Track the Films You Watch (2010) - Page 39

GIFT SHOP and RESTREPO are both in my Netflix queue so I hope to get to them soon.  I've had a cold the past two weeks so I'm still very late in getting to the Oscar-contenders but I hope to catch up over the weekend and next week.

Toy Story (1995)

John Lasseter

A kid's toy room is split after his former favorite toy Woody (Tom Hanks) gets replaced with the newest sensation Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen).  The gunslinger Woody can't except the fact that he's no longer the kid's favorite so he and Buzz end up outside of the house and must try and find a way back.  The Pixar form of animation has become the standard today so I'm sure many people watching these films forget how groundbreaking this movie was when it was first released.  I was only fifteen at the time but giving it a second viewing after all these years just reminds me at why this thing became a hit. Not only is the animation beautiful and extremely life like but we also got a terrific screenplay that certainly brings these characters to life and really makes them something special.  The idea of a film being centered on toys that come to life when no one is looking is something so simple yet so genius that you can't help but wonder why it took someone so long to do a film.  The screenplay is without question one of the best ever written for an animation movie as all of the characters, from Woody and Buzz to Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) and Slinky Dog (Jim Varney) are perfectly brought to life.  The child-like nature of the story has so much energy that you can't help but smile at each journey that the toys find themselves on.  The amount of imagination in the screenplay is what makes it so special because it really does seem like something a kid would come up with while playing alone in his room with the toys.  Everyone can remember what it was like being a kid and playing with these toys and bringing them to life in our minds so to see that played out on the screen is certainly something special.  The film has terrific laughs but also a nice message.  The voice work is terrific with Hanks and Allen clearly leading the way but that Southern draw of Varney is special as well.  TOY STORY was ground breaking when originally released and it comes as no shock that the film hasn't lost any of its impact.  The screenplay with its great characters and story is guaranteed to be enjoyed for decades to come. 

Toy Story 2 (1999)

John Lasseter

Nice sequel to the 1995 smash hit has Woody getting stolen by a toy collector who plans to sell him to a museum in Japan.  Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm and Slinky Dog decide to go and try to rescue him but Woody gets some pressure from his other collectibles that it might be best to start a new life elsewhere.  It seems many fans consider this one a lot better than the first but I wouldn't go that far.  While this is still an impressive little gem I do think it falls a tad bit short of the first film for a couple reasons.  The majority of this film centers in on Woody, Buzz, the rescuers and of course the new toys who want Woody to stay with them so that they can be sold off as a complete set.  The group goes on several adventures while the majority of the other toys from the first film are at home and off the screen.  I think this is one of the problems with this film because many memorable characters simply aren't in this film and to me that is a letdown.  The first movie had one great joke and adventure after another and a truly remarkable imagination.  It's fair to say that this film has that same imagination but just not as wide as the previous movie since it did feature more characters.  With that said, this is still a charming little film thanks in large part to the voice work of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.  They certainly have no trouble getting back into their roles and the same is true for Don Rickles, Joan Cusack and the underrated Jim Varney.  We even get Kelsey Grammer as a rather unfriendly part of Woody's collection.  The Big Al character by Wayne Knight is one of the new folks that I actually enjoyed as I thought he summed up that obsessive collector quite nicely but at the same time he can't hold a candle to the mean kid from the first.  The adventure that the group sets out on is pretty funny and the highlight is a terrific sequence where they're trying to cross a busy road when all mayhem breaks loose.  The final ride through the airport is another nice sequence and as you'd expect the animation is terrific.  TOY STORY 2 is certainly a good movie and one well worth watching but at the same time I think it falls well short of the first film.

Christmas Carol, A (2009)

Robert Zemeckis

The latest version of Charles Dickens' famous story gets the Disney touch and goes all animation.  Jim Carrey lends his voice playing Scrooge, the cheap and cruel man who is going to change his ways after being visited by his former partner Marley who warns him that three other spirits are going to visit him.  Several reviewers have called this film a masterpiece but I personally wouldn't go that far.  I'm pretty sure everyone alive knows this story so it's doubtful even the youngest of people going into this thing will have some idea of what it's about.  Not only do you have countless film versions but Disney had previous done a TV movie and just about every TV show has done some sort of variation on it.  I was really curious how Disney was going to present a rather dark story to the kids of today and I was rather shocked at how dark they kept the material.  The original story is quite a creepy one and that tone is here throughout.  The first appearance of Marley's ghost is a very effective one as is the scene where he shows up to warn Scrooge.  Director Zemeckis really doesn't shy away from the dark moments and this of course comes to play during the final visit.  We even get a rather grotesque moment when Marley's jaw breaks and he has to try and reattach it.  The story, as you'd expect, is a strong one but this credit has to go to Dickens.  What makes this version stand out from the countless others is the performance-captured animation.  There's no question that this movie is a feast for the eyes as the animation is so life-like that you really forget you're watching something that isn't being performed by real actors.  Not only do we get Carrey but there's also Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes and Bob Haskins.  All the actors turn in fine work.  Back to the visuals, there are many interesting ones including the look of the Ghost of Christmas Past, which is shown to be like a candle with the flame giving him the power.  The visual of this flame going around the room to get Scrooge is one of the most impressive in the film.  The film really looks so beautiful that at times I was taken out of the story simply because I was trying to take in everything that was on screen to look at.  This actually happened quite often but I think the story itself is strong enough to overcome this.  A CHRISTMAS CAROL has been told so many times that it's nice to see something that shows it in a different way.  This isn't a classic version but it's a pleasant one.

