Sorry about the delay in this post, but I took the weekend off last weekend and had minimal time/ access. Stay tuned for more on Wednesday!
Good for what they were, but didn’t have the extra “oomph”
93- Great Gatsby-The book never connected with me and neither di this film. It was, however, well acted and well produced, but, again, I didn’t care. It throws around words like love, devotion, and passion, and I didn’t buy any of it. Near the end, when Carraway is alone at the funeral, he says that he was the only one who cared. But why did he care? The movie never showed us that he cared, only that he was enthralled with Gatsby’s life, but it was a very one-sided relationship. I will however probably pick this for the art direction Oscar if it is nominated.
92- Texas Chainsaw 3D- Oh, this movie was crap, but it made me jump a few times, Daddario was good, there were moments of dread, and I liked what they tried to do with it. It didn’t work fully, but it was better than Last Exorcism 2.
91- Baggage Claim- I like watching Paula Patton in films. She is likeable and energetic. The concept of this romantic comedy is generic, but the set up makes it so that this could have been something special and turn the generic rom-com resolution on its head. But, as it get closer to the end, it slowly starts to turn and the ending is extremely disappointing by going to the exact place that any other rom com could have gone. Great ideas, great lead actress, very poor writing of the conclusion.
90- Elysium- Good action, good acting and world building, but the too-on-the-nose social commentary beat me over the head too hard to get into the actual story. Still looking forward to Blomkamp’s next film, though.
89- Oblivion- Again, very well produced film with fabulous technical achievements, and a great performance by Andrea Riseborough (and even Tom Cruise), but, when all is said and done, the twist of the film is identical to a much better film made several years ago and so Oblivion was a little bland as the credits rolled.
88- Jack the Giant Slayer- The movie starts well, dies for about 45 minutes, and then comes back to life and has a rousing finale, but, it dies and stops momentum for a little too long. The effects are good, acting and story are fine, it just could have been trimmed substantially.
87- Hatchet 3- The conclusion to the Hatchet series which is really just an excuse to have over the top violence (by using actual physical effects, not CGI) and a lot of horror movie in-jokes. The first one was fantastic! The last two have been fun, but the returns have been diminishing quickly!
86- Insidious Chapter 2- One of the things that I loved about the original Insidious is that the character played by Rose Byrne was a mom who actively tried to resolve the strange situations plaguing her family. In this one, she becomes the crying, fearful mother who does almost nothing. The change in character hurt this film greatly for me even though the tension and dread were still very well done, but it became more like a common horror film.
85- Evil Dead- Again, it was great to see a horror film use more practical effects instead of CGI. Great acting and, again, tension and dread, take a backseat to inexplicable character choices and a nonsensical script.
84- The Call- Working in a call center, the first hour of this film absolutely nailed the environment, and the tension and helplessness that an operator can feel while attempting to help a caller. Unfortunately, the man kidnapping the girl is over-the-top evil, causes too much mayhem in broad daylight and doesn’t draw attention to himself, and the finale in which Halle Berry’s 911 operator goes after the kidnapper because she knows more than her cop boyfriend, just gets too silly and drops all of the goodwill from the first hour.
83- Despicable Me 2- Admit it, take an honest look at this film. Now, take the minions out of it. You are left with a bland and generic kids film with nothing really for adults or, for that matter, laughs. This film is made entertaining purely by the minions. While I laughed very hard at some of the random jokes (an Isaac from the Love Boat reference? Really?) I was left with an overwhelming feeling of meh with the film as a whole.
82- Croods- The animation is great, it is very funny, and the story is well-meaning, but I didn’t buy it. I felt nothing as the film’s climax came and one of the character’s had to make a sacrifice. While the end of the film was never in question (no big budget family movie is going to end on a down ending), I felt no emotional attachment to the film or charcaters.
81- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2- While far from a bust, this is nowhere as good as the original. It does have an imagination that goes crazy and is infectious, some hysterical gags, but, again, by the end, I felt nothing more for the characters. The first film was one of my favorite animated films of the last few years. This will not be joining it.
80- Percy Jackson- Sea of Monsters- There is nothing really wrong with this film, but there is nothing really right about it, either. There are great cameos (Stanley Tucci and Nathan Fillion are the best) and everyone does their job, but some characters are given the short shrift to make room for a new Cyclops brother, but, again, nothing really lands emotionally. The climax was great in Atmos, but was very meh otherwise.
79- Delivery Man- While I smiled a lot, I never really laughed and that is a problem for a comedy. The actors are fine, but I was never able to allow my suspension of disbelief to take effect as I watched this film. Chris Pratt and Colbiw Smulders make the biggest impacrt, but they are minor roles.
78- This is the End- Just like most Apatow comedies, there is a lot of genius along with a lot of stupidity. This time, the stupidity takes over. I would have marked this lower, but the script does take some amazing surprising and daring paths. And Emma Watson’s cameo is priceless! “Back the f*** up!”
77- Epic- The animation is gorgeous, the sound and score are amazing, and the voices are very well done, but the plot doesn’t really make sense and that kills it for me. In the forest, growth is good and decay is bad. Okay, so, if the queen of the forest keeps everything growing, then the plants will overrun each other and will deplete the food resources very quickly which will lead to death of the plants and decay. But, wait, it can’t because the bad guys of decay were vanquished so this forest will just be overrun with too much foliage that never dies. Yes, I realize that it’s a kids movie and I need to turn my suspension iof disbelief off, but it got too far in the way for me. I can go with talking slugs, but not allow the plot to just be? I know, I know…
76- Black nativity- Good acting and intriguing songs and versions of holiday classics negate the bad melodramatic plot. Not good, not bad, it just is.
75- Runner, Runner- The plot makes no sense and I didn’t care about anyone or anything but I liked watching Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterto, John Heard and Anthony Mackie in gorgeous island settings and a low-level crime drama. It was nothing special at all, but easily watchable.
74- Dark Skies- The opening 20 minutes could have been trimmed waaaay down into one scene to get this alien abduction movie going much quicker, but once it gets going, watch out! There are some seriously creepy moments, disturbing images, and great ideas, but the film just doesn’t quite work as a whole.
73- Incredible Burt Wonderstone- I am probably giving this much more slack than I probably should, but I was one of the target audience members for this comedy that stars Steve Carrell as a Vegas magician who is nearing the end of his reign. I laughed a lot at him, Steve Buscemi, and Jim Carrey, I loved the acting turns by Olivia Wilde and Alan Arkin and I had a good time laughing at the mocking of magicians like Copperfield and Criis Angel and others, but, if this is not an area that you enjoy, stay away.
72- Spring Breakers- Many critics are calling this an amazing indictment of the current culture of pleasure and enjoyment over common sense. I found it a slightly interesting take on the same themes and the vapidness of today’s society (see also Bling Ring) but the most interesting characters leave after the first hour and the others who were left, even James Franco’s drug dealer) never really intrigued me and I ended up not caring what happened to the main charcaters left at the finale.
71- Bling Ring- I cannot decide where to put this film. The whole point of the film is that the characters are stupid, vapid, and vain. I disliked everyone in this film because they are all stupid, vapid, and vain and I didn’t care about any of them and wanted them to get caught. However, I am sure that the emptiness is the whole point, so the film did its job. But that doesn’t mean that I liked it. Or did I?
70- Closed Circuit- I was very intrigued by this look at the Britsh legal system starring Eric Bana and Rebecca Hall, but, after the initial setup, the script lets them down., Just one example- they are afraid to take a witness to the courthouse because they know that the bad guys are hunting the witness to kill him. So, how do they get him into the courthouse safely> They go about an hour early and walk in the front door. Huh?? A very disappointing film as a whole with fabulous parts! I would highly recommend this just for the good parts, if you turn your brain off for the ridiculous plotholes.
69- Kevin hart- Let Me Explain- The first half of this stand up comedy concert film goes over the same old ‘men and women are different’ jokes as every other comedian has told for the last 30 years, however, once Hart starts telling specific stories about his kid and his horse riding adventure, I laughed quite a bit- too bad that was only in the last 25 minutes or so.
68- Oz- Great & Powerful- Again, way too long, and way too many CGI effects, but I had a great time watching this Wizard of Oz prequel with James Franco as the soon-to-be Wizard. Franco is good. Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis are great as the witches of the land and there is a very interesting climax which uses no violence. A good family film, but still too long.
67- Snitch- More of a drama than the action film that Dwayne Johnson fans expected, this was still an enjoyable character drama with great acting by Johnson and Jon Bernthal as an ex-con who helps Johnson’s character. A couple of great stunts, but just a bit too plodding and overemphasis on the same character beats hold this back a bit.
66- Out of the Furnace- This film had amazing acting, incredible tension and a great forboding sense of depression, but the story held no surprises and the characters do exactly what they would do in Screenwriting 101. Disappointing.
65- Lone Ranger- This was probably the hardest movie to rank. The film is waaay too long, the script is a mess, the acting is all over the map, but, for the 3 or 4 action sequences in this film (especially the climax) it can almost all be forgiven because they are so well done. Sadly, there is about 90 minutes or more of blahhh filmmaking to get to the good stuff.
64- Secret Life of Walter Mitty- It is a gorgeous film, very well filmed and made, but while many of my customers at the theater and friends on Facebook are enthusiastic about how amazing the film was and how it is absolutely inspiring, and life changing, I just have to shrug my shoulders and agree that it was good, but nothing special in my eyes. Although the Karaoke bar in Iceland was very funny.
63- Wolf of Wall Street- Yes, it is over-the-top. Yes, it is crude from the very opening moments. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie are amazing to watch (along with Matthew Mccaughnahey in a 10 minute cameo), and there are some absolutely hysterical scenes of excess and the effects of drugs, but, after 3 hours, I had not learned anything about the characters or the situations other than what was there at face value. Too long with no heart or soul. But again, I think that was the point.
62- Anchorman 2- This is just as silly, dumb, and pointless as the original. And I laughed quite often. It is, again, too long, goes off on random tangents, and has stretches without laughs, but better than most comedy sequels. The Battle Royale finale is packed with cameos and is very funny.
61- Carrie- Chloe Grace Moretz is spectacular as Carrie, but her amazing screen presence is still hard to suppress at the beginning when she is supposed to be the ultimate wallflower. Julianne Moore is crazily good as her overly religious mother, Judy Greer adds a great dramatic turn as carrie’s school counselor, and the young actors playing the kids trying to help Carrie and bully Carrie do their jobs well, but the question remains- why remake this film? Sadly, I could not find much reason to watch this one over the original, if you’re only going to watch one.
