Movies in 2010
So, a loverly person (NOVACHECKERS!!!!) did something awesome last year that I decided to mimic shamelessly. I kept all the ticket stubs for movies I went to this year and now I'm gonna write some shit about them. Please remember, I am an opinionted fuck, not a professional movie reviewer.
The Blind Side. January 2nd, 2010.
Well, it won some Oscars so it isn't like I can say shit about it. But I will say that the young man who played Michael Oher didn't get the props I think he deserved. Oh, and the little dude who played the youngest member of the rich white family annoyed me to no end.
Daybreakers. January 9th, 2010.
Yeah, I really wanted to like it. But it sucked. I've already talked smack about it here so meh, it isn't worth yammering about again.
The Book of Eli. January 16th, 2010.
It was decent. The reveal made the rest of the movie seem pretty absurd but the story was okay, the concept (post-Apocalyptic town boss tries to use religion as a tool to control) was nice. And as high of an opninion as I have about Mila Kunis the idea of her as a bad-ass just didn't fly.
Shutter Island. February 26th, 2010.
Nice flick. And while I'm not a fan of "is he or isn't he" sort of endings I thought this one was right fucking awesome. Never been a huge Leo fan but this year (more to come) put him in my Actors of Some Regard list. Nice imagery and cinemetography in the film as well. Good scenery.
The Crazies. February 26th, 2010.
Must have been a good day. Two flicks about murder in one day! Fair enough movie. I'm a HUGE Timohty Olyphant fan (DEADWOOOOOOOOOD!!!) so I'll admit that one helped. Basic "we can't trust the government when shit gets bad" sort of film. Decent creepy factor but honestly not hugely memorable. Note: I never saw the original and when I do see remakes I really do try to judge them on their own merits.
Alice in Wonderland. March 20th, 2010.
Not a huge fan. Some nice visuals and I was able to get into Johnny Depp's complete absurd portrayel but it just didn't feel like a good movie. Bleh.
How to Train Your Dragon. March 27th, 2010.
Liked it a lot. Liked the voice actors, enjoyed the oddly skewed character and dragon designs.
Clash of the Titans. April 3rd, 2010.
Disliked it a lot. A WHOLE lot. Boring. Unimpressive. Why are Greek Gods speaking with those accents? Visually decent but full on fucking waste of time.
Kick-Ass. April 17th, 2010.
Loved it. Loved the main actor whose name escapes me. Loved Chloe-Mintz even when she was dropping the C-Bomb. Gorgeously violent and fun. And, as in remakes I try not to compare adaptations of comics or books to their source material as I acknowledge that different media have different rules, requirements, limitations, and strengths. But in this case I think that some of the story changes made were to the benefit of the experience. Sometimes authors when they're trying to write "gritty, realistic" comics just treat their main characters like shit because they think it makes it more realistic.
The Losers. April 24th, 2010.
Chris Evans was fun. So was whazziname from The Watchmen. But really, it should have been Rated R. PG-13 really felt restrained.
Iron Man 2. May 8th, 2010.
Liked it better than the original. Loved Robert Downey Jr. again. Thought that replacing Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle didn't hurt it and I actually think I prefer the chemistry between Cheadle and Downey. The scene where Happy Hogan works his butt off to kick one security guard's buttocks while the Black Widow destroyed about nine others in the same time was a lovely little gem. Oh, and some damn pretty cars in that movie.
Shrek Forever After. May 31th, 2010.
Meh. Better than the suckery of Shrek the Third but still a far fucking cry from the Awesomeness that was Shrek (the original). Lack of cool-factor from the villains as well. Boo!
Splice. June 7th, 2010.
I liked this one. Decent horror with some nice creepy factor and an okay attention to plot points. No huge holes that I can remember. I liked the stars (Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley) and walked away feeling satisfied.
A-Team. June 13th, 2010.
I barely gave this one a pass. And that was going in with a firm understanding that reality and realism were going to be barred from the theatre. ONLY due to the fact that the actors involved were far better than the script was I able to walk out without the taste of puke on my lips. Meh-minus.
Get Him to the Greek. June 19th, 2010
I laughed. Quite a bit actually. The jokes were okay but Russell Brand and Jonah Hill worked well together. And there were some delightfully filthy jokes about the state of the music industry (which for ME, a music moron, to find funny means they must have been pretty good). Great butt-sex song joke poking fun at the Katy Perry's of the world. Oh and P-Diddy was goddamn hilarious.
The Karate Kid. June 19th, 2010.
Yes, yes, YES, I KNOW it should be called the Kung Fu Kid. That aside I liked it a fuckload. Wil Smith's talent looks to have bred true in young Jayden and I really enjoyed Jackie Chan. He's a good actor, not just a stuntman. And, breaking down and comparing it to the original I will have to say this; I believed Jayden could kick my ass. I never believed Daniel Russo could.
Toy Story 3. June 20th, 2010.
Someday Pixar is going to break this string of pure Awesomstasticness and actually make a bad movie. Or even 'bleh' movie. I'm suspecting Cars 2 might be it. But with this film they hit a grand-slam home-run. This is the finale in a trilogy about growing up that was only ever meant to be a one-off. I have nothing, not one fucking thing, to say about this movie that is negative. I have nothing but admiration for Pixar. If the film had ended at that scene, that horrible, emotionally wrenching scene (you know the one) I would have accepted it. I sat in the theatre thinking that exactly. "If they end the film here I will be crushed, but I will respect them for it. Because they have earned that respect." Bravo.