Silent Night, Deadly Night III (1989)

Monte Hellman

When I put the DVD into my player and hit play I was thinking that I had never seen this thing but within minutes of the movie playing it dawned on me that I had watched this once when it first came out.  As the film went along the awfulness that was in front of my eyes made me realize that my poor mind had simply tried to forget having ever seen this awful film.  Ricky Caldwell (Bill Moseley), the killer Santa from the previous film, has been in a coma for six years when a nutty doctor decides to use a blind woman (Samantha Scully) to try and connect with him.  She goes home for the holidays but sadly Ricky wakes up and goes on a killing spree while trying to find her.  This series is without question one of the weirdest in horror history as the original film came to be one of the most controversial ever made.  The second is considered by many to be one of the worst ever made but thankfully it's so incredibly stupid that you can't help but laugh and have fun with it.  This third film comes from cult director Hellman who previously made films like THE SHOOTING, RIDE IN THE WHIRLWIND and CHINA 9 LIBERTY 37.  Some consider him a genius but I've always found his films to be rather slow, boring and incredibly overrated.  It was shocking to read several sources that said the director felt this was his best work and if he really does think that then he must really have a low opinion of his other films.  This slasher is just downright horrid on all levels.  The screenplay is a joke.  The acting embarrassing.  The special effects rather silly.  There's really not a single good thing to be found here and the only reason I don't give this a BOMB rating is because of some extremely stupid scenes that actually made me laugh.  I'm really not sure what Hellman was thinking but apparently the original screenplay was something completely different but he changed things up and added all sorts of strangeness.  Some of his new stuff includes the doctor and a cop (Robert Culp) driving around discussing various aspects of life.  This stuff doesn't work for a couple reasons.  One is that the dialogue is simply poorly written and boring.  The dialogue is meant to be deep and make you think but the only thing you'll want to do is sleep.  Another problem is that stuff like this really takes away from the "other" story trying to be told and that's the slasher stuff.  All the actors pretty much sleep through their roles but I can't say I blame them too much.  Even the usually reliable Culp doesn't seem a bit interested in anything going on.  What's even stranger is that Hellman uses footage from the first film and none of this is really needed because the killer here wasn't the one witnessing much of the footage that is used here and meant to be his "dream" or vision.  SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT III is bad on all levels and it's really a piss-poor way to end the series.  The next two installments were just cashing in on the popular title so why Hellman decided to go this route is anyone's guess but the final film is a complete disaster.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (1990)

Brian Yuzna

A woman puts herself on fire and jumps from the roof of a building and the next day a reporter (Neith Hunter) tries to figure out why.  The woman begins to investigate the neighborhood and soon meets a store owner who might be hiding a few secrets about the dead woman as well as a secret cult.  Those wanting to see a killer Santa Claus are going to be disappointed because the fat man doesn't make an appearance here except for a brief clip from the previous movie.  Director Yunza put his name on two film series from the 80s with this one and of course the much better RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3.  This film here isn't awful but there's simply nothing here we haven't seen before and in the end the thing is just too weak to be entertaining.  The screenplay makes a fatal mistake in letting the viewers be a lot smarter than our female lead.  Pretty much we have this woman getting in over her head and the viewer must sit back and watch her do one dumb thing after another.  The problem with this is that she does the dumbest things possible and yet she keeps doing them over and over.  A long running plot device has her eating a "berry", which of course turns out to be something from the cult.  After eating this thing she eventually begins to see various bugs running around and starts to puke them up as well.  It gets rather annoying because as a reporter you'd expect her to have a brain but she continues to do one dumb thing after another.  The screenplay also features some fairly weak dialogue and various situations that simply go no where and this includes all the stuff dealing with the boyfriend who doesn't treat the reporter good enough.  Those wanting nudity will get a little.  Those wanting violence will get a little but not much.  There's some minor gore but not enough to keep those wanting all the red stuff entertained.  The film contains a lot of bug stuff so those creeped out by the critters running around will probably find this stuff effective.  You also have a large creature that seems to have been inspired by the monster in William Castle's THE TINGLER.  Hunter isn't too bad in the film as she at least keeps you interested in the character.  The rest of the supporting cast are decent at best and this includes Clint Howard playing the typical psycho you'd expect him to be playing outside of his brother's films.  SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4 stays away from the controversy of the previous film and I can respect the filmmakers for trying to do something new with the series but in the end it's just something we've seen countless times before.  If you're going to do a movie about a woman getting involved with witches then you need to try something fresher than what's here.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 5 (1991)

