Gendo. 2024.

[Gendo]

Hoping that this year sees a much larger dent made in my movies to watch pile.

1. Chinatown (1974) - Great mystery surrounding an ever-growing conspiracy. The story was non-stop captivating. The ending was devastating. Overall just excellent.

2. The Descent (2005) - Not bad. Weirdly a lot like Fall in several plot points. The creatures themselves were pretty scary, but other than that it wasn't very scary overall. More thriller than horror I guess. I really didn't get the need for the whole "don't trust her" thing they they threw in there... just wasn't necessary and didn't make a whole lot of sense. I was pretty ok with the ending even though it was fairly cliché for a horror movie.

[Raxivace]

Very excellent score to Chinatown as well.

[Gendo]

3. Mamma Mia! (2008) - Some good stuff; some bad stuff. I liked the main story itself; and would like to have seen a serious movie made from it. This movie was fully concerned with just being fun, and it mostly succeeded at that. Most individual songs were good, though it felt like they were so rapid-fire; could have used some more breathing room in between. I didn't know almost any of the songs; didn't realize until after that the entire soundtrack was ABBA. The Dancing Queen scene was particularly good. Meryl Streep is always great, and no exception here. But Pierce Brosnan absolutely cannot sing and was terrible. The general writing was just not great; never got a good feel for most characters. It's weird to have a movie about a woman getting ready for her wedding the next day and for the groom to barely be a character in the movie at all. As a whole, not a great movie, but better than I was expecting.

4. Man on Wire (2008) - Great. I didn't know anything about Philippe Petit before I watched The Walk a couple years ago. This was a different style documentary than I'm used to seeing; having no narration and being all interviews and video clips. As a whole I preferred The Walk; and this movie actually did teach me that a lot of things from The Walk were quite accurate for a biopic. But this was very well done, with a very interesting subject.

[Gendo]

5. M*A*S*H (1970) - Strange film. Felt very much like an 80s sex comedy, except pretty dark. And not at all in the 80s. No real plot to speak of; just a bunch of anecdotes. The "high jinks" that Hawkeye and John get into were too cruel for me to like them as characters. One thing I did really like is something I didn't even notice while watching it, but realized later that night... the way the surgery scenes were quite graphic with showing severe injuries. It makes a big contrast from the silly nature of most of the film; and it seems to do a good job of reminding us that it is still war, and war is bad. Also, this was the kick-off for me now watching through the TV series; having only seen 2-3 random episodes previously. So far, 8 episodes in, and the show seems to fix most of my issues with the main characters.

6. The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004) - Pretty good, for a made for TV movie. The green screen effects were pretty bad, and the story was just ok. But it was fun and entertaining anyway. Seeing Bob Newhart as an action hero is pretty great.

7. Planet Terror (2007) - Great stuff. Rodriguez blends the action, comedy, and horror genres together really well. The effects were really good, and the characters were all quite enjoyable to watch. That Tarantino scene was just so over-the-top awful in the best way... reminds me of Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky; another amazing film.

[Raxivace]

I like MASH overall, but sometimes Altman stuff does get a bit too mean spirited in either his characters directly or his own approach to whatever material he happens to be working with being a bit cynically done. Like the MASH guys are supposed to be anti-authoritarian to some extent, but from what I remember its hard to square their attitude with them being in the military at all.

I liked those Librarian movies for what they were. Seeing Kyle Machlachlan in that first one was kinda neat.

[Gendo]

Well at least for Hawkeye and John, I believe it's made clear that they were drafted; not volunteered.

[Raxivace]

Well that's what I mean, like they're anti-authoritarian but not enough to burn their draft cards or whatever.

I know movie is literally set during Korean War but its clearly Vietnam War that's being talked about throughout the thing.

[Raxivace]

Well that's what I mean, like they're anti-authoritarian but not enough to burn their draft cards or whatever.

I know movie is literally set during Korean War but its clearly Vietnam War that's being talked about throughout the thing.

I mean obviously to some extent explanation here is "Well if the main characters dodged the draft then there wouldn't be a movie" but it makes the characters come off a little weirder than intended IMO.

[Gendo]

Well in the episode I just watched, Hawkeye referred to himself as "an unsuccessful draft-dodger". Dunno what steps he may have taken to get out of it. But I don't think being anti-authoritarian automatically means you would go to any extreme lengths to avoid the military when forced into it. Anyway.

8. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) - Pretty much as bad as everyone was saying. It was just pretty bland, with me never really caring about the action or what was going on. Probably the worst thing is that it felt like it had nothing to do with Ant-Man. It could have been any random Avenger, or any random person really, who got sent to this other world and then helped the people there. It's even a whole sub-genre of anime, "isekai". Nothing about the movie felt like Ant-Man was relevant. Also, Cinema-Sins actually made a good point, that being transported to another world filled with random CG objects and beings meant that any sense of scale that is normally the whole fun of an Ant-Man movie was just lost.

9. Entangled: For Everything There is a Key (2013) - Not quite sure if this counts as a movie. Basically a Christian production about Harris III, a real-life magician/illusionist who also preaches about Jesus. A mix of clips from his shows, and some story about his background and how he got into magic and how he became a Christian. The magic acts were pretty meh; with very standard stuff that everyone's seen before. The story about his background was pretty good and interesting. And the preachiness was well-done, with it being mostly integrated into his life story, with only 1 scene of him directly preaching to the audience.

[Gendo]

10. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) - Pretty good. David Tomlinson was great, and the music was a lot of fun despite not being quite as memorable as something like Mary Poppins. The Portobello Road sequence was particularly good. I was watching the restored / extended version, which made that particular sequence quite long, but it never got boring. The story as a whole was mostly silly, yet set in such a dark setting, which made for some interesting mixed emotions.

11. Persuasion (2007) - Second version of Persuasion I've seen, and I don't really remember much about the first one (1995). A simpler plot compared to most Jane Austin; not too hard to follow, though several character introductions are still breezed by so quickly that I found I needed a plot summary to really figure out who was who. Some of the camerawork and editing choices came off as a bit weird, and I wasn't a fan of Sally Hawkins as Anne. But overall, the movie did a good job of making you root for the lead romance.

[Gendo]

12. A Scanner Darkly (2006) - So good! Super visually interesting; I've seen some rotoscoping before, but never anything quite like this. The style really worked well with the story itself as well, giving the whole thing a very surreal feel. Robert Downey Jr was excellent, and the dialogue was both funny and sharp.

[Lord_Lyndon]

1. Chinatown (1974) - Great mystery surrounding an ever-growing conspiracy. The story was non-stop captivating. The ending was devastating. Overall just excellent.

I think this is one of the greatest and most iconic films of all time. I know a lot of people hate Polanski because of his private life or whatever, but he really did a great job in the directing department here.

[Lord_Lyndon]

5. M*A*S*H (1970) - Strange film. Felt very much like an 80s sex comedy, except pretty dark. And not at all in the 80s. No real plot to speak of; just a bunch of anecdotes. The "high jinks" that Hawkeye and John get into were too cruel for me to like them as characters. One thing I did really like is something I didn't even notice while watching it, but realized later that night... the way the surgery scenes were quite graphic with showing severe injuries. It makes a big contrast from the silly nature of most of the film; and it seems to do a good job of reminding us that it is still war, and war is bad. Also, this was the kick-off for me now watching through the TV series; having only seen 2-3 random episodes previously. So far, 8 episodes in, and the show seems to fix most of my issues with the main characters.

I'm a huge Altman fan. I think this is a very good film, but not one of my favourite Altman films. I think McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) and Short Cuts (1993) are his 2 masterpieces.

[Lord_Lyndon]

7. Planet Terror (2007) - Great stuff. Rodriguez blends the action, comedy, and horror genres together really well. The effects were really good, and the characters were all quite enjoyable to watch. That Tarantino scene was just so over-the-top awful in the best way... reminds me of Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky; another amazing film.

This was very good. I enjoyed watching it.

[Lord_Lyndon]

12. A Scanner Darkly (2006) - So good! Super visually interesting; I've seen some rotoscoping before, but never anything quite like this. The style really worked well with the story itself as well, giving the whole thing a very surreal feel. Robert Downey Jr was excellent, and the dialogue was both funny and sharp.

I agree with everything you said. Really good film.

[Gendo]

13. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - Quite good. As long and slow as it was, I was never bored. That being said, I did find myself questioning some of the slowness; like it just felt that some scenes could have been sped up a good bit without really losing anything. The performances were all great, and I enjoyed the story. And the score was fantastic.I think I might like westerns in general more than I always thought I did.

