I loved the Harry Potter books, but while I've enjoyed the movie series as a way to remember the books, I haven't thought any of them stood on their own as great movies (they are all varying degrees of good, but not great), until the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. So, Pt. 2 was the first in the series I went into with a real sense of anticipation. I was severely disappointed as it was back in the good not great category.
I've seen a lot of movies without an ending. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 was the first I've ever seen without a beginning. Voldemort shoots some lighting, the title pops up, then BAM! you're in the middle of an important conversation expected to know everything that happened in the previous movie. True, there was no natural split in the novel, no one was expected to see this movie without seeing part one (or the rest of the series for that matter), and a "Previously on..." wouldn't work on the big screen, but starting this way was jarring and took me out of the movie for several minutes. This could have been resolved with a longer title sequence, maybe showing silent clips or stills from part one.
Of all the Harry Potter series, this movie is the least faithful adaptation. Every movie had at least one plotline cut out or truncated, but this is the only one that was significantly padded. While Rowling's novels were exquisitely detailed, few of the details were insignificant. The additions in to the battle of Hogwarts, particularly having Ron and Hermione chased by the snake only weakened the tension. This extra time would have been better spent lengthening the beginning by showing the planing of the Gringotts breaking in. Other parts of the book which could have gotten more attention include the histories of Dumbledore and Snape. There was way too much unshot material in the novel to justify all the padding.
My big complaint with this movie is that many of the changes for the film adaptation paint bulls-eyes around a series of glaring logic errors in the source material. But first, one that wasn't changed...
Voldemort thinks he must kill Snape to gain control of the Elder Wand. But instead of doing the job himself, he chooses to have his snake do it. It seems he is unnecessarily risking losing the power of the wand forever. Then, Voldemort leaves while Snape is still very much alive, allowing Snape the opportunity to pass Harry valuable information. If I've learned anything from Bond villains, it's that you don't use unnecessarily elaborate murder methods and you make sure your victim is dead.
Now, to the changes...
In the book, when Harry dies, he imparts the same protection on all of Hogwarts that his mother gave him when she died. Voldemort tries to kill some people after Harry's death and it just doesn't work. To be consistent with the first book, those killing spells should have seriously backfired. In the movie, Voldemort only tries to kill Harry after Harry dies. (Yes, that sentence makes perfect sense.)
In the book, Harry tells Voldemort, in front of a room full of people (including Death Eaters), that he is the rightful owner of the Elder Wand before Voldemort's spell backfires. Another important lesson in The Bond Villain Guidebook, is that you don't tell your enemy your plans. Movie Harry has apparently read this book.
After Voldemort dies, Book Harry chooses to lock the Elder Wand away and let its power expire with him. This is not a good strategy when you have just told a bunch of people, including many who already want to kill you, that you have an object that makes you the most powerful sorcerer in the world and that they'll have to kill you to get it. Movie Harry just snaps the Elder Wand in half. While the Lord of the Rings fan in me doesn't like that such a powerful magical object can be destroyed so easily, it is a much simpler solution. Although, he could have fixed his old wand first.
Lastly, I would have liked to see the epilogue as an after the credits bonus scene for the fans who had read the book and knew to expect it.
The movie actually cleaned up several problematic issues in the novel, but the book was so deeply engrossing that it got away with these errors. (The Deathly Hallows movies did leave several mysteries unresolved that were concluded in the book.) What really aggravated me about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 is the painful realization that J.K. Rowling is not perfect. If only I had a Time Turner, I could go back and stop myself from watching this movie...
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Moneyball- Sound Business Advice Pretending to be a Sports Movie
I love baseball, but I don't typically think team sports movies are great. I enjoy them as they happen, but the enjoyment quickly fades in reflection as they all have pretty much the same plot: underdog is counted out, manager embraces new idea, team learns to play as a team, team wins and everyone goes home happy. That plotline is in this movie, but as a subplot. The real message of Moneyball is about the relentless pursuit of an idea in spite of its detractors. I have no complaints about the movie itself. It's well written and directed and Brad Pitt gives another strong performance. This post is because Moneyball the movie does not accurately reflect the true message of Moneyball the book.
Watching the movie, you would think the key phrase to the A's success was "on-base percentage," but in the book and in reality it was "market inefficiency." At one point in the movie, Billy Beane shouts "Adapt or die." This is what Moneyball is really all about. In 2002, the market inefficiency happened to be in on-base percentage. But as the book took off and as other teams, especially the Red Sox and Yankees, began to pursue high on-base percentage players, the cost of these players increased, ironically making them less valuable. The A's failed to adapt and in recent years have fallen to irrelevancy.
In 2008, the Rays exploited a market inefficiency in defense get to the World Series. Last year (and hopefully this year), the Rangers reached the World Series on the strength of their traditional scouting and player development system because as statistical analysis came into prominence, traditional scouting became undervalued. (I'm not sure if this was intentional on the Rangers part, but it is what happened.) Neither of these teams had very high payrolls, but they found what everyone else had undervalued and turned it into a championship caliber team.
I have a very good record as a fantasy baseball manager. Traditional fantasy baseball advice recommends not overpaying for player whose primary value is in steals or save. I have won a number of leagues by deliberately ignoring their advice, not because I think they're wrong, but because I know my competitors have read the same advice and that has depressed the value of these players. So while my competition laughs at me for overpaying, I am really getting these players at or below their true market value.
The real message of the book isn't that on-base percentage is the key to the ultimate baseball team, it's that there is always something which is undervalued and if you are the first to find it, you will be successful. And that is sound advice that anyone can use.
Watching the movie, you would think the key phrase to the A's success was "on-base percentage," but in the book and in reality it was "market inefficiency." At one point in the movie, Billy Beane shouts "Adapt or die." This is what Moneyball is really all about. In 2002, the market inefficiency happened to be in on-base percentage. But as the book took off and as other teams, especially the Red Sox and Yankees, began to pursue high on-base percentage players, the cost of these players increased, ironically making them less valuable. The A's failed to adapt and in recent years have fallen to irrelevancy.
In 2008, the Rays exploited a market inefficiency in defense get to the World Series. Last year (and hopefully this year), the Rangers reached the World Series on the strength of their traditional scouting and player development system because as statistical analysis came into prominence, traditional scouting became undervalued. (I'm not sure if this was intentional on the Rangers part, but it is what happened.) Neither of these teams had very high payrolls, but they found what everyone else had undervalued and turned it into a championship caliber team.
I have a very good record as a fantasy baseball manager. Traditional fantasy baseball advice recommends not overpaying for player whose primary value is in steals or save. I have won a number of leagues by deliberately ignoring their advice, not because I think they're wrong, but because I know my competitors have read the same advice and that has depressed the value of these players. So while my competition laughs at me for overpaying, I am really getting these players at or below their true market value.
The real message of the book isn't that on-base percentage is the key to the ultimate baseball team, it's that there is always something which is undervalued and if you are the first to find it, you will be successful. And that is sound advice that anyone can use.
The Matrix- Ignorance is Bliss
The Matrix is one of my favorite movies of all time. For about 5 years between 1999 and 2004, I was completely obsessed with it. Then on approximately my ten thousandth viewing, I noticed something new and its irrevocably damaged my enjoyment of the film.
In the middle of the movie, there is a scene at a steakhouse where Cypher meets with Smith and agrees to betray the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar in return for re-insertion to the matrix. Cypher posits an interesting philosophical question, "If you could chose between a simulated reality indistinguishable from the real thing in an generally pleasant world or live in a truly real but miserable reality, which would you choose?" Cypher gives his answer with a big bite of steak and chooses re-insertion. It's too bad that this scene could have never happened...
The scene takes place in the matrix. It is established during Neo's training sequence that the matrix is a dangerous place for the unplugged. Agents can emerge from nowhere, have super powers which exceed their own, and are programed to kill them. This is not the kind of place you go into alone. Furthermore, it is established in this movie and its sequels that there must be an operator on the outside to put them in and take them out. It is also the operator's job to monitor the others while they are inside. There also seems to be a regular watch on the matrix even if no one from the Nebuchadnezzar is inside. Are you starting to see the problem? There is no way that Cypher could have gotten the privacy he needed.
The steakhouse scene takes place in complete isolation. There is no clear indication of how he got in or out or who was watching him as he sat plugged into the matrix in the middle of the ship. Even if he found a way to get himself in and out on his own or broke away on a regular mission, there is a big green glowing monitor on the outside showing him having a pleasant conversation with the enemy. That's usually the kind of thing that gets the commander's attention. And from the context of the conversation at the steakhouse, it is clearly not the first time he's spoken to an agent.
The scene only makes sense if Cypher has a co-conspirator on board. Tank or Dozer are the most likely candidates as they are the designated operators and are on the outside when Cypher makes his move, but being born in Zion (no plugs), they have the least to gain by working with the machines. I doubt they can be put in the matrix at their age. Furthermore, they don't do anything to help Cypher with the killing their friends thing even though they are in an excellent position to do so and they seem genuinely surprised when Cypher starts shooting them with that lighting gun. (Who wouldn't be?)
Maybe it was one of the other unplugged crew members. After all, they've seen both realities. One of them may have made the same choice that Cypher did. The conspiracy may have started as some idle banter about how much they miss Chinese food. So, who is it? I think it's safe to assume it's not Trinity, Morpheus or Neo. Mouse is done by agents while Cypher is allowed to escape the matrix and proceeds to kill Apoc and Switch.
The movie never acknowledges a co-conspirator in any way leaving the steakhouse scene as a logical inconsistency. Now my feeling of this scene is the same as Cypher's, "Ignorance is bliss."
P.S.- I don't think I can discuss The Matrix without acknowledging the sequels. I won't attempt to defend Revolutions, but Reloaded deserves much less hatred than it gets. From the first appearance of the Merovingian to the end of the car chase, there is a solid hour of excellent action including the every weapon fight and the Rasta Twins. The conversation with The Architect is also one of the most interesting bits of philosophy in the series.
In the middle of the movie, there is a scene at a steakhouse where Cypher meets with Smith and agrees to betray the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar in return for re-insertion to the matrix. Cypher posits an interesting philosophical question, "If you could chose between a simulated reality indistinguishable from the real thing in an generally pleasant world or live in a truly real but miserable reality, which would you choose?" Cypher gives his answer with a big bite of steak and chooses re-insertion. It's too bad that this scene could have never happened...
