******2011 Monthly Movie Specials*******

Here's the monthly movie specials for 2011:

Musical Monday
The first Monday of every month.
I'll be checking out musicals I've never seen before.

Shame On Me Night
The second Wednesday of every month.
I will see movies that I'm ashamed to admit
I've never seen before. Movies that most have seen
and are referenced in pop culture.

Yakuza Night Thursday
The third Thursday of every month.
Love the yakuza genre but haven't really seen a whole lot.
This will help me explore these Japanese movies.

Linda's Chick Flick Night will be renamed to
Linda's Saturday Movie Pick.
It'll still be the second Saturday of every month.
The reason for the name change:
Linda doesn't always pick a chick flick.
She has the right to choose any movie she wants
as long as it's a movie I normally wouldn't pick.

Friday at the Grindhouse
The fourth Friday of every month.
There's tons of movies out there.
Can't go wrong with this one.
Back to back exploitation films.
A good excuse to go to I Luv Video.

Every Tuesday is New Release Tuesday.
I'll check out any movie that came out that day.

Other than these specific days,
all the other days will be filled with whatever I'm in the mood for:
Kung Fu, Zombie, Documentaries, Foreign,
and etc.

*****Favortie Films of 2010******

The End of 2010 is here.
Saw around 80 movies that are considered 2010.
My favorite movies are not necessarily the best but
are movies that I personally enjoyed the most.

Here's my top 10 FAVORITE films of 2010

1. Inception
2. I Saw the Devil
3. Toy Story 3
4. Kick Ass
5. 127 Hours
6. The Social Network
7. Black Swan
8. Sound of Noise
9. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
10. Shutter Island

Honorable Mentions:
Machete, Bedevilled, The Man from Nowhere, The Town,
and The Ghost Writer.

Top 10 Favorite U.S Films of 2010
1. Inception
2. Toy Story 3
3. Kick Ass
4. 127 Hours
5. The Social Network
6. Black Swan
7. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
8. Shutter Island
9. Machete
10. The Town

Top 10 Favorite Foreign Films of 2010
1. I Saw The Devil
2. Sound of Noise
3. Bedevilled
4. The Man from Nowhere
5. We Are What We Are (Somos Lo Que Hay)
6. The Housemaid
7. Outrage
8. Rammbock
9. Gallants
10. Biblioteque Pascual


Top 10 Movies I Personally Didn't Like in 2010
1. White Wall
2. Cop Out
3. Leap Year
4. The Back Up Plan
5. Ca$h
6. Undocumented
7. Valentine's Day
8. From Paris With Love
9. Winter's Bone (I don't understand why people love this one. It was boring.)
10. Alice in Wonderland

8 1/2

8 1/2
This was one trippy classic ride.
A bunch of great moments.
Love the music.
I been wanting to watch this Italian classic for a while.
Just last week I read an article about the movie Inception.
It had a paragraph describing what Nolan did with his film is what
Fellini did with this one.
Since Inception is my #1 favorite movie this year,
I wanted to close this year with this film by Federico Fellini.
The whole thing was like this big dream.
My favorite sequence was the Saraghina dancing scene.
Nice flow.

I recommend this film to those who have patience
and are fully awake. This is one to pay a lot of attention to.

The trailer I found is silent but here it is:


That's it for this year as far as movies I've never seen before.
I'm re-watching some of my favorites films of this year
so I can come up with my favorite list tomorrow.

The Big Boss

The Big Boss

Badass Bruce Lee flick.
This was his first starring role.
And it gets violent at the end.
I've never seen Bruce Lee this violent.
Of course, I've only seen a few of his films.
That's fixing to change, just bought the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection.
It has this one and four other movies (two that I haven't seen yet).
For the majority of this movie, we don't see him in action.
But, those last 20 minutes, he gets brutal.
The story was actually not bad.

Good for the Kung Fu section.

The American (2010)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY

The American

Love the intro.
The rest was pretty good.
Character driven story.
I like that Clooney carried his character through
without any narration. His expressions told the story.
It was a slow build up for that climatic scene.
The main theme is not that original.
We all seen it millions of times:
A guy wants to quit the criminal world but
must do one more job. Of course, we know how
they most end up.