14. The Whale (2022) - Wow. I'm going to fail horribly at trying to review this one. It was excellent. Definitely the most powerful film I've seen in a long time; and one of the best. I found myself crying multiple times... granted it was clear that that's what Aronofsky was going for. But it felt real; it didn't feel forced. It was just a very raw and human look at the characters. The full screen aspect ratio was a clever decision, and worked well especially in specific scenes. Why bother even mentioning the acting; everyone has heard how amazing Fraser was. The rest of the (very small) cast was excellent as well. And the score... just perfect.

I couldn't quite figure out what Aronofsky was saying about Christianity in this one. Many of his films have had pretty clear religious themes; and often it's seemingly a condemnation of organized religion. In The Whale, we see Christianity blamed for its hatred of gay people; to the point of pushing one to suicide. Though we also hear the gospel preached by a Christian who comes off as more authentic and less of a caricature than you often see in movies featuring Christians. Yet even that character, in his final scene, manages to say something that only seems to serve the purpose of condemning religion. As a Christian, I found myself wishing that this film had been exactly the same in every way, except for being created by a Christian, so that the ending would have seen a twist of Charlie actually accepting Christ. Obviously I knew that was not what was going to happen, and that's ok. We still see themes of forgiveness and genuine Christian love and charity.

[Gendo]

15. Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - Lots of fun. Who would have thought that the plot of Hellraiser would have worked as a campy musical? The music was all fun, the story and characters were ridiculous and great, and the plant itself was quite impressive.

16. Palooka (1934) - Pretty descent sports film; Jimmy Durante was great. It's no Rocky, but it was fun.

[Gendo]

17. Let's Go Collegiate (1941) - A silly lighthearted comedy about a couple kids who hire a random guy off the street to pose as a friend of theirs. Pretty funny. Good performances and a some good music as well.

R1. Hellraiser: Deader (2005) - My first rewatch of the year. I'd forgotten how strange this movie is. Easily the weirdest of the Hellraisers. The plot doesn't even try to make sense; just a bunch of random scary stuff happening to the main character. Nothing is ever made clear what the puzzle box or the Cenobites have to do with the Deaders. Still, it's weird and creepy; not terrible.

[Gendo]

18. In the Mood for Love (2000) - This was a beautiful film, but hard for me to really get into. It did an amazing job at subtext; so much was just heavily implied without being sad. The music and performances were great. Very well done; just not really my type of movie.

R2. Hellraiser (1987) - Excellent film that never gets old. One of the greatest horrors of all time easily. The effects are just so impressive. It's actually scary, especially in the sound design. The scene with the creature chasing Kirsty down the hallway/portal is the best, and the sounds it makes are so creative and scary. The acting is a bit awkward, with nobody acting quite natural, but I wonder how much of that is intentional. Even Andrew Robinson is kind of wasted, until the end when he's playing Frank. After that point he's amazing.

[Gendo]

19. Seven Samurai (1954) - That's right, I finally watched this. Best movie ever made? I dunno, but it was good. Don't think anything had been hyped as much as this movie was, which makes it a bit of a high bar to live up to. Mostly, there was just nothing bad about it; every aspect worked well. I really loved Kikuchiyo, by far my favorite character and my favorite performance. But the whole ensemble had great chemistry together. It did a great job of showing the real humanity of the characters.

20. Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) - Great whenever Sisu wasn't in the scene; terrible whenever she was. That's how bad Awkwafina was... why would you give a voice acting role to someone who sounds like that? But it wasn't only her; it was the character as a whole. The design of all the dragons made no sense in the context of the film; everything else looked great, with a gritty post-apocalyptic feel to it. And then the dragons looked like plush toys pulled out of Dragon Tales or something. But that aside... I really did like it other than the dragons. It had better world-building than most Disney stuff; and the different locations all offered their own unique charm. The dynamic between the hero and villain was great, even if done before.

21. The Road to Hollywood (1947) - A collection of Bing Crosby shorts from 1931, edited together as a sort-of documentary about Bing Crosby. The documentary part didn't work at all; with the narrator/editor/director coming off as pretty bad. But the shorts themselves had some laughs, and great Bing Crosby singing as expected.

