Your Year of Living OCD: 2012 style!

Damn it, I just did the same thing as you.

Anyway ......

1.  License To Kill -   Every Christmas should involve at least one Bond movie, so i chose a good one.

2. The Losers -     An ok film, but for me The Expendables and The A-Team did this job better.

Seen it

Never seen it

Theatrical

January 2012

1.  The Descendants - Great performances from Clooney and Shailene Woodley, but it just didn't seem to amount to much.  Would have liked to have seen the Hawaiian ancestry play more of a part in the main story rather than being a backdrop.

2.  Young Adult - Another film where it's more about the performances than the story.  I get that the idea is that Theron's character doesn't change or grow or learn anything, but it still sits somewhat unsatisfyingly.  I'd almost have rather watched 90 minutes about Oswalt and his sister.

3.  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - A cold film about a cold war.  I can see how it's reserve may seem off-putting, but I found it rewarded my patience in sticking with it.

4.  Big Fan - Great turn by Oswalt here.  Hard not to see his character as a less well-adjusted version of his Young Adult character.

5.  Take Me Home Tonight - Yeah, probably could have gotten same effect by hitting "Shuffle" on my 80s playlist and remembering a completely unrealistic image of my high school.

6.  Big Man Japan - I honestly have no idea what the hell I just watched.  I thought I had it figured out until it turned into Ultraman on acid.

7.  Rubber - I think it tries too hard to be clever and not hard enough to be entertaining.  I could have done without all the fourth wall stuff, honestly.  It feels like they could have said everything they wanted to with just the story of the tire.

8.  Hobo with a Shotgun - Thoroughly unpleasant.  I guess the whole grindhouse thing is lost on me.

9.  Haywire - Carano is surprisingly charismatic, really has a great presence.  A lot more low-key than I expected, but still a fun ride.

10.  Midnight in Paris - I look at films like this and Purple Rose of Cairo and Zelig and wonder if Woody Allen missed his calling as a fantasist.  He really has just the right tone for these whimsical fantasy stories.

11.  The Ides of March - Really good, solid work all around.  Clooney continues to impress behind the camera.  There's a definite thematic kinship with The Godfather.  Thematic, I said.

12.  Lost in La Mancha - The string of bad luck is heartbreaking, but the film seemed almost doomed from the get-go.  The writing was on the wall eight weeks before production started.  Still, Gilliam is downright Quixotic in his mad pursuit of getting the film made.

13.  50/50 - A little predictable, although it does do a good job making it seem like either outcome is possible.  Rogen definitely steals this though.

14.  Moneyball - Great script, enjoyed Pitt and Hoffman, but it's really just a well-done baseball movie.  Don't get the Oscar attention.

15.  Margin Call - Now this nomination I totally get.  Fantastic cast, and for a film that's mostly just board meetings and conversations, incredibly gripping.

16.  The Grey - Phenomenal.  Lots of thrills and still thematically rich.  And a perfect ending.

17.  The Artist - A loving recreation of the silent era, but to what purpose?  Successful imitation doesn't absolve the film's paper thin story.

18.  The Help - The inspiring story of how the civil rights movement helps Emma Stone get the hell out of Mississippi.  All the worst tendencies when handling the subject matter on display here.  Of course it's going to sweep the Oscars.

19.  The Tree of Life - Plays out like a long, languid dream, with all the good and bad that accompanies that -- moments of visual poetry, but also sometimes disjointed and mundane.

Picking up from last year:

http://www.chud.com/community/t/130021/your-year-of-living-ocd-2011-style/250#post_3242845

Theatrical

Home

First Viewing

Rewatch

Jan 2: The Artist. Really jarring of them to just play an entire cue from Bernard Herrmann's Vertigo score over the most important scene in the film. Some lovely moments though.

Jan 10: My Week With Marilyn. Yes, everyone else in the Best Actress category can stay home this year-- Williams achieves something alchemical. Emma Watson gets the best line.

Jan 11: Robotech II: The Sentinels. One has to admire the ambition here, especially coming as it did a generation before Youtube fan films. Too bad it doesn't work.

Jan 12: War Horse. Only Spielberg could make World War I look so pretty. And he really gets his John Ford on in the farm scenes.

Jan 17: Fig Leaves. Howard Hawks' earliest surviving directorial effort is sweet and funny, and technically superb.

Jan 19: Rear Window. Another on my ironclad list of Perfect Movies. Great crowd made this viewing even better.

Jan 21: Haywire. I don't know if Gina Carano has another great performance in her, but she had this one and Soderbergh found it.

Jan 22: The Five Obstructions. Nothing quite like a battle of wits, Scandinavian style, on a rainy night.

Jan 24: Mission: Impossible: Ghost: Protocol: (IMAX). Definitely worth it on the giant screen. The "happy" ending is bizarre once you think about it though.

Jan 26: The Professional. Man, Gary Oldman's American accent has come a looong way since 1994.

I will save everyone's scroll wheel on their mice and, as usual, just repost my LJ tracker entries here.

12/1 - Dawn of the Dead: Extended Mall Hours Cut (1978) (DVD) ***1/2  Holiday shopping at the Monroeville Mall comes early this year, courtesy of this 156-minute fan composite cut which is, by my last count, the most complete version of Dawn available. The only downside to such an undertaking is that the Argento sections blare music at the most inappropriate times, drowning out the proceedings and killing the tone. Sometimes, as Romero demonstrated so deftly in his cuts, restraint is the best approach. Thankfully, said musical miscues are kept to a minimum, and with that complaint aside, I would definitely recommend this cut to Dawn fans who never seem to want the mall to close.
12/6 - More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead (2011) (DVD) **** What would have been a more appropriate gift for my birthday than to come home from a long day of work, exhausted and sick, and feeling quite the zombie myself, than to get this celebratory and extensive behind the scenes tribute to one of the greatest zombie films ever made? This is a genre documentary done right, featuring only the principles involved, and not being afraid to show the warts of the famed production, as well as the expected highlights. More Brains! was one of my biggest surprises of the year, not to mention being one timely, well-thought out birthday gift to boot!

12/7 - Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) (DVD) *** I would love to work at Ira's Toys. No kidding.
Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) (Howell Theater Smithfield, NC) *** At this point of the series, I have come to peace with the fact that I have to separate the first film from the rest, and enjoy the sequels on a different level of storytelling. On that note, this installment delivers the haunted house thrills, and goes even deeper into the mythology. This is a film to where the set-ups are so excruciatingly tense by design, that one doesn't even mind if the payoffs don't always live up to their promise.
12/8 - "And All Through the House" (Tales from the Crypt movie segment) (1972) (DVD) ****
"Seasons of Belief" (Tales from the Darkside) (1986) (TV-rip) ****
Hugo (3-D) (2011) (Regal White Oak Stadium 14 Garner, NC) **** Martin Scorsese's love letter to the power of cinema is probably a "family film" more for older children, and for adults who never lost that sense of childhood discovery themselves. The 3-D in Hugo is not only a technical marvel, but also thematically relevant to the story. One of the year's best films.
12/9 - First Blood (1982) (DVD) **** You know you are in the capable hands of a quality action film when you see a helicopter pilot, a knife designer, a weapons specialist, a dog handler, a boar handler, and a rat wrangler peppered throughout the closing credits.
12/15 - The Muppets (2011) (Regal White Oak Stadium 14 Garner, NC) **** The most fun I had watching a movie all year...grins, guffaws, and tears along the way. The scenes of random families in their respective homes rediscovering the magic of the Muppets, and connecting with them so naturally and effortlessly through laughter and smiles, pretty much says it all.
12/23 - Jingle All the Way (1996) (DVD) **1/2  This is probably an idea better suited to a short film, and with a better actor than Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead. On the plus side, Phil Hartman is all aces as the scheming, womanizing divorcee with Rita Wilson's character in his sights.
Mr. Krueger's Christmas (1980) (VHS) ****  "You remind me of everything good about Christmas"
12/24 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Elvira's Movie Macabre) (2010) (TV-rip) ***  "All this trouble over a fat little man in a red suit!"
Silent Night, Zombie Night (2009) (DVD) *** This low-budget zombie apocalypse/love triangle hybrid gets more right with its characters in an hour and a half than an entire season and change of The Walking Dead tv series has by comparison. The only negatives: The story takes place around Christmas, but we're smack dab in California, so there isn't a snowflake to be found. In addition, or subtraction, Felissa Rose's (thankfully) short role sticks out like a sore thumb in comparison to the better acting work from her co-stars. 
12/25 - Black Christmas (BD) (1974) **** Imagine if Margot Kidder transplanted this performance into her turn as Lois Lane in Suoerman...
Bad Santa (Unrated Cut) (DVD) (2003) **** "It's a wooden pickle."
12/28 - The Dorm that Dripped Blood (1982) (DVD) **1/2  Serviceable 80s slasher's meanspirited aspirations are undermined by a fairly ridiculous killer/reveal, a laughable red herring, and some of the most inept police officers ever put on film.
The Black Hole (1979) (DVD) ****  "A wolf remains a wolf, even if it has not eaten your sheep."
12/29 - Demonic Toys Revenge (2010) (DVD) **  Jane Wiedlin's "Baby Whoopsie" is worth the price of admission.
12/31 - Humongous (1982) (DVD) ***  Canadian shocker has a group of twentysomethings shipwrecked on a remote island which seems deserted, save for a hulking, cannibalistic stalker with a voracious appetite and a tragic past. What the script lacks in originality, the production more than makes up for with some effective atmosphere, rendered through stylish lighting and creative camera set-ups. Long-suffering horror fans, who have been saddled with poorly-mastered, overly dark VHS prints of Humongous for decades, will rejoice upon seeing Scorpion's stellar transfer.  

Ratings:
**** = Excellent
*** = Good
** = Fair
* = Poor

All titles in bold represent first-time viewings.

