Studio Ghibli, Movies #203-207

These are all the Studio Ghibli movies that I hadn't seen previously.

207. Pom Poko (1994)

Rating: 8/10

Review: Studio Ghibli backlog. This is probably second to Valley of the Wind as my favorite Ghibli film.  It's about shape shifting raccoons whose forest environments are being encroached on my progressing human developments so the raccoons become Eco-terrorists and try to disrupt the construction by violence and also by taking the shapes of different goblins to scare the humans away. This movie has a lot more depth than I was anticipating and it's definitely geared towards adults with all the different maturation of life themes that are present. Highly Recommended.

206. The Last Unicorn (1982)

Rating: 6/10

Review: Studio Ghibli "related" backlog. This is Studio Ghibli related because with in a few years of this coming out the same main animators were hired again to do Nausicaa Valley of the Wind which would quickly there after become Studio Ghibli.

205. Whisper of the Heart (1995)

Rating: 5/10

Review: Studio Ghibli backlog.  This anime just drags on and on, and it's one of the non sensational Ghibli films just about kids living life and not in an interesting way.

204. The Cat Returns (2002)

Rating: 6/10

Review: Studio Ghibli backlog. Super whimsical tale of a girl transported to a land where cats live like humans.  Even though that plot sounds silly this was still enjoyable but extremely kid centric.

203. Ocean Waves (1993)

Rating: 6/10

Review: Studio Ghibli backlog. This is one of the anime's that isn't about supernatual beings or even an action movie.  It's about school kids and the social pressures they face while going through school, while that plot seems a bit dry I still enjoy these non-sensational anime films from time to time.  But I wouldn't really seek this out over Studio Ghibli's sensational animes.

August 2012, Movies #188-202

202. Win Win (2011)

Rating: 6/10
Review: Even though all the performances and script are spot on, this movie seemed just too much by the numbers and didn't really break out of the box for me and I'm doubting I'll remember much about this a year from now.

 

201. Limelight (2011)

Rating: 7/10
Review: This documentary about the legendary club and owner is pretty well paced throughout and even though I have no interest in going to clubs like this it was a really interesting watch about nightlife in Manhattan in the mid 80's through the 90's.

200. Love Crime (2010)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Brian DePalma has a remake of this coming out soon called Passion so I wanted to visit the original film.  This is quite an enjoyable mystery thriller and I would like to see how much or little DePalma changed for his take on the story.

199. Purple Noon (1960)

Rating: 6.5/10
Review: Another Alan Delon starring vehicle, The Talented Mr. Ripley is a remake of this movie, and while I don't really like remakes the Matt Damon version is a lot easier to sit through.  This movie's pacing really goes stale at several points but wraps up nicely at the end.

198. Farewell Friend (1968)

Rating: 6/10
Review: Charles Bronson and Alan Delon team up to brake into a vault with a lot of money inside.  No musical score on this movie makes it drag a lot during the scenes without tension.  It was nice seeing these icons on screen together but they both have been in much better pictures.

197. The Avengers (2012)

Rating: 8/10
Review: I had heard quite a bit of hype about how good this was and I would agree that it met my expectations.  Even though the movie is 2 and half hours there is so much material to go through that it never lags in the storytelling.  I hadn't seen Thor since the theatrical release and I had to play catch up a little bit with the story.

196. Gyo Toyko Fish Attack (2012)

Rating: 6/10
Review: So in this anime, fish come out of the ocean and attack Japan.  If that line alone didn't sell you on watching this I probably couldn't recommend it to you.

195. Jiro Dreams of Sushi  (2011)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Extremely compelling documentary with Phillip Glass-like music about what some consider to be the best sushi place in the world.

194. The Cabin in The Woods (2011)

Rating: 8/10
Review: This movie is best watched going in totally blind and only knowing that some people are going to a scary cabin.  I'm generally not a fan of horror movies but I highly recommend this because even though the basic plot structure is of a horror movie there is a ton more going on in this film. Highly Recommended.