60- Room 237- This is a documentary that follows several theories as to what Stanley Kubrick actually had in mind as subtext when he was making The Shining. This is fascinating on many levels, and just crazy and insane on others (In one of the theories, The Shining proves that Kubrick was the director who faked the footage of America landing on the moon. In another, The Shining is all about the destruction of American Indians.) Since it just has the audio interviews and minimal footage other than the film, it is boring visually as it shows the same scenes from The Shining over and over and over and over again, but still is fascinating on its own level.
59- Kick Ass 2- Chloe Grace Moretz is fabulous again and there are some great bits from Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jim Carrey, and others, but Aaron Johnson as the lead is still a little bland. I really enjoyed watching this but there was no new point to be made in making the sequel, as fun as it was.
58- Broken City- This is a modern film noir that does nothing new with the format as it shows that corruption in big city politics can go all the way to the top. Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Alona Tal do a great job and the tension is held well, but there are no real surprises.
57- Company You Keep- An all star cast (no joke! Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Shia LaBoeuf, Anna Kendrick, Chris Cooper, Nick Nolte, and many, many more) elevate the story of a newspaper reporter on the trail of a man who has been a fugitive and living under another name for 35 years and why he finally decides to make a run for it. This is acting class 101, but again, the story does really nothing new or interesting with its ideas.
Best TV Show That I Just Watched
Parks & Recreation
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Numbers 104- 94- Pure Entertainment
Pure Entertainment- listed in chronological order of release. These were what they were. No more, no less.
104- Hansel & Gretl Witch Hunters- Really, if you go see a movie with this title, you should know what you’re getting. A surprising character beat (Renner’s character has diabetes due to eating all the candy as a child), cool action, a winking sense of humor, Peter Stormare chewing scenery, bloody, cheesy special effects, and Gemma Arterton doing her best Kate-Beckinsale-in-leather imitation made for a fun 90 minutes.
103- Parker- Using a character from a series of novels by Donald Westlake, Jason Statham stars as a moral thief who goes after his ex-partners to get the amount he was owed for a job after he is shot and left for dead. Jennifer Lopez catches onto his plan and finagles her way into the scheme. A fun little thriller/ action film.
102- Last Stand- Arnold Schwarzenegger comes back to the big screen in a fun way! He is the sheriff in a small US town near the Mexican border where an escaped drug dealer is expected to cross over. Surprising plot choices, a sense of fun, great action, and surprisingly bloody- this film is a blast, however, it does overstay its welcome by about 15 minutes.
101- Gangster Squad- Josh Brolin leads a group of LA cops to do whatever it takes to take down a mobster trying to take over 1930’s Los Angeles. While it is based on a true story, this is a very fictionalized version of that story. It also stars Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Michael Pena and Nick Nolte. With that cast, it should explode off the screen, but unfortunately is nothing more than a fun 2 hour time waster.
100- Good Day to Die Hard- I wish that this film was more than it is. The initial car chase is fantastic, but, otherwise it just coasts by and Is nothing at all memorable. Bruce Willis is taking a paycheck, nothing more, and that hurts me to say it. Fun to watch but nowhere near the classic status of the original. Bonus trivia fact- My first film in Dolby Atmos.
99- Olympus Has Fallen- Basically, Die Hard in the White House. I enjoyed this film, but nothing more. I like the setup for the main character (in a tragic decision, he has to save the life of the President of the US and let the First Lady die) and I like the darkness of it all, it actually works against the film in not making it much fun. This is the bloodier, grittier, R-Rated
Terrorists take over the White House ‘ film of the year.
98- 2 Guns- Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg make a fun team as two undercover cops (from different agencies) who are both pretending to be criminals (unknown to the other) who rob a bank and try to discover who has set them up for the fall after the heist. The interplay between the two is fun and they elevate the material, but, 2 minutes after leaving the theater, the film evaporated from my mind. Enjoyable 2 hour film.
97- Getaway- This is an awful, horribly plotted film. Ethan Hawke stars as an ex-race car driver whose wife is kidnapped. He is contacted and told that he must steal a car and do specific tasks throughout the city one night and if he refuses, his wife will be killed. Selena Gomez is the owner of the car he steals who is also a computer hacker. Unbelievable to the extreme, but a very cheap knock-off version of a Fast and the Furious type of film with great car stunts and an amazing 90 second shot filmed from the front bumper of the car as it runs red lights and travels through the streets gives this film a major leg up.
96- Riddick- Nowhere near as good as the original Pitch Black, but still a fun film with Riddick being left for dead on a planet that has many threats to life, so he calls for a rescue ship which happens to be populated by bounty hunters looking for him. A tense scene involving a locker full of explosives, a tough Vin Diesel, interesting setup (almost a silent film for 30 minutes as he survives on the planet alone, except for his pet “dog”) help this, but it is nothing more than what the makers wanted- a pulp story brought to the big screen.
95- Escape Plan- Stallone is an expert of breaking out of prisons who is hired by a shadowy group to go into an unknown prison and attempt escape. Once there, he discovers that he has been duped and is being kept locked away with no “safe word” escape route. He enlists Schwartzenegger to assist in his escape and take down the cruel warden. While I enjoyed this film quite a bit, the ending was extremely rushed and Stallone’s “office team” is severely wasted, but otherwise a very enjoyable ride.
94- Homefront- Jason Statham again as an ex-undercover cop who moves to a small Louisiana town with his daughter to escape the wrath of a local drug kingpin. When he is discovered by the small town drug dealer who sells him out, the dealer he put away plots revenge. Waaaay overlong by 20- 30 minutes with characters who drop in and out for long stretches of time (and one that disappears entirely for no reason after the first 45 minutes or so), but an interesting film, nonetheless. It has a slight ‘Straw Dogs’ vibe to it. One of the “coulda” films- It coulda been so much better but its not bad for what it is.
104- Hansel & Gretl Witch Hunters- Really, if you go see a movie with this title, you should know what you’re getting. A surprising character beat (Renner’s character has diabetes due to eating all the candy as a child), cool action, a winking sense of humor, Peter Stormare chewing scenery, bloody, cheesy special effects, and Gemma Arterton doing her best Kate-Beckinsale-in-leather imitation made for a fun 90 minutes.
103- Parker- Using a character from a series of novels by Donald Westlake, Jason Statham stars as a moral thief who goes after his ex-partners to get the amount he was owed for a job after he is shot and left for dead. Jennifer Lopez catches onto his plan and finagles her way into the scheme. A fun little thriller/ action film.
102- Last Stand- Arnold Schwarzenegger comes back to the big screen in a fun way! He is the sheriff in a small US town near the Mexican border where an escaped drug dealer is expected to cross over. Surprising plot choices, a sense of fun, great action, and surprisingly bloody- this film is a blast, however, it does overstay its welcome by about 15 minutes.
101- Gangster Squad- Josh Brolin leads a group of LA cops to do whatever it takes to take down a mobster trying to take over 1930’s Los Angeles. While it is based on a true story, this is a very fictionalized version of that story. It also stars Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Michael Pena and Nick Nolte. With that cast, it should explode off the screen, but unfortunately is nothing more than a fun 2 hour time waster.
100- Good Day to Die Hard- I wish that this film was more than it is. The initial car chase is fantastic, but, otherwise it just coasts by and Is nothing at all memorable. Bruce Willis is taking a paycheck, nothing more, and that hurts me to say it. Fun to watch but nowhere near the classic status of the original. Bonus trivia fact- My first film in Dolby Atmos.
99- Olympus Has Fallen- Basically, Die Hard in the White House. I enjoyed this film, but nothing more. I like the setup for the main character (in a tragic decision, he has to save the life of the President of the US and let the First Lady die) and I like the darkness of it all, it actually works against the film in not making it much fun. This is the bloodier, grittier, R-Rated
Terrorists take over the White House ‘ film of the year.
98- 2 Guns- Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg make a fun team as two undercover cops (from different agencies) who are both pretending to be criminals (unknown to the other) who rob a bank and try to discover who has set them up for the fall after the heist. The interplay between the two is fun and they elevate the material, but, 2 minutes after leaving the theater, the film evaporated from my mind. Enjoyable 2 hour film.
97- Getaway- This is an awful, horribly plotted film. Ethan Hawke stars as an ex-race car driver whose wife is kidnapped. He is contacted and told that he must steal a car and do specific tasks throughout the city one night and if he refuses, his wife will be killed. Selena Gomez is the owner of the car he steals who is also a computer hacker. Unbelievable to the extreme, but a very cheap knock-off version of a Fast and the Furious type of film with great car stunts and an amazing 90 second shot filmed from the front bumper of the car as it runs red lights and travels through the streets gives this film a major leg up.
96- Riddick- Nowhere near as good as the original Pitch Black, but still a fun film with Riddick being left for dead on a planet that has many threats to life, so he calls for a rescue ship which happens to be populated by bounty hunters looking for him. A tense scene involving a locker full of explosives, a tough Vin Diesel, interesting setup (almost a silent film for 30 minutes as he survives on the planet alone, except for his pet “dog”) help this, but it is nothing more than what the makers wanted- a pulp story brought to the big screen.
95- Escape Plan- Stallone is an expert of breaking out of prisons who is hired by a shadowy group to go into an unknown prison and attempt escape. Once there, he discovers that he has been duped and is being kept locked away with no “safe word” escape route. He enlists Schwartzenegger to assist in his escape and take down the cruel warden. While I enjoyed this film quite a bit, the ending was extremely rushed and Stallone’s “office team” is severely wasted, but otherwise a very enjoyable ride.
94- Homefront- Jason Statham again as an ex-undercover cop who moves to a small Louisiana town with his daughter to escape the wrath of a local drug kingpin. When he is discovered by the small town drug dealer who sells him out, the dealer he put away plots revenge. Waaaay overlong by 20- 30 minutes with characters who drop in and out for long stretches of time (and one that disappears entirely for no reason after the first 45 minutes or so), but an interesting film, nonetheless. It has a slight ‘Straw Dogs’ vibe to it. One of the “coulda” films- It coulda been so much better but its not bad for what it is.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
2013 Movies numbers 123- 105
Although this list does rank the films that I saw this year, and I critique them, I want everyone to know that I still enjoyed every single movie that I saw this year on some level. If it is a movie and I am watching it, I am enjoying it.