Martin Kitrosser

Mickey Rooney (!?!?!) plays a toy maker who along with his creepy son starts making and sending out toys with the ability to kill.  It seems one woman and her son are under attack because her husband was killed by one of these toys and the son keeps getting new gifts left at the door.  SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5 is the final film in a franchise that has certainly had a lot more low points than any other series in the horror genre.  As with the previous movie, this one here has nothing to do with the killer Santa from the first three films but that's not a huge deal.  There are a lot of problems with this thing but it's almost worth watching just because of screen legend Rooney.  He was a major opponent to the first film and even wrote letters to get the film banned so it's rather funny seeing him appear in this film.  One has to wonder if the producers didn't tell him this was a SNDN movie or perhaps he was just willing to appear in it due to the money.  Either way there's no question that he's the best thing in the film as he actually delivers a quite good performance.  He plays the psychopath role quite nicely and he also handles the more dramatic moments as well.  Part of the role has the old man being an alcoholic and Rooney actually delivers these scenes very well.  That's pretty much the only good thing you can say about this film as everything else is rather boring and silly.  The acting is a major problem because the performances are so bad you can never really believe or care about anything going on.  The screenplay, outside the Rooney character, really doesn't allow anyone to do much but at the same time if it did it's doubtful the actors could have done much with it.  William Thorne plays the boys and doesn't do much.  Jane Higginson plays the mother and we even get Neith Hunter who played in the previous movie.  Clint Howard also appears in one quick scene.  The story is a pretty big mess as it takes forever for the thing to get going and when the ending finally comes and the twist is revealed you can't help but roll your eyes at how dumb it is.  The one highlight in the film comes when a young couple begins to have sex on a bed and Rooney, in a Santa suit, drops off some of the killer toys.  During the sex scene a fake hand joins the action and I must admit that it had me laughing.  The toy attack that follows also has a lot of imagination but it's just a shame that the rest of the film couldn't have as much.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Lee Unkrich

Andy is about to go to college so he must start cleaning out his room and packing up what he wants to take with him while everything else goes to the attic.  His toys accidentally get put in the trash pile and soon wind up in a daycare where they think Andy has thrown them away but it's up to Woody to convince them that Andy still loves them.  Hearing too much hype about a film can often lead a viewer to walk away disappointed as the hype usually gets in the way of one actually enjoying a film to its fullest level.  I had heard so many great things about TOY STORY 3 that I was rather skeptical even though I enjoyed the first two movies.  I'm glad to say this is one example where the film certainly lived up to the hype and actually managed to be better than everything I had heard.  While I still think UP is a better movie this one here has a terrific story, a wonderful imagination and some truly great moments including the final twenty-minutes, which contain just about every type of emotion that you could hope for.  At the same time I'd add that this movie is certainly more for adults than it is kids because I can imagine that the ending would have many young kids traumatized due to the suspenseful scene where the toys end up in the garbage and are about to fall into a burning pit of fire.  The sequence is beautifully done and heartfelt but at the same time I had to remind myself that this was a kids movie but then again Spielberg's E.T. had this same type of drama and I viewed it as a child just like so many kids will be viewing this film.  The final twenty-minutes, which I won't ruin, are downright brilliantly directed and you can't help but smile at how the film ends.  The film is a beautiful tribute to the impact toys can have on a kids life and how one feels when they must finally give them up.  I thought the screenplay did a terrific job at highlighting this but it also made the wise decision to have all the toys in the action.  Woody, Buzz, the Potato Heads, Slinky Dog and the rest of the gang are back but we have several new toys including the bad bear with the voice of Ned Beatty.  Hanks, Tim Allen and the rest of the gang do their typical great work but Beatty really does a marvelous job and nearly steals the film as one second he can be loveable but the next second downright evil.  The visual effects keep getting better and better and the ones here are certainly the best I've seen to date.  The opening sequence really puts you in the middle of the action and the gauntlet known as the day care was so perfectly done that you can't help but look at it in amazement.  TOY STORY 3 has just about everything going for it and every simple thing is done with great detail and imagination.  The movie is certainly the best of the trilogy and it ends the series in a perfect way.

Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus (2010)

Christopher Ray

When MEGA SHARK VS GIANT OCTOPUS became a huge hit you just knew The Asylum would follow it up.  This film here is just as campy but it actually manages to be somewhat better due to some better written characters and a nice performance by Gary Stretch playing an Indiana Jones-like croc hunter.  The "story" pretty much has the 1500-ft. crocodile wanting to protect her eggs from the mega shark who wants to eat them.  The humans have to find a spot for them to do an epic battle.  If you pay a $1 from your Redbox like I did for a movie called MEGA SHARK VS CROCOSAURUS then you should know very well that you're not renting a film by Orson Welles.  I'm still shocked at how many people rent or buy a movie like this then get upset that they're not watching something they can compare to GONE WITH THE WIND.  Look, if you're going to waste time watching a movie like this then it's best to realize that you're watching a "C" production from a minor company who specializes in making silly, bad movies that get released direct-to-DVD.  If this was fifty years ago then this would be playing as a double-feature with FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER or BRIDE OF THE MONSTER but today we get it this way.  This movie contains some of the worst CGI you're ever going to see unless you're watching another film from The Asylum but when it's this bad there's really no point in trying to figure out which is the worst.  There are a couple scenes here where CGI helicopters are flying so close that their blades are obviously touches each others yet nothing ever happens.  As with the previous film you get all sorts of campy scenes including one where the shark comes up from beneath the submarine, picks it up and flies through the air with it.  The crocodile CGI is without question the weakest as it comes off very blurry throughout the movie and you have to wonder why they made it look this way when she's clearly one of the stars of the film.  So, how is the big fight?  It's not too bad but then again there's really not too much you can do when a shark fights a croc.  The battle between the two is pretty fun but the bigger highlight is when the croc goes on shore in Miami and does damage to several familiar places and he even visits Sea World where Shamu doesn't stand a chance.  The performances are pretty much what you'd expect in a film like this but I thought Stretch actually delivered a fun performance and he certainly kept the film moving.  There's no question this is a bad movie but thankfully there's enough camp and silly action to at least keep it entertaining for the most part.  At just under 90-minutes the film runs way too long and The Asylum really needs to understand that these type of films are better when they don't cross the 75-minute mark. 

True Grit (1969)

Henry Hathaway

U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) is hired by a rough-nosed girl (Kim Darby) to track down the man who murdered her father.  The two set out with a Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) to find the guilty party as well as bring down another man (Robert Duvall) that the Marshall has been seeking.  It seems when people discuss TRUE GRIT today there's always some sort of heated debate over Wayne winning the Best Actor Oscar over Dustin Hoffman in MIDNIGHT COWBOY.  I think it's fair to say that Wayne was given the award not only for this performance but also for his career work but I find it hard to say anything too bad about him winning because there's no question that he's excellent here and this role would turn out to be rather iconic.  The tough-as-nails Cogburn and his famous patch is without question one of the images people remember when they think of Wayne so the actor deserved any and all credit he did receive.  The film itself is rather a mixed bag because the story itself really isn't anything we haven't seen before and I'd say it's probably one of the most simple stories out there.  The biggest difference is that the brat kid gets to come along for the ride and thankfully Darby is good enough in her part where she adds to the entertainment.  Her and Wayne are about as different as they come but the two made for a fun odd couple and make the 128-minute running time go by smoothly.  I think the film takes way too long to get going as the build-up takes forever but once the journey start things get a lot more entertaining.  With the less than stellar story it certainly doesn't hurt to have such a terrific cast.  Wayne and Darby are perfect together but we also get strong supporting bits by Duvall, Strother Martin, Donald Cook, Jeremy Slate and even Dennis Hopper in a small bit.  Seeing the likes of Duvall and Hopper might not have meant as much back in 1969 but it certainly adds a lot when viewing the film today consider where both men would go in their careers.  Campbell seems to have opinions split but I've always found him decent here if nothing overly special.  The screenplay contains a lot of stuff we've seen before but there are many good moments including much of the banter between the three and there's a sequence towards the end in a snake pit that really adds some nice tension.  TRUE GRIT has become legendary over the past forty-years and I think it's easy to see why with Wayne and the Cogburn character.  The film itself is flawed but the cast is simply too great not to have a good time.

True Grit (2010)