First Viewing

Rewatch

1. Back to the Future Part II

3. GasLand

4. Blue Valentine

5. Apocalypse Now - Just as amazing as it's ever been. The bluray transfer is incredible.

6. Fight Club - God this is such a fucked up movie. But its amazing nonetheless.

7. 500 Days of Summer - In the past this movie has made me happy...now it makes me kinda sad.

8. The Help

9. Attack the Block

10. The Guard

11. Cave of Forgotten Dreams

So do we just edit our post every time we add to the list? Or do I make a new post every time.

First Viewing

Rewatch

Theatrical

DVD

Online

1. DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (1988) - First time since forever. A pleasant distraction, but Martins mugging schtick irritated me for some reason.

2. VERTIGO (1958) - I haven't seen this masterpiece since visiting San Francisco a few years ago, so much have spent more time going "been there" than watching the flick

3. ATTACK THE BLOCK (2011) - Christ, this was so good. I was worried it wouldn't live up to the hype. Nothing more to add which hasn't been covered by more talented writers than me

4. FOOTLOOSE (1984) - was surprisingly enjoyable, Kevin Bacon sells the hell out of his scenes. It would work quite well as a bizarro double-bill with RAMBO IV

5. HOCUS POCUS (1993) - harmlessly killed a few hours, though I couldn't stop but watch. Bette Midler seems to be enjoying herself - I'm sure others have commented on the oddness of everyone commenting on Max's virginity. It's just weird, especially in a Disney family film.

6. CARRY ON NURSE (1959) - the missus is working her way through the complete box set. I didn't think much of it, it lacks some of the cheesy charm of the later CARRY ON films

7. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) - caught this at a double-bill with Tintin (a 35mm print I believe), and it's still a solid slab of fried gold. Perfection from top to bottom.

8. THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (2011) - having RAIDERS as a lead-in might have hurt Tintin a bit. Don't get me wrong I had a lot of fun with it, and seeing The Beards unrestrained imagination explode on screen is a thing of beauty. I might have just had too high an expectation of what the Moffat/Wright/Cornish dream team could come up with.

9. QUIZ SHOW (1994) - the directing is pretty ponderous (not a fan of Redford behind the camera) but the acting is all top drawer and the it moves at a decent pace for what could have been a slog of a story.

10. STEP UP (2006) - caught this in the gym while I was on the cross-trainer so it didn't have my undivided attention. But even in that situation Tatum came off as a bland nothing and the story is so rote I felt like giving up on my cardio. Saying that though, some of the dance sequences were pretty impressive.

11. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) - what a film. Watched it for the second time and found it funnier than the first. So quotable. There's a double-bill with MY WEEK WITH MARILYN coming up I might try and catch...

12. MORVERN CALLAR (2002) - speaking of double-bills, a Lynne Ramsay theme this week. CALLER is an odd character and I'm not sure if the director wanted us to feel sorry for her or not which makes it tough to properly judge Samantha Morton's performance.

13. WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011) - The Tilda Swinton show is a remarkable thing to watch, that you can use her subtle character shift to see where you are in the story's time-line is astounding. I enjoyed John C. as well, for playing the "Patrick Wilson" role with some heart.

14. SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY (1990) - pretty gash, but thought I'd watch it as the missus keeps telling me it's terrifying. Most irritating was the overuse of "Symphonie Fantastique"

15. WAYNE'S WORLD (1992) - Totally hold up 20 years later. A lot of the catchphrases have obviously dated badly, but it's just so stuffed with gags it's tough not to have a good time. Ed O'Neill is hilarious in his few scenes. I watched some Parks & Recreations afterwards for an additional Rob Lowe fix...

16. AIR FORCE ONE (1997) - this seems to be brought up whenever someone mentions Fords last "good" performance, but I'm not sure why. Even though his eyes aren't closed he's sleeping though the thing, and is made to look comatose next to Gary Oldman. Even "Get off my plane" came of as lazy

17. THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1993) - never seen it before, but it was quite a bit of fun. Everyone seems to be having a good time which makes the thing a breeze to watch.

18. STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) - classic. Totally still holds up - just a terrific film all round. What I took away from this viewing was how inspired it was to cast bland 20-something actors as super-emotional teenage characters

19. EDEN LAKE (2008) - I remember hearing good things about this one when it first came out, then didn't think about it until looking through Fassbenders CV for kicks. Turns out it's a solid little creepy flick with some decent frights and monumentally stupid choices by the characters.

20. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965) - the GF loves it and we're off to Salzburg next month so why the hell not. It might not be the best film ever (it really isn't) but the songs are infectious and Andrews sells the shit out of what could he an insufferable character. I've seen it once again since with a drinking game of one shot each time someone says "Maria" or "Vienna"... it didn't end well :)

February - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3275902

March - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3287587

April - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3301080

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ Dylan 

So do we just edit our post every time we add to the list? Or do I make a new post every time.

I edit each post until I have ten titles, and then I start a new post with a link to the previous ten.

seen before

first watch

3. Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan.  Still great and still one of the best space battles ever made

4. Star Trek III The Search for Spock.  My wife hated it but at least it gave us Christopher Lloyd's insane Klingon commander.

I'm still watching a documentary I haven't seen before every day for my blog, so I'll just link to those. As for the "normal" movies, well, I'm trying to play a huuuuge game of catch-up, so pretty much every one I watch, I haven't seen before. Please don't judge me.

1. Louis C.K.: Hilarious - The title is perfectly appropriate. This is probably my favorite special of his that I've seen yet.

2. Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain

3. Orgasm Inc.

4. Dive!

5. Leap Year - A queasy, claustrophobic little film. I thought I had a strong stomach but the sexual stuff in here is pretty bracing, although that's due more to emotional intensity than explicitness (although it is really explicit).

6. King Corn

7. Me and You and Everyone We Know - The word "hipster" has been bandied about this film and Miranda July in general. That's bullshit, and not just because "hipster" is an empty, meaningless insult. This film is so sincere and heartfelt it hurts, and the humor and pain is all beautifully, cringingly entwined. Also: )) <> ((

8. Lethal Weapon - Liked it a lot. For some reason, I watched the whole film thinking "the bad guy looks a lot like Gary Busey." I can be stupid sometimes.

9. Bananas!*

10. Ingredients

11. Blue Gold: World Water Wars

12. The Artist - Weightless pap. I really think people only liked this because it dog-whistled to their film appreciation side. It's a bad imitation of a silent film, and says nothing about silent film, film in general, or anything.

13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Loved it. Although is Tomas Alfredson contractually obligated to insert a shitty CGI animal in all his movies?

14. Pariah - A very nice, well-observed movie that rises somewhat above Sundance bait. Here's the problem, though: the main character isn't actually a pariah. There is a pariah in the film, but it's her best friend, who is more intriguing than her and whom I sort of wish the movie had been about. Terrific performances by Adepero Oduye and Pernell Walker.

15. Our Daily Bread

16. Warrior - Probably the movie from last year that I'm most surprised at liking. Great acting elevates it above its painfully, almost willfully cliche nature.

17. The Future of Food

18. The Future - Right now, I might actually like this even more than M&Y&EWK. It made me feel bad over a cat who soliloquizes to the audience in a baby voice, for pete's sake!

19. The Innkeepers - If this movie were scarier, I'd probably love it. Good characters, good production, good humor, and the scares that are in it are so good that I wish it had rattled me more. It doesn't really escalate the tension properly.

20. My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story

21. Weekend - One of the best films from 2011 that no one is talking about. Beautifully acted and written, it's a tender, understated, but absorbing movie. It's a lot like Before Sunrise/Sunset, only with two dudes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiteboy Jones 
8. Lethal Weapon - Liked it a lot. For some reason, I watched the whole film thinking "the bad guy looks a lot like Gary Busey." I can be stupid sometimes.

OK, this did make me laugh. I'm not saying that as an insult; just as a comment.

As I did this last year and had quite a bit of fun with it, I figured I should continue it this year. You can read more thoughts about what I list here throughout the year via the blog linked in my signature.

No Holds Barred: I was able to find a copy of this so for the first time in what may have been 20 years I watched this really cheesy and goofy yet still entertaining film starring Hulk Hogan. Kurt Fuller as the villain was Snidely Whiplash in subtlety, but he did a lot to make the movie as fun as it was. I can tell you I did not remember the characters growling and yelling as much as they did. It seemed to be near-constant throughout.

Showdown in Little Tokyo: I saw this on Encore HD. The picture was certainly better than what you see on the full screen DVD that was released really early in the life of the format. The movie is pretty short and also pretty goofy, yet it's so satisfying if you're an action fun. It's also entertaining.

The Devil Inside: This, however, was not entertaining at all. In fact, I'd rather try out autoerotic asphyxiation than watch that movie again!

22. Helvetica

23. The Pride of the Yankees: Past the halfway point, I couldn't stop wondering when he'd get the damn disease already. Fell pretty flat for me.

24. Tales from Earthsea: There are still a few Studio Ghibli films I haven't seen, but there's no way this isn't the worst. By far. Boring, nonsensical, and empty.

25. Objectified

26. Ball of Fire: Completely unexpected delight. An unsung screwball romantic comedy that I found far better than a lot of the ones considered classics right now *COUGH*BringingUpBaby*COUGH*

27. Terribly Happy: A cool little Coenesque tale of poor decisions, small town insularity, and escalating tension. Not what I expected from the trailer I saw years ago, but in a good way.

28. Urbanized

29. The Guard: I wish there had been more interaction between Gleeson and Cheadle. Otherwise, pretty great. The best bad guy crew in a crime movie for a while.

30. The Parking Lot Movie

31. I Know Where I'm Going!: A lovely little romance. Kind of feels like a modern highland fairy tale.

32. 49th Parallel: The propaganda aspects are so goofy but it's well constructed and fun, even if it runs a bit long.

33. Brief Encounter: Great performances, gorgeous cinematography, a sad and affecting film. Loved it.

34. Live Nude Girls UNITE!

35. Green for Danger: Alistair Sim is so great in this, all sardonic sneer and condescension. It's a pretty nifty mystery, too.