Worth to peek. A rental at best, but, nothing more.
This is my last 2010 movie for this year.
Next year, I'll be checking out more 2010 movies that
I missed out on. Movies like: The Fighter, Biutiful,
and etc. This Friday, I'll be posting my top 10 favorite films of this year.

Micmacs

Micmacs
Fantastic film.
I'm a sucker for foreign films.
So whenever I see one that's clever
and ends up being lots of fun, I can't help
but literally get excited and feel proud to be a fan of cinema.
This was the case with this French film.
Saw it this morning and I've been in a happy mood since.
This is the same director as Amelie and Delicatessen.
Lots of memorable moments:
the flexible woman, the explosions, the revenge plot,
and etc.
Love all the characters and all of their unique talents.
Freaking clever.

Highly recommended.
Too bad it's not a 2010 movie or else this would of
been a possible candidate for top 10.

Devil (2010)

Devil
If I don't have to, I'm going to stay away from elevators
for a while. Creepy moments.
This is the kind of movie that won't have that
magic feeling of suspense the second time you see it
because of the twist.
The twist is when the movie finally reveals who is "the devil."
It was entertaining.
It reminded me of the movie, "The Frailty."
In fact, that could be a good double feature.

Clean your conscience before getting inside an elevator.
It's for the best.
If you like "The Sixth Sense," check this one out.

Salt (2010)

Salt
Not bad. Better than expected.
It's like the Bourne Supremacy movies but with a female lead.
I guess you see one spy movie, you've seen them all.
There's twists and turns here.
Maybe more than enough.
A lot of hollywood action, like our main character, Salt,
jumping from truck to truck in the middle of the freeway.
My verdict: good one time entertainment.
And if you're bored in a few years, check it out again.

True Grit (2010)

True Grit
First of all, I want to make clear that

the following comments are not considered negative at all.

I thought the film was decent.
I have to stay true to myself, so these are my comments:
As a Coen Brothers fan, I was fairly satisfied.
It didn't wow me or blew me away,

but, I thought the performances and the shots were awesome.
There were several good moments,

like the hanging scene.
Since I saw the original last week, I couldn't help but

to think about the differences between the two while watching this one.

It kinda took away some of the magic.
It felt like this was missing something.
Mainly because I had very very high expectations for this one.

Definitely deserves an honorable mention.

I know a lot of people love or will love the movie,

but this is how I felt this first time.

Maybe it will grow on me, and over time instead of liking

this movie, perhaps I'll find love.

If you're a fan of Westerns, check this one out for sure.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
I hate Shia LeBeouf.
The only reason I wanted see this movie
is because of Oliver Stone.
I'm a fan of the first Wall Street as well.
When I heard Stone was making this sequel,
I was a little bit disappointed.
Now that I finally saw this tonight,
I'm still a little bit disappointed.
I can officially say this was an unnecessary sequel.
I think the movie was alright.
It should of been its own movie rather than
bringing back characters and calling it a follow up to Wall Street.
It kind of ruins the world of the first Wall Street.
The moment that pissed me off the most was
the Charlie Sheen cameo.
That felt out of place and unnecessary.

I just hope Shia is not back again 20 years later for
Wall Street 3: Need More Money Once Again.

Cyrus (2010)

Cyrus
This was marketed as a comedy but it's more of a drama.
Sure, there's some giggles, but the overall tone was serious.
I was curious about this film for a while.
Glad to get it out of the way.
I like some of the awkward moments.
I thought the setup was weak.
And didn't like all those zoom ins with the camera.

I wouldn't recommend this.
If you're also curious about this film and
a John C. Reilly fan, get this out of your system and move on.
For the record, my favorite John C. Reilly movie is
"Sydney" a.k.a "Hard Eight."