Joel & Ethan Coen

Remake of the 1969 film has the same plot as teenage Mattie (Hailee Steinfeld) hires Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down and kill the man (Josh Brolin) who murdered her father.  There are many out there cussing and kicking up a storm by the idea of anyone attempting to remake a beloved film, which just happened to feature a beloved actor in a role that is now iconic.  Well, I'm not against remakes and I personally find the original film to be merely good and not a true, 100% classic.  With that said, I do think it's better than the film we get here, which is clearly a loving tribute to the Western genre but in my eyes it's very little else.  There's no question that we're treated to some fine direction, great cinematography and some great performances but in terms of anything nearing a great film I just don't see it.  Perhaps my reluctance to call the original film a masterpiece or this one here a great movie simply comes from the fact that TRUE GRIT just isn't my type of story.  I personally find it rather simple but the performances in both films carried the day.  I'll just forget the original film from here on out but this one here suffers some of the same problems.  We can start with the story itself, which really isn't anything too ground breaking and it's simply a revenge plot with a spunky kid and a rugged old man.  The relationship of the two is certainly where the story tries to find it's heart but I had a hard time here because the film, to my eyes, never really seemed to know what it wanted to be.  The homage is all over the place but I could never put my finger on the Rooster character.  Was he some washed up joke of a man?  Was he this brilliant Marshall everyone in town made him out to be?  There were several times in the film where I didn't see anything but a drunk and it appears the film just didn't know what they wanted.  At one time Rooster will be seen as a hard but fair man but then he would be looked at as some type of joke.  Just take a look at the scene where we meet him and of course it's in a toilet.  Jeff Bridges is one of my favorite actors and he certainly gives a good performance here but I'm really not sure if the rugged voice was necessary.  It seems the performance really gets pushed to the side so that the character Rooster Cogburn can have his look and persona.  Steinfeld clearly steals the film as the young Mattie as she really was close to the age of the character but she also managed to make you believe how smart and tough she is.  The young actress does a remarkable job holding her own against the Oscar-winner and nominees that she finds herself acting with.  Matt Damon plays the Texas Ranger but I was shocked to see how little he was given outside some comic banter with Bridges.  Barry Pepper does a very good job as Lucky Ned but Josh Brolin is wasted as the murderous Tom Chaney.  The screenplay really underwrites several of the supporting characters as none of them are fully written.  I guess I'll lie and bring up the original film again but this remake just seems like it doesn't know if it really wants to go wild and be its own or try to stick close to what happened in the previous version.  There are brief hints of violence as if the Coen's want to go all out yet even it's is held back.  There are hints of a darker tone that simply never comes out anywhere.  I think the screenplay is certainly the biggest villain here but as many negative things I'm saying there are still enough reasons to check this out.  The performances are certainly fun and the film is great to look at but as I walked out of the theater I couldn't help but think I was watching something that didn't live up to its full potential.

127 Hours (2010)

Danny Boyle

Incredible story of Aron Ralston (James Franco), a man who went into the wilderness without telling anyone where he was going.  Aron tries going down a canyon but becomes trapped after his arm gets caught behind a boulder where he remains trapped for 127 hours before deciding to cut his arm off.  If that sounds like a spoiler it really isn't because those going into this film are already going to know the story, which was all over the media when it originally happened.  As I was walking out of the theater someone waiting in line for another movie asked why anyone would waste their time with a movie where you know how it ends but to me this is exactly what makes this film so great.  Director Boyle does a remarkable job in telling the story and what's most interesting is the way he decided to tell it.  For the majority of the running time we see Ralston trapped without being able to move very much and we spend over an hour with him as his condition slowly grows worse.  It's clear from the start that it's highly unlikely anyone is going to just show up and rescue him since the location is out in the middle of nowhere.  We see as Ralston quickly runs out of water, slowly begins to realize that he's in this situation because of being a jerk and that his final days on Earth are going to have him alone and wondering to himself what should have been.  We've seen this type of story before but what makes 127 HOURS really stand out is how we see it.  We've seen disaster pictures where food and water runs out but the way Boyle shows it here is pretty much inside the thermos which gets closer and closer to being empty with each drink.  We see a rather interesting shot of Ralston sticking the knife into his arm just to see what exactly he might have to cut through if he decides to do the unthinkable.  Seeing a shot from the inside of the arm is tricky because the technique could take one out of the story but Boyle uses these special techniques so well that it really puts you more into the film.  We get several flashbacks scenes that are remarkably well done and one of the most amazing ones happens when Ralston's thirst is driving him crazy and he flashes back to a certain item in his truck.  The way the film shows our character finally realizing all the things he's done wrong and the various ways his life could have been better were incredibly touching and I'm sure no one will have any problems connecting.  Then there's Franco who certainly gives one of the best performances of the year.  Much like the earlier film BURIED, there's really not too much the actor can do expect give a performance using his eyes, facial gestures and various other aspects that don't allow you to act off someone else.  The way Franco shows us his emotions were extremely well done by the actor and just check out the sequence where he pretends to be on a morning news show being questioned about how he got in the situation.  The acting of Franco and the visual style of Boyle going perfectly together and in the end they really create something special and certainly something unique.  It's doubtful this will be the last survival film ever made but the way Boyle tells the story is certainly something fresh, original and it really helps put you in our characters situation.  127 HOURS didn't make a killing at the box office as I think many people stayed away due to the subject matter and "knowing" the story but knowing the story isn't going to take away anything from the experience that the film actually is.

Black Swan (2010)

Darren Aronofsky

Brilliant sexual-thriller about dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) who must put up with her over demanding mother (Barbara Hershey) while at the same time preparing herself for the breakthrough role in Swan Lake.  Slowly she begins to lose focus of what's going on due to the director (Vincent Cassel) of the show pushing her too hard and another girl (Mila Kunis) who might want to steal the part.  BLACK SWAN, the latest film from Aronofsky, comes as a true tour-de-force and I really can't think of a better structured thriller in the past several decades.  I'm sure had Hitchcock himself lived long enough to use the visual medium available today as well as the sexuality that you can get away with today then even he would have been impressed by the end result here.  This is an extremely sexually charged movie yet it doesn't contain a single frame of nudity.  Aronofsky has pulled off something rather remarkable because the film is like a big puzzle where if one small piece wasn't in the right place then everything around it would just crumble.  A lot of credit must go to the director who wants against paints a visual nightmare but also the cast members who are downright eerie in how great they are.  What really worked so well here is that you never quite know if what you're seeing is real or not.  You enter one reality only to come out in a dream and then possibly continue to be in this dream for the rest of the picture.  The way Aronofsky pulls this off is like watching a master working a piano because the director clearly has the audience in his hands and doesn't let them go. 