The scene takes place in the matrix. It is established during Neo's training sequence that the matrix is a dangerous place for the unplugged. Agents can emerge from nowhere, have super powers which exceed their own, and are programed to kill them. This is not the kind of place you go into alone. Furthermore, it is established in this movie and its sequels that there must be an operator on the outside to put them in and take them out. It is also the operator's job to monitor the others while they are inside. There also seems to be a regular watch on the matrix even if no one from the Nebuchadnezzar is inside. Are you starting to see the problem? There is no way that Cypher could have gotten the privacy he needed.
The steakhouse scene takes place in complete isolation. There is no clear indication of how he got in or out or who was watching him as he sat plugged into the matrix in the middle of the ship. Even if he found a way to get himself in and out on his own or broke away on a regular mission, there is a big green glowing monitor on the outside showing him having a pleasant conversation with the enemy. That's usually the kind of thing that gets the commander's attention. And from the context of the conversation at the steakhouse, it is clearly not the first time he's spoken to an agent.
The scene only makes sense if Cypher has a co-conspirator on board. Tank or Dozer are the most likely candidates as they are the designated operators and are on the outside when Cypher makes his move, but being born in Zion (no plugs), they have the least to gain by working with the machines. I doubt they can be put in the matrix at their age. Furthermore, they don't do anything to help Cypher with the killing their friends thing even though they are in an excellent position to do so and they seem genuinely surprised when Cypher starts shooting them with that lighting gun. (Who wouldn't be?)
Maybe it was one of the other unplugged crew members. After all, they've seen both realities. One of them may have made the same choice that Cypher did. The conspiracy may have started as some idle banter about how much they miss Chinese food. So, who is it? I think it's safe to assume it's not Trinity, Morpheus or Neo. Mouse is done by agents while Cypher is allowed to escape the matrix and proceeds to kill Apoc and Switch.
The movie never acknowledges a co-conspirator in any way leaving the steakhouse scene as a logical inconsistency. Now my feeling of this scene is the same as Cypher's, "Ignorance is bliss."
P.S.- I don't think I can discuss The Matrix without acknowledging the sequels. I won't attempt to defend Revolutions, but Reloaded deserves much less hatred than it gets. From the first appearance of the Merovingian to the end of the car chase, there is a solid hour of excellent action including the every weapon fight and the Rasta Twins. The conversation with The Architect is also one of the most interesting bits of philosophy in the series.
Monday, September 19, 2011
First Viewing Log
Starting on September 18th, 2011, I've decided to keep a record of every movie I watch for the first time.
American Psyco (Film)
Deadpool and Wolverine (Movie)
Inside Out 2 (Film)
Dune: Part Two (Film)
The Marvels (Movie)
Hidden Blade (Film)
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Movie)
Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (Movie)
Barbie (Film)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Movie)
Openhimmer (Film)
Glitch: The Rise and Fall of Trivia HQ (Film)
Guardians of the Galaxy: Part 3 (Movie)
Jurassic World: Dominion (Movie)
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania (Movie)
The Menu (Film)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Movie)
Bullet Train (Movie)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Movie)
Avatar: The Way of Water (Movie)
Inland Empire (Film)
Horse Feathers (Movie)
Luca (Film)
Thor: Love and Thunder (Movie)
Live From The Space Stage: A Halyx Story (Film)
Superman: Red Son (Film)
On the Basis of Sex (Film)
Bodies Bodies Bodies (Movie)
Don't Look Up (Film)
Nobody (Movie)
I'm Not There (Film)
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Movie)
Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness (Movie)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (Film)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Movie)
Frozen 2 (Movie)
Funny Face (Movie)
Free Guy (Movie)
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Movie)
Turning Red (Movie)
The Rescue (Film)
The Tinder Swindler (Film)
Eternals (Movie)
Compliance (Film)
The Matrix Resurrections (Film)
Whiplash (Film)
The Seven Deadly Sins: Cursed By Light (Movie)
What's Up, Doc? (Movie)
King Richard (Film)
Hamilton (Film)
Dune (Film)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Movie)
Black Widow (Movie)
A Simple Favor (Movie)
15 Minutes of Shame (Film)
The Conversation (Movie)
Steven Universe: The Movie (Movie)
Bob Ross: Happy Accidents Betrayal Greed (Film)
The Greatest Showman (Film)
The Suicide Squad (Movie)
Mortal Kombat (Movie)
Soul (Film)
Wonder Woman 1984 (Movie)
Tenet (Movie)
Stargate Origins: Catherine (Movie)
The Knot (Film)
Psych 2: Lassie Come Home (Movie)
A Frozen Flower (Film)
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (Movie)
About Schmidt (Film)
Three Idiots (Movie)
Onward (Movie)
The Trip to Italy (Film)
Yesterday (Movie)
The Italian Job (Movie)
Lethal Weapon (Movie)
American Splendor (Film)
Parasite (Film)
The God of Cookery (Movie)
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Movie)
1917 (Film)
The Bicycle Thief (Film)
Richard Jewell (Film)
The Gods Must Be Crazy 2 (Movie)
The Gods Must Be Crazy (Film)
Knives Out (Movie)
Ford v Ferrari (Film)
The Good Liar (Film)
Enter the Void (Film)
Motherless Brooklyn (Film)
Zombieland: Double Tap (Movie)
Happy Death Day 2 U (Movie)
Almost Famous (Film)
Joker (Film)
Ad Astra (Film)
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Film)
It: Chapter Two (Film)
Eagle vs. Shark (Film)
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (Film)
Blinded By the Light (Film)
Wordplay (Film)
The Lion King (Movie)
The Legend of Demon Cat (Film)
Psych: The Movie (Movie)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie)
Dark Phoenix (Movie)
Toy Story 4 (Movie)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Film)
A Star is Born (Film)
First Man (Film)
Vice (Film)
Aladdin (Movie)
Brightburn (Movie)
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (Movie)
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald (Movie)
Aquaman (Movie)
Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Film)
Us (Film)
Behind the Curve (Film)
Alita: Battle Angel (Movie)
Captain Marvel (Movie)
The Seven Deadly Sins The Movie: Prisoners of the Sky (Movie)
Isn't it Romantic (Movie)
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Movie)
The Wandering Earth (Movie)
The Theory of Everything (Film)
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Film)
Shadow (Film)
Dragonball Super: Broly (Movie)
Birdbox (Movie)
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Film)
The Shape of Water (Film)
Welcome to Marwen (Film)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Film)
Spider-man: Enter the Spider-verse (Film)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (Movie)
Pretty in Pink (Movie)
The Last Emperor (Film)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Movie)
I, Tonya (Film)
Mr. Donkey (Film)
Darkest Hour (Film)
This is the End (Movie)
Heathers (Movie)
Tusk (Film)
Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress (Film)
BlackkKlansman (Film)
Swingers (Movie)
Extinction (Movie)
Christopher Robin (Film)
Mission: Impossible-Fallout (Movie)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Movie)
King of Comedy (Movie)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (Movie)
Gone Baby Gone (Film)
Dallas Buyers Club (Film)
Tag (Film)
In Bruges (Film)
Mojin: The Lost Legend (Movie)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Movie)
Incredibles 2 (Movie)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (Movie)
The Cloverfield Paradox (Movie)
What Happened to Monday? (Movie)
Deadpool 2 (Movie)
Avengers: Infinity War (Movie)
Isle of Dogs (Film)
A Quiet Place (Movie)
Ready Player One (Movie)
Fullmetal Alchemist (Movie)
Game Over, Man! (Movie)
Spotlight (Film)
Practical Magic (Movie)
Pacific Rim Uprising (Movie)
Annihilation (Film)
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (Film)
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Movie)
The Message (Movie)
Never Say Die (Movie)
Monster (Film)
Molly's Game (Film)
Downsizing (Film)
Lust, Caution (Film)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Movie)
Farewell, My Concubine (Film)
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Film)
Coco (Film)
Justice League (Movie)
Murder on the Orient Express (Movie)
Detective Conan: The Phantoms of Baker Street (Film)
Train to Busan (Movie)
Thor: Ragnarok (Movie)
Geostorm (Movie)
Flow (Film)
Cube (Film)
Happy Death Day (Movie)
Chinatown Detective (Movie)
It (Movie)
The Triplets of Belleville (Film)
Hacksaw Ridge (Film)
Dunkirk (Film)
Baby Driver (Film)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (Movie)
John Wick (Movie)
War Machine (Film)
Dangal (Film)
The Stanford Prison Experiment (Film)
Cars 3 (Movie)
Journey to the West (Movie)
Wonder Woman (Movie)
The Myth (Movie)
The Grey (Film)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Movie)
Carlito's Way (Movie)
Your Name. (Film)
Human Nature (Movie)
Get Out (Film)
Amelie (Film)
Love, Actually (Movie)
M (Movie)
Batman: The Killing Joke (Movie)
Ip Man (Film)
Logan (Movie)
A River Runs Through It (Film)
Sunrise (Movie)
The Lego Batman Movie (Movie)
La La Land (Film)
8 1/2 (Film)
Gold (Film)
The Founder (Film)
Hidden Figures (Film)
Doctor Strange (Movie)
Assassin's Creed (Movie)
Rouge One: A Star Wars Story (Film)
Moana (Movie)
Brazil (Film)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movie)
The Best Years of Our Lives (Film)
The Arrival (Film)
Doctor Strange (Movie)
Inferno (Film)
Woman in Gold (Film)
The Accountant (Movie)
Hard Candy (Film)
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Movie)
Amanda Knox (Film)
Sully (Film)
Enemy Mine (Film)
Don't Breathe (Movie)
Hell or High Water (Film)
In the Heart of the Sea (Film)
Batteries Not Included (Movie)