In making this list, I have created 7 categories in which I placed the films. To try to ensure that my placement in the categories was correct, I went through and made sure that, as I rose through the levels, I would generally rather watch a film from level 3 before I watched one from Level 4, and so on. Then, in each level, I ranked them again, so that, generally speaking, I would rather watch number 105 than 1-8 and so on.
The only time that I did not follow this ranking is in my section of 'Pure Entertainment'. These are generally action films and these are ranked in chronological order. Since my dad was a cop, I grew up watching cop shows and they are generally like "comfort food" to me and I can watch them at any time and I am almost always much more lenient on these types of films than I should be- that's why they get their own section.
It was 13 years ago, while watching 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' that I realized that, in order to consider something really good and solid that I had to care or that it had to really touch me in some way. The films which are lower on my list are there, more often than not, because, at the end of the film, I didn't really care about the characters or the story told, and I was able to walk out of the theater and not really think much more about the story and the characters and it was only the technical maiking of the film that kept going through my head.
On the other end of the spectrum, though, I am starting to realize that the films that make the top of my list are ones where I do honestly care about the story or characters, where I am transported into the film and forget everything for 2 hours, or films that have deep connective ties to me.
I will admit, right now, that the films that are at the very top of my list this year are ones that, even though I see flaws in them, they touched me and struck a deep chord somewhere in me. These chords include cancer, family, fathers, and creatvity.
In fact, to give a bit of a tease, my favorite film of the year is actually one that had no real storytelling surprises at all, but it featured 4 actors at the top of their craft making a heartfelt film that had me laughing or crying the entire 90 minute running time the first time I saw it and, while I did not quite do the same the second time that I saw it, I still laughed a lot and got very teary.
Anyway, that is for a different post. Here, to start off the list are my least favorite films that I saw this year.
Bottom of the Barrel-
123- The Host- I am not a Stephanie Meyers hater who automatically hates it just because she is behind it. While I do think the Twilight films were bad, they had certain actors and moments that stopped them from being the absolute worst and, conceptually, I have heard of storylines that are much worse (a high school cheerleader who is also a vampire slayer). The Host, however, even though it has a great cast and a concept that is not necessarily a bad concept, should have stayed on the page. The actors do what they can, but they can’t save it. Having a voice over done by the voices in the main girl’s head doesn’t work, a love quadrangle with 2 minds in one female body and 2 separate boys is laughable, sets look chintzy…the list goes on. It ended up just being a very very bad film and not working on any level.
Good moments, good cast, but large disappointments
122- Diana- Naomi Watts does a great job in playing “The People’s Princess” in this film look at the last 3 years of Diana’s life, but, had I not lived through the actual events, I wouldn’t have cared at all about anything that happens. It is boring, plotless, and gives nothing more than a glance behind the façade. Very, very disappointing.
121- Book Thief- While I know that many people are loving this film, both of an older generation and younger, I found this film very boring and pointless. Whena main plotline is about the hiding of a Jew in a basement in Nazi Germany and absolutely nothing comes of it either plotwise or characterwise, it is a very misguided film. Story points are brought up and dropped, never to be heard from again, characters make random decisions that do not have any point, things happen for no reason, and again, the list goes on and on. Only the acting by Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and the main character played by Sophie Nelisse and the mjusic score by John Willliams make this even worth watching.
120- Last Exorcism 2- I really enjoyed the first film and found it both fascinating and terrifying. There is almost none of that here. Only Ashley Bell’s lead performance keeps this one on the tracks. I like the darkness of where they were trying to go, but it just didn’t work.
119- To Do List- While the cast is amazing, absolutely nothing of any interest really happens in this film. It feels like a generic 80’s sex comedy that was barely released and only Clark Gregg and Connie Britton as Aubrey Plaza’s parents make any impact. No laughs cripple a comedy.
118- Counsellor- While I love the darkness and bleakness of this film, I just didn’t care. I liked some of the monologues, but at the end of the day, I did not feel any of the stakes for any of the characters, some of the acting was bland, other acting was flat-out bad, some scenes were ridiculous in a bad way- this is showing up on Top 10 and Bottom 10 lists this year and for me, it is on the bottom.
117- RIPD- Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, mary Louise Parker and Kevin Bacon are all game, but this film is a pale imitation of Men in Black. Only a few silly quips keep it from the bottom.
116- Dead Man Down- Dripping with mood and good acting, but with a pace that is plodding and a plot that is uninteresting, this Colin Farrell-starrer was easily forgotten upon leaving the theater.
115- Rapture-Palooza- A few random laughs and a great comedic cast with impeccable timing (Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Ana Gasteyer, Thomas Lennon, John Francis Daley) does not save this misfire about a woman who, after the rapture, is coerced into getting intimate with the Anti-Christ so that she can trick him and imprison him for a thousand years. Too much emphasis on the crude jokes while the actually funny bits are few and far between. Oh, and Anna Kendrick looks great in the white dress.
114- Hangover 3- I really admire the fact that the filmmakers took this film in a different direction (as opposed to Hangover 2) and make 3 more of an action film. Unfortunately, very little of it works. Bradley Cooper having to climb down the outside of Caesar’s Palace and Chow’s parachuting down the strip are highlights, as is a quick reunion with Heather Graham’s hooker from the first film adds a touching couple of scenes, but otherwise, again, why bother (?) and very forgettable.
113- Machete Kills- I knew that I was going into a complete piece of trash filmmaking- which I got- however, as opposed to the original film, it isn’t much fun. Until the last 30 minutes or so of the 2 hour running time. Then the film springs to life with all the gloriously bad, cheesy plotpoints connect and it almost redeems itself. Almost. By that point, though, the film has overstayed its welcome (see: The Lone Ranger) I am srtill excited to see Machete Kills Again…. In Space.
112- Pulling Strings- In what is basically an extended Three’s Company setup, a mariachi band member helps a Consulate worker who just denied him his US Visa find a computer that she thinks was lost but is actually safely at his apartment in exchange for receiving a Visa. I laughed only once in this two hour long romantic “comedy” and while definitely not a chore to sit through, the script meanders way too much and the chemistry between the leads is non-existent.
111- Hobbit- Desolation of Smaug- I have not really been a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, nor the previous Hobbit film. However, the more that I thought about this film, the more I disliked it. Other than Evangeline Lilly, the barrel/ river chase, and the Dolby Atmos sound, I disliked this movie. The Hobbit was barely in it except for the last 40 minutes or so, it belabored plot points and… Every. Single Thing. That. Each. Character. Says. Is. Of. The. Utmost. Importance. The action was not fun nor was it exciting, the characters were boring, Gandalf is off on his own adventure through most of the running time watching the menace of Sauron buld (which is absolutely non-essential to this story),and Smaug was not menacing. Also, apparently in a world that has Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs, cats and pigs are alive and well. It feels as though the film is struggling to give the audience more of what it loved in the original trilogy and this time, you see the film’s own flop sweat. CGI still looks like CGI. The best thing of this film? I only have about 3 more hours to spend in middle earth.
110- Jobs- Steve Jobs is a fascinating individual. He pushed technology further than anyone expected it could go. He was a perfectionist. And a world class jerk. That is basically what I got out of this film about Steve Jobs. I have not read his biography nor do I know everything about him and his associates. This film introduces names that I know but does not give me much reason to care. It jumps back and forth in time for the opening 20 minutes. His wife is only onscreen when he can yell at her. Characters are introduced and then forgotten until it is time for Jobs to betray them or for them to betray Jobs. While the acting is the only thing going for this film, it makes it worth it, but it never really scratches anything more than the surface and gives us anything other than: Jobs was a genius, Jobs was a jerk sequences.
109- Beautiful Creatures- While not unwatchable, there is also nothing really noteworthy about this adaptation of the first in a series of young adult novels trying to be the next Twilight. The production is competent, the acting is good, but again, nothing connected with me in the story or the characters. Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons are always welcome to watch, but even they can’t save this film.
108- Paranoia- Paranoia is actually only a plotpoint for about 5 minutes of this film. This is one of the most bland films made this year. Characters aren’t really characters in this film, they are chess pieces and they make moves and decisions only to get them to certain places in the plot- nothing seems natural or plausible. Gary Oldman chews the scenery and ignites his scenes. Harrison Ford doesn’t even appear until about the 40 minute mark and only has a few scenes. The real killer of this film is the non-relationship between its leads Liam hemsworth and Amber Heard, both of whom I have liked in other films, but do nothing but recite dialogue here. Even though the plot is silly now ( a phone which has lots of capabilities) it could have been overshadowed by gutsy directorial decisions and a tighter script. This is a real disappointment.
107- Butler- Forest Whitaker is amazing. Let me repeat that- Forest Whittaker is amazing. Otherwise, this is a horrible white-guilt crowd pleaser meant to make white people feel good about themselves because now we have a black President. This takes a fascinating true story and morphs it into a horrible Forrest Gump like film where the titular butler’s son is involved in every single important piece of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s. because the Presidents speak to The Butler, they make decisions leading to the laws giving Civil Rights across the board. Oprah Winfrey is along for the ride and co-stars as The Butler’s wife who hates him for the first half of the film and admires him for the second half with no turning point other than it was written in the script. Some of the cameos are great but for every good moment in this film, there is an awful, cringe-inducing moment. I hope that this wons no Academy Awards, especially for Oprah, and that, if any black film wins awards, it should be 12 Years a Slave, a much, much more well-made film.
106- Man of Steel- Another film that makes a really awful choice for every awesome choice. I like a lot of man of Steel. Cavill is great, Amy Adams is an actual Lois Lane that I believe is an award winning journalist, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner bring the heart to Clark’s yearning for home and family and Michael Shannon is an evil bad guy with motives I understand and sympathize with. I like the “hero who disappears” angle along with the parts of the military not knowing if Superman is a threat or not. Unfortunately, I realized that I just don’t care about Superman’s backstory and Krypton. I never have. Thus, seeing it again and continuing to discuss it bored me out of my mind. Also, the last 45 minutes or so can be summed up like this- IHOP- punch, punch, punch, punch punch, punch, Sears, I throw you through a building, you throw me through a building, bad CGI, bad CGI, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch. Way too long, drawn out and boring. I am more excited for the sequel than I am in ever watching this again.
105- Bullet to the Head- Sylvester Stallone returns as a mobster who has to work with a cop to find who killed their respective partners, all helped out by Sarah Shahi as Stallone’s tattoo artist daughter. This is a very non-descript action film with a fun, exciting climax. I have become a Shahi fan this year after watching the TV show ‘Life’ and she adds some much needed spark, but nowhere near enough. Otherwise, nothing here.
