40 Movies for 2015

Calamity Panfan · #81

Movies: 26/40

Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) - 3/20/15 - A
The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980) - 3/21/15 - A+
Life Itself (Steve James, 2014) - 3/26/15 - A+
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2013) - 3/27/15 - A

Bomby · #82

Movies with an asterisk in front are ones I've seen before.

17. I Wish I Had a Wife (Park Heung-sik, 2001) - Enjoyable, if inconsequential. It has Jeon Do-yeon in it though.
18. Witness (Peter Weir, 1985) - March 11 - Solid, unique police procedural. Good, but not especially memorable
19. * Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991) - March 15 - Classic in every sense of the word. Without question one of the best martial arts films ever made.
20. Life Itself (Steve James, 2014) - March 21 - About as good of a tribute to Roger Ebert as he deserves... in other words, a really damn good documentary.
21. Hoop Dreams (Steve James, 1994) - March 25 - Truly lives up to its reputation. Also, watching it during March Madness seems quite fitting.
22. * Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973) - March 26 - Martin **** Scorsese's breakthrough film. This was just a preview of the man who would eventually become the United States' best film director (fight me). You can see several of the his stylistic trademarks in nascent form here. A great film from a man who would go on to make several even better films.
23. * Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) - March 28 - One of my top ten favorite movies ever made, period.
24. Panic Room (David Fincher, 2002) - March 29 - This movie came on TV without me intending to watch it, but I got sucked into it right away. Super intense. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the ending, but I liked it a lot overall.
25. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) - March 29 - Martin Scorsese has made movies about some unseemly characters. Jordan Belfort might be the unseemliest. So is Leo getting that Oscar anytime soon?
26. * The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) - March 30 - Without question, one of the greatest films ever made. If you dare speak to the contrary, I may have to make you an offer you can't refuse.

Calamity Panfan · #83

Movies: 30/40

Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This is Stones Throw Records (Jeff Broadway, 2013) - 3/28/15 - B+
The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them (Matthew Meshekoff, 1993) - 3/28/15 - F--
School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003) - 3/29/15 - A-
Paddington (Paul King, 2014) - 3/30/15 - A-

Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton isn't the best hip-hop documentary out there but it's super interesting to hear legends like Common, Snoop, and Kanye talk about one of the most underappreciated labels out there.

The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them was an incredibly unfortunate Netflix decision not made by me. It is truly, truly awful.

School of Rock holds a lot of nostalgia for me (and helped me get into rock 'n' roll in general) but beyond that it's just a straight up great comedy. Definitely the best of Linklater's "mainstream" era.

Paddington surprised the hell out of me. Paid $2 to see it in a budget theater and had a great time. More family comedies should be like this.

Bomby · #84

^ Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton has been on my watchlist for a minute now... but yeah, a really good hip hop doc on Netflix is The Art of Rap. I think I would show that to just about anyone who denigrates hip hop as a genre.

Calamity Panfan · #85

Movies: 32/40

Blame It On The Streets (Alex Nazari & Daryl Lucky Rodgers, 2014) - 4/3/15 - D-
Furious 7 (James Wan, 2015) - 4/4/15 - B+

Blame It On The Streets seemed interesting because YG is an alright rapper (too bad he only goes over **** DJ Mustard beats). This movie is really bad though. Like really bad. It's supposed to be "a day in the life of the hood" but it's just a mess featuring a bunch of people who can't act do whatever the hell they want. YG apparently wrote the screenplay; he should stick to writing raps because this is straight up trash dialogue.

Furious 7 is a great action movie and I feel absolutely no shame admitting that. **** the haters.

YouTube · #86

Movies: 18/40

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (9 Apr) - 8/10
Silver Linings Playbook (10 Apr) - 8/10

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Apollo the Just · #87

7/40 probably more i have not been keeping count

4. Cinderella- REALLY pretty!! That dress was so impressive. Amazing costuming. still doesn't top the one with Brandy tho
5. Battle Royale- re-watched because I hadn't seen it in ages to see if it was still good. It was.
6/7. My roommate made me watch 2 James Bond movies with her. James Bond/10

Calamity Panfan · #88

Unfriended (Levan Gabriadze, 2015) - 4/17/15 - C-
The Secret World of Arietty (Hiromasa Yonebayashi, 2010) - 4/24/15 - B+

Spritedude · #89

Movies 28/40

Italic/bold - First time viewing
Yellow - Watched in theaters (in 2015)

Still Alice - 8/10
Monty Python and The Holy Grail - 8/10
The Gunman - 5/10
Oldboy - 7/10
Furious 7 - 7.5/10
Ex Machina - 8.5/10

YouTube · #90

Movies: 20/40

Avengers: Age of Ultron (1 May) - 9/10
Across the Universe (2 May) - 7/10

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

YouTube · #91

Movies: 21/40

Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (9 May) - 4/10

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"

Calamity Panfan · #92

Movies: 40/40

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon, 2015) - 5/1/15 - B+
Left Behind (Vic Armstrong, 2014) - 5/5/15 - F
Ponyo (Hayao Miyazaki, 200 8) - 5/8/15 - B+
National Treasure (Jon Turteltaub, 2004) - 5/9/15 - B
Snake Eyes (Brian De Palma, 199 8) - 5/10/15 - C-
No No: A Dockumentary (Jeff Radice, 2014) - 5/10/15 - A-

Goal reached. Avengers is a solid sequel, but its sloppiness in parts makes it lesser than the original. Left Behind is silly but not silly enough to be a worthwhile watch (if they had the antichrist stuff from the original, it'd be much better). Snake Eyes looks great and Cage is very Cagey, but the twist is revealed too quickly and I wasn't engaged at all. No No is a fantastic documentary about Dock Ellis, a pitcher who is mostly known as "the guy who pitched a no hitter on LSD" but is so much more than that.

