#106 – MAX KEEBLE’S BIG MOVE – GOOD
Kids MOVIES, when done right, rule. This one is done right. Absolute madness tied together with a shoestring revenge plot, fantastical fantasy sequences and an epic food fight = bangin’ kids flick. I wish I had seen it when I was a youngster. Still sweet, though. Thanks again, Dave.

#107 – HOT TUB TIME MACHINE – MEH
Kyle says it all in his review.

#108 – SET IT OFF – GREAT
F. Gary Gray is a great great great man. He is the genius director behind SET IT OFF and a few other masterpieces such as FRIDAY, THE NEGOTIATOR, THE ITALIAN JOB, BE COOL and his most recent work of art, LAW ABIDING CITIZEN. I highly recommend this MOVIE and anything else he’s done. He is an asset to the film community and, in the midst of black history month, someone that should be recognized as significant to the black community and America in general.

#109 – AS GOOD AS IT GETS – AWESOME
I truly love the shit out of this MOVIE. It’s witty, engaging, touching and everything else gay I could possibly imagine, but it honestly rules. HELEN and JACK both deserved their oscars. If there is anything wrong with A.G.A.I.G it’s its length. At about 2 hours and 20 minutes it’s not “long”, but at some parts it seems to drag a bit and becomes a tad frustrating. <3 MWAH!

I was a bit disappointed by this one. It’s a movie called Hot Tub Time Machine and the premise is just that. There’s a hot tub and it’s a time machine, and it transports four friends from present day into 1986. That premise is completely absurd and it holds oh so much promise. But ultimately, it falls flat.

Now the movie has some funny moments and some crazy/absurd things happen, but they’re pretty minor and secondary. I guess you could say that it’s my fault I was disappointed because I had expectations, but I just didn’t really like what happened in the movie.

In present day, these four guys have pretty shitty lives. They get together as old buds and head into the Kodiac Valley to rekindle their broken friendships and revisit the place that was so much fun for them growing up. Only problem is, the town is deserted and destitute in the present-day. Cue the hot tub time machine and they’re transported back to 1986. Now from here you’d expect a little revelry and craziness from the guys, but no. They get incredibly lame incredibly quickly as they decide to NOT alter the past in any way, for fear of “the butterfly effect” (aka chaos theory). So basically, they decide to play out their past EXACTLY as they did in 1986 because if they alter it, something awful could happen in the future.

For these guys, it’s got to seem like common sense to alter the past. There are some small deviations on their trip to the past, but by and large, it’s the absolute same as it was before. SPOILER: Now some of you are going to say that the ending accomplishes this because Lou stays back and alters the past/future and makes all their lives great. That’s true, but it’d be way more fun/entertaining/interesting to actually watch these four guys take control of their futures and get crazy in the past.

Now normally, I think it’s stupid to negatively judge a movie because you wished other things happened or the story was different, but whatever, I’m breaking my own rules. Add up everything: the premise of a hot tub time machine, four friends with miserable lives, they get the chance to go back to their glory days and change everything and have fun. I can’t help but be disappointed that this material was essentially wasted. Oh yeah, the saving grace of this movie is Crispin Glover.

#104 – EL MARIACHI – BAD
Somehow this piece a’ chit gave way for the masterstroke of ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO.

#105 – EVERYBODY’S FINE – GREAT
On the suggestion of my good pal and fellow blogger, Dave “THE D” Dadich, I watched this 2009, ROBERT DENIRO Christmas MOVIE that is quite poorly rated among “professional” “critics“. Here’s why screw them: Number 1) Contrary to what the trailer will tell you, this is NOT a Christmas MOVIE. Literally 3 minutes of the MOVIE is during or even about Christmas. B) I was going to rate EVERYBODY’S FINE “GOOD” right until the last ten minutes, and then something made me cry and I had to boost it up to a “GREAT”. LASTLY) See this MOVIE. Leonard Maltin’s a fairy.
Click here for Dancy‘s more comprehensive review of EVERYBODY’S FINE.

BOOM!

I’m gonna have to call this great ’cause it made me laugh harder than I’ve laughed in a theatre since the first time I saw ACCEPTED in ’07. See Kyle’s review. I wholeheartedly agree with him.

I had the privilege of seeing an advance screening of this last night and I wasn’t disappointed. As a Kevin Smith comedy w/ Tracy Morgan, Bruce Willis, and Sean William Scott, it is exactly what it should be. It doesn’t try to have an original or unique story that reinvents the cop partner movie; it just tries to be funny. And it succeeds completely. The story is pretty bland and secondary, but the comedy and laughs are strung in bunches throughout the movie, essentially holding it all together. Tracy Morgan is insane and hilarious. He completely carries the movie and could get a laugh by just standing still and doing nothing… and he does. Sean William Scott delivers a lot of laughs as well. Now, I know there’s a lot of internetters who have a vendetta against Kevin Smith, but I happen to like what he does. Haters may be somewhat interested, as Cop Out is the first movie he’s directed that he didn’t write himself. It actually feels a good bit different too.

So in short. Is it a great movie? No. Did it make me laugh my ass off? Yes. And that’s exactly what it’s supposed to be. So if you’re looking for a lot of laughs, go check it out this weekend.