193. The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Rating: 6/10
Review: I'm a fan of Jeremy Renner, Ed Norton, and Rachel Weiz, but even with all of them in tow this did seem to be a little too formulaic and I don't see them making any more in the series without Damon being involved at all.

192. The Raid: Redemption (2011)

Rating: 7/10
Review: I've been hearing about this movie for awhile now and there is already a remake in the works so I was highly anticipating watching it. While I do agree this is an extremely kinectic watch this is really better to know nothing about it and have it surprise you then to have someone hype it first because there is little substance here.

191. 2 Days in New York (2012)

Rating: 7/10
Review: I chuckled to myself when i heard that they were doing a sequel to 2 Days in Paris with Chris Rock being the new boyfriend.  To say that Rock doesn't do material like this normally is an understatement. But Rock works well within the world of the film and this feels like a natural progression from the first film.  The family of Delpy figures prominently here again and without having seen the other film would probably be off putting but I whole hardheartedly endorse this double feature.

190. 2 Days in Paris (2007)

Rating: 7/10
Review: I'd been wanting to see this for awhile and I figured the best way to view it would be back to back with it's sequel and I think it definetly helped my appreciation of both because the family figures prominently in both movies and without all this backstory leading to the new movie I wouldn't have like the new film as much either probably.  This has been compared to Woody Allen's films and I consider it an apt comparison.

189. Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)

Rating: 6/10
Review: New Starship Troopers material is always welcome and I was hesitant to watch this because of Casper Van Dien's exec producing credit but thankfully this is a fun time in mech suits.  Plenty of nudity and violence to go around which is what I was expecting.  Animation style is more advanced than the television series and more akin to Final Fantasy cut scenes.

188. Mysterious Skin (2004)

 

Rating: 7/10
Review: This was a breakout role for Joseph Gordon-Levitt because it ushered him into film acting after 3rd Rock from the Sun ended and what a gut churning part to take on.  This movie was good but really unsettling and I probably won't need a second viewing of this, but its based on the book of the same name that also takes place in Hutchinson, Kansas.  I frequented Hutchinson throughout my childhood because my grandmother lived there and so I'm familiar with the place but I never saw this side of the city.

July 2012, Movies #160-187

187. This Boys Life (1993)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Extremely young Leo DiCaprio goes toe to toe with Robert De Niro in this family drama.  De Niro actually stepped with this one and I really was intrigued by his evolving portrayal of his unraveling family dictatorial-ship.

186. Only Yesterday (1991)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Studio Ghibli backlog. Another dramatic anime that didn't bore me to tears like maybe a live action telling of the same story might have.  Studio Ghibli really knows how to handle this type of picture well.

185. The Professionals (1966)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Charming "assemble the gang for one last score" western.  Pacing isn't an issue with this movie but I really didn't like the ending on this film.

184. From On Poppy Hill (2011)

Rating: 7.5/10
Review: Studio Ghibli backlog.  A case for anime to not just be known for action films is this one, which is just a simple story of school mates who grow fond of each other but told through the Ghibli Studio eyepiece.

183. The Lorax (2012)

Rating: 7/10
Review: I didn't mind that there were several musical songs spread throughout the movie, overall this stays true to the book's message and I enjoyed this whimsical take on it.

182. The Amazing Spiderman (2012)

Rating: 7/10
Review: I've been on the Andrew Garfield bandwagon since "Never Let Me Go" and "The Social Network" and he definitely delivers a convincing Spidey.  Now there are about three times throughout the movie where is pretty much the same beat for beat as the first Rami/McGuire Spider-man and it was a detraction to the movie that otherwise is completely it's own and I enjoyed more than the first Spider-man. Emma Stone also is already a more compelling character than Spidey's love interest in the entire original Spider-man Trilogy

181. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Rating: 6.5/10
Review: I watched the first two films of the trilogy back to back the night before going to see this one, and I'm glad I did because this references quite a bit of story from Batman Begins which I hadn't seen since initial theatrical release.  But overall this film doesn't really compare well when put next to the previous two installments and is a bit of let down from Nolan after coming off of Inception.  But overall I didn't think this was a bad movie just more average than I was expecting and I had avoided all media / trailers for this so I didn't have really any idea what the movie was going to be heading into the film.

