54 Movies of 2005
Because I am a special sort of psychotic. After getting home last Friday morning, I devour movie after movie, to the point that I decided that 50 movies was an attainable goal for the year. Thus, my 54 movies for the year. I might be missing some, and some of the earlier ones might actually be from Fall semester 2004, but there's enough wiggle room for that to be all right. If I had included 2004 movies, I would've included The Notebook, Mean Girls, House of Flying Daggers, and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle... but thankfully no, because reviewing 54 was already quite enough.
Anyways, they're all listed alphabetically, and given individual and independent scores based on cinematography, pacing, storytelling and characters, with an overall score that doesn't necessarily match up with the individual categories. Scores are on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best. Also, when applicable, my secret boy/girlfriend along with the best actor/actress of the movie is named. And yes, those are two separate categories.
Summaries/commentary following, with the length dependent on my interest in the particular movie. All spoilers will be marked and in white, so highlight if you want to read them.
So here you go: They range from the horrid (Without a Paddle), to the mindless (Ocean's Eleven), to the cult classic (Donnie Darko), to the indie favorites (Napoleon Dynamite), to the old samurai flicks(Rashomon). 7 languages (English, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese) are represented. Top 5 are starred. ~22 were seen in the past 10 days, which means I've hit an overload now. It's funny, because I see moviewatching as a solitary activity. I don't much care for watching them with others, but if I have to, I want to be able to talk and mock and discuss it as it moves along.
2046 (Chinese): 4.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Guy who sexes up the Androids (Takuya Kimura)
Best Performance: Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung)
My first Kar Wai Wong (he's the director) movie, seen at the Landmark Theater in Kendall. Actually my friends ended up dragging me there, because they had thought the trailer looked shiny, and I had serious misgivings about it. We came out exactly opposite: I was raving about it, and they thought they had wasted their $9, so ymmv. It's very confusing at first, and we probably would've been able to jump into the narrative easier if we had watched In the Mood for Love first, which this movie is a sequel of. That being said, I really liked the two parallel narratives and the metaphors that he used. Acting was pretty solid all around, and I didn't hate Zhang Ziyi in this movie as much as I usually do. It's very very stylistic and pretty, and I recommend it highly.
Amores Perros (Spanish): 4.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 3.5
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Valeria (Goya Toledo)
Ngggh, Gael Garcia Bernaz. Who is still very hot but not, suprisingly, my secret boyfriend of the movie because he is so very fucked up here. Seriously, stalking and sexually molesting the girl of your dreams is not the way to get her. I liked how he wasn't the knight in shining armor here, though; he was definitely very creepy and very emotionally unbalanced. The acting in this movie is amazing, and the leads of all three intersecting story arcs did very good jobs, though I think Valeria was the most compelling performance. The screaming alone was enough to give me chills, and I very much enjoyed her slow descent into hysteria. I love interlacing story arcs, which pops up continuously on this list. I used to be annoyed when movies or books started off with disparate story arcs that somehow magically fit together at the end. I thought it was childish and unrealistic, but the stylishness of it appeals to me now. Everything fitting together nice and pat. Soundtrack? Also very very good. Most chilling scene of the movie: The two brothers straining at the bonds for the gun and screaming through their gags. God that was kind of terrifying. In close second is the accident scene where Valeria is screaming to be let out, because she does it very very realistically and it's disturbing to hear that sort of pain, to say the least.
Be Cool: 2
Cinematography: 2
Pacing: 2
Story: 2
Characters: 2.5
Secret Boyfriend: Dabu (Andre 3000)
Best Performance: Chili Palmer (John Travolta)
Before anyone starts judging me: I watched this on the plane, all right? Anyways, I have a big crush on Vince Vaughn and the way he looks in a suit, so. Even though he turned out to be a creepy bastard in the film. This? Mostly a useless useless movie. Bad acting, misogyny, gay-bashing (both conscious and unconscious), etc etc. Amusing in parts though, and I did like seeing what a trigger-hungry spaz Dabu was like. Ohhhh Andre.
Billy Elliot: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3.5
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Tony Elliot (Jamie Draven)
Best Performance: Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell)
Didn't catch the first bit. A really cute story, and Billy is adorable and very hyperactive. Slow in parts, though. But the story is good enough so that when it came to the important bits of dialogue, the four of us rushed up to our feet and stood next to the screen in anticipation, as the volume was down since girls were sleeping. I'm not sure I like what they did to Michael in the end, though. A turban? What?
Boondock Saints: 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Connor MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery)
Best Performance: Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe)
I had no interest in the movie until Chrissy dragged my ass to the special Friday showing of it, because they were touring Wellesley on Sunday. We came in a few minutes late, and I thus spent the greater part of the movie boggling and going "What the fuck?" At the screen. Jesus Christ I am in love with this movie full stop. Seriously, it is fantastic and brilliant, and fraternal Irish twins! Along with the crazy that is Willem Dafoe. The conducting scene kills me dead.
*Brokeback Mountain: 5
Cinematography: 4.5
Pacing: 4.5
Story: 4.5
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) NO ONE THEY BELONG TOGETHER OMG. *weeps*
Best Performance: Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger)
There is nothing I can say about this movie except that the acting is really really good (who knew Heath Ledger had it in him?), Ang Lee does a magnificent job as usual with cinematography, Annie Proulx has a wonderful story, and the screenplay just expands on the original good. Please go see this movie. Also the stupid little guitar tune that played whenever they were together? I MUST HAVE IT. Short Story vs Movie:There are strengths to both. I really did like how the movie expanded on certain things and added in extra storylines. But there's certain things that don't translate well to a visual format that I liked better about the short story. "Two deuces going nowhere" felt better as a remark from the anonymous narrator. I'm not sure which version of Jack Twist coming down after the divorce papers were signed better. The one that's offhand and biting in the "...oh" sense? Or seeing it actually acted out? The ending was better handled in the story, I think. Although I cried like a baby in the theater anyways.
Broken Hearts Club: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 3.5
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Idaho Guy (Christian Kane aka Lindsey from Angel)
Best Performance: Marshall (Justin Theroux)
Very cute movie that apparently has a big following. ...The actors, god. You have Superman and the Garden State Guy, and Lindsey from Angel and someone from Party of Five and- it kinda breaks my mind. In a very attractive way though, so there are no complaints there. Altogether it's a decent movie, if not particularly exciting or insightful, though there are certain scenes that are done very well (the hairdresser scene omg). The storyline I liked best, though, was Marshall and Howie's torrid attraction to each other. They did a very good job with that, making it all awkward and embarassing. I really liked how, for Marshall, it was Howie taking off his glasses and going speechless that made him give in. Nice detail.
Capote: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 2
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.)