Welcome, friends. This past week I watched some movies, ate some food, and played some MLB ’08 on my PS2. But the only one of those events that pertains to this website is the movie-watching. And once again I did a lot of it. So may I present to you my list from 86-95.

86. Everybody’s Fine- When I saw the trailer for this in December, I completely overlooked it. I barely even remembered it came out until Dancy watched and reviewed it. Do not let the trailer mislead you. This is not a holiday movie. It is, in fact, a surprisingly excellent movie. The movie is clever and emotional. Robert DeNiro was great in his role as a retired father trying to be a part of his childrens’ lives. Very touching and real. It made me appreciate family a little bit more. See Dancy’s Review.

87. The Wolfman- I don’t know if I would call this movie disappointing because I didn’t expect much in the first place. It takes a long time for the transformations to begin which is a problem because the trasformations are the only interesting part. Not worth the money to go see it or even rent it. See Josh’s Review.

88. The Inglorious Bastards- Let me start by saying that Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds was my favorite movie of 2009. So naturally I was curious to see the movie from which it was derived. However, after viewing the original, the only thing that Tarantino really took from The Inglorious Bastards was its title. That does not mean this was not a good movie. Quite shockingly, I thought this movie was kick-ass. I love war movies that are more about action than emotion, and this film delivers that action. The movie is fun to watch as it revolves around a group of escaped, bad-ass war prisoners running from the allies while killing Nazis. Don’t see it expecting anything resembling the “remake”, but see it as its own awesome movie.

89. Trading Places- A great comedy. Always fun to watch. Probably one of the best characters Eddie Murphy has ever played. A very enjoyable comedy from the ’80s. I would have to say the one positive thing to come from the ’80s was its comedy films.

90. The Princess and the Frog- I am a huge fan of Disney classic, hand-drawn animation. I am so sick of Pixar and computer-generated cartoon movies. So when I saw this movie being advertised, I had a certain level of excitement and hopefulness. I didn’t dislike The Princess and the Frog, but I don’t think it has the same magic the true Disney classics did. Perhaps it is my own personal nostalgia that makes me feel this way, but I think it is just the truth. Something was just missing. It is a fine movie to watch, just not a perfect re-boot of Disney classics.

91. It Happened One Night- 1934 Academy Award winner, Best Picture. This is officially the oldest movie I have ever seen, and I have to say I really liked it. This is apparently considered the first “screwball comedy” and for its time period I would have to agree. For a movie that is over 75 years old, I think it holds up very well in many aspects. It is funny and well-acted. Clark Gable is amazing in his role. The story is very interesting and it ends on a very high note. Highly recommended to anyone who likes old style comedy.

92. The Invention of Lying- I have to say this movie was very smart. I was impressed by the challenge the writer and actors had to face in being completely honest throughout the script. Very funny and edgy in its tongue-in-cheek attack at religion. I was very pleased with Ricky Gervais’ script, direction, and acting.

93. Tom Jones- 1963 Academy Award winner, Best Picture. I was excited by the premise of this movie and have been anticipating watching it. That being said, I was very disappointed. This movie is very scattered and non-sensical. It was almost strenuous to watch. Maybe I just didn’t understand it.

94. Reality Bites- The “reality” part of the title is very true. The movie offers an accurate depiction of the ’90s generation. That is what upset me so much about this movie. The 90s offered a lot in the world of entertainment, but the people were soooo lame. I am a bit old-fashioned in my disliking of whiny people, and the 90s began the generation of depressed, clueless babies. Ethan Hawke is a typical 90s asshole in this. My least favorite person, Janeane Garofolo, is the liberal slut, and Winona Ryder is the fresh from college, high hopes career girl. After all that criticism, you may be surprised to know that I actually liked this movie. It didn’t sugarcoat the reality of the times, and it didn’t necessarily take the Hollywood ending approach. Not a bad watch if you can tolerate some people frustrations.

95. For a Few Dollars More- I have finally seen all of “The Man With No Name” series, and I very much enjoyed every one of them. I was least looking forward to this one as I had heard it was the weakest of the three, but I must disagree. It is almost on par with The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. This is the only movie in the trilogy that wasn’t solely based on Clint Eastwood’s character. Lee Van Cleef (“The Bad” in the forementioned movie) plays Eastwood’s rival and partner and together they are incredible. I really enjoyed the intense power struggle and backstabbing between the two. A very enjoyable movie and film series.

Hope this enhances your movies watching. See you next time once I pass the 100th movie milestone. Bonjour, muskrats.

#99 – THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – MEH
MERYL was good. Quite good. But I still liked THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE more. For those of you who are ignorant, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE is a documentary all about the inner-workings of VOGUE magazine. MERYL STREEP’s character from DEVIL/PRADA is largely based on the editor-in-chief ANNA WINTOUR of said fashion zine. This, and many other details in THE DWP are quite similar to the feel and general themes in THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE. That said, in short, I liked THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA but THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE is better.

#100 – THE DONNER PARTY – BAD
A MOVIE about the true life, cannibalistic, snowbound group of 80-some American emigrants in the 1840s known as THE DONNER PARTY starring CRISPIN GLOVER. Sounds awesome right?! FLIPPIN’ WRONG! Horrible horrible horrible.

#101 – SWIMMING WITH SHARKS – MEH

#102 – THE HURT LOCKER – GREAT
Love this MOVIE.