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Here's an ass load of films I love, but they aren't necessarily in order.
1. Pulp Fiction
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Memento
5. Bringing Out the Dead
6. Being John Malkovich
7. Stalker
8. The Wind that Shakes the Barley
9. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
10. The Dark Knight
11. Lonesome Dove
12. Adaptation
13. Aliens
14. A Beautiful Mind
15. The Big Lebowski
16. Braveheart
17. Casino
18. The Cell
19. Le Cercle Rouge
20. Dead Again
21. The Departed
22. Dick Tracy
23. Eternal sunshine of the Spotless Mind
24. Forrest Gump
25. Frenzy
26. Glengarry Glen Ross
27. Gone Baby Gone
28. Goodfellas
29. Grindhouse
30. Hotel Rwanda
31. Baadasssss!
32. In Bruges
33. Jackie Brown
34. Jaws
35. Kill Bill vol 1
36. Kill Bill Vol 2
37. L.A. Confidential
38. Last of the Mohicans
39. Last Temptation of Christ
40. LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring
41. LOTR: The Two Towers
42. Magnolia
43. Me and You and Everyone We Know
44. The New World
45. No Country For Old Men
46. Northfork
47. O Brother,Where Art Thou?
48. Open Range
49. Paris,Texas
50. Punch-Drunk Love
51. Rainman
52. Requiem for a Dream
53. The Right Stuff
54. The Royal Tenenbaums
55. Saving Private Ryan
56. Shadow of the Vampire
57. Signs
58. The Silence of the Lambs
59. Sling Blade
60. Solaris (remake)
61. Star Wars Episode IV
62. Star Wars Episode V
63. Talk Radio
64. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
65. Titus
66. Tommy
67. El Topo
68. True Romance
69. Waltz with Bashire
70. Wag the Dog
71. Wall-E
72. The Wrestler
73. Zatoichi (Takeshi)
74. The Abyss
75. American Psycho
76. Angel Heart
77. Apocalypse Now
78. Back to the Future
79. Best in Show
80. Black Christmas
81. The Blair Witch Project
82. Bottle Rocket
83. Braindead ..aka Dead Alive
84. Bulworth
85. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
86. A Clockwork Orange
87. Dark City
88. The Descent
89. Dolores Claiborne
90. Dr. Strangelove
91. Ed Wood
92. Forbidden zone
93. Gandhi
94. In the Name of the Father
95. Jacob's Ladder
96. Joe Versus the Volcano
97. Labyrinth
98. Lilo and Stitch
99. Little Shop of Horrors
100. Manhunter
101. Master and Commander:The far side of the world
102. Miller's Crossing
103. Network
104. Office Space
105. Poltergeist
106. The Princess Bride
107. Ravenous
108. Reservoir Dogs
109. Rio Bravo
110. Robocop
111. Six String Samurai
112. Strange Days
113. Taxi Driver
114. Withnail and I
Reviews
Halloween Kills (2021)
Halloween Kills wins a very sad contest
Even the most tolerable Halloween movies have a good amount of bad writing, dialogue, and acting. Halloween Kills blows them all out of the water. It starts stupid and doesn't let up. It just gets dumber and dumber as it goes along. It's basically a parody of itself by the time we get to the final act.
Everything everyone says is dumb. Everything they do is dumb. Just a dumb, ugly movie with no style or reason to exist. This might be the worst movie I've seen all year.
Possessor (2020)
My current No. 1 in a very weak year.
This is a really solid flick. It would normally be near the bottom of my top 10 of any good movie year. Oh well. I was still happy to see it. It's very well made, pretty well acted , to the point, brutal and nihilistic, and surreal enough to handle the brutality. I thought the ending was perfect.
Monsterland (2020)
Blunt force messages neutralize any real horror.
The show is pretty bad. Episode 1 was ok. Almost all other episodes are crap. Flat writing. Uninspired direction. Never scary. Never chilling. Never memorable. It's Tales From The Crypt without jokes or style.
3 from Hell (2019)
If Hell is a place that tortures you with boredom.
Rob Zombie is not without talent, but most of his films are pretty bad. He occasionally shows a flare for shot composition, set ideas, and musical cues. He also writes mostly bad dialogue that almost any human would have trouble with. Sid Haig worked a kind of magic with it and Bill Moseley has been mostly solid. Pretty much everyone else sticks out like a sore thumb.
Here, he shows all of his flaws and none of his strengths. The dialogue constantly hits the ground with a thud. There are zero impressive set pieces. None of the music works. All actors seem ill prepared or bored.
From beginning to end, this indifferently nasty piece of nothing feels like it has no reason to exist. There's no energy behind the brutality or lame humor. It just limps from one scene to another until it finally stops.