36. Beauty and the Beast 3D: Beautiful animation. Great songs. Niggling subtext.

37. Death by Design

38. Them!: I imagine this scared 1950's people shitless. It's cute now.

39. Brother's Keeper

Can I even remember what I've watched up until now?  Or keep up with it?  I guess I'll try

1. Conan The Barbarian (2011) - Bleah.  I was fine with the guy playing Conan, but I didn't care about the young Conan, and Rachel Nichols as the screaming babe in peril and not an ass kicker?  Ugh.

2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - This will show up many times on this list

3. Hot Tub Time Machine - This will show up many times on this list

4. Attack The Block - Lot of fun watching this.  Wish it had gotten a bigger US release.

5. Mission: Impossible - Just picked up the Blu-Ray and haven't seen it in a while.

6. Eurotrip - A film I feel was undone by the distributors promoting it as a quasi-companion to "Road Trip", to which Todd Phillips completely shit on the film (as he had nothing to do with it).  This movie is really funny.  "Excuse'! Excuse'!"

7. Murder by Death - Hadn't seen it in forever, and it was in my Netflix queue, when suddenly there it was on Encore and had just started.  Couldn't resist.

8. Hall Pass - Holy shit was this awful.  I was amazed at how bad it was.  There were about 2 laughs in the film for us.  Ugh.

9. MST3K - Santa Claus - Funny stuff, and a weird ass take on a Santa story by the Mexican Steven Spielberg.

10. BSG Pilot - Are you kidding me?  Yes, I just started watching BSG this weekend on Netflix with the Pilot--since it was 3 hours total, I figure that's a movie, right?  And yes, it's really good.  My wife came in during the 2nd part of the pilot and watched the rest with me, and was like, "Oh my God, this is awful", referring to the content of what was going on in the show, not that it's a bad show.  She now is hooked in as well.

First 10 films viewed, here:

http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3254226

Theatrical

Home

First Viewing

Rewatch

Jan 27: It Started With a Kiss. Typically screwed-up Eisenhower-era rom-com. See it for the Spanish locations, a grown-up Debbie Reynolds and a pre-Batmobile Lincoln Futura.

Feb 4: The Dark Crystal. If there comes a time when I can watch Kira's sacrifice without losing it just a little, you can bury me because that'll mean I'm dead.

Feb 7: Twentieth Century. You know what today's movies are missing? Comic Irish drunks. Also gals like Carole Lombard letting it all hang out. Perfection.

Feb 7: Pina. The demanding, tactile nature of the dances is a good fit for 3D, if a bit exhausting to watch. I think I'd have preferred a series of short films.

Feb 10: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D. Because dammit George you KNEW I couldn't resist seeing how the post-conversion turned out. I feel cheap.

Feb 15: Haywire. Just enjoying the fact that a movie like this got a shot at the big screen instead of going direct to video. Also, I need to visit Dublin.

Feb 16: Sleepy Hollow. What I'll endure for a little Christina Ricci. Almost totally incoherent.

Feb 18: The Iron Mistress. Jumbled biography of Jim Bowie has some good fights, but the highlight is an early subplot involving James Audubon. Who knew?

Feb 18: Sutro's: The Palace at Land's End.  No-budget, homegrown documentary about San Francisco's most fascinating ruin.

Feb 23: A Trip to Mars (Himmelskibet, 1918). Earthmen discover that the Red Planet is a paradise of pacifism and compassion. Desperately hopeful, but that's 1918 for you.

40. The Eyes of Tammy Faye

41. The Beauty and the Beast: Seeing the Disney version spurred me to check out Cocteau's. Loved it.

42.  American Movie

43. Dark Days

44. Night Moves: In honor of Hackman defeating a car (and it expiring from Instant Watch). Great piece of noir.

45. Haywire: Gina Carano ARRIVES.

46. Candyman: The David Klein Story

47. These Amazing Shadows

48.  Redline: Everything you either love or hate about anime cranked up to a million. Gorgeous to behold and utterly ridiculous.

49.  War Dance

50.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Tonally fucked. If the whole thing were as good as its best parts, it would be one of the greatest animated films ever.

51.  The Other F Word

52.  Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune: The sixties and seventies were just one big parade of kicks in the crotch to progressives, weren't they?

53.  Hell and Back Again

54.  Mulan: I got on a bit of a Disney re-viewing kick. Unquestionably the best heroine the company ever turned out.

55.  Dracula: Besides Lugosi's iconic performance, this movie is really limp and uninteresting.

56.  Shut Up, Little Man! An Audio Misadventure

57.  Awakenings: It's okay. What stuck with me most was realizing that every single drama in the 90's had basically the exact same musical score.

58.  Jazz on a Summer’s Day

59.  Not Quite Hollywood

60.  The Grey: Solid stuff.

61.  Kung-Fu Panda: It was on FX, and I had never watched the whole thing in one sitting before. Besides Prince of Egypt, probably Dreamworks' best cartoon so far.

62.  The Celluloid Closet

Super 8: I finally saw this on Blu-Ray. The stuff with the kids interacting with each other... pretty cool. The rest of it, not so much. The ending, what a pile of crap it was. Maybe if I saw this as a kid I would think it was rad. As I didn't, though, I thought this paled in comparison to the similar Attack the Block. At least it had a bitchin' train derailment, though.

Project A: I wish I could have seen it subtitled and the original cut instead of the cut you got in the U.S. and have it be dubbed. Despite all that, the movie is still wildly entertaining, and boy did Jackie Chan and some of the stuntmen take some horrendous-looking falls, and I mean horrendous as in they looked like they hurt themselves pretty bad.

The Long Riders: I saw this for the first time in a few years, and it's still a bloody good time... not to mention pretty bloody in general.

Red Tails: The actors were fine, some of the hoary cliches still work, and the action was entertaining. If only the script and situations didn't seem to come straight out of a 1940's World War II movie that was made during World War II. At least Lucas has moved on from 1930's serials.

Dark of the Sun: An undeservedly obscure late 60's movie set in Africa where some mercenaries (including Rod Taylor and Jim Brown) have to retrieve some diamonds from rebel territory. It's great fun and pretty violent for the time.

Seen it

Never seen it

Theatrical

Feburary 2012

20.  Big Trouble in Little China - Mashing up genres a good fifteen years before it was fashionable.  Lot of fun in the Watch Along thread too.

21.  Chronicle - Did some really clever things with the found footage tropes, and it's a more likely outcome of teens getting super-powers than, "Gee, I'll be a hero!"

22.  American Scary - Was feeling nostalgic for some of the old horror movie hosts of my childhood, and this scratched that itch rather nicely.

23.  Raiding the Lost Ark - Exhaustively researched fan-made annotated version of Raiders.  Have to admit, there was a good handful of things I learned that I never knew before.

24.  Pulp Fiction - Still amazes me that Travolta was considered the revelation here when Jackson just owns him.

25.  Reservoir Dogs - I still think I prefer this to Pulp Fiction.  Pulp's definitely a film by a director who's grown, but Dogs just feels more focused, and I think it uses the non-linear storytelling to better effect.  I wonder how this film would play if we don't find out Orange is a cop until White does.

26.  Alien - Noticed an interesting theme this time around:  the machines (Ash and Mother) very often are shown telling the humans what they can't do, or what their limits are.

27.  King Kong vs. Godzilla - I always liked how this film treated the two monsters more as forces of nature to be weathered as opposed to giant super-heroes.

28.  The Atomic Cafe - This never ceases to be equal parts hilarious and horrifying.  I suppose the cheesiness was the only way to deal with the very real threat of atomic death looming over us.

29.  Reel Injun - A real eye-opener, not only because of the perspectives offered up, but because of the handful of films it made me want to see.

30.  American Grindhouse - Not up to the standard set by Not Quite Hollywood, but still fun just for the enthusiasm of the talking heads and the fun of the clips.

31.  An Englishman in New York - I've always loved the Sting song, but never knew much about Quentin Crisp himself.  John Hurt is really terrific here, and if the film hits a few obvious notes, his presence keeps things going.

Seen Before

first viewing

Slight miscalculation above so we start from 3.

3.   Return to Oz :-  Much darker than I remember but a cracking movie.

4.   Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. Still great and still one of the best space battles ever made

5.   Star Trek III The Search for Spock. My wife hated it but at least it gave us Christopher Lloyd's insane Klingon commander

6.   Star Trek: First Contact: -  The only good TNG flick, has aged pretty well.

7.   Richie Rich :  Why God, Why? - I have no real Idea why I watched this pile of crap

8.   Stand By Me:   A great film, probably my favorite of Kings Films.

9.   Jurrasic Park:  Impulse Blu Ray purchase and I'm glad to say it's still amazing

10.  Cocktail: I suspect this film launched the careers of a million Caribbean bartenders but not as bad as I thought it would be.  Brian Brown is the MVP in this movie though without a doubt.

11.  Carry on Loving:  One of the few Carry On, flicks I hadn't seen.  Not the best of them by far but still an enjoyable bit of nostalgic cheeky-ness.

