the movies i saw last year
The year is over, so here are the movies I saw. So there you have it. Only 55 new movies is pretty sad, but mind you i'm not counting anything I fell asleep during, only watched part of, or forgot about. Obviously. I also watched a shitload of tv, some of which I included on this list, though I shouldn't have. Also a few things included are rewatches. Oh well.
1. Chronicles of Narnia (Andrew Adamson, 2005): 7. This is the first movie I saw in 2006, on new years day. It was better than I expected, though still not spectacular in any way. I read this book (and all the rest) a billion times as a kid, so while I kept saying to myself "that's not how it happened in the book!" they still didn't deviate as much as, say, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings with all that love bullshit.
Tagline:The beloved masterpiece comes to life December 9
2. Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle (Danny Leiner, 2004): 9. Oh my god, this movie was everything i was hoping for and more. Totally dumb, but in a way i can totally relate to and identify. I've been waiting to see this movie since it was in theaters, essentially, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it because it was fucking awesome.
Tagline:Fast Food. High Times.
3.Gaza Strip (James Longley, 2002): 8. I don't know how widely distributed this is, but if you can, see this fucking movie. It made me...i can't even explain it. It's a documentary shot in 2001 by a guy who goes and lives in the Gaza Strip for three and a half months and it made me hate Israel in a way that nothing ever has. See this movie. Now. It will change your perceptions of many things. It's also incredibly horrifying.
4.Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodovar, 1988): 6.5. Certainly not Almodovar's best, though still good. It's fun to see Antonia Banderas looking so young and dorky, and the taxi cab guy is awesome. Otherwise, though, it's nothing amazing, though still worth seeing for the sake of seeing it. Also, the girl who plays Antonio Banderas' fiancee is amazing to look at, and not in a good way.
5.Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005):8. I just saw this for the second time and I must say I liked it more the second time around. The beginning is definitely the best, and the shots of the sheep are pretty visually stunning. I do feel it drags a bit at the end, but that's its only major flaw. Not the best movie ever, but pretty damn good. And god, heath ledger and jake gyllenhaal are just so fucking hot! I hate jake's "I'm old" mustache later on, but when they're young and all clean shaven they're just...too hot for words.
Tagline: Love Is A Force Of Nature
6.101 Reykjavik (Baltasar Kormakur, 2000):6.5. I mean, it was good, and it had a few very entertaining parts, but I wasn't blown away by it, and it reminded me of a lot of other "i'm bored and european and I go to parties and get drunk a lot and sleep around" movies. I mean, we all saw Morvern Callar, hello. Actually, that was like my least favorite movie ever. 101 Reykjavik, not amazing, but worth seeing.
Tagline:30 below zero, five hours of daylight, what else can you do but get wrecked
7.Walk the Line (James Mangold, 2005):8. It was better than I expected. Reese Witherspoon is pretty damn cute. Joaquin Phoenix didn't annoy me, and the singing was good. Good movie. Not mindblowing, but good.
Tagline:Love is a burning thing.
8.Freaks and Geeks The whole series(Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, 1999): 9.5. It would get a 10 if Nick and Lindsey had gotten together again. Oh man, I have such a crush on Nick. Like in the thinking about him during sex sort of way. I mean, not really. I mean...um, anyway. Yeah. He's like, hella foxy. And the show was very good. All the characters are quite likable, although Neal annoyed me sometimes. But everyone else was great. And the ending was great. It was an all around great experience. Just like that girl says in the last episode, how she wishes she'd never heard that greatful dead album just so she could experience hearing it for the first time. That's how I feel about Freaks and Geeks. I wish I'd never seen it so I could experience it for the first time. Again. But I can't. Well, maybe undeclared is as good.
9.Imagine Me and You (Ol Parker, 2005):5.5. Kinda lame. I mean, it had its cute moments, the Dance Dance Revolution scene was alright, but some of it was just...egh. Way too cliche romantic comedy. I mean, yeah, okay, they're lesbians, but the story would be exactly the same if they weren't. We only went and saw it because there was no critical mass.
Tagline:There goes the bride.
10.Travellers and Magicians (Khyentse Norbu, 2003):7.5. I already tried to review this one once but I guess I forgot to press publish after the "preview" screen. Or something. Anyway, this is a good movie. It reminds you to slow down. And be a monk. And listen to awesome music. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Do you know where Bhutan is?
Tagline:The bitter and the sweet of temporary things
11.Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001.):9. Man oh man. Okay, so this is like the millionth time I've seen this, but it's been a while, and I recently did a midterm essay question on the brechtian aspects of it, so it was pretty exciting to see again. It's a good movie. Great, really. Reminiscent of Hamlet in its complexity. Although, I found I enjoyed it less after reading the theories and actually sort of understanding it.