And that's it for the first half of the year. I'll do the second half when I can get my lazy ass around to it.
The Blind Side. January 2nd, 2010.
Well, it won some Oscars so it isn't like I can say shit about it. But I will say that the young man who played Michael Oher didn't get the props I think he deserved. Oh, and the little dude who played the youngest member of the rich white family annoyed me to no end.
Daybreakers. January 9th, 2010.
Yeah, I really wanted to like it. But it sucked. I've already talked smack about it here so meh, it isn't worth yammering about again.
The Book of Eli. January 16th, 2010.
It was decent. The reveal made the rest of the movie seem pretty absurd but the story was okay, the concept (post-Apocalyptic town boss tries to use religion as a tool to control) was nice. And as high of an opninion as I have about Mila Kunis the idea of her as a bad-ass just didn't fly.
Shutter Island. February 26th, 2010.
Nice flick. And while I'm not a fan of "is he or isn't he" sort of endings I thought this one was right fucking awesome. Never been a huge Leo fan but this year (more to come) put him in my Actors of Some Regard list. Nice imagery and cinemetography in the film as well. Good scenery.
The Crazies. February 26th, 2010.
Must have been a good day. Two flicks about murder in one day! Fair enough movie. I'm a HUGE Timohty Olyphant fan (DEADWOOOOOOOOOD!!!) so I'll admit that one helped. Basic "we can't trust the government when shit gets bad" sort of film. Decent creepy factor but honestly not hugely memorable. Note: I never saw the original and when I do see remakes I really do try to judge them on their own merits.
Alice in Wonderland. March 20th, 2010.
Not a huge fan. Some nice visuals and I was able to get into Johnny Depp's complete absurd portrayel but it just didn't feel like a good movie. Bleh.
How to Train Your Dragon. March 27th, 2010.
Liked it a lot. Liked the voice actors, enjoyed the oddly skewed character and dragon designs.
Clash of the Titans. April 3rd, 2010.
Disliked it a lot. A WHOLE lot. Boring. Unimpressive. Why are Greek Gods speaking with those accents? Visually decent but full on fucking waste of time.
Kick-Ass. April 17th, 2010.
Loved it. Loved the main actor whose name escapes me. Loved Chloe-Mintz even when she was dropping the C-Bomb. Gorgeously violent and fun. And, as in remakes I try not to compare adaptations of comics or books to their source material as I acknowledge that different media have different rules, requirements, limitations, and strengths. But in this case I think that some of the story changes made were to the benefit of the experience. Sometimes authors when they're trying to write "gritty, realistic" comics just treat their main characters like shit because they think it makes it more realistic.
The Losers. April 24th, 2010.
Chris Evans was fun. So was whazziname from The Watchmen. But really, it should have been Rated R. PG-13 really felt restrained.
Iron Man 2. May 8th, 2010.
Liked it better than the original. Loved Robert Downey Jr. again. Thought that replacing Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle didn't hurt it and I actually think I prefer the chemistry between Cheadle and Downey. The scene where Happy Hogan works his butt off to kick one security guard's buttocks while the Black Widow destroyed about nine others in the same time was a lovely little gem. Oh, and some damn pretty cars in that movie.
Shrek Forever After. May 31th, 2010.
Meh. Better than the suckery of Shrek the Third but still a far fucking cry from the Awesomeness that was Shrek (the original). Lack of cool-factor from the villains as well. Boo!
Splice. June 7th, 2010.
I liked this one. Decent horror with some nice creepy factor and an okay attention to plot points. No huge holes that I can remember. I liked the stars (Adrian Brody and Sarah Polley) and walked away feeling satisfied.
A-Team. June 13th, 2010.
I barely gave this one a pass. And that was going in with a firm understanding that reality and realism were going to be barred from the theatre. ONLY due to the fact that the actors involved were far better than the script was I able to walk out without the taste of puke on my lips. Meh-minus.
Get Him to the Greek. June 19th, 2010
I laughed. Quite a bit actually. The jokes were okay but Russell Brand and Jonah Hill worked well together. And there were some delightfully filthy jokes about the state of the music industry (which for ME, a music moron, to find funny means they must have been pretty good). Great butt-sex song joke poking fun at the Katy Perry's of the world. Oh and P-Diddy was goddamn hilarious.
The Karate Kid. June 19th, 2010.
Yes, yes, YES, I KNOW it should be called the Kung Fu Kid. That aside I liked it a fuckload. Wil Smith's talent looks to have bred true in young Jayden and I really enjoyed Jackie Chan. He's a good actor, not just a stuntman. And, breaking down and comparing it to the original I will have to say this; I believed Jayden could kick my ass. I never believed Daniel Russo could.
Toy Story 3. June 20th, 2010.
Someday Pixar is going to break this string of pure Awesomstasticness and actually make a bad movie. Or even 'bleh' movie. I'm suspecting Cars 2 might be it. But with this film they hit a grand-slam home-run. This is the finale in a trilogy about growing up that was only ever meant to be a one-off. I have nothing, not one fucking thing, to say about this movie that is negative. I have nothing but admiration for Pixar. If the film had ended at that scene, that horrible, emotionally wrenching scene (you know the one) I would have accepted it. I sat in the theatre thinking that exactly. "If they end the film here I will be crushed, but I will respect them for it. Because they have earned that respect." Bravo.
And that's it for the first half of the year. I'll do the second half when I can get my lazy ass around to it.