22. Hellraiser: Judgment (2018) - The 10th Hellraiser film. Kind of mixed feelings on it. The actual judging stuff was pretty cool. While clearly going for an extreme gross-out type thing; it did manage to be scary while also building up the Hellraiser lore nicely. The detective story / murder mystery thing was a ridiculous ripoff of Se7en; didn't even try to hide it.

[Raxivace]

19. Seven Samurai (1954) - That's right, I finally watched this. Best movie ever made?

Yeah, probably. Certainly one of the major contenders. There's only a handful I'd put on its level.

[Gendo]

23. Hellraiser (2022) - Not bad. It returns to more normal Hellraiser horror and less weird psychological thriller. The new Cenobites were pretty neat, and I really liked the stuff with the box having multiple stages. But it still wasn't as scary as the original Hellraiser, and the effects weren't as good. But production value wise, it was clearly the best one since part 2.

24. Northanger Abbey (1987) - Definitely the weirdest Jane Austen thing I've seen so far. Half Pride and Prejudice; half Bram Stoker's Dracula. Overall enjoyable, though as with all Jane Austen stuff, I had trouble following along and keeping track of who's who and such. Also the ending was weirdly sudden; when I though I was still in the middle of the story, suddenly it was just over.

[Gendo]

25. Lone Survivor (2013) - Surprisingly good. Maybe because I hadn't heard of it, maybe because it was Mark Wahlberg, but I had pretty low expectations. It was very well done; with a realistic feel and a lot of heart. Makes sense that it was the guy who made Patriots Day, which I also liked. Granted, it was kind of obvious military propaganda. And I later learned some stuff about the guy it was based on (who also wrote the book the movie was based on) that reveals some pretty disturbing views on freedom and the military. But if you can get past the message of the film; the story and filmmaking were quite good.

[Gendo]

26. Up in the Air (1940) - Pretty good mystery comedy. Mantan Moreland was the best part; I've seen him in a couple things now.

[Gendo]

27. State Fair (1962) - Not bad. Made the very strange decision to move the setting from Iowa to Texas; thus having to replacing the whole Iowa song with a song about Texas instead. I don't remember very much at all about the 1945 version in terms of the story. Most of the music was enjoyable, and Bobby Darin was particularly entertaining even though his character was pretty unlikeable. I wish he had more singing in it, though.

28. Steamboy (2004) - Very enjoyable, though didn't at all live up to Akira. The action and adventure was consistently thrilling, and the visuals were all quite imaginative. But it felt too long; I think it could have benefited from removing at least 20 minutes. And the message was very shoved in your face.

[Raxivace]

I have an unopened promotional DVD for Steamboy from the Suncoast Video where I grew up still lol. Never got around to watching the movie though.

[Gendo]

Nice. Mine was new in shrink when I went to go watch it last night. No idea how long I've owned it; but long enough that I don't remember buying it.

[Gendo]

Oh hey, I found an archived list of my movie collection from 2012, and I already owned Steamboy then.

[Gendo]

R3. Napoleon Dynamite (2004) - This movie is so surprisingly good. And I didn't like it the first 2 times I watched it! There's just a lot of heart there with the characters' relationships. All the actors give terrific performances. And so many classic lines that are still used today.

29. Funny Games (1997) - Basically the same thing as the 2007 remake. Though I didn't remember very many plot specifics; just the overall story and themes. I really love the way it's shot, with very long takes and even staying still on a single image to add emotional impact a couple times. I didn't notice it with the 2007 remake (if it was the same), but you almost never actually see any violence on screen! It almost always happens when the camera is focused elsewhere. It's most noticeable the first time a character dies, but it's in several places. I dunno if the message is all that deep, but it's a very enjoyable movie either way. No opinion on which version I liked better.

R4. Cube (1997) - I think this movie isn't quite as good as I've always thought. But what it really has going for it is the unique genre it's in. I really want to see more things like this, and there just don't seem to be that many. Overall it's still very entertaining and has a lot of cool stuff. I wish the mathematics parts were actually explained in a consistent way... it's clear that they didn't want to bother coming up with actual mathematical rules, but just technobabble it away instead. I especially love and hate that the mathematical genius of the group needed a few seconds to figure out of a number ending with "5" was prime or not. Just found out that there was a Japanese Remake in 2021, so looking forward to that!