Tagline:A Love Story In The City Of Dreams
12.La Sylphide (Paris Opera Ballet) (Patrick Flynn, 1971):6.5. Fairly entertaining for a ballet. I watched this at school. They're all supposed to be scottish but the men's kilts are really short so that they can dance and they look like little school girls. And consequentially, when I was searching for this to find out who directed it, I found this incredebly creepy website which is the first thing that comes up on google. It's www.sylphide.de . It's this crazy woman's website who is like, corset obsessed. There are all these creepy pictures of her wearing corsets to give herself a 17 inch waist and it makes my body hurt just to look at them. So go check it out.
13. Firefly:10 and Serenity (Joss Whedon, 2005): 8.5. So, i sat down and put off a lot of homework and cleaning and watched all of Firely followed by Serenity, not to mention some commentary and special features (not all at once, of course. But if one did want to do that, one could do that in a few weeks at the Del Mar. But I digress.) So at first I wasn't that into it, in the same way I am easily not that into Star Trek, but then it got better. I think i really got into it by the fourth or fifth episode when they're all running out of oxygen. And then i was utterly obsessed. I don't even know why. The premise is totally hokey but the characters are all so good. Both Inara and Kaylee annoy me a bit, well really they all do a bit except Mal and Zoe, but I came around and grew to love them. It is a very sad thing that the show did not get 5 or 6 more seasons. That said, the movie was not quite up to par. While I'm glad there was something more, I was dissapointed in the end, because nothing happens with Mal and Inara, the shepherd thing is left unexplained, and things only barely happen with Kaylee and Simon. However, there is a point when both the reavers and the alliance have giant ship armies after serenity and mal ingeniously sics them on eachother. That was fucking awesome.
Tagline for Serenity: Can't stop the signal.
14. Me and You and Everyone we Know (Miranda July, 2005):10. I know some people didn't like this movie all that much, but for me it is amazing. I'm actually currently in the midst of writing a 10 page paper in the form of a letter to Augusto Boal (author and creator of the Theater of the Oppressed) semiotically analyzing the fish scene from this movie. It's coming along slowly. But regardless, this movie is amazing. I saw it once when it was in theaters and loved it, and then when i decided I wanted to write about it for my final paper I went out and bought it. So if you havn't seen this movie, come over to my house and watch it right now!!! Well maybe not right now because I have to finish this fucking paper, but soon. very soon. it is amazing.
15. Born into Brothels (Zana Briski and Ross Kaufman, 2004): 8. This is another movie that I put off seeing forever and only just got around to, and I'm glad I finally did. While on some level this sort of documentary is saddening, because it makes rich americans care for, oh, about an hour before they leave the theater, at least that's something, right? I guess i'm just amazed at how these kids were so smart and creative despite being beaten and abused and made to work and not being allowed to go to school. This movie might have gotten a 10 from me had they not played that damn song over and over and over and over again. On second thought, though, it probably wouldn't.
16. Tsotsi (Gaven Hood, 2005): 7. Pretty good, with some intense scenes, like the one with the baby with ants crawling all over it. But i couldn't get THAT into the plot maybe because I don't have a baby. I mean, the baby was cute and all, and the ending was good, and it was well made. But babies only take you so far.
Tagline:In this world... redemption just comes once.
17.Ask the Dust (Robert Towne, 2006): 5.5. Not really good. I mean, I wasn't bored, and i never really wanted to leave, but it was pretty dumb. You don't really get invested in the characters, and this movie is so predictable it's a little bit sad. And how could someone who can read spanish, and speak english fluently, be totally illiterate in english? That simply does not make sense to me.
18.Duck Season (Fernando Eimbcke, 2004): 8. This movie was pretty awesome in a lot of ways, but somewhat slow. The kids are so cute though, especially the curly haired boy. I would definitely recommend this movie. It's a little like Dead Man, but not really.
19.The Shipping News (Lasse Hallstrom, 2001): I'm gonna go 7. Well, maybe 6.5. I dunno. I read the book and liked it a lot and of course the movie wasn't as good. They made an attempt, and didn't deviate on too many plot points, but it was just like...too condensed. And the end was so fucking cheesy that it sort of ruined it for me. And they cut out the whole boat building part, which was pretty important in the book. Julianne Moore is hella hot though. Oh, also, the main character, Quoyle, is supposed to be, like, hella fat, like 300 lbs. And Kevin Spacey was just not that fat. That was dissapointing too.
Tagline: Dive Beneath the Surface.
20.Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2004): 9.5. This movie was pretty perfect, except for about 10 minutes too much of cheesiness, especially the song towards the end. It's probably also the most painful movie i've seen since, oh, Dancer in the Dark. The first hour is easy to take, the second 45 minutes are difficult, and the last 35 are pretty much torture. But there's also some awesome funny bits, like the whole rolling up the bag thing. What is up with that? I would definitely recommend this movie if you're in the mood to hate humanity. Oh man. I don't even know what to say.
21.Palindromes (Todd Solondz, 2004): 8.5. I have of course been waiting two years to watch this movie, and then it's been sitting in its greencine evelope for two weeks next to the television. But it finally happened. It was pretty much everything I was hoping for. It doesn't get like a 9 or 10 because it wasn't, like, life changing, but it was still pretty damn good. "Brechtian", if I can sound like an intellectual dork for a moment. What else? I really don't know. Good movie. I have a crush on the boy lead singer from mama sunshine's jesus band. He was hot.
