In the beginning of the year, I set certain goals for myself instead of resolutions. Those goals are usually designed to broaden my horizons, see films I've never watched before, read new books, etc etc. The goal I set for movies was to watch at least 30 films I'd never seen before. I managed to accomplish that and even surpass it by a little. So here are the thirty movies I watched over the course of the year, all with snippets of what I thought. These films include everything from big blockbusters to animated films to documentaries.
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Amazing film, easily one of the best I saw all year. Rooney Mara was mesmerizing and the film itself was extremely well done. The soundtrack itself is worth a purchase even if you didn't like the film overall.
- Dracula (1992) - Do yourself a favor and stay away. Sure, Gary Oldman is decent as Dracula but the plot drags and the whole movie feels fake.
- Limitless - Interesting concept, but the movie feels rushed and I wasn't that big of a fan of Bradley Cooper in this movie.
- Moneyball - A superb film, definitely worth a watch.
- The Man From Nowhere - A great Korean action film with fantastic music. The plot is simple, but it isn't extremely long and has some really fun knife fights. The film is available on NetFlix.
- Goodfellas - You know, I thought I'd like this movie more than I did. In the end though it came down to Ray Liotta, who I just don't like.
- Source Code - Great concept, weird ending. It's short though, so it's worth checking out on NetFlix at least.
- The Great Gatsby - Sure, perhaps it's a fantastic book but as a movie it's easily one of the most boring films I've ever seen.
- Gacy - I'm not even sure if this counts as a real movie, but it was something my Criminology teacher made us watch. The movie defines the term "budget film" as I'm pretty sure this was made by a bunch of film students who had no idea what they were doing.
- Justice League: Doom - Too short, but a great look at an excellent Justice League storyline.
- Taxi Driver - Another film I thought I would like more than I did. I didn't dislike it as much as Goodfellas, but it didn't blow me away like I expected it to.
- Apocalypse Now - This movie... I'm honestly not sure what I thought of it. I enjoyed parts of it well enough, but in other areas I wanted to kill myself with a brick. It's all over the place and to be honest I'm not really sure I understood everything that happened in it.
- Hearts of Darkness - This was the documentary of the making of Apocalypse Now. If you're ever curious to see a man go insane and lose all signs of intelligence over making a movie, this is the film for you.
- The Avengers - I admit, the concept was amazing, but I was afraid of how it would be pulled off. I never should have doubted Whedon though and he brought together a great set of characters with fantastic dialogue. The plot was okay, but that was never meant to be the focus of the film. I just wish it were a little longer.
- Chronicle - A "found footage" movie about a group of kids who get super powers. Interesting concept, not entirely well executed. I felt like they were trying to make the audience sympathetic towards the kid in the broken home, but he was such a jerk all I wanted him to do was die. It kind of took the emotion out of things.
- Live Free and Die Hard - Not bad, not amazing. Watch on NetFlix if you're bored.
- Die Another Day - Just... stay away. This film's teaser is easily one of the best in Bond history. Everything after that though is a plain garbage. No wonder they rebooted Bond after this movie.
- The World is Not Enough - This movie is only slightly better than Die Another Day because we learn a few bits more about Bond. Alas, Denise Richards playing a nuclear scientist is hilarious, especially when she acts and sounds like a five year old girl. Robert Carlyle also plays one of the most forgettable villains I've ever watched on screen.
- Superman vs. The Elite - Based one on single issue of Superman, this animated movie explores the idea of someone like Superman taking lives in to his own hand and what might happen if Superman himself were ever pushed over the edge. I would definitely recommend it. It also has one of the coolest fights I've seen in an animated movie.
- Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - I never saw the original Ghost Rider, but from reviews and friends' opinions I wasn't exactly inspired to check it out. My brother is a big fan of the character though so we watched the sequel and it wasn't entirely awful. The movie is more or less Terminator 2 though in plot. Take that as you will.
- Brave - Not one of Pixar's best efforts, but easily better than something like Cars.
- The Amazing Spiderman - Probably the biggest disappointment I saw this year. The movie is more or less a carbon copy of the first film and that made it boring to watch. I also felt like Spiderman was missing that "superhuman" quality during his action scenes that make them so fun to watch.
- The Dark Knight Rises - Apparently you either hate or love this film. I loved it. I really enjoyed Tom Hardy as Bane, I enjoyed the idea of bringing everything full circle for Batman, and I enjoyed the ending. Most times superhero films end with the character just going off and doing more crime-fighting. Here we have the hero passing the baton and retiring. I thought that was a brave choice.
- The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 - Another DC animated film (the third on this list I believe). It's a fun look at Frank Miller's award winning story The Dark Knight Returns. The voice actors are great and the story itself is really interesting. I'd recommend this one as well. Keep an eye out for Part 2 later next year.
- Looper - I'm torn on Looper. I honestly feel like it was two movies mashed together. The first half feels like a great sci-fi thriller with a fantastic time travel concept. The second half is very plodding and dumps almost everything sci-fi related in exchange for a kid with awful dialogue that makes you laugh more than anything else. The ending of the film is interesting though.
- Hotel Transylvania - Definitely more for young kids. There's very little there for adults to enjoy.
- Indie Game: The Movie - An interesting look at indie game development, though it's hard not to roll your eyes at some of these people and the hipster attitude they have towards the larger industry.
- Margin Call - A great film about the beginning of the econimic downfall in 2008. It stars Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, and Kevin Spacey in some great roles. Check it out on NetFlix.
- Silent Hill: Revelation - Review
- Wreck-It Ralph - I adore this movie. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I fell in love with this movie. It's very charming and easily a must see for anyone who loves video games.
- Skyfall - In my opinion, this is Craig's best Bond film yet. It dumps all the emotional baggage of the last film and delivers you a film of Bond as Bond. Javier Bardem shines as the Joker-like Silva.
And there you have it! All thirty-one films I saw this year. Chances are I'll see the Hobbit at some point, but I'll write up separate impressions of that if the need arises. Next topic? VIDEO GAMES!