As with his previous film THE WRESTLER, it's fair to say that this movie shows what countless others movies had in that it's about jealousy, fear and of course the hard work a professional must do in order to be perfect at their craft.  What separates this film is the hellish vision from Aronofsky who uses all sorts of horror elements a lot better than the majority of films that actually try to call themselves a part of that genre.  The torments that stalk Nina range from haunting visions to self-mutilation and the pain she feels is easily felt by the viewer.  The director keeps the events in the film happening so fast that you can't help but feel like Nina as everything starts to spin out of control and Hell itself finally comes crashing down.  The visual look of the film is superb as it ranges from some dark stuff like neo-realism to a beautiful ballet piece at the end.  Portman delivers without question the greatest work of her career, which is saying quite a bit as she's always been very reliable no matter what she's doing.  The obsession that her character struggles with is beautiful put to film by Portman and you can't help but feel as if you're watching a real dancer and of course someone who really is losing their mind.  Hershey will certainly be seen by many as a villain but I loved the way the actress played it.  She's not a cold-blooded snake of a villain but instead someone who tries to do good but by trying too hard they become bad.  Kunis is so seduction in her part that she's the perfect opposite for Portman and you can't help but believe and feel the two's relationship as the movie goes along.  Cassel also turns in a marvelous performance as does Winona Ryder in her small role as the former dancer who is on her way out.  BLACK SWAN is a masterpiece of sexual tension and psychological fear.  It's a hard film to describe and I'm sure you could show it to a hundred different people and they could all give you a different option of what the film is and what it was trying to do.  The film is a real work of art and something that once again proves that Aronofsky is someone to keep an eye on. 

Kids Are All Right, The (2010)

Lisa Cholodenko

Alternative story of married lesbians (Julianne Moore, Annette Bening) whose lives turn upside down after their children (Mia Wasikowska, Josh Hutcherson) decide to look up the man (Mark Ruffalo) who donated his sperm.  At first everything is going as planned, although the Bening character isn't too thrilled with having this man in their lives but soon everything goes wrong as Moore strikes up a sexual relationship with him.  The arthouse world is full of alternative films that rarely leak over into the mainstream but it's nice to see something like THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT gaining a wider audience than a film like this normally would have.  I'd be lying if I said I understood what the entire point of the film is but I must confess that I fell in love with each and every character here.  In the day and age of CGI robots and spaceships it's rather nice seeing a film that relies on performances and characters.  The idea of having a lesbian family having their lives turned upside down when the man who donated the sperm shows back up in their lives is a very quirky situation and for 95% of the running time the film is non-stop laughs.  The majority of the film is full of sly performances and witty dialogue, which ranges from various sex talk to just the kids trying to get to understand their gay mothers and the father they've never known.  I loved the early scenes where the kids go to meet their "dad" and the eventual impact this has on the Bening character, the "man" of the family so to speak.  Her jealousy and how this leads to the eventual affair by Moore made for some very funny moments including one dealing with a Mexican worker who knows what's going on when his boss goes into the client's room.  The film does a very good job at giving every character their own personality and I thought the film perfectly showed all of them growing and taking form throughout the running time.  There's no question this is a character study and I thought each character was written so well that you couldn't help but love them and want to see each of them happy.  The final twenty-minutes is when the laughs stop and we head towards the dramatic stuff but once again it's simply written so well that you can't help but fall for it all.  The performances by the entire cast are wonderful with Benning and Moore delivering yet another strong film to their resume.  It's really great seeing such fine actresses getting these type of roles at this stage of their career but both of them should be remembered come awards season.  I guess the simplest thing that can be said about them is that they bring their characters to life and have no issues handling both the laughs and drama.  Wasikowska is also terrific in her role and the maturity she brings to the character is just one reason why she's certainly someone to keep an eye on.  Ruffalo has been an actor that never got the credit he deserves and I think that is holding true with this film.  I'd say he's the most important character and performance in the film as he's the one in the center of all the laughs and drama.  Ruffalo is so incredibly charming that you understand why everyone would fall for him and you also care what happens to him.  THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT might have something to say but again, I'm not certain what it is.  That really doesn't matter because in the end this is a film with a terrific screenplay brought to life with some wonderful performances.  The comedy works.  The drama works.  All of that makes this one of the more interesting films of 2010.