12. Fast Five:  Should have watched this a lot sooner - this is the kind of film I want the Rock to do - good times.

First Viewing

Rewatch

Theatrical

DVD

Online

January - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3255689

 21. I LOVE YOU TO DEATH (1990) - decided to watch this after reading a post in the forum where someone mentions it was one of the few non-awful William Hurt roles. He actually isn't that bad in it either, but the rest of the film is so hateful. Just a chore to watch - from River Phoenix's bizarre performance to whatever it was Joan Plowright was doing

 22. BUGSY MALONE (1976) - I think I appreciated the idea behind this film (kids as gangsters played totally straight) than enjoyed it. I'm surprised the gimmick hasn't been aped recently outside of a music video or two.
 23. COWBOYS & ALIENS (2011) - great cast, interesting premise, competent director, pretty cinematography. How is this such a dull and forgettable movie. Not outright bad, just forgettable... although I think I would have preferred outright bad

 23.      UNITED 93      (2006) - I dont know if seeing this years after it's release, after the glut of shakey-cam copy-cats diluted the power of Grengrasses technique, but it failed to draw me in as much as I had assumed/heard it would. Still, powerful filmmaking, just not the tour de force I was hoping for from the talent behind BLOODY SUNDAY
 24.      TORQUE      (2004) - seeked this out to see the CHUD classic (and based on the buzz for DETENTION). Totally gonzo, the best directed awful movie I can think of. Did any of the cast besides Adam Scott know what they were making?
 25.      LAWRENCE          OF        ARABIA    (19 62) - Oh My. Being a cretin this was the first time I've seen this beaut, but it's reputation as a true epic is fully earned. Really can't overstate how much I enjoyed it from start to finish!
 26.    THE      THREE     MUSKETEER S   (2011) - umm... why? A straight adaptation of Dumas with this cast (and a competent director) would have been aces. Instead we get Mila-slowmo and sub-PIRATES air ship nonsense
 27.   IN    TIME  (2011) - I've got a soft spot for Andrew Niccol's brand of slightly interesting Sci Fi flicks, and this matched up with his standards. A game cast and some interesting ideas make up for some groan-worthy effects and, maybe worse, puns.
 28.  REAL  STEEL (2011)  - mostly harmless. My love for all things ROCKY, as well as a strong performance by Jackman made this more watchable than "Shaun Levy's Rock'em Sock'em Robots" has any right being.

 29. THE ARTIST (2011) - the hype kinda killed this for me. It's charming and inoffensive with a star making lead performance. I'd hate to see it being brought up with the CRASH and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE's of the world, but such has become its lot in life.

 30. HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941) - notorious Oscar stealer. I think I found it odder than most would, what with the jarring accents and twee-ness of the whole thing

 31. THE ISLAND (2005) -

March - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3287587

April - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3301080

Link to first post: http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3254586

First Viewing

Rewatch

12. Drive

13. The Ides of March

14. A Dangerous Method

15. 2011/12 Oscar Nominated Shorts

16. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo(2011)

17. Hanna

18. Magic Trip

19. The Hunger Games

20. Good Burger

21. Sucker Punch

22. Mad Max

* if I had already seen the film

1. STRANGE DAYS (1995; Kathryn Bigelow)*

2. WHO'S MINDING THE MINT? (1967; Howard Morris)*

3. DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1932; Rouben Mamoulian)

4. SUPERMAN (1978; Richard Donner)*

5. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011; David Fincher)

6. ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS (1964; Gordon Douglas)

7. THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933; James Whale)*

8. DEMONOID (1981; Alfred Zacharias)

9. THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE (1940; Jack Hively)*

10. FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (1991; Garry Marshall)

11. THE INVENTION OF LYING (2009; Ricky Gervais & Matthew Robinson)

12. THE SCARLET CLAW (1944; Roy William Neill)

13. THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (1941; A. Edward Sutherland)

14. PAYCHECK (2003; John Woo)*

15. THE HOLLYWOOD KNIGHTS (1980; Floyd Mutrux)

16. THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940; Joe May)*

17. A STUDY IN TERROR (1965; James Hill)

18. SOURCE CODE (2011; Duncan Jones)

19. THE BLACK CAT (1934; Edgar G. Ulmer)*

20. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2011; Matthew Vaughn)

21. MONEYBALL (2011; Bennett Miller)

22. MODESTY BLAISE (1966; Joseph Losey)*

23. HAYWIRE (2012; Steven Soderbergh)

24. INVISIBLE AGENT (1942; Edwin L. Marin)

25. ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1933; Erle C. Kenton)*

26. THE GREY (2012; Joe Carnahan)

27. UNKNOWN (2011; Jaume Collet-Serra)

28. IRON MAN 2 (2010; Jon Favreau)*

29. DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? (2005; Dario Argento)

30. THE FUNHOUSE (1981; Tobe Hooper)

31. THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943; Mark Robson)

32. THE VOW (2012; Michael Sucsy)

33. OUTRAGE (2010; Takeshi Kitano)

34. THE HUMAN MONSTER / THE DARK EYES OF LONDON (1939; Walter Summers)

35. WHAT'S UP, DOC? (1972; Peter Bogdanovich)*

36. HELP! (1965; Richard Lester)*

37. A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1942; Irving Reis)

38. BUSTING (1974; Peter Hyams)*

39. CODE OF SILENCE (1985; Andrew Davis)

40. MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (1967; The Beatles)*

41. THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES (1939; Alfred L. Werker)

42. THE LOVE WE MAKE (2011; Bradley Kaplan & Albert Maysles)

43. VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (2008; Woody Allen)

44. THE FALCON STRIKES BACK (1943; Edward Dmytryk)

45. FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1972; Dario Argento)*

46. BULLDOG DRUMMOND IN AFRICA (1938; Louis King)

47. LOS MONSTRUOS DEL TERROR / ASSIGNMENT TERROR (1970; Tulio Demicheli)

48. RED STATE (2011; Kevin Smith)

49. BULLDOG DRUMMOND ESCAPES (1937; James P. Hogan)*

50. BABY SNAKES (1979; Frank Zappa)

51. ALIEN (1979; Ridley Scott)*

52. THE RETURN OF BULLDOG DRUMMOND (1934; Walter Summers)

53. BONE (1972; Larry Cohen)

54. ARREST BULLDOG DRUMMOND! (1939; James P. Hogan)

55. BULLDOG DRUMMOND AT BAY (1937; Norman Lee)

56. THE HUNGER GAMES (2012; Gary Ross)

57. THE LAST BOY SCOUT (1991; Tony Scott)*

58. TRANCERS (1985; Charles Band)

59. IT'S ALIVE (1974; Larry Cohen)*

60. THE FICTION-MAKERS (1968; Roy Ward Baker)

61. THE DESCENDANTS (2011; Alexander Payne)

62. THE HOUSE OF FEAR (1945; Roy William Neill)

63. THE DELTA FORCE (1986; Menahem Golan)

64. CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL (2011; Alex Stapleton)

65. THE SAINT'S VACATION (1941; Leslie Fenton)

66. SUSPIRIA (1977; Dario Argento)*

67. BLUE, WHITE AND PERFECT (1942; Herbert I. Leeds)

68. THE CHANGE-UP (2011; David Dobkin)

69. HERCULES (1958; Pietro Francisci)

70. FFOLKES (1980; Andrew V. McLaglen)*

71. THE SAINT MEETS THE TIGER (1943; Paul L. Stein)

72. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987; John Glen)*

73. PERFECT STRANGERS (1984; Larry Cohen)

74. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011; Joe Johnston)*

75. THE AVENGERS (2012; Joss Whedon)

76. THE CASE OF THE LUCKY LEGS (1935; Archie Mayo)

77. HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959; Pietro Francisci)

78. THE DANCE OF DEATH (1960; Jacques Nahum)

MASTERS OF HORROR (TV series):

DREAMS IN THE WITCH-HOUSE (2005; Stuart Gordon)

CIGARETTE BURNS (2005; John Carpenter)

PICK ME UP (2006; Larry Cohen)

JENIFER (2005; Dario Argento)

PELTS (2006; Dario Argento)

91.  The Woman: Dark and disturbing and upsetting in all the best ways. I liked it a lot.

92.  A Huey Newton Story

93.  Classified X

94.  On the Shoulders of Giants

95.  Black Is… Black Ain’t

96.  Hulk: I hadn't seen it before. I kinda admire it as a ridiculously ambitious failure, but it's still a really bad failure. The dissonance between the comicky sensibility and how damn po-faced and slow it is is just too much.

97.  Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary

98.  Down Terrace

99.  Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement

100. OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies: Unlike The Artist, with this film Hazanavicius completely knows what he's doing and what he's parodying. I loved it.

101. The Interrupters: Just as powerful on a second viewing, even edited down for television airing.

102. X-Men: First Class: Guys, this is the best X-Men movie. I'm sorry, but it is.

103. Tongues Untied

104. Lipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar

105. Death Race 2000: I giggled with delight the whole way through. It ends with a man becoming president after assassinating the old one. Also it's nice/scary that "France is the enemy" jokes are still relevant.

106. Beetlejuice: It turns out Burton was doing his worst way before he grew stale, because everything bad about him is here. Narratively fucked and really uninvolving. And Beetlejuice is hardly in it!

107. Waiting for Hockney

108. Darwin’s Nightmare

109. The Secret World of Arrietty

110. (500) Days of Summer: I watched it again for some reason. Doesn't hold up to much close scrutiny.

I gotta ask:  are you actually able to enjoy these movies watching them at that pace?

Yup. Of course, it helps that I currently have absolutely nothing else to do. My pace'll slow down in the Spring, once I move to the city and get a real job and have people to hang out with and whatnot.

The Grey: It's a movie I enjoyed from beginning to end; yep, I'm one of those people who enjoyed how it ended. And holy shit what a plane crash.

Slaughter's Big Rip-Off: I really wish that when MGM released it on DVD they would have licensed out the original James Brown score and not have replaced it with generic funk, but otherwise it was wildly entertaining. Jim Brown literally bitch-slaps someone with a porn 'stache, and where else will you hear (but not see) ED MCMAHON-yes, he's the bad guy-have a sex scene, and him moaning as if he's going to bust a nut? Also, the recently passed away Dick Anthony Williams (playing a pimp named Joe Creole) was deliciously over the top with his performance.

Star Wars Episode 1 in 3D: I know, I know... don't worry, I dislike the prequels like everyone here does. But I had to see it on the a giant screen and I went to the midnight debut, meaning I was around a bunch of Star Wars Nerds, many of whom were literally dressed like Jedi and carrying around toy light sabers. That was certainly more interesting than the movie and how aside from the depth of field stuff the 3D wasn't all that interesting.

Psycho: Unfortunately, it's the '98 version. I hadn't seen it since I saw it on the big screen 13 years ago. Yep, it is still a colossally bad idea and a big waste of time. Sad to say this was likely the first-ever R-rated film I saw in a theatre on my own once I turned 17! I screwed up with that choice, that's for sure.

