PROJECT 365: 47 - 83

First post in quite some while after the stupid angsty emo bullshit of the last one. I realise no one reads this anyway but it's nice to keep a list of what I've watched and what I thought of it even if for my own recollections.

MIFF starts up in a couple weeks - can't wait and it should almost double this lackluster list - perhaps 365 films in one calendar year was asking a bit much eh?

Also I couldn't be bothered linking to the IMDB page of each film any more.


47. Step Brothers - I'm not a huge fan of Will Ferrel or John C Reilly but this actually had a number of quite amusing scenes in it. I AM a huge fan of the ever sexy Mary Steenburgen - ROWR! 2.5/5

48. The Kingdom - I'd heard this was really trite and crap but I quite liked it. Seemed to have a lot of mumbling of lines especially from Jamie Fox, also I thought the fact that none of the main American characters cark it at the end was a bit dull. Still quite enjoyable. 3.5/5

49. Righteous Kill - total paint by the numbers "thriller" with Pacino and De Niro. Picked who the real killer was extremely early int he piece with some very poorly revealed red herrings merely confirming my theory. Dull, predictable, crap. 1/5

50. The Deer Hunter - I'm never EVER playing Russian Roulette. Not that I ever wanted to, but after watching this I REALLY don't want to. Was about an hour too long with certain scenes - especially the wedding - just going on FAR too long though I can see why it won so many Oscars. Basically a good film with a bit of a message and a great performance by De Niro and an even better one by Christopher Walken, yet not everyone's cup of tea. 3.5/5

51. Semi-Pro - another Will Ferrel comedy that really makes bugger all sense and is pretty much just a vehicle for a bunch of one liners. A few laughs but don't go out of your way to check it out. 1.5/5

52. Elegy - went to a free screening last night of the new Ben Kingsley film and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Basically this professor who has lead a very independent life falls in love with one of his students (Penelope Cruz) and it follows his rather amusing travails of a love lorn fool in his sixties. Although the ending was rather cliched the cameos by Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper are just fantastic with the son played by an ever wonderful Peter Sarsgaard. Kingsley is just bloody brilliant as well. A little long at 2 hours it's still a really good and funny film with a bit of heart thrown in for good measure. 4/5

53. You Don't Mess With The Zohan - meh, had its moments. Actually portrayed Israeli & Palestinian relations with a bit of sincerity and reality despite the stupid jokes. 2/5

54. Star Trek - some minor quibbles with lens flares and under use of Nero still don't detract from a rollicking and fun ride. Karl Urban was especially good as Bones with a second viewing really helping to cement my feelings of the film. 3.5/5

55. Wolverine - a fun and nonsensical ride, it is what it is and makes no bones about being silly and overwrought. 2.5/5

56. Mirrors - complete and utter drivel. Like, TOTALLY shite. 0.1/5

57. State of Play - a great tension filled film with some great performances and a nice tight and well thought out script. Saw a few of the plot twists coming (especially the big reveal at the end) but was nonetheless a very enjoyable film to watch. 4/5

58. Sex Drive (Unrated) - typical teen losing virginity comedy except it actually had quite a few funny bits. Unrated version made it funnier 'cause they just had random shots of naked people superimposed into scenes for no apparent reason, also they showed multiple takes of certain scenes including ones where the actors stuff up and for some reason that made it funnier. 2/5

59. Donkey Punch - crappy UK thriller film with a pretty awful premise, pretty awful script and pretty awful acting. Dude getting hacked up by the outboard motor wielded by a psycho chick was kinda funny though. 1/5

60. Sunshine Cleaning - lovely little film from the people that brought us Little Miss Sunshine (I think) about two sisters starting up a crime scene cleaning business. Good performances all 'round with a great script and a heartfelt little story to boot including some very funny black humour. 4/5.

61. Fanboys - bunch of Star Wars geeks try and break into Skywalker Ranch to see Episode 1 six months early soa dying friend gets to check it out. Had a few amusing moments with some obvious Star Wars and Star Trek jokes but overall quite a flat film. 1.5/5

62. Yes Man - not a massive fan of Jim Carrey but this was actually quite a lot funnier than I thought it would be. Basically a nice little comedy with and admittedly silly premise that si pulled off quite well. 3/5

63. Coraline - stop motion animation with some CG that looks fantastic just doesn't help what I considered a rather flat story line that took far oo long to get going. Also Dakota Fanning as a voice actress just plain sucked, shame as Neil Gaiman is usually awesome. 2.5/5

64. Terminator Salvation - better than what I thought or had been lead to believe by very poor reviews. Sure it ain't perfect but it was a damn sight better than T3 even if Christian Bale is a total ponce who is bad as John Connor and is just plain shite as Batman. Sam Worthington did a good job with an essentially poor script. 2.5/5