In making this list, I have created 7 categories in which I placed the films. To try to ensure that my placement in the categories was correct, I went through and made sure that, as I rose through the levels, I would generally rather watch a film from level 3 before I watched one from Level 4, and so on. Then, in each level, I ranked them again, so that, generally speaking, I would rather watch number 105 than 1-8 and so on.
The only time that I did not follow this ranking is in my section of 'Pure Entertainment'. These are generally action films and these are ranked in chronological order. Since my dad was a cop, I grew up watching cop shows and they are generally like "comfort food" to me and I can watch them at any time and I am almost always much more lenient on these types of films than I should be- that's why they get their own section.
It was 13 years ago, while watching 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' that I realized that, in order to consider something really good and solid that I had to care or that it had to really touch me in some way. The films which are lower on my list are there, more often than not, because, at the end of the film, I didn't really care about the characters or the story told, and I was able to walk out of the theater and not really think much more about the story and the characters and it was only the technical maiking of the film that kept going through my head.
On the other end of the spectrum, though, I am starting to realize that the films that make the top of my list are ones where I do honestly care about the story or characters, where I am transported into the film and forget everything for 2 hours, or films that have deep connective ties to me.
I will admit, right now, that the films that are at the very top of my list this year are ones that, even though I see flaws in them, they touched me and struck a deep chord somewhere in me. These chords include cancer, family, fathers, and creatvity.
In fact, to give a bit of a tease, my favorite film of the year is actually one that had no real storytelling surprises at all, but it featured 4 actors at the top of their craft making a heartfelt film that had me laughing or crying the entire 90 minute running time the first time I saw it and, while I did not quite do the same the second time that I saw it, I still laughed a lot and got very teary.
Anyway, that is for a different post. Here, to start off the list are my least favorite films that I saw this year.
Bottom of the Barrel-
123- The Host- I am not a Stephanie Meyers hater who automatically hates it just because she is behind it. While I do think the Twilight films were bad, they had certain actors and moments that stopped them from being the absolute worst and, conceptually, I have heard of storylines that are much worse (a high school cheerleader who is also a vampire slayer). The Host, however, even though it has a great cast and a concept that is not necessarily a bad concept, should have stayed on the page. The actors do what they can, but they can’t save it. Having a voice over done by the voices in the main girl’s head doesn’t work, a love quadrangle with 2 minds in one female body and 2 separate boys is laughable, sets look chintzy…the list goes on. It ended up just being a very very bad film and not working on any level.
Good moments, good cast, but large disappointments
122- Diana- Naomi Watts does a great job in playing “The People’s Princess” in this film look at the last 3 years of Diana’s life, but, had I not lived through the actual events, I wouldn’t have cared at all about anything that happens. It is boring, plotless, and gives nothing more than a glance behind the façade. Very, very disappointing.
121- Book Thief- While I know that many people are loving this film, both of an older generation and younger, I found this film very boring and pointless. Whena main plotline is about the hiding of a Jew in a basement in Nazi Germany and absolutely nothing comes of it either plotwise or characterwise, it is a very misguided film. Story points are brought up and dropped, never to be heard from again, characters make random decisions that do not have any point, things happen for no reason, and again, the list goes on and on. Only the acting by Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and the main character played by Sophie Nelisse and the mjusic score by John Willliams make this even worth watching.
120- Last Exorcism 2- I really enjoyed the first film and found it both fascinating and terrifying. There is almost none of that here. Only Ashley Bell’s lead performance keeps this one on the tracks. I like the darkness of where they were trying to go, but it just didn’t work.
119- To Do List- While the cast is amazing, absolutely nothing of any interest really happens in this film. It feels like a generic 80’s sex comedy that was barely released and only Clark Gregg and Connie Britton as Aubrey Plaza’s parents make any impact. No laughs cripple a comedy.
118- Counsellor- While I love the darkness and bleakness of this film, I just didn’t care. I liked some of the monologues, but at the end of the day, I did not feel any of the stakes for any of the characters, some of the acting was bland, other acting was flat-out bad, some scenes were ridiculous in a bad way- this is showing up on Top 10 and Bottom 10 lists this year and for me, it is on the bottom.
117- RIPD- Jeff Bridges, Ryan Reynolds, mary Louise Parker and Kevin Bacon are all game, but this film is a pale imitation of Men in Black. Only a few silly quips keep it from the bottom.
116- Dead Man Down- Dripping with mood and good acting, but with a pace that is plodding and a plot that is uninteresting, this Colin Farrell-starrer was easily forgotten upon leaving the theater.
115- Rapture-Palooza- A few random laughs and a great comedic cast with impeccable timing (Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Ana Gasteyer, Thomas Lennon, John Francis Daley) does not save this misfire about a woman who, after the rapture, is coerced into getting intimate with the Anti-Christ so that she can trick him and imprison him for a thousand years. Too much emphasis on the crude jokes while the actually funny bits are few and far between. Oh, and Anna Kendrick looks great in the white dress.
114- Hangover 3- I really admire the fact that the filmmakers took this film in a different direction (as opposed to Hangover 2) and make 3 more of an action film. Unfortunately, very little of it works. Bradley Cooper having to climb down the outside of Caesar’s Palace and Chow’s parachuting down the strip are highlights, as is a quick reunion with Heather Graham’s hooker from the first film adds a touching couple of scenes, but otherwise, again, why bother (?) and very forgettable.
113- Machete Kills- I knew that I was going into a complete piece of trash filmmaking- which I got- however, as opposed to the original film, it isn’t much fun. Until the last 30 minutes or so of the 2 hour running time. Then the film springs to life with all the gloriously bad, cheesy plotpoints connect and it almost redeems itself. Almost. By that point, though, the film has overstayed its welcome (see: The Lone Ranger) I am srtill excited to see Machete Kills Again…. In Space.
112- Pulling Strings- In what is basically an extended Three’s Company setup, a mariachi band member helps a Consulate worker who just denied him his US Visa find a computer that she thinks was lost but is actually safely at his apartment in exchange for receiving a Visa. I laughed only once in this two hour long romantic “comedy” and while definitely not a chore to sit through, the script meanders way too much and the chemistry between the leads is non-existent.
111- Hobbit- Desolation of Smaug- I have not really been a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, nor the previous Hobbit film. However, the more that I thought about this film, the more I disliked it. Other than Evangeline Lilly, the barrel/ river chase, and the Dolby Atmos sound, I disliked this movie. The Hobbit was barely in it except for the last 40 minutes or so, it belabored plot points and… Every. Single Thing. That. Each. Character. Says. Is. Of. The. Utmost. Importance. The action was not fun nor was it exciting, the characters were boring, Gandalf is off on his own adventure through most of the running time watching the menace of Sauron buld (which is absolutely non-essential to this story),and Smaug was not menacing. Also, apparently in a world that has Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs, cats and pigs are alive and well. It feels as though the film is struggling to give the audience more of what it loved in the original trilogy and this time, you see the film’s own flop sweat. CGI still looks like CGI. The best thing of this film? I only have about 3 more hours to spend in middle earth.
110- Jobs- Steve Jobs is a fascinating individual. He pushed technology further than anyone expected it could go. He was a perfectionist. And a world class jerk. That is basically what I got out of this film about Steve Jobs. I have not read his biography nor do I know everything about him and his associates. This film introduces names that I know but does not give me much reason to care. It jumps back and forth in time for the opening 20 minutes. His wife is only onscreen when he can yell at her. Characters are introduced and then forgotten until it is time for Jobs to betray them or for them to betray Jobs. While the acting is the only thing going for this film, it makes it worth it, but it never really scratches anything more than the surface and gives us anything other than: Jobs was a genius, Jobs was a jerk sequences.
109- Beautiful Creatures- While not unwatchable, there is also nothing really noteworthy about this adaptation of the first in a series of young adult novels trying to be the next Twilight. The production is competent, the acting is good, but again, nothing connected with me in the story or the characters. Emma Thompson and Jeremy Irons are always welcome to watch, but even they can’t save this film.
108- Paranoia- Paranoia is actually only a plotpoint for about 5 minutes of this film. This is one of the most bland films made this year. Characters aren’t really characters in this film, they are chess pieces and they make moves and decisions only to get them to certain places in the plot- nothing seems natural or plausible. Gary Oldman chews the scenery and ignites his scenes. Harrison Ford doesn’t even appear until about the 40 minute mark and only has a few scenes. The real killer of this film is the non-relationship between its leads Liam hemsworth and Amber Heard, both of whom I have liked in other films, but do nothing but recite dialogue here. Even though the plot is silly now ( a phone which has lots of capabilities) it could have been overshadowed by gutsy directorial decisions and a tighter script. This is a real disappointment.
107- Butler- Forest Whitaker is amazing. Let me repeat that- Forest Whittaker is amazing. Otherwise, this is a horrible white-guilt crowd pleaser meant to make white people feel good about themselves because now we have a black President. This takes a fascinating true story and morphs it into a horrible Forrest Gump like film where the titular butler’s son is involved in every single important piece of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s. because the Presidents speak to The Butler, they make decisions leading to the laws giving Civil Rights across the board. Oprah Winfrey is along for the ride and co-stars as The Butler’s wife who hates him for the first half of the film and admires him for the second half with no turning point other than it was written in the script. Some of the cameos are great but for every good moment in this film, there is an awful, cringe-inducing moment. I hope that this wons no Academy Awards, especially for Oprah, and that, if any black film wins awards, it should be 12 Years a Slave, a much, much more well-made film.
106- Man of Steel- Another film that makes a really awful choice for every awesome choice. I like a lot of man of Steel. Cavill is great, Amy Adams is an actual Lois Lane that I believe is an award winning journalist, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner bring the heart to Clark’s yearning for home and family and Michael Shannon is an evil bad guy with motives I understand and sympathize with. I like the “hero who disappears” angle along with the parts of the military not knowing if Superman is a threat or not. Unfortunately, I realized that I just don’t care about Superman’s backstory and Krypton. I never have. Thus, seeing it again and continuing to discuss it bored me out of my mind. Also, the last 45 minutes or so can be summed up like this- IHOP- punch, punch, punch, punch punch, punch, Sears, I throw you through a building, you throw me through a building, bad CGI, bad CGI, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch, punch. Way too long, drawn out and boring. I am more excited for the sequel than I am in ever watching this again.