The A-Team (2010)

The A-Team
This was balls out fun.
A lot of explosions for a popcorn night.
I didn't think I was going to like it at first,
after a while, I was thrilled.
Still, it has its flaws.
For example, in the parachute flying tank scene,
the soldiers kept shooting at the tank rather than aiming
at the parachute. If they would of hit the parachute,
our heroes (The A-Team) would of been dead or severely injured.
But, I guess they were too stupid to realize that.
Other than that and a few other things,
I enjoyed the movie.
Good climax.

Recommended for a decent action night.

The Town (2010)

The Town
My heart was racing with this movie, especially
in the climax during and after the Boston Red Sox Stadium robbery.
Just want to note: badass performances by everyone here.
When it comes to heist and robbery movies,
this one deserves good honorable mention.
The beginning was alright but it gets better
and better. Kudos to Ben Affleck for directing another
great crime-drama (the other one being "Gone Baby Gone").

Must see film of 2010. Check it out.

Black Christmas / Silent Night Deadly Night

FRIDAY AT THE GRINDHOUSE

Christmas Special

(Since next week is Christmas Eve, I decided to move
Friday at the Grindhouse one week early.)


Black Christmas
Slow driven 70's classic.
I've never ever seen this before until tonight.
But, it wasn't a good idea to watch this so late.
The caffeine must of worn out, I ended up falling
asleep halfway through. I woke up, went back for
a bit, and realized I didn't miss anything really important.
This is not a Santa Claus gone mad kind of movie,
in other words, this wasn't santasploitation.
It was simply a slasher flick that takes place during Christmas.
Would of wanted to see some gore.
Love the very slow moving ending shot.

Verdict: An okay flick to watch every once in a great while
during the holidays.

Silent Night Deadly Night

This is definitely a good late night grindhouse movie.
I didn't grow up with these movies.
There's actually four parts.
This first part had that great old sleazy and campy feel
I was looking for.
My favorite line:
The boss closes up the store and says,
"Time to get shitfaced."
And I enjoyed "Zack Morris" dressed up as Santa
killing topless women and any men in the way
in the first half then nuns and cops in the second half.
Nice ending and song.

Good 3 o'clock in the morning times.

This was the last Friday at the Grindhouse of this year.
Not too worry, it will be back again next year.
This has been my favorite personal movie special
since two years.
Looking forward to at least another 24 grindhouse flicks next year.
And now I got a "GoLocal" card which allows me
to get discounts at I Luv Video. That will help
with my grindhouse picks each month.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Crazy and original flick.
Santa ain't what it seems.
Don't want to spoil it.
If you haven't seen this, it's better

if you don't know what happens.

Just stick to the trailer.

I call this a great Christmas horror.

The poster outside the theatre calls it

"Best Christmas horror since Gremlins."

This came out at Fantastic Fest this year.

I must of overlooked it.
Favorite part: the twist near the end.

Make sure to have gingerbread cookies handy.

It can save your life.

Fun for the holidays.

Despicable Me (2010)

ANIMATION NIGHT


Despicable Me
Cute sweet movie we have here.
I like the flow.
Love the Minions.
They're like little ewoks.
While I enjoyed the movie as a whole,
I have to say that Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon
were better than this (as far as Animations released in 2010).
I have several favorite moments:
Like when Gru steals back the shrinking gun
and the carnival scene.

Stuffed crust pizza will go good with this one.

This is my last official Animation Night.
At least for a while.
But, that don't mean I won't watch any more animations.
I'm planning on watching a few next year.
It won't be on a specific night like this year,
but random nights.

Here's a list of all the animations I saw this year
for the first time (most favorite to least favorite (they were all good):

1. Toy Story 3
2. Ninja Scroll
3. Cloudy Chance of Meatballs
4. Mary & Max
5. How To Train Your Dragon
6. Kung Fu Panda
7. Cars
8. A Town Called Panic
9. Despicable Me
10. Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
11. Spirited Away
12. Monsters Vs. Aliens
13. Monster House

True Grit

True Grit
I had to see this original western before
the Coen Brothers version next week.
This John Wayne classic was awesome.
Believe it or not, hell, I don't believe it myself,
but, this is my first John Wayne movie ever.
I didn't grow up with westerns.
This is a simple story told well.
There's a few oddball moments as well as characters that I couldn't help
but wonder how badass the new version will be.
For a movie that's a little over two hours long,
this went by quick for me.
Love all these characters.
The ending was typical for an average western.