180. The Rain People (1969)

Rating: 6.5/10
Review: Francis Ford Coppola's first feature and they only thing he had directed before being hand the monumental task of shooting The Godfather.  While the performances in the movie are decent, the portrayal of James Caan as a special needs person is as dated like a TV movie of the week from the time.

179. Cormans World (2011)

Rating: 8/10
Review: Engrossing documentary on the career of Roger Corman who I know quite a bit about before hand but this still had new information that I gathered from the viewing.  Really great job of tracking down all the talent that he worked with in the past that became big names, like Jack Nicholson who surprisingly is in quite a bit of this being extremely candid.

178. Casa De Mi Padre (2012)

Rating: 7/10
Review:  Yes, Will Ferrel does speak Spanish through the entire film and it's just as ridiculous as you would expect from just knowing that.  But this is a really good parody of Spanish language telenovelas and things of the like that I see only when I'm at the laundry mat, and some people might not get that take of the material.

177. The Raven (2012)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Even though this movie has John Cusack he is actually watchable in this more so than he has been since Hot Tub Time Machine or anythine else recently.  I'm somewhat biased because as a kid I was always fascinated with the life of Edgar Allan Poe and I like how this "what-if" scenario played with the relevant facts.

176. Return to Oz (1985)

Rating: 5.5/10
Review: Really crazy movie that I'm sure is more faithful to the book than the Wizard of Oz but this movie is just extremely boring also.  I watched this back to back with the Wizard of Oz after seeing the trailer for the new James Franco top billed Wizard of Oz movie.

175. Hell is for Heroes (1962)

Rating: 7.5/10
Review: Even though WW2 movies are kind of a done that genre these days I still enjoy the small scale stories of the war.  Through this movie we just focus on a half dozen or so soldiers so we spend enough time with them to get invested in there personalities enough that they aren't just cannon fodder when the fighting starts.  I was surprised how much I ended up enjoying this Steve McQueen starring vehicle.

174. Klute (1971)

Rating: 6/10
Review: David Fincher referenced this movie for the look he wanted to have shooting Se7en so I had wanted to check this out for awhile and Gordon Willis style definitely lifts this otherwise average movie into a compelling watch.

173. Existenz (1999)

Rating: 7/10
Review: While in terms of story many comparisons can be made to The Matrix and Inception I feel like this takes it own spin of those tales of what is and isn't real.  Jude Law seems like a young man in this compared to his role in A.I. just a scant two years later.  I love that all the machines are biological and because of that its definitely unique to Cronenberg.  After Cronenberg's recent success of doing relatively straight movies I'm hoping his next few will embrace his weird side again like this film. 

172. Memories of Murder (2003)

Rating: 8/10
Review: Extremely captivating investigative narrative that I could only really compare to Fincher's Zodiac for amount of depth into the details that this movie grasps.

171. Like a Dragon (2007)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Takashi Miike direction.  This movie is one of Miike's more lighthearted affairs with quite a bit of slapstick put in there.  Although this didn't reach Kung Fu Hustle levels of zaniness it was still fun but did need about a half hour trimmed from it.

170. Unauthorized The Harvey Weinstein Project (2011)

Rating: 7/10
Review: For as silly as the title is this was actually a good documentary on the rise of Harvey Weinstein in the film industry.  I only wish it would have come out a year later because they are kind of showing the downfall of Harvey and they show the Kings Speech Oscar wins as a last breath of air for them, but it it had been updated to show The Artist winning the next year I think the ending would have been more optomistic.

169. Zardoz (1974)

Rating: 6/10
Review:  This movie has a ton of camp appeal so the rating is a bit higher if you looking for camp.  The opening scene is enough to tell you what to expect from the movie, I was hooked and glad I gave it a watch.  Movie slows to a crawl about halfway through but otherwise a fun post-apoc watch.

168. Why Stop Now? (2012)

Rating: 5/10
Review: Tracy Morgan actually wasn't the worst part of this movie, it was the whole movie.  I don't know what Eisenberg is doing in this.

