So apart from visiting Gnomesville today (which was pretty awesome in itself!), I also sat through THREE movies in a row….like a movie marathon but BETTER. Funny thing is, I am actually going to a movie marathon on Sunday for the Easter holiday special thing…and the people I am going with somehow thought
Clash of the Titans
The Dark Knight and
Sherlock Holmes
was a completely better marathon than:
Kick Ass
Green Zone
The Wolfman
I MEAN SERIOUSLY. DOES MARATHON TWO NOT SOUND BETTER TO EVERYONE?! *sigh* First off….who hasn’t seen The Dark Knight (kind of overrated too imo), Sherlock Holmes was piss poor BORING and Clash of the Titans…..well I can already tell it’ll be CRAP by its movie poster and trailer, and how it is marketed in 3D. Ugh.
ANYWAY.
Tonight, the movie marathon was pretty good…..because we saw:
Whiteout
Cube
From Dusk til Dawn
Pretty awesome series of movies right there…..but OH GOD. WHITEOUT. WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS FILM?!
Seriously, can anyone actually tell me what this is about because we all had NO EFFING IDEA by the end of the movie. Not only is the dialogue and scenes horribly written, the acting is so bad it’s laughable. In fact…it was so bad I am writing this right now to remind me to write a review about it later on. Honestly, if you’re bored and you want an entertaining Z-grade film to watch……SEE WHITEOUT. You won’t be disappointed.
Cube was also pretty interesting……..it’s like Saw but older and there are no serial killers….but there are traps and they are stuck in a series of cubes. Pretty cool movie – definitely want to see the other two!
From Dusk til Dawn was a whole other story…I had seen it before years ago but rewatched it again tonight and it was pretty fucking hilarious. Like, the first half hour you kind of get the feeling it’ll go off on a Natural Born Killers tangent where everyone will just DIE but then vampires suddenly appear out of NOWHERE and all the funny breaks loose. God I love Tarantino. And Robert Rodriguez. ;D I actually cannot wait til Machete comes out now….because seeing Danny Trejo in that movie just totally reminded me of Machete and how awesome it’ll be.
1. Inglourious Basterds – this goes without saying. Anyone who knows me KNOWS how obsessed I am with this movie. It was so well written, so well acted, so well directed…..everything was literally PERFECT. Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt has said it’s pretty much the ‘end all, be all’ of world war II movies, and I couldn’t agree with them more. I just love how it doesn’t take itself too seriously: its just a good fun entertaining movie with A grade actors and hilarious scenes. My favourite part – when Brad Pitt & co. show up with Diane Kruger and they proceed to pretend to be hilariously stereotypical italians, only to be upstaged by Christoph Waltz’s character who speaks perfect italian. Comedy gold! The soundtrack is also, as always BRILLIANT. Tarantino really knows his music and I just love how he picks different songs for each particular scene which stays with viewers long after they’ve seen the movie. Twisted nerve, anyone?!
2.Where the Wild Things Are – Be honest, who wanted a wolf suit after seeing this movie!??!?!?! I honestly loved every single second of WWWTA, and though it is quite long, I felt the growth and coming of age of Max was both depressing and poetic at the same time. Yes, you can bring your kids to see this movie, but really, this one is definitely suited to a more adult audience. I went in with absolutely no expectations; I did read the book when I was younger but honestly, I couldn’t really remember that much from the story. I have to give kudos to Spike Jonze though – he is seriously such an amazing, amazing director. Fleshing out Maurice Sendak’s short 3~ page storybook into a feature length film was just pretty incredible in its own right.
I also really loved how each different character symbolized all of Max’s family, friends and acquaintances in real life – people which I’m sure everyone could relate to themselves too. The costumes didn’t seem out of place at all – the setting of the forest was just so fantasy like and almost surreal it was beautiful to watch Max just realize everything about…life. The feeling of nostalgia alone is why I love this movie so much….really makes you wish you were a kid again, all innocent and wide eyed.. Anyway, I have to say, the trailer for this movie is quite awesome as well. It has Arcade Fire’s ‘Wake Up’ as its ‘theme’ so I pretty much knew this was going to be worth seeing!
3. District 9 - Watching District 9 was like watching everything I imagined a Halo movie to look like. For people who have ever played the game, you’ll know how amazing the storyline is, and how absolutely surreally fantastic the entire Halo world is. Halo is just one of those games which would just WORK as a feature length film; which is why I was really excited when I heard Peter Jackson was possibly going to be working on bringing that to life. Well…we’re still waiting. Apparently there’s scripts floating around too. Anyway, I loved everything about District 9 – the setting, the story arc, the robots. Sure, there are flaws in why exactly the robots didn’t use their weapons against the humans in the first place. And yeah, maybe it was a bit predictable. But in the end, the whole movie was just really enjoyable, and the combination of documentary style interviews and the dramatic storyline really makes this movie worth seeing. The issues and points the movie raised were also nicely done – not too over the top but important to note at the same time.
4. 500 Days of Summer – So, people that know me may be a bit surprised I have included this movie in my top ten. I was pretty surprised that I liked this movie too, when I first saw it, because I am usually NEVER ever a fan of romantic comedies. But this is only because I never knew a “romantic” comedy could be so well made! In fact, I’m pretty miffed this movie was completely snubbed at this years’ Oscars because it at least deserved a nomination for Best Screenplay. It was definitely the script which is what made this movie so fantastic, and the editing of Tom and Summer’s relationship throughout their highs and lows of their relationship just speaks to so many people on so many levels about dating and relationships in general! I thought the entire movie was just really clever and thoroughly enjoyable – something you can just sit down to and be entertained by.
