Here are five top quality reviews. Read them well.

141. Marty- 1955 Academy Award Winner, Best Picture. This was a pleasant little movie that I think a lot of people can relate to. The story is of a Brooklyn butcher (Ernest Borgnine) who is middle-aged and single and can’t seem to find a woman to love him. He meets a schoolteacher who isn’t exactly perfect herself, and an enjoyable love story progresses. The theme being that love is for everybody. Borgnine was spectacular as the lonely Marty. He truly convinced me that he was a man without hope. His performance was depressing which made it very easy to root for him.

142. Domino- I wanted to watch this movie again after having seen it a few years ago. I want to start by saying that I think Tony Scott is a cool director. Other than Michael Bay, he may be the best action-movie director. However, Domino is pretty much a waste of time. For an action movie, the plot becomes far too complex. And the complexities aren’t worth the finale. You never really know what is happening, and the characters are easy to forget. Even Domino herself. I read about the real Domino Harvey after I watched the movie, and her true story is far more interesting. One saving grace in this movie (as in many movies) is Christopher Walken. You can’t miss with Walken.

143. Four Brothers- I had the privelege of watching this movie last year, and I was completely blown away. This movie kicks ass! When one of Detroit’s most respected women is murdered, her four adopted, interracial, bad ass sons come home to solve the murder. I have two brothers myself, and the relationship between the brothers in this movie reminds me of my relationship with my brothers. The fact that these four men with criminal pasts can come together and ignore any racial issues is very touching. And the action is awesome. A lot of violence. But touching at the same time. I really, really like this movie.

144. Law Abiding Citizen- I watched this on the recommendation of my postmates. This movie started off with great potential. The potential then carried into the rest of the movie… until the end. For a movie that tries to be somewhat cerebral, the ending is extremely simplistic. When the credits popped up I had a great feeling of disappointment. The potential had been lost. Gerard Butler was cool. Jamie Foxx was cool. The majority of the movie is cool. You never really know who to root for. Which is what makes this movie so awesome. If it weren’t for that damn ending…

145. Play Misty for Me- The original Fatal Attraction. A radio-DJ (Clint Eastwood) receives a call each night from a mysterious woman requesting he “play ‘Misty’ for her”. What starts out as an innocent meeting of the two eventually becomes a dangerous situation for the DJ. The woman becomes obsessed and makes this a pretty appealing thriller. This is also Eastwood’s directorial debut, and his lack of experience was evident. The direction wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t on par with the Eastwood films we know now. The performances are good. There are a few spots where they seemed to be filling time with musical montages, but I’m glad I finally saw it. I have always liked Clint, and it was interesting to see him in a role that isn’t typical of him. For the first time he was the victim.

Its title is a little misleading and at the very least  a bit confusing. You know what it’s about? A dude who is an illegal alien and a chick who is barely a legal immigrant want to leave London to go to Lagos and New York respectively. PROBLEM? They have no $ and no passports. SOLUTION? The hotel they both work at is ran by a dealer of black market organs (human parts, not church keyboards) and is willing to pay cash and/or fake passports for donors of said anatomy. Hilarity ensues.* See this if you like MOVIES with multiple awesome accents and interracial, inter-religious love stories.

P.S. My favorite song of all time, GLASS, CONCRETE AND STONE by DAVID BYRNE closes the end credits. It seems to be haunting me.

BOOM!

*not really, though. it’s a very serious movie.

This was a weird week of MOVIES for me. I watched three movies I just bought from a closing Blockbuster (all of which I’d seen prior to purchasing), a concert documentary in theater and DREW BARRYMORE’S directorial debutant. Here ya go:

#127 – FUNNY GAMES – ALMOST GREAT
Shot amazingly. Acted superbly. Edited, in all fashions, flawlessly. Still, there are certain things I hate about this MOVIE. Most are spoilers so just see the MOVIE; you’ll know what I’m talking about. See it, if only for what I consider the greatest intro/title screen in modern MOVIE history. Try to ignore its pretentious aspects.

#128 – NEIL YOUNG TRUNK SHOW – GREAT
NEIL YOUNG is my favorite human music maker EVER. So I naturally loved JONATHAN DEMME’s concert documentary featuring NEIL during a 2 night stay in Upper Darby’s Tower Theatre. It was beautiful filmed (for the most part) and fucking awesome sounding. P.S. Since I live 3 minutes from the venue and given my affection for Mr. YOUNG, I, of course, attended the concert back in ’08 on the first night knowing nothing about DEMME’s intentions to follow up 2006′s HEART OF GOLD with a MOVIE about that very concert. I cried during the acoustic version of “Cowgirl In The Sand”.