Best Performance: Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Very draggy, slow movie. But good god Truman Capote. Very very worth it if only for his performance.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp)
I liked this a lot. I really adore Tim Burton movies because they're never quite what I expect them to be, even though I always think I finally know what he's up to. I love his twist on the world, although I'm not quite fond of the confined, spherical, metallic rooms. Wasn't as organic and connected, which I missed. Er, right. Anyways, I liked the Oompa Loompas a lot more here, and I really loved their weird dances and songs because they were so bizarre! And spanned many genres! I especially like how the children got updated here, because the book was, if nothing else, social commentary on kids and proper upbringing thereof. I especially liked how they changed Violet and Mike.
Chasing Amy: 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Banky Edwards (Jason Lee)
Best Performance: Tie. Banky Edwards and Hooper X (Dwight Ewell)
I had always resisted watching this movie, because I thought it would be a stupid "Lesbian girl turned straight thanks to the affirming powers of cock!" ...Which it wasn't. I really appreciated how sexuality was portrayed here- as something fluid and natural. This is one of the movies where the main actors are outclassed, though. Holy shit the minority panel at the convention- I thought Hooper was serious at first and was gearing up to be mad at Kevin Smith for going there, and then he pulled the gun. This scene makes my life.
City of God (Portuguese): 4
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3.5
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Gang of little kids
I love the style of this movie- slick slick slick. It's so very pretty to watch, which contrasts the increasing amounts of gruesome that happen in the movie. It's a very hard movie to watch, and it's made even more squicky when you consider that it was based on a sequence of real events. The acting, though, was done in such a way that you always kinda knew it was a movie though; it was almost too slick. It was easy to distance yourself from the characters and thus I wasn't hit as hard by some of the scenes as my friends were. It seriously doesn't compare to Amores Perros in terms of sheer human emotion, but most of the actors here were pulled from Brazil themselves, without any prior experience. The best performance was that of the two little kids being shot at. Holy shit how do you get a child to cry and scream like that and show that much fear? Jesus. That was good.
Corpse Bride: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp)
Again much love for the Tim Burton. I honestly never know how his movies will end. When I watched Nightmare Before Christmas, I thought that it would end with Jack embracing the Christmas spirit, etc etc. Which was obviously very wrong on my part. Throughout the movie, I was never sure who Victor would end up with, because there were compelling reasons for him to take either path. There wasn't a clear cut decision for him to make, and I like that I was all "AGH OMG. YOU LIKE VICTORIA! ...don't you???" throughout. ...Also I just really really like the visuals. I could've dealt without the musical numbers, which were singularly uninspired, though.
Crash: 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Tie. Christine Thayer (Thandie Newton) and Sgt. Jack Newton (Mat Dillon)
My father's favorite movie that was released this year. It's really good, and a lot of the race commentary is very sharp. Ludacris' comments about the hip hop industry are particulary ironic and funny. Whenever he opened his mouth, I swear I could hear Corina speaking. I mean uh what. What I liked most about this movie wasn't the fact that every character evolved and changed (sometimes in very predictable ways), but that racial tensions were portrayed as being more than just white people versus minorities. There was tension between the minorities themselves, which was nice. Too often they're just lumped together in movies through omg the shared pain of the oppressor! Which isn't how it plays out in real life at all. In particular, the gun scene with the Persian and the little Hispanic girl was particularly good. The scene leads you astray at first, and I was totally convinced she was dead. Sandra Bullock and Bredan Fraser did surprisingly good jobs here. Don Cheadle was more forgettable, imo. Not one of his strongest roles.
Donnie Darko: 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4.5
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal)
Best Performance: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal)
This movie is almost totally responsible for me not sleeping last weekend holy FUCK the rabbit. I also have large mirror fear, and this movie did not help on that front at all. Brilliant. Pretentious of course, and Drew Barrymore's role was useless, but. Love love love. Jake Gyllenhaal is so good. I love his little quirky grin. I think a marathon of weird cult movies would be good (Boondock Saints, Donnie Darko, The Heathers, Fight Club) though incredibly draining.
Final Fantasy: Advent Children (Japanese): 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: ...Cid Highwind (voiced by Kazuyuki Yama). I can hear you judging, and you can shove it.
As a movie, it's not very good. But as a very very long epilogue to FF7, where all the characters are rendered in their non-polygonal glory? Pretty. But not awesome or inspiring.
Garden State: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff)
Best Performance: Sam (Natalie Portman)
So I always go into the big indie hits of the year thinking that they'll be overly pretentious and annoying. And yeah, they're all fairly pretentious, but they're usually sweet and sincere in a way that big productions can't manage. Zach Braff is amazing, and much much better here than in Broken Hearts Club, although I did find the bleached hair amusing. Soundtrack? Very good.
God of Cookery (Chinese): 2
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Stephen Chow
Best Performance: Stephen Chow
My least favorite of the 3 Stephen Chow movies I've seen this year. Some bits are fine and even funny, but overall it's clear that he was just starting out with this movie. I hate the ugly jokes made at the expense of Turkey, the love interest. I hate Stephen's tendency to use an ugly and unwanted character as the love interest who he doesn't fall in love with until they're beautiful, and this movie is the one where Stephen's disgust of Turkey is clearest. The only redeeming bit about their relationship here is that at the end, it's revealed that Stephen fell in love with Turkey before he sees her alive and beautiful again.
Graduate: 3.5
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 2
Story: 4
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman)
God the lead character is so socially awkward in a way that makes the movie almost painful to watch. Good movie. But painful, because it's good in an intellectual "huh" sort of way, and not in an enjoyable way.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: ---
I have lost faith/interest in both the books and the movies. Although this one was much much prettier than the previous efforts.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch: 4
Cinematography: 4.5
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 3
Secret Girl(Boy?)friend: Yitzhak (Miriam Shor)
Best Performance: Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell)
Amazing. The music is amazing. Opening sequence? Very well done. I love all the illustrations and the flashbacks and the mockumentary format. A movie about trans issues! However, this differed from Chasing Amy in that I was unsure of the overall message. What did Hedwig and Yitzhak's eventual transition back to their original genders say about transgendered issues? I understand that neither of the two characters transitioned, in the first place, out of true desire to do so, but still. The ending left me feeling kinda weird.
High Fidelity: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Barry (Jack Black)
Best Performance: Barry (Jack Black)
Yesssss nerdy music hipsters. Jack Black is amazing, although the eventual reveal wasn't as shocking as it should've been, because I already know he can sing well. Hated the "so it's not really my fault I suck at relationships!" schtick, though.
Hotel Rwanda: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle)
It's amazing how much creeping horror this movie engenders without ever really showing that much. You don't ever see anything as gruesome as you'd find in, say, City of God, but the hints and implications just make your skin crawl. They don't need to show anything.