Now I'm more excited than before.
Can't wait one week from now (Dec. 22).
We'll see if Lloyd Bridges can be a "true grit" like John Wayne.

The Other Guys (2010)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


The Other Guys
Couple of laugh out loud moments
and a couple of chuckles throughout.
That's about it for the comedy.
The action was decent.
Favorite scenes:
when they pick up the Prius vehicle scene
and the Bed Bath and Beyond scene.
Will Ferrell was alright.
I wasn't feeling Mark Wahlberg's character
and his chemistry with Ferrell's character.
Michael Keaton was great.
I like the music.

Good for only one night of entertainment.
Not a movie I would see over and over.
Giving this a try won't hurt.

Before Sunset

CATCHING UP WITH A DIRECTOR

December's Director: Richard Linklater

#5:

Before Sunset
Pretty much the same as Before Sunrise
except they're a lot older and they're in Paris.
Good for a romantic drama, but not for me.
Thank goodness this was a little shorter than the first one.
The story here was slightly better, in my opinion.
More believable.
Love the shots.
Another one of those that I'm glad I saw in the morning.
Otherwise, my comments would of been more negative.

Now that I've seen all his feature films,
here's my most favorite to least favorite Linklater films:

1. Dazed and Confused
2. A Scanner Darkly
3. Fast Food Nation
4. The School of Rock
5. Bad News Bears
6. SubUrbia
7. Slacker
8. Me and Orson Welles
9. Waking Life
10. The Newton Boys
11. Tape
12. Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach
13. Before Sunset
14. Before Sunrise



This is also my last Catching Up With A Director Segment.
Next year, I won't be required to watch 5 movies from a director
each month. This segment was a challenge to me.
If I want to catch up with another director in the future,
I'll do it without any obligation.

Here's the 12 directors I caught up on this year
(Once again from most favorite to least favorite):

1. Guillermo Del Toro
2. Takeshi Miike
3. Sam Raimi
4. Steven Spielberg
5. John Carpenter
6. David Cronenberg
7. Stanley Kubrick
8. George Romero
9. Wong Kar-Wai
10.Richard Linklater
11.Lucio Fulci
12.Steven Soderbergh

Before Sunrise

CATCHING UP WITH A DIRECTOR

December's Director: Richard Linklater

#4:

Before Sunrise
Believe it or not, I saw most of this film
four years back. Never fully saw it all until tonight.
I liked it just a bit more this time around.
But, not much of a compliment,
because the first time was a boring experience.
I'm not an Ethan Hawke fan.
I didn't like the easy going plot.
But, this ain't science folks.
This is a romance/drama/comedy.
A movie I would never be in the mood for.
For that reason, this is one of my least favorite Linklater films.

A lot of people love it, I would rather watch Titanic
instead.

Black Swan (2010)

Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky is now officially among my favorite directors.
Left the theater satisfied with this psychological drama.
This is Natalie Portman's best performance ever.
She was able to pull so many emotions.
The whole experience reminded me a lot
of David Lynch.
So, it's safe to say that, if you're a fan of David Lynch,
you will enjoy this movie.
The plot is not that original. Kind of predicted some things.
But, seeing this on the big screen with loud sound,
made it one of the best experiences I've had this year.
How did they shoot all those mirror scenes?
Crazy movie. Shocking moments.
The ending reminded me a lot of Aronofsky's "The Wrestler."

Definitely has a shot in being in my top 10 of the year.
Has to settle in inside my head before I give it a number.
If you see it, remember: it's about the experience.
Expect a thrill ride and have it extremely loud.

Me And Orson Welles

CATCHING UP WITH A DIRECTOR

December's Director: Richard Linklater

#3:

Me and Orson Welles
I woke up this morning to this nice drama piece.
Love all those moving shots
that Linklater always uses.
This is good to watch for the performances.
I don't have a certain favorite part.
I found the whole thing entertaining.
I'm glad I was able to see it in the morning
rather than night.
Orson Welles is a hardcore cold hearted guy,
at least, that's how he's portrayed on here.