I talk about it a lot more in my signature but I recently came across a bizarre time capsule of a TV pilot known as Best of Times, which is accurately described as a Laugh-In style show starring and for teenagers and it's real interesting as it has some faces that became famous in later years: an 18 year old Jill Schoelen (yep, she still was hot back then), and a tremendous duo of acting greatness who sadly never acted together in any scenes... Crispin Glover AND the guy known back then as Nicolas Coppola but now known as NIC CAGE. Holy shit is it ever hilarious watching it 31 years after the fact; I'll just say it's real easy to find with a little searching. The highlights include:

Jackie Mason (he plays the owner of a 7-11 store) and Crispin having a conversation over the Talking Heads (!!) and the song Houses in Motion. You actually hear that song play and it turns out, Jackie Mason is really not a fan of the new wave music scene.

Some musical numbers, including a disco version of Pat Benetar's Heartbreaker.

One of the teenagers is a 14 year old girl who hangs out with older teenaged boys in a band and they drive around in a 70's van. I swear this is true.

Nic Cage pretty much acts the same way now as he did back then. He even briefly DANCES and it is as incredible as you'd imagine.

Crispin asks his lady friend Jill out on a date, and no shit he gets put in the FRIEND ZONE. See, that concept didn't get invented in the past year or two. It's always been around.

Am I ever happy I found that video, as my mind was blown at all the amazing sights I saw.

Viewings 11-20 here:

http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3267793

Theatrical

Home

First Viewing

Rewatch

Feb 24: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (3D). Whether or not Walden Media actually has a religious agenda, Vanessa Hudgens in khaki shorts is proof of a benevolent god.

Feb 24: High Treason. In the not-too-distant future year of 1950, profiteers conspire to start... a second World War! Does the Peace League have the guts to stop them?

Feb 24: The Secret World of Arrietty. Incredibly sweet and not a little sad. Familiar territory for Ghibli but there never can be enough movies about brave little girls.

Feb 25: Murder, He Says. Legitimately insane comedy with a rare slapstick performance from Fred MacMurray. Some brilliant FX work too.

Feb 28: 2011 Oscar-Nominated Live-Action Shorts. Liked Time Freak and Tuba Atlantic best, but Ciarán Hinds is wonderful in The Shore. Which is good because...

Feb 28: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is a complete waste of his talents. And if I'm going to watch post-converted 3D I'd rather it look amusingly bad than simple and dull.

March 6: Blondie Johnson. Joan Blondell beats big-time gangsters at their own game in a sexy, fast-paced and well-plotted little Pre-Code adventure.

March 6: Ladies of the Big House. Another Pre-Code crime flick, this time with the stunning Sylvia Sidney. Also with the awesome Louise Beavers, and not as a maid either.

March 10: John Carter (3D). There might be a brisk, intelliigent 90-minute movie in here somewhere, but it wouldn't have any of the cool parts. Conundrum.

March 17: Bring It On. A modern classic. And I totally forgot that the presence of the Clovers makes this an ideal St Patrick's Day movie.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiteboy Jones 

124. The Lady Eve: I thought I didn't like screwball comedies, but it turns out I was just watching the wrong ones. 

I do hope this means you'll be seeing Ball of Fire and The Palm Beach Story soon.

LOVED Ball of Fire. I don't know when I'll get around to The Palm Beach Story.

Also recommended, at the risk of derailing: Midnight and Easy Living.

Seen it

Never seen it

Theatrical

March 2012

32.  Gojira no Gyakushu (Godzilla Raids Again) - This ... this really wasn't very good.  Hardly any monster action, what little there was over far too quickly (Godzilla defeats Anguiras about halfway through), and more about the intricacies of Japanese post-war commercial fishing than I ever wanted to know.

33.  Goldfinger - Maybe should have watched You Only Live Twice considering what preceded it, but I was in the mood for that blaring trumpet and some Shirely Bassey.

34.  The Towering Inferno - They could remake this with the two biggest, most bankable stars Hollywood has today and it would be a pale shadow to the sheer charisma oozing out of Newman and McQueen.

35.  Mosura tai Gojira (Mothra vs. Godzilla) - Much better ratio of monster action to people, but Mothra has never struck me as all that viable an opponent for Godzilla.  Still, miles ahead of Godzilla Raids Again.

36.  Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster - Man did American distributors treat these films like crap.  Nonsensical edits abound.  And for all the spectacle of the big Toho monsters teaming up for the first time, it's the beginning of the turn towards camp:  it's the first outwardly goofy Godzilla costume, and the three monsters actually sit and have a conversation about fighting Ghidorah.

37.  Drive - Great piece of modern noir, but I think we need to calm down a little with the Best Picture talk.  The cinematography was certainly award-worthy though, and the "Oh My Love" sequence is fantastic.

38.  Kaiju Daisenso (Invastion of the Astro-Monster) - Next to King Kong vs. Godzilla, this may be my favorite of the 1960s Godzilla films.  It's pretty much Ghidorah all over again, but much more over the top and imaginative.

39.  John Carter - More fun than any of the advertising managed to let on.

40.  Boogie Nights - Man was Burt Reynolds robbed that year.

41.  Labyrinth - I'm trying to figure out who Luco reminds me of more, Terry Gilliam or Neil from The Young Ones.  I really think this film missed the boat by having such an instantly-dated score.  Trevor Jones can do some amazing orchestral stuff (see his Dark Crystal score), and this film needed that.  Still, it's worth it for the wit of Terry Jones' screenplay and the combined imaginations of Jim Henson and Brian Froud.

42.  Jeff, Who Lives at Home - Really enjoyed this.  Segel, Helms and Sarandon are all great, and if some of the revelations can be figured out in advance, it's not a film about the revelations so much as how the characters react to them.

43.  The Departed - Really wasn't feeling it this time around.  Was slightly distracted, but if this was, say GoodFellas, there would have been no distractions.

44.  Robocop - Watching the extended cut, this would get such an easy R today.

45.  Zulu - Hands down one of my favorite movies of all time.  The "Men of Harlech" sequence is just perfect.

46.  Back to the Future - Saw this with a great crowd which was completely into it.  Laughed, clapped and cheered at all the right moments.

47.  The Hunger Games - Not weighty enough for how seriously it takes itself.  A more visceral tone might have helped, but the most interesting characters are the people not even playing the game.

Seen before

never seen

13. The Green Hornet.  A really nice concept that basically fell flat on it's face.

14.  Blade Runner: The Director's Cut.   I have seen Blade Runner before but not the directors cut.  Call me crazy but I prefer the original version with the 40's dectective style voiceover.

15. Point Break - still a great movie

16. The Lost World - not as good as the first one but still a fun flick

17. Batman Year one:  This film proves my point perfectly as to why all Superhero flicks shoudl not be grim and gritty.

18.  The Muppets.  God bless you Jason Seagal you made my year :)

First Viewing

Rewatch

Theatrical

DVD

Online

January - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3255689

February - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3275902

 32. GHOSTBUSTERS 2 (1989) - it has a bad rep for not being as good as the first GB, which is unfair as so few things in life are.

 33. PLUNKETT & MACLEANE (1999) - Craig Armstrong is the star of this very minor little movie.

 34. CEMETERY JUNCTION (2010) -

 35. CANDYMAN (1992) -

 36. BRAIN DAMAGE (1988) -

 37. BURIAL GROUND: THE NIGHTS OF TERROR (1981) -

 38. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) -

 39. CHROMOPHOBIA (2005) - a dull, boring slog of a movie. The only reason I stayed with it was, with that cast, SOMETHING had to happen at some point.

 40. MILK (2008) -

 41.  THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY   (2005) - a 'mostly harmless' (guffaw) adaptation where an almost perfect cast (still not sold on Mos Def) fail to make Douglas Adams's words sing.

 42.   NEVER   BACK DOWN  (2008) - I don't know why I bothered. Djimon Hounsou is normally terrific to watch but in this he's just some bored Miagi wannabe. Amber Heard is her usual pretty self, but every other human person is just annoying to watch. Should have re-watched WARRIOR

 43.  THE LADYKILLERS  (2004) - it gets some shit for being poor, but if this was by anyone but the Coen's it would be much better received. J.K. Simmons has the most fun, though his IBS bits were a damp fart

 44. EARTHQUAKE (1974) - such a boring film. Couldn't care for any of the characters at all and hoped they all would have died. The whole thing looked like it was made from stock footage...

 45. JOHN CARTER (2012) - I was totally swept away by JC, it's flawed but I love how it wears its epicness on its sleeve

 46. THE HUNGER GAMES (2012) - The highest praise I can give the film is that it made me want to check out the books. Across the board great performances and solid direction (although too much shaky-cam)

 47. THE LOOKOUT (2007) - disappointing. A handsomely made but frustratingly erratic film where great performances all round (Goode is the MVP for me) can't hide how all over the place the story is.

 49. THE PRINCESS DIARIES (2001) - I don't know why... it was on in the background and Julie Andrews classed the mediocre thing up quite a bit.

April - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3301080

Viewings 21-30 here:

http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3281063

Theatrical

Home

First Viewing

Rewatch

Mar 18 (completed): Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film. A 13-part documentary that should be required of any dedicated film lover. Too bad it's still not on DVD.

Mar 20: Friends With Kids. I think Jennifer Westfeldt would have a bigger career if she didn't look and sound like a cross between Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow.

Mar 24: Jeff, Who Lives at Home. I'm so done with the Duplass' micro-zoom camera style. Let the actors act! At least they've learned how to light them; Sarandon is lovely here.

Mar 25: Mirror, Mirror. Terrifically entertaining. Nice to see that Tarsem's visuals can be just as baroque and wild in PG-13, and the storytelling's strong too.

Mar 29: Wayne's World. I don't care if the kids today don't get the Grey Poupon joke, I refuse to accept that this movie is 20 years old.

Mar 31: Napoleon (2004 restoration). I'm sorry, that should read..

