Best Films of the Decade

December 18, 2009 at 8:10 am (Uncategorized) (, , , , )

According to Pajiba.  Last post like this for a while?  Probably not, you guys.

Best Films of the Decade

  • Of the 20 films listed, I’ve seen 15 1/2.  I’m pretty proud, you guys.
  • Mulholland Drive starts out the list, which convinces me that I should probably watch this movie again, because I literally didn’t understand a thing that happened in it.
  • I disagree with the inclusion of The Incredibles.  I never got the hype that accompanied this movie.
  • You Can Count on Me makes an appearance.  It’s the movie that made me fall in love with Mark Ruffalo (and Laura Linney).  I’m glad this movie made the list.
  • I shouldn’t be surprised that There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men made the list.  In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t seen either movie.  They were released during my “I’m tired of seeing movies about men” phase.  I have no regrets.
  • The top 3 are The Dark Knight, Children of Men, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Which is, in my own opinion, probably the perfect top 3 for the decade.

Well played, Pajiba.

Permalink Leave a Comment

More From Pajiba’s Decade Round-Up

December 17, 2009 at 8:20 am (Uncategorized) (, , , , )

Okay, y’all, I lied. I’ve got more lists from Pajiba to talk about.  They keep putting out interesting things, I’m going to continue to opine about them.  Deal with it.

10 Best Kids Movies of the Aughts

  • Oh dear.  I’ve only seen 3 of the movies that make the list, and I only loved one of them.
  • The one I loved?  Monsters, Inc. I don’t know why the ending affected me so much, but I cried hard enough that it made my friend uncomfortable and made some people around us laugh in sympathy (mockery?).
  • The one I wasn’t so crazy about?  Penelope, the much delayed Reese Witherspoon produced Christina Ricci movie about the girl with the pig nose. I wanted to like this movie.  I really did.  But in the end, it was uneven and largely unmemorable.  Agent Bedhead writes, “The film’s lesson — about establishing one’s own way in life without necessarily becoming half of a couple — isn’t a disposable one, and in the end, Penelope may just intercept a few impressionable young girls before they fall prey to the homogenized, slut-worthy mindset of today’s Hollywood princesses,” which is a nice thought and message, but the truth is, I don’t even remember that much about the film, and I worry that most other viewers don’t, either.
  • I also saw Charlotte’s Web, which I remember liking, but that’s about it.  There seems to be a lot I can’t remember about these movies.  Am I going senile?
  • Other movies make the list, like Coraline, which I meant to see but haven’t gotten around to, and Where the Wild Things Are, which I also meant to see but haven’t.

Best Indie Films of the Aughts

  • Requiem for a Dream: Holy guacamole, this movie was so hard to watch.  I’ve seen it exactly once, and while it was extremely well done, I don’t think I could ever sit through it again.  When it was over, my best friend and I sat in stunned silence on her couch for a good 15 minutes before either of us could speak.
  • Garden State is still a favorite movie of mine.  I don’t care what people say about Braff as a director or the fact that the end of the film feels a little like a tacked-on Hollywood ending.  I love it.
  • The Station Agent was one of those movies that was really good as well, but not one I’ve thought of in a long time.
  • Juno takes the #1 slot, and I agree with the author (the name isn’t on the article), who writes, “ If you want to be the kind of jackass reject who can’t see the forest for the trees — or in this case the heart for the hamburger phone — and sit around railing about the twee dialogue penned by a stripper, just do us all a favor and choke on a bag of dicks and your better, more authentic script for the Star Trek reboot.”  I loved this movie, all backlash aside.  Since I actually read Candy Girl, Diablo Cody’s “memoir” of her time as a stripper, I’m the first to tell you that her shtick wears thin.  However, this was a gem of a movie, and it deserves to be on this list.