It's time for him to stop.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)
The first few scenes are great.
Then, the rest of the movie just sorta happens. The whole middle section with Halle Berry felt fairly unnecessary and the action was repetitive in the wrong kinda way. Things pick up a little near the end, but it just felt like the story had run out of gas. Nothing in the final 90ish minutes achieves what we get in the first 30 or so.
The ending made me shrug and I can't imagine getting excited about them drawing the story out in part 4 when this was a perfect place for a conclusion.
The Head Hunter (2018)
Well that was stupid.
Cool (ish) plot. Solid locations. Authentic looking sets. Not much actual style or atmosphere. No thrills. Lame monster. Lame ending. This is not any kind of accomplishment for the genre.
Mandy (2018)
Arthouse has a baby with Grindhouse and the baby does acid.
I loved it. I'm a sucker for bold style. It was tense. It was tragic. It was beautiful. It was brutal. It was a rush. It was a trip. Cage was a beast. I understand people hating it. A lot of those who hated it don't understand how people could like it. The answer is easy. For some people, this movie felt made just for us. It's my current No. 1 of the year.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
I was unprepared for how dull and forgettable it was.
Absolute garbage. There's a such thing as good trash. This tries to be good trash. It only gets the trash part right. It's one of the most slow moving B movies I've seen. Horrible pace. No cool shots or cinematography. No style. Not one good scene. Not one good performance. Laughable and boring violence which takes almost an hour and a half to even start. I have no idea what all those people liked about it. It's obnoxiously uncool. Super low budget movies can be cool. This movie is just a pathetic failure from top to bottom. One of the biggest turds I've seen in a while. Damn this movie. I hope everyone who made it lives to see their favorite people die in preventable accidents.
30 Days of Night (2007)
A B+ Horror film
This movie was a pretty good surprise for me. It had some of the flaws you expect in a horror/action film, but it also had more strong points than I expected. It was well shot, well scored, and well acted (for such a film). The dialogue wasn't always great, but it was better than average.
I enjoyed seeing the vampires howl and mutilate (which is much better than sparkling) These vamps were dangerous and slightly unpredictable. It's rare to feel any suspense in horror these days, but this film gave me plenty of that.
In the end, it's still a B movie at heart. It's just a B movie with a lot of talent behind it.
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Less characterization, but more thrills
28 Weeks Later knows it doesn't want to just be the same as 28 Days Later in every way. While we are given a handful of solid characters and good performances, these play second-fiddle to the tension and pace.
Starting with one of the best horror openings of all time, 28 Weeks Later introduces itself as a horror/action film with much less down time than the original. This bothered many people, but I was fine with it. The characters were just good enough to make me care about what was happening to them. Giving a crap about anyone in a horror film is pretty rare by itself, so I didn't feel the need to bash this one just because the script wasn't as intelligent or character-oriented. I don't know what we have in store for us when it comes to 28 Months Later, but I know that I'll surely be there.
28 Days Later... (2002)
It may not be about "zombies", but it's still a Zombie Movie.
Boyle directs a zombie film and the characters act as if they are in a zombie film. That's enough for me to call it a zombie film. It's also one of the best.
From the powerful opening scenes, Boyle establishes a strong mood and creates a unique personality for the film. It was made with a small budget, but Boyle shows you don't always need a ton of money to make an effective film. You just need good ideas and a solid cast, which 28 Days Later has. Great score also.
As with Sunshine, the script weakens itself a bit by going nuts in the final act. It's like the ideas ran out for one film, so they turned it into another until they had a complete film. The final act works on it's own, but I think I wanted something different.
25th Hour (2002)
My favorite Lee film after X
This is one of the most powerful character pieces from that decade. It was intelligent, splendidly acted,and moving. Pretty much everyone scores with their performances. It's my favorite Norton performance. Pepper and Hoffman are great. Dawson is sexy and memorable. Brian Cox choked me up at least once.
Lee directs the hell out of this one, but it rarely seems like too much. A gimmick here or there seems out of place, but for the most part, the style simply strengthens the drama. It's entertaining, intelligent, and just a damn good film. Lee often reaches beyond his ability, but this story was just right for him.
1408 (2007)
Good moments, but it never really scores.
While occasionally (mildly) chilling, 1408 fails to really leave an impression. It has good ideas, but they don't go far enough (and they run out before the final act). It felt like too much of a light-weight,microwave horror film.
Cusack and Jackson are solid. Nothing more. The movie has a pace killing "fake resolution" that we know is just a dream. It goes on for too long and takes the viewer out of the story. It nearly recovers in the end with an (almost) ballsy ending, but chickens out at the last minute. Long story short, it's not interesting enough and Cusack should have died at the end.