Zooey Deschanel is just so quirkily cute in this movie too, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance wasn’t too shabby either. The ending was rather cheesy though; I think it really was Minka Kelly’s acting that really brought the whole ending down!
5. An Education – I was definitely surprised by how good this movie was, as after reading the blurb I wasn’t so sure if it was my kind of movie. Acting wise, this movie was fantastic though, particularly Carey Mulligan as Jenny. Despite the constant creepiness of her much older boyfriend David, the actions and diatribes of Jenny’s parents and her peers simply remind us how conflicting the idea of gender is in modern society. It is definitely a movie which makes you think, but is also something which is enjoyable and often humorous too.
6. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – For Heath Ledger’s last movie, I was expecting a much bigger hype machine for this than what was actually made! For what it’s worth though, I have so much respect for Terry Gilliam after seeing this movie. His directing style is just brilliant – coming from a guy that brought us Monty Python, Fear and Loathing and Twelve Monkeys you know this movie’s going to be good anyway!
Everything from the visual aesthetics to the salvaged storyline just WORKS in this film – yes the graphics may not be as great as CGI mindfucks like 2012 or Avatar, but the distinctly surreal style just transports you to another place altogether. While the film definitely needed more Johnny Depp…and less Colin Farrell…you don’t even really notice Ledger’s last scene as there’s just so much else going on. I just can’t believe this didn’t have more showings than it actually did!
7. Ponyo – Okay, I have to admit, I was kind of disappointed when I first watched this movie. But that was because I watched it late, late late at night when I was tired and couldn’t be bothered paying attention (in fact I probably fell asleep through parts of it…). I watched it again one sunny afternoon though, and I realized just why I love Hayao Miyazaki so much. Yes, this movie is similar to The Little Mermaid, and it is very kiddy orientated. It is just so enjoyable though, and the animation alongside the storyline just makes this film so endearing. I love how Miyazaki can convey so many emotions through his animation style – depite the fact Ponyo and Sasuke are kids(well, toddlers really), the love he portrays that they have for each other is something which doesn’t seem tacked on or fake at all. I also really loved the animation sequence of the ocean flooding the mountain, turning the road and surrounds into some sort of huge underwater aquarium. Really beautiful artwork – and I know some people didn’t really like the art in this movie, but I did read somewhere that it was a return to watercolours when animating this film. I personally, thought the waves in itself were perfect(Miyazaki apparnetly spent months just focussing on animating the waves, making them all perfect. What dedication!) The non-disney, non-pixar animation is just so fresh in its own right that seeing a 2D movie with real emotion and storyline definitely gives you hope for more great animation from Studio Ghibli!
8. Drag Me to Hell - Sam Raimi. THAT IS ALL THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID!!!! No but really. From the guy who brought us The Evil Dead……how can you go wrong with this movie!? I supposed this is one which you either love or hate. It’s definitely not for everyone, but for those that can appreciate the hilarious comedic horror cliches which fill this movie, this movie is definitely worth seeing. From the kitty sacrifice to the talking goat and haunted hanky….this entire movie was just Sam Raimi class. The fact that it doesn’t take itself too seriously as well just makes it so much more enjoyable to watch. Horror buffs, this movie’s for you!
9. Anvil! The Story of Anvil – This movie was pretty much Spinal Tap…but better. Hard to believe it’s real life too!!! The journey from top of the game to a freefall into obscurity is really what makes this so interesting though. Despite the sometimes hypocritical comments made in this movie by Slash, lars Ulrich etc., this movie will definitely appeal to metal fans….or any music fan for that matter. Fascinating and kinda sad at the same time, its great to see such life and hope in these guys even at their age!
P.S. They’re touring oz with the Soundwave festival – someone lemme know how they do!
10. Up – I honestly liked Wall-E much more than this movie, but Up was definitely great in its own right. I just wanted to hug that little boy throughout the whole film!!! The taking dogs were pretty hilarious too, and I just loved the idea of a floating house by helium balloons in general. Sentimental and cute, a must see for all pixar fans!
So I have more films I probably should add to this list…A Serious Man, Moon, Julie and Julia, Paranormal Activity, Watchmen, The September Issue, Let the Right One In, Whatever Works, Doubt, The Brothers Bloom, The Class, Coco Avant Chanel….gosh there were so many great movies released last year!
I have been pretty bad and I DO still need to see Gran Torino and Milk though…getting on that ASAP!
As for bottom movies of the year?
1. Twilight: New Moon (worst cinema experience of my LIFE)
2. Avatar (don’t even get me started….)
3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
4. Year One (god this was horribly unfunny)
5. Couples Retreat
6. 2012
7. The Final Destination 4
8. Role Models
9. Dragonball Evolution (though this movie was so bad it was actually kinda entertaining)
10. Knowing
I have to say though, watching Dragonball was actually kind of fun, only because it was so, so sooo bad it was funny. Knowing was actually quite bearable until the last half hour…then it all went to hell from there. As for the rest? Don’t even get me started. They were all shit and that’s all you need to know!
Well, that’s pretty much my listopia for 2009….watch out for my review of Milk, coming soon!
![Love makes the world go round =]](http://electrifries.ephereal.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/esq-500-days-of-summer-0609-lgjpg.jpg "Love makes the world go round =]")