105- Bullet to the Head- Sylvester Stallone returns as a mobster who has to work with a cop to find who killed their respective partners, all helped out by Sarah Shahi as Stallone’s tattoo artist daughter. This is a very non-descript action film with a fun, exciting climax. I have become a Shahi fan this year after watching the TV show ‘Life’ and she adds some much needed spark, but nowhere near enough. Otherwise, nothing here.
Total List of everything watched in 2013
Here is a list of everything that I have watched for the first time during 2013. I have decided to keep it to first time watches because, if I have seen something before, I may watch it while I fold laundry and only watch a specific 20 minutes or so. I figured this was just the easiest way to do it as, if I have not seen it before, I will push through and finish it as opposed to the half-watche or clips or listing Raiders of the Lost Ark 13 more times. I have notated if I watched a specific film more than once this year as well.
This list includes a total of 178 films watched this year- 155 individual new films watched- along with 5 seasons of half hour long tv shows and 23 seasons of hour long TV shows.
Here it is, my list of everyhing new watched in 2013:
Previous Years’ films
Big Red One
Code of Silence
Extract
Goon- 2x
Green Berets
Harper
Just Go With It- 2x
Rocky Balboa
To Catch a Thief
Trick or Treat- 1986
Visiting Hours
Warning Shot
Watching Currently
TV Series
Big Bang Theory Ssn 5
Body of Proof Ssn 2
Body of Proof Ssn 3
Castle Ssn 4
Community Ssn 4
Covert Affairs Ssn 2
CSI Miami Ssn 10
CSI NY Ssn 8
CSI NY Ssn 9
CSI Vegas Ssn 12
CSI Vegas Ssn 13
Dollhouse Ssn 1
Fairly Legal Ssn 1
Fairly Legal Ssn 2
Good Wife Ssn 2
Hart to Hart Ssn 1
House of Lies Ssn 1
Law & Order LA Complete series
Life Ssn 1
Life Ssn 2
Mentalist Ssn 2
Mentalist Ssn 3
Mentalist Ssn 4
Newsroom Ssn 1
Party Down Ssn 1
Rizzoli & Isles Ssn 3
Psych Ssn 6
Suburgatory Ssn 1
2012 films
Les Miserables- 2x
Jack Reacher
Life of Pi
Lay the favorite
The Hobbit
Zero Dark Thirty
The Impossible
Django unchained
Wreck It ralph- 2x
Hitchcock
VHS
Beasts of Southern Wild
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Seven Psychopaths
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Collection
Fun Size
Hit & Run
Man with the Iron Fists
Dredd
2013 Films
1-Texas Chainsaw 3D
2- Hansel & Gretel Witch hunters
3- Warm Bodies
4- Good day to Die Hard
5- Snitch
6- Dark Skies- 2x
7- Jack the Giant Slayer
8- Last Exorcism Part 2
9- Oz- Great & Powerful
10- Dead Man Down
11- Incredible Burt Wonderstone
12- The Call
13- Croods
14- Gi Joe- Retaliation- 2x
15- Olympus Has Fallen
16- The Host
17- Jurassic Park 3D- 2x
18- 42
19- Spring Breakers
20- Trance
21- Evil Dead
22- Oblivion
23- Iron Man 3
24. Star Trek Into Darkness- 3x
25- The Last Stand- 2x
26- Hangover Part 3
27- Now You See Me- 3x
28- Fast & Furious 6
29- Gangster Squad
30- Man of Steel
31- World War Z- 2x
32- Monsters University
33- This is the End
34- The Heat- 2x
35- Bling Ring
36- White House Down- 2x
37- Lone Ranger
38- Kevin Hart- Let Me Explain
39- Pacific Rim
40- RED 2
41- RIPD
42- Way, Way Back- 3x
43- To-Do List
44- Unfinished Song- 2x
45- Conjuring- 2x
46- Wolverine
47- 2 Guns
48- Percy Jackson- Sea of Monsters
49- We’re the Millers
50- Kick Ass 2
51- Paranoia
52- Elysium
53- Mortal Instruments- City of Bones
54- The World’s End- 3x
55- Closed Circuit
56- Jobs
57- Getaway
58- Spectacular Now
59- Riddick
60- You’re Next
61- Despicable Me 2
62- Butler
63- The Family
64- Instructions Not Included
65- Room 237
66- Bullet to the Head
67- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
68- Baggage Claim
69- Thanks for Sharing
70- Prisoners
71- Rush
72- Runner Runner
73- Don Jon
74- Insidious Chapter 2
75- Gravity
76- Saratov Approach
77- Pulling Strings
78- Crystal Lake Memories
79- Captain Phillips
80- Machete Kills
81- Enough Said
82- Hatchet 3
83- Carrie
84- Escape Plan
85- Last Vegas
86- Ender’s Game
87- All is Lost
88- Counselor
89- Thor Dark World
90- About Time
91- Diana
92- 12 Years a Slave
93- Dallas Buyers Club
94- Delivery Man
95- Hunger Games: Catching Fire
96- Frozen- 2x
97- Homefront
98- Philomena- 2x
99- Out of the Furnace
100- Drew- the Man Behind the Poster
101- Book Thief
102- Black Nativity
103- Rapture-Palooza
104- Company You Keep
105- Drinking Buddies
106- Anchorman 2
107- Hobbit- Desolation of Smaug
108- American Hustle
109- Saving Mr. Banks
110- Pain & Gain
111- Parker
112- Secret Life of Walter Mitty
113- Wolf of Wall Street
114- Epic
115- 47 Ronin
116- Mama
117- Byzantium
118- Behind the Candelabra
119- Grudge Match
120- Broken City
121- Great Gatsby
122- Beautiful Creatures
123- Mud
This list includes a total of 178 films watched this year- 155 individual new films watched- along with 5 seasons of half hour long tv shows and 23 seasons of hour long TV shows.
Here it is, my list of everyhing new watched in 2013:
Previous Years’ films
Big Red One
Code of Silence
Extract
Goon- 2x
Green Berets
Harper
Just Go With It- 2x
Rocky Balboa
To Catch a Thief
Trick or Treat- 1986
Visiting Hours
Warning Shot
Watching Currently
TV Series
Big Bang Theory Ssn 5
Body of Proof Ssn 2
Body of Proof Ssn 3
Castle Ssn 4
Community Ssn 4
Covert Affairs Ssn 2
CSI Miami Ssn 10
CSI NY Ssn 8
CSI NY Ssn 9
CSI Vegas Ssn 12
CSI Vegas Ssn 13
Dollhouse Ssn 1
Fairly Legal Ssn 1
Fairly Legal Ssn 2
Good Wife Ssn 2
Hart to Hart Ssn 1
House of Lies Ssn 1
Law & Order LA Complete series
Life Ssn 1
Life Ssn 2
Mentalist Ssn 2
Mentalist Ssn 3
Mentalist Ssn 4
Newsroom Ssn 1
Party Down Ssn 1
Rizzoli & Isles Ssn 3
Psych Ssn 6
Suburgatory Ssn 1
2012 films
Les Miserables- 2x
Jack Reacher
Life of Pi
Lay the favorite
The Hobbit
Zero Dark Thirty
The Impossible
Django unchained
Wreck It ralph- 2x
Hitchcock
VHS
Beasts of Southern Wild
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Seven Psychopaths
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Collection
Fun Size
Hit & Run
Man with the Iron Fists
Dredd
2013 Films
1-Texas Chainsaw 3D
2- Hansel & Gretel Witch hunters
3- Warm Bodies
4- Good day to Die Hard
5- Snitch
6- Dark Skies- 2x
7- Jack the Giant Slayer
8- Last Exorcism Part 2
9- Oz- Great & Powerful
10- Dead Man Down
11- Incredible Burt Wonderstone
12- The Call
13- Croods
14- Gi Joe- Retaliation- 2x
15- Olympus Has Fallen
16- The Host
17- Jurassic Park 3D- 2x
18- 42
19- Spring Breakers
20- Trance
21- Evil Dead
22- Oblivion
23- Iron Man 3
24. Star Trek Into Darkness- 3x
25- The Last Stand- 2x
26- Hangover Part 3
27- Now You See Me- 3x
28- Fast & Furious 6
29- Gangster Squad
30- Man of Steel
31- World War Z- 2x
32- Monsters University
33- This is the End
34- The Heat- 2x
35- Bling Ring
36- White House Down- 2x
37- Lone Ranger
38- Kevin Hart- Let Me Explain
39- Pacific Rim
40- RED 2
41- RIPD
42- Way, Way Back- 3x
43- To-Do List
44- Unfinished Song- 2x
45- Conjuring- 2x
46- Wolverine
47- 2 Guns
48- Percy Jackson- Sea of Monsters
49- We’re the Millers
50- Kick Ass 2
51- Paranoia
52- Elysium
53- Mortal Instruments- City of Bones
54- The World’s End- 3x
55- Closed Circuit
56- Jobs
57- Getaway
58- Spectacular Now
59- Riddick
60- You’re Next
61- Despicable Me 2
62- Butler
63- The Family
64- Instructions Not Included
65- Room 237
66- Bullet to the Head
67- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
68- Baggage Claim
69- Thanks for Sharing
70- Prisoners
71- Rush
72- Runner Runner
73- Don Jon
74- Insidious Chapter 2
75- Gravity
76- Saratov Approach
77- Pulling Strings
78- Crystal Lake Memories
79- Captain Phillips
80- Machete Kills
81- Enough Said
82- Hatchet 3
83- Carrie
84- Escape Plan
85- Last Vegas
86- Ender’s Game
87- All is Lost
88- Counselor
89- Thor Dark World
90- About Time
91- Diana
92- 12 Years a Slave
93- Dallas Buyers Club
94- Delivery Man
95- Hunger Games: Catching Fire
96- Frozen- 2x
97- Homefront
98- Philomena- 2x
99- Out of the Furnace
100- Drew- the Man Behind the Poster
101- Book Thief
102- Black Nativity
103- Rapture-Palooza
104- Company You Keep
105- Drinking Buddies
106- Anchorman 2
107- Hobbit- Desolation of Smaug
108- American Hustle
109- Saving Mr. Banks
110- Pain & Gain
111- Parker
112- Secret Life of Walter Mitty
113- Wolf of Wall Street
114- Epic
115- 47 Ronin
116- Mama
117- Byzantium
118- Behind the Candelabra
119- Grudge Match
120- Broken City
121- Great Gatsby
122- Beautiful Creatures
123- Mud
Friday, November 22, 2013
A few hints as you go to the movie theater
I have now been working at the box office of a movie theater for a little over a year. During that time, I have weathered all of the holidays once and the opening weekends (and usually the Thursday night premieres) of films such as Skyfall, Breaking Dawn Part 2, Life of Pi, Hobbit, Les Miserables, Iron man 3, Despicable me 2, Fast & the Furious 6, Instructions Not Included (a huge film for my theater) and many more. Here are just a few tips as you go to the theater this weekend, next weekend, during the holiday season, whenever, to make it easier for both you and the person who is helping you at the register.
