Let's begin... [Ed Note: Fonts may suddenly change without warning. It's a weird blogspot error and fixing it would be too difficult.]
My Rating: 7/10.
Based on historical events, this movie tells the story of King George VI who takes the throne when his brother unexpectedly abdicates. The problem? The King's job is to make speeches, particularly in times of war, and George (Colin Firth) has an extreme stutter. Geoffrey Rush plays the speech therapist hired to train the King to speak but if we're doing this, we're doing it MY WAY. No shortcuts, no "buts", it's my way or I walk! Cue the Rocky-style training montage in which the King helps a Russian peasant through the snow.
This movie is extremely well acted, well directed, and well cinematographed(?). It's interesting and worth watching. It won loads of awards. The weakness is the core of the story. Even as the editing and music artificially creates tension, the idea that the King could have trouble with a word isn't the most earth-shattering nail-biter that's ever graced the screen. Still, it's interesting and entertaining. A simple story, well told.
My Rating: 7/10.
An insane killer escapes from a mental hospital located on Shutter Island and is missing but presumed to be alive. Detective KidFromTitanic is assigned to the case of eerie music and periods of long silence punctuated by sudden surprise. As he investigates the mental hospital itself, he begins to worry that his life is in danger. As he discovers that he can't trust anyone, paranoia builds, and with growing paranoia, can he even trust himself?
This is a suspense/thriller and is therefore not my kind of movie typically. But I still found it enjoyable as a compelling mystery and a 1950's period detective movie. The psychological twists and turns are reminiscent of "The Sixth Sense" but the twist ending isn't very satisfying.
My Rating: 6/10.
I've watched a few X-Men movies as part of this list so you know some hardcore fans are out there voting vigorously but I don't understand the fanaticism. That said, this one is slightly stronger than others.
The movie tells the story of the origins of the X-Men as they discover their powers and find that they're not alone. Watching a character first discover that they have a superpower and attempt to harness it is inherently more interesting than watching a character who's known for years and just takes it for granted. So in that sense, it's got a leg up on the other X-Men movies. The other big plus is that the movie is set in World War II and the Cold War. Rooting the story in such weighty history gives it a little more gravity than the average "comic book" movie.
Other than these two aspects, it's the same old. People have highly unrealistic mutations, they choose sides based on whatever's convenient for the story, they debate their place among the fearful normals and they have flashy CGI-vs.-CGI battles that I don't care about.
The fact that this is now the 50th best movie of all-time is a sad reminder at how prevalent the fan-boi culture is and how little respect people have for good movies. In comparison to "The Dark Knight" or "Raiders of the Lost Ark" this is mediocre rubbish.
My Rating: 4/10.
I'll let Netflix describe the plot:
"In this children's anime adventure, young miner Pazu and mysterious girl Sheeta (who wears a magic pendant arounder her neck) team up to find the long-lost island of Laputa, which is rumored to have great riches and gems. Accompanied by a band of bumbling air pirates led by the quick-tempered Ma Dola, Pazy and Sheeta are pursued by government agents who want the riches of Laputa for themselves."
Yeah, that old story. I just don't have any patience for anime. If you love anime, this is probably worth checking out but I have to be true to my own experience and I was bored silly.
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Having completed this revision, I'm already a year behind! Hopefully, I'll tackle the newest changes a little faster.
Movies This Revision: 4.
Average Score: 6.
Best Movie This Revision: The King's Speech.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 348.
I thought King's Speech was insanely boring. I quite enjoyed Shutter Island, but it was overshadowed by Inception as far as KidFromTitanic movies go. I will say if you haven't seen KFT in "Blood Diamond" I quite liked that one.
ReplyDeleteCastle in the Sky is one of Miyazaki's weakest films. I much prefer Howl's Moving Castle. Also, I know you hate anime, but watch Steamboy (with the English dub, a rare thing for me to recommend) and tell me it's not cool.