22.Water (Deepa Mehta, 2005): 8. Another very good movie, but depressing. You really just wish that, you know, Kalyani would just not kill herself, and marry the dude, and that Chuyia would just like, not get raped at age 7. But life is hard, man. This movie is also beautifully, beautifully, shot.
23. Thank You For Smoking (Jason Reitman, 2005): 7. It was pretty good. I was in a shitty mood when I saw it, I was also by myself, so I was all, okay, if at any point i'm bored, i'm hella going home to feel sorry for myself. But I stayed through the whole thing, which is saying something. And there were some damn funny parts, especially with the hollywood guy who never sleeps. I wasn't quite sure what the point was, but it was still a good movie. Also, it convinced me to make a vow of no cigarettes for one year. I saw it May 28th, so I've already gone two weeks! Although I did hit a clove once. But that doesn't count, right? Anyway.
24. Milo and Otis aka Koneko Monogatari (Masanori Hata, 1986): 6. Soooo, this movie was SOOOO not what I was expecting. I saw it in 2nd grade, Andrea Olmos' mom brought it to class, and i remember just being devastated by it. So devastated I still remember it some 13 or 14 years later. So I was in ross the other day buying pants and skirts and there was a $3.99 VHS copy and I couldn't resist. So finally joe and I watched it, and, guess what! It's not sad at all! My twisted young brain remembered a movie in which a dog and a cat are best friends, the cat gets swept away by the river, the dog chases after him, they never find eachother and never get back to their farm, and have families of their own, which is all well and good, but never again see eachother or their farm. In reality, this is so not true. They totally find eachother again, and while there is an intense moment where the cat falls in love with a girl cat and the dog gets pissed and leaves, after a few months they find eachother again and all is well. The movie closes with them on their way back to the farm. I don't know what the hell my problem is, but all in all I'm glad my memory was wrong. Also, I had forgotten all about the incredebly obnoxious narrator, who also plays both milo and otis. I just found out from IMDB that apparently that obnoxious narrator is Dudley Moore. I wish I could see the japanese version with subtitles, but since it's a kids movie they probably don't really do that. Anyway, the point is, it is a pretty awesome movie, and they probably killed a lot of cute animals filming it. And you should totally go see it.
25. Beauty Academy of Kabul (Liz Mermin, 2004): 4. This movie sucked. It was not at all what I expected. Only see it if you like ugly, fat, midwestern ladies telling Afghani women that if they don't wear makeup, they are subscribing to the backwords beliefs of the taliban. Ugh. Beauty Academy of Kabul = sucky times.
26. An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006): 8. This was actually a lot better than I expected. While I wish some of the facts had been backed up a little more, and some of the photo evidence given clearer dates (like, were the pictures taken in summer or winter?), I actually liked it a lot. I totally cried through most of it too, and felt like I wanted to kill myself at the end. I mean, I know most people don't care about the planet, but for fucks sake, I do.
27. A Prarie Home Companion (Robert Altman, 2006): 6. I dunno, it didn't do it for me. I never listened to the show, Lindsay Lohan's part is utterly pointless, and whatshername is a shitty singer. Not Meryl Streep but the other one. Anyway, I just wasn't sucked in.
28. A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006): 8. I liked it more than I thought I would. It was also truer to the book than I expected, although it did change some things annoyingly. When will directors/screenwriters learn that you do not need to change the story drastically just because you are making a movie? I mean, okay, sometimes due to time constraints you have to get rid of minor stuff, but I feel like the story will just be changed to distinguish itself from the book. There's a reason the book is popular, people! And there is a reason so many movies that are adaptations of books bomb. Anyway, I liked a scanner darkly. Yes. Barris is the best, although woody harrelson does a good luckman, too.
29. Strangers With Candy (Paul Dinello, 2005): 7.5. I liked it quite a bit, but I'm not like, obsessed with the show or anything, so. I mean, it was funny and all though. It felt like a long episode of the show. In a good way.
30. Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, 1995): 10. So okay, i've never sat through this entire movie, so i guess i probably shouldn't be putting it on this list. But I definitely sat through part of it for the fourth or fifth time, and i've probably seen at least 85% altogether. Therefore, I feel entitled to the opinion that showgirls is fucking amazing. It's just the most incredibly exciting piece of crap ever made, and all the dance numbers are just endlessly entertaining. Not to mention the dialogue, acting, costumes and of course the pool scene. Kyle MacLachlan is also fucking hilarious if you watch Twin Peaks first.
31. The Oh in Ohio (Billy Kent, 2006): 4. A retarded movie. Mischa Barton and Parker Posey, two hot ladies, have gross sex with danny devito and the guy who was josh in clueless. Also Mischa Barton's acting leaves a bit to be desired. The funniest part was the vibrator montage, but it went on for way too long.