Another one bites the dust.
Two more Linklatter movies to go.
Sunday and Monday I will be seeing Before Sunrise and Before Sunset.
That will complete my final Catching Up With A Director segment.

Blood Money a.k.a The Stranger and the Gunfighter

SPAGHETTI WESTERN NIGHT


Blood Money
Too cheesy for a spaghetti western and bad direction.
This has a little mix of kung fu which was a little terrible.
Lee Van Cleef doesn't show his bad ass moves until
the end. I like the plot, it was a bit weird.
Overall, I wasn't into it as much.
This has a grindhouse feel to it.

The dialogue is what I didn't like the most.
I don't recommend this one.
It's a little sad that my last official Spaghetti Western Night
happens to be a movie that wasn't as good as other ones.

There you have it for Spaghetti Western Night this year.
Next year, I no longer have to commit in
watching a spaghetti western every month.
From now on, it depends on my mood.

I've counted all the movies I ever saw in this genre.
All in all, I've seen a total of 33 spaghetti westerns in my life.

I saw 12 of them this year.
Here's my most favorite to least favorite from this year:

1. Mannaja (A Man Called Blade)
2. W Django
3. Adios, Sabata
4. The Grand Duel
5. Keoma
6. The Return of Sabata
7. Take A Hard Ride
8. Django Kill, If You Live, Shoot
9. Django the Killer
10. Captain Apache
11. Blindman
12. Blood Money

Barry Munday (2010)

NEW RELEASE TUESDAY


Barry Munday
Patrick Wilson like you never seen him before.
This had some good laughs.
Like another version of the movie "Knocked Up"
but with weirder moments.
I especially enjoyed the first half.
The second was so and so.
The family table scene with Father Walsh
was a good moment.
I like the plot.

If you're looking for something different
and comedic, and a little quirky, then give this a try.

Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach

DOCUMENTARY NIGHT
&
CATCHING UP WITH A DIRECTOR

December's Director: Richard Linklater

#2:

Inning by Inning: A Portrait of A Coach
Killed two birds with one stone.
This is my last Documentary Night
and it so happens that this month's
director has a documentary that I haven't seen.
Well, here it is.
This documentary is about the University of Texas
baseball coach, Augie Garrido.
I'm not a baseball fan.
I know that Linklater is a baseball fan.
There's a baseball scene in Dazed and Confused.
He directed the Bad News Bears remake.
And now, here's this baseball doc.
In general, this was okay.
It was somewhat inspirational.
Basically, this coach is the ultimate badass
coach ever. And there's moments that show it.
Did this make me a fan of the guy and the game?
No.
But, decent doc.
I'll probably never see it again.
Favorite part: Coach Garrido yells at his players
in the locker room. Very harsh. The team won the next
10 or 11 games (don't remember) after that.


Couldn't find a trailer to this doc but here's one scene I found:


That's it for Documentary Night. This was the last one.
Musical Monday will replace this next year.
That don't mean I'm going to stop watching docs.
I'll watch them whenever I want.
I just won't have a specific night dedicated to it.
Here's all the documentaries I saw this year
(from most favorite to least favorite):

The Cove
When You're Strange
Religulous
Burma VJ: Reporting from A Closed Country
How Bruce Lee Changed The World
Taxi to the Dark Side
Capitalism: A Love Story
The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
Crude
Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach
The Thorn in the Heart
They Killed Sister Dorothy

Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl

Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl
This japanese over the top splatterfest was not
as great as I wanted it to be.
I've seen better in this category.
I've enjoyed half of the ridiculous moments on here
and the other half were annoying.
One of my few favorite parts was the scene where
vampire girl kills an older man and there's a happy song
playing in the soundtrack while we see the exaggerated
blood spray.
Didn't like the ending.

Other recommendations rather than this one:
Meatball Machine and Machine Girl.