Howl's Moving Castle: 3
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: ---
The book is so much better. As a kid, I loved funny British authors the best, and Dianna Wynne Jones will always be close to my heart. This was a good Miyazaki film, but it wasn't true at all to the book, which is so much richer. Please read it.
I <3 Huckabees: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg)
Best Performance: Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg)
Again, I never go into these sorts of movies thinking that I'll like them. Sphe actually tried to get me to see it at a theater once, but I dragged my feet and tried my best to change my mind, so I didn't see it until it was shown at Collins for free. Mark Wahlberg is ten million times better here than in Italian Job, which is the only other movie I've seen that had him in it. I love how weird this movie is. I love the philosphy and the existentialism, and the detectives and the coincidences and the beating themselves on the head. Also, the inclusion of Jude Law helped.
*Infernal Affairs (Chinese): 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung)
Best Performance: Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung)
Tony Leung makes my heart hurt always. I love this man so much and I was only introduced to him this year WHY? His performance is just so much... more than anything Andy Lau offered here. I don't know if it's because his role was inherently more sympathetic to the audience, or if it was his acting skills, but I was skewed towards him from the start. Seriously, having come into the movie spoiled about his eventual DEATH was very distressing because I wanted so badly for him to win. God. All the flashbacks killed me, and his need to be a human being again. Cinematography was good here, I particularly liked two shots, both near the end, when Tony Leung seemingly appears out of nowhere from behind Andy Lau's head, and also when the elevator doors close endlessly on his body. SUCH A GOOD TOUCH. I hated the end, though. It should've ended with the flashback; the "I do" was too much.
In The Mood for Love (Chinese): 2.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 2
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung)
Again Tony Leung is my secret and much older boyfriend. This movie is really kinda boring, and only interesting for the camera angles (very interesting thing they do with mirrors here) and the contracts of the character of Chow Mo Wan between the two movies.
*Kamikaze Girls (Japanese): 4
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Girlfriend: Tie. Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada) and Ichigo Shirayuri (Anna Tsuchiya)
Best Performance: Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada)
So I saw previews of this on the airplane on our way back from either Hong Kong or Tokyo, and fell in love. I mean. The adventures of a yankii and a lolita? yes yes yes. This movie did not disappoint my high expectations, either. The weirdness of the movie left all the others of this year in the dirt. Seriously, this is the quirkiest movie of the 54. It's really hard for me to be interested in female characters in any medium, because I'm too used to them being fully useless and not memorable. This goes doubly for Asian movies, which do the stupid helpless Asian princess thing. That being said, I loved both leads here. Seriously, Momoko just might be my favorite character of the year. Both of them were such rich and fleshed out characters with the strangest personality quirks. Ahhhh watch it!
Kung Fu Hustle: 4
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Sing (Stephen Chow)
Best Performance: Sing (Stephen Chow)
Holy shit this movie is amazing. Dancing gangsters! Guzheng of death! THE BIRD AT THE END OH MY GOD. I had to pause and play that sequence over and over as Jordan and I died a little bit each time. Definitely my favorite Stephen Chow film, especially since the love interest was handled so much better.
Layer Cake: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: XXXX (Daniel Craig)
Best Performance: XXXX (Daniel Craig)
It seems like Jason Flemyng is in every British crime movie. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and here. I love his quote, "Fucking girls is for poofs," and how it comes out of freaking nowhere. Very stylistic, and nice. I liked how death is accorded somewhat more gravity in this movie than in the other British crime movies where people die and noone ever cares or notices. The protagonists suffer very real consequences here, and I liked that.
Love Actually: 4.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Prime Minister (Hugh Grant)
Best Performance: Billy Mack (Bill Nighy)
If you didn't like this movie you don't have a soul. I am almost dead serious about this. I loved the old guy and his stepson. "Do you trust me?" "Yes." "FOOL!" *dead*
Madagascar: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Alex (Ben Stiller)
I actually really like Ben Stiller as an actor, although I haven't seen that much of him outside of the usual college slapstick roles. I liked him a lot better when he had a serious part in The Royal Tenenbaums, and he's just a lot less grating, period, when he's not hamming it up. That being said, I enjoyed this movie. I mean, it's not critically acclaimed or anything, and it's not a movie I spend lots of time thinking about, but it was good.
March of the Penguins: 3
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 2
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
I fell asleep several times, which says something about either my insomniatic tendencies or this movie's pacing. Or both. Jesus it was boring at times, but it was nicely done as far as animal documentaries go.
Me and You and Everyone We Know: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Richard Swersey (John Hawkes)
Best Performance: Richard Swersey (John Hawkes)
Again I thought I would hate this movie going in. And I'm still not quite sold on it, but I recognize that it's a pretty good movie. I prefer other films done along the same vein, but there are parts of this which were really cute, including the walk down the street. John Hawkes does a good job at being insanely awkward and also kinda psychotic, because who the hell sets their hand on fire?. Also the storyline with the two teenage girls scared me.
Million Dollar Baby: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 2
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Frankie Dunn(Clint Eastwood)
Didn't think much of this movie either way, although I totally didn't expect the plot twist.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Eddie (Vince Vaughn)
Good summer movie, I guess. It was interesting enough anyways, and I liked the beginning and ending sequences.
Motorcycle Diaries: 3.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3.5
Secret Boyfriend: Che Guevara (Gael Garcia-Bernaz)
Best Performance: Che Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal)
I hadn't thought he was that hot before, but the rugby tackle hooked me in, sadly enough. Shut up. I hate the glorification of Che Guevara, though. I mean yes, some of his ideals were praise-worthy, but in the end he didn't accomplish much, and committed quite a few atrocities of his own. I don't understand why he's the pop icon that he is.
Murderball: 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 5
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Although it's not really rugby it's still pretty good. Holy shit it's sorta inspiring and painful in bits. Everyone's personality is. Intense. Really colorful. Very stylistic, I like how they panned up to the assorted teams. Very fun to watch.
My Sassy Girl (Korean): 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Girlfriend: Girl (Ji-hyun Jun)
Best Performance: Girl (Ji-hyun Jun)
I would like this movie a lot more if they didn't beat the audience over the head with "ALL A WOMAN REALLY NEEDS IS A MAN TO TAME HER AND MAKE HER FEEL GENTLE AND PROTECTED." Fucking bite me.
My Wife is a Gangster (Korean): 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Girlfriend: Eun-jin (Eun-Kyung Shin)
Same sentiment as above, mingled with some horror as to the attempted rape. Okay, so I'm glad Eun-jin was strong enough to resist her husband, but this movie implied that rape was okay if the woman initiated it, and if the other party ended up enjoying it in the end. No. No. No. No matter how much I hated the husband, that is not okay. I loved the other gangsters, though. Romeo! My heart CRACKS OPEN for you. His death scene and his marriage proposal plot were SO GOOD. SO SWEET. I love how his girlfriend calls him on his misogynistic bullshit.
