A good start to this month.

JULY

Moonrise Kingdom (***1/2)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (***)
The Amazing Spider-Man (***)
Apollo 13 (**1/2)
Inglourious Basterds (****)

Well there you go. Definitely better than a single viewing, but you know...life and shit. Kind of an odd mix up there now that I'm looking at it. Anyways...

July

1. Bridge to Terabithia
2. Super
3. Best in Show
4. Ice Age 4: Continental Drift
5. Easy A

I like this movie. It's really not much more than a mediocre romcom but it's sweet, makes me laugh, and has some really funny supporting characters.



Fuck. That movie. Oof.



On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's this little gem. What a kind-hearted film.

Fucking Petey. He always manages to do this to me. Seems like a lot of our interests line up.

You said it exactly on all three of these movies. I know League is not a great movie, but somehow I've managed to watch it three times with various family and friends and every time laughs have been had. Sweet is the right word for that movie.

Then Henry...yeah. I agree with the folks on the forum that said that movie went out and attained it's goals, but damn. That shit was grim.

Elmo I watched with my kids. Thought it was something I could add to the list whilst the kiddies could enjoy...and they did. Although I think I enjoyed it moreso. The behind the scenes stuff had me fascinated. Then I show it at my parents house on the 4th and everyone was into it. Shit...got my wife crying towards the end there. Although...she'll cry for commercials nowadays.

Yes! Being Elmo! I was pimping that movie when we were doing the ReelViews Oscars, so it's nice to see that more folks than just myself gave some time to it.

Despite my trip making things a little rough at the end, I had a very good month. But then I always rock 20+ in June, since school gets out.


June
Week of 6/4 – 6/10
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) ***
The Net (1995) **
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) **½
Six Days in June (2007) ***
Broadway Danny Rose (1984) ***½
Prometheus (2012) **½
Week of 6/11 – 6/17
The Rosa Parks Story (2002) (TV) **½
Primeval (2007) **
Percy Jackson & the Olympians:
The Lightning Thief (2010) **½
The Lion in Winter (1968) ***½
Paris, Je t’aime (2006) ***
Welcome to Collinwood (2002) **½
La Dolce Vita (1960) ****
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) **½
Charley Varrick (1973) ***
Monsieur Lazhar (2011) ***½
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) ***½
Love is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) **
Week of 6/18 – 6/24
Animal Kingdom (2010) ***
Rock of Ages (2012) *½
Tears of the Sun (2003) **½
The Peacemaker (1997) **½
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) ***
Brave (2012) **½
Week of 6/25 – 7/1
Never on Sunday (1960) ***
My Week with Marilyn (2011) ***

July 2012

The Yakuza (1974) (Pollack) - 5/10
On the Town (1949) (Kelly/ Donen) - 6/10
Dersu Uzala (1975) (Kurosawa) - 8/10
The Karate Kid (2010) (Zwart) - 4/10
Kill List (2011) (Wheatley) - 7/10
John Carter (2012) (Stanton) - 3/10
The Iron Lady (2011) (Lloyd) - 4/10
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) (Alfredson) - 8/10
Safe House (2012) (Espinosa) - 5/10
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) (Nolan) - 6/10
Paper Moon (1973) (Bogdanovich) - 7/10

* - repeat viewing
i - cinematic viewing

would love to hear your thoughts on this.



it always amuses me when you watch shit movies, that I'm sure you expect to be shit beforehand(surely the wife didn't pick those?)

Five. Jesus Christ.

1. Damn you, Breaking Bad...
2. I can't wait until the older theatrical screenings around here start up again.
3. I need to stop being so busy.
4. God, I suck.

40 for the July line-up. Not too shabby; it's one more than I did for June.