#129 – FOUR BROTHERS – GOOD

#130 – WHIP IT – ALMOST GOOD
Too much pop music for my taste.

#131 – BREACH – GOOD
CHRIS COOPER is a great man.

#132 – CAPOTE – GOOD
PSH is a great man.

BOOM!

I originally saw this for one reason and one reason only, Ed Norton. I’ve always loved him as an actor. So I took this opportunity to see him play a dual role as a set of twins.

Honestly, there really isn’t much to say about this movie. Ed Norton plays the brothers Kincaid.  Both brothers were born and raised in rural Oklahoma but one brother, Bill, left to pursue a career in philosophy while the other, Brady, stayed behind in Oklahoma selling weed for a Jewish drug lord.  Bill is forced to return home when he hears the news of his brother Brady being murdered. What Bill doesn’t know is that Brady’s “murder” was a ploy set up by Brady to get him to come home and help in his scheme to take down his drug lord boss. Brady needs an alibi, or in this case a look-a-like, to cover for him while he goes to another town to attempt to take down the drug lord.

This movie is one of those movies that focus a lot on the characters. You have Bill who has dropped his southern accent and now lives his high-class yuppie life as a college professor. And then you have Brady who is deeply southern, (I had no idea people from Oklahoma were considered “country”) not very smart, and sells drugs.  Growing up, Bill was always considered the smart one and wasn’t as close to his pot smoking mother as Brady was. This causes a little tension between the siblings.

The movie focuses on family and going back to one’s roots. It shows how far someone will go to help a family member no matter how much that family member may piss you off.  I love Ed Norton in this movie.  It’s hilarious to see him on screen with himself playing Bill the Philosopher and Brady the hillbilly pot head. There are some pretty funny moments with Brady and his friends because rednecks tend to be funny in movies. But unfortunately, those are best part of the entire movie for me. Susan Sarandon was great. I don’t think she’s ever done badly in a film but Keri Russell was flat and boring. The story was OK. It tries to pull at your heart strings a bit but fails. I thought Ed Norton’s southern accent was pretty dead on  and comical at times, but apparently from what I read, he did a horrible Oklahoman accent.

It’s a funny movie with some pretty good acting but in the end, I left shrugging my shoulders. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t superb.

6 out of 10

Whip It is by no means a bad movie.  I don’t like it that much, but it’s not a bad movie.

What you’ve got here is the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore.  It’s about time as far as I’m concerned.  Well not really.  I hate her quite a bit as an actress and just looking at her melting face is just as unpleasant.  But, I figured she would’ve directed something by now.  So, why not a roller derby movie?

The story is simple.  Ellen Page plays a hip teen looking to break free of her small-town boredom.  She wears Stryper t-shirts, combat boots, works at a lame diner, but wears a totally cool pig apron!  Amidst this array of coolness, she juggles beauty pageants with her mom, and joins a roller derby team behind her parents’ backs.  Hold on, wait.   Ellen Page playing a hip teen?  And she hates her small town?  Then she does some strong-womaned shit?  No way!?  Way.

I like a lot of the acting talent involved.  I have no problem with Ellen Page, since she’s actually a pretty good actress if you ask me.  On top of that, we get Marcia Gay Harden, who plays the mom who’s a total drag.  She of course is more than qualified to play this role (see THE MIST).  Her football-loving dad is Daniel Stern.  I want to hug this man for his contributions to my childhood self.  Her best friend is Alia Shawkat (aka Maeby from Arrested Development).  On top of that, we get Kristen Wiig, Eve, Zoe Bell, and Drew Barrymore as Page’s teammates.  Some of these are better than others.  Juliette Lewis is the rival skank from another team.  Jimmy Fallon sucks.

So why don’t I like that movie that much?  Well…
-  Ellen Page hipsterdom, and really any hipsterdom in general is negative points
-  Drew Barrymore decided to give herself the stoner/weirdo role, which she sucks at
-  Feminism.  I have no problem with strong women in movies (see Tarantino), but using it as a bragging device is another thing
-  Inspiring movies.  The tagline is “Be Your Own Hero.”  I don’t like movies that try to inspire me.  Especially hipster feminist ones directed by Drew Barrymore.