32. Wordplay (Patrick Creadon, 2006): 7.5. For a documentary, it had pretty much everything you could ask for. The kid who won was smarmy though.
33.Russian Dolls a.k.a Les Poupées russes (Cedric Klapisch, 2005): 7. This was actually better than I expected, and I think a lot better than the original, L'auberge Espagnol or however you spell it. That said, it was still sort of totally stupid, but like..i dunno. I guess I was in the right mood. There were hot chicks, european cities and hipster cinematography. Like if you take it seriously this movie is like a 3, but it deserves a 7 for absurdness appeal. And Audrey Tautou is good as the whiny single mother ex-girlfriend, I wish she was in more than just the first like 20% of the movie.
34. The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973): 9. A pretty amazing movie. Robert Redford was hella hot in 1973. The music is like different versions of the entertainer, it's awesome. Also Robert Redford's maroon pin stripe suit.
35. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998): 8.5. I really liked this movie a lot. I can't put my finger on why, exactly, I just really liked the characterizations. I think it was just really good directing and acting, and really that's all you need. Also, I think this is the first Wes Anderson movie i've ever seen, but now I will see them all. Sadly there are only three more, but I just found out from imdb that a new one is in pre-production. Hooray!
36. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989): 8. This was also good, I don't think i've ever seen a jim jarmusch movie I havn't liked, even though some people think they're too slow. I don't think that at all. This one had some amazing shots, like the one towards the beginning with the japanese couple, where they kiss, she exhales his smoke, and then leans her head on his shoulder. It's pretty incredible.
37. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 2006): 7.5. There was just too much hype. I found out today that one other person, DanO from the del mar, thought it was just kinda eh too, which i'm happy about because everyone just seems to love that movie to pieces and it just wasn't quite there for me. I liked the son before he started talking though.
38. 40 Year Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005): 9. I had had no idea this was by all the freaks and geeks people, or I would have seen it way sooner. Regardless I'm glad I did now. The Beth character is amazing. It's all pretty amazing, really.
39. The Quiet: (Jamie Babbit, 2005): 9.5. Speaking of Amazing. See this movie. It doesn't get a 10 because the voiceovers were so stupid, but it almost gets a 10 because the pool scene is so amazing. Oh man.
40. Brothers of the Head (Kieth Fulton and Louis Pepe, 2005): 7. Interesting, but sort of pointless. I dunno. They were cute though.
41. Schizo (Erwin Keusch, 2001): 8. Pretty awesome, and the chick was hot.
42. The 40 Year Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005): 8. Pretty darn good. I would have seen it sooner if i'd known it was judd apatow.
43. They Shoot Horses, Don't They (Sydney Pollack, 1969): 9.5. I've actually seen this one before, in highschool film class with Ms. Wilson. It was awesome then and it was awesome now.
44. Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006): 7. I'm going 7. I saw it a really long time ago. I've been meaning to see it again. Actually, that's probably what i'm going to do tonight. We'll see if I raise my rating.
45. The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006): 7.5. I actually liked this movie a lot. Way better than Eternal Sunshine.
46. The Prestige (Christopher Nolan, 2006): 4. This movie sucked. The only good parts were the Nicola Tesla parts, and even they were not very good.
47. The Flower of my Secret (Pedro Almodovar, 1995): 7. Weird but good.
48. Law of Desire (Pedro Almodovar, 1987): 6. Weird and less good, but still gets an ok rating because it was so bizarre.
49. Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006): 4.5. Better than the prestige, but not much. It's so sad when a movie has so much potential to be awesome and then turns out to be a very fancy pile of shit. Like, the amount of money they must have spent on costumes and locations must be absurd, and yet there was way less plot then, say, Wayne's World. A pretty but retarded movie.
50. The Godfather (Mario Puzo, 1972): 7.
The horse head scene was awesome, the story was alright. I dunno. I do want to see the godfather two though.
51.The Five Obstructions (Jorgen Leth, Lars Von Trier, 2003): 9. I've wanted to see this for a really long time. It was really good, although if they'd started with a cooler piece it could have been a 10. It was definitely pretty awesome though. Dear Silly Lars. I think the cartoon one was the best, then the Cuba one.
52.Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar, 2004):7.5. Still not as good as all about my mother. I like anything with ggb, but it still didn't blow me away.
53. Grandma's Boy (Nicholous Goossen, 2006): 6.5. Silly stoner nonsense. Still, the moose gag was pretty sweet.
54. Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006): 9. I had sort of low expectations but this ended up being really good. ggb is hot when he's a drunken mexican rebel. I might be the only one, but at the beginning when the moroccan kids are herding the goats or sheep or whatever, i was totally like, omg, it's brokeback mountain morocco style.
55. Borat (Larry Charles, 2006): 6. After seeing Babel by myself I went to see Borat because Babel is a bit of a bummer. Borat was good, though i think it had been too hyped up for me; the drunk teenagers who talked through most of the movie may have played a factor as well. But it was an excellent antidote to babel, and I went home not feeling like killing myself. At least, not nearly as much.
