut will test your sanity.
But it is one of my new all-time favorite films.
1. Children of Men
2. Stay
3. American Astronaut
4. Pan’s Labyrinth
5. Apocalypto
6. Heavenly Creatures
7. Uzumaki
8. The Host
9. Russian Ark
10. Ghost World
You have to hand it to the Koreans for coming up with a unique monster movie. They go against many of the established creature feature conventions. The monster appears within the first 15 minutes of the film, full-on in broad daylight. No skulking about in the shadows, hints of glistening tentacles out of the corner of your eye. None of that. It never jumps out and scares you; you can always hear it coming. The tempo of the monster’s scenes is like a cross between Godzilla and the raptors in Jurassic Park.
I didn’t get into the character drama at all and didn’t feel too sympathetic towards the protagonist family. Many of their scenes seemed like comedic relief, even the more serious ones. The brave little girl is the Ripley of this movie and I cheered for her whenever she appeared.
If you want to see a freaky cool monster unlike any you’ve seen before, you should check out The Host.
1. Children of Men
2. Stay
3. Pan’s Labyrinth
4. Apocalypto
5. Heavenly Creatures
6. Uzumaki
7. The Host
8. Russian Ark
9. Ghost World
10.
I’m giving Apocalypto high marks because it is visually stunning and richly textured. Bonus points for being entirely in Mayan (with English subtitles). I also enjoyed the not-so-subtle political/environmental subtext.
1. Children of Men
2. Stay
3. Pan’s Labyrinth
4. Apocalypto
5. Heavenly Creatures
6. Uzumaki
7. Russian Ark
8. Ghost World
9.
10.