Seems odd to set a list at a completely arbitrary fifteen, and then devote a full fifth of it to what amounts to a single movie. But whatever.
Memento: Only bothered seeing it once, and it was a fun ride. Didn't make any lasting impression.
Wall-E: I know, the premise is a finger-wagging environmentalist scold's wet dream. But how can you not like the little guy? From what little I know of Chaplin, the comparisons seem to hold...lots of emotion conveyed with minimal dialogue.
The Dark Knight: Good movie. Ledger easily upstages Bale, who needs to lose the silly growl. Not sure it's the best film of the new millennium, but definitely seems the most conservative-friendly film from Hollywood in recent memory.
LotR Trilogy: About as good a translation to that story to the screen as we're ever likely to see. But over time, after repeated viewings, it's not wearing as well as I'd thought it would. Still looks gorgeous, but the more attention I pay to the characters the more some of them grate on the nerves, particularly Gimli and Legolas. Bernard Hill's turn as Theoden didn't get him nearly the recognition it should've.
Aragorn's speech in front of the Black Gate still gives me chills.
Requiem for a Dream: known to future generations only as "that one movie with that one song every other kid on Youtube used in their homemade compilation videos."
I'll only comment on the ones from the list I've seen:
-Requiem for a Dream: if I ever wanted to try heroin, seeing this movie would probably cure me of that desire. I like stories where scummy people meet with scummy endings if they don't change their ways, just like they usually do in real life. I thought this was a haunting film and well done.
-Eternal Sunshine: I had an overall favorable opinion of this movie. I thought the question was interesting: if you could erase unpleasant memories, would you? I took the film's answer to be that our experiences, good or bad, are what make up who we are. I agree with that.
-Spirited Away: I have no idea what this is doing on the list. A complete waste of time. Any classic Disney cartoon is better than this.
-The Departed: I had not thought of this movie since I originally saw it. Took me a minute to remember what it was. Nothing special.
-Amelie: I remember one amusing sequence where her dad thought his garden gnome was traveling around the world by himself. I don't remember much else, though I thought it was cute. Top 15? No.
-LotR: I love every movie, but I am biased because I loved the books first. I never thought the books could ever be successfully pulled off as live action movies, but I am convinced that was what Peter Jackson was born to do. They are the only films I've been able to listen to the DVD commentary of and watch all the behind the scenes extras. The main thing I can't understand is why so many liberals also love these films. They obviously don't believe that good is worth fighting for or that you need to stamp out evil.
-Memento: I thought this was a good movie but only because it was an original idea (as far as I know). It was great because the way the story is delivered, you basically experience everything the way that the main character would. Also, I saw a special on Discovery Health about a man who had this exact same memory problem, only he couldn't remember anything for longer than about 15-30 seconds. A very hard to watch documentary.
-The Dark Knight: I really wasn't that impressed with it. I heard about how fantastic it was and thought it was a let down when I finally saw it.
Well.
ReplyDeleteSeems odd to set a list at a completely arbitrary fifteen, and then devote a full fifth of it to what amounts to a single movie. But whatever.
Memento: Only bothered seeing it once, and it was a fun ride. Didn't make any lasting impression.
Wall-E: I know, the premise is a finger-wagging environmentalist scold's wet dream. But how can you not like the little guy? From what little I know of Chaplin, the comparisons seem to hold...lots of emotion conveyed with minimal dialogue.
The Dark Knight: Good movie. Ledger easily upstages Bale, who needs to lose the silly growl. Not sure it's the best film of the new millennium, but definitely seems the most conservative-friendly film from Hollywood in recent memory.
LotR Trilogy: About as good a translation to that story to the screen as we're ever likely to see. But over time, after repeated viewings, it's not wearing as well as I'd thought it would. Still looks gorgeous, but the more attention I pay to the characters the more some of them grate on the nerves, particularly Gimli and Legolas. Bernard Hill's turn as Theoden didn't get him nearly the recognition it should've.
Aragorn's speech in front of the Black Gate still gives me chills.
Requiem for a Dream: known to future generations only as "that one movie with that one song every other kid on Youtube used in their homemade compilation videos."
I'll only comment on the ones from the list I've seen:
ReplyDelete-Requiem for a Dream: if I ever wanted to try heroin, seeing this movie would probably cure me of that desire. I like stories where scummy people meet with scummy endings if they don't change their ways, just like they usually do in real life. I thought this was a haunting film and well done.
-Eternal Sunshine: I had an overall favorable opinion of this movie. I thought the question was interesting: if you could erase unpleasant memories, would you? I took the film's answer to be that our experiences, good or bad, are what make up who we are. I agree with that.
-Spirited Away: I have no idea what this is doing on the list. A complete waste of time. Any classic Disney cartoon is better than this.
-The Departed: I had not thought of this movie since I originally saw it. Took me a minute to remember what it was. Nothing special.
-Amelie: I remember one amusing sequence where her dad thought his garden gnome was traveling around the world by himself. I don't remember much else, though I thought it was cute. Top 15? No.
-LotR: I love every movie, but I am biased because I loved the books first. I never thought the books could ever be successfully pulled off as live action movies, but I am convinced that was what Peter Jackson was born to do. They are the only films I've been able to listen to the DVD commentary of and watch all the behind the scenes extras. The main thing I can't understand is why so many liberals also love these films. They obviously don't believe that good is worth fighting for or that you need to stamp out evil.
-Memento: I thought this was a good movie but only because it was an original idea (as far as I know). It was great because the way the story is delivered, you basically experience everything the way that the main character would. Also, I saw a special on Discovery Health about a man who had this exact same memory problem, only he couldn't remember anything for longer than about 15-30 seconds. A very hard to watch documentary.
-The Dark Knight: I really wasn't that impressed with it. I heard about how fantastic it was and thought it was a let down when I finally saw it.