Movie #11 - Red Dawn (1984)

One of my favorites from my childhood.  Even with dated material, it holds up very well.  Awesome cast.

4/5

Movie #10 - Wargames (1983)

I think I'm going to stop with the mini reviews, as I'm not much of a writer.  I will say, however, that this film would have been a lot better if they hadn't made it seem as if Oregon, Washington and Colorado were all within about 10 miles of each other.

2.5/5

Movie #9 - Swingers (1996)

I probably would have rated this film higher, 3 1/2 or even 4 stars, if Vince Vaughn would have said the word Baby about 10 fewer times.  It took me about 3/4 of the film to understand that there actually was a plot, but it came through beautifully at the end.  Favreau's character shows real depth.  Ron Livingston, a fellow Iowan, does very well in a completely unnecessary role.

3/5

Movie #8 - Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2011)

I loved this film.  I don't think I've seen dialogue taken out of context done any better than here.  I've been a fan of Alan Tudyk since "A Knight's Tale," and he is very good here, but Tyler Labine's Dale really steals the show.  This is a well-written, well executed, funny reminder that movies don't have to use the same recycled format to be good.  Oh, and Katrina Bowden is HOT!

4/5

Movie #7 - Date Night (2010)

Pretty decent comedy.  Completely unbelievable action and characters, but funny moments.  Good supporting cast really carries it, especially Mark Whalberg.  I think I'm gonna edit this from 3/5 on Letterboxd down to 2.  The more I think about it, the less I like it.

2/5

Movie #6 - Get Him to the Greek (2010)

I watched this movie Sunday night with a group of about 6 people at a friend's house. It was great for that purpose.  It's a pretty good comedy based on Jason Segel's Aldus Snow character from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but would have been much better with more input on the writing side from him.  It does have a few moments of genuine sentimentality, but mostly it's just a gross-out raunchy late-night-with-friends-laughing-along piece.

3/5

Movie #5 - Shutter Island (2010)

I wasn't sure if I should include this film in my tally, since I didn't - no, I couldn't watch the whole thing.  I decided to add it based on the fact that I did watch more than half of it, very reluctantly.  I can't believe this is a Scorsese film.  If I wouldn't have known who the director was, I would have guessed Terrence Malik.  The altered reality visual style is very reminiscent of The New World, which I loathe.  If there is anything good to say about this film, it has to be that DiCaprio does a decent job with a mediocre script.  Every line from the supporting cast, including the usually excellent Ben Kingsley, seem telegraphed and phony.  There were times during special effects scenes, especially the storm, that I thought I was watching a Sy-Fy network "movie."  Easily the worst of my short year so far.

1.5/5

Movie #4 - Senna (2010)

The first documentary for my 2012, Senna.  This film was not nominated for the feature documentary Oscar, and I understand why.  It is not because of a lack of storytelling or content.  It is because that not a single camera was used in the creation of this film.  It is done purely with archival footage.  The filmmakers do an excellent job of telling the story of Ayrton Senna's life, both on the track and off, but it's my opinion that a real film is made not just through editing and voice-over, but through a lens.  This is, to me, journalism and not filmmaking.

3/5

Movie #3 - Inception (2010)

Inception is probably the closest I've seen to a perfect film in recent memory.  This was a repeat (many times) viewing, but I still noticed things on my blu-ray that I had never seen before.  The subtle, small droplets of blood coming from Saito's mouth in the weightless scene, for example.  Such a complex concept and script deserves multi-multiple viewings and so far it hasn't gotten old for me yet.  The most amazing effects ever in a movie, incredibly written and performed.  The coolest rotating-room stunt sequence ever by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  I can't say enough about it.  The only plot hole I can find is that if Cobb is such a wanted man, how can he travel all over the world so easily.  I explain this away by assuming that from his line of work he has a lot of money which can (at least in the movie world) buy you passage anywhere you want. Enough ranting about how good this is.  If you haven't seen it, see it NOW!

5/5

Movie #2 - Breaking Bad Season 1

My second film of the year is a TV show, and I'm cheating a little.  I watched most of Breaking Bad Season 1 in 2011, but I did watch the final 3 episodes this year.  I had to include it here because I plan on watching the rest of the series so far very soon and it wouldn't make much sense to start with Season 2. This is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen.  Bryan Cranston is absolutely perfect as the chemistry teacher/cancer patient/meth cooker. I have noticed that he seems to be getting a lot more movie jobs lately.  The writing is superb.  I've been watching it on Netflix and it's difficult to go to bed even at 3 a.m. without watching the next episode.  Hopefully AMC won't Deadwood me on this one.  

5/5

Welcome and movie #1

Welcome to my 2012 movie tally. I didn't make it very far into my tally last year. A very serious car accident on February 5th made it impossible for me to continue the blog. I watched movies, but was in no mood to write about them. This year has to go better. With that in mind, let's go to movie #1 of the year.

 Apocalypse Now (1979)

 Very good, very weird. I had actually never seen it before I watched it last weekend. I enjoyed it up until the last 40 minutes or so. I guess I stopped liking it right about the time Dennis Hopper showed up. Not because of him, but that's where the movie took a turn for the surreal, which was much different than the rest of the film. I didn't even realize til someone told me a couple days after my screening that Lawrence Fishburne was in it. Amazing cast, great effects (all in-camera I assume), great performances, but I guess the direction was lacking somewhat for my tastes.   Loved the music, both songs and score. The version I watched was on Epix and was beautiful in HD.  Looked like a brand new movie. I plan on checking out the Redux version soon, as well.

Overall, 3.5/5