Napoleon Dynamite: 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Pedro Sanchez (Efren Ramirez)
Best Performance: Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder)
Very very quotable and funny and sweet. Holy shit, how much do I love Pedro and his cousins? The dance sequence is also a thing of pop culture legend.
Ocean's Eleven: 3.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Basher Tarr(Don Cheadle)
Best Performance: Danny Ocean (George Clooney)
Good enjoyable crime movie.
Ocean's Twelve: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 2
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: Francois Toulour (Vincent Cassel)
Best Performance: Linus Caldwell(Matt Damon)
Very very very bad. However Vincent Cassel is very hot. Hmmm. Also, the scene where Danny Ocean finds out that it's actually 5 am? Yes. Catherine Zeta Jones' inclusion was unnecessary and badly done. I liked how everyone just happened to know Mandarin, though. Also the Red Sox and Yankees fight-off. Because that is a rivalry that could actually prompt violence in real life.
*Oldboy (Korean): 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu)
Best Performance: Dae-su Oh(Min-sik Choi)
Goddamn this movie is weird and hits on so many taboos. The angles of the camera! The acting! The HORRIBLE plot, which is horrible in the holy shit OW sort of way. Very very good movie. Jesus. Parts of it, like in the beginning, when Oh Daesu clutches through the grate for answers? Chilling. And the octopus scene will quite possibly never leave me, which is something I weep over. THE TENTACLES WERE STILL MOVING AFTERWARDS. There is mental scarring! I don't want to know how they filmed that! Also his smile is a thing of terror, and looks like it came straight out of Sandman graphic novel. Hell, the whole story feels vaguely like Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman in his terrifying "24 Hours" arc, though. I've always sworn that if I hated a person enough, I would take the pictures from that chapter and tape them over their door, because that would be one of the worst things ever. ...which tells you a little about what this movie is like.
Rashomon (Japanese): 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 2.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Tajomaru (Toshirou Mifune)
Best Performance: Masako (Machiko Kyo)
At first I thought it was very boring, and then it came to the story as told by Masako and the spirit medium. Suddenly the movie became, at once, both interesting and chilling. I love the spirit medium bits the most, and the flipping back and forth between the telling of the story and the playing out of it was very well done. The freaking laughter here, though. All very assertive and like gunfire. "HA. HA. HAHAHAHAHAHHA." I still don't know which version of events to go by.
Saving Face (Chinese): 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 5
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Vivian Shing (Lynn Chen)
Best Performance: Ma (Joan Chen)
So I had no idea this was a movie about Chinese lesbians and their traditional families, and that the main love interest had my name. All I knew was that my dad spoke very highly of it and had wanted me to watch it since I came back from break. I am both kinda touched and also amused because I think the underlying message is that I should at least date pre-professional Chinese girls with long hair if I am to date girls at all. I don't know what I feel about the main character, Wil. I really didn't sympathize or like her very much for the greater part of the movie. I think a lot of it is because I don't find her part to be convincing...? The only Chinese lesbians that I know, all two of them, are possibly the most assertive people I will ever meet in my life, which is more up movie-Vivian's alley than Wil's. I guess I can see where Wil's bowing and scraping comes from, because god knows most geeky Asians are as socially awkward as that. It just struck a wrong nerve, I guess. I also didn't like the faux-butchness, either, though I don't know if it's me being too judgemental about the stereotypical long hair and the actress' overt femininity. However, I did like how the relationship did not seem forced or contrived. There was chemistry, and they fit together. This is also a movie that shines in the one-liners. I think I mostly liked this movie because of the "OMG the pain of being Chinese up on the screen!" factor.
*Serenity: 4
Cinematography: 4.5
Pacing: 4.5
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Hoban Washburne (Alan Tudyk)
Best Performance: Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion)
Joss Whedon is an emotionally manipulative bastard and I will never forgive him his transgressions! WASH. NO. ...that being said, Gina Torres' acting after the fact was very nice. Big damn movie. So much love. Why wasn't it more popular??? Goddamn I am buying the series and the movie like whoa. There is no way I can comment on this movie without being insanely biased so I won't even try. Also River sucks. Joss, stop having hard-ons for tiny girls that are mentally unstable! I realize that, as a movie, it had to be plot-driven instead of character-based, but I missed the time the series spent on examining the relationships between the crew members.
Shaolin Soccer: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Mighty Steel Leg Sing (Stephen Chow)
My first Stephen Chow movie, and very funny. I LOVE THE DARK KILLING AURAS. And also the "awakening" of the other brothers and the wrench.
Sin City: 3.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Hartigan (Bruce Willis)
Very stylistic and pretty. I like how the graphic novel noir translates to the screen. However, it doesn't make up for the fact that the dialogue was seriously lacking in places, and how the movie was just grotesque and over the top. Ew ew ew.
Singles: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Cliff Poncier (Matt Dillon)
Best Performance: Steve Dunne (Campbell Scott)
Kinda forgettable. Cute in bits, though. Very noticeably 90s.
Snatch: 3.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt)
Best Performance: Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt)
Jesus, Brad Pitt was actually really good here. I'm no judge, but the pikey accent sounded fairly good and he played his part very well. Otherwise, the movie is very similar to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, which is the better movie imo. Snatch suffers from too many characters; attention is spread to thin, and you end up not connecting with any of them. Having a core group, like in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Layercake is key. Also I HATE how the protagonists always end up in a better situation after waltzing out of their failed capers scotfree.
Spellbound: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Um. So this is kinda creepy in its intensity. Some kids and their parents, really. Jesus. Also, the cinematography reminded me a lot of the documentary series "Transgeneration." I wonder if the same people did it? Huh.
Spring Break Shark Attack: 2
Cinematography: 2
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: ---
Shut up, we were bored. The EXPLOSIONS OF BLOOD were worth it. And also the mocking.
Y Tu Mama Tambien: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna)
Best Performance: Tie. Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal)
I think this was my first movie of the year. It is essentially soft core pr0n in parts. The ending hurts my heart.
Without a Paddle: 1
Cinematography: 2
Pacing: 1
Story: 1
Characters: 1
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: ---
Such an useless movie. Saw it on the Senate Bus. ...Such a waste of time.
Anyways, they're all listed alphabetically, and given individual and independent scores based on cinematography, pacing, storytelling and characters, with an overall score that doesn't necessarily match up with the individual categories. Scores are on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best. Also, when applicable, my secret boy/girlfriend along with the best actor/actress of the movie is named. And yes, those are two separate categories.