NAPOLEON. Once-in-a-lifetime limited engagement at the Oakland Paramount. Full symphony orchestra, three-screen finale, 3000 seats sold-out. Tied with Metropolis for cinematic event of the decade.

Apr 3: Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Charming documentary about Japan's oldest three-star chef. Hungry now.

Apr 5: ¡Three Amigos! Disappointing digital presentation with murky red tones. The real attraction here was a Q&A with the Landises. And I forgot how good Martin Short is in this.

Apr 13: Titanic (3D). About as impressive a post-conversion as I'd expect from Cameron, though not glitch-free. The movie itself still accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do.

Apr 13: The Cabin In the Woods. Brilliant, awesome, hilarious, with some authentic scares mixed in.

First Time

Rewatch

Theater

Since the start of 2012, out of 4 stars.

Midnight Cowboy-****, groundbreaking film, not much that hasn't been already said.

The Graduate-***1/2, watched it for the second time, thought it was still very good but was less impressed than the first time I saw it, Visuals still blew me away however.

The Landlord-***, Funky first film from Hal Ashby, Shades of things to come from Shampoo and Harold and Maude.

8 1/2-***, Liked it but didn't love it, understand its place in history but couldn't bring myself around to it like I maybe should have.

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry-***1/2, Liked this one a lot, a B movie to be sure but a lot of fun to be had for sure.

Harold and Maude-**1/2 bordering on ***, I guess I liked it, more for the absurdist humor than anything.

About Schmidt-***1/2-Best thing Nicholson's done since Terms of Endearment.

Blue Collar-***1/2-Forgotten gem from Paul Schrader, really pegs down working class life.

Hud-****, Great film, it's like Five Easy Pieces meets Last Picture Show.

Repo Man-***-Possibly Emilio Estevez's greatest performance.

Memento-****, Guy Pearce needs more great roles like these.

Brick-***1/2, One of the better films of the last 10 years, JGL is a star in the making.

Three O'Clock High-***1/2, Surprisingly hilarious 80's gem, nice Phillip Baker Hall sighting.

Sideways-***, Alexander Payne's most awarded work is actually my least favorite, still like it a lot though.

Straight Time-****, Dustin Hoffman's masterpiece, Possibly the greatest character study ever.

Serpico-****, Most people would chose Dog Day Afternoon or The Godfather as Pacino's Magnum Opus but for me it's Serpico.

The Player-***1/2, Great satire about the Hollywood power game.

The Matador-***, Fun little hitman comedy, Kinnear and Brosnan are excellent. 

Alien-***1/2, finally saw this, my favorite "blockbuster" film.

A History of Violence-***, Found some of the stuff with the high school bully overdone but William Hurt saves this flick from being an average revenge thriller.

Used Cars-***, very funny film in the vein of Caddyshack and Stripes.

Hardcore-**1/2, didn't hold up as well on second viewing.

Bad Lieutenant-***, One of Harvey Keitel's best performances, one of the more depraved films I've seen.

A Serious Man-****, I was blown away with this film, The Coens have outdone themselves again.

Who's That Knocking at My Door-****, This may be my favorite Scorsese film, perfectly capturing bored, aimless 20-somethings.

Mean Streets-****, This and WTKAMD to me are Scorsese in his purest form, best use of source music ever.

Deliverance-***1/2

Point Blank-****, Gets better with every viewing.

Rio Bravo-***1/2, The Duke and Dean at their very best.

Nashville-****, you find something new after every viewing.

The Long Goodbye-****, Elliott Gould, nuff said.

In Cold Blood-****, what a madman this movie is, one of the bleakest endings ever.

Heat-****, best ensemble cast ever, best shootout ever.

Underworld USA-**1/2- lesser Sam Fuller.

Unfaithfully Yours-***1/2, Preston Sturges can do no wrong in my book,

Melvin and Howard-****, Paul Le Mat is so under-appreciated, Demme's masterpiece. 

Something Wild-***1/2- Ray Fucking Liotta.

Last Embrace-****, Demme made a better Hitchcock film than De Palma ever did.

Targets-***, Peter Bogdanovich, what the F happened? Your ass used to be beautiful.

Pulp Fiction-****

Sweet Smell of Success-***, About as bleak as old hollywood got.

Big Lebowski-****, have watched 3 times in last 3 months, never gets old.

No Country for Old Men-****, fully deserved Best Picture.

There Will Be Blood-***1/2- My least favorite PT Anderson but still love every minute of it.

Breathless-****, One of the few foreign films I can watch more than once.

Breathless (1983 remake)-***, underrated Gere performance.

Seventh Seal-**1/2-I just couldn't find an interest in it, I know it's a classic but I lost interest too many times.

Killing of a Chinese Bookie-****, Cassavettes masterpiece.

His Girl Friday-***1/2

I Married a Witch-**, too silly for my liking.

Drive-***, I dug it, Brooks and Perlman really shined.

The Artist-***, saw it 3 times liked it less each time.

The Descendants-****, should have won Best Picture IMO.

Carnage-****, saw it twice, best comedy in a few years.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy-**1/2, Frankly was bored by it, except for Tom Hardy's parts which were interesting.

Ministry of Fear-**1/2, lesser Lang.

Scarlet Street-****, IMO the greatest Noir ever.

Human Desire-**1/2, Lesser Lang and too chessy.

The Woman in the Window-***, I liked Scarlet Street with the same cast better.

Morocco-**

Shanghai Express-***

Blonde Venus-***1/2, Early Cary Grant/Dietrich vehicle was actually pretty entertaining.

House of Games-****

Falcon and the Snowman-***1/2, My favorite Sean Penn Performance.

Goodfellas-****, never gets old.

Probably missed a few but this was my first 3 months of 2012 living OCD.

Spirit of Evil (Viy): I heard about this Soviet Union horror movie from the late 60's on another site, so I was able to track it down for a viewing. It's light in tone and has quite a bit of humor, but it's also creepy. That site compared it to Raimi and that isn't the worst comparison I have heard. There are also some insane camerawork that seems a lot more modern than 1967. I wouldn't have minded more horror action but what you do see, it delivered.

Punisher: War Zone: Yes the movie is rather wacky and over the top and violent and bloody and shit. As I could not care less about it being true to the comics or that crap (as I am not a comic book fan) I enjoyed it for the cheesy entertainment it is. I also appreciate the interesting uses of color in the film.

Act of Valor: It might as well be called AMERICA: FUCK YEAH! THE MOVIE in terms of being smart or subtle, and the non-actors perform about as well as you'd expect, but it's still a satisfactory-enough time and the action was at least fun to watch and not poor in quality.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: It may be that I was a huge Turtles fan as a kid but I thought this was still fine as an adult. At least it wasn't stupid and too dumbed down for kids, and it was dark in nature which was good. And Lord knows this will be 1,000 times better than the abomination that the Platinum Dunes shitfest will be.

The Godfather Saga: Yep, I saw all 10 hours of it on AMC earlier in the month. It was nice to see but the way those stories in the two movies was preferable to having it done in chronological order.

Frontier(s): It has been a long time since I have gotten as mad at a movie as I did this. This French horror film is a riff on the TCM idea, except that ALL of the characters are loathsome in the way that they act in general and to their supposed buddies, especially the protagonists. The villains are almost more likable, which is a horrible thing to say when you find out what the villains exactly are. Avoid at all costs.

Marked for Death: Ahhh, this is more my speed, a cheesy but still great action programmer, possibly Seagal's best, and him and Keith David are awesome as a duo.

Chronicle: This was quite a bit better than what I expected. It wasn't teenybopper crap but instead a smart and mature take on the superhero origin story involving teenagers and also made the found footage thing seem fresh due to how it was filmed. I am glad I ended up seeing it on the big screen.

Hamburger: The Motion Picture: Yes, this is a real movie. It's a typical 80's sex comedy except that not only is it pretty poor in general, but there are some strange moments, such as Dick Butkus being the villain, "humor" like an old woman having a heart attack be the punch line of a scene, characters with names like Nacio Hero Zipser, Lyman Vunk, and Magneto Jones, and a subplot where a nerd gets turned into someone with the mind of a chicken by a mad scientist. I have no idea why; I'll just blame it on everyone being on coke at the time. I didn't really like it (and this was the second time I have seen it!) but you Randi Brooks fans will be glad to know she has a small role and not only does she speak like Madeline Khan in Blazing Saddles, but-shock of shocks-she appears topless.

Casa de mi Padre: Even though I'm in the minority and have never found Will Ferrell to be all that funny, I still went and saw this due to how strange the premise was of a Spanish-language subtitled film that's in the style of telenovelas. Well, the idea was fine... problem was, I didn't think it was all that funny. A bunch of humor coming from awkward moments and the joke going on for too long being the punchline... no thank you. It didn't help that Old Will's character was sometimes real not likable at all, which was a big turn off. At least I did laugh at the comedy revolving around this being an old low-budget production (obviously fake backdrops and props and that sort of thing) and the opening credits are the best part of the film.... at least besides the lovely Genesis Rodriguez.

Seen before

never seen

19 Morning Glory:  God help me but I enjoyed this film - Harrison Ford being a grumpy old man really made it for me.

20. Carry on Again Doctor:  A bit half baked this one, but a nice send off to Jim Dale (as this was his last movie in the series). 

21. Carry on at your Convenience:   Nice to see Hattie Jaques in a role other than "Matron" but you can see why it tanked. (The only Carry on Film ever to do so), as it pokes fun at it's biggest demographic.