167. Snabba Cash (2010)

Rating: 5/10
Review: I watched this because of Joel Kinnaman and wanting to see more of him, but this movie is a really boring drug dealer movie which is hard to do.  But somehow the characters that populate this film are of no interest to me and I didn't care what happened to anyone.  Actor Dragomir Mrsic from this film looks like Danny McBride's Swedish doppelganger.

166. Melinda and Melinda (2004)

Rating: 5/10
Review: I understand what Woody was trying to do with this movie, present the same story from a dramatic angle and then also from a comedic angle.  Unfortunately it comes off as really gimmicky and I didn't really want to follow either story.  Will Ferrel and Steve Carrell are wasted in this film.

165. Better This World (2011)

Rating: 7/10
Review: Extremely compelling documentary that starts out about grassroots fanaticism, but actually has a pretty big twist later on that I'm glad I didn't know about but kind of guessed.  This case is a really fascinating study in the law and how it's prosecuted.

164. Lockout (2012)

Rating: 6/10
Review: While this movie tries to have some fun it doesn't succeed. There wasn't really anything for Guy Pearce to play off of for this movie, a more captivating character actor playing the villain would have excused quite a few of the movies faults.  Getting through the movie seemed like a chore.

163. Juan of the Dead (2011)

Rating: 6/10
Review: I really wish this movie did include a zombie Che but it doesn't, and if I had seen this poster before watching the movie my expectations would have been through the roof!  But as it was this really was as I expected, basically a remake of Shaun of the Dead for Latin America.  While this does have it's funny moments I don't know why they chose this title because this movie falters in direct comparison.

162. Millennium Actress (2001)

Rating: 8/10
Review: Satoshi Kon ("Paprika") backlog. An old screen starlet tells the path her career took to a camera operator and interviewer but when they find themselves shooting a scene of her recollections as if they were happening in front of them is when the story gets really interesting.  I can't speak highly enough of Satoshi Kon's storytelling style, this ranks just as high as Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers in terms of enjoyment to be had from them.

161. The Woman in Black (2012)

Rating: 6.5/10
Review: This was extremely well produced and put together I just felt there were way too many easy scares / jumps created through editing but I guess that's what I should have expected from a Hammer Films production but I felt it detracted from the final film.

160. Tangled  (2010)

Rating: 6/10
Review: My girlfriend really enjoyed this because of the musical aspects of it but none of the songs, or movie for that matter really stuck with me after it was over.

June 2012, Movies #134-159

159. The Thing Called Love (1993)

Rating: 6.5/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. My only reason for watching this was to see River's last starring part and I don't feel like his talents were wasted here.  But overall though River is the most compelling part of the movie even though he isn't the main character.

158. Silent Tongue (1993)

Rating: 5.5/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. This was a waste of the talent involved. Skip this.

157. Guilty of Romance (2011)

Rating: 5.5/10

Review: This tries to be many things but just skip this and be properly weirded out by a Takaski Miike film.

156. Salmon Fishing in The Yemen (2011)

Rating: 7/10

Review: Average drama about a subject that isn't really interesting but through the characters I was won over.

155. Design for Living (1933)

Rating: 7/10

Review: This movie was released almost 80 years ago and yet the dialouge is still just as fresh today with a few slang terms here and there but otherwise this could be released today and would be better written than the majority of romantic comedies I've ever seen.  Great treasure from yesteryear. The new Criterion Blu-ray remaster of this is a must see.

154. I Love You To Death (1990)

Rating: 7/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. While Kevin Kline is basically an Italian stereotype, this movie was still pretty enjoyable because of the cast involved.  A really young Heather Graham has a cameo.

153. Jeff Who Lives at Home (2011)

Rating: 7.5/10

Review: The ads for this movie really set it up to be a straight forward comedy when really its a tragi-comedy, without the big laughs you would be expecting from the ads the movie would seem disappointing but I really enjoyed the hard right turn the film takes at the end.