Summaries/commentary following, with the length dependent on my interest in the particular movie. All spoilers will be marked and in white, so highlight if you want to read them.
So here you go: They range from the horrid (Without a Paddle), to the mindless (Ocean's Eleven), to the cult classic (Donnie Darko), to the indie favorites (Napoleon Dynamite), to the old samurai flicks(Rashomon). 7 languages (English, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese) are represented. Top 5 are starred. ~22 were seen in the past 10 days, which means I've hit an overload now. It's funny, because I see moviewatching as a solitary activity. I don't much care for watching them with others, but if I have to, I want to be able to talk and mock and discuss it as it moves along.
2046 (Chinese): 4.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Guy who sexes up the Androids (Takuya Kimura)
Best Performance: Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung)
My first Kar Wai Wong (he's the director) movie, seen at the Landmark Theater in Kendall. Actually my friends ended up dragging me there, because they had thought the trailer looked shiny, and I had serious misgivings about it. We came out exactly opposite: I was raving about it, and they thought they had wasted their $9, so ymmv. It's very confusing at first, and we probably would've been able to jump into the narrative easier if we had watched In the Mood for Love first, which this movie is a sequel of. That being said, I really liked the two parallel narratives and the metaphors that he used. Acting was pretty solid all around, and I didn't hate Zhang Ziyi in this movie as much as I usually do. It's very very stylistic and pretty, and I recommend it highly.
Amores Perros (Spanish): 4.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 3.5
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Valeria (Goya Toledo)
Ngggh, Gael Garcia Bernaz. Who is still very hot but not, suprisingly, my secret boyfriend of the movie because he is so very fucked up here. Seriously, stalking and sexually molesting the girl of your dreams is not the way to get her. I liked how he wasn't the knight in shining armor here, though; he was definitely very creepy and very emotionally unbalanced. The acting in this movie is amazing, and the leads of all three intersecting story arcs did very good jobs, though I think Valeria was the most compelling performance. The screaming alone was enough to give me chills, and I very much enjoyed her slow descent into hysteria. I love interlacing story arcs, which pops up continuously on this list. I used to be annoyed when movies or books started off with disparate story arcs that somehow magically fit together at the end. I thought it was childish and unrealistic, but the stylishness of it appeals to me now. Everything fitting together nice and pat. Soundtrack? Also very very good. Most chilling scene of the movie: The two brothers straining at the bonds for the gun and screaming through their gags. God that was kind of terrifying. In close second is the accident scene where Valeria is screaming to be let out, because she does it very very realistically and it's disturbing to hear that sort of pain, to say the least.
Be Cool: 2
Cinematography: 2
Pacing: 2
Story: 2
Characters: 2.5
Secret Boyfriend: Dabu (Andre 3000)
Best Performance: Chili Palmer (John Travolta)
Before anyone starts judging me: I watched this on the plane, all right? Anyways, I have a big crush on Vince Vaughn and the way he looks in a suit, so. Even though he turned out to be a creepy bastard in the film. This? Mostly a useless useless movie. Bad acting, misogyny, gay-bashing (both conscious and unconscious), etc etc. Amusing in parts though, and I did like seeing what a trigger-hungry spaz Dabu was like. Ohhhh Andre.
Billy Elliot: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3.5
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Tony Elliot (Jamie Draven)
Best Performance: Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell)
Didn't catch the first bit. A really cute story, and Billy is adorable and very hyperactive. Slow in parts, though. But the story is good enough so that when it came to the important bits of dialogue, the four of us rushed up to our feet and stood next to the screen in anticipation, as the volume was down since girls were sleeping. I'm not sure I like what they did to Michael in the end, though. A turban? What?
Boondock Saints: 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Connor MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery)
Best Performance: Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe)
I had no interest in the movie until Chrissy dragged my ass to the special Friday showing of it, because they were touring Wellesley on Sunday. We came in a few minutes late, and I thus spent the greater part of the movie boggling and going "What the fuck?" At the screen. Jesus Christ I am in love with this movie full stop. Seriously, it is fantastic and brilliant, and fraternal Irish twins! Along with the crazy that is Willem Dafoe. The conducting scene kills me dead.
*Brokeback Mountain: 5
Cinematography: 4.5
Pacing: 4.5
Story: 4.5
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) NO ONE THEY BELONG TOGETHER OMG. *weeps*
Best Performance: Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger)
There is nothing I can say about this movie except that the acting is really really good (who knew Heath Ledger had it in him?), Ang Lee does a magnificent job as usual with cinematography, Annie Proulx has a wonderful story, and the screenplay just expands on the original good. Please go see this movie. Also the stupid little guitar tune that played whenever they were together? I MUST HAVE IT. Short Story vs Movie:There are strengths to both. I really did like how the movie expanded on certain things and added in extra storylines. But there's certain things that don't translate well to a visual format that I liked better about the short story. "Two deuces going nowhere" felt better as a remark from the anonymous narrator. I'm not sure which version of Jack Twist coming down after the divorce papers were signed better. The one that's offhand and biting in the "...oh" sense? Or seeing it actually acted out? The ending was better handled in the story, I think. Although I cried like a baby in the theater anyways.
Broken Hearts Club: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 3.5
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Idaho Guy (Christian Kane aka Lindsey from Angel)
Best Performance: Marshall (Justin Theroux)
Very cute movie that apparently has a big following. ...The actors, god. You have Superman and the Garden State Guy, and Lindsey from Angel and someone from Party of Five and- it kinda breaks my mind. In a very attractive way though, so there are no complaints there. Altogether it's a decent movie, if not particularly exciting or insightful, though there are certain scenes that are done very well (the hairdresser scene omg). The storyline I liked best, though, was Marshall and Howie's torrid attraction to each other. They did a very good job with that, making it all awkward and embarassing. I really liked how, for Marshall, it was Howie taking off his glasses and going speechless that made him give in. Nice detail.
Capote: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 2
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.)
Best Performance: Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
Very draggy, slow movie. But good god Truman Capote. Very very worth it if only for his performance.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp)
I liked this a lot. I really adore Tim Burton movies because they're never quite what I expect them to be, even though I always think I finally know what he's up to. I love his twist on the world, although I'm not quite fond of the confined, spherical, metallic rooms. Wasn't as organic and connected, which I missed. Er, right. Anyways, I liked the Oompa Loompas a lot more here, and I really loved their weird dances and songs because they were so bizarre! And spanned many genres! I especially like how the children got updated here, because the book was, if nothing else, social commentary on kids and proper upbringing thereof. I especially liked how they changed Violet and Mike.