22. Megamind:  I love this flick. Dig the concept and the voice cast do a great job.

23. Star Trek: Insurrection:  Not as good as I remember but a lot better than people give it credit for.

Saw In Theaters

Saw At Home

1. The Myth of the American Sleepover – I’d seen this show up on a few top 10 lists for 2011, so I thought I’d check it out. It’s okay. It gets the tone of adolescence right, even if the situations seem a bit ridiculous. It has a timeless universalism that makes it very relatable.
2. Louis C.K.: Hilarious – I mean, it’s Louis C.K., so you know it’s funny. It’s not my favorite special of his though. It hurts that I’ve heard a lot of the really great stuff from other smaller bits.
3. The Baxter – It’s a great concept. You know that guy who is always left at the altar in romantic comedies while the hero gets the girl? What happens to that guy? That seems to have been the pitch for this movie, and it’s a great pitch. Great idea, great cast, mediocre movie. They don’t really commit to the concept, and it plays out a little too much like a standard rom-com. It’s at its best when it’s getting laughs from small, zany character moments, but it doesn’t do that nearly enough.
4. Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs The New York Knicks – I got the first half of the 30 For 30 documentaries for Christmas, and this is the first one I decided to watch. It’s great. It hammers home the rivalry between the two teams, and perfectly captures one of the more dramatic playoff series in recent memory. The characters involved (Reggie, Cheryl Miller, Spike Lee, etc.) are all kind of jokesters, so it produces its fair share of funny moments too. Really enjoyed it.
5. No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson – I was a bit disappointed in this one, especially coming off of Winning Time. I’ve always been an Iverson fan, and Steve James directed Hoop Dreams, an all-time great documentary. There’s some fascinating material here, but James leans a bit too heavily on his hometown connection, and the narration is a bit clunky. It’s still pretty interesting though, and pulls off the tricky job of being even-handed in a very divisive issue.
6. Guru of Go – I thought this was fascinating, but I’ve always been kind of fascinated by Paul Westhead and his crazy system. The story of this crazy team, the tragic death of Hank Gathers, the surprise run in the tournament, and the left-handed tribute free throw is one of the best stories in sports history, and I think the doc did it justice.
7. Silly Little Game – I wanted to like it a whole lot more than I did. The silly reenactments really were pretty terrible. There’s a really interesting story here, and some of the interviews are great, but they bungled the execution.
8. June 17, 1994 – As someone who isn’t old enough to clearly remember the OJ Simpson madness, this was a fascinating documentary for me, and it does a great job of putting you back in that moment. Really great, maybe my favorite of the “30 for 30” series so far.
9. The Legend of Jimmy the Greek – Another fun little documentary about something I had no knowledge of (you know, on account of not being born at the time). With the prominence of gambling, poker and betting lines today, it’s interesting to look back and see how that worked its way into the mainstream media.
10. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – I think I’m putting this one in the “very good, but not great” category. It’s a really well-made film, and full to the brim with great performances. In a lot of ways, it’s the antithesis of the modern spy thriller. There are no explosions, no gunfights, no shakycam, just pure intrigue and deception, and it’s still compelling. The always brilliant Gary Oldman is better than ever in the lead role.
11. 50/50 – Maybe Seth Rogan’s best role to date (which makes sense, since he’s basically playing himself). This movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so there’s no way I wasn’t going to like it. That said, it’s a really funny movie, and the leads really feel like best friends.
12. Muhammed and Larry – Another fascinating documentary about a sports event I’m too young to know much about. Holmes and Ali are such fascinating subjects that all you really needed was to point a camera at them and let them go.
13. Chronicle – Loved it, loved it, loved it. The first half of the movie is so true to the characters, such a genuine depiction of what might happen if 3 ordinary kids got superpowers. The joy as they discover what they can do (one scene in particular. If you’ve seen it, you know) just jumps off the screen, it took me back to pretending I was a superhero in my backyard. So good, definitely one I’ll be buying. My one nitpick: the found footage gimmick worked well enough, but I wish they’d dropped it about halfway through.
14. Beetlejuice – Why isn’t there more Beetlejuice in this movie? Michael Keaton kills it every time he’s on-screen, I wish there’d been more of him. Even so, this movie is a lot of fun. It’s from before Tim Burton had the budget to make his every whim come to pass, and you can see the creativity on display. It feels more original, more vibrant than anything he’s done recently (and I actually liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
15. Mystery Team – Oh my goodness, how great is Donald Glover? It’s a strong premise, and there are some really great gags in here, but it’s Glover that makes it work. His delivery kills on every line, and there is literally nothing funnier than watching him break down or freak out.
16. Religulous – Look, I actually agree with a lot of what Maher is pointing out here. A lot of the people he interviews don’t really know what they believe. A lot of people misuse religion. There are plenty of people who need a kick in the pants. What the movie isn’t, however, is anywhere close to a genuine discussion about religion. It’s telling that one of the shortest (and more hastily edited) segments is when Maher interviews Francis Collins, director of the NIH and the leader of the Human Genome Project. Collins gives Maher measured, reasonable answers and doesn’t let him walk all over him, so the segment is very short. Maher drops little statements as if they’re indisputable trump cards, when really they’re old arguments that any first-year seminary student could answer. But he decides to ask truckers instead of theologians, so of course he gets blank looks and stammers. That’s all fine and good for comedic purposes, but he also tries to make grand, serious statements about the evils of religion as if his film has proved this point. Compare this to a similar film directed by Larry Charles, Borat. Borat is not only much, much funnier, but it makes its points about racism, bigotry and nationalism by showing, not telling. It has none of the pompous grandstanding of Maher, and it’s far funnier and far more convincing for it.
17. This Is Spinal Tap – Seriously, this movie is awesome. Every single time Derek Smalls is on-screen with his ridiculous mustache and comically oversized bass guitars, I lost it.
18. Akira – My first venture into feature-length anime. It was…interesting. It’s obvious that it has had a great deal of influence on future films (like the aforementioned Chronicle). There are a lot of things I really like about it. The opening sequence, in particular, does a great job of weaving scenes together and establishing this world. Overall, the narrative is kind of a mess, but if you just kind of go with it, it’s a crazy, kinetic experience.
19. Grizzly Man – It’s a great film, certainly one of the best documentaries of all time. Treadwell is an endlessly fascinating character, and Herzog is incredibly even-handed in his treatment of him. The footage Treadwell captured is amazing, and I could probably just watch hours of bears fighting and foxes running and be perfectly content, it’s beautiful stuff. If I’ve got one complaint, it’s that Herzog inserts himself into the film a bit too much. Still great though.

Seen it

Never seen it

Theatrical

April 2012

48.  Monty Python's Life of Brian - It's Easter, it had to be done.

49.  The Iron Lady - So Streep's Oscar was earned, if you ask me, but the whole thing felt a little disjointed.  There was no real context.  It just sort of leaps from moment to moment without making us feel their significance.  We're told about how many times she had to fight, but we don't really get a sense of that fight.

50.  Submarine - It's pretty rare for me to get so involved in a romance that I'm rooting for the couple to end up together, and it's even rarer to find one where that's not a foregone conclusion.  This is a sweet, smart story of first love that's a remarkably assured directing debut for Richard Ayoade.  Just completely charming.

51.  Bronson - Good god TOM HARDY.  Talk about taking a roll by the throat and just owning it.  Has to be one of the most mesmerizing, commanding, committed performances I've ever seen.

52.  Message from Space - The effects still have that typically Japanese mixture of fakeness and wonder; they're so utterly committed to their model work, it's hard not to be won over by it.  It's not as easy to be won over by the recycled Star Wars plot, but to while away a day home sick from work, perfectly passable.

53.  The Cabin in the Woods - A brilliantly fun deconstruction of why we go to horror movies.  Just pure joy from beginning to end.

54.  God Bless America - A darkly comic mix of Natural Born Killers and Network.  Two fearless lead performances from Joel Murray and Tara Lynne Barr.

55.  Monty Python and the Holy Grail - Seeing it on a big screen for the first time (albeit outside and from a DVD), I was struck by how cinematic it looked.  It didn't look like a blown-up TV show.

56.  The Pirates! Band of Misfits - On a technical level, it's astounding.  But the story isn't quite as rousing as something with the word "Pirates!" in the title.  Got more laughs from little background details and throwaway bits than most of the actual gags.

57.  This Island Earth - Separated from the MST3K gang, it's a pretty solid piece of retro-SF, especially with all the scenes that were deleted for the MST3K movie put back in.

58.  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil - Not quite as meta as Cabin in the Woods, but not really trying to be either.  Loved the way it turned the genre conventions on their head.

59.  Valhalla Rising - It's got a sparse beauty to it, but the pace is so damn glacial.  Too many scenes of people just staring off into the distance.  And not as significant as it seems to think it is.

60.  In the Loop - Inspired by Veep to give this another look, and it's just as amazing as before.  Peter Capaldi rivals Ian McShane for weaving profane poetry.

61.  Melancholia - The smartest thing Von Trier does is tell you right off that Earth is doomed.  Which casts the entire film in an air of futility that puts us right in Kirsten Dunst's head.  The film becomes less about the disaster and more about the people.

Ugh, gone too long and seen too many to bother giving my thoughts on all of these. And some of these were screeners for a film festival, so that's why their titles look weird and unfamiliar. I've asterisked ones to keep an eye out for.

First Viewing

Rewatch

Theatrical

TV/DVD

Online

January - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3255689

February - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3275902

March - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3287587

 50. TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL (2011) - so much fun. Aside from the douchey "baddie" being a fuck-awful actor I can't find a flaw with the flick - balancing the gore and laughs perfectly

 51. PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974) -

 52. WRATH OF THE TITANS (2012) -

 53. MARY POPPINS (1964) -

 54. CARRY ON CAMPING (1969) -

 55. INCEPTION (2010) - played a drinking game. Take a drink when a) someone says "Deeper", b) Leo scowls, c) "BRAAAAHM"
 56. STARDUST (2007) -

 57. KABOOM (2010) -
 58. JUNO (2007) - the first 10 minutes or so are honest to blog still difficult to endure, but once you're past that and the films in full swing this is a terrificly made flick

 59. THE GOONIES (1985) - I keep wanting to get what everyone gets about this annoying, noisy mess.

 60. CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. (2011) -

 61. LEGION (2010) - a neat idea ruined by only being a neat idea. Poor Paul Bettany, he just wants to entertain
 62. THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991) -

 63. SHREK THE THIRD (2007) - painfully bad, the whole movie seems like a Family Guy cutaway gone waaaaaaaaay too long

 64. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012) - sooooo good. I cannot wait to rewatch this beauty

 65. THE AVENGERS (1998) - I don't know why, I guess I have fond memories of the Suggs song or Uma in the Emma Peel outfit or Sir Sean hamming it up while dressed as a furry. It's as awful as I remember - you cannot reverse-engineer a camp classic people

 66. IP MAN (2010) -

 67. RUSSIAN ARK (2002) - Wooh, watched this while I was a bit drowzy anyway, but an uncut realtime single take journey through St Petersburgs history is a dreamy thing

 68. FREE WILLY (1993) - How could I have forgotten that Michael Ironside is the bad guy in this? Stupid fish should have had no chance
 69. MONEYBALL (2011) - even though I know precisely dick-all about baseball this was constantly compelling and engrossing, even if they fluffed over the maths more than I'd have liked.