Suicide Squad (Movie)
Star Trek Beyond (Movie)
The Infiltrator (Film)
The Road to Morocco (Movie)
Swiss Army Man (Film)
Free State of Jones (Film)
Independence Day: Resurgence (Movie)
Finding Dory (Movie)
The Class (Film)
Pokemon: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (Movie)
X-Men: Apocalypse (Movie)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Movie)
Money Monster (Movie)
Commando (Movie)
Keanu (Movie)
Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Sherpa (Film)
Einstein Revealed (Film)
Ninotchka (Movie)
Hardcore Henry (Movie)
Eye in the Sky (Film)
The Goodbye Girl (Movie)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Movie)
Son of Batman (Movie)
The Divergent Series: Allegiant (Film)
Funny Games (Movie)
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (Movie)
Justice League: War (Movie)
A Prairie Home Companion (Movie)
10 Cloverfield Lane (Movie)
Zootopia (Film)
Be Kind Rewind (Movie)
Race (Film)
Trans Siberian (Movie)
Deadpool (Movie)
Hail, Ceaser! (Film)
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (Movie)
Sugar (Movie)
Run Silent, Run Deep (Movie)
What's Up, Tiger Lilly? (Film)
The Big Short (Film)
Hateful Eight (Movie)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Movie)
Elevator (Movie)
Creed (Film)
Circle (Film)
The Good Dinosaur (Movie)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (Film)
Spectre (Movie)
Our Brand is Crisis (Film)
Steve Jobs (Film)
Everest (Movie)
Bad Words (Movie)
Do The Right Thing (Film)
Bridge of Spies (Film)
The Martian (Movie)
The Machinist (Film)
Scream (Movie)
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Movie)
Straight Out of Compton (Film)
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Movie)
Saving Mr. Banks (Film)
The Gift (Film)
DragonBall Z: Resurrection 'F' (Movie)
Mission: Impossible- Rouge Nation (Movie)
Love Story (Movie)
Ant-Man (Movie)
Barton Fink (Film)
Bug (Film)
Coffee and Cigarettes (Film)
Terminator: Genisys (Movie)
The Guns of Navarone (Movie)
Inside Out (Film)
Jurassic World (Movie)
San Andreas (Movie)
No No: A Dockumentary (Film)
Hot Girls Wanted (Film)
Tomorrowland (Movie)
Mad Max: Fury Road (Movie)
The Girlfriend Experience (Film)
Private Benjamen (Movie)
Ex Machina (Film)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie)
The Thief of Baghdad (Movie)
Furious 7 (Movie)
The Good, The Bad, The Weird (Movie)
Charlie Victor Romeo (Film)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (Film)
Insurgent (Film)
American Hustle (Movie)
Chappie (Film)
Divergent (Film)
Twelve Years a Slave (Film)
The Thin Red Line (Film)
Focus (Movie)
Kingsmen: The Secret Service (Movie)
The Pianist (Film)
Tape (Film)
The Interview (Movie)
American Sniper (Film)
Selma (Film)
Housewife's Afternoon Delight (Movie)
The Imitation Game (Film)
Anaconda (Movie)
Man on a Ledge (Movie)
Big Eyes (Film)
Re-Animator (Movie)
Unbroken (Film)
Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb (Movie)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Movie)
Zorro, The Gay Blade (Movie)
A Streetcar Named Desire (Film)
Harold and Maude (Film)
Penguins of Madagascar (Movie)
Blue is the Warmest Color (Film)
Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Film)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 (Movie)
Orgazmo (Movie)
Children of a Lesser God (Film)
Big Hero 6 (Movie)
Rosewater (Film)
The Good German (Film)
Interstellar (Movie)
Better Off Dead (Movie)
Nightcrawler (Movie)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Film)
Fury (Film)
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Film)
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (Film)
Upside Down (Film)
Gone Girl (Film)
Frozen (Movie)
Cape Fear (Movie)
The Maze Runner (Movie)
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Film)
Escape From Tomorrow (Film)
The Battleship Potemkin (Film)
Sharknado 2: The Second One (Movie)
Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods (Movie)
Boyhood (Film)
An Unreasonable Man (Film)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Movie)
The Guardians of the Galaxy (Movie)
Billy Elliot (Film)
Lucy (Movie)
Scarface (Film)
Tammy (Movie)
Snowpiercer (Movie)
Hot Coffee (Film)
Speed Racer (Film)
Earth to Echo (Movie)
Transformers: Age of Extinction (Movie)
Casting Couch (Movie)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Film)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Movie)
Edge of Tomorrow (Movie)
Much Ado About Nothing (Film)
Maleficent (Movie)
In the Name of the Father (Film)
A Million Ways to Die in the West (Movie)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Film)
Godzilla (Movie)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (Movie)
Million Dollar Arm (Movie)
Closely Watched Trains (Film)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Movie)
Transcendence (Film)
Jakob the Liar (Film)
Cheap Thrills (Film)
Captain America: The Winter Solider (Movie)
Olympus Has Fallen (Movie)
Mallrats (Movie)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Film)
Muppets Most Wanted (Movie)
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Film)
Moulin Rouge (Film)
The Last of the Mohicans (Film)
The Gold Rush (Movie)
The Wind Rises (Film)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Movie)
Nancy & Tanya (Film)
The Lego Movie (Movie)
A Day at the Races (Movie)
Questioning Darwin (Film)
The Palm Beach Story (Movie)
The Monuments Men (Movie)
Auntie Mame (Movie)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Movie)
They Call Me Mister Tibbs (Movie)
The Lady Eve (Movie)
I Sell the Dead (Movie)
Warm Bodies (Movie)
The Lives of Others (Film)
Nitro Circus: The Movie (Movie)
No Man's Land (Film)
Rock Jocks (Movie)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Film)
47 Ronin (Movie)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Movie)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Movie)
Michael Clayton (Movie)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Movie)
Lovelace (Film)
High Fidelity (Film)
Chasing Amy (Movie)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Movie)
It's a Disaster (Movie)
The Opposite of Sex (Film)
Dear Jack (Film)
Divorce, Italian Style (Movie)
The Challenger Disaster (Film)
Thor: The Dark World (Movie)
The Perfect Host (Movie)
The Wiz (Film)
Ender's Game (Movie)
Zodiac (Movie)
Tales from the Organ Trade (Film)
Bad Grandpa (Movie)
My Dinner With Andre (Film)
A Band Called Death (Film)
The Counselor (Film)
Kinsey (Film)
Monster's Ball (Film)
Movie 43 (Movie)
Escape Plan (Movie)
Machete (Film)
The Science of Sleep (Film)
Captain Phillips (Movie)
Gravity (Movie)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (Film)
Clear History (Movie)
Night of the Cobra Woman (Movie)
Elizabethtown (Movie)
Hellbound? (Film)
The Steel Helmet (Film)
I Declare War (Film)
The Road (Film)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (Movie)
Sullivan's Travels (Film)
The World's End (Movie)
The Act of Killing (Film)
Sharknado (Movie)
Kick-Ass 2 (Film)
Knuckleball (Film)
Kumare (Film)
The Raven (Movie)
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Star of Milos (Movie)
Elysium (Film)
Secretary (Film)
Hetalia: Paint, It White (Film)
Teen Wolf (Movie)
The Navigator (Movie)
Wristcutters: A Love Story (Film)
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost (Movie)
The Wolverine (Movie)
A Shot in the Dark (Movie)
R.I.P.D (Movie)
The Host (Movie)
Only God Forgives (Film)
Last Tango in Paris (Film)
Pacific Rim (Movie)
The Dictator (Film)
Gideon's Army (Film)
Lost in La Mancha (Film)
A Liar's Autobiography (Film)
Nemesis Game (Movie)
The English Patient (Film)
White House Down (Movie)
Silent House (Movie)
The Phantom of the Paradise (Film)
The Lady Vanishes (Movie)
American Grindhouse (Film)
Caged Heat (Movie)
World War Z (Movie)
Man of Steel (Movie)
Dead Ball (Movie)
Monsters University (Movie)
Win Win (Movie)
Battle Royale (Movie)
The Thief and The Cobbler (Movie)
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (Film)
Das Boot (Film)
I Spit On Your Grave (Film)
The Babysitters (Movie)
The Great Magician (Movie)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (Movie)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Film)
Oldboy (Movie)
Now You See Me (Movie)
Fast and Furious 6 (Movie)
Chocolat (Movie)
Star Trek Into Darkness (Movie)
Selling God (Film)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (Film)
John Dies at the End (Film)
The Kentucky Fried Movie (Movie)
Nashville (Film)
Girl Model (Film)
Iron Man 3 (Movie)
A Serious Man (Film)
The Outlaw (Movie)
Oblivion (Movie)
42 (Film)
Shakespeare in Love (Movie)
Time Traveler (Movie)
Red Tails (Film)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Movie)
Bee Movie (Movie)
Family Plot (Movie)
Frenzy (Movie)
Topaz (Movie)
Torn Curtain (Movie)
Time Bandits (Film)
Marnie (Movie)
The Cabin in the Woods (Movie)
Rope (Movie)
Saboteur (Movie)
Donnie Brasco (Movie)
Chariots of the Gods (Film)
Iron Sky (Movie)
Zeta One (Movie)
Creation (Film)
5 Fingers of Death (Movie)
Side Effects (Movie)
Ink (Film)
Suspect Zero (Movie)
Delicatessen (Film)
Strangers on a Train (Movie)
The Evil Dead (Movie)
After Porn Ends (Film)
Superman vs. The Elite (Film)
Following (Film)
Spirited Away (Film)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Film)
Gangster Squad (Movie)
Justice League: Doom (Movie)
A Game of Death (Movie)
All-Star Superman (Movie)
Code of the Secret Service (Movie)
Batman: Year One (Movie)
Zero Dark Thirty (Film)
Victor/Victoria (Film)
Song of the South (Movie)
Django Unchained (Movie)
The World's Fastest Indian (Movie)
The Hangover Part II (Movie)
Tower Heist (Movie)
Taken 2 (Movie)
Les Miserables (Film)
Jack Reacher (Movie)
Bolt (Movie)
City Lights (Movie)
In Time (Film)
Crash (Film)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Movie)
The Bank Job (Movie)
Black Snake Moan (Film)
Skyline (Movie)
Live! (Film)
Intolerance (Film)
Battle: Los Angeles (Movie)
Life of Pi (Film)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Movie)
The Forbidden Kingdom (Movie)
Lincoln (Film)
The Kite Runner (Film)
In a Lonely Place (Movie)
Flight (Film)
Ten Little Indians (Movie)
Wreck-It-Ralph (Movie)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Film)
Skyfall (Movie)
Sleeper (Film)
The Neverending Story (Movie)
Cloud Atlas (Film)
Argo (Movie)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Film)
