Refrencing my list./Summer Movies of the Highest Importance

In reference to my previous post, I've been getting complaints about too generous to certain movies. What can I say. The list is composed my my personal favorite movies, not, let me repeat, NOT what i believe to be the best movies ever made. Please see the difference, and looking back perhaps I have been too kind to some un-deserving features. I recently saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall again and concluded that, while still funny, it belonged no where in my top fifty. But the list is made and I'm not changing it so let's move on.


Summer in all it's glory never fails to promise a movie for me to get excited about, in fact this year there are several. The season for me already kicked off with thee exceptional Iron Man (**** out of 5), and has most recently followed this week with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I have yet to see the latest from Speilberg and Lucas but my expectations aren;t high due to poor ratings so far from the critics. However I often find I enjoy a movie more when I go in with low expectations and come out totally thrilled. Never the less I will journey into the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull with Indy this weekend.
The next big one after Indiana that I simply cannot wait for is the Incredible Hulk. I know what you're thinking, they already made this movie and it sucked. I beg to differ, this Edward Norton piece is not even gonna come close to that Ang Lee garbage that we all wish to forget. No, this time the green meany looks mean but it also looks like their actually gonna use the hero aspect of this super hero this time. And being the Ed Norton fan that I am, just can't help to get giddie when I realize that the script was written by Mr. Norton himself. This Hulk simply looks badass and you best believe I will be enjoying my popcorn that Friday.
However, I'm some what torn for in the same weekend another movie is released that I'm almost equally excited about. In my eyes the name of M. Night Shamylan is not yet a disgrace. Unbreakable remains as one of my all time favorites and the Sixth Sense still gives me the creeps. I also went back the other day and watched Signs only to re-discover how good it actually is, I see some thing new in that movie every time i watch it. Admittedly the Village was not as good as it should have been but really it wasn't half as bad as everyone says it is. Everyone wanted a different ending so no one was satisfied, and I just won't say anything about the mess that is Lady In The Water. But ladies and gentlemen I smell a come back for Mr. Shamlyan with his new movie the Happening, which promises to be much scarier then anything he's done before. This is the directors first R-rated movie and the trailer is truly chilling, not to mention it stars the super cool Mark Wallberg and the adorable Zooey Deschanel.
The next movie I want to see this summer is probably number 2 on the most anticipated, which i find a bit humorous because when I saw the first trailer for Will Smith's Hancock, I thought it looked like utter trash. When I saw a second trailer on American Idol one Wensday evening, my perception of the movie changed dramatically, the movie could actually be one of the most original and hilarious summer movies ever. It's about Will Smith playing a Super Anti-hero that becomes a role model after serving some time in prison, and it co-stars the hysterical Jason Bateman of the wonderful show that was Arrested Development.
Hands down, easily to most exciting movie this summer poses is Christopher Nolan's follow-up to the amazing Batman Begins, The Dark Knight. This is the one I can't help but get my hopes up for, the one that could go down in history. The trailers get the mood for a great Batman story just right and not to mention the frightening images of the late Heath Ledger as the clown prince of crime himself, the Joker. Now that the origin tale is out of the way Nolan has the liberty of doing anything he wants and I have a feeling it's gonna be absolutely great. Right now many of you are excited about the Joker but I am just as anxious to see Aaron Eckhart as one of the best Batman villains, Two-Face. The leaked photo hit the internet almost a month ago and if you thought Ledger was scary, you haven't seen anything yet.
Those are pretty much the big flicks that get me ready to throw my money away at Hollywood but there are always minors ones as well that I also wouldn't mind wasting an afternoon one. This year we have Get Smart, I love every chance I get to see Steve Carrell in awkward moments and that looks exactly like what the movie is. Next is the Pinnapple Express which is the next Judd Aptow production and those always get me laughing, it also stars Seth Rodgen and James Franco so it should deliver some good laughs. No movie this summer looks funnier than Step Brothers with Will Ferrill and the lovable John C. Reliey. Also coming out this year that looks like a hit or miss is the next Mummy movie. I was always a fan of those movies as a kid and Brendan Fraiser is back for the starring role so we'll see.
That pretty much somes it up, what are you anxious to see this summer?

The Top Fifty

So here it is, I spent the afternoon organizing, completing, and perfecting a list of my personal TOP FIFTY FILMS OF ALL TIME. The first 20 are close to exact order while the rest are approximate order, however, it's very close to exact. I still have many movies to see, so it's defiantly liable to change over time, but as of this day (4-24-08) here it is as it stands.

