A Year of Movies

Week 20: May 14, 2010 to May 20, 2010
Total number of movies watched: 8

The Bruce Willis marathon continues...

203. 12 Monkeys -- Another interesting Terry Gilliam movie. While I enjoyed Bruce Willis's performance in this, Brad Pitt's insane character, Jeffrey, steals the show. An intelligent script which requires you to really pay attention to the movie. I love how the story comes full circle at the airport. Great movie.

204. Last Man Standing -- A dark movie. Bruce Willis' John Smith drives into town and plays the two rival gangs against each other while trying to make money off both in the process. The shoot-out scenes are impressive--if not entirely realistic--but then, are you watching these kinds of action movies for their realism? No. Entertaining, yet at times....hauntingly sad.

205. Hostage -- Bruce Willis as another hang-dog, weight of the world is on his shoulders police officer--and yet he still is able to pull it off and make it seem almost original despite the similarities to his Die Hard character (his marriage is on the rocks, and his daughter doesn't get along with him in this one too). The story is entertaining and I found myself wondering how Willis was going to be able to work his way free of his troubles and make everything right by the time the movie ended. Good movie.

206. Lucky # Slevin -- One of my favorite movies. It has a great twisting story line that spans twenty years--a number of great villainous characters each unique in their own way--and Lucy Liu in perhaps her best role ever. Lots of witty banter between her character and Josh Hartnett's Slevin. Also, take note of all the wild wallpaper in this movie. Wow. (And no, I didn't notice the wallpaper because the movie was bad!) Just a great, great entertaining movie.

207. The Long Kiss Goodnight -- I thought I'd shift gears and watch a capable and heroic kick-ass female as the assassin-in-charge of this movie. I'd forgotten just how funny the banter between Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson was in this movie. Lots of over-the-top action in this movie. And I have to remember to add this to my list of "Non-traditional Christmas movie Christmas movies" (I like watching non-traditional Christmas movies while I wrap Christmas presents).

208. Resident Evil -- I'd seen parts of this movie on TV over the years, but I'd never seen it (or either of its sequels) from beginning to end so I broke out this Milla Jovovich trilogy and watched them back-to-back-to-back. I know it's based off a video game, but I never really played the game much so I don't know how the movie truly compares to the game--but in general, I liked the first movie (of the three) the best. Some of the CGI seemed dated already but as zombie movies go--this one wasn't too bad. Milla was fun to watch but I've seen her in better movies (and worse).

209. Resident Evil: Apocalypse -- Okay movie. Some decent action scenes. Some added background for Alice.

210. Resident Evil: Extinction -- Of the two sequels, I liked this one a little better. It was a nice change of pace moving the story out into the sunshine--I liked the juxtaposition of the noir movie in the sunshine. More background on the Alice character--more Milla kicking butt. Another okay movie.

Favorite movie this week? Lucky # Slevin....followed closely by 12 Monkeys and The Long Kiss Goodnight.