Mansome (Film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Movie)
The Girl (Movie)
Superman 4: The Quest for Peace (Film)
Meet the Spartans (Movie)
White Zombie (Movie)
The Master (Film)
I Want Candy (Movie)
Nacho Libre (Movie)
Looper (Movie)
Margin Call (Film)
Freddy Vs. Jason (Movie)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Movie)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Film)
Fail-Safe (Film)
The Jazz Singer (Movie)
The Killers (Movie)
Thunderbirds Are Go (Movie)
ParaNorman (Movie)
They Might Be Giants (Film)
Mama Mia! (Movie)
Leatherheads (Movie)
Little Women (Film)
Man on Wire (Film)
The Dark Knight Rises (Movie)
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (Movie)
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Film)
The Tree of Life (Film)
God Grew Tired of Us (Film)
Sex Drive (Movie)
Special (Film)
Ghost Town (Movie)
The Amazing Spider-Man (Movie)
Unstoppable (Movie)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Movie)
Revolutionary Road (Film)
Moonrise Kingdom (Film)
Brave (Movie)
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Movie)
Glen or Glenda (Film)
Prometheus (Movie)
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Movie)
Diner at Eight (Film)
Bedtime Stories (Movie)
Snow White and the Huntsman (Movie)
Men in Black 3 (Movie)
It Happened One Night (Movie)
Bonnie and Clyde (Movie)
Thor: Tales of Asgard (Movie)
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Movie)
Dark Shadows (Movie)
The Avengers (Movie)
Rio (Movie)
The Owls of Ga'Hool (Movie)
Your Highness (Movie)
Cabaret (Film)
The Wrestler (Film)
Religulous (Film)
Yes Man (Movie)
Changeling (Movie)
The Hunger Games (Film)
The Nude Bomb (Movie)
Cedar Rapids (Movie)
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (Movie)
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis (Movie)
The Artist (Film)
Game Change (Film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Film)
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (Movie)
Die Welle (Film)
The Great Raid (Movie)
Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (Movie)
Howl's Moving Castle (Movie)
Tales From Earthsea (Movie)
The Ten (Film)
Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (Movie)
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (Movie)
The Secret World of Arrietty (Movie)
Mystery Team (Movie)
Chronicle (Movie)
Paper Clips (Film)
Tekken (Movie)
Cypher (Movie)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Movie)
Haywire (Movie)
Star Wars Uncut (Film)
The A-Team (Movie)
The Killing Fields (Film)
Unknown (Movie)
Hugo (Movie)
The Wild One (Film)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Movie)
Tron: Legacy (Movie)
Robin Hood [2010] (Movie)
Conviction (Movie)
Waiting For "Superman" (Film)
Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol (Movie)
The Color Purple (Film)
En La Cama (Film)
GasLand (Film)
The Trip (Film)
Abre Los Ojoes (Movie)
Murder in the First (Film)
The Day of the Jackal (Movie)
Despicable Me (Movie)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Movie)
Bringing Up Baby (Movie)
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Film)
Great Expectations (Film)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief (Movie)
Shoot 'Em Up (Movie)
The Adjustment Bureau (Movie)
The Deer Hunter (Film)
The Tale of Despereaux (Movie)
J. Edger (Film)
Shrek Forever After (Movie)
The Muppets (Movie)
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Movie)
Limitless (Movie)
The Housemaid (Movie)
His Girl Friday (Movie)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (Movie)
Stop-Loss (Film)
In The Loop (Film)
The Final Countdown (Movie)
THX 1138 (Film)
The Secret of NIMH (Movie)
Red State (Movie)
The Rum Diary (Movie)
The Mother of Invention (Movie)
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (Movie)
The Exorcist (Movie)
Puss in Boots (Movie)
Sophie's Choice (Film)
The Lookout (Movie)
Boys Don't Cry (Film)
The Three Musketeers (Movie)
Real Steel (Movie)
50/50 (Film)
The Other Boleyn Girl [2003 BBC version] (Film)
Freakonomics (Film)
The Ides of March (Film)
Manhattan (Movie)
Middle Men (Movie)
The Apartment (Movie)
In the Heat of the Night (Film)
Moneyball (Movie)
The Thing (Movie)
Rubber (Movie)
Onward (Movie)
The Trip to Italy (Film)
Yesterday (Movie)
The Italian Job (Movie)
Lethal Weapon (Movie)
American Splendor (Film)
Parasite (Film)
The God of Cookery (Movie)
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (Movie)
1917 (Film)
The Bicycle Thief (Film)
Richard Jewell (Film)
The Gods Must Be Crazy 2 (Movie)
The Gods Must Be Crazy (Film)
Knives Out (Movie)
Ford v Ferrari (Film)
The Good Liar (Film)
Enter the Void (Film)
Motherless Brooklyn (Film)
Zombieland: Double Tap (Movie)
Happy Death Day 2 U (Movie)
Almost Famous (Film)
Joker (Film)
Ad Astra (Film)
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Film)
It: Chapter Two (Film)
Eagle vs. Shark (Film)
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood (Film)
Blinded By the Light (Film)
Wordplay (Film)
The Lion King (Movie)
The Legend of Demon Cat (Film)
Psych: The Movie (Movie)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (Movie)
Dark Phoenix (Movie)
Toy Story 4 (Movie)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Film)
A Star is Born (Film)
First Man (Film)
Vice (Film)
Aladdin (Movie)
Brightburn (Movie)
Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (Movie)
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald (Movie)
Aquaman (Movie)
Avengers: Endgame (Movie)
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (Film)
Us (Film)
Behind the Curve (Film)
Alita: Battle Angel (Movie)
Captain Marvel (Movie)
The Seven Deadly Sins The Movie: Prisoners of the Sky (Movie)
Isn't it Romantic (Movie)
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (Movie)
The Wandering Earth (Movie)
The Theory of Everything (Film)
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened (Film)
Shadow (Film)
Dragonball Super: Broly (Movie)
Birdbox (Movie)
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Film)
The Shape of Water (Film)
Welcome to Marwen (Film)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Film)
Spider-man: Enter the Spider-verse (Film)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (Movie)
Pretty in Pink (Movie)
The Last Emperor (Film)
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (Movie)
I, Tonya (Film)
Mr. Donkey (Film)
Darkest Hour (Film)
This is the End (Movie)
Heathers (Movie)
Tusk (Film)
Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress (Film)
BlackkKlansman (Film)
Swingers (Movie)
Extinction (Movie)
Christopher Robin (Film)
Mission: Impossible-Fallout (Movie)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Movie)
King of Comedy (Movie)
Ant-Man and the Wasp (Movie)
Gone Baby Gone (Film)
Dallas Buyers Club (Film)
Tag (Film)
In Bruges (Film)
Mojin: The Lost Legend (Movie)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Movie)
Incredibles 2 (Movie)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (Movie)
The Cloverfield Paradox (Movie)
What Happened to Monday? (Movie)
Deadpool 2 (Movie)
Avengers: Infinity War (Movie)
Isle of Dogs (Film)
A Quiet Place (Movie)
Ready Player One (Movie)
Fullmetal Alchemist (Movie)
Game Over, Man! (Movie)
Spotlight (Film)
Practical Magic (Movie)
Pacific Rim Uprising (Movie)
Annihilation (Film)
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (Film)
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Movie)
The Message (Movie)
Never Say Die (Movie)
Monster (Film)
Molly's Game (Film)
Downsizing (Film)
Lust, Caution (Film)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Movie)
Farewell, My Concubine (Film)
Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Film)
Coco (Film)
Justice League (Movie)
Murder on the Orient Express (Movie)
Detective Conan: The Phantoms of Baker Street (Film)
Train to Busan (Movie)
Thor: Ragnarok (Movie)
Geostorm (Movie)
Flow (Film)
Cube (Film)
Happy Death Day (Movie)
Chinatown Detective (Movie)
It (Movie)
The Triplets of Belleville (Film)
Hacksaw Ridge (Film)
Dunkirk (Film)
Baby Driver (Film)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (Movie)
John Wick (Movie)
War Machine (Film)
Dangal (Film)
The Stanford Prison Experiment (Film)
Cars 3 (Movie)
Journey to the West (Movie)
Wonder Woman (Movie)
The Myth (Movie)
The Grey (Film)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Movie)
Carlito's Way (Movie)
Your Name. (Film)
Human Nature (Movie)
Get Out (Film)
Amelie (Film)
Love, Actually (Movie)
M (Movie)
Batman: The Killing Joke (Movie)
Ip Man (Film)
Logan (Movie)
A River Runs Through It (Film)
Sunrise (Movie)
The Lego Batman Movie (Movie)
La La Land (Film)
8 1/2 (Film)
Gold (Film)
The Founder (Film)
Hidden Figures (Film)
Doctor Strange (Movie)
Assassin's Creed (Movie)
Rouge One: A Star Wars Story (Film)
Moana (Movie)
Brazil (Film)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movie)
The Best Years of Our Lives (Film)
The Arrival (Film)
Doctor Strange (Movie)
Inferno (Film)
Woman in Gold (Film)
The Accountant (Movie)
Hard Candy (Film)
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children (Movie)
Amanda Knox (Film)
Sully (Film)
Enemy Mine (Film)
Don't Breathe (Movie)
Hell or High Water (Film)
In the Heart of the Sea (Film)
Batteries Not Included (Movie)
Suicide Squad (Movie)
Star Trek Beyond (Movie)
The Infiltrator (Film)
The Road to Morocco (Movie)
Swiss Army Man (Film)
Free State of Jones (Film)
Independence Day: Resurgence (Movie)
Finding Dory (Movie)
The Class (Film)
Pokemon: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (Movie)
X-Men: Apocalypse (Movie)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (Movie)
Money Monster (Movie)
Commando (Movie)
Keanu (Movie)
Captain America: Civil War (Movie)
Sherpa (Film)
Einstein Revealed (Film)
Ninotchka (Movie)
Hardcore Henry (Movie)
Eye in the Sky (Film)
The Goodbye Girl (Movie)
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Movie)
Son of Batman (Movie)
The Divergent Series: Allegiant (Film)
Funny Games (Movie)
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (Movie)
Justice League: War (Movie)
A Prairie Home Companion (Movie)
10 Cloverfield Lane (Movie)
Zootopia (Film)
Be Kind Rewind (Movie)
Race (Film)
Trans Siberian (Movie)
Deadpool (Movie)
Hail, Ceaser! (Film)
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (Movie)