65. *The Emperor's New Groove - the only saving grace in this pretty dismal effort from Disney was Patrick Warburton as the evil chick's hapless sidekick. I really don't know why I watched this again... 1/5

66. Superhero Movie - knew I wouldn't like it but left it on in the background while I surfed the web and watched bits and pieces of it. How these guys get funding I'll never know. 0.1/5

67. Religulous - Bill Maher's somewhat preachy dig at all religion (though he focuses on Christianity and Islam). Was certainly interesting but it was more just him making very religious people look stupid, which in all honestly is not a hard thing to do. 2/5

68. He's Just Not That Into You - I feel... I dunno, I just feel really awful for liking this film. Of course having Scarlett Johannson threaten to get her tits out in almost every scene she is in made me keep watching, but I did actually like the various stories and humour. 3/5.

69. Wordplay - fantastic doco about the history and the people behind the New York Times crossword puzzle and the yearly competition to become Crossword King or Queen. Some fascinating characters and some great interviews with the likes of Jon Stewart and Bill Clinton. Great doco with a great climactic ending. 4/5

70. Spellbound - fascinating but ultimately flawed doco about a spelling bee championship in the 90s. It was interesting to see where the contestants came from and how well they went in the competition, but it's just so poorly made that it detracts from the enjoyment of it quite a lot. It's like the guy recorded over his own early 1980s era VHS wedding tape to make this and the poor production just takes too much away form what could have been a compelling story. 2/5

71. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen - really not a thing was good about this film. Poor script, degrading and puerile humour, over-the-top gung-ho American Militarism, some really shoddy effects mixed in with quite good ones yet not used to nay great advantage, a total rape of Egyptian geography, some truly bad acting (when Shia Lebouf is the stand out in a film you gotta be worried) and once again Michael Bay's incessant use of spinning pan shots. Really, this is just plain ridiculous nonsense. Ah well, can't win 'em all. 0.5/5

72. *Aladdin - always loved this movie growing up but somehow it's lost a bit of its charm. Not nearly as amusing or with as many songs as I vaguely remembered, still a fun ride though. 2.5/5

73. The X Files - I Want To Believe - didn't see the last season or two fo this show so didn't know Scully and Mulder got together - that just felt weird. An interesting enough story I guess but it just didn't have the same pizazz as the original show. 2/5

74. The Ruins - truly awful "horror" film. Save you the trouble - the plant kills everyone. Yes. It's a killer plant. Can't believe I watched the whole 1.5 hours of characters you don't care about dying. 0.5/5.

75. The Promotion - ho hum comedy with touches of drama. John C Reilly is always interesting to see when he tries to do things slightly more seriously, some rather funny moments but overall very ho hum. 1.5/5

76. The Day The Earth Stood Still - relatively average remake. The nano-bots were interesting as was the reason Canoe looked human. Entertaining but not brilliant. 2.5/5

77. Burn After Reading - bizarrely funny, I rally like films where no one seems to know WTF is going on and they just keep digging themselves deeper or keep screwing things up (much like Very Bad Things). Great performances all round. 4/5

78. Immortal Ad Vitum - ugh. I ended up fast forwarding a bunch of this, totally crappy CG film containing some live action characters. They should have made them all CG or all live, the mix was just awful. Combine that with a truly inscrutable and bizarre story line and a dude dressed up as a hammer head chark and you have a stinking pile of crap. 0.1/5 - the 0.1 is for having Sigur Ros on the soundtrack.

79. Idiocracy - pretty dull film. Felt like a 5 minute Saturday Night Live sketch stretched out to an hour and a half, had a few amusing moments but overall quite shit. 1/5

80. The Tale of Despereaux - some great talents in the voices doesn't save a relatively lackluster film with a script that has a few too many jumps in it and some pointless scenes or characters. Kiddies might enjoy it but even then it doesn't have enough action scenes to keep them entertained. 1.5/5

81. Paul Blart - Mall Cop - surprisingly amusing film with some real laugh out loud moments. Stupid premise, stupid execution and stupid acting make for a stupid yet entertaining film. 3/5

82. Chaos Theory - doesn't start out promisingly but once we get into Frank's story and how his life disintegrates because of one single error in judgment by his wife it becomes a seriously funny and moving story about the strength of love and family. Ryan Reynolds once again shows why he should be on everyone's "to watch" radar as he continues to pick intelligent and meaningful roles. 4.5/5

83. 88 Minutes - Al Pacino hams in another performance with a dull and unimpressive cast. Leelee Sobieski makes watching paint dry look more exciting. Pretty average concept that has been done to death before with obvious Red Herrings being thrown up all over the place like Fruity Legspreader after an 18th birthday party. 1/5