JULY:

1. Another Thin Man - 7/10
2. Annie - 5/10
3. That's My Boy - 1/10
4. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - 5/10
5. The September Issue - 5/10
6. Brave - 7/10
7. Feed the Fish - 5/10
8. Diner - 6/10
9. Hanna - 7/10
10. More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead - 9/10
11. Buck Privates - 7/10
12. Rio Bravo - 7/10
13. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 6/10
14. The Amazing Spider-Man - 7/10
15. Phenomenon - 6/10
16. The Other F Word - 8/10
17. Shadow of the Thin Man - 7/10
18. Magic Mike - 8/10
19. Casa de mi Padre - 7/10
20. Mozart and the Whale - 5/10
21. Danger: Diabolik - 4/10
22. Gold Diggers of 1937 - 7/10
23. Katy Perry: Part of Me - 5/10
24. The Thin Man Goes Home - 7/10
25. The Dark Knight Rises - 8/10
26. The King and I (1956) - 6/10
27. At the Circus - 5/10
28. Extraterrestrial - 5/10
29. Jiro Dreams of Sushi - 9/10
30. Silent House - 4/10
31. The Roaring Twenties - 9/10
32. Abbott and Costello Go to Mars - 5/10
33. Hell Is a City - 5/10
34. Song of the Thin Man - 7/10
35. I Really Hate My Job - 4/10
36. Streamers - 5/10
37. The Other End of the Line - 5/10
38. Detention - 4/10
39. Summer with Monika - 7/10
40. Ted - 7/10

AUGUST

1. Heathers (***)
2. Claire's Knee (****)
3. The Amazing Spider-Man (again) (***1/2)
4. The Conformist (****)
5. Napoleon Dynamite (***)
6. RiffTrax Live - Manos: The Hands of Fate (lol)
7. Affliction (***1/2)
8. Light Sleeper (****)
9. The Walker (***1/2)

AUGUST:

1. The Gauntlet - 5/10
2. Boyz N the Hood - 8/10
3. ATM - 4/10
4. Le Havre - 7/10
5. Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt - 5/10
6. The Watch - 3/10
7. The Freshman (1925) - 8/10
8. The Kid Brother - 7/10
9. Bunraku - 5/10
10. A Thousand Words - 5/10
11. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - 6/10
12. The Phantom (2009) - 5/10
13. "Mystery Science Theater 3000": Samson vs. the Vampire Women - no rating
14. The Bourne Legacy - 5/10
15. There's No Business Like Show Business - 5/10
16. The House of the Seven Gables - 7/10
17. Die, Monster, Die! - 5/10
18. The Dunwich Horror - 5/10
19. Ice Age: Continental Drift - 5/10
20. Animal Kingdom - 7/10
21. Kill List - 5/10
22. Innerspace - 7/10
23. Total Recall (2012) - 5/10
24. Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies - 4/10
25. "Mystery Science Theater 3000": Gamera vs. Gaos - no rating
26. Bernie - 7/10
27. Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation - 7/10
28. I Was Born, But... - 7/10
29. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - 5/10
30. Comic-Con: Episode IV - A Fan's Hope - 7/10
31. Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer - 5/10
32. Hope Springs (2012) - 7/10
33. Great Guns - 6/10
34. A Separation - 9/10
35. The Campaign - 7/10
36. The Man Who Could Cheat Death - 7/10
37. ParaNorman - 8/10
38. Why Worry? - 8/10
39. The Expendables 2 - 7/10
40. Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God...Be Back by Five - 5/10