The movie theater should be a place of enjoyment for all of those people involved. While I understand that sometimes there are issues that are beyond the control of the customer, more often than not, if mutual respect is shown for the employees of the theater and for the other guests as well (an this goes for both sides of the counter), a theatrical experience can be mostly stress free for all involved.
What this all boils down to is: please use common sense.
1- Please do not come up and yell at us that "our website said such and such". I check our website every day that I am working so that I know exactly what it says and what it doesn't say. With very few exceptions, the problems are almost always user error.
1a-Last night, for example, we had a 5 pm showing of the original Hunger Games and then our showings of Catching Fire started at 8pm. We had about 20 people buy tickets to the original, thinking that they were seeing the sequel earlier than anyone else. It was far from a packed showing, but, after the movie started, they came out and wanted a refund and every single one said, "Your website did not say it was the original". While it is true that it did not specifically say "The original Hunger Games", our website only had the one showtime for it, showed the poster of the original and, next to the poster and the one showtime had the listing- Hunger Games- 2012. If you are still confused, it is your own fault.
1b- Many times, people say that it is "our website" and when we ask them what website they used, they will say Flixster, Fandango, Movietickets.com, or many other websites. While we do send our showtimes to these sites, more times than not, they get them wrong or do not list them as specifically as we do and seperate them into IMAX, 2D, 3D, etc.
1c- Even if it is the website of my company, they will often be looking at a different theater in my chain and they will tell us that the website showed that we had a showtime at 1030 in IMAX. I ask them to show it to me, and the top of the page clearly shows that it is for the different theater.
2- For a very busy movie, please make sure you have your ticket and do not throw it away. I had about 10 people last night come up to me and tell me they threw their ticket away and I needed to print them another one. Guess what? Once you buy a ticket and it is handed to you, it is your responsibility to keep it and hand it to the guy at the podium as you enter the theater. Please do not yell at me and tell me that you are going to be late for your show because you threw your ticket away. I will do my best to help you, but please do not try to make me responsible for your mistake. Luckily, in each case last night, the customer came back to me almost immediately after having purchased the tickets and the seats that they had chosen were in easy spots to remember where they were sitting, but this is not always the case.
3- Do not make up a version of events to hide your error. When you tell me that you purchased 13 tickets and you know that you purchased 13 tickets because you just did it at our automatic ticket machines and the machine only gave you 10 tickets and that I need to find some way to make sure that you get all 13 of your tickets, please try to remember that you actually only bought 10 of them and your friend purchased 3 at the machine next to you. We have ways to check to see if the card has ever been used and if it was declined or if it went through and how much the transaction was for so we know how many tickets were purchased.
4- Please do not have an argument with your moviegoing partner in front of the cashier and hold up the line. It is very uncomfortable for us to stand there with a smile on our face attempting to help you while you are throwing a fit that you have already seen that movie, or you don't want to see this movie, or you paid for dinner and you sure aren't going to pay for the movie as well, or any of the number of other arguments that I have witnessed.
5. If you are going with a bunch of friends to the same film and you want to sit together but you are paying seperately and the theater has reserved seating, you can all come to the same cashier so that you are not blocking every single cashier while you are all running back and forth from station to station trying to decide where to sit. At my theater, we can seperate out the payments. Even if this is not the case, you may go to the same cashier who can make each transaction very quickly since that cashier knows where you have all chosen to sit.
5a- If you are going to the same movie, and you are paying seperately, and you all have exact change, just give one person all of the money and have them pay for all of the seats all at once.
6- If you are standing in line to buy tickets for a moment, and you know what you want to see, and you know that you have a rewards card and you know how you want to pay for it, please have the rewards card and your payment method out and ready to hand to me. It makes it go faster for everybody else and gets you out of the line faster as well.
7- Please make decisions quickly and voice your opinions. If you do not know what movie you want to see, please do not clog up the cashier station while trying to decide. We are more than happy to answer questions, but, just as when a couple is having an argument in front of me and all I can do is stand and smile and watch as the people in line get more and more impatient, the same thing happens here. If you have an opinion on where you want to sit or what movie you want to see, please voice it to your moviegoing partner. Do not say "I don't care where we sit" or "I'll see whatever you want to to see" and then complain as your moviegoing partner makes the decisions and say, "But I don't like to sit there" or "I don't want to see that."
8- Please do not complain to us if you have a specific seat that you like to sit in and that seat is already taken. If it has been purchased, it is no longer available. Please do not ask me if the previous customer could move down one seat. You may ask them once you enter the theater, but the other person got their seats first, so they have the right to say no. Also, if the seat is no longer available, all that I can do is recommend a different showtime that has that seat available in it. The early bird gets the worm. This is especially troublesome if it is already 15 or 20 minutes after the movie has started.
9- If you have a large group and want to ensure that you can sit together, it is best to get your seats early. And no, 10 minutes before showtime of the big new release is not what I would consider early. Last year, on Christmas Day, I had a family of 37 people who wanted to see a 7 pm showing of Les Miserables (a very popular movie on Christmas day last year) and wanted to be able to take 2 entire rows in the exact middle of the theater to sit together. They were shocked, appalled and told me that I had ruined their entire Christmas Day by not allowing them to do so. Now, it wasn't that I was not "allowing" them to do so. It was that the showtime was sold out and they had arrived at 730- half an hour past the start of the showtime that they wanted to see. This probably would have been an impossible request for most any film on most any day.
10- Please do not try to make it sothat there will be no one sitting next to you, in front of you, or behind you- especially on an opening weekend. If seats are going fast, do not try to leave a seat between you and another guest. If this is done, that single seat will usually not sell. I have a great way to almost guarantee that I have no one anywhere around me- I sit on the front row center seat. If you do not like this option, you will more than likely have people around you.
11- The Golden Rule- Treat Others as You Wish to Be Treated. If it annoys you when people talk during a movie, do not talk during the movie. If you don't like it when people kick the back of your seat, please do not kick the backs of chairs in front of you. Again, please use common courtesy and it will be a better experience for all of us.
The movie theater should be a place of enjoyment for all of those people involved. While I understand that sometimes there are issues that are beyond the control of the customer, more often than not, if mutual respect is shown for the employees of the theater and for the other guests as well (an this goes for both sides of the counter), a theatrical experience can be mostly stress free for all involved.
What this all boils down to is: please use common sense.
1- Please do not come up and yell at us that "our website said such and such". I check our website every day that I am working so that I know exactly what it says and what it doesn't say. With very few exceptions, the problems are almost always user error.
1a-Last night, for example, we had a 5 pm showing of the original Hunger Games and then our showings of Catching Fire started at 8pm. We had about 20 people buy tickets to the original, thinking that they were seeing the sequel earlier than anyone else. It was far from a packed showing, but, after the movie started, they came out and wanted a refund and every single one said, "Your website did not say it was the original". While it is true that it did not specifically say "The original Hunger Games", our website only had the one showtime for it, showed the poster of the original and, next to the poster and the one showtime had the listing- Hunger Games- 2012. If you are still confused, it is your own fault.
1b- Many times, people say that it is "our website" and when we ask them what website they used, they will say Flixster, Fandango, Movietickets.com, or many other websites. While we do send our showtimes to these sites, more times than not, they get them wrong or do not list them as specifically as we do and seperate them into IMAX, 2D, 3D, etc.
1c- Even if it is the website of my company, they will often be looking at a different theater in my chain and they will tell us that the website showed that we had a showtime at 1030 in IMAX. I ask them to show it to me, and the top of the page clearly shows that it is for the different theater.
2- For a very busy movie, please make sure you have your ticket and do not throw it away. I had about 10 people last night come up to me and tell me they threw their ticket away and I needed to print them another one. Guess what? Once you buy a ticket and it is handed to you, it is your responsibility to keep it and hand it to the guy at the podium as you enter the theater. Please do not yell at me and tell me that you are going to be late for your show because you threw your ticket away. I will do my best to help you, but please do not try to make me responsible for your mistake. Luckily, in each case last night, the customer came back to me almost immediately after having purchased the tickets and the seats that they had chosen were in easy spots to remember where they were sitting, but this is not always the case.
3- Do not make up a version of events to hide your error. When you tell me that you purchased 13 tickets and you know that you purchased 13 tickets because you just did it at our automatic ticket machines and the machine only gave you 10 tickets and that I need to find some way to make sure that you get all 13 of your tickets, please try to remember that you actually only bought 10 of them and your friend purchased 3 at the machine next to you. We have ways to check to see if the card has ever been used and if it was declined or if it went through and how much the transaction was for so we know how many tickets were purchased.
4- Please do not have an argument with your moviegoing partner in front of the cashier and hold up the line. It is very uncomfortable for us to stand there with a smile on our face attempting to help you while you are throwing a fit that you have already seen that movie, or you don't want to see this movie, or you paid for dinner and you sure aren't going to pay for the movie as well, or any of the number of other arguments that I have witnessed.
5. If you are going with a bunch of friends to the same film and you want to sit together but you are paying seperately and the theater has reserved seating, you can all come to the same cashier so that you are not blocking every single cashier while you are all running back and forth from station to station trying to decide where to sit. At my theater, we can seperate out the payments. Even if this is not the case, you may go to the same cashier who can make each transaction very quickly since that cashier knows where you have all chosen to sit.
5a- If you are going to the same movie, and you are paying seperately, and you all have exact change, just give one person all of the money and have them pay for all of the seats all at once.
6- If you are standing in line to buy tickets for a moment, and you know what you want to see, and you know that you have a rewards card and you know how you want to pay for it, please have the rewards card and your payment method out and ready to hand to me. It makes it go faster for everybody else and gets you out of the line faster as well.