Wizard of Oz, The (1925)

Larry Semon

Extremely bizarre adaptation of L. Frank Baum's story about an 18-year-old Dorothy who learns that she's the future ruler of Oz but of course there are some bad men who want to keep her away from her position.  Once in Oz she has the help of three farm hands who try to protect her.  Larry Semon produced, directed and stars in this film, which apparently was a dream project for him.  I've read that Semon was in love with the Baum stories so with that in mind it's rather confusing to see how badly he treated the material.  Those expecting anything in common with the Baum stories are going to be disappointed because this film might contain 10% of the stories and the rest is all slapstick for Semon fans.  This film was a legendary disaster in its day and caused the end of Semon's career and to be honest it's not hard to see why.  The film is a complete mess and nothing in it ever adds up to very much and this includes the bits that are taken from the story.  The entire way we get to Oz and why is just rather silly and it's hard to connect with anything going on because Semon keeps us away from the actual story.  The first forty-minutes pretty much has a lot of slapstick comedy from people falling in water to getting attacked by bees.  The majority of the film has Semon getting injured by various falls and we have Oliver Hardy in a role that doesn't allow him to do very much.  Both Semon and Hardy were obviously very talented people but you really wouldn't know that if you had only seen this movie.  Dorothy Dwan plays Dorothy and doesn't add too much to the role.  The obese Frank Alexander plays the Uncle and actually manages a few good scenes as his comic timing was certainly the best of the bunch.  The P.C. police are going to have a fit with the role played by Spencer Bell because the black actor is credited under the name "G. Howe Black" and believe it or not this is pretty much the nicest thing his character goes through.  The farm hands dress in costume as the lion, scarecrow and tin man so I'm sure this is going to disappoint many but once again you shouldn't go into this thing expecting any type of real adaptation.  This version of THE WIZARD OF OZ is a pretty bad movie but at the same time it's almost worth viewing just to see how badly Semon messed it up.

Judge Hardy's Children (1938)

George B. Seitz

The third film in the MGM series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) taking a job in Washington, D.C. where he's to work for ten days on a special project.  While there Andy (Mickey Rooney) falls in love with a French girl (Jacqueline Laurent) while his sister gets involved with a dirty politician.  Those who find these Andy Hardy movies to be too clean or pure for their tastes certainly aren't going to change their opinion with this early entry but fans of the series should find enough charm and entertainment here.  At just 78-minutes the film moves by extremely quickly as director Seitz keeps everything going at a fast pace.  The weakest aspect of the film is the political stuff because Judge is brought to the Capital to do work on a big project and this talk often gets brought up and it even has a major part in later events in the film but we're never really told anything about it.  Often it seems as if something about this project was simply left on the editing room floor and it just seems like Judge spends the majority of his time in a hotel when he's suppose to be working.  Outside of that this film has pretty much everything fans would expect and of course a lot of the comedy comes from Rooney who once again delivers a fast and fun performance.  One of the highlights of the film happens when Andy seeks advice from his father on whether or not it's normal to want to kiss every beautiful girl you see.  Another high mark for Rooney comes during a dance sequence where he tries to teach the French girl the Big Apple.  Rooney handles all the charm without a hitch and his father-son stuff with Lewis are well done by the actors.  Stone is terrific as usual and Fay Holden, Cecilia Parker and Ann Rutherford are all fine in their roles.  Laurent didn't seem to have much of a career in America and only seems to have been in a few French films after this one but I found her to be very charming and a nice match for Rooney.  Betty Ross Clarke plays Aunt Millie in this entry and doesn't have the same punch as Sara Haden but this is just a minor issue.  Overall, JUDGE HARDY'S CHILDREN is a good entry in the series, which still had many high points to follow for the Hardy clan.

Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)

George B. Seitz

Andy (Mickey Rooney) catches a break when girlfriend Polly (Ann Rutherford) must head out of town because this leaves him able to earn $8 for a car he wants to buy.  All he has to do is date his best friend's girlfriend (Lana Turner) while he's out of town as he doesn't want her going around with any other boys.  Things don't go as planned but at least Andy has his new neighbor (Judy Garland) who just happens to have a few plans of her own.  This fourth film in the series is often considered by man to be the best but I'm not certain I'd go that far.  If someone is looking for pure laughs there are funnier films in the series but at the same time it's easy to see why this one would get so much attention due to the terrific cast.  I guess you could say Andy is the luckiest guy in the world if his biggest problem is dating women like Garland, Turner and Rutherford but that's the major of the film's storyline.  There are a few minor subplots dealing with Judge (Lewis Stone) having to take care of the fort when his wife (Fay Holden) leaves to take care of her ill mother.  I'm guessing mom was pretty much written out of this one simply because you had so many other characters that needed attention.  Apparently this film was shot in just 19 days and was released to theaters less than two months after it was given the green light.  It's hard to imagine any movie being written, shot and shown in such a short period of time but I guess you have to give the MGM factory credit for this.  Even though I wouldn't name this the best of the series there are still enough good moments to make it a must see.  The majority of the charm comes from Rooney and his energy as he tries to get through all these situations while at the same time learning various life lessons.  It's hard to imagine anyone else in the role of Andy Hardy as Rooney is pitch perfect for it and he matches well with the three females.  He and Rutherford always had that great charm in each film but the real shock was seeing how good he was with Turner.  The two really seem to have great chemistry and this comes across during a terrific scene in the woods where they kiss and Rooney lets out a scream of pleasure to which Turner then laughs in hysterics.  Garland certainly gets the majority of the screentime and she does a fine job as well.  She also gets to sing three songs, which she does a good job with even though none of the songs are all that memorable.  It goes without saying but Lewis Stone is at the top of his game as normal.  LOVE FINDS ANDY HARDY is certainly a flick that any film buff should see simply because of the great cast.  It's hard to think of a film with more young talent but they all deliver the goods and make this an entertaining little gem.