Sugar (Movie)
Run Silent, Run Deep (Movie)
What's Up, Tiger Lilly? (Film)
The Big Short (Film)
Hateful Eight (Movie)
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Movie)
Elevator (Movie)
Creed (Film)
Circle (Film)
The Good Dinosaur (Movie)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (Film)
Spectre (Movie)
Our Brand is Crisis (Film)
Steve Jobs (Film)
Everest (Movie)
Bad Words (Movie)
Do The Right Thing (Film)
Bridge of Spies (Film)
The Martian (Movie)
The Machinist (Film)
Scream (Movie)
Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Movie)
Straight Out of Compton (Film)
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Movie)
Saving Mr. Banks (Film)
The Gift (Film)
DragonBall Z: Resurrection 'F' (Movie)
Mission: Impossible- Rouge Nation (Movie)
Love Story (Movie)
Ant-Man (Movie)
Barton Fink (Film)
Bug (Film)
Coffee and Cigarettes (Film)
Terminator: Genisys (Movie)
The Guns of Navarone (Movie)
Inside Out (Film)
Jurassic World (Movie)
San Andreas (Movie)
No No: A Dockumentary (Film)
Hot Girls Wanted (Film)
Tomorrowland (Movie)
Mad Max: Fury Road (Movie)
The Girlfriend Experience (Film)
Private Benjamen (Movie)
Ex Machina (Film)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie)
The Thief of Baghdad (Movie)
Furious 7 (Movie)
The Good, The Bad, The Weird (Movie)
Charlie Victor Romeo (Film)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (Film)
Insurgent (Film)
American Hustle (Movie)
Chappie (Film)
Divergent (Film)
Twelve Years a Slave (Film)
The Thin Red Line (Film)
Focus (Movie)
Kingsmen: The Secret Service (Movie)
The Pianist (Film)
Tape (Film)
The Interview (Movie)
American Sniper (Film)
Selma (Film)
Housewife's Afternoon Delight (Movie)
The Imitation Game (Film)
Anaconda (Movie)
Man on a Ledge (Movie)
Big Eyes (Film)
Re-Animator (Movie)
Unbroken (Film)
Night at the Museum: The Secret of the Tomb (Movie)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Movie)
Zorro, The Gay Blade (Movie)
A Streetcar Named Desire (Film)
Harold and Maude (Film)
Penguins of Madagascar (Movie)
Blue is the Warmest Color (Film)
Birdman (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Film)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 1 (Movie)
Orgazmo (Movie)
Children of a Lesser God (Film)
Big Hero 6 (Movie)
Rosewater (Film)
The Good German (Film)
Interstellar (Movie)
Better Off Dead (Movie)
Nightcrawler (Movie)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Film)
Fury (Film)
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (Film)
Jeff, Who Lives at Home (Film)
Upside Down (Film)
Gone Girl (Film)
Frozen (Movie)
Cape Fear (Movie)
The Maze Runner (Movie)
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Film)
Escape From Tomorrow (Film)
The Battleship Potemkin (Film)
Sharknado 2: The Second One (Movie)
Dragonball Z: Battle of the Gods (Movie)
Boyhood (Film)
An Unreasonable Man (Film)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Movie)
The Guardians of the Galaxy (Movie)
Billy Elliot (Film)
Lucy (Movie)
Scarface (Film)
Tammy (Movie)
Snowpiercer (Movie)
Hot Coffee (Film)
Speed Racer (Film)
Earth to Echo (Movie)
Transformers: Age of Extinction (Movie)
Casting Couch (Movie)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Film)
How to Train Your Dragon 2 (Movie)
Edge of Tomorrow (Movie)
Much Ado About Nothing (Film)
Maleficent (Movie)
In the Name of the Father (Film)
A Million Ways to Die in the West (Movie)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (Film)
Godzilla (Movie)
X-Men: Days of Future Past (Movie)
Million Dollar Arm (Movie)
Closely Watched Trains (Film)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Movie)
Transcendence (Film)
Jakob the Liar (Film)
Cheap Thrills (Film)
Captain America: The Winter Solider (Movie)
Olympus Has Fallen (Movie)
Mallrats (Movie)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Film)
Muppets Most Wanted (Movie)
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Film)
Moulin Rouge (Film)
The Last of the Mohicans (Film)
The Gold Rush (Movie)
The Wind Rises (Film)
Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Movie)
Nancy & Tanya (Film)
The Lego Movie (Movie)
A Day at the Races (Movie)
Questioning Darwin (Film)
The Palm Beach Story (Movie)
The Monuments Men (Movie)
Auntie Mame (Movie)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Movie)
They Call Me Mister Tibbs (Movie)
The Lady Eve (Movie)
I Sell the Dead (Movie)
Warm Bodies (Movie)
The Lives of Others (Film)
Nitro Circus: The Movie (Movie)
No Man's Land (Film)
Rock Jocks (Movie)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Film)
47 Ronin (Movie)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Movie)
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (Movie)
Michael Clayton (Movie)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Movie)
Lovelace (Film)
High Fidelity (Film)
Chasing Amy (Movie)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Movie)
It's a Disaster (Movie)
The Opposite of Sex (Film)
Dear Jack (Film)
Divorce, Italian Style (Movie)
The Challenger Disaster (Film)
Thor: The Dark World (Movie)
The Perfect Host (Movie)
The Wiz (Film)
Ender's Game (Movie)
Zodiac (Movie)
Tales from the Organ Trade (Film)
Bad Grandpa (Movie)
My Dinner With Andre (Film)
A Band Called Death (Film)
The Counselor (Film)
Kinsey (Film)
Monster's Ball (Film)
Movie 43 (Movie)
Escape Plan (Movie)
Machete (Film)
The Science of Sleep (Film)
Captain Phillips (Movie)
Gravity (Movie)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (Film)
Clear History (Movie)
Night of the Cobra Woman (Movie)
Elizabethtown (Movie)
Hellbound? (Film)
The Steel Helmet (Film)
I Declare War (Film)
The Road (Film)
Godzilla vs. Monster Zero (Movie)
Sullivan's Travels (Film)
The World's End (Movie)
The Act of Killing (Film)
Sharknado (Movie)
Kick-Ass 2 (Film)
Knuckleball (Film)
Kumare (Film)
The Raven (Movie)
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Star of Milos (Movie)
Elysium (Film)
Secretary (Film)
Hetalia: Paint, It White (Film)
Teen Wolf (Movie)
The Navigator (Movie)
Wristcutters: A Love Story (Film)
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost (Movie)
The Wolverine (Movie)
A Shot in the Dark (Movie)
R.I.P.D (Movie)
The Host (Movie)
Only God Forgives (Film)
Last Tango in Paris (Film)
Pacific Rim (Movie)
The Dictator (Film)
Gideon's Army (Film)
Lost in La Mancha (Film)
A Liar's Autobiography (Film)
Nemesis Game (Movie)
The English Patient (Film)
White House Down (Movie)
Silent House (Movie)
The Phantom of the Paradise (Film)
The Lady Vanishes (Movie)
American Grindhouse (Film)
Caged Heat (Movie)
World War Z (Movie)
Man of Steel (Movie)
Dead Ball (Movie)
Monsters University (Movie)
Win Win (Movie)
Battle Royale (Movie)
The Thief and The Cobbler (Movie)
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (Film)
Das Boot (Film)
I Spit On Your Grave (Film)
The Babysitters (Movie)
The Great Magician (Movie)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (Movie)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Film)
Oldboy (Movie)
Now You See Me (Movie)
Fast and Furious 6 (Movie)
Chocolat (Movie)
Star Trek Into Darkness (Movie)
Selling God (Film)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (Film)
John Dies at the End (Film)
The Kentucky Fried Movie (Movie)
Nashville (Film)
Girl Model (Film)
Iron Man 3 (Movie)
A Serious Man (Film)
The Outlaw (Movie)
Oblivion (Movie)
42 (Film)
Shakespeare in Love (Movie)
Time Traveler (Movie)
Red Tails (Film)
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Movie)
Bee Movie (Movie)
Family Plot (Movie)
Frenzy (Movie)
Topaz (Movie)
Torn Curtain (Movie)
Time Bandits (Film)
Marnie (Movie)
The Cabin in the Woods (Movie)
Rope (Movie)
Saboteur (Movie)
Donnie Brasco (Movie)
Chariots of the Gods (Film)
Iron Sky (Movie)
Zeta One (Movie)
Creation (Film)
5 Fingers of Death (Movie)
Side Effects (Movie)
Ink (Film)
Suspect Zero (Movie)
Delicatessen (Film)
Strangers on a Train (Movie)
The Evil Dead (Movie)
After Porn Ends (Film)
Superman vs. The Elite (Film)
Following (Film)
Spirited Away (Film)
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Film)
Gangster Squad (Movie)
Justice League: Doom (Movie)
A Game of Death (Movie)
All-Star Superman (Movie)
Code of the Secret Service (Movie)
Batman: Year One (Movie)
Zero Dark Thirty (Film)
Victor/Victoria (Film)
Song of the South (Movie)
Django Unchained (Movie)
The World's Fastest Indian (Movie)
The Hangover Part II (Movie)
Tower Heist (Movie)
Taken 2 (Movie)
Les Miserables (Film)
Jack Reacher (Movie)
Bolt (Movie)
City Lights (Movie)
In Time (Film)
Crash (Film)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Movie)
The Bank Job (Movie)
Black Snake Moan (Film)
Skyline (Movie)
Live! (Film)
Intolerance (Film)
Battle: Los Angeles (Movie)
Life of Pi (Film)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Movie)
The Forbidden Kingdom (Movie)
Lincoln (Film)
The Kite Runner (Film)
In a Lonely Place (Movie)
Flight (Film)
Ten Little Indians (Movie)
Wreck-It-Ralph (Movie)
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Film)
Skyfall (Movie)
Sleeper (Film)
The Neverending Story (Movie)
Cloud Atlas (Film)
Argo (Movie)
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (Film)
Mansome (Film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Movie)
The Girl (Movie)
Superman 4: The Quest for Peace (Film)
Meet the Spartans (Movie)
White Zombie (Movie)
The Master (Film)
I Want Candy (Movie)
Nacho Libre (Movie)
Looper (Movie)
Margin Call (Film)
Freddy Vs. Jason (Movie)
You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Movie)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Film)
Fail-Safe (Film)
The Jazz Singer (Movie)
The Killers (Movie)
Thunderbirds Are Go (Movie)
ParaNorman (Movie)
They Might Be Giants (Film)
Mama Mia! (Movie)
Leatherheads (Movie)
Little Women (Film)
Man on Wire (Film)
The Dark Knight Rises (Movie)
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (Movie)
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Film)
The Tree of Life (Film)
God Grew Tired of Us (Film)
Sex Drive (Movie)
Special (Film)
Ghost Town (Movie)
The Amazing Spider-Man (Movie)
Unstoppable (Movie)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Movie)
Revolutionary Road (Film)
Moonrise Kingdom (Film)
Brave (Movie)
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (Movie)
Glen or Glenda (Film)
Prometheus (Movie)