[Raxivace]

I might need to rewatch Napoleon Dynamite. Never really got its sense of humor at the time and haven't thought about the movie too much since then.

Idk which Funny Games I'd say is better but both are bad films IMHO.

Cube I like okay, but I hear ya on it being kind of hard to find stuff in that "genre" once you get past the big ones you find in Google searches and such.

[Gendo]

Have you seen The Platform? I haven’t yet, but I heard of it a few months ago and just based on the description it sounds like exactly what I’m looking for in terms of movies like Cube/Circle. Exam is also on my list of stuff like that, and haven’t found a copy yet.

[Raxivace]

The Platform isn't one I've seen yet, no. Exam is one I've seen though and liked well enough.

[Gendo]

Forgot to mention that I noticed something cool that I had always missed in previous The Cube watchings. Every character is named after a prison:
Kazan Kazan Prison (Russia)
David Worth Leavenworth Prison
Quentin McNeil San Quentin State Prison and McNeil Island Corrections Center
Joan Leaven Leavenworth Prison
Dr. Helen Holloway Holloway Women's Prison
Rennes Centre pénitentiaire de Rennes
Alderson Alderson Federal Prison Camp

I hadn't heard of all these prisons before, but I noticed it with Leaven and Worth, and then realized it fits with Quentin as well, and looked it up.

[Raxivace]

Oh wow I totally missed that. Interesting.

[Gendo]

R5. The Cabin in the Woods (2011) - This gets a lot of points for creativity and originality. I think the cold opening up to an including the title card is simply one of the best horror movie openings out there. Aside from that, it's just an ok movie. Just about everything that happens at the cabin is pretty boring horror stuff. Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins are the best part, and I really enjoy those scenes. I also really like the ending, because it's unexpected and different. Although it kind of annoys me as well, because the decision made by the 2 main characters simply makes no sense and seems quite out of character. It would be one thing to chalk it up to trauma or something, but they really don't show it that way. It's simply a couple otherwise-normal people deciding that if they have to die, they're going to murder 8 billion people along with them. Also, I think the movie was best when watched the first time, when you don't know anything about what's going on.

Aside from movies; going through MASH quite quickly. Just finished season 6.

[Raxivace]

Yeah Cabin in the Woods is one I enjoyed at the time but the meta-horror movie stuff hasn't aged well in my memory. Like since I've last seen the movie, I've watched every Evil Dead film and its kinda bizarre to me now that something as already untethered as Raimi's series is at the center of Cabin in the Woods' satire.

I think the ending kinda makes sense as visualized example of millennial "lol burn it all down!!!!" Twitter rhetoric, but it is awfully nihilistic in way I don't find appealing personally. Like its hardly End of Eva.

[Gendo]

Yeah, it's like Shinji earned the burn it all down, Cabin in the Woods did not.

[Gendo]

30. Hello, Dolly! (1969) - Pretty good. I wasn't a big fan of Barbra Streisand's singing or performance, or her character... but Walter Matthau and Michael Crawford more than made up for it. The musical numbers were all very well choreographed by Gene Kelly, especially the waiters' dance and the "Sunday Best" park scene. The story was just so-so, but visually very pleasing.

R6. Army of Darkness (1992) - A lot of fun, but didn't hold up to how much I used to love this film. I guess a lot of childhood nostalgia around it. I do really love that Raimi took something as dark/gruesome/scary as Evil Dead and managed to make a straight-up fantasy/comedy as a direct sequel. It's also weird in how the next 2 films in the series went straight back to the original tone. Bruce Campbell is great in it; largely due to how his character was written. Also perhaps because of nostalgia, I much prefer the theatrical ending, which is the edition I own. It has the original/alternate ending as a special feature; so I watched both. But also, the director's cut changes a couple other things that I hate, including removing my favorite line: "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun." So glad that I have a version preserving the way I remembered it.

[Gendo]

31. Malcolm X (1992) - Tough one to write about. It was quite long and hard for me to really stay interested in. I'm glad I watched it because I learned a lot of interesting things about Malcolm X (whom I knew very little about before). I enjoyed the music and performance. But as a whole it mostly just felt like it was there to just tell me about his life, not to entertain me or really evoke much of an emotional response.