10 Best Comedies of the Aughts

  • I’ve seen 9 of the 10 listed, the exception being Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and I’m feeling pretty proud, even if a few of the titles are not movies that would have made my list.
  • The two that I feel ambivalent about?  O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Royal Tenenbaums.  I agree that they’re both good movies, but I just didn’t love them, you know?  I’m not a huge Coen Brothers fan, nor do I harbor a great love for Wes Anderson films.  Which probably makes me biased.  But this is my blog, so that’s allowed.
  • However, High Fidelity makes the list, and in all honesty, this would probably make my list of Desert Island movies.  I do love it so.
  • The 40-Year-Old Virgin also has a place here, and I have to agree.  I like Judd Apatow movies in general, overly long as they might be, but I believe that this movie is his best, and funniest, to date.  I watched most of it on TV not too long ago–and even though it was edited within an inch of its life, I had forgotten how funny it is.
  • Shaun of the Dead takes the #1 slot, and again, I agree.  I love zombies, and I love the sense of humor that this movie took with the threat of zombies.  Also, anything with Bill Nighy is okay with me.

For the record, Pajiba also posted a Best Action Movies of the Aughts, but this is not a genre that I generally enjoy, and while I’ve seen a few of the movies, I don’t feel qualified enough to expand on the highlights.  Feel free to do so on your own or in the comments (heh, heh) though.

That’s all for now.  We’ve still got a good while before the end of the year, so I’m sure I’m not done with these lists.

Permalink Leave a Comment

Zap2it’s Year in Review

December 15, 2009 at 7:26 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , )

I like to read zap2it.com.  It may not be the most fantastically written pop culture site out there, but I like a lot of the features and recaps that the site pumps out (their recaps are pretty good and a lot shorter than TWoP’s recaps, which is convenient when I’m short on time).  At any rate, they’ve posted a list of the most underrated stars of 2009, and here are some highlights:

  • Yvette Nicole Brown (Community) is on the list.  I like her.  I think she’s funny.  Remember her in that one episode of The Office where Dwight resigns and ends up working at Staples?  She’s his coworker in that one, and she has a great interview moment where she’s all, “I don’t like him, his giant head, or his beady little eyes.  That’s all I got to say on the matter.”  Awesome.
  • Ryan Hansen and Martin Starr (Party Down).  I’ve only seen one episode of this show, and it was pretty funny.  But I love both of these men, and I’m glad to see them getting a bit of press.
  • Mark Salling (Glee) also makes the list.  I don’t want to like him, but I do.  He plays douchebag/lost teenager so well that it’s impossible not to hate/like him.  Also, I still giggle when I think about the “Rachel is a hot Jew” monologue he gave several episodes back.  And have you seen him?
  • There are a few others mentioned on the list, but these were the ones that stood out to me.

They also compiled a list of the year’s biggest movie bombs (based on total amount grossed).  Some highlights:

  • I’m actually proud of myself here, folks.  Of the 20 movies listed, I’ve only seen one (Adventureland.  Which I loved, by the way).
  • The majority of the films are not shockers: New in Town, the Renee Zellweger rom-com, the trailer of which was so terrible I couldn’t sit through the entire thing; The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, a movie that I literally had never heard of until I saw a trivia question about it playing over and over again before a movie one night; 12 Rounds, which I still haven’t heard of; and Bandslam, which stars Vanessa Hudgens.
  • Things that make me sadder: that Post-Grad, starring Alexis Bledel is on the list.  I didn’t see it and it looked pretty terrible, but I have a special place in my heart for Rory Gilmore.  I wish she’d find better roles.  Work for it, girl.
  • Also, Whip It, which I haven’t yet seen but have been told is pretty fun.  I have a lot to say about how movies starring a nearly all-female cast get treated, but now is not the time.
  • Still though, I’ve only seen one of the movies, and it’s the one that probably doesn’t deserve to be on the list.  Adventureland was really good, y’all.  It just was marketed the wrong way.

That’s all.

Permalink Leave a Comment

TONY’s 50 Movies of the Decade

December 4, 2009 at 10:55 am (Uncategorized) (, , , , )

Another list that takes on the challenge of compiling the top movies of the decade.  This one comes from Time Out New York.  By the way, the website loads really slowly for me.

