Movie Grades - 3Q 2007
These are the movies I saw in the past three months. If you think your taste in movies might be similar to mine, hopefully these grades have some value:
A
Sunshine - I don't pretend to think this movie will be regarded as a "classic" by reputable critics, but I loved it to pieces.
3:10 To Yuma - The most "Best Picture" worthy movie I've seen in 2007. It had some parallel's to last year's winner 'The Departed'. (Calling it now: Ben Foster will be twenty-fold more famous in five years than he is now - incredible actor).
In the Shadow of the Moon - As enjoyable of a documentary that I've ever seen.
A-
The Kingdom - I was on the proverbial "edge of seat" for probably more than 95% of this one.
B+
The Hours - Little too geared towards chicks for my liking, but overall quite good. Nicole Kidman's character was awesome.
12 Monkeys - I don't generally go for sci-fi, but sprinkle some Bruce Willis on a badass script and I'm a fan.
Simpsons Movie - TV show is overrated, but this movie was pretty hilarious.
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism - Documentary about the Fox News Channel. Anyone who isn't apathetic towards politics might be glad they watched this. Overall, though, I disagreed with the maker's belief that, since Fox News lies and corrupts the minds of its viewers, we should have government oversight of news organizations. Government control being the solution to corruption seems counterintuitive.
B
Inside Man - Entertaining enough heist flick.
Superbad - Little excessive on the awkward moments and conflict resolution, but mostly worth the hype.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Weird, but unwaveringly captivating.
B-
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - This movie epitomizes why mainstream critics can't always be trusted. Rotten Tomatoes gave this a 14%, but I thought it was consistently funny.
Bourne Ultimatum - Incredibly corny, but ultimately I couldn't help but feel entertained.
The Crying Game - Spoiler: the chick is a dude.
Year of the Dog - The hero's worldview and courage was cute and all, but I didn't exactly rush out to buy the DVD when it was over.
C+
Sicko - Entertaining, but ridiculous as an argument for national health care.
Live Free or Die Hard - Who knew John McClane was impervious to injury?
Half Nelson - Depressing as hell, but a decent enough movie, I suppose.
C
The Grifters - Interesting synopsis, but really weird characters distracted from it.
C-
Big Nothing - Started off well but too many plot twists and my short-fuse for putting up with whiney-ass David Schwimmer made this forgettable.
D+
The Ten - The first couple of scenes were hilarious, but about halfway through I was anxious for it to be over.
Easy Rider - I don't even know what this was. It just made me glad I don't live in 1969 Deep South.
D
Rick - There's a reason I hadn't heard of this movie.
A
Sunshine - I don't pretend to think this movie will be regarded as a "classic" by reputable critics, but I loved it to pieces.
3:10 To Yuma - The most "Best Picture" worthy movie I've seen in 2007. It had some parallel's to last year's winner 'The Departed'. (Calling it now: Ben Foster will be twenty-fold more famous in five years than he is now - incredible actor).
In the Shadow of the Moon - As enjoyable of a documentary that I've ever seen.
A-
The Kingdom - I was on the proverbial "edge of seat" for probably more than 95% of this one.
B+
The Hours - Little too geared towards chicks for my liking, but overall quite good. Nicole Kidman's character was awesome.
12 Monkeys - I don't generally go for sci-fi, but sprinkle some Bruce Willis on a badass script and I'm a fan.
Simpsons Movie - TV show is overrated, but this movie was pretty hilarious.
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism - Documentary about the Fox News Channel. Anyone who isn't apathetic towards politics might be glad they watched this. Overall, though, I disagreed with the maker's belief that, since Fox News lies and corrupts the minds of its viewers, we should have government oversight of news organizations. Government control being the solution to corruption seems counterintuitive.
B
Inside Man - Entertaining enough heist flick.
Superbad - Little excessive on the awkward moments and conflict resolution, but mostly worth the hype.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Weird, but unwaveringly captivating.
B-
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - This movie epitomizes why mainstream critics can't always be trusted. Rotten Tomatoes gave this a 14%, but I thought it was consistently funny.
Bourne Ultimatum - Incredibly corny, but ultimately I couldn't help but feel entertained.
The Crying Game - Spoiler: the chick is a dude.
Year of the Dog - The hero's worldview and courage was cute and all, but I didn't exactly rush out to buy the DVD when it was over.
C+
Sicko - Entertaining, but ridiculous as an argument for national health care.
Live Free or Die Hard - Who knew John McClane was impervious to injury?
Half Nelson - Depressing as hell, but a decent enough movie, I suppose.
C
The Grifters - Interesting synopsis, but really weird characters distracted from it.
C-
Big Nothing - Started off well but too many plot twists and my short-fuse for putting up with whiney-ass David Schwimmer made this forgettable.
D+
The Ten - The first couple of scenes were hilarious, but about halfway through I was anxious for it to be over.
Easy Rider - I don't even know what this was. It just made me glad I don't live in 1969 Deep South.
D
Rick - There's a reason I hadn't heard of this movie.
posted by Cory Albertson at
10:13 AM
1 Comments:
I pretty much agree with everything here. Sunshine was great, even better than I expected. I haven't seen 3:10 to Yuma, but with a review like that I may have to. I love 12 Monkeys. It's not one that I can watch over and over in short periods of time, but I like how it was made...it's hard to believe it's twelve years old. Brad Pitt did a great job playing a mental patient as well. I agree with your assessment of Easy Rider, too. I watched it for my class and was not impressed. Of course Jack Nicholson was awesome, but I can watch any of fifty other movies for that. I liked Big Nothing a little more than you apparently did. After watching Friends, I've gotten used to Schwimmer's whining. I was also surprised at how well Simon Pegg did an American accent. Looking forward to Run, Fat Boy, Run. Schwimmer was in a pretty depressing movie about a year ago called Duane Hopwood where he's a drunk. His wife leaves him and he loses visitation rights with his daughter. He probably whines in it (I don't recall), but there were great acting performances all around, including John Krasinski from The Office. Check it out if your bored and/or depressed.
The other night I watched Manhunter, which is basically the 80s version of Red Dragon. Pretty solid. I was surprised at how many actors I recognized. Brian Cox did a pretty solid job with a different interpretation of Lector than Anthony Hopkins', and a climactic ending that features In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida helps, too. I've also watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact. I liked 2010 better. It was very Sunshine-esque. You'd probably like it. 2001 is just another reason why I feel that Kubrick is waaaaay overrated. All of his "classic" movies are adaptations that people complain about being different from the original work. All of the movies are much longer and more drawn out than they need to be and most of them have psychadellic sequences (the one in 2001 lasts fifteen minutes) that are probably only fun with the aid of drugs. My favorite movie of his is The Shinning, but again it is totally different from the book, it has unnecessarily long sequences, and the best part is Jack Nicholson.
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