1. Chronicles of Narnia (Andrew Adamson, 2005): 7. This is the first movie I saw in 2006, on new years day. It was better than I expected, though still not spectacular in any way. I read this book (and all the rest) a billion times as a kid, so while I kept saying to myself "that's not how it happened in the book!" they still didn't deviate as much as, say, Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings with all that love bullshit.
Tagline:The beloved masterpiece comes to life December 9
2. Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle (Danny Leiner, 2004): 9. Oh my god, this movie was everything i was hoping for and more. Totally dumb, but in a way i can totally relate to and identify. I've been waiting to see this movie since it was in theaters, essentially, and I'm so glad I finally got around to it because it was fucking awesome.
Tagline:Fast Food. High Times.
3.Gaza Strip (James Longley, 2002): 8. I don't know how widely distributed this is, but if you can, see this fucking movie. It made me...i can't even explain it. It's a documentary shot in 2001 by a guy who goes and lives in the Gaza Strip for three and a half months and it made me hate Israel in a way that nothing ever has. See this movie. Now. It will change your perceptions of many things. It's also incredibly horrifying.
4.Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodovar, 1988): 6.5. Certainly not Almodovar's best, though still good. It's fun to see Antonia Banderas looking so young and dorky, and the taxi cab guy is awesome. Otherwise, though, it's nothing amazing, though still worth seeing for the sake of seeing it. Also, the girl who plays Antonio Banderas' fiancee is amazing to look at, and not in a good way.
5.Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005):8. I just saw this for the second time and I must say I liked it more the second time around. The beginning is definitely the best, and the shots of the sheep are pretty visually stunning. I do feel it drags a bit at the end, but that's its only major flaw. Not the best movie ever, but pretty damn good. And god, heath ledger and jake gyllenhaal are just so fucking hot! I hate jake's "I'm old" mustache later on, but when they're young and all clean shaven they're just...too hot for words.
Tagline: Love Is A Force Of Nature
6.101 Reykjavik (Baltasar Kormakur, 2000):6.5. I mean, it was good, and it had a few very entertaining parts, but I wasn't blown away by it, and it reminded me of a lot of other "i'm bored and european and I go to parties and get drunk a lot and sleep around" movies. I mean, we all saw Morvern Callar, hello. Actually, that was like my least favorite movie ever. 101 Reykjavik, not amazing, but worth seeing.
Tagline:30 below zero, five hours of daylight, what else can you do but get wrecked
7.Walk the Line (James Mangold, 2005):8. It was better than I expected. Reese Witherspoon is pretty damn cute. Joaquin Phoenix didn't annoy me, and the singing was good. Good movie. Not mindblowing, but good.
Tagline:Love is a burning thing.
8.Freaks and Geeks The whole series(Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, 1999): 9.5. It would get a 10 if Nick and Lindsey had gotten together again. Oh man, I have such a crush on Nick. Like in the thinking about him during sex sort of way. I mean, not really. I mean...um, anyway. Yeah. He's like, hella foxy. And the show was very good. All the characters are quite likable, although Neal annoyed me sometimes. But everyone else was great. And the ending was great. It was an all around great experience. Just like that girl says in the last episode, how she wishes she'd never heard that greatful dead album just so she could experience hearing it for the first time. That's how I feel about Freaks and Geeks. I wish I'd never seen it so I could experience it for the first time. Again. But I can't. Well, maybe undeclared is as good.
9.Imagine Me and You (Ol Parker, 2005):5.5. Kinda lame. I mean, it had its cute moments, the Dance Dance Revolution scene was alright, but some of it was just...egh. Way too cliche romantic comedy. I mean, yeah, okay, they're lesbians, but the story would be exactly the same if they weren't. We only went and saw it because there was no critical mass.
Tagline:There goes the bride.
10.Travellers and Magicians (Khyentse Norbu, 2003):7.5. I already tried to review this one once but I guess I forgot to press publish after the "preview" screen. Or something. Anyway, this is a good movie. It reminds you to slow down. And be a monk. And listen to awesome music. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Do you know where Bhutan is?
Tagline:The bitter and the sweet of temporary things
11.Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001.):9. Man oh man. Okay, so this is like the millionth time I've seen this, but it's been a while, and I recently did a midterm essay question on the brechtian aspects of it, so it was pretty exciting to see again. It's a good movie. Great, really. Reminiscent of Hamlet in its complexity. Although, I found I enjoyed it less after reading the theories and actually sort of understanding it.
Tagline:A Love Story In The City Of Dreams
12.La Sylphide (Paris Opera Ballet) (Patrick Flynn, 1971):6.5. Fairly entertaining for a ballet. I watched this at school. They're all supposed to be scottish but the men's kilts are really short so that they can dance and they look like little school girls. And consequentially, when I was searching for this to find out who directed it, I found this incredebly creepy website which is the first thing that comes up on google. It's www.sylphide.de . It's this crazy woman's website who is like, corset obsessed. There are all these creepy pictures of her wearing corsets to give herself a 17 inch waist and it makes my body hurt just to look at them. So go check it out.