R7. Cube 2: Hypercube (2002) - This movie is so hilariously bad. But I appreciate the sheer determination it took to take a movie like Cube and say "hey, you know how we can top a giant mysterious cube? A giant mysterious hypercube!" It's just ridiculous. Kind of like how the Fast franchise got crazier and crazier over the years, but instead of moving gradually that way over 10 films, imagine if part 2 had instead just immediately taken place on a space station or something. Anyway, it presents a few interesting ideas, but really doesn't do anything with them. All the technobabble math stuff from the first one is basically removed completely. The idea of some rooms being trapped and some being safe is basically gone. All that's left is the thematic ideas of "what sort of powerful entity built this thing", and at least that's kind of interesting.

[Gendo]

32. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) - What a weird movie. Bold choice to take one of the very few good DCEU movies and then go a drastically different direction for the sequel. I enjoyed the story itself; Max Lord made a pretty cool villain with an actual unique plan/goal. But Cheetah was dumb and didn't really need to be in the movie. The stuff with Chris Pine was the worst; they really didn't need to bring him back. And if they did really want to bring him back, why in the world would they choose to do it in the way they did? It makes absolutely no sense. I thought the effects looked mostly bad; though the film didn't rely on them a whole lot. And the Lynda Carter cameo was neat, even though I wouldn't have recognized her personally.

33. Three Colors: Blue (1993) - What a beautiful film; the music and visuals were wonderful. Juliette Binoche did a great job; really selling the idea of someone in deep grief that was doing everything they can do hide that grief. Normally I prefer movies that are more plot driven to theme and character driven, but I loved it.

R8. Cube Zero (2004) - Um, better than part 2, I think. Still a very bizarre film that just takes the series in such a weird direction. The world-building was neat; but also just not the type of world-building I'd want from the Cube-verse. Like, the first movie could have taken place in our world, except for perhaps a little too-advanced technology. But then here, we're clearly in some dystopian future. I like the ideas and themes of the people running the experiments being themselves the subjects, though it's also something that's been done plenty of times before (obviously inspired by Milgram).

[Gendo]

34. Cube (2021) - The Japanese remake. I liked it! A lot more emotional and psychological than the original. They really went their own way with it, which I always want to see from a remake (rather than just making the same movie again). It wasn't as creepy and suspenseful as the original, and overall felt less like a horror movie. Apparently this was fairly poorly received, but I thought it was interesting, at least. THe couple twists that they had at the end were neat also. I don't want to over-sell it; it wasn't any kind of groundbreaking masterpiece or anything. But I wasn't expecting that, either.

[Gendo]

R9. Captain America: Civil War (2016) - Randomly felt like watching a good MCU movie. This movie has flaws, but they really don't bother me because of the good stuff. All the scenes with dialogue between Steve and Tony are excellent. I used to think that this felt more like an Avengers movie than a Captain America movie, but not so much any more. It's still Steve and Bucky's movie, and Tony is one of the antagonists. The fight scenes are fun, but the story and themes are what's really great. Even though Zemo was a villain who barely had to exist, it made for a good enough excuse to get the other stuff in. It reminds me of No Way Home in that way; the actual setup was stupid and contrived, but it's ok because the setup doesn't really matter. The the addition of Spider-Man was awesome, and it's hard to remember a time when it was actually a big deal that he was in the MCU.

[Gendo]

R10. The Devil's Advocate (1997) - Still love this. Al Pacino has never looked like he's enjoying a role more. Keanu is believable even if his accent isn't the best... but it's certainly no Jonathan Harker either. The overall atmosphere is mostly non-stop creepy, and it's themes are quite strong.

R11. Memento (2000) - Excellent film and really holds up. The best part is just how much the mystery and climax really works within the context of the reverse chronological order. The time stuff isn't a gimmick, it's an absolutely necessary part of the big twist/reveal. But also knowing that twist doesn't ruin anything about it.

So I just got back from Louisville, where they have a bunch of cool flea market and other used DVD store type places that we don't have around here. The downside is that I single-handedly erased all my movie-watching progress for the year by purchasing about 42 new movies. So more movies on my not-seen list now than at the start of the year.

[Gendo]

35. Get Smart (2008) - Not bad. The actual action and all the gadgetry was interesting. The comedy was great in some parts, but had some pretty bad jokes as well. Steve Carell was great as always, though I don't think there was much chemistry with Anne Hathaway.