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (Movie)
Diner at Eight (Film)
Bedtime Stories (Movie)
Snow White and the Huntsman (Movie)
Men in Black 3 (Movie)
It Happened One Night (Movie)
Bonnie and Clyde (Movie)
Thor: Tales of Asgard (Movie)
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (Movie)
Dark Shadows (Movie)
The Avengers (Movie)
Rio (Movie)
The Owls of Ga'Hool (Movie)
Your Highness (Movie)
Cabaret (Film)
The Wrestler (Film)
Religulous (Film)
Yes Man (Movie)
Changeling (Movie)
The Hunger Games (Film)
The Nude Bomb (Movie)
Cedar Rapids (Movie)
MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (Movie)
MacGyver: Lost Treasure of Atlantis (Movie)
The Artist (Film)
Game Change (Film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Film)
Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (Movie)
Die Welle (Film)
The Great Raid (Movie)
Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (Movie)
Howl's Moving Castle (Movie)
Tales From Earthsea (Movie)
The Ten (Film)
Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (Movie)
Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (Movie)
The Secret World of Arrietty (Movie)
Mystery Team (Movie)
Chronicle (Movie)
Paper Clips (Film)
Tekken (Movie)
Cypher (Movie)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Movie)
Haywire (Movie)
Star Wars Uncut (Film)
The A-Team (Movie)
The Killing Fields (Film)
Unknown (Movie)
Hugo (Movie)
The Wild One (Film)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Movie)
Tron: Legacy (Movie)
Robin Hood [2010] (Movie)
Conviction (Movie)
Waiting For "Superman" (Film)
Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol (Movie)
The Color Purple (Film)
En La Cama (Film)
GasLand (Film)
The Trip (Film)
Abre Los Ojoes (Movie)
Murder in the First (Film)
The Day of the Jackal (Movie)
Despicable Me (Movie)
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (Movie)
Bringing Up Baby (Movie)
The Place Promised in Our Early Days (Film)
Great Expectations (Film)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief (Movie)
Shoot 'Em Up (Movie)
The Adjustment Bureau (Movie)
The Deer Hunter (Film)
The Tale of Despereaux (Movie)
J. Edger (Film)
Shrek Forever After (Movie)
The Muppets (Movie)
Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein (Movie)
Limitless (Movie)
The Housemaid (Movie)
His Girl Friday (Movie)
The Muppets Take Manhattan (Movie)
Stop-Loss (Film)
In The Loop (Film)
The Final Countdown (Movie)
THX 1138 (Film)
The Secret of NIMH (Movie)
Red State (Movie)
The Rum Diary (Movie)
The Mother of Invention (Movie)
Dracula: Dead and Loving It (Movie)
The Exorcist (Movie)
Puss in Boots (Movie)
Sophie's Choice (Film)
The Lookout (Movie)
Boys Don't Cry (Film)
The Three Musketeers (Movie)
Real Steel (Movie)
50/50 (Film)
The Other Boleyn Girl [2003 BBC version] (Film)
Freakonomics (Film)
The Ides of March (Film)
Manhattan (Movie)
Middle Men (Movie)
The Apartment (Movie)
In the Heat of the Night (Film)
Moneyball (Movie)
The Thing (Movie)
Rubber (Movie)
District 9- Plan None from Outer Space
Everything about District 9 said this would be an Apartheid parable shot in a mockumentary style. The South African location, the original short film it was based on, the trailer, the humans only signs which covered theaters. It all said we are going to have a serious discussion about race relations, but no one will be offended and it will be easier for you to take because we will be using aliens to stand in for black people.
And that's what we got... for about twenty minutes. And then, fuck that shit. Here's shit blowing up for ninety minutes.
This really bothered me for three reasons.
One, I like to get what I pay for. If you told me, "This is a standard sci-fi action movie. Sit back and enjoy." I would have walked out happy. But, you tried to sell me this as a high-concept sci-fi film like the original Star Trek or the latest Battlestar Galactica and promised to discuss important contemporary issues in a less threatening environment.
Two, when Wikus transforms and flees to District 9, it was all set up for a Dances with Wolves style plot. Instead, the movie got lost in explosions and a great premise was wasted. The aliens in District 9 were really unique in the movie world. They didn't want to enslave or slaughter humanity. Nor were they some great cosmic benefactors out to save mankind. The District 9 aliens were the grunts of alien society marooned on our world lacking leadership, purpose, or super advanced knowledge. Truly unique characters are rare and I wish they had been better utilized.
Think about it. Every movie you have ever seen about aliens landing on Earth features aliens which came here for a specific purpose. We don't know why the District 9 aliens came, most likely their ship just broke down and they didn't know how to fix it, so they stopped at our place till the tow truck arrived. Do you think it's ridiculous that first contact with an alien world might come from such a lowly and unplanned reason? Or that a civilization advanced enough to send a ship across the galaxy would have someone on-board that could repair any potential problems? But what if your car's transmission blew out on the interstate? Do you have the technical skills to fix it? If you do, are you carrying the tools and parts? And if you are, you still have to pull over to work on it. It's likely that a civilization where space travel is commonplace could become similarly cavalier about interstellar travel.
This sort of accidental first contact is actually a fairly likely scenario for how aliens might first stumble across our planet. Sci-fi television certainly thinks so. I looked in the Netflix episode descriptions of the "Next-gen" Star Trek series for variants on the phrase "crashed on a planet" and found it in 19 of 498 episodes or 4% of the time. [Note: Actual number of episodes with crashes or unplanned landings is higher.] That is 4 of 168 Next Generation episodes (2%), 6 of 170 Deep Space Nine episodes (3%), and a whopping 9 of 160 Voyager episodes (6%). [Note: Frequent recycling of plots is one of the many reasons Voyager is by far the worst Star Trek series.] If the Federation can't keep a ship in the air, what chance do real aliens have.
Three, I believe a filmmaker must do three things in the opening 15 minutes of a movie. They must begin to establish one of the central conflicts, introduce an important character, and establish the tone of the film. I found it extremely jarring when they suddenly abandoned the mockumentary style and racial overtones after successfully establishing them in the opening scenes.
Ultimately, I feel the filmmakers had a lot in common with their aliens. They flew their big fancy spaceship of a concept until the twenty minute mark of the film and then it broke and we were all stranded with no idea what to do next.
The Thing- Have We Gone to War with the Penguins?
I just finished watching The Thing and I'm having a hard time accepting one of the premises of the movie. No, not that a 100,000 year old alien has awoken in the Antarctic and is copying and eating the members of a scientific expedition. That makes perfect sense to me. What I don't understand is why an Antarctic scientific expedition is so well armed.
In the opening scene, we see that the Norwegians are armed with a box full of grenades and an automatic rifle. As soon as the begin firing towards the American camp, they all seem to produce rifles of there own. One of the characters jokes about being at war with the Norwegians, but there doesn't seen to be any other explanation as to why they were so quick to arms. And what possible use could they have for grenades or military style rifles?
I understand why they might have a rifle or two. After all, they might get isolated for a long time and might have to hunt penguins and seals for food. But, I saw no less than five rifles and I can't see why they would need so many. If it was an Arctic base, that many rifles could be justified. Polar bears are big, ornery and hungry. No one goes out in polar bear country without a big gun. But, wildlife in Antarctica consists of penguins, penguins, and other kinds of penguins. Seals can be kind of dangerous, but they are easy to get away from and they don't seem to be on the coast anyway. That means they transported in about 50 pounds of unnecessary equipment.
I don't have a problem with the commander and one of the doctors having pistols. Someone might go a little crazy down there. And this seems like a reasonable precaution. But...
Dynamite! They've got enough dynamite to blow away a West Virgina mountain. Again, TNT has many potential uses. It's the volume that doesn't make sense. Are they are mining ice?
But more than anything else I want to know, why do they have flamethrowers? I cannot think of any possible justification for having flamethrowers. I saw two of them being destroyed and later on three characters were wearing them at the same time meaning there could be no less than five of them.
At this point, I want to know who is approving the budgets at the National Science Foundation. "You need ten million dollars for a tank and thirty million for a jet? Ok, will you be needing any land mines or machine guns?"
In the opening scene, we see that the Norwegians are armed with a box full of grenades and an automatic rifle. As soon as the begin firing towards the American camp, they all seem to produce rifles of there own. One of the characters jokes about being at war with the Norwegians, but there doesn't seen to be any other explanation as to why they were so quick to arms. And what possible use could they have for grenades or military style rifles?
I understand why they might have a rifle or two. After all, they might get isolated for a long time and might have to hunt penguins and seals for food. But, I saw no less than five rifles and I can't see why they would need so many. If it was an Arctic base, that many rifles could be justified. Polar bears are big, ornery and hungry. No one goes out in polar bear country without a big gun. But, wildlife in Antarctica consists of penguins, penguins, and other kinds of penguins. Seals can be kind of dangerous, but they are easy to get away from and they don't seem to be on the coast anyway. That means they transported in about 50 pounds of unnecessary equipment.
