From Dusk Till Dawn - rewatch - 8/10
Rendition - 7.5/10 - Hated Reese Witherspoon in this. Jake Gyllenhal, Peter Sarsgard, Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin were great.
In The Valley Of Elah - 9/10 - Really enjoyed this. Cements Paul Haggis as a competent filmmaker for me. Loved the perfs from Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron.
Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone - 7/10 - haven’t watched the first film in quite awhile. Found my self very impressed with Columbus’s direction, though he doesn’t hold a candle to Alfonso Cuaran and Mike Newell.
Righteous Kill - 4/10 - very depressing to see screen legends like Deniro and Pacino reduced to this.
Street Kings - 6/10 - Surprisingly good. Keanu Reeves was pretty decent. Loved Whitaker in this, though his accent kind of confused me.
The Terminator Blu-Ray - 9/10
[quote=“plunderbunnie”]
The Visitor - 7/10 - Some may disagree with me, but I thought the handling of the subject matter was very gentle and realistic. Richard Jenkins was great and the character Tarek was very sexy. ;D[/quote]
I’m so glad that I’ve finally found someone else who enjoyed The Visitor as much as I did. I consider it to be among the most under-appreciated films of 2008. I’m also quite happy that Richard Jenkins has at least recieved a nomination for his performance in the best actor category. The wise-money is going for Sean Penn, but I think that either Frank Langella or Mickey Rourke truly deserve it the most. And, I have absolutely no idea why Brad Pitt was nominated. That spot should have easily gone to Leonardo DiCaprio for Revolutionary Road.
Yeah i’ll jump on that and admit with no qualms that The Visitor is one of the best films from last year. I give it a perfect rating seriously, i absolutely loved it and found no flaw in what it tried to convey. Jenkins gives an outstanding subtle performance and deserves the nom.
Anyways, these I’ve watched over the past few days:
The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen: Terry Gilliam’s grossly underrated masterpiece of satiric fantasy. All lovers of Gilliam need to check it out if they haven’t already. 9/10
Sophie’s Choice: Killed me a little inside, Kevin Kline is an outstanding actor I don’t know what happened to him and Meryl Streep proves why she’s the absolute best and somewhere on her own level. 8/10
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie: Unbelievable as it may seem this was my first Cassavetes film. Very unique and visionary style, loved the music and the ease of the performances from the actors especially Gazzara. Very enjoyable and I saw the cut that was absolutely hated when it first came out, i want to see the shorter version now damn it! 8/10
Appaloosa - 8/10
What Just Happened? - 8.5/10
Death Race - 8.5/10
Leopard Man (rewatch) – not as good as cat people but the killings are just amazing
Cat People (rewatch) – the masterpiece from Tourneur/lewton!
The wrestler
Susan’s plan – ok crime comedy by john landis
talladega nights – i laughed hard 
stop making sense – one of the best film concert ever, the opening piece is fantastic 8)
the hunter – early 80s film with Steve mcQueen. Terrible and a bit sad to watch
the score (rewatch) – from a book by richard stark ; jim brown as parker is a miscast, otherwise, it’s pretty good…
aquatic life with steve zissou (rewatch) – it gets better and better every time
chud (rewatch) 6/10
sideways (rewatch) – 8/10
big lebowsky (rewatch) 8/10
ice storm – surprisingly good. Imo best film of ang lee, with Hulk…
il mattatore – great dino risi. italian comedies from the 60s are among the best films ever ;D
tolgo il disturbo – late dino risi, depressing to watch.
City of the living dead (rewatch) – Amazing atmosphere, wonderful cinematography, great gore. Fulci’s best!
Ferris Beuller’s Day Off - 7.8/10
A decent chill-out movie, kind of cheesy, but quite entertaining. The girl that plays Sloane is hot!
[quote=“Ify”]
Ferris Beuller’s Day Off - 7.8/10
A decent chill-out movie, kind of cheesy, but quite entertaining. The girl that plays Sloane is hot!
[/quote]
I never got why this movie has such an enormous cult following.
I guess a lot of people relate to it. It certainly reminded me of my childhood where I hated school soooo much and dreamt of staying home everyday, and saddened me that I couldn’t (I’d take off maybe 2 days a year and make the absolute most of it). I fucking hated large parts of my childhood. My mum is an Educational Social Worker - one of her roles is make sure children go to school. Suffice to say, I’ve been making up for all of that in the past 3 years and I don’t look like quitting.
I can watch Faris Beullers day off any day of the week. It’s so good. I’m surprised Mathew Broderick isn’t a bigger star now. But yeah, the idea of the perfect cut day is so relatable it’s no wonder it’s so well liked.
No Country for Old Men (re-watch) 9/10
Brilliant movie ruined by the last 20 minutes.
Soldier of Orange (1977, Paul Verhoeven) 5/10
I don’t like war movies and I didn’t like this one either, despite the brilliant director and Rutger Hauer in the lead.
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
No Country for Old Men (re-watch) 9/10
Brilliant movie ruined by the last 20 minutes.
[/quote]
The last twenty minutes? The ending is one of the best parts.
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
No Country for Old Men (re-watch) 9/10
Brilliant movie ruined by the last 20 minutes.
[/quote]
If it wasn’t for the ending, I wouldn’t have given this film its masterpiece status!
[Warning: Spoilers for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN]
Why kill Josh Brolin off-camera and be all vague about his death? Why make Anton just disappear? Why is there no confrontation at the end? why be all unconventional and artsy? To win Oscars, I’m sure.
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
[Warning: Spoilers for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN]
Why kill Josh Brolin off-camera and be all vague about his death?
[/quote]
To show that this wasn’t Brolin’s story. What happens to him happens all the time to people every single day. There is no point having a focus on his death like so many other films do.