Top Fifty:
1. Fight Club
2. Almost Famous
3. Braveheart
4. Unbreakable
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Batman Begins
-Batman (1989)
-Batman Returns (1992)
7. The Godfather
-Part 2
-Part 3
8. Se7en
9. Star Wars
-A New Hope
-The Empire Strikes Back
-Return of the Jedi
10. Rear Window

11.The Departed
12. Magnolia
13. American Beauty
14. Minority Report
15. Psycho
16. When Harry Met Sally
17. Gone Baby Gone
18. Gangs of New York
19. Memento
20. Kill Bill
-Vol. 1
-Vol. 2

21. Silence of the Lambs
22. 3:10 to Yuma
23. Knocked Up
24. Lord of the Rings
-Fellowship of the Ring
-The Two Towers
-Return of the King
25. Misery
26. Zodiac
27. The Sixth Sense
28. There Will Be Blood
29. Children of Men
30. V for Vendetta

31. Signs
32. It's a Wonderful Life
33. Once
34. Resevoir Dogs
35. Anchorman
36. Spider-Man
-Spider-Man 2
-Spider-Man 3
37. Road to Perdition
38. High Fidelity
39. Fargo
40. Brick

41. Vertigo
42. X-Men
-X2
43. Saving Private Ryan
44. Gladiator
45. Cape Fear
46. The Life Aquatic
47. A Few Good Men
48. The Others
49. Stranger Than Fiction
50. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Is there anything anything important that I've missed, what do you think?

Modern Actors

I have recently just come off a Kevin Spacey kick after un-intentionally viewing 6 movies in which he starred (Usual Suspects, Se7en, Superman Returns, L.A. Confidential, 21, and American Beauty) with-in just a few months time. Anyone who has seen any of these movies knows just how terrific of an actor Spacey is. Putting a wicked charm and wit into all his roles that reminds me of some of the earlier great actors like Stuart, Grant, and Bogart. This Spacey kick prompted me to think, who are the best actors in modern cinema. Well obviously, in my opinion, one such actor is Kevin Spacey.

Who else, you may ask, who else is worth to be ranked as one of the greatest actors you can see in movies today? Well one who immediately comes to mind is Edward Norton. Norton has done a number of great movies (The Illusionist, Primal Fear, Red Dragon) but my personal favorite role of Ed's is his un-named character in Fight Club (which also one of my all-time favorites). Also who can forget his chilling performance in American History X. Once you've seen that movie it stays with you for a very long time, thanks to mister Norton. If you ask me it's only a matter of time before he has his own collection of Oscar gold. Edward Norton can be seen next in this summer's The Incredible Hulk, which he also wrote the screenplay for.

Who else would i put on this list? Well honestly if you ask me I already said the two most deserving, but that doesn't mean that I don't think there are other very talented actors out there.

They include:
Christian Bale - Always gives a passionate performance but I still feel like we haven't seen the best of him, maybe we will in The Dark Knight?

Johnny Depp - Depp is a great actor and definitely deserves an Oscar by now, however, he always plays same types of roles, the quirky, oddball guy, but he does do it very well.

Clive Owen - He always give an entertaining performance and makes a great action hero, could kick the crap out of Daniel Craig's James Bond.

Sure there's a few more but these five stand out the most to me. Is there anyone I'm forgetting?

American (Beauty?)

American Beauty, probably not the best choice to write a first blog review about because I don't know exactly what to think of this film other than "wow", but hey I like the idea of starting off with a challenge.
Sam Mendes is really the star here, the maturity of this this movie surpasses that of any previous directorial debt that I'm familiar with. His other films that I happened to see before this include the gangster flick Road to Perdition and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, both are exceptional, but Beauty by far exceeds his later work.
The movie is neither a comedy or a drama but rather a unique combination of the two and the result is something brilliant, almost as though we've seen it before but it's presented in a whole new way. Everything works so well together in this movie, the directing, the writing, and maybe most notably, the acting.
Kevin Spacey delivers a simple yet complex performance as Lester Burnham, a family man who is tired of being ignored by everyone and decides its time for some radical changes in his life. His wife, Carolyn (Annette Betting), is a real estate agent who is bent on success despite being in a broken marriage in which she obviously wears the pants, at least in the beginning of the movie. They have a self conscious teenage daughter, Jane, who has a "hot" best friend, Angela, who Lester can't help but fantasize about often.
A new family moves in next door. Their son has an obsession with video tapping and with Jane, he also sells weed to Lester and has to hide his life from his former marine father. The story is centered on Lester and the decisions he makes about changing his life and the effects it has on the rest of the cast. The Burnham family has had tension building up for years as a result of not showing emotion with each other and when Lester realizes it's time for change, the inevitable family implosion and breakdown occurs.
All the character are purposely based off relate able stereotypes but are brought to believable life by the outstanding cast. I've never witnessed a movie in which I felt so disgusted by the characters but couldn't help but love them at the same time.
American Beauty is a marvel in modern cinema and directly deals with serious issues that occur in neighborhoods and families across the fifty states. It's an important film, however, it's not meant to be viewed for mindless entertainment, although it is very entertaining. A powerful, dark comedy and tragedy.

American Beauty: ****1/2 (out of 5)

From Epic to Ordinary

It's 2:30 in the morning and I just created this blog as an outlet for my reviews and ideas for movies and other interests of mine. Hopefully If i stick to it, this will be the first of many posts to come.