I don't have a problem with the commander and one of the doctors having pistols. Someone might go a little crazy down there. And this seems like a reasonable precaution. But...
Dynamite! They've got enough dynamite to blow away a West Virgina mountain. Again, TNT has many potential uses. It's the volume that doesn't make sense. Are they are mining ice?
But more than anything else I want to know, why do they have flamethrowers? I cannot think of any possible justification for having flamethrowers. I saw two of them being destroyed and later on three characters were wearing them at the same time meaning there could be no less than five of them.
At this point, I want to know who is approving the budgets at the National Science Foundation. "You need ten million dollars for a tank and thirty million for a jet? Ok, will you be needing any land mines or machine guns?"
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Amores Perros- Does Not Mean Puppy Love
I wasn't too excited about watching Amores Perros the first time I saw it after all I translated the title to "Puppy Love" and I don't typically go for rom-coms, but the reviews were good and I decided to give it a shot without knowing anything about it. When their title translation, "Love's a Bitch", popped on screen, I knew I was in for something completely different than I expected.
So far all of my discussions have been about negative aspects of well-known American releases, so it's about time I praise an independent film from Mexico. This piece is written to contrast with the discussion of Babel which handled multiple storylines very poorly. Amores Perros is my favorite foreign language film and it deserves all the praise it gets.
The three storylines in Amores Perros can all be traced back to the actions of two characters: El Chivo and Cofi, the big black dog. In the opening scene, the Dog Fighting Jerk is looking for a dog his dog can slaughter. You know, not for the money or anything. Just for the pure, clean fun of animal cruelty. To get back to the real roots of dog fighting. (There may have been some sarcasm in there. It's hard to say.) And he points his dog at a pack of dogs, but a surprisingly sane, dog man (in contrast to a crazy, cat lady) pulls out a machete and the Dog Fighting Jerk aims his soon-to-be-dead dog at Cofi. Later on, we find out that the surprisingly sane, dog man is El Chivo, the star of our third story. Cameo Del Chivo sets off the entire course of events in the Octavio storyline and it also sets up an important scene in story Del Chivo.
This is the most significant cameo in the film, but if you watch carefully the central characters in one storyline will make an appearance in the other two. For example, Octavio watches the talk show Valeria was on when her life was perfect. That perfection begins to fall apart immediately after her little run in with Octavio, which happened because he was distracted by Cofi dying and Dog Fighting Jerk trying to kill him, a direct result of El Chivo defending his pack.
El Chivo is at the scene of the crash and he nurses Cofi back to health. Cofi then kills all his dogs because of the training he received after El Chivo redirected the Dog Fighting Jerk. So by defending his dogs in the opening scene, El Chivo precipitates their murder in the third act. (Damn you, dramatic irony!) And after El Chivo spares Cofi, he reconsiders how he lives his life, altering the second half of his plotline.
Every event in Amores Perros is triggered in that opening scene and every plot is greatly altered by the crash scene. And that's how you do multiple plotlines.
So far all of my discussions have been about negative aspects of well-known American releases, so it's about time I praise an independent film from Mexico. This piece is written to contrast with the discussion of Babel which handled multiple storylines very poorly. Amores Perros is my favorite foreign language film and it deserves all the praise it gets.
The three storylines in Amores Perros can all be traced back to the actions of two characters: El Chivo and Cofi, the big black dog. In the opening scene, the Dog Fighting Jerk is looking for a dog his dog can slaughter. You know, not for the money or anything. Just for the pure, clean fun of animal cruelty. To get back to the real roots of dog fighting. (There may have been some sarcasm in there. It's hard to say.) And he points his dog at a pack of dogs, but a surprisingly sane, dog man (in contrast to a crazy, cat lady) pulls out a machete and the Dog Fighting Jerk aims his soon-to-be-dead dog at Cofi. Later on, we find out that the surprisingly sane, dog man is El Chivo, the star of our third story. Cameo Del Chivo sets off the entire course of events in the Octavio storyline and it also sets up an important scene in story Del Chivo.
This is the most significant cameo in the film, but if you watch carefully the central characters in one storyline will make an appearance in the other two. For example, Octavio watches the talk show Valeria was on when her life was perfect. That perfection begins to fall apart immediately after her little run in with Octavio, which happened because he was distracted by Cofi dying and Dog Fighting Jerk trying to kill him, a direct result of El Chivo defending his pack.
El Chivo is at the scene of the crash and he nurses Cofi back to health. Cofi then kills all his dogs because of the training he received after El Chivo redirected the Dog Fighting Jerk. So by defending his dogs in the opening scene, El Chivo precipitates their murder in the third act. (Damn you, dramatic irony!) And after El Chivo spares Cofi, he reconsiders how he lives his life, altering the second half of his plotline.
Every event in Amores Perros is triggered in that opening scene and every plot is greatly altered by the crash scene. And that's how you do multiple plotlines.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Babel- It's Three, Three, Three, Movies in One!
Babel is a prestige film built to show the interconnectedness of people. Too bad it doesn't connect with itself. I love movies with interlocking storylines. I highly recommend seeing Amores Perros and 11:14. But the key to intersecting storylines is that they must intersect in a significant way and that the events of one storyline must change the events in another. Babel's three plotlines are so disconnected that you spend the entire movie wondering why all these scripts got packed into a single film. Did they have a bunch of shorts lying around and decide to cut them together at the last minute? Am I supposed to find it profound that these people have a vague connection?
Two of the three movies, shot tourist and illegal border crossings, were actually pretty good, but they would have been better as separate movies than jammed together in the same one. The story of deaf, Japanese slut was irredeemable under any circumstances. (Pro tip: When driving the densely packed streets of Tokyo, do not attempt to communicate by sign language.)
I found the story of shot tourist the most compelling of the bunch. To further bifurcate the film it contains two subplots, but these are the automatically connected plots of many crime dramas: victim, cops, and criminal. This had all the elements of political drama exploring the themes of racism, terrorism, political gamesmanship, and US foreign policy towards the Muslim world, and had the story been allowed to stand on its own it would have made a great film. At one point, help is delayed because the American government doesn't want the tourist to be evacuated by a Moroccan ambulance. This is all explained in one line of dialog because apparently the off-screen plotline which showed the political reasoning and wrangling involved in this decision was too connected to the main story to be included in the final cut. While this omission does add to the air of helplessness our tourists are feeling, I can't help but feel cheated out of seeing some slimy politicians at work. Had this poltline stood on its own their would have been room for this story. I'm not sure if it would have ultimately enhanced that hypothetical film, but there was certainly no room for it in this one.
The story of illegal border crossings stars the tourists kids and their housekeeper. On its face, a good connection between the plotlines, but in reality, other than being out of town, the tourists are not involved in this story. They are Macaulay Culkin's family in Home Alone. Somehow, things go amiss as two illegal immigrants attempt to cross a border checkpoint in the middle of the night while the driver was intoxicated and belligerent to the officers and bringing two children which are clearly not their blood relatives across without their parent's permission. Instead of realizing how completely they screwed up and facing he consequences of their actions, the immigrants attempt to flee taking the kids along with them leading to three near and one actual death. Brad Pitt is apparently completely unaware of all this until its already over.
So how does deaf, Japanese slut fit into the story? Her dad once went to Morocco and gave a rifle to a guy who sold it another guy, who gave it to his kids, who shot a tourist, who swallowed a dog, who swallowed a cat, who swallowed a frog, who swallowed a fly which wriggled and giggled and wallowed inside her. I think she'll die. (I may have gotten a little off track there.)
Or maybe I just missed the point. Perhaps the message is that we are all alone and despite superficial connections, such as appearing in the same movie, we are all isolated from one another a desperate for a meaningful connection.
Two of the three movies, shot tourist and illegal border crossings, were actually pretty good, but they would have been better as separate movies than jammed together in the same one. The story of deaf, Japanese slut was irredeemable under any circumstances. (Pro tip: When driving the densely packed streets of Tokyo, do not attempt to communicate by sign language.)
I found the story of shot tourist the most compelling of the bunch. To further bifurcate the film it contains two subplots, but these are the automatically connected plots of many crime dramas: victim, cops, and criminal. This had all the elements of political drama exploring the themes of racism, terrorism, political gamesmanship, and US foreign policy towards the Muslim world, and had the story been allowed to stand on its own it would have made a great film. At one point, help is delayed because the American government doesn't want the tourist to be evacuated by a Moroccan ambulance. This is all explained in one line of dialog because apparently the off-screen plotline which showed the political reasoning and wrangling involved in this decision was too connected to the main story to be included in the final cut. While this omission does add to the air of helplessness our tourists are feeling, I can't help but feel cheated out of seeing some slimy politicians at work. Had this poltline stood on its own their would have been room for this story. I'm not sure if it would have ultimately enhanced that hypothetical film, but there was certainly no room for it in this one.
The story of illegal border crossings stars the tourists kids and their housekeeper. On its face, a good connection between the plotlines, but in reality, other than being out of town, the tourists are not involved in this story. They are Macaulay Culkin's family in Home Alone. Somehow, things go amiss as two illegal immigrants attempt to cross a border checkpoint in the middle of the night while the driver was intoxicated and belligerent to the officers and bringing two children which are clearly not their blood relatives across without their parent's permission. Instead of realizing how completely they screwed up and facing he consequences of their actions, the immigrants attempt to flee taking the kids along with them leading to three near and one actual death. Brad Pitt is apparently completely unaware of all this until its already over.
So how does deaf, Japanese slut fit into the story? Her dad once went to Morocco and gave a rifle to a guy who sold it another guy, who gave it to his kids, who shot a tourist, who swallowed a dog, who swallowed a cat, who swallowed a frog, who swallowed a fly which wriggled and giggled and wallowed inside her. I think she'll die. (I may have gotten a little off track there.)