Chasing Amy: 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Banky Edwards (Jason Lee)
Best Performance: Tie. Banky Edwards and Hooper X (Dwight Ewell)
I had always resisted watching this movie, because I thought it would be a stupid "Lesbian girl turned straight thanks to the affirming powers of cock!" ...Which it wasn't. I really appreciated how sexuality was portrayed here- as something fluid and natural. This is one of the movies where the main actors are outclassed, though. Holy shit the minority panel at the convention- I thought Hooper was serious at first and was gearing up to be mad at Kevin Smith for going there, and then he pulled the gun. This scene makes my life.
City of God (Portuguese): 4
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3.5
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Gang of little kids
I love the style of this movie- slick slick slick. It's so very pretty to watch, which contrasts the increasing amounts of gruesome that happen in the movie. It's a very hard movie to watch, and it's made even more squicky when you consider that it was based on a sequence of real events. The acting, though, was done in such a way that you always kinda knew it was a movie though; it was almost too slick. It was easy to distance yourself from the characters and thus I wasn't hit as hard by some of the scenes as my friends were. It seriously doesn't compare to Amores Perros in terms of sheer human emotion, but most of the actors here were pulled from Brazil themselves, without any prior experience. The best performance was that of the two little kids being shot at. Holy shit how do you get a child to cry and scream like that and show that much fear? Jesus. That was good.
Corpse Bride: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp)
Again much love for the Tim Burton. I honestly never know how his movies will end. When I watched Nightmare Before Christmas, I thought that it would end with Jack embracing the Christmas spirit, etc etc. Which was obviously very wrong on my part. Throughout the movie, I was never sure who Victor would end up with, because there were compelling reasons for him to take either path. There wasn't a clear cut decision for him to make, and I like that I was all "AGH OMG. YOU LIKE VICTORIA! ...don't you???" throughout. ...Also I just really really like the visuals. I could've dealt without the musical numbers, which were singularly uninspired, though.
Crash: 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Tie. Christine Thayer (Thandie Newton) and Sgt. Jack Newton (Mat Dillon)
My father's favorite movie that was released this year. It's really good, and a lot of the race commentary is very sharp. Ludacris' comments about the hip hop industry are particulary ironic and funny. Whenever he opened his mouth, I swear I could hear Corina speaking. I mean uh what. What I liked most about this movie wasn't the fact that every character evolved and changed (sometimes in very predictable ways), but that racial tensions were portrayed as being more than just white people versus minorities. There was tension between the minorities themselves, which was nice. Too often they're just lumped together in movies through omg the shared pain of the oppressor! Which isn't how it plays out in real life at all. In particular, the gun scene with the Persian and the little Hispanic girl was particularly good. The scene leads you astray at first, and I was totally convinced she was dead. Sandra Bullock and Bredan Fraser did surprisingly good jobs here. Don Cheadle was more forgettable, imo. Not one of his strongest roles.
Donnie Darko: 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4.5
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal)
Best Performance: Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal)
This movie is almost totally responsible for me not sleeping last weekend holy FUCK the rabbit. I also have large mirror fear, and this movie did not help on that front at all. Brilliant. Pretentious of course, and Drew Barrymore's role was useless, but. Love love love. Jake Gyllenhaal is so good. I love his little quirky grin. I think a marathon of weird cult movies would be good (Boondock Saints, Donnie Darko, The Heathers, Fight Club) though incredibly draining.
Final Fantasy: Advent Children (Japanese): 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: ...Cid Highwind (voiced by Kazuyuki Yama). I can hear you judging, and you can shove it.
As a movie, it's not very good. But as a very very long epilogue to FF7, where all the characters are rendered in their non-polygonal glory? Pretty. But not awesome or inspiring.
Garden State: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Andrew Largeman (Zach Braff)
Best Performance: Sam (Natalie Portman)
So I always go into the big indie hits of the year thinking that they'll be overly pretentious and annoying. And yeah, they're all fairly pretentious, but they're usually sweet and sincere in a way that big productions can't manage. Zach Braff is amazing, and much much better here than in Broken Hearts Club, although I did find the bleached hair amusing. Soundtrack? Very good.
God of Cookery (Chinese): 2
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Stephen Chow
Best Performance: Stephen Chow
My least favorite of the 3 Stephen Chow movies I've seen this year. Some bits are fine and even funny, but overall it's clear that he was just starting out with this movie. I hate the ugly jokes made at the expense of Turkey, the love interest. I hate Stephen's tendency to use an ugly and unwanted character as the love interest who he doesn't fall in love with until they're beautiful, and this movie is the one where Stephen's disgust of Turkey is clearest. The only redeeming bit about their relationship here is that at the end, it's revealed that Stephen fell in love with Turkey before he sees her alive and beautiful again.
Graduate: 3.5
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 2
Story: 4
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman)
God the lead character is so socially awkward in a way that makes the movie almost painful to watch. Good movie. But painful, because it's good in an intellectual "huh" sort of way, and not in an enjoyable way.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: ---
I have lost faith/interest in both the books and the movies. Although this one was much much prettier than the previous efforts.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch: 4
Cinematography: 4.5
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 3
Secret Girl(Boy?)friend: Yitzhak (Miriam Shor)
Best Performance: Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell)
Amazing. The music is amazing. Opening sequence? Very well done. I love all the illustrations and the flashbacks and the mockumentary format. A movie about trans issues! However, this differed from Chasing Amy in that I was unsure of the overall message. What did Hedwig and Yitzhak's eventual transition back to their original genders say about transgendered issues? I understand that neither of the two characters transitioned, in the first place, out of true desire to do so, but still. The ending left me feeling kinda weird.
High Fidelity: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Barry (Jack Black)
Best Performance: Barry (Jack Black)
Yesssss nerdy music hipsters. Jack Black is amazing, although the eventual reveal wasn't as shocking as it should've been, because I already know he can sing well. Hated the "so it's not really my fault I suck at relationships!" schtick, though.
Hotel Rwanda: 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle)
It's amazing how much creeping horror this movie engenders without ever really showing that much. You don't ever see anything as gruesome as you'd find in, say, City of God, but the hints and implications just make your skin crawl. They don't need to show anything.
Howl's Moving Castle: 3
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: ---
The book is so much better. As a kid, I loved funny British authors the best, and Dianna Wynne Jones will always be close to my heart. This was a good Miyazaki film, but it wasn't true at all to the book, which is so much richer. Please read it.
I <3 Huckabees: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg)
Best Performance: Tommy Corn (Mark Wahlberg)
Again, I never go into these sorts of movies thinking that I'll like them. Sphe actually tried to get me to see it at a theater once, but I dragged my feet and tried my best to change my mind, so I didn't see it until it was shown at Collins for free. Mark Wahlberg is ten million times better here than in Italian Job, which is the only other movie I've seen that had him in it. I love how weird this movie is. I love the philosphy and the existentialism, and the detectives and the coincidences and the beating themselves on the head. Also, the inclusion of Jude Law helped.