13. Firefly:10 and Serenity (Joss Whedon, 2005): 8.5. So, i sat down and put off a lot of homework and cleaning and watched all of Firely followed by Serenity, not to mention some commentary and special features (not all at once, of course. But if one did want to do that, one could do that in a few weeks at the Del Mar. But I digress.) So at first I wasn't that into it, in the same way I am easily not that into Star Trek, but then it got better. I think i really got into it by the fourth or fifth episode when they're all running out of oxygen. And then i was utterly obsessed. I don't even know why. The premise is totally hokey but the characters are all so good. Both Inara and Kaylee annoy me a bit, well really they all do a bit except Mal and Zoe, but I came around and grew to love them. It is a very sad thing that the show did not get 5 or 6 more seasons. That said, the movie was not quite up to par. While I'm glad there was something more, I was dissapointed in the end, because nothing happens with Mal and Inara, the shepherd thing is left unexplained, and things only barely happen with Kaylee and Simon. However, there is a point when both the reavers and the alliance have giant ship armies after serenity and mal ingeniously sics them on eachother. That was fucking awesome.
Tagline for Serenity: Can't stop the signal.
14. Me and You and Everyone we Know (Miranda July, 2005):10. I know some people didn't like this movie all that much, but for me it is amazing. I'm actually currently in the midst of writing a 10 page paper in the form of a letter to Augusto Boal (author and creator of the Theater of the Oppressed) semiotically analyzing the fish scene from this movie. It's coming along slowly. But regardless, this movie is amazing. I saw it once when it was in theaters and loved it, and then when i decided I wanted to write about it for my final paper I went out and bought it. So if you havn't seen this movie, come over to my house and watch it right now!!! Well maybe not right now because I have to finish this fucking paper, but soon. very soon. it is amazing.
15. Born into Brothels (Zana Briski and Ross Kaufman, 2004): 8. This is another movie that I put off seeing forever and only just got around to, and I'm glad I finally did. While on some level this sort of documentary is saddening, because it makes rich americans care for, oh, about an hour before they leave the theater, at least that's something, right? I guess i'm just amazed at how these kids were so smart and creative despite being beaten and abused and made to work and not being allowed to go to school. This movie might have gotten a 10 from me had they not played that damn song over and over and over and over again. On second thought, though, it probably wouldn't.
16. Tsotsi (Gaven Hood, 2005): 7. Pretty good, with some intense scenes, like the one with the baby with ants crawling all over it. But i couldn't get THAT into the plot maybe because I don't have a baby. I mean, the baby was cute and all, and the ending was good, and it was well made. But babies only take you so far.
Tagline:In this world... redemption just comes once.
17.Ask the Dust (Robert Towne, 2006): 5.5. Not really good. I mean, I wasn't bored, and i never really wanted to leave, but it was pretty dumb. You don't really get invested in the characters, and this movie is so predictable it's a little bit sad. And how could someone who can read spanish, and speak english fluently, be totally illiterate in english? That simply does not make sense to me.
18.Duck Season (Fernando Eimbcke, 2004): 8. This movie was pretty awesome in a lot of ways, but somewhat slow. The kids are so cute though, especially the curly haired boy. I would definitely recommend this movie. It's a little like Dead Man, but not really.
19.The Shipping News (Lasse Hallstrom, 2001): I'm gonna go 7. Well, maybe 6.5. I dunno. I read the book and liked it a lot and of course the movie wasn't as good. They made an attempt, and didn't deviate on too many plot points, but it was just like...too condensed. And the end was so fucking cheesy that it sort of ruined it for me. And they cut out the whole boat building part, which was pretty important in the book. Julianne Moore is hella hot though. Oh, also, the main character, Quoyle, is supposed to be, like, hella fat, like 300 lbs. And Kevin Spacey was just not that fat. That was dissapointing too.
Tagline: Dive Beneath the Surface.
20.Nobody Knows (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2004): 9.5. This movie was pretty perfect, except for about 10 minutes too much of cheesiness, especially the song towards the end. It's probably also the most painful movie i've seen since, oh, Dancer in the Dark. The first hour is easy to take, the second 45 minutes are difficult, and the last 35 are pretty much torture. But there's also some awesome funny bits, like the whole rolling up the bag thing. What is up with that? I would definitely recommend this movie if you're in the mood to hate humanity. Oh man. I don't even know what to say.
21.Palindromes (Todd Solondz, 2004): 8.5. I have of course been waiting two years to watch this movie, and then it's been sitting in its greencine evelope for two weeks next to the television. But it finally happened. It was pretty much everything I was hoping for. It doesn't get like a 9 or 10 because it wasn't, like, life changing, but it was still pretty damn good. "Brechtian", if I can sound like an intellectual dork for a moment. What else? I really don't know. Good movie. I have a crush on the boy lead singer from mama sunshine's jesus band. He was hot.