You guys, is this list a joke? I mean, really?  Some highlights:

  • The 40-Year-Old Virgin starts off the list, which gives me (false) hope that this is going to go well.
  • Grizzly Man also makes the list, which means that I’ve seen 2 of the 10 listed so far.
  • Cache is on this list, too.  Why does everyone seem to remember this movie except for me?
  • Miami Vice? MIAMI VICE?  WHAT KIND OF JOKE IS THIS?  Is it supposed to be an ironic pick?
  • Brokeback Mountain and Children of Men are both on the list, though they should be closer to #1, I think.
  • Gosford Park at #17 redeems the list slightly for me.
  • As does Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at #3.
  • But The New World at #4?  Is this another ironic pick?  Or are they just testing their readers to see if anyone made it this far on the list?
  • Aaaaand Mulholland Drive at #1 makes me want to throw my computer across the room.  What a shit show.

Overall, I’ve only seen 12 of the 50 movies listed (I didn’t count the few that I started and turned off (I’m looking at you, Inland Empire).  There were quite a few that I hadn’t even heard of (which is saying something, because even though I tend towards mainstream movies, I do a ridiculous amount of reading about all movies), and I don’t think that the list is representative of the decade.  At all.

Why you make me cry, TONY?

Permalink 1 Comment

100 Best Movies of the Decade

November 15, 2009 at 11:10 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , )

The Times (over there in the U.K.) has posted their list of the 100 best films of the past decade.  Obviously, this is the first of hundreds of such lists that we’ll see in the next seven weeks (are there really only seven weeks left in 2009? Good christ.), and while some people call it provocative, I call it random.

Instead of posting the entire list, I’ll just touch on a few highlights:

  • The Devil Wears Prada starts the list out at #100.  I loved this movie (and it is one of those rare cases where the film surpasses the book–the book is absolutely unreadable, you guys), and I’m happy to see anything with Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt make the list.
  • Sigh.  Crash is in the 90s, which is probably to be expected, but is disappointing all the same.
  • Anchorman makes the list at number 61.  I let my 10th graders watch this last year on the last day of school.  I had forgotten how funny it was until the end with the whole bear cage thing.
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes in at #16, and this is where the list and I pretty much break up.  It should be #1, or at the very least, be in the top 5.
  • Casino Royale is in the top 10, and I officially question the criteria that went into making this list.
  • The list cheats at #2, putting The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum together.
  • #1 goes to the French film Hidden, which I didn’t even remember seeing until I read the synopsis.  Yikes.

Overall, I’ve seen 46 of the films, which is actually kind of upsetting.  There aren’t a lot of movies on the list that I want to see, although I now want to rent Hidden again so I can remember what the hell it was about.

Permalink 3 Comments

More Squeeing than I’d Like to Admit

June 1, 2009 at 10:35 am (Uncategorized) (, , )

You guys, the New Moon trailer premiered last night during the MTV Movie Awards.  Now, I didn’t know this because a.) I don’t care about MTV, b.) I don’t get MTV, or any TV, for that matter, and c.) I’m not a die-hard Twilighter, but I did watch the trailer this morning when PopCandy posted a link to it.

The trailer is already so much better than the book that I hardly know what to say.  Does it look like it’s going to be an unintentional laugh-riot?  Of course.  Will I be there on opening day?  Absolutely.

(I laughed so hard when Jacob ripped out of his clothes when he turned that I was scared I’d attract the attention of other classrooms.)

I’m going to go watch the trailer again.  It’s better than term papers, right?

Permalink Leave a Comment

Top 20 Movies of 1997

April 24, 2009 at 7:05 am (Uncategorized) (, , , , )

Pajiba’s been doing this awesome thing where they post the top 20 movies of a certain year.  They’ve posted the top 20 for 1997, which is awesome because that’s really the first year where I started to see movies obsessively.  The list follows below.  The ones in italics are those I’ve viewed, parentheses are my commentary.