*Infernal Affairs (Chinese): 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung)
Best Performance: Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung)
Tony Leung makes my heart hurt always. I love this man so much and I was only introduced to him this year WHY? His performance is just so much... more than anything Andy Lau offered here. I don't know if it's because his role was inherently more sympathetic to the audience, or if it was his acting skills, but I was skewed towards him from the start. Seriously, having come into the movie spoiled about his eventual DEATH was very distressing because I wanted so badly for him to win. God. All the flashbacks killed me, and his need to be a human being again. Cinematography was good here, I particularly liked two shots, both near the end, when Tony Leung seemingly appears out of nowhere from behind Andy Lau's head, and also when the elevator doors close endlessly on his body. SUCH A GOOD TOUCH. I hated the end, though. It should've ended with the flashback; the "I do" was too much.
In The Mood for Love (Chinese): 2.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 2
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung)
Again Tony Leung is my secret and much older boyfriend. This movie is really kinda boring, and only interesting for the camera angles (very interesting thing they do with mirrors here) and the contracts of the character of Chow Mo Wan between the two movies.
*Kamikaze Girls (Japanese): 4
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Girlfriend: Tie. Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada) and Ichigo Shirayuri (Anna Tsuchiya)
Best Performance: Momoko Ryugasaki (Kyoko Fukada)
So I saw previews of this on the airplane on our way back from either Hong Kong or Tokyo, and fell in love. I mean. The adventures of a yankii and a lolita? yes yes yes. This movie did not disappoint my high expectations, either. The weirdness of the movie left all the others of this year in the dirt. Seriously, this is the quirkiest movie of the 54. It's really hard for me to be interested in female characters in any medium, because I'm too used to them being fully useless and not memorable. This goes doubly for Asian movies, which do the stupid helpless Asian princess thing. That being said, I loved both leads here. Seriously, Momoko just might be my favorite character of the year. Both of them were such rich and fleshed out characters with the strangest personality quirks. Ahhhh watch it!
Kung Fu Hustle: 4
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Sing (Stephen Chow)
Best Performance: Sing (Stephen Chow)
Holy shit this movie is amazing. Dancing gangsters! Guzheng of death! THE BIRD AT THE END OH MY GOD. I had to pause and play that sequence over and over as Jordan and I died a little bit each time. Definitely my favorite Stephen Chow film, especially since the love interest was handled so much better.
Layer Cake: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: XXXX (Daniel Craig)
Best Performance: XXXX (Daniel Craig)
It seems like Jason Flemyng is in every British crime movie. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and here. I love his quote, "Fucking girls is for poofs," and how it comes out of freaking nowhere. Very stylistic, and nice. I liked how death is accorded somewhat more gravity in this movie than in the other British crime movies where people die and noone ever cares or notices. The protagonists suffer very real consequences here, and I liked that.
Love Actually: 4.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Prime Minister (Hugh Grant)
Best Performance: Billy Mack (Bill Nighy)
If you didn't like this movie you don't have a soul. I am almost dead serious about this. I loved the old guy and his stepson. "Do you trust me?" "Yes." "FOOL!" *dead*
Madagascar: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Alex (Ben Stiller)
I actually really like Ben Stiller as an actor, although I haven't seen that much of him outside of the usual college slapstick roles. I liked him a lot better when he had a serious part in The Royal Tenenbaums, and he's just a lot less grating, period, when he's not hamming it up. That being said, I enjoyed this movie. I mean, it's not critically acclaimed or anything, and it's not a movie I spend lots of time thinking about, but it was good.
March of the Penguins: 3
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 2
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
I fell asleep several times, which says something about either my insomniatic tendencies or this movie's pacing. Or both. Jesus it was boring at times, but it was nicely done as far as animal documentaries go.
Me and You and Everyone We Know: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Richard Swersey (John Hawkes)
Best Performance: Richard Swersey (John Hawkes)
Again I thought I would hate this movie going in. And I'm still not quite sold on it, but I recognize that it's a pretty good movie. I prefer other films done along the same vein, but there are parts of this which were really cute, including the walk down the street. John Hawkes does a good job at being insanely awkward and also kinda psychotic, because who the hell sets their hand on fire?. Also the storyline with the two teenage girls scared me.
Million Dollar Baby: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 2
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Frankie Dunn(Clint Eastwood)
Didn't think much of this movie either way, although I totally didn't expect the plot twist.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Eddie (Vince Vaughn)
Good summer movie, I guess. It was interesting enough anyways, and I liked the beginning and ending sequences.
Motorcycle Diaries: 3.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3
Story: 3.5
Characters: 3.5
Secret Boyfriend: Che Guevara (Gael Garcia-Bernaz)
Best Performance: Che Guevara (Gael Garcia Bernal)
I hadn't thought he was that hot before, but the rugby tackle hooked me in, sadly enough. Shut up. I hate the glorification of Che Guevara, though. I mean yes, some of his ideals were praise-worthy, but in the end he didn't accomplish much, and committed quite a few atrocities of his own. I don't understand why he's the pop icon that he is.
Murderball: 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 5
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Although it's not really rugby it's still pretty good. Holy shit it's sorta inspiring and painful in bits. Everyone's personality is. Intense. Really colorful. Very stylistic, I like how they panned up to the assorted teams. Very fun to watch.
My Sassy Girl (Korean): 3.5
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Girlfriend: Girl (Ji-hyun Jun)
Best Performance: Girl (Ji-hyun Jun)
I would like this movie a lot more if they didn't beat the audience over the head with "ALL A WOMAN REALLY NEEDS IS A MAN TO TAME HER AND MAKE HER FEEL GENTLE AND PROTECTED." Fucking bite me.
My Wife is a Gangster (Korean): 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Girlfriend: Eun-jin (Eun-Kyung Shin)
Same sentiment as above, mingled with some horror as to the attempted rape. Okay, so I'm glad Eun-jin was strong enough to resist her husband, but this movie implied that rape was okay if the woman initiated it, and if the other party ended up enjoying it in the end. No. No. No. No matter how much I hated the husband, that is not okay. I loved the other gangsters, though. Romeo! My heart CRACKS OPEN for you. His death scene and his marriage proposal plot were SO GOOD. SO SWEET. I love how his girlfriend calls him on his misogynistic bullshit.
Napoleon Dynamite: 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Pedro Sanchez (Efren Ramirez)
Best Performance: Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder)
Very very quotable and funny and sweet. Holy shit, how much do I love Pedro and his cousins? The dance sequence is also a thing of pop culture legend.