152. My Own Private Idaho (1991)

Rating: 8.5/10

Review: I don't know why I hadn't seen this movie before but I'm kind of glad I hadn't because I wouldn't have really understood it if I had tried to watch a decade ago.  This is probably my favorite movie that River starred in. Jim Cavisel cameo.

151. Dogfight (1991)

Rating: 6/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. River is on leave and his buddies have a contest to bring the ugliest girl possible. Average film but River kept my interest. A young Brendan Fraser has a cameo with his only line being "How'd you like to eat my shit?"

150. Running on Empty (1988)

Rating: 7/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. This plays like a TV movie of the weeks at times but it always shines when ever River is on the screen, he got an Oscar nod with this role.

149. 21 Jump St (2012)

Rating: 7/10

Review: This was way better than it had any business being.  This funny movie delivers the laughs.

148. Hysteria (2011)

Rating: 6/10

Review: Film about the creation of an electric vibrator, but one that was the size of oven and had to be operated by three people so yea, quite a bit different.  I wasn't really expecting the goofy turn that takes with some over the top humor on a half serious subject about how little the medical establishment knew at the time.

147. Little Nikita (1988)

Rating: 6/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. Average Coldwar spy drama.

146. Mosquito Coast (1986)

Rating: 7/10

Review: River Pheonix backlog. This movie was extremely interesting to watch because Harrison Ford hasn't really played any character like it before or after. Jason Alexander has a cameo as a hardware store clerk.

145. The Station Agent (2003)

Rating: 7.5/10

Review: After watching the second season of Game of Thrones I wanted to see what brought Peter Dinhlage fame initially and this is quite a charming movie that is an extremely well written character piece.

144. Whatever Works (2009)

Rating: 6/10

Review: I was so excited when this Woody Allen/Larry David film was announced because it seemed like such a great combination of simalair comedic minds.  But what works on paper doesn't always work on the screen, the tone of the movie seems slightly off.  Maybe if David had played a character closer to his persona who know of him instead of a scientific genius that we are supposed to believe he portrays here.

143. Mind Game (2004)

Rating: 7/10

Review: Extremely kinetic animation combines to tell the story of sevearl outcasts trying to get away from the police that then get swallowed by a whale and what they do to occupy their time while inside the whale.  Descriptions kind of fail to explain what makes this movie interesting.

142. Hara- Kiri: Death of a Samurai (2011)

Rating: 8/10

Review: Takashi Miike direction.  Really good slow burn of a movie about family honor.

141. Mirror Mirror (2012)

Rating: 5/10

Review: After watching the trailer I was expecting a laugh a minute crap shoot, but this is just boring.

140. Maniac Cop 3 (1993)

Rating: 5/10

Review: Jackie Heart Earle has a starring part as a junkie. I can't recommend it.

139. Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

Rating: 5/10

Review: Young Danny Trejo has a brief cameo as prison imate. Bruce Campbell gets killed off early in this installment. I can't recommend it.

138. Maniac Cop (1988)

Rating: 5/10

Review: a Pre-Army of Darkness Bruce Campbell is the only reason why I tried to get through this B grade Maniac Cop Trilogy.  I can't recommend it.

137. Beats, Rhymes, and Life (2011)

Rating: 7.5/10

Review: While I'm glad that a feature length doc on Tribe Called Quest was made and it got a theatrical release, I felt that it focused way too much on the inner turmoil inside the group and less on the music.  Still this did make me dust off a few Tribe albums I hadn't listened to in a decade or more.

136. Iron Sky (2012)

Rating: 7/10

Review: This definitely lived up to my expectations of a movie that would feature a secret Nazi Moon Base on the "dark" side of the moon. But this looks like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow but has a campy vibe through out.

135. Take This Waltz (2011)

Rating: 6/10

Review: Middle of the road movie about relationships, one of the few movies that features the female character tempted outside of the relationship with the male being completely happy.

134. Wanderlust (2012)

Rating: 7.5/10

Review: The newest film from David Wain (Stella, Wet Hot American Summer) is really funny, I have to admit that until recently I didn't really care for Jennifer Aniston at all, but this follows up several other comedic roles in movies that were
actually funny.