My Favorite Movies

Brazil is my favorite movie, as well as one of the greatest songs of all time (originally "Aquarela do Brasil").

This is what good film-making looks like.

The dialog, brilliant acting, and cinematography kept this Oscar-worthy freight train well oiled.

The tensions are thick in every awkward pause and the characters are all so complex and ambiguous that you are never sure how to feel about them.

It also features the most effectively written narration I've ever seen in a movie.

It's been a very long time since I have seen a film that wields suspense so effectively. In fact I don't think I've ever seen one.

The dialog is brilliantly written and delivered. The movie leaves you with a lot to ponder. Another sentence, tacked on to give this paragraph weight.

There are some small bits that must be overlooked, but doing so is easy when the action sequences are so incredibly effective, the characters so endearing, the cinematography so masterful, the lighting and sound so engaging, and the story so elegantly simple but its ramifications so deep.

A movie that, though I didn't quite love the first time, has gotten better every time I've watched it. Bill Murray should have been Oscar nominated for this role.

Has the worst music ever put in a film. Still a phenomenal movie, however. A first-rate dramedy script and great performances--especially from Pacino--make this an unforgettable classic.

Pixar's best.

The coolest movie ever made.

The Host is teeming with creativity and the monster itself is delightfully bizarre and acts more like an actual animal than any other beast in a monster movie, which is very entertaining. It reminded me of the way Hayao Miyazaki handles his creatures.

Also, The Host is one of the best examples of the Dramedy genre, mixing humor and suspense seamlessly. Bonus points for having the drama and comedy in some scenes stem from the same source.

Brilliantly twisted.

A quiet, slow movie that works even when it shouldn't--largely because of Bill Murray.

Though slow moving (not that that's inherently a bad thing), it has a sharp sense of humor and a savvy way of showing/saying just enough.

A well done quirky story that didn't sell out. Not much anyway. It had good acting from the supporting cast, too, especially from Emma Thompson.

I gather that it was pretty awesome.... I have to admit I feel kind of cheated because, not having an insulin pump full of dramamine, I was only able to peek at the screen occasionally.

Aside from the physical pain of watching the screen, however, I'm pretty sure it kicked ass. It was, at least whenever I was looking, very well made and the fact that it had no music except what was being played in the movie, including the credits, worked to it's advantage.

I am also 100% confident that an explanation is neither necessary nor welcome.

Yep. Overall it ranks up there with The Host.

A morbidly intriguing, enchantingly delirious, thrillingly deadpan landmark. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt are at their most alluring when they are at their lowest.
This is a movie about the breakdown of the middle-class house of cards. A depressed insomniac meets the charismatic but crass Tyler Durden and they find a kind of therapy in beating each other to a pulp. The phenomenon catches on and as the two of them begin a race to rock bottom their philosophy attracts a large following. "It's only after you lose everything that you are free to do anything. Only after disaster can we be resurrected."
When the cult that has emerged grows out of control, Edward Norton's character (there is no name given) must scramble to escape the collapse he helped to initiate.
If you love the move (and who doesn't) you should definitely look into the book. This is one of the best adaptations of a book I have ever seen, but Chuck Palahniuk's novel has even more deadpan
humor, more off the wall violence, more of everything that makes the movie so enjoyable, plus it has a better developed story and ending.

This movie will, if there is any justice in the world, go down in the history books as one of the most bad-ass movies, right up there with Fight Club. The opening title sequence, done in an 80's arcade game style with energetic rave music pounding, makes it apparent that the filmmakers are having fun, and it's hard for one not to get drawn in by their enthusiasm. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor borrow the premise of Dead on Arrival and transform it into the funnest action vehicle ever--Chev, a hit-man for hire has been poisoned with a new synthetic toxin from Hong Kong. The toxins in Chev's blood can only be slowed down by adrenaline. It's as simple as that: keep moving, keep fighting, stay excited or frightened, and you live.

Of course the pursuit of the man who poisoned him keeps him occupied with shootouts and car chases, but he still must find ways to keep himself alert in between. Robbing convenience stores of all their energy drinks, getting into bar fights, snorting coke, and sex are just a few of his impromptu solutions.

With a premise that seems to be expressly designed for non-stop action, there is always the risk (dare I say the probability) that the movie's creators will disregard the details and create something sickeningly superficial. Crank is an exception. The movie is overflowing with creative touches and hilarious dialog. It has great pacing, with just enough downtime in all the right places. What's more, it has good characters and good acting to boot. Chev's girlfriend is so endearing and cute there's no wonder why he would fall in love with her, and seeing the way he treats her there's no doubt that he has.

The plot is, ironically, difficult to understand toward the end, when the events leading up to the movie's beginning are revealed, but if you didn't mind the plot holes in Fight Club you'll have no problems ignoring the ones in Crank.

The movie's downside is its frequent post-MTV video editing. Going split-screen for phone conversations is one thing, but blending that second screen into the environment--projected on a wall or in the rear view mirror of a car--is another.

All things considered, this is the summer blockbuster that we deserve after several let downs. It's the perfect movie to see with a group of friends, but even alone I laughed out loud quite a bit. I would compare the experience to a mix between Pulp Fiction and Run Lola Run.

Though this was marketed as a pulpy horror movie, the two scenes that play into that genre just bring it down. What works is the artistic directing, the characters, and the story which is less about surviving zombies than it is about holding on to what keeps one human.

As with Supremacy, Paul Greengrass' love of the "shaky-cam" brings this movie down. However, the superb acting and the amazing choreography shine through the haze of poor camera-work and editing.
There were a couple of stunts that I couldn't really get behind, but while Supremacy had the best car chase of the series, Ultimatum delivers by far the best close-quarters combat sequence. Jason Bourne is at the top of his game in this movie and not only do we get to enjoy watching him plow his way through the CIA's best efforts, he pulls other, untrained characters through it as well. The scene in which he is guiding a reporter through a mall in which they are being closed in on from every angle is riveting.
Though I was still feeling the loss of Doug Liman, and this will never quite reach the level of glory set by the first in the trilogy, there were several scenes when I forgot all about that.

Winsome.