7- Please make decisions quickly and voice your opinions. If you do not know what movie you want to see, please do not clog up the cashier station while trying to decide. We are more than happy to answer questions, but, just as when a couple is having an argument in front of me and all I can do is stand and smile and watch as the people in line get more and more impatient, the same thing happens here. If you have an opinion on where you want to sit or what movie you want to see, please voice it to your moviegoing partner. Do not say "I don't care where we sit" or "I'll see whatever you want to to see" and then complain as your moviegoing partner makes the decisions and say, "But I don't like to sit there" or "I don't want to see that."
8- Please do not complain to us if you have a specific seat that you like to sit in and that seat is already taken. If it has been purchased, it is no longer available. Please do not ask me if the previous customer could move down one seat. You may ask them once you enter the theater, but the other person got their seats first, so they have the right to say no. Also, if the seat is no longer available, all that I can do is recommend a different showtime that has that seat available in it. The early bird gets the worm. This is especially troublesome if it is already 15 or 20 minutes after the movie has started.
9- If you have a large group and want to ensure that you can sit together, it is best to get your seats early. And no, 10 minutes before showtime of the big new release is not what I would consider early. Last year, on Christmas Day, I had a family of 37 people who wanted to see a 7 pm showing of Les Miserables (a very popular movie on Christmas day last year) and wanted to be able to take 2 entire rows in the exact middle of the theater to sit together. They were shocked, appalled and told me that I had ruined their entire Christmas Day by not allowing them to do so. Now, it wasn't that I was not "allowing" them to do so. It was that the showtime was sold out and they had arrived at 730- half an hour past the start of the showtime that they wanted to see. This probably would have been an impossible request for most any film on most any day.
10- Please do not try to make it sothat there will be no one sitting next to you, in front of you, or behind you- especially on an opening weekend. If seats are going fast, do not try to leave a seat between you and another guest. If this is done, that single seat will usually not sell. I have a great way to almost guarantee that I have no one anywhere around me- I sit on the front row center seat. If you do not like this option, you will more than likely have people around you.
11- The Golden Rule- Treat Others as You Wish to Be Treated. If it annoys you when people talk during a movie, do not talk during the movie. If you don't like it when people kick the back of your seat, please do not kick the backs of chairs in front of you. Again, please use common courtesy and it will be a better experience for all of us.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Commentary tracks
On Facebook, a friend of mine asked how often I listen to commentary tracks. Instead of clogging up her other post discussion (which involved the music of How To Train Your Dragon by john Powell, which I LLOVE), I decided to write a post.
In general, I would say that I listen to about half of the commentary tracks that I have on disc. Yes, I watch a lot of movies and have a lot of discs, but I still find time to have them going in the background quite a bit.
There are several different types of commentary tracks and each one can have its merits. But, here is how I gauge what I llisten to:
Who is on the track? If there is someone of whom I am a huge fan of their work, I will listen to the track, no matter what, with one exception. I love the work of Tim Burton, but he cannot do commentary tracks alone. If he has someone with him, he is better, but alone, he gives amazing nuggets like this actual quote from the Sleepy Hollow Commentary track: "In this scene, I decided to have Johnny wear black." WoW!
I have listened to tracks by sound designers like Ben Burtt who explains that he made this sound by dropping strawberry Jello through fishnet stockings into kitty litter while he was standing exactly 7 1/2 feet up. I love geeks no matter what department they are in!
Danny Elfman on the Pee Wees Big Adventure track states that one particular piece that he had written for a harmonica was tested by many different professionals and told that it was too fast, too many notes and could not be done. Then, a guy came in and did it in one take. Great stuff! Elfman is usually good for the first hour of his tracks, but he usually runs out of things to say near the end.
Ben Affleck- say what you will about the guy, but he is hysterical! His commentary tracks on Pearl harbor, Armageddon, and Mallrats are some of the funniest things that I have ever heard and proves that he does not take himself too seriously.
Kevin Smith- the Mallrats comentary is one of the best around since it is a party atmosphere and is very funny all the way through. In fact, one of the jokes on the track makes it into the Jay and Silent bob Strike Back feature film. Kevin usually has a bunch of different commetaries on his films- one is usually more technical where he is very honest about filmmaking, and the other is like a fun party track.
Weird Al Yankovic does a great track on UHF where he gives actual addresses of the locations used and tells a lot of funny stories as well as how difficult is was to get the film made.
John carpenter and Kurt Russell- these guys have no delusions as to what it is they do for a living. Their Big trouble in Little China commentary is a lot like watching it with your best buds who in the middle of the film take a 3 or 4 minute detour into talking about their kids playing hockey.
Joel Schumacher, on the track for Batman & Robin, actually apologizes for the film he made explaining that the script was written around toys that had already been made to sell that Christmas.
If I know that there is a lot of behind the scenes trouble in making the film, I will listen and see how much is brought up of the troubles. Sometimes, the speakers stay far away from discussing it and other times it will devolve into mudslinging. You ever wonder why those disclaimers are there before the movie begins/ This is the example of why it is there.
Writers tracks- If the main actors or director are not on the track, many times I will just "sample it" and see if the speakers are interesting. If they are, I will listen to it from the beginning. but, if the writer is on there, I will usually listen and try to gain as much as I can when they discuss how they make their decisions on where the plot and characters go. This can be especially intriguin if its an adaptation and they discuss why they left in what they did and took out what they did.
It has happened where I have lost a llot of respect for certain people, or at least been made to remember that they are just human as well and not to be held up as a paragon of intelligence. Jennifer Connelly is pretty to look at but quite a ditz when it comes to discussing films, her craft, and even just random storytelling. Vanessa Hudgens, on the Bandslam commentary, reminded me that she was only 19 or so when she made the film. It was a lot of giggling and "he's so cute" type comments. While I can't say I have ever been a fan of Michael Bay as a person, his tracks are fascinating, but just go to prove that he is a pretentious dick. On Armageddon, he starts out by saying, "Making a movie is like a war." and continues to discuss how important his job is and how no one can do what he can do. I listen to Michael Bay's tracks and just giggle all the way through with the ridiculous things he says.
Sometimes I watch the commentary ttracks of films that are complete misfires or just dont quite add up and you hear the makers discuss what they wanted to make and what they thought thy made and give their good intentions and they can make you almost want to like the film just for the good intentions involved.
But, if the film touched me on any level and especially if it is one of my top films of the year, I will listen to it just for the magical quality that creative people have in discussing how they brought their work to the screen.
On the weekend that How to Train Your Dragon came out on BluRay, I bought it that morning and watched it all weekend. My wife did not see it in the theaters, so I forced her to sit down and watch it with me (forced because she doesn't really like animation). She loved it and was crying at the end. I then watched it 3 more times (just the film) and did all of the extras that were included on the disc- the featurettes, the commentaries, the whole thing. I made it a How to Train Your Dragon weekend. On the commentary track, the directors talk about how the "learning to trust each other" scene grew from a planned one minute scene to almost 5 because they knew that the whole film hinged on that scene and if it didnt work, the whole film would not work. They also discussed that, originally, Hiccup was alone in his room when he woke up at the end and discovered he lost a leg. It was Steven Spielberg, who saw the first cut at Dreamworks SKG, who told them that Toothless needed to be there and to help his friend out. Of course, Spielberg turned out to be right.
How to Train Your Dragon was a special film to me.
It was the last film that I saw with my dad in the theaters. We saw it as I was driving him back home from San Antonio to Hurricane Utah when he was diagnosed with cancer. He died 11 weeks later.
Commentary tracks can be like film school in a box, a drunken good time while you are still sober, a memory of what makes a film so special to you, an apology, an affirmation, or just a peek behind the curtain at the magic that can come out of creative people.
In general, I would say that I listen to about half of the commentary tracks that I have on disc. Yes, I watch a lot of movies and have a lot of discs, but I still find time to have them going in the background quite a bit.
There are several different types of commentary tracks and each one can have its merits. But, here is how I gauge what I llisten to:
Who is on the track? If there is someone of whom I am a huge fan of their work, I will listen to the track, no matter what, with one exception. I love the work of Tim Burton, but he cannot do commentary tracks alone. If he has someone with him, he is better, but alone, he gives amazing nuggets like this actual quote from the Sleepy Hollow Commentary track: "In this scene, I decided to have Johnny wear black." WoW!
I have listened to tracks by sound designers like Ben Burtt who explains that he made this sound by dropping strawberry Jello through fishnet stockings into kitty litter while he was standing exactly 7 1/2 feet up. I love geeks no matter what department they are in!
Danny Elfman on the Pee Wees Big Adventure track states that one particular piece that he had written for a harmonica was tested by many different professionals and told that it was too fast, too many notes and could not be done. Then, a guy came in and did it in one take. Great stuff! Elfman is usually good for the first hour of his tracks, but he usually runs out of things to say near the end.
Ben Affleck- say what you will about the guy, but he is hysterical! His commentary tracks on Pearl harbor, Armageddon, and Mallrats are some of the funniest things that I have ever heard and proves that he does not take himself too seriously.
Kevin Smith- the Mallrats comentary is one of the best around since it is a party atmosphere and is very funny all the way through. In fact, one of the jokes on the track makes it into the Jay and Silent bob Strike Back feature film. Kevin usually has a bunch of different commetaries on his films- one is usually more technical where he is very honest about filmmaking, and the other is like a fun party track.
Weird Al Yankovic does a great track on UHF where he gives actual addresses of the locations used and tells a lot of funny stories as well as how difficult is was to get the film made.
John carpenter and Kurt Russell- these guys have no delusions as to what it is they do for a living. Their Big trouble in Little China commentary is a lot like watching it with your best buds who in the middle of the film take a 3 or 4 minute detour into talking about their kids playing hockey.
Joel Schumacher, on the track for Batman & Robin, actually apologizes for the film he made explaining that the script was written around toys that had already been made to sell that Christmas.
If I know that there is a lot of behind the scenes trouble in making the film, I will listen and see how much is brought up of the troubles. Sometimes, the speakers stay far away from discussing it and other times it will devolve into mudslinging. You ever wonder why those disclaimers are there before the movie begins/ This is the example of why it is there.
Writers tracks- If the main actors or director are not on the track, many times I will just "sample it" and see if the speakers are interesting. If they are, I will listen to it from the beginning. but, if the writer is on there, I will usually listen and try to gain as much as I can when they discuss how they make their decisions on where the plot and characters go. This can be especially intriguin if its an adaptation and they discuss why they left in what they did and took out what they did.
