watch 50 movies in 2008

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480249/

Eh. This was all right. There was a lot missing from the film; the ending didn’t feel right at all, and the “monsters” weren’t very well-formed. Considering they were vampires in the original novel, it makes sense that the further you go from the novel, the less worked-out these things will be.

Time to go read the book.

2.5/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445922/

I put off seeing this for a long time because I felt like it was going to be overrated.

That said, it wasn’t bad. There were a few scenes that didn’t really mesh well with the entire film; my favorite scene could be considered one of them—when they sing to Prudence, who has locked herself in a closet.

I thought Jude’s character really paled in comparison to Max’s character. Sure, Jim Sturgess is hot… and has a British accent… but Joe Anderson is equally as drool-worthy and had a better, more formed character.

Mostly, I’m surprised that I really enjoyed the rendering of all the Beatles songs.

4/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374546/

Ki-duk Kim is the director/writer of this Korean film, and also plays the adult monk, which is pretty astounding.

It is the story of a young boy who lives with an old monk on a floating temple, isolated from the rest of the world. Each season portrays a different time in the boy’s life, and in summer, a young woman takes her daughter to the old monk to be cured, and the young boy falls in love…

My favorite scene, by far, was in the beginning of the movie. The young boy, despite being raised by a monk, starts to torture animals by tying a rock around them. He does this to a fish, a frog, and a snake, all the while his master is watching him. The next morning, the young boy wakes up and there is a rock tied to his own back. When he begs the master to untie him, he says that he will not untie him until he has rescued all the animals he tied up the previous day, and warns: “For every animal that is dead, that will be a stone you will carry in your heart for the rest of your life.”

This was a beautiful film, and if you can get your hands on it, you should! (Google the Korean title: Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom for some youtube clips.)

5/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/

This would have been lots better had it actually been a sci-fi film, and thus, more believable.

2/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/

This movie was really cute. I was surprised; I’m not a fan of “chick flicks” and can’t stand Lindsey Lohan.

It’s a good lounging around movie because it doesn’t take much of your attention.

4/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023694/

Another film in the set I bought at Big Lots, starring Bela Lugosi, who only took $800 for his role.

Reportedly the first zombie film, and it’s easy to see: the humans aren’t alive… but they aren’t dead, either? They’ve simply “lost their soul” or something.

This movie was only really impressive after having just watched a silent movie; there isn’t much dialogue, but I was in the mood to sit and watch the actors, which is the hardest thing for most people when trying to watch silent films/the first talkies.

2.5/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/

I officially lost hope in the majority of video rental places in this area the day I called around trying to either find Nosferatu or the Dracula with Bela Lugosi in it. Most of the kids I talked to (and they were kids, my age) thought I was crazy; they had never even heard of a little film called “Nost-what?” and tried to give me one of the numerous Dracula flicks created in the last 50 years.

I had seen clips of Nosferatu but never the entire film, and while poking around the movie bin at Big Lots, discovered a set of 20 Vampire and Zombie films in 4 discs for $6. I scanned the list, knowing that I wouldn’t find any well-known films.

To my surprise, Nosferatu was listed. I almost did a happy dance in the store.

Nosferatu was the original “Dracula” movie, based on the novel by Bram Stoker. In it, the count looks like what he actually looks like in the book, not some hot vampire that you wouldn’t mind sucking on your neck.

It is one of the best silent films of all time, and a great example of German Expressionism.

If you haven’t seen it, you must!

5/5

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093565/

I don’t really like Cher but she did a good job in this movie. I quite fancied Nicholas Cage in this role, even if his character was a bit unhinged and needed a lot more characterization.

I enjoyed this movie. It was a cute romantic comedy.

3/5

http://imdb.com/title/tt0106677/

This was a great watch-while-you’re-chilling movie. That’s really all it sets out to be, other than a slice-of-life about 1976.

What truly makes this film great, beyond the artistic intention of capturing an era that is mostly long gone (beyond those damn high-rise jeans that are starting to come back), is the number of actors who have gone on to do other things. I recognized Milla Jovovich, but the others flew well under my radar, possibly because the movie was a bit grainy.

If you watch it, look out for:

Milla Jovovich
Adam Goldberg
Anthony Rapp
Ben Affleck
Matthew McConaughey

among others.

3.5/5

http://imdb.com/title/tt0041416/

This movie is a prequel of sorts to Pietro di Donato’s novel Christ in Concrete. It tells the tale of the Italian American Geremio and his wife, Annunziata. Geremio is a bricklayer, and he paid for Annunziata’s passage to America on the pretense that they would be married and share a home. Only Geremio, making $1.50 an hour, lies to Annunziata, and she finds herself living in a noisy tenement.

The movie was interesting to watch after having read the book. I don’t think had I watched the movie before, I would really have gotten a full understanding of it, although the book focuses on the life of Paul, Geremio and Annunziata’s oldest child.

The first two chapters of Christ in Concrete made me literally vomit, and as it’s the end of the movie, I was really anxious to see how it would be handled. The movie was made in 1949, so its rendering of the subject matter is nothing like what would be shown today. It was very … quiet, and sad.

2.5/5