Ocean's Eleven: 3.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Basher Tarr(Don Cheadle)
Best Performance: Danny Ocean (George Clooney)
Good enjoyable crime movie.
Ocean's Twelve: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 2
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: Francois Toulour (Vincent Cassel)
Best Performance: Linus Caldwell(Matt Damon)
Very very very bad. However Vincent Cassel is very hot. Hmmm. Also, the scene where Danny Ocean finds out that it's actually 5 am? Yes. Catherine Zeta Jones' inclusion was unnecessary and badly done. I liked how everyone just happened to know Mandarin, though. Also the Red Sox and Yankees fight-off. Because that is a rivalry that could actually prompt violence in real life.
*Oldboy (Korean): 4.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 3.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Woo-jin Lee (Ji-tae Yu)
Best Performance: Dae-su Oh(Min-sik Choi)
Goddamn this movie is weird and hits on so many taboos. The angles of the camera! The acting! The HORRIBLE plot, which is horrible in the holy shit OW sort of way. Very very good movie. Jesus. Parts of it, like in the beginning, when Oh Daesu clutches through the grate for answers? Chilling. And the octopus scene will quite possibly never leave me, which is something I weep over. THE TENTACLES WERE STILL MOVING AFTERWARDS. There is mental scarring! I don't want to know how they filmed that! Also his smile is a thing of terror, and looks like it came straight out of Sandman graphic novel. Hell, the whole story feels vaguely like Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman in his terrifying "24 Hours" arc, though. I've always sworn that if I hated a person enough, I would take the pictures from that chapter and tape them over their door, because that would be one of the worst things ever. ...which tells you a little about what this movie is like.
Rashomon (Japanese): 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 2.5
Story: 4
Characters: 4.5
Secret Boyfriend: Tajomaru (Toshirou Mifune)
Best Performance: Masako (Machiko Kyo)
At first I thought it was very boring, and then it came to the story as told by Masako and the spirit medium. Suddenly the movie became, at once, both interesting and chilling. I love the spirit medium bits the most, and the flipping back and forth between the telling of the story and the playing out of it was very well done. The freaking laughter here, though. All very assertive and like gunfire. "HA. HA. HAHAHAHAHAHHA." I still don't know which version of events to go by.
Saving Face (Chinese): 4
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 4
Story: 5
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Vivian Shing (Lynn Chen)
Best Performance: Ma (Joan Chen)
So I had no idea this was a movie about Chinese lesbians and their traditional families, and that the main love interest had my name. All I knew was that my dad spoke very highly of it and had wanted me to watch it since I came back from break. I am both kinda touched and also amused because I think the underlying message is that I should at least date pre-professional Chinese girls with long hair if I am to date girls at all. I don't know what I feel about the main character, Wil. I really didn't sympathize or like her very much for the greater part of the movie. I think a lot of it is because I don't find her part to be convincing...? The only Chinese lesbians that I know, all two of them, are possibly the most assertive people I will ever meet in my life, which is more up movie-Vivian's alley than Wil's. I guess I can see where Wil's bowing and scraping comes from, because god knows most geeky Asians are as socially awkward as that. It just struck a wrong nerve, I guess. I also didn't like the faux-butchness, either, though I don't know if it's me being too judgemental about the stereotypical long hair and the actress' overt femininity. However, I did like how the relationship did not seem forced or contrived. There was chemistry, and they fit together. This is also a movie that shines in the one-liners. I think I mostly liked this movie because of the "OMG the pain of being Chinese up on the screen!" factor.
*Serenity: 4
Cinematography: 4.5
Pacing: 4.5
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Hoban Washburne (Alan Tudyk)
Best Performance: Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion)
Joss Whedon is an emotionally manipulative bastard and I will never forgive him his transgressions! WASH. NO. ...that being said, Gina Torres' acting after the fact was very nice. Big damn movie. So much love. Why wasn't it more popular??? Goddamn I am buying the series and the movie like whoa. There is no way I can comment on this movie without being insanely biased so I won't even try. Also River sucks. Joss, stop having hard-ons for tiny girls that are mentally unstable! I realize that, as a movie, it had to be plot-driven instead of character-based, but I missed the time the series spent on examining the relationships between the crew members.
Shaolin Soccer: 4
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 4
Characters: 4
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: Mighty Steel Leg Sing (Stephen Chow)
My first Stephen Chow movie, and very funny. I LOVE THE DARK KILLING AURAS. And also the "awakening" of the other brothers and the wrench.
Sin City: 3.5
Cinematography: 5
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Best Performance: Hartigan (Bruce Willis)
Very stylistic and pretty. I like how the graphic novel noir translates to the screen. However, it doesn't make up for the fact that the dialogue was seriously lacking in places, and how the movie was just grotesque and over the top. Ew ew ew.
Singles: 3
Cinematography: 3
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: Cliff Poncier (Matt Dillon)
Best Performance: Steve Dunne (Campbell Scott)
Kinda forgettable. Cute in bits, though. Very noticeably 90s.
Snatch: 3.5
Cinematography: 4
Pacing: 4
Story: 3
Characters: 3
Secret Boyfriend: Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt)
Best Performance: Mickey O'Neil (Brad Pitt)
Jesus, Brad Pitt was actually really good here. I'm no judge, but the pikey accent sounded fairly good and he played his part very well. Otherwise, the movie is very similar to Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, which is the better movie imo. Snatch suffers from too many characters; attention is spread to thin, and you end up not connecting with any of them. Having a core group, like in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and Layercake is key. Also I HATE how the protagonists always end up in a better situation after waltzing out of their failed capers scotfree.
Spellbound: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 3
Story: 3
Characters: 4
Secret Boyfriend: ---
Um. So this is kinda creepy in its intensity. Some kids and their parents, really. Jesus. Also, the cinematography reminded me a lot of the documentary series "Transgeneration." I wonder if the same people did it? Huh.
Spring Break Shark Attack: 2
Cinematography: 2
Pacing: 3
Story: 2
Characters: 2
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: ---
Shut up, we were bored. The EXPLOSIONS OF BLOOD were worth it. And also the mocking.
Y Tu Mama Tambien: 4
Cinematography: 3.5
Pacing: 3
Story: 4
Characters: 5
Secret Boyfriend: Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna)
Best Performance: Tie. Tenoch Iturbide (Diego Luna) and Julio Zapata (Gael Garcia Bernal)
I think this was my first movie of the year. It is essentially soft core pr0n in parts. The ending hurts my heart.
Without a Paddle: 1
Cinematography: 2
Pacing: 1
Story: 1
Characters: 1
Secret Boy/Girlfriend: ---
Best Performance: ---
Such an useless movie. Saw it on the Senate Bus. ...Such a waste of time.