It has happened where I have lost a llot of respect for certain people, or at least been made to remember that they are just human as well and not to be held up as a paragon of intelligence. Jennifer Connelly is pretty to look at but quite a ditz when it comes to discussing films, her craft, and even just random storytelling. Vanessa Hudgens, on the Bandslam commentary, reminded me that she was only 19 or so when she made the film. It was a lot of giggling and "he's so cute" type comments. While I can't say I have ever been a fan of Michael Bay as a person, his tracks are fascinating, but just go to prove that he is a pretentious dick. On Armageddon, he starts out by saying, "Making a movie is like a war." and continues to discuss how important his job is and how no one can do what he can do. I listen to Michael Bay's tracks and just giggle all the way through with the ridiculous things he says.
Sometimes I watch the commentary ttracks of films that are complete misfires or just dont quite add up and you hear the makers discuss what they wanted to make and what they thought thy made and give their good intentions and they can make you almost want to like the film just for the good intentions involved.
But, if the film touched me on any level and especially if it is one of my top films of the year, I will listen to it just for the magical quality that creative people have in discussing how they brought their work to the screen.
On the weekend that How to Train Your Dragon came out on BluRay, I bought it that morning and watched it all weekend. My wife did not see it in the theaters, so I forced her to sit down and watch it with me (forced because she doesn't really like animation). She loved it and was crying at the end. I then watched it 3 more times (just the film) and did all of the extras that were included on the disc- the featurettes, the commentaries, the whole thing. I made it a How to Train Your Dragon weekend. On the commentary track, the directors talk about how the "learning to trust each other" scene grew from a planned one minute scene to almost 5 because they knew that the whole film hinged on that scene and if it didnt work, the whole film would not work. They also discussed that, originally, Hiccup was alone in his room when he woke up at the end and discovered he lost a leg. It was Steven Spielberg, who saw the first cut at Dreamworks SKG, who told them that Toothless needed to be there and to help his friend out. Of course, Spielberg turned out to be right.
How to Train Your Dragon was a special film to me.
It was the last film that I saw with my dad in the theaters. We saw it as I was driving him back home from San Antonio to Hurricane Utah when he was diagnosed with cancer. He died 11 weeks later.
Commentary tracks can be like film school in a box, a drunken good time while you are still sober, a memory of what makes a film so special to you, an apology, an affirmation, or just a peek behind the curtain at the magic that can come out of creative people.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
List of things about me
On facebook right now, there is a 'game' where you list facts about yourself. I decided to blog mine.
1- I was born 9 weeks premature in 1972.
2- I taught myself how to read when I was 2 because my parents would not read the TV and movie listings to me everyday. I was also very annoyed when my grandma could not read the cards while playing games with me.
3- I have, as of this writing, seen Raiders of the Lost Ark 626 times.
4- I have been to all 50 states as well as Canada, mexico, England, France, Netherlands, belgium, Spain, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Monaco.
5- When I was 15, my team won the Trivial Pursuit Championship for the Utah Department of Public safety.
6- I worked at Blockbuster for a total of 13 years altogether.
7- I have always been a'nightowl'. I prefeer to drive long distances at night and I rarely go to bed before Midnight, more often than not, it's more like 1 or 130 in the morning.
8-I would take a lot of books to school in my backpack so that I could loan them to friends if they didn't have any reading material. This continued as I grew up and I loaned a lot of movies to people from the neighborhood and am still a go-to friend for movie borrowing.
9-Before I left on my mission, I saw every single film that came out in theaters from April 1, 1991 until October 5, 1991. This led to me seeing The Commitments- a film that has since become one of my all-time favorites.
10- I co-host a podcast called The Geek Agenda (www.thegeekagenda.com ) in which we discuss films, and the ultra fan inside all of us.
11- I came to love films because my parents realized that, when I was a very sick kid and very fussy, I would quiet down when in a theater, but not necessarily in a car.
12- I became a human IMDB before there was an IMDB. I once won a Blockbuster contest by linking 320 people together. My next closest competition only had 87.
13- I met a friend in college (the head of The geek Agenda) and it was only about6 months later that we discovered we were actually second cousins!
14- I went to the State Drama competition 3 years in a row with pieces that I wrote myself based on favorite films of the time (Good Morning Vietnam, Rain man, Talk Radio).
15- I went on a mission to Paris France. I was originally called to the Port-au-Prince Haiti mission, but the missionaries were pulled out due ti a civil war while we were in the MTC so my call was changed.
16- To help learn the language, I read, in their original French versions, Les Miserables, Hunchback of Notre Dame, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, Three Musketeers, man in the Iron mask, and the whole series of Asterix comics. I also read, in French translations, Bright Lights Big City, Fletch, Silence of the Lambs, Dark Half, and Carrie.
17- I was companions with one of Mitt Romney's sons, matt.
18- I helped write the Utah State Core Curiculum for Social Studies in 2001.
19- My favorite jobs at Blockbuster was making room on the New release Wall for all of the week's new films, and receiving so that I could be the first one to handle the new films as well.
20- In Vegas, I have been lucky enough to see 2 Cirque de Soleil shows, O and Mystere, and I have also seen David Copperfield, Huey Lewis & the News, Drew Carrey, NiCole robinson, Wayne Brady, Penn & teller, Charles Fleischer,and had front row seats for George Carlin, my stand up comedy idol.
21- I donated a kidney to my mom in 2003. It was a very tough year, but we both came out well and my mom is still doing extremely well!
22- I got to watch my cousin argue a case in front of the US Supreme Court. Wow! That was absolutely amazing!
23- Both carole Mikita and Attorney general of Utah at the time, jan Graham, pulled the "Do you know who I am?" card to try to get a very popular movie on a very busy weekend at Blockbuster and to get late fees taken off of their account.
24- I was the first person hired for the retention Department when it began at Pinnacle Security.
25- While working at Blockbuster, I had 2 cars drive into the building.
26- I got to meet Bill Conti (composer for Rocky), larry Linville (Frank Burns of M*A*S*H) and Rob Paulsen and Jess harnell (Animaniacs) and Paulson did a live version of the Nations of the World song.
27- Did the motel room scene from 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles' with Eric Taylor as my final project in drama in high school.
28- Kate Beckinsale and Gemma Arterton are my female celebrity crushes. I will watch anything they are in.
29- My favorite actors are Harrison Ford and Michael J Fox.
and, finally
30- I finished a novel consisting of 119,000 words in October of 2012 and am currently looking for an agent to sell it to get it published.
1- I was born 9 weeks premature in 1972.
2- I taught myself how to read when I was 2 because my parents would not read the TV and movie listings to me everyday. I was also very annoyed when my grandma could not read the cards while playing games with me.
3- I have, as of this writing, seen Raiders of the Lost Ark 626 times.
4- I have been to all 50 states as well as Canada, mexico, England, France, Netherlands, belgium, Spain, Austria, Germany, Italy, and Monaco.
5- When I was 15, my team won the Trivial Pursuit Championship for the Utah Department of Public safety.
6- I worked at Blockbuster for a total of 13 years altogether.
7- I have always been a'nightowl'. I prefeer to drive long distances at night and I rarely go to bed before Midnight, more often than not, it's more like 1 or 130 in the morning.
8-I would take a lot of books to school in my backpack so that I could loan them to friends if they didn't have any reading material. This continued as I grew up and I loaned a lot of movies to people from the neighborhood and am still a go-to friend for movie borrowing.
9-Before I left on my mission, I saw every single film that came out in theaters from April 1, 1991 until October 5, 1991. This led to me seeing The Commitments- a film that has since become one of my all-time favorites.
10- I co-host a podcast called The Geek Agenda (www.thegeekagenda.com ) in which we discuss films, and the ultra fan inside all of us.
11- I came to love films because my parents realized that, when I was a very sick kid and very fussy, I would quiet down when in a theater, but not necessarily in a car.
12- I became a human IMDB before there was an IMDB. I once won a Blockbuster contest by linking 320 people together. My next closest competition only had 87.
13- I met a friend in college (the head of The geek Agenda) and it was only about6 months later that we discovered we were actually second cousins!
14- I went to the State Drama competition 3 years in a row with pieces that I wrote myself based on favorite films of the time (Good Morning Vietnam, Rain man, Talk Radio).
15- I went on a mission to Paris France. I was originally called to the Port-au-Prince Haiti mission, but the missionaries were pulled out due ti a civil war while we were in the MTC so my call was changed.
16- To help learn the language, I read, in their original French versions, Les Miserables, Hunchback of Notre Dame, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, Three Musketeers, man in the Iron mask, and the whole series of Asterix comics. I also read, in French translations, Bright Lights Big City, Fletch, Silence of the Lambs, Dark Half, and Carrie.
17- I was companions with one of Mitt Romney's sons, matt.
18- I helped write the Utah State Core Curiculum for Social Studies in 2001.
19- My favorite jobs at Blockbuster was making room on the New release Wall for all of the week's new films, and receiving so that I could be the first one to handle the new films as well.
20- In Vegas, I have been lucky enough to see 2 Cirque de Soleil shows, O and Mystere, and I have also seen David Copperfield, Huey Lewis & the News, Drew Carrey, NiCole robinson, Wayne Brady, Penn & teller, Charles Fleischer,and had front row seats for George Carlin, my stand up comedy idol.
21- I donated a kidney to my mom in 2003. It was a very tough year, but we both came out well and my mom is still doing extremely well!
22- I got to watch my cousin argue a case in front of the US Supreme Court. Wow! That was absolutely amazing!
23- Both carole Mikita and Attorney general of Utah at the time, jan Graham, pulled the "Do you know who I am?" card to try to get a very popular movie on a very busy weekend at Blockbuster and to get late fees taken off of their account.
24- I was the first person hired for the retention Department when it began at Pinnacle Security.
25- While working at Blockbuster, I had 2 cars drive into the building.
26- I got to meet Bill Conti (composer for Rocky), larry Linville (Frank Burns of M*A*S*H) and Rob Paulsen and Jess harnell (Animaniacs) and Paulson did a live version of the Nations of the World song.
27- Did the motel room scene from 'Planes, Trains, and Automobiles' with Eric Taylor as my final project in drama in high school.
28- Kate Beckinsale and Gemma Arterton are my female celebrity crushes. I will watch anything they are in.
29- My favorite actors are Harrison Ford and Michael J Fox.
and, finally
30- I finished a novel consisting of 119,000 words in October of 2012 and am currently looking for an agent to sell it to get it published.
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