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Pretty much one of the best relationship films ever
It catches the highs and lows with a sense of humor and a keen eye. Not every relationship has the right ingredients, and it's always sad when half of the couple isn't aware of this. Tom dives into a situation with only one eye open, and his heart pays for it.
Many people ignorantly look at Summer as a bad person. She's far from it. She cared for Tom. She just wasn't in love with him. That doesn't make her bad. Aside from one instance where she stupidly left out some important information, Summer stayed true to her personality and to her word. Tom was just too infatuated to listen. He thought he could change the person he loved......which is usually wrong.
Both characters were caring and flawed, and that's why I liked them so much. That's why the film felt so real to me, even when moments were over the top in some way. The movie is wonderfully written,acted,and directed.
...And Justice for All (1979)
Big scenes and a big performance.
That doesn't mean it's a great performance, but like with many memorable Pacino roles, it's a big one. He has big scenes and he nails most of them. Sure, he stumbles a few times, but it's mostly a compelling role.
Jeffrey Tambor and Jack Warden offer solid support, but nothing worth mentioning after that.
The directing keeps things moving well enough, even though the occasionally comedic tone didn't always work. With the darkness in certain characters and the power of the final moments, I think the film would have played better as pure drama.
Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
Mediocre film carried on the shoulders of Hogan
Crocodile Dundee was kinda smart. Crocodile Dundee II was kinda dumb. There is still charm there, but the wit is mostly good. It was one of the many "comedies" that came out between the 80's and 90's that felt the need to turn into violent thrillers. It even seems like a film that was meant to be something else, but the producers decided to cash in on the Dundee name.
Hogan is still a hoot and there is some great Aussie scenery, but there isn't much to enjoy in terms of plot. The first one was a surprisingly good romantic comedy. This one is just a forgettable reunion where it's nice to see the friends, but the spread is lame.
Lonesome Dove (1989)
It's all about tone and the performances
While there is adventure,tension,drama,love,and tragedy, Lonesome Dove is more tone based than plot based. The mood is set early and the characters exist to keep that tone going. Most performers are solid, but it's the work of Duvall and Jones that knock this out of the park. They are both brilliant and work wonderfully with each other. Chris Cooper and Angelica Huston do the best jobs behind the main duo.
Wincer went on to direct a few decent films and a few bad ones. His work here is good enough to give the actors room. There is some good cinematography, but nothing amazing. The score is quite memorable. Sometimes, I can get a bit choked up just hearing it.
Speaking of "choked up", the final moments between Gus and Capt. Call move me every time. While Gus is trying to express all of his love for different people in his final moments, Call comes close to expressing his for what seems to be the first time in his life. He doesn't want to see his friend go, and neither do we.
It's an excellent western even though some moments are heavy-handed.
Æon Flux (2005)
Well, it's not horrible
Some movies are horrible....and this one isn't. That's about the nicest thing I can think of. The script is pretty lame, but there are some nice sets and costumes. Theron, while picking up a check, looks great and is fun to watch as she kicks butt.
The side performances are pretty forgettable, though it was mildly amusing to check out McDormand and Postlethwait. They appeared to enjoy themselves a tad.
All in all, Aeon Flux had the sets and the right cast, but it had no heart and not much of a mind. They should have probably gone for the nutty and smutty tone of the animated series.
Three Amigos! (1986)
After Sevan Samurai....and before A Bug's Life.....there was
The Three Amigos. While critically panned, this is one of my favorite goofy comedies. It still gets chuckles out of me and I enjoy the dialog. It's not hilarious, but it's fun.
The Three Leads are all good sports. It's not their best work, but when you look at the performances combined, it's pretty cool. No Oscars here, but as comedians, the actors should be proud.
Landis, while not always hitting home-runs, is a pretty reliable director. I've enjoyed most of his films to one degree or another. He's just screwing around here, but that doesn't mean he wasn't an active director. I'm sure his sense of humor helped many of the jokes work.
Frisky Dingo (2006)
One of the funniest shows I've seen
The characters are great and the brilliant lines come often. "Boosh" has been a part of my daily speech ever since. It's so sad that it only lasted 2 seasons.
If you have yet to see the show, you have to watch at least 6 episodes before you give up. I enjoy the first few, but the show really hits its stride once you get to know the characters. There is a lot of joke repetition and some things start to get funnier and funnier just because you wonder when you will hear the joke or line again.
The creators went on to make the show Archer. I certainly like that show, but I'd give it up to hang with Killface for just one more season.