The Last Nine Films: September 25, 2010
Best Film: Sleepy Hollow
This win is kind of unexpected for me. But I just loved it. Besides, I watched it after “Mojave Moon”… and after watching that, any film can be a masterpiece. Haha.
Magnolia
I don’t usually enjoy films that are one million different stories that all kind of connect at the end, so that turned me off a bit. At the end I liked that it was all philosophical and that there was a moral and everything. But I still think that many different storylines just took away from the film at the end.
Primal Fear
I loved the storyline and I liked the different comedic bits of it. The performances, of course, were strong. And I’m partial to legal dramas, so there you go.
Mojave Moon
Possibly one of the worst films I have seen. Yes, absolutely it was that bad. Angelina even had a hard time redeeming the movie for me (she did, though… whenever she was on-screen I forgot how pointless the whole film was). The total lack of chemistry between some of the actors (if you can even call them that), the boring storyline, the horrendous dialogue. It’s very hard to even find a good thing to say about this movie.
Sleepy Hollow
I think I’ve praised the film enough above. I liked how pleasing it was to the eye, the storyline was original, the characters interesting, and was just a quintessential Tim Burton film.
Hackers
Though it had its stupid moments, I can honestly say that I enjoyed it. I was surprised that this was Johnny Lee Miller (Angelina’s first husband), because I wasn’t too impressed by him (haha), and their chemistry wasn’t mind-blowing, but it was still a fun watch. Nothing too serious though.
Playing God
Not a bad film, but not one of the best. I liked the main character, and Angelina’s obviously. It had its moments. I really liked the voiceover from the beginning, haha.
A Bronx Tale
Again, I think I’ve showcased my appreciation for this film above. Great storytelling, the acting was good, I found the whole thing interesting. Definitely impressive for de Niro’s directorial debut. But like I told my friend, I kind of wish de Niro had more screentime.
American Beauty
I understand people’s praise for this movie now that I’ve seen it. But I wasn’t AS impressed as the rest of the world seems to be. The Frank Fitts character was the most interesting to me, especially because of the ending. And it had some really great scenes, too. Like the dinner scene after Lester stops letting everyone run his life…
Wings of Desire
Honestly, this film was trying to be something that it just wasn’t. It was trying to be overly philosophical and I don’t think it did a very good job with it. And at the end, it just dragged.
Random Statistics:
Average Film Release Year: 1995
Oldest Film: Wings of Desire (1987)
Oscar-Nominated Films: Four
· American Beauty (Five Wins)- Best Actor in a Leading Role (Kevin Spacey), Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall), Best Director (Sam Mendes), Best Picture, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Alan Ball)
· Sleepy Hollow (One Win)- Best Art Direction- Set Decoration (Rick Heinrichs and Peter Young)
· Magnolia (Three Nominations)- Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tom Cruise), Best Music, Original Song (Aimee Mann for “Save Me”), Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Paul Thomas Anderson)
· Primal Fear (One Nomination)- Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Edward Norton)
Actors Appearing in the Most Films: Angelina Jolie (Mojave Moon, Hackers, and Playing God)
I want to change some of the categories, so if any of you guys have any ideas for new categories, please let me know! Some of them just aren’t working out for me. Haha.
Also, more ideas for “Random Statistics” would be nice =).