1. Titanic $600,788,188 (7 times in the theater, countless times at home)
2. Men in Black $250,690,539 (With my mom and sister in the theater, bought on VHS)
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park $229,086,679
4. Liar Liar $181,410,615 (I watch this movie every time I catch it on TV)
5. Air Force One $172,956,409 (I hated this movie.  I watched it with my family one night on cable.)
6. As Good as It Gets $148,478,011 (Viewed in preparation for the Oscars.)
7. Good Will Hunting $138,433,435 (The first R-rated movie I ever saw in the theater.)
8. Star Wars (Special Edition) $138,257,865 (I didn’t see this in the theater, nor have I ever seen the movie from start to finish in one sitting, but I’m counting it anyway.)
9. My Best Friend’s Wedding $127,120,029 (The first time I saw this, I was upset by the ending.  Now I can’t stand Julia Roberts’ character.)
10. Tomorrow Never Dies $125,304,276
11. Face/Off $112,276,146
12. Batman and Robin $107,325,195 (Rubber nipples.)
13. George of the Jungle $105,263,257 (I secretly loved this movie.)
14. Scream 2 $101,363,301 (Watched while baby-sitting my sister in our basement.)
15. Con Air $101,117,573 (I watched this with my dad one night.)
16. Contact $100,920,329 (I still don’t understand this movie.)
17. Hercules $99,112,101 (Not one of my faves, I have to say.)
18. Flubber $92,977,226 (Watched on a TV at the Holiday Inn a few months before my Bat Mitzvah.  Hated. It.)
19. Conspiracy Theory $75,982,834
20. I Know What You Did Last Summer $72,586,134 (Again, watched while baby-sitting T.  When my parents found out, I was grounded.)

Considering that I was 12 when these movies came out, I think it’s pretty impressive/embarrassing that I’ve seen all but 3 of them.  What’s more is that I can remember where I was and who I was with when I viewed these movies for the first time.

Permalink 1 Comment

The Year in Review

January 1, 2009 at 3:33 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , )

Starting off 2009 with a pretty terrific head cold, this is going to be  a toned-down version of the year in review.  Let’s start with books.

Books in 2008

  • # of books read: 63
  • # of graphic novels: 12
  • # of fiction: 16
  • # of young adult novels: 23
  • # of non-fiction: 6
  • # of memoirs: 6

Favorites of the Year:

  • Y: The Last Man Series–Brian K. Vaughn
  • I’m Not the New Me–Wendy McClure
  • How I Live Now–Meg Rosoff
  • Sweethearts–Sara Zarr
  • Teach Me–R.A. Nelson

Movies in 2008

  • # of movies viewed: 65
  • # of movies in theater: 32
  • # of movies on DVD: 33
  • # of TV seasons: 14

Best of the Movies:

  • The Strangers
  • The Dark Knight
  • Wall-E
  • American Teen
  • Vicky Christina Barcelona
  • Slumdog Millionaire
  • Doubt

Not a terrible year, I guess.  Goal for 2009 is 100 of each.

Permalink Leave a Comment

Rambings in the basement of a house in Southwest Minneapolis

October 4, 2008 at 10:56 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , , , , )

I saw Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist this afternoon. Going in with very low expectations allowed me to enjoy it more than I thought it would. I’ve started reading the book to see how it compares. I’m not very far into it, but I can see that the book is much edgier, sharper, and more real than the movie. But I love me some Michael Cera, and Kat Dennings is my new girl crush.

Speaking of books-to-movies, I’m eagerly awaiting the adaptation of The Time-Traveler’s Wife. By eagerly, of course, I mean that I’m wringing my hands in nervous anticipation. I so loved the book (and am so embarrassed by this fact) and I so want to love the movie that it’s causing me a great deal of stress. Every few days, I check to see if a trailer has been posted online, so that I might get a glimpse into the wonder that might be. It hasn’t happened yet, but I read a brief article the other day that’s gotten me a bit nervous about it. In it, Rachel McAdams (my girl!) says that people have to approach the book and the movie in different ways, because they’ve taken a 500-plus page book and condensed it into a 90-minute movie. That seems like a really nice way of saying that we’re going to be served shit come this winter. Oh, I think I’m getting an ulcer.

Currently, I’m babysitting for a 3-year-old named Walt (one of my favorite things to do is yell, “WALT! THEY TOOK MY SON!” Oh, second season of LOST, how I miss you). His parents should be home any minute, and I’d like that minute to be now, because I’m heading over to The Boy’s apartment for a little late-night hanging out. I’d like at least a good 45 minutes before he passes out and I’m left wide awake with nothing to do (no cable, no internet means that I’m pretty bored). He promised to cook me something delicious, but I know that he was going to meet some friends for a drink tonight so I figure I’ll be lucky if he’s home when I get there. Oh, ye of little faith.