But with all this, it still isn’t a bad movie.  It’s not that memorable, and I dislike some stuff about it, but it’s an alright movie.  One thing to note is that I did watch Eraserhead for the first time today, so that might explain my reluctance to totally bash Whip It.  I can say a lot of bad stuff about Whip It, but in the end, it only bothers me a little bit.  Plus, it doesn’t try to be “art.”  I love movies, not art.  So it’s got that going for it.  Plus it’s got a ridiculous underwater make-out scene that’s as ridiculous as it is funny to watch.  Where’s your underwater make-out scene, Eraserhead?

As promised, I am attempting to offer posts more frequently. So I will be reviewing five movies at a time rather than my previous ten. Enjoy.

136. Angels & Demons- After seeing The Da Vinci Code last year, I must say its sequel does not live up to the original. I have never read any of Dan Brown’s books, but the movies are pretty interesting. It certainly takes a strong mind and a plethora of knowledge to come up with the complexities contained in these books/films. I have always like Ron Howard as a director, and of course Tom Hanks is one of the best actors of all time. So the combination of the two is always a winner. Yes, even in Splash. From what I understand, these movies are disappointing to people who have read the book. So if you haven’t read the book, I would encourage you to see the movies, as they offer a lot of entertainment.

137. Papillon- This was my first opportunity to see a Steve McQueen movie, and I was pretty satisfied. This movie tells the story of a man falsely imprisoned in France, and his various attempts to escape. More than that it is a story of friendship and loyalty. Dustin Hoffman plays Lou Dega, Papillon’s jail mate and escape-financier who throughout the movie, which spans more than ten years, stands by his friend’s side. The developing friendship and mutual respect between the prisoners is the real central theme of the movie which ultimately holds it tightly together. The most impactful scenes in the movie, however, were those in which Papillon was held in solitary confinement. Watching the man go from confident to broken but staying strong kept me captivated.

138. The Devil’s Advocate- I was pretty much confused with this movie’s overall purpose and direction. Most of the movie was a pretty basic story of a lawyer choosing between victory and morality. Once in a while, they cut in some random mystical oddities. And eventually the movie takes a sharp left turn and becomes something else. I didn’t hate it. It just wasn’t a great idea. Keanu Reeves is unintentionally hilarious as a Southern lawyer, and Al Pacino is as “Al Pacino” as ever. Although this time, there is a huge twist that is given away by the movie’s title. A lot doesn’t make sense about this one.

139. Some Like It Hot- After the past few months, Billy Wilder is steadily becoming one of my favorite writer-directors. Some Like It Hot is another winner from his prestigious collection. Voted by many sources as one of the greatest comedies of all time, this movie nearly lives up to its credentials. Jack Lemmon is always top-notch, so seeing him pretend to be a woman is a hilarious sight to see. For a movie from 1959, a lot of controversial areas are danced around including the taboo topic of homosexuality. I spent a lot of this movie with a grin on my face as Lemmon and Tony Curtis change from men to women from scene to scene. Great performances, brilliant writing, wonderful direction. All of these things add up to make a very enjoyable and funny old style comedy.

140. District 9- One of my favorite movies from last year. This relatively inexpensive sci-fi movie caught a lot of people (including us at TWJ) off guard with how amazing it is. The quality of the movie is superb. The aliens are truly convincing in their looks, mannerisms, and tone of speaking. The creative story and direction from a previously obscure man from South Africa (Neill Blomkamp) makes me wonder where he has been hiding. I am looking forward to seeing more of Blomkamp’s future productions. I have never been a sci-fi fan, but I have always appreciated a movie that shows the evils and stupidity of humanity. In this case, District 9 shows that looks can be deceiving as the scary looking bug-like alien prawns show more qualities of what we consider to be “good human qualities” than the humans in the movie. While watching this movie, I couldn’t help but think how humans would handle a mass alien interaction. And I have come to realize that what happens in District 9 is probably pretty accurate.

Bye pals.

Really good movie.  Really good.  This is the first movie in a Swedish trilogy that I’m hoping lives up to and is as awesome as the first movie is.  It was a trilogy of books known as the “Millenium Trilogy” by Swedish author Stieg Larsson, and now it’s been adapted into movies.  The Swedish title for this movie is “Men Who Hate Women.”  That title is both completely awesome and telling of what goes down in the movie.