Out West with the Hardys (1938)

George B. Seitz

Fine entry in the MGM series has Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) taking the family to a ranch in Arizona where he hopes to help his old friends who have gotten into some trouble with their land and water.  Out on the ranch Marian (Cecilia Parker) falls for yet another guy while Andy (Mickey Rooney) must learn the hard way that he's got a lot of learning to do before he can call himself a man.  While this fifth entry is certainly a step down from the past couple entries this is still a pretty entertaining film thanks in large part to the terrific cast who have no trouble getting into their parts.  Considering this was the third film in the series within 1938 alone you can understand how the product felt somewhat rushed.  The movie has a fairly good story overall but at the same time everything seemed a tad bit too rushed and there isn't nearly as many funny moments as some of the earlier entries.  I think the best stuff in the movie happen between Andy and the 8-year-old Jake (Virginia Weidler) who starts to have a crush on him.  There's a lot of heart between the two as they start off not liking one another but quickly she ends up teaching Andy quite a few things.  As you'd expect there's a lot more drama between Judge and Andy as the older, wiser dad must teach his son several lessons about life.  As usual Stone and Rooney are downright terrific in their roles so they have no problem pulling off the father-son relationship.  Hearing the two of them talk together comes off so real that I could listen to them speak for hours at a time.  The supporting cast offers up some strong work with Parker, Ann Rutherford and Fay Holden fitting back into their roles with no trouble.  Sara Haden is back as Aunt Milly after being MIA in the previous two films.  Weidler is very charming in her role but I later learned she walked away from showbiz at the age of 17 and sadly ended up dying at the age of 42 from a heart attack.  While there's no question this is a step down from some of the previous films, OUT WEST WITH THE HARDYS at least has the terrific cast and they make this worth sitting through.

It's certainly an odd one.  I just can't see why Semon did what he did.  I'd understand if he thought the books were horrid or if he felt he was doing something special but apparently he LOVED the stories.  Apparently he had all the money he needed but the end results certainly isn't that impressive.  I actually let a friend borrow the movie from me simply because of how strange and crazy it was.

It wasn't too shocking to learn that the woman who played Dorothy ended up being his wife so I think it's rather easy to see why and how she got the job. 

My girlfriend is busy with these incredibly stupid New Year's shows so it's the perfect timing for the year-end stuff.

Best First Time Views (In the order that I watched them)

Avatar (2009)
Precious (2009)
Murder of Mary Phagen, The (1988)
Bad Lieutenant, The: Port of Call: New Orleans (2009)
Les miserables (1935)
Bob le flambeur (1956)
Up in the Air (2009)
Hurt Locker, The (2008)
Apple Knockers and the Coke, The (1948)
30 for 30: Reggie Miller vs The New York Knicks (2010)
Manon on the Asphalt (2007)
Guard Dog (2004)
30 for 30: The Two Escobars (2010)
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (2010)
Les miserables (1934)
Greenburg (2010)
Hollywood (1980)
Last Command, The (1928)
Greed (1924)
30 for 30: Into the Wind (2010)
30 for 30: Four Days in October (2010)
30 for 30: Once Brothers (2010)
Dym (2007)
Metropolis: Restored (1927)
Metropolis Refound (2010)
Winter's Bone (2010)
30 for 30: Pony Excess (2010)
Lombardi (2010)
Toy Story 3 (2010)
127 Hours (2010)
Black Swan (2010)
Kids Are All Right, The (2010)

Worst Films Watched

Gummo (1997)

Descent (2007)

Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1978)

Bates Motel (1987)

Creation of the Humanoids, The (1962)

Mega Piranha (2010)

Christine Jorgensen Story, The (1970)

Nothing too wonderful overall but I knocked off quite a few series including the Holmes and Moto flicks.  I plan on finishing off the Bowery Boys and Andy Hardy films in 2011 and then move onto the Charlie Chan titles and various other series since I've gotten into a desire to go through the ones I haven't seen every entry of. 

I really didn't get to watch many "classics" but I'd say the 1934 and 1935 versions of LES MISERABLES were the best viewings.  The ESPN series "30 for 30" delivered one great documentary after another and I hope the station picks the series up with more because if they tell stories like the way they did with the first thirty then we've got some other great stuff that should be told (I think a Cubs/Bartman is coming soon).  THE APPLE KNOCKERS AND THE COKE was certainly the best product placement mixed with sexuality.