R12. Law Abiding Citizen (2009) - Great movie. Overall good suspense, and I like the general concept of "bad guy you just can't stop". Gerard Butler is great; and I normally don't say that. Everyone complains about the ending, but I think it's fine. It's way too sudden, for sure, but I don't mind the actual conclusion.

36. Three Colors: White (1994) - Not since Side Effects have I been so unsure where a film was going with its story. It was quite bizarre and quirky; not what I was expecting after Blue. I can't say I liked it as much as Blue; but it was good. I thought it was going to be a Julie Delpy movie, but she was barely in it. It seemed to lean more into the color palette idea, though unlike with Blue, it wasn't clear to me what the actual point of the White was.

37. The Shallows (2016) - Ok I guess. Quite similar to Fall; but not as good. It just wasn't as suspenseful, though it was well shot and pretty to look at. Blake Lively was fine, but I don't know if she was quite upto the task that a movie like this would demand of the basically sole actor. I do think the character and back story was better than what you often get from these movies, including Fall.

[Gendo]

38. Career Girl (1944) - Pretty good. Overall charming and some good musical numbers. The group of girls working together for Joan's benefit was a nice idea.

39. To Sir, with Love (1967) - Great movie, though perhaps a bit dated. Sidney Poitier was excellent, and the cast of students were all entertaining. The random "music video" in the middle was really weird, and the titular song seemed a bit overused. But I enjoyed the story and the growth of the characters; and Poitier's speeches/lessons about life and such were all interesting.

R13. Finding Nemo (2003) - I haven't seen this since maybe 2003. Beautiful film. Powerful emotions from start to finish; conveyed excellently by Albert Brooks. Some of the random one-off characters are kind of annoying, but the main plot is great.

[Gendo]

40. Three Colors: Red (1994) - Wonderful movie. I do think I prefer Blue, simply because the story is a bit more clear, and the use of color seems more carefully thought out. I really loved what they did with the ending and tying it all together. But it is fairly difficult to follow; like I didn't get that Auguste was not Valentine's boyfriend.

[Gendo]

41. The Replacements (2000) - A pretty generic sports film. Not bad or anything, but just not much to it. Even Gene Hackman managed to come off as pretty bland. It did get better as it went on, and I really enjoyed the final game. The cast as a whole was fun though, with some weird roles for people like Jon Favreau, David Denman, and Rhys Ifans.

[Gendo]

Dang, didn't remember my current count... last night was trying to decide between watching 61* or 42, and I chose 61*. Clearly would have chosen differently if I'd realized which number movie it was for the year.

42. 61* (2001) - Great movie. Thomas Jane was especially good as Mickey Mantle. The story itself was very interesting and well-told. Also had lots of good 1960s music in the soundtrack.

[Gendo]

R14. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Great stuff. Such high energy that just keeps going non-stop. I do think it seems to glorify the whole thing a bit much; it really has little interest in showing the dangers of such a lifestyle. But really, it's a comedy more than anything, I think, which is a cool thing to see from Scorsese.

43. The Raven (2012) - Interesting concept; terrible execution. This movie was a a weird mix between standard dull bad movie and amusing train wreck. John Cusack was terrible, and I almost never think that about him. The tone couldn't decide if it wanted to be a horror movie or a detective movie. The very ending was the most entertaining part, because of how silly it was.

[Gendo]

44. Sarah, Plain and Tall (1991) - Technically I saw this more than once as a kid, but didn't remember any single thing about it, so counting as new. It's pretty good. Kind of crazy that it stars Christopher Walken; it's a super weird role for him (in that it's not a weird role at all), but he did a good job. The sets are well-done; I like that despite taking place in 1910, it seems it it could have been mid 1800's, which is realistic given the location of middle-of-nowhere.

R15. Labyrinth (1986) - This really holds up. No idea when I last saw it; been a very long time. The music is so catchy, but the real star is Jim Henson and his imagination. Every single thing in the film's world is just so bizarre and creative. I love how Sarah doesn't respond to anything that's happening as if it's insane or weird, but just immediately accepts that this is what her world is like. I don't think Jennifer Connelly gave a particularly good performance here, but it doesn't matter because it's clearly David Bowie's and Jim Henson's movie.