So, as for plot.  You get a rebellious, buff, goth hacker girl named Lisbeth Salander (aka The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).  Then there’s this guy, Mikael Blomkvist.  He’s a journalist guy who stirs up trouble and tries to do good with his job.  One of those real idealists.  So as per the story, Lisbeth is hacking into and keeping tabs on Blomkvist’s computer.  Turns out, Blomkvist is working on a murder mystery, so they team up to see where it leads.  Sounds like cool stuff to me.

And what ensues surely is cool stuff.  You get a sweet murder mystery, Nazi’s, a ballin’ dragon tattoo, a sicko parole officer, unsolved murders that unfold aplenty, and enough mystery at every angle to keep you most interested throughout.  The movie’s 2 and a half hours long, and it’s totally engrossing the whole time.  It’s well-written, acted, directed, presented, etc, etc.  I will say that when it finally winds down, there seems to be about 6 different good places to end it, but what keeps unfolding is interesting and worthwhile to the story/movie.  And I’m sure it makes the trilogy even fuller and more cohesive.

So in short.  Really awesome movie.  Go see it.  For real.

I guess I’ve been gone for a while and it was a bit rude of me to leave you worrying about my well-being. I apologize for every single tear you shed for me, but I am alive and mostly well. If you insist on knowing what’s been up with me then I insist on telling you – I got a damn job. SUCKS! I mean it’s awesome to have money and to be an integral part of AMERICAN society and shit, but GODDAMNIT now I can watch only a third of the MOVIES I could’ve prior to me acquiring a job…ON A GOOD DAY! I’m calm. I’m calm. ANYWAY, here are some MOVIES I’ve watched in the three weeks you have missed my BOOMs.

#113 – CARRIE – GREAT
THIS FLICK ROOLZ. Seventies horror MOVIES are some of my favorites i.e., CARRIE, HALLOWEEN, THE EXORCIST, THE OMEN, JAWS, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and THE WICKER MAN. See all of these.

#114 – ONE CRAZY SUMMER – BAD
One of Dave’s favorite childhood flicks that ruined my entire adulthood.

#115 – Q – BAD
Disappointing “dragon” movie starring DAVID CARRADINE.

#116 – ON GOLDEN POND – GREAT
A MOVIE about a couple’a old farts living out their last years on a serene pond in the Northeast U.S. should be fantastic…and it is. HENRY FONDA and KATHERINE HEPBURN deserved their Oscars.

#117 – FATAL ATTRACTION – GREAT
Started the entire Lifetime MOVIE genre. See this or you are totally gay.

#118 – BRONSON – GOOD
Could have been amazing. I had heard, mainly from the movie’s marketing campaign, that this was quite like a little MOVIE entitled A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, which I happen to adore. The similarities were blatant and at some points perhaps straight-up rip-offs, but the themes and motifs that did carry over into BRONSON from CLOCKWORK did not work as well in the former. Certain bits seemed to be rushed, others dragging, and often I found that the theatrical interludes the MOVIE had were kind of a stretch – almost to fill time. It was far from being great, although I most definitely hope to see the chap that played BRONSON, TOM HARDY, show up in more stuff in the nearest of futures. The soundtrack is amazing, not unlike CLOCKWORK. It is available for purchase on itunes.

#119 – THE VIRGIN SUICIDES – GREAT
I have loved this MOVIES since I first saw it in like tenth grade. OMG! TWJ must have a hard on for SOPHIA COPPLOLA.

#120 – NIXON – MEH
OLIVER STONE is a jerkoff extraordinaire. I will argue this with anyone who dares to challenge this statement. That is all I have to say.

#121 – THE HOLIDAY – GOOD
I’m totally gay.

#122 – MIDNIGHT COWBOY – GREAT
Jon Voight was sexy in the day. Oh yeah, the movie was awesome too.

#123 – THE MIST – GREAT
I will second or third or whatever my friends notion on this MOVIE and say that THE MIST is fuckin’ great. Creatures, fog, Jesus freaks and FRANK DARABONT are a sweet combo. If you like creature classics such as CONGO, LAKE PLACID and TREMORS than you love this movie, I promise.

#124 – THE HISTORY BOYS – MEH
English people are weird.