This upcoming week will be the halfway point for student teaching. I’m actually surviving it, and that doesn’t suck at all. I’m tired of writing lesson plans, and I’m tired of saying things like, “I will wait for you to be quiet.”

Ugh.

Permalink Leave a Comment

Overhsare Meme

June 11, 2008 at 1:04 pm (Uncategorized) (, , , , , )

Found throughout various blogs, I’m a sucker for memes that let me talk about myself, because let’s face it: I like to talk about myself. So without further ado, let’s begin, shall we?

1. Name the singer/band/performer you are most embarrassed to admit you actually paid good money to see in concert.

Most people would argue that I should write the name “Hanson” down here, but I disagree. I first went to see Hanson when I was 12 years old, when they performed the free show at the Mall of America. It was insane on all levels, but it was probably the most fun that I’ve ever had at a concert. I saw them again when I was 19. I don’t regret either concert, nor am I embarrassed to admit that I still listen to them from time to time. They’re good people.

2. Which reality TV show have you watched more than once (come on. I don’t believe you if you say “none,” unless you don’t own a TV)?

I don’t watch much TV in general these days, and the few things I do watch are not reality TV, but I will admit that I watch American Idol every now and then, and I fucking loved Lisa Loeb’s short-lived show on E! called #1 Single. That show was high-quality entertainment.

OH AND ALSO: Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D-List is starting up again, and even though I don’t have cable, you can be sure I’ll be couch-hopping to various places that do.

3. Which complete trash novelist have you not only read but enjoyed enough to read more than one book of his/hers?

A lot of what I read is trashy. I collect the Sweet Valley series by Francine Pascal as well as an assorted number of other YA series from the days of yore. I’ve also read all three of Stephenie Meyer’s books in the Twilight series (and will pick up Breaking Dawn when it comes out for sure), and while I pretty much hate everything that they are and stand for, I secretly enjoy them.

I’m also a fan of Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, which is all kinds of trashy. What else, what else? There’s a shit-ton, you guys. I read a lot of crap.

4. What sappy musical could you watch over and over and over again?

Isn’t the phrase “sappy musical” kind of redundant? I like to say that I’m not a big musical fan, but that statement is contradicted by the fact that I know all the words to the soundtracks for Wicked and Rent. I also love the movie Once, which is all kinds of sappy but remains to this day the most beautiful little love story/musical that I think I’ve ever seen

5. Who was your first celebrity crush?

Jonathon Taylor Thomas and Devon Sawa? Yeah, pretty much. I was so in love with JTT. And Devon Sawa’s little cameo in Casper was the stuff of a 9-year-old girl’s wet dream. I still think Devon Sawa is kind of attractive, actually, but the fact that Jonathon Taylor Thomas stopped growing at the age of like, 14 kind of weirds me out.

6. Who is the most embarrassing celebrity on whom you have a slight crush today?

Similar to the question about embarrassing concert-going experiences, I’m not sure that I have any embarrassing celebrity crushes. I have a terrible girl-crush on Jessica Alba. This is only embarrassing in the sense that she cannot act her way out of a paper bag. But she’s so lovely

7. What movie that everyone else and his cousin and even his dog has seen have you never seen?

There are a lot, I’d wager. I’ve never seen The Godfather trilogy, nor have I seen Casablanca. I haven’t seen It’s a Wonderful Life, either. I’m woefully uncultured, and I totally don’t care.

8. What were you drinking the first time you ever got drunk?

This is a tricky question, because I’m not much of a drinker. I got tipsy for the first time when I was 18, on Southern Comfort (woof) and Bud Light (good lord).

The first time that I got rip-roaring drunk, it was on White Russians, screwdrivers, and Red Stripe.

9. Which old re-run will you still pause to watch if you’re flicking through the channels and see that it’s on?

I’ve been known to watch re-runs of Friends, Sex and the City, and Saved by the Bell. But really, thanks the the wonder that is TV on DVD, I don’t really do the whole re-run thing.

10. What book/movie/t.v. show that only a fifteen-year-old would think is funny makes you laugh?

Any Judd Apatow movie, ever.

Permalink Leave a Comment