Or maybe I just missed the point. Perhaps the message is that we are all alone and despite superficial connections, such as appearing in the same movie, we are all isolated from one another a desperate for a meaningful connection.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Tangled- An Open Letter to Disney
Dear Disney,
I miss real animation. Computer-generated animation just doesn't impress me like old fashioned pen and paper. ReBoot was incredible when in came out in 1994 and Toy Story was equally impressive in 1995. Since then, CG animation hasn't done a thing for me. Don't get me wrong Pixar is the best studio in town. They have never produced a bad movie and until they do I will always be there opening weekend, (And Dreamworks has made a few good CGA movies as well.) but Pixar's success is in the quality of writing and direction, not in the power of their CPU's.
I remember the days when you're animation department was just like Pixar. Every year, you made a good animated film. Many of them were great, but every when they were bad they were still pretty good. And then right about when Pixar was hitting their stride, you came out with some true stinkers (Brother Bear and Lilo and Stitch come to mind) and then you quit. What happened? Did you send all the good writers to Pixar? If so, could you get some of them back? I miss you, Disney.
I think you still have the knack. You're last two traditionally animated offerings, The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh, were brilliant. Shame on you, Disney, for releasing Winnie the Pooh so quietly, it was the funniest movie I have seen in years. (I love forth wall humor.)
So, I am making you a vow, Disney. If you make a traditionally animated film, you will get my money. I want to give it to you. Please take it from me, but please leave CGA to your little brother.
Which brings us to Tangled...
I love a good trailer and this one for Tangled was one of the best I've ever seen.
That was so cool. Ass-kicking princess with prehensile hair, CGA and an alt-rock soundtrack, I knew I was looking at the next Shrek. And when I found out, it was your first PG rating, I was certain of it. Then I got to the theater...and it was an old fashioned Disney film IN 3D. All I could think of throughout the whole thing was "I've fallen for a bait-and-switch scam and this would be so much better if it was traditionally animated."
It's not just a nostalgia trip. Everything about Tangled felt like a first draft. The songs were listless and poorly written. The punchlines always just missed the mark. It felt like there was a good film just below the surface dying to get out, but it was just not given the chance. Traditional animated films take more time and money to make. I'm sure that if that additional investment had been made, you could have found that magic.
I'm not sure why Tangled got a PG rating, but when does the MPAA ever make sense. It wasn't as violent as some of your other offerings, like Mulan, nor was it as scary as The Lion King. In fact, there was nothing at all violent or frightening about this very bland movie. I did notice some excellent CGA boobies though which knowing the MPAA's hatred for anything remotely sexual is probably the source of the elevated rating. I wasn't trying to be a perv, but was so bored between appearances of the scene stealing horse that I found counting cleavage shots a great way to pass the time.
In short, please get back to making traditional animation and leave the CGA to Pixar.
Sincerely,
An animation fan
Monday, September 5, 2011
The Source Code- I Have a Great Idea For a Movie
The Source Code was an entertaining, brainless movie and then it became a great premise for a horror film and then it ended. At the point Stevens finds the bomber and the cavalry swoops in to stop him, I thought "That was kind of a short movie", but it just kept going and the implications of the ending were terrifying. Let's review the last fifteen minutes of The Source Code to find all its accidental horror.
After Stevens saves Chicago, he asks to go back in a save the train before Goodwin commits euthanasia. My understanding of the premise up to that point was that Stevens wasn't actually traveling through time and taking over the mind of Random Guy, he was in a computer simulation that played out probable futures based on what he made Random Guy do. They had tried to explain it differently, but their explanation was so stupid that I substituted my own. So when he wanted to go back in, I thought "I guess he wants one more happy memory before he dies and we get to end on a controversial message." As it turned out, both my explanation and theirs was wrong and he was traveling through time and taking over Random Guy's mind.
So he manages to save the train. Then the horror starts when Prize Girl goes on a date with Random Guy and Random Guy is still Jake Gyllenhaal. Again, I thought this is like the ending of Taxi Driver, a fantasy taking place as his brain dies where Stevens gets the girl of the other guy's dreams, but then they cut back to Goodwin and confirm that all of that actually happened and that Stevens is still alive and his mind is still in his physical body. Good for Chicago, great for the other passengers on the train, unbelievable horror for Stevens, Random Guy and Prize Girl.
Stevens- His fate is probably the worst of the bunch as he is being kept alive against his will unable to move or do anything on his own. He will however experience his own death thousands of times over the next 50 to 60 years. It's no wonder why he's become a psychopath who has found a way to copy himself into the mind of random people.
Random Guy- What happened to Random Guy? Really, the best case scenario for him is that he's dead, because it's hard to imagine the nightmare of being trapped in your own body while some Goa'uld uses you like a giant meat puppet.
Prize Girl- The nice Random Guy she's been chatting with on the train has just literally become another person. The kind of person who apparently has no qualms about taking control of the body and life of a random stranger. I'm sure this relationship will turn out well.
Does anyone want to by my script for a thriller about a disabled veteran driven mad by government scientists who wants to make every man in world his mind slave to rape and kill their girlfriends?
After Stevens saves Chicago, he asks to go back in a save the train before Goodwin commits euthanasia. My understanding of the premise up to that point was that Stevens wasn't actually traveling through time and taking over the mind of Random Guy, he was in a computer simulation that played out probable futures based on what he made Random Guy do. They had tried to explain it differently, but their explanation was so stupid that I substituted my own. So when he wanted to go back in, I thought "I guess he wants one more happy memory before he dies and we get to end on a controversial message." As it turned out, both my explanation and theirs was wrong and he was traveling through time and taking over Random Guy's mind.
So he manages to save the train. Then the horror starts when Prize Girl goes on a date with Random Guy and Random Guy is still Jake Gyllenhaal. Again, I thought this is like the ending of Taxi Driver, a fantasy taking place as his brain dies where Stevens gets the girl of the other guy's dreams, but then they cut back to Goodwin and confirm that all of that actually happened and that Stevens is still alive and his mind is still in his physical body. Good for Chicago, great for the other passengers on the train, unbelievable horror for Stevens, Random Guy and Prize Girl.
Stevens- His fate is probably the worst of the bunch as he is being kept alive against his will unable to move or do anything on his own. He will however experience his own death thousands of times over the next 50 to 60 years. It's no wonder why he's become a psychopath who has found a way to copy himself into the mind of random people.
Random Guy- What happened to Random Guy? Really, the best case scenario for him is that he's dead, because it's hard to imagine the nightmare of being trapped in your own body while some Goa'uld uses you like a giant meat puppet.
Prize Girl- The nice Random Guy she's been chatting with on the train has just literally become another person. The kind of person who apparently has no qualms about taking control of the body and life of a random stranger. I'm sure this relationship will turn out well.
Does anyone want to by my script for a thriller about a disabled veteran driven mad by government scientists who wants to make every man in world his mind slave to rape and kill their girlfriends?
Saturday, September 3, 2011
The Debt- You Had Me and Then You Lost Me
The Debt was a fine film until the last five minutes and then something happened that completely shattered my suspension of disbelief and ruined the whole thing: Helen Mirren's character, Rachel Singer, gets stabbed. She was standing face to face with Dr. Vogel and she just gets stabbed in the neck without really putting up a fight.
Let's look at our match-up. She is a former Mossad agent, trained in things like situational awareness and unarmed combat and he is a...doctor. She is fifty-five at the time of the confrontation, not young but not yet really old, while he is no younger than his late seventies.
Sure he got away from her in 1967, but he surprised her from behind. When they met in 1997, he is right in front of her, he announces that he is Dr. Vogel, and the scissors are in plain view. She should have killed him before he ever landed a stab.
All I can think of is that this is some sort of suicide attempt, but why would she give this unrepentant Nazi the satisfaction of killing another Jew? (That sentence will one day be chopped up and used out of context in a political ad against me.) And furthermore, there's no reason to think that she died. She gets up after the neck wound, so it must have missed the windpipe and the jugular, and it is probably not fatal. Nor is she likely to die from a single stab to the gut, especially since this fight takes place in a hospital.
So The Debt, you had me and then you lost me.
Let's look at our match-up. She is a former Mossad agent, trained in things like situational awareness and unarmed combat and he is a...doctor. She is fifty-five at the time of the confrontation, not young but not yet really old, while he is no younger than his late seventies.
Sure he got away from her in 1967, but he surprised her from behind. When they met in 1997, he is right in front of her, he announces that he is Dr. Vogel, and the scissors are in plain view. She should have killed him before he ever landed a stab.
All I can think of is that this is some sort of suicide attempt, but why would she give this unrepentant Nazi the satisfaction of killing another Jew? (That sentence will one day be chopped up and used out of context in a political ad against me.) And furthermore, there's no reason to think that she died. She gets up after the neck wound, so it must have missed the windpipe and the jugular, and it is probably not fatal. Nor is she likely to die from a single stab to the gut, especially since this fight takes place in a hospital.
So The Debt, you had me and then you lost me.
Welcome to No Spoiler Tags
This is not a movie review blog. It is for movie discussions. I won't use spoiler tags because all I do is spoil. This site is designed for people who have seen the movie and want to read something about it afterwards. Sometimes the posts might border on a review, but that's not really the point. It's a spot for me to post whatever I feel about the movie and you can disagree in the comments.
I won't discuss every movie that comes out. Just whatever I've seen (or thought about) recently and have something to say about (or more often tangentially related to it). It may be out now or the old obscure foreign film I just got from Netflix. This is my place, I'll do what I want.
To me there is a difference between the words movie and film. A movie is made to be entertaining, while a film is made to be art or make a statement. Films may entertain, like Forest Gump, and movies may make a statement, like The China Syndrome, but they're primary purposes are different. So anytime you see those words in bold, I am referring to these definitions.
Update: My labeling conventions have gotten pretty complex. If you need a little help, well that why I have a Tag Key.
With that said, let's get started and don't say I didn't warn you.
I won't discuss every movie that comes out. Just whatever I've seen (or thought about) recently and have something to say about (or more often tangentially related to it). It may be out now or the old obscure foreign film I just got from Netflix. This is my place, I'll do what I want.
To me there is a difference between the words movie and film. A movie is made to be entertaining, while a film is made to be art or make a statement. Films may entertain, like Forest Gump, and movies may make a statement, like The China Syndrome, but they're primary purposes are different. So anytime you see those words in bold, I am referring to these definitions.
Update: My labeling conventions have gotten pretty complex. If you need a little help, well that why I have a Tag Key.
With that said, let's get started and don't say I didn't warn you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)