July

7/1/2012: Hiroshima Mon Amour: 9/10.
7/2/2012: Love And Death: 8/10.
7/3/2012: Twelve Monkeys: 8/10.
7/4/2012: Husbands And Wives: 4/10.
7/5/2012: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: 9/10.
7/5/2012: Harakiri: 10/10.
7/6/2012: Sweet And Lowdown: 7/10.
7/6/2012: To Rome With Love: 4/10.
7/7/2012: Dead Ringers: 9/10.
7/7/2012: Savages: 6/10.
7/8/2012: House Of Flying Daggers: 8/10.
7/9/2012: The Killer: 7/10.
7/10/2012: The Face Of Another: 9/10.
7/11/2012: When Harry Met Sally...: 10/10.
7/11/2012: The Blob (1958): 7/10.
7/12/2012: Billy Liar: 7/10.
7/13/2012: 13 Assassins: 9/10.
7/14/2012: Support Your Local Sheriff!: 9/10.
7/15/2012: Whatever Works: 7/10.
7/16/2012: Wes Craven's New Nightmare: 7/10.
7/18/2012: Batman Begins: 9/10.
7/19/2012: The Dark Knight: 8/10.
7/20/2012: The Dark Knight Rises: 5/10.
7/26/2012: Shallow Grave: 8/10.
7/27/2012: Raise The Red Lantern: 10/10.
7/28/2012: Tokyo Olympiad: 10/10.
7/29/2012: Being John Malkovich: 9/10.
7/30/2012: Cassandra's Dream: 4/10.

Top five first-time viewings:

Raise The Red Lantern
Tokyo Olympiad
The Face Of Another
Hiroshima Mon Amour
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

I told myself at the start of the month that I was going to write more on the films I watch, but I had to devote most of my spare time to a 5-week summer course for graduate school. I'm hoping this next month will afford me more time to write.

As for 'The Dark Knight Rises', thanks for your interest. I'm flattered and have been motivated to post on this subject in the "Last Movie you watched" thread.

'The Karate Kid' was on TV (with nothing better on the tube) and I watched it while filing away some paperwork. That's about as much attention as the movie deserved. Concerning 'John Carter', I was curious about this fantastically expensive flop and secretly hoping that I would have a higher tolerance for cheesy sci-fi than most critics, who - so I suspected - might have a bias against determinedly escapist blockbusters with huge budgets. It turned out that the movie peaked after 5 minutes with the thigh-slappingly silly war cry of "Death to Helium!".

Hell fucking yes Raise the Red Lantern

July 2012 (scores normalized to 4 stars)

The ‘Burbs (1989) **
Caddyshack (1980) **1/2
Defending Your Life (1991) ***
Eyes Without a Face (1960) **
Return of the Living Dead (1985) ***
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) *1/2
Charade (1963) ***
The Woman in Black **1/2
The Last Temptation of Christ ****

There were a few re-watches in the mix.

I reserve the right to update the above once my mind is right. I'm positive I saw other movies but can't remember names or days with those 2 and a half weeks abroad.

#1 above was watched with the entire family (oldest son is 8) and wife was wondering if the themes were a bit too strong for their age. We did like it though.

Super...well, you guys have spoken proper on the film and I agree with what you guys say.

By now I'm pretty much a fan of anything Christopher Guest does.

Ice Age was a sacrifice for the kiddies. I knew I wasn't really gonna like it.

And Easy A was nice. Breezy. Interesting. Had my wife thinking about my daughter at that age.

August

1. 50/50
2. The Lucky One (on a plane)
3. Ted
4.

June & July 2012

13 Assassins (2010) - 7/10
Machine Gun Preacher (2011) - 5/10
Dark Shadows (2012) - 5/10
The Dictator (2012) - 7/10
Rogues Gallery (2010) - 1/10
Chronicle (2012) - 6/10
Haywire (2011) - 6/10
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) - 6/10
Another Earth (2011) - 7/10
Immortals (2011) - 6/10
Get the Gringo (2012) - 6/10
John Carter (2012) - 6/10
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - 8/10

At some point I also checked out the new Spider-Man movie in a theatre. The seats were very comfy so there was ample opportunity to rest my eyes. Alas, when I opened them Peter Parker had a spider-suit, the one-armed man had two arms and Uncle Ben seemed to be missing. I made enquiries as to his whereabouts after the movie but my friends just looked at me suspiciously.

Immortals may have had more ambition but its a little more than sad that 300 was a better film.