22.Water (Deepa Mehta, 2005): 8. Another very good movie, but depressing. You really just wish that, you know, Kalyani would just not kill herself, and marry the dude, and that Chuyia would just like, not get raped at age 7. But life is hard, man. This movie is also beautifully, beautifully, shot.
23. Thank You For Smoking (Jason Reitman, 2005): 7. It was pretty good. I was in a shitty mood when I saw it, I was also by myself, so I was all, okay, if at any point i'm bored, i'm hella going home to feel sorry for myself. But I stayed through the whole thing, which is saying something. And there were some damn funny parts, especially with the hollywood guy who never sleeps. I wasn't quite sure what the point was, but it was still a good movie. Also, it convinced me to make a vow of no cigarettes for one year. I saw it May 28th, so I've already gone two weeks! Although I did hit a clove once. But that doesn't count, right? Anyway.
24. Milo and Otis aka Koneko Monogatari (Masanori Hata, 1986): 6. Soooo, this movie was SOOOO not what I was expecting. I saw it in 2nd grade, Andrea Olmos' mom brought it to class, and i remember just being devastated by it. So devastated I still remember it some 13 or 14 years later. So I was in ross the other day buying pants and skirts and there was a $3.99 VHS copy and I couldn't resist. So finally joe and I watched it, and, guess what! It's not sad at all! My twisted young brain remembered a movie in which a dog and a cat are best friends, the cat gets swept away by the river, the dog chases after him, they never find eachother and never get back to their farm, and have families of their own, which is all well and good, but never again see eachother or their farm. In reality, this is so not true. They totally find eachother again, and while there is an intense moment where the cat falls in love with a girl cat and the dog gets pissed and leaves, after a few months they find eachother again and all is well. The movie closes with them on their way back to the farm. I don't know what the hell my problem is, but all in all I'm glad my memory was wrong. Also, I had forgotten all about the incredebly obnoxious narrator, who also plays both milo and otis. I just found out from IMDB that apparently that obnoxious narrator is Dudley Moore. I wish I could see the japanese version with subtitles, but since it's a kids movie they probably don't really do that. Anyway, the point is, it is a pretty awesome movie, and they probably killed a lot of cute animals filming it. And you should totally go see it.
25. Beauty Academy of Kabul (Liz Mermin, 2004): 4. This movie sucked. It was not at all what I expected. Only see it if you like ugly, fat, midwestern ladies telling Afghani women that if they don't wear makeup, they are subscribing to the backwords beliefs of the taliban. Ugh. Beauty Academy of Kabul = sucky times.
26. An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006): 8. This was actually a lot better than I expected. While I wish some of the facts had been backed up a little more, and some of the photo evidence given clearer dates (like, were the pictures taken in summer or winter?), I actually liked it a lot. I totally cried through most of it too, and felt like I wanted to kill myself at the end. I mean, I know most people don't care about the planet, but for fucks sake, I do.
27. A Prarie Home Companion (Robert Altman, 2006): 6. I dunno, it didn't do it for me. I never listened to the show, Lindsay Lohan's part is utterly pointless, and whatshername is a shitty singer. Not Meryl Streep but the other one. Anyway, I just wasn't sucked in.
28. A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006): 8. I liked it more than I thought I would. It was also truer to the book than I expected, although it did change some things annoyingly. When will directors/screenwriters learn that you do not need to change the story drastically just because you are making a movie? I mean, okay, sometimes due to time constraints you have to get rid of minor stuff, but I feel like the story will just be changed to distinguish itself from the book. There's a reason the book is popular, people! And there is a reason so many movies that are adaptations of books bomb. Anyway, I liked a scanner darkly. Yes. Barris is the best, although woody harrelson does a good luckman, too.
29. Strangers With Candy (Paul Dinello, 2005): 7.5. I liked it quite a bit, but I'm not like, obsessed with the show or anything, so. I mean, it was funny and all though. It felt like a long episode of the show. In a good way.
30. Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, 1995): 10. So okay, i've never sat through this entire movie, so i guess i probably shouldn't be putting it on this list. But I definitely sat through part of it for the fourth or fifth time, and i've probably seen at least 85% altogether. Therefore, I feel entitled to the opinion that showgirls is fucking amazing. It's just the most incredibly exciting piece of crap ever made, and all the dance numbers are just endlessly entertaining. Not to mention the dialogue, acting, costumes and of course the pool scene. Kyle MacLachlan is also fucking hilarious if you watch Twin Peaks first.
31. The Oh in Ohio (Billy Kent, 2006): 4. A retarded movie. Mischa Barton and Parker Posey, two hot ladies, have gross sex with danny devito and the guy who was josh in clueless. Also Mischa Barton's acting leaves a bit to be desired. The funniest part was the vibrator montage, but it went on for way too long.
32. Wordplay (Patrick Creadon, 2006): 7.5. For a documentary, it had pretty much everything you could ask for. The kid who won was smarmy though.
