A Year of Movies

Week 2: Jan. 8, 2010 to Jan. 14, 2010
Total number of movies watched: 13

13. District 9 -- I absolutely LOVED this movie! I'll have to find a time this year to watch it again, and soon. I loved the characters, the story, the setting -- I loved how the special effects didn't take over the movie. They were only a part of the movie. Too many movies nowadays rely too heavily on effects and don't worry as much about story, or character. This one was a perfect mix. If you haven't seen this movie, watch it.

14. Cashback -- I really enjoyed this small budget indie film. It was charming and funny and I had no idea what to expect when I started watching it and when it was done, I was truly impressed. A really good movie.

15. Edward Scissorhands -- An old favorite. After what, 20 years, this movie still gets to me. And the music...

16. The Fog -- This remake was 'okay'. The idea of the movie was kinda cool, but I'm not sure if the ending worked for me. I haven't seen the original so I don't know if that was the original ending or not. For a horror movie, I wasn't really 'scared'...

17. Sleepless in Seattle -- A great romantic comedy. What more is there to say? Though, I have to add, there is quite a difference watching this when you have no kids vs having kids. Now that I have kids, the scene where Tom Hanks' son flies off to NY on his own (at age 8) now really bothers me. I can only imagine (and hopefully that's all it will ever be) the horror of a parent in losing a child like that, even if only for a few hours. In real life, that flight from Seattle to NY in hopes of finding your missing son would have seemed like an eternity. A horrible eternity... That aside though, I love this rom-com. Great movie.

18. Breaking and Entering -- An interesting and thoughtful movie staring Jude Law. Each character in this small movie was flawed, and the 'victim' of the actual crime was perhaps the most flawed of all. Another movie I started with no idea what to expect. In general, I liked it.

19. The Blair Witch Project -- Oddly enough, I had never seen this movie before. I know, I couldn't believe it either. My friend suggested it to me so I gave it a try. Perhaps after all these years of hearing how scary this movie was, I went into it with high expectations, and they weren't entirely met. For a low budget film, it was good, but for much of the movie, I just wasn't that scared. And as the movie went on, I began to like the main characters less and less, until finally, I got to the point (and this has happened in many horror movies for me), where I couldn't wait for the characters to get bumped off. And the ending. I 'get' the ending. But...again, I guess I was expecting more. If, as this movie was trying to pretend, these tapes were 'real' the cameras would have continued filming even after they were dropped (at least until the batteries died, the cameras ran out of film, or they were switched off), and yet, as edited, the movie just stops. So...again, going on the premise that the footage was supposed to be real (I realize they were not), there should have been more footage of the carnage after what 'we' saw--and yet the people who edited the "real" film footage together didn't include it? Why not? It's supposed to be a 'horror'. If there was 'real' horror footage afterwards, it should have been included. Long story short, I felt the ending short-changed the viewers.

20. Leon, The Professional -- This was the director's cut of The Professional. I love this movie. Sharp action. Deeply emotional. Dark at times. Excellent performances by all the lead actors. Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman. Wow.

21. Splinter -- An intense 'monster' movie. Thrilling. Fun and at times, actually scary. I liked this 'monster' movie.

22. Hang 'Em High -- Clint Eastwood's first American western, according to the outside cover. Good movie. I like most of Clint's movies. Will have to watch 'Unforgiven' again soon.

23. Con Air -- An enjoyable movie with lots of great actors having fun. Cage, Cusack, Malkovich...the list goes on and on with this movie. Wild action. I really like this movie.

24. City of Ember -- A fun adventure story set in a unique world. The kids will probably like this movie in a few years (they're just a little too young to truly enjoy it now). I went out and found the book that this movie was based on and read it afterwards. A good read, too.

25. Fallen -- A great paranormal/cop film starring Denzel Washington. Excellent story. Nice twists. Dark, eerie movie. Watch this movie if you get the chance....'time is on your side, yes it is...' (the song sticks after watching this!)

A week of excellent movies! Again, too many to pick out one favorite, though District 9 would be near the top of my list for not only this week, but of all movies I've seen. And I'm glad I took a chance on a few of the smaller budget films--Cashback, Breaking and Entering and Splinter. Sometimes those little-known movies really do work out well.