May - http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style/50#post_3321126

Viewings 31-40 here:

http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3292878

Theatrical

Home

First Viewing

Rewatch

Apr 13: The Cabin In the Woods. Loved this so much I re-watched it immediately.

Apr 17: The Raid: Redemption. If non-stop carnage is your thing, step right up. The attempts at emotional content don't quite succeed though.

Apr 21: Diamonds Are Forever. Maybe the tackiest, ugliest-looking Bond film. I'm sure part of this is the drab American settings but the ultra-camp villains don't help.

Apr 21: The Spy Who Loved Me. God this works great on a big screen. Something I hadn't appreciated before: Curt Jurgens plays the Big Bad absolutely straight.

Apr 21: From Russia With Love. Still my favorite Bond overall, with the best fight, prettiest girl, and scariest henchman. And Pedro Armendariz is wonderful as Kerim Bey.

Apr 23: A Thousand Clowns. One for the Movies You Can Listen To thread here, overflowing with quotable dialogue. And what a perfect cast..

Apr 23: Between the Lines. Someone needs to make a film like this about the inevitable dissolution of the independent movie-theatre community. Maybe it should be me.

Apr 23: Dreamchild. A lovely original, just off-kilter enough to remind one that it was written by Dennis Potter. And hey, there's Bond-movie veteran Shane Rimmer again.

Apr 23: The Cabin In the Woods. One of the elevators just has a bunch of guys in flannel shirts in it. The filmmakers?

Apr 24: Cold Turkey. One of the most boldly cynical American satires ever. And it could be remade today without changing a word.

1st post http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3292980

First Time

Rewatch

Theater

Citizen's Band-***, solid early Demme, not quite up to Melvin and Howard standards but still a good little movie.

The Grifters-***, solid little crime thriller, kind of a lesser House of Games, Annette Benning, so hot.

Internal Affairs-***, standard cop movie, Richard Gere's headbutt on Andy Garcia is worth the price of admission though.

Marnie-***, decent Hitchcock, really Freudian. 

Zodiac-****, One of the best films I've seen in a while, I like it better than Fight Club or Se7en. 

Pierrot Le Fou-***1/2, One of the best Godard's I've seen.

Band of Outsiders-***, Madison scene was great, as was the run through the Louvre but I didn't enjoy it as much as other Godard's.

Shoot The Piano Player-***1/2, One of the best of the French New Wave.

Almost Famous-***1/2, finally got around to seeing this, story was just ok for me but the music and Billy Crudup's performance made this a really good film.

Loving-**1/2, Drama directed by "Empire" helmer Irvin Kershner, It felt like a lesser, bigger budget version of Casavettes films of the period, George Segal was just ok, good seeing an early Roy Scheider though.

The Driver-***, could see the Drive similarities after seeing this one for the second time, Bruce Dern steals the movie, as always.

To Live and Die in LA-****, Very Mann-esque film that transcends most of what Mann's done, Best film Friedkin's ever done.

Manhunter-****, William Petersen is the greatest unsung actor of the 80's, crashing through the window to Iron Butterfly is all kinds of awesome.

Prince of the City-****, Better than Serpico, I believe it was Siskel and Ebert who said this film should have had the following of the Godfather, totally agree.

The Party-**, not one of Sellers or Edwards best.

SOB-***1/2, Hilarious satire on Hollywood, Robert Preston steals the show.

Quick Change-****, One of Murray's best.

Casualties of War-****, Possibly my favorite Vietnam flick, Sean Penn is absolutely menacing.

Colors-***1/2, The ultimate "hood" film.

Boogie Nights-****, Still my favorite film of all time.

The Border-***

Raising Arizona-***, feels like a wacky comedic Straight Time with a baby thrown in.

Sunset Blvd-****, forgot how wickedly sharp this was.

Raging Bull-****, always good to see a classic film on the big screen.

The Incident-****, One of the best films no one has seen, cool to see a young Martin Sheen and Beau Bridges.

Heroes for Sale-***, Decent pre-code about Morphine addiction.

The Outfit-***1/2, A good follow-up to Point Blank.

The Killer-***

The Moon's Our Home-***1/2, fun screwball comedy with Henry Fonda, one of Bill Murray's favorites.

Blue Velvet-****, Lynch's masterpiece.

Tin Men-***1/2, underrated Levinson gem, DeVito and Dreyfuss are on fire in this one.

Pretty Poison-****, a precursor to films like True Romance.

Super Mario Bros. Yes, I watched this movie and it indeed is as terrible as you remembered. "Dinohattan" reminding me of Venusville from Total Recall does make me laugh, though.

Rhinestone: This Sly Stallone/Dolly Parton movie was on cable one night so I watched it. It's not that great although it's not all-time terrible as you might have heard from some sources. I wish it would have used SOME subtlety once in awhile.

American Pies 1, 3, and 4. I saw parts of 2 on TV and I wasn't able to track that down on DVD to watch. I actually saw the first one on the big screen via a one night AMC Theatres promotion. It's still pretty funny. 3 I only saw once before and I remembered HATING the Stifler character and how he was so overbearing and loathsome to the point that you wondered why the other main characters didn't murder him; seeing it a second time, I still feel the same way. Thankfully, the 4th was pretty amusing with some nice comedic setpieces.

Creature: This is the movie from last fall that did all-time terrible business at the box office when it somehow got a 1,500 screen release. I watched it on DVD and it indeed is as wretched as I had heard. It was nice that Abita beer got a lot of plugs and it was a nice idea to have an old-school man in a monster suit as the baddie. But, the story was just crap-with some REALLY strange and off-putting things done by some of the protagonists-and you hated most of the main characters that you were supposed to like, and Sid Haig doesn't do much of anything as he's only in it for a few minutes. How the big fight at the end was treated was a giant middle finger due to sheer incompetence. Even if you enjoy looking at Serinda Swan, there's no reason to ever see this.

Lockout: I am surprised this has gotten mixed reviews. I thought this was a piss-poor attempt at a Snake Plissken film. Even if the horrid editing to make it PG-13 wasn't there, I still would not have liked this. The story just stinks and there isn't much action at all. Also, the first five minutes have CGI SO bad it reminded me and many others of the ending of Torque. Yes, that horrid.

The Raid: Redemption: Now, this is more my speed. Thankfully this lived up to my really high expectations for it. If you love martial arts/action then this is a must-see. I wish there were more films like this out there, where the action is not only awesome but you can actually easily see it and comprehend what is going on.

Seventh Moon: Now, here's a movie which is horror but it's the opposite of what I just mentioned. Shaky-cam bullshit and that plus it being really dark (not in tone; I mean literally, as in hard to see) plus an interesting story (a couple honeymoon in rural China and experience some spooky shit) that is squandered made me not like this at all.

Dying Breed: This was a random horror DVD I picked up for rental. It's an Australian film from a few years ago; that's cool, but it was put out by After Dark Horrorfest, usually not the highest sign of quality. The plot of the movie (involving both a real-life cannibal criminal in Tasmania from the early 1800's and the also based on reality Thylacine, a critter that is also known as the Tasmanian Tiger and is said to have gone extinct in 1936 but there have been many rumored but unconfirmed sightings since then) and the shot on location scenery were a lot better than the plot, which just wasn't all that interesting to me and it took too long to get going. The fact that Ben Mitchell from Wolf Creek is in this and he plays a dude named Jack who is incredibly off-putting-and he's one of the protagonists-doesn't help matters.

Viewings 41-50 here:

http://www.chud.com/community/t/141564/your-year-of-living-ocd-2012-style#post_3307928

Theatrical

Home

First Viewing

Rewatch

Apr 24: The Cabin In the Woods. No, that's not a typo. I watched this movie four times in 12 days. Living a stone's throw from the theatre helped of course.

Apr 25: No Blade of Grass. Beset by ecological disaster and social collapse, a very British family murders their way to safe haven. Heavy stuff in 1970, and still pretty rough today.

Apr 26: Salmon Fishing In the Yemen. Basically, this is a good-hearted allegory about the value of producing good-hearted allegories. Shot in bona-fide Panavision-- a plus.

Apr 27: The Raven. Aside from the bits where John Cusack gets to recite actual Poe verse, this is a mess. With the most hilariously ill-advised end-title sequence I've ever seen.

Apr 28: Down With Love. Don't know why it took me so long to get around to this one. It's a hoot, and post-Mad Men I'm surprised it hasn't experienced a bigger rediscovery.

May 4: Marvel's The Avengers (3D). So much fun. And who knew Ruffalo would steal it?

May 6: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2D) A real treat to see Aardman Studios getting back into clay. And like all their best work, it's crammed with clever background details.

May 8: La feé (The Fairy). Utterly charming absurdist comedy, written, directed by and starring the uniquely qualified Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon.

May 12: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. I could watch this cast play checkers for two+ hours (especially Dench and Nighy), which is good because the plot is barely sketched in.

May 13: Dark Shadows. What a waste. I'm two for two now on movies that don't know what to do with their all-star casts. At least Eva Green gets to go a little freaky.