33.Russian Dolls a.k.a Les Poupées russes (Cedric Klapisch, 2005): 7. This was actually better than I expected, and I think a lot better than the original, L'auberge Espagnol or however you spell it. That said, it was still sort of totally stupid, but like..i dunno. I guess I was in the right mood. There were hot chicks, european cities and hipster cinematography. Like if you take it seriously this movie is like a 3, but it deserves a 7 for absurdness appeal. And Audrey Tautou is good as the whiny single mother ex-girlfriend, I wish she was in more than just the first like 20% of the movie.
34. The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973): 9. A pretty amazing movie. Robert Redford was hella hot in 1973. The music is like different versions of the entertainer, it's awesome. Also Robert Redford's maroon pin stripe suit.
35. Rushmore (Wes Anderson, 1998): 8.5. I really liked this movie a lot. I can't put my finger on why, exactly, I just really liked the characterizations. I think it was just really good directing and acting, and really that's all you need. Also, I think this is the first Wes Anderson movie i've ever seen, but now I will see them all. Sadly there are only three more, but I just found out from imdb that a new one is in pre-production. Hooray!
36. Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch, 1989): 8. This was also good, I don't think i've ever seen a jim jarmusch movie I havn't liked, even though some people think they're too slow. I don't think that at all. This one had some amazing shots, like the one towards the beginning with the japanese couple, where they kiss, she exhales his smoke, and then leans her head on his shoulder. It's pretty incredible.
37. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 2006): 7.5. There was just too much hype. I found out today that one other person, DanO from the del mar, thought it was just kinda eh too, which i'm happy about because everyone just seems to love that movie to pieces and it just wasn't quite there for me. I liked the son before he started talking though.
38. 40 Year Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005): 9. I had had no idea this was by all the freaks and geeks people, or I would have seen it way sooner. Regardless I'm glad I did now. The Beth character is amazing. It's all pretty amazing, really.
39. The Quiet: (Jamie Babbit, 2005): 9.5. Speaking of Amazing. See this movie. It doesn't get a 10 because the voiceovers were so stupid, but it almost gets a 10 because the pool scene is so amazing. Oh man.
40. Brothers of the Head (Kieth Fulton and Louis Pepe, 2005): 7. Interesting, but sort of pointless. I dunno. They were cute though.
41. Schizo (Erwin Keusch, 2001): 8. Pretty awesome, and the chick was hot.
42. The 40 Year Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005): 8. Pretty darn good. I would have seen it sooner if i'd known it was judd apatow.
43. They Shoot Horses, Don't They (Sydney Pollack, 1969): 9.5. I've actually seen this one before, in highschool film class with Ms. Wilson. It was awesome then and it was awesome now.
44. Shortbus (John Cameron Mitchell, 2006): 7. I'm going 7. I saw it a really long time ago. I've been meaning to see it again. Actually, that's probably what i'm going to do tonight. We'll see if I raise my rating.
45. The Science of Sleep (Michel Gondry, 2006): 7.5. I actually liked this movie a lot. Way better than Eternal Sunshine.
46. The Prestige (Christopher Nolan, 2006): 4. This movie sucked. The only good parts were the Nicola Tesla parts, and even they were not very good.
47. The Flower of my Secret (Pedro Almodovar, 1995): 7. Weird but good.
48. Law of Desire (Pedro Almodovar, 1987): 6. Weird and less good, but still gets an ok rating because it was so bizarre.
49. Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006): 4.5. Better than the prestige, but not much. It's so sad when a movie has so much potential to be awesome and then turns out to be a very fancy pile of shit. Like, the amount of money they must have spent on costumes and locations must be absurd, and yet there was way less plot then, say, Wayne's World. A pretty but retarded movie.
50. The Godfather (Mario Puzo, 1972): 7.
The horse head scene was awesome, the story was alright. I dunno. I do want to see the godfather two though.
51.The Five Obstructions (Jorgen Leth, Lars Von Trier, 2003): 9. I've wanted to see this for a really long time. It was really good, although if they'd started with a cooler piece it could have been a 10. It was definitely pretty awesome though. Dear Silly Lars. I think the cartoon one was the best, then the Cuba one.
52.Bad Education (Pedro Almodovar, 2004):7.5. Still not as good as all about my mother. I like anything with ggb, but it still didn't blow me away.
53. Grandma's Boy (Nicholous Goossen, 2006): 6.5. Silly stoner nonsense. Still, the moose gag was pretty sweet.
54. Babel (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2006): 9. I had sort of low expectations but this ended up being really good. ggb is hot when he's a drunken mexican rebel. I might be the only one, but at the beginning when the moroccan kids are herding the goats or sheep or whatever, i was totally like, omg, it's brokeback mountain morocco style.
55. Borat (Larry Charles, 2006): 6. After seeing Babel by myself I went to see Borat because Babel is a bit of a bummer. Borat was good, though i think it had been too hyped up for me; the drunk teenagers who talked through most of the movie may have played a factor as well. But it was an excellent antidote to babel, and I went home not feeling like killing myself. At least, not nearly as much.