Calamity Panfan · #93

Movies: 42/40

Wet Hot American Summer (David Wain, 2001) - 5/19/15 - B
Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) - 5/19/15 - A

Wet Hot American Summer has a lot going for it but some of the humor is pretty hit-or-miss. Paul Rudd is so good in this movie though. He might honestly be one of my favorite comedic actors right now. He can do the straight man and more off-the-wall characters equally well.

Mad Max: Fury Road was incredible and I want to see it a million more times.

#94

Movies 5/40-----------

Big Hero 6 - 01/01/15 - 10/10
The Birdman - 01/04/15 - 10+/10
The Grand Budapest Hotel - 01/21/15 - 10/10
Margot the Furnace - 03/12/15 - 7/10
The Book of Life - 05/26/15 - 6/10

...man, but this thing was a mess.

I loved its art-design, and the characters themselves were likeable, but the plot was barely comprehensible, and I didn't care for the writing. Gods below, but the pop culture references . You know, if you want to make a sincere movie, do so. If you want to make the next snarky 'Shrek' equivalent, do that, man. Don't try to do both at the same time. It appears to be really, really difficult to pull off.

...man. Rarely does there come along a movie I don't think I'd ever buy, but, like, I'd buy an artbook of it in a heartbeat. I mean, if 'The Book of Life' turns up on HBO, I might dial it up on 'mute' whilst doing almost anything else. Sublime visuals in service of barely-competent storytelling. Ick.

I so, so wanted this to be rad, man.

Bomby · #95

Movies with an asterisk in front are ones I've seen before.

27. Jane Eyre (Cary Fukanaga, 2011) - April 1 - Visually beautiful, but that's about all that really stuck with me. I can see why the story is so popular, but it's just not for me.
28. * Scarface (Brian De Palma, 1983) - April 25 - Ah, excessive cocaine and an entertainingly cartoonish performance from Al Pacino. Not as great as its legions of die-hard fans say it is, but still an enjoyable movie nonetheless.
29. * Scarface (Howard Hawks, 1932) - April 30 - Very different from the remake, but just about equal, I'd say. I love how there's a warning in the beginning of the movie that it's supposed to be a "serious, socially aware" movie about the dangers of the mafia... yeah, no. This was made for pure entertainment.
30. Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014) - May 9 - I've never really been that big on Nolan, but this is the first movie I've seen of his that I really liked a lot.
31. * Serpico (Sidney Lumet, 1973) - May 20 - The 1970s "New Hollywood" era is one of my favorite decades in the history of cinema. This gritty film from Sidney Lumet is a shining example of why. Al Pacino truly captures the frustration the eponymous in trying to stamp out police corruption, a problem which still exists today.
32. Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2015) - May 24 - I liked it well enough, but it didn't quite live up to the hype. The exploration of the possibilities of artificial intelligence was interesting, though.

Spritedude · #96

Movies 32/40

Italic/bold - First time viewing
Yellow - Watched in theaters (in 2015)

Avengers: Age of Ultron - 8.5/10
X-Men: Days of Future Past - 8/10
Mad Max: Fury Road - 10/10
Tommorowland - 7.5/10

#97

Hey, guess who's having on his Disney backlog.

Movies 6/40-----------

Big Hero 6 - 01/01/15 - 10/10
The Birdman - 01/04/15 - 10+/10
The Grand Budapest Hotel - 01/21/15 - 10/10
Margot the Furnace - 03/12/15 - 7/10
The Book of Life - 05/26/15 - 6/10
Disney's Hercules - 05/31/15 - 7/10

It's good. I totally love 2D animation, like, old-style real 2D biz, and this was a bit of its last hurrah. Like, it was real pretty. Also liked James Woods' performance (surprise surprise)

Calamity Panfan · #98

Movies: 47/40

Super (James Gunn, 2010) - 5/26/15 - B-
Wolfcop (Lowell Dean, 2014) - 5/26/15 - D
Zombeavers (Jordan Rubin, 2014) - 5/27/15 - C-
Jen Kirkman: I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine) (Lance Bangs, 2015) - 5/30/15 - B+
The Art of Rap (Ice-T, 2012) - A-

What I heard about Super made it seem a lot more dark than it was (though it was pretty dark). Solid film. Watched two B-movies in Wolfcop and Zombeavers. Didn't care much for Wolfcop but there's some fun to be had in Zombeavers, though I wouldn't really recommend either. Jen Kirkman's new comedy special is really good. I was really interested in The Art of Rap though it doesn't get full marks because sometimes Ice-T can get really annoying.

#99

Pffffft. Get me, Boo the so-called movie guy, actually watching movies for once, rather than just dumbassed YouTube vids and pornography. Almost as if I'm some kind of cultured aesthete. (Shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone, it'll be our little secret.)

Movies 7/40-----------

Big Hero 6 - 01/01/15 - 10/10
The Birdman - 01/04/15 - 10+/10
The Grand Budapest Hotel - 01/21/15 - 10/10
Margot the Furnace - 03/12/15 - 7/10
The Book of Life - 05/26/15 - 6/10
Disney's Hercules - 05/31/15 - 7/10
Mortdecai - 06/01/15 - 9/10

Quite the odd little film. Terribly entertaining and cleverly executed. I really liked the performances (even that of Gwynneth Paltrow, whom I'm generally not a terrific fan of). Good pacing, good writing. Just a good time overall. Fun.

YouTube · #100

Movies 22/40:

Kermit's Swamp Years (the other day, I don't remember the exact date) - 6/10. Super hit & miss.

And remember, "I'm-a Luigi, number one!"