Man on Wire: A little hard to get into (the first act is a bit artsy) but an interesting doc about a guy in love with his dream.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (but were afraid to ask): I should just stop watching Woody Allen movies. Or maybe stick to his dramas, since I seem to like them more than his comedies (see below). The only comedy of his I can remember liking is Sleeper, but I watched it when I was in sixth grade and had a 102 fever from a case of pneumonia. So... yeah.
Defiance: I honestly cannot even remember if I finished this movie or not. I kind of think I didn't, but that is a testament to how uninteresting I found it.
Stardust Memories: Okay, now this Allen movie I kind of like. Probably because he spends the entire time shamelessly riffing on 8 1/2, which I legitimately did love, and also on a few of Fellini's other films. I liked it because it was slightly less Woody Allenish than usual, basically.
Valley of the Dolls: I haven't read this book since high school but the movie did match up with my memory of the book as soapy ridiculousness. That being said, this is also a terrible movie. The acting is terrible (maybe this is wrong to say, but was Sharon Tate going for lobotomized in her performance? I know Jennifer North is supposed to be kind of a sweet simpleton, but she played her more like a walking coma patient), the songs are seriously annoying and there are far too many of them, and the pace is sluggish. This thing's like 2 and half hours long, no joke. There is some nice cinematography but it's not really not worth it.
Chloe: Um, wtf ever. You know what, I at one point legitimately though Amanda Seyfried was an interesting and talented actress. She's beautiful, there's no doubt about that, but I liked her performance on Veronica Mars and she was funny in Mean Girls. It was a good start. Then she went on to do: Dear John, Jennifer's Body, Letters to Juliet, Red Riding Hood, and this boring, hyper-sexualized Basic Instinct wannabe. So, I'm over it. I should mention that I watched this on the same day as The Kids Are All Right, which made me respect Julianne Moore. This movie, much like VotD (above), has some really nicely framed shots. But they're not really worth slogging through the predictable and ham-fisted plot.
Dreamcatcher: Yeah this was terrible and gross. I only got about 30 minutes in before I turned it off. I wanted to watch it for the Olyphant but 1. He's a supporting character, 2. He's got a terrible haircut and 3. He seemed doomed to die. Pass. Supposedly this was based on a Stephen King, which I have not and will probably never read. The flashback scene was alright (despite the children actors) and the telepathy thing was interesting, but the weird slang the guys were using was too annoying to continue subjecting myself to. Not even Morgan Freeman as a helicopter pilot or Damien Lewis' spotless American accent could keep me around for this.
Cube Zero: Easily the worst Cube movie. Cube has the cool vibe of a psychological/sociological experiment. None of the questions about WHY the group are in there are answered, because the cube was not built for that purpose and the only survivor is never going to pursue those answers anyway. Then no one survives in Cube 2: Hypercube (spoilers!) which was cool in its own way, since it basically uses the template of the original but ups the ante on the weird physics hijinks and horrific death sequences. But Cube Zero... back-story about the organization that built the cube, some story about the squirrelly, unlikeable technicians that run the cube, a totally ridiculous performance from the guy playing the eeeeeeeevil (twirls mustache) supervisor, and a half-assed government conspiracy plot. You know what? No thanks. Just stick to the cube and its cold, calculated twist on the haunted house movie please. And no, I was not impressed with how the movie tied into the first one. You can't win me over that easy, movie!
The Cake Eaters: Finally, a movie where Kristen Stewart's mumbling, awkward performance makes sense.
A Home at the End of the World: This was okay. I remember when it came out people RAVED out Collin Ferrel's performance but I actually thought he was one of the weakest links in this. Sissy Spacek is good and as usual, Robin Wright Penn is kind of the best part. But otherwise the movie felt a little rote, like it was going through the motions of a drama about people living on the cutting edge of their times! Being progressive! Running away from each other! Getting AIDS! Changing their hairstyles!
The Edukators: Really good. I'm partial to German cinema, I dunno. I think it manages to be more practical and more whimsical than a lot of American stuff. I really like the lead actress Julia Jentsch, who I've seen in Sophie Scholl and Downfall, and Daniel Bruhl is great too. Plus the plot is kind of up my alley- young kids rebelling rebelliously.
Aeon Flux: This was obviously terrible. Like I even have to say it. I watched it with Rifftrax.
Slaughterhouse Five: Again, I haven't read this book in quite a while but this seemed to hit most of the points I remembered. It's pretty good, I guess.
(God bless you, Mr. Rosewater!!)
(God bless you, Mr. Rosewater!!)This is Spinal Tap: kind of legendary. Don't think there's too much for me to say about this one.
Friday Night Lights: I like the tv show better. Garrett Hedlund is kind of cute.
Daybreakers: This started so awesomely. The concept of a world filled with vampires, nearing complete chaos due to lack of humans, is pretty inspired. And I loved that as they got hungrier they became more desperate and decreasingly humanoid. All nice touches. But then in the third act the movie totally wusses out and finds a way to go for the "hopeful" happy ending. And it's through one of the weirdest, most contrived plot maneuvers I've seen in a while. Total letdown.
Macbeth: Uh, this is laughably bad. If you want a modernized Macbeth go with the James McAvoy BBC version or Scotland, PA or any of the other bajillion adaptations out there because this is just filled with Australians moping around and being unintelligible.
Four Brothers: I don't even...
Nochnoy Dozer (Night Watch): Fairly badass. Super Russian. I need to watch Day Watch now.
Superman II: This was good, I guess? I don't know. It's Christopher Reeves. It's not going to be all bad, but I don't really have much more to say about it.
This Film is Not Yet Rated: Pretty interesting look at the homophobic, clandestine practices of the MPAA.
The Quick and the Dead: This was ridiculous, obviously. In a good way though. Remember when Russel Crowe still did movies that were fun to watch? Good times.
Waco: Rules of Engagement: Pretty comprehensive. Sucks that it's the 90's so the quality isn't great, but it's still an interesting subject.
Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky: HOLY SHIT WAS THIS BORING.
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