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
Why make Anton just disappear? Why is there no confrontation at the end?[/quote]
Because that is what often happens with bad guys in real life. They get away with some of the most inhuman things. There isn’t always justice. Also, this wasn’t Anton’s story either.
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
Why is there no confrontation at the end?
[/quote]
Just because the majority of films tend follow a certain formula, doesn’t mean the Coen’s have to abide by the same rules. QT is very unconventional in his way, why don’t you have an issue with that? The story wasn’t about Moss and Chigurgh’s rivalry, even though the camera focussed on their lives. It’s a very effective story-telling technique. The focus is on the lesser aspects, but ultimately the film is about something much bigger. There doesn’t need to be a confrontation between those two.
[quote=“Crazy Kenneth”]
why be all unconventional and artsy? To win Oscars, I’m sure.
[/quote]
Are you serious?
I doubt VERY much that the Coen’s made a film to win the Oscar. I don’t think they give a fuck about who likes or dislikes their films apart from themselves.
No Country For Old Men is about the society we seem to be living in (and indeed America, specifically). The old ways of respect and justic are disappearing. The world is becoming a much more dangerous place with new breeds of criminals, one’s with no morals or sanctity of human life. People get killed every day, many for no legitimate reason at all. Many of these criminals get away with it. But life goes on. The world keeps working, keeps changing, the older folk are finding it increasingly difficult to come to terms with modernity. Times are changing, can you keep up/deal with it or do you give up and accept things?
Yes, for once I’m dead serious. I love this movie and that’s why the ending pisses me off even more, because it could have ben so much better.
[quote=“Ify”]
No Country For Old Men is about the society we seem to be living in (and indeed America, specifically). The old ways of respect and justic are disappearing. The world is becoming a much more dangerous place with new breeds of criminals, one’s with no morals or sanctity of human life. People get killed every day, many for no legitimate reason at all. Many of these criminals get away with it. But life goes on. The world keeps working, keeps changing, the older folk are finding it increasingly difficult to come to terms with modernity. Times are changing, can you keep up/deal with it or do you give up and accept things?
[/quote]
I got that vibe from the movie and I loved it. I can actually relate to that theme, and that’s sad because I’m younger. That (you called it “something bigger”) is however no excuse to be as unconventional as they were. Being unconventional is not automatically the better option for the movie.
You get invested in Brolin’s, Anton’s and Tommy Lee Jones’ character, because that happens when you watch a movie. And then two of the characters just disappear and the movie is ended with one character telling about some dream he had. What is that shit?
The movie is like a real good fucking and then in the finale, the beautiful woman on top of you slowly but steadily turns into an old witch and then (“THE END”) barfs in your face. That’s what it’s (almost) like for me watching this movie.
Well just because you invest your time in those two characters doesn’t mean they were wrong to end it like they did. I was very shocked at the ending at first, and immediately the words “FUCKING BRILLIANT” flashed in my mind. It was the Tommy Lee Jones character’s story. Instead of showing it from his point of view all the time, we were shown two of the instances he is worried about.
The Coens have balls and thye showed it with this masterpiece. Deserving of every award they got in my opinion.
Speaking of the Coens, just watched Millers Crossing for the first time two nights ago. Average, funny in parts, boring for the most part though. - 5.5/10
Last watched:
Heavenly Creatures - 4/10
Spun - 5/10
Intensity - 7/10
City of God - 4.5/10
Boyz n the Hood (re-watch) - 6.5/10
There are no awesome films left for me to find. 
I think I’ve discovered everything that appeals to me. Every so called classic I go back and watch I find it boring. Yes, I’m ignorant, but it’s the truth.
[quote=“Ify”]
Well just because you invest your time in those two characters doesn’t mean they were wrong to end it like they did. I was very shocked at the ending at first, and immediately the words “FUCKING BRILLIANT” flashed in my mind. It was the Tommy Lee Jones character’s story. Instead of showing it from his point of view all the time, we were shown two of the instances he is worried about.
The Coens have balls and thye showed it with this masterpiece. Deserving of every award they got in my opinion.
[/quote]
I find it helps when you’ve read the source material, too. In McCarthy’s novel it’s quite clear that the story’s true focus is on Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. He acts as the guiding narrator for the duration of the story in the book.
Beginning & ending each chapter w/a monologue about his thoughts on the happenings.
Personally, I feel as though had the Coens left in a few more scenes from the
source, and included more of the narration it would have made it a far
better film. Longer, sure, but definitely better.
As it stands now. I rate it a 7.8/10…
[quote=“C.C. Baxter”]
I find it helps when you’ve read the source material, too. In McCarthy’s novel it’s quite clear that the story’s true focus is on Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. He acts as the guiding narrator for the duration of the story in the book.
Beginning & ending each chapter w/a monologue about his thoughts on the happenings.
Personally, I feel as though had the Coens left in a few more scenes from the
source, and included more of the narration it would have made it a far
better film. Longer, sure, but definitely better.
As it stands now. I rate it a 7.8/10…
[/quote]
What’s great about the film is that it doesn’t allow convention to tell the story at all. It doesn’t make it easy. In a way it isn’t told with Ed Tom Bell as the focus but as a result. What’s I liked about the ending was how it left the main characters. Instead of focusing on who got the money or how but on what drove them and the result. What I also appreciated was the way it used fate and chance as a precursor to everything. As soon as Moss took the money he sealed his own fate, and he paid that price. Chigurh whose life is heavily influenced on chance is almost killed by an act of chance as the many he killed and let live were. When Moss decided to wriggle his way out of Chigurh’s path, his wife’s fate was sealed. The only reason that people disliked the ending is because they recognized the wrong character as the main character and felt cheated by his end.