#125 – THE GIFT – GOOD
SAM RAIMI is a crazy sonofabitch. So is the writer of THE GIFT, BILLY BOB THORNTON. Creepy thriller about a psychic CATE BLANCHETT trying to solve the murder of KATIE HOLMES that involves KEANU and HILL SWANK. Sound interesting? ‘Tis.

#126 – SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE – GOOD
I am completely embarrassed to say this – I liked this stinkin’ MOVIE. It made me laugh. I am truly sorry.

P.S. <3

Hello Lords and Ladies. This is my first post on our newly reformed website. So far it seems like everybody is adjusting fairly well. For anybody who follows my posts, I have actually decided to post a new blog for every five movies I see rather than ten. So keep an eye out for more frequent blogs from me. Thanks. And now read this:

126. Vulgar- I was looking through some Kevin Smith movies on IMDB, and I came across this one which he produced and co-starred in. The concept of a clown trying to earn extra money through crossdressing at bachelor parties caught my attention, so I watched it. This movie is awesome! Brian O’Hallaran (from Clerks) stars in the title role, and he is very impressive with his range of emotion. I expected this to be mostly comical, and it certainly starts out that way. But it quickly turns into a horrific and disturbing drama. The title lives up to its name, as the film contains a lot of graphic scenes. Even though it is obviously low-budget, it never failed to keep my interest.

127. Nixon- I have stated before that I am usually disappointed and frustrated by Oliver Stone’s movies. Having said that, I was not clear in saying that there are some films of his that I enjoy. JFK and W. come to mind. After seeing Nixon, something about Stone’s films became very clear to me. He is a very good director when it comes to movies about presidents. Of course, if I had the chance to make a three hour movie about a real person, I could make it pretty interesting too. Anthony Hopkins was quite accurate as the disgraced president, and as a student of American history, I was very pleased with this movie.

After I watch a movie I, for the most part, already know if I like a movie or not.  Occasionally I have to sit back and think about a movie before I can really say anything about it. The last two times it happened to me was after seeing District 9 and Avatar. Well I felt like that after watching this movie. I had to let it sink in for a day or so and then go back write this movie.

Mojn.

Terribly Happy (Frygtelig lykkelig) is a Danish language movie out of Denmark. The story follows Robert a cop from Copenhagen who has a nervous breakdown after “doing something bad.” To help him recover and as a slight punishment, Robert is sent to be the new marshal of a small town in South Jutland. The opening monologue speaks of a freak cow that was once born in the town.  The people didn’t like it so they took it to the bog and drowned it.  This voiced over monologue sets up the entire atmosphere of the town.  These people have their own way of doing things that have kept the town quiet and civilized. When Robert first enters the town, it seems empty, worn and dusty. Robert meets the town doctor and a woman, Ingerlise, on his first day.  Ingerlise is the wife of Jørgen, a local with a heavy hand and a drinking problem. While trying to seduce Robert, Ingerlise tells him that Jørgen beats her. He tells her he can’t help her if she doesn’t file a report but she refuses.

Through out the movie, Robert quickly learns that the town has their own way of doing things.  When a boy steals from a store he goes to take the boy to his parents but the shop owner insists he handle  it like the old marshal did, a good slap to the face.  Robert says he’s not hitting a child and gives the boy a warning. Outside, Robert runs into Jørgen who is waiting in Roberts’s truck.  Jørgen tells Robert that his wife lies and to stay away from her. He then calls the boy over to the car and gives him 2 slaps informing Robert that this is the way they handle things.

From this point on, the story goes in many different directions and things go from bad to worse for Robert. Every article I’ve read about this movie compares it to a Coen brother’s movie.  I can see why.  It’s a dark comedy type movie that focuses a lot on the characters and the messed up situations they usually get themselves in.  But it didn’t feel like a Coen movie to me. That’s fine. When I first started watching the movie I didn’t understand what anyone’s “deal” was.  Everyone seems to fear Jørgen especially his wife, but no one seemed to do anything about it.  The slapping of the kids confused me at first. Eventually Robert breaks and slaps another kid who steals from the grocery store. This is just another way of the town’s people showing how they handle things their way.

I feel like this review is going nowhere so I’ll wrap it up here. From what I’ve read, the movie takes jabs at the culture of southern Denmark but I couldn’t tell. I really liked all the characters. They were interesting enough to hold my interest. The story was decent. I kept telling myself I was waiting for something crazy and over the top to happen not realizing pretty crazy things were indeed happening.

7 out of 10