Welcome back!!!

To start off the new year, I'll put up a list of my favourite films of the last decade (in no particular order):

1. The Dark Night - The Best Comic book film in a decade that was full of them (X-Men, Spiderman, The Watchmen)

2. Children of Men - In my opinion, the best movie of the decade. Every detail and shot, every word of dialogue, the acting and music make this a masterpiece

3. City of God - So much better than the MANY other 'gritty street' movies out there

4. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind - My favourite move. Brilliant.... Everytime I watch this, I notice something else about how the director visualized memories... no other director could have pulled this off

5. Almost Famous - I could just listen to this film for both the music and dialogue

6. High Fidelity - John Cusack is a god (and welcome Jack Black!)

7. The Fall - See my review a couple of weeks ago

8. Lord of the Rings trilogy - Didn't let me down

9. Memento - Brilliant. Watch the movie when the chapters are in order and you can really appreciate the brilliance of the editing

10. Old Boy - not enough people have watched this. One of the great movies of all time

11. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon - When the first fight seen was finished, it was one of the few times I have wanted to stand up and cheer in the middle of a movie!

12. Best in Show - Easily the most watched movie in my collection, and I laugh every time I see it

13. Unbreakable - Every scene is shot like a page from a comic book, they constantly tell you that he is a superhero, and yet, the end is still a surprise... amazing film

14. Kung Fu Hustle - funny, fun and kick ass! Can't ask for more!

15. Brokeback Mountain - The acting puts this on the list.

16. Into the Wild - the scenery, music and acting draws you in and makes you feel every aspect of the characters journey

17. The Departed - Complicated enough to be interesting and characters to make it cool. Based on the Hong Kong film/ trilogy Infernal Affairs

18. Across the Universe - to put this movie together based on The Beatles catalogue of music is shear brilliance

19. Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) - see my review from a few weekes ago

20. Shaun of the Dead - started a new Genre, Zom-Com )and introduced america to some of the best british comedians out there

21. The Hangover - I walked out of the theatre with tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard

22. Tigerland - gritty and realistic, a new take on a part of the Vietnam war, and welcomed in Colin Farrell

23. Training Day - Made bad guys cool, and Crime dramas about more than CSI and the lawyers

24. Super Troopers - One of the funniest movies of all time

25. Idiocracy - A future where darwinism has gone awry, and people have bred themselves stupid... HILARIOUS!  And please note, they are all wearing crocs!

26. Bad Santa - The only true must-see Christmas movie!

Inglourious Basterd

If you're a Tarantino fan (which you should be), here's his short list for best films of 2009




btw, if you liked Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak), the movie he mentions, Chocolate, is by the same director with 'the female Tony Jaa' kicking ass!



Keeping on the Tarantino theme,  check out this commercial....





No, I don't get it either!




-k

Top 5 Guilty Pleasure Movies

You know those movies that most people are upset that they spent money to rent (even though they had Mono, their phone wasn't working, their cable was down, and the only book not damaged by the fire was Dianetics, and even that would have been better?!)...

And you own it on Blu-ray?


I own a lot of those, but here are 5 of my favorites:


Crank 2: High Voltage 
I almost summarized the plot, but what would be the point. All you need to know is that they skydive without parachutes, there are women in bikini's firing automatic weapons, the Chinese Mafia, and a sexually assaulted Grandmother. And that's just the preview (and I promise they didn't show the best parts!)  Stars Jason Strathem with guest appearances by David Carradine (Bill in Kill Bill), Corey Haim (Chris in Snowboard Academy) and Geri Halliwell (Phoebe in Sex and the City)





Very Bad Things
Watch this movie the first time and you'll say to yourself, "This is not funny and anyone who finds it so will be going to Hell".  Watch it a second time and you will giggle (nervously) at times and look around o make sure no one notices. Watch it a third time and you will accept damnation and try talking other people into coming with you! 





Canadian Bacon
A satire on America's need for war, US/ Canada relations and stereotypes.  Directed by Michael Moore and staring John Candy in his last role.   "There's a time to think, and a time to act, and this Gentlemen, is no time to think". Brilliant





The Adventure of Ford Fairlane
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey.
Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And said, "Hey, what's in the bowl, bitch?"

Ahhhh, Andrew Dice Clay. Who didn't think he was funny when they were 16.... Or still do!

I think it's a guilty pleasure just to like this trailer:





Showgirls
This movie came out almost 15 years ago, yet people still remember it, refer to it, and play drinking games while watching it all over the world!

Watch it again just to have a laugh at what could possibly have made Elizabeth Berkley splash around in that pool like she did (you know what I'm talking about!)

8 Films I Can't Wait to See

• The Box - You're given a box with a button on it, and told that if you press the button, two things will happen. First, someone will die and second, you will receive 1 million dollars. I'm sure a few presses wouldn't hurt!  Despite being based on a short story and Twilight Zone episode (not to mention a few early attempts at making it into a movie), I'm sure it will be one of the most original films of the year. directed by Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko). Watch the Trailer
• The Men Who Stare at Goats - Based on a true story?!  Try out the psychic tests on the official website.  I'm not sure how, but I actually did knock over the goat... Also see Clooney in Up In the Air. Saw it at TIFF and it was fantastic.
• Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - If you don't know who Werner Herzog is, you are missing out. The man is a GENIUS. You should see as many of his movies as possible (Nosferatu, Grizzley Man), but what really drew me to his work is when he made a documentary called Little Dieter Needs to Fly about a pilot that ends up in a POW camp, then made a Hollywood film (staring BATMAN!) about that very subject called Rescue Dawn. People always wonder how much is true in movies that claim to be 'Based on Real Events', and here you know for sure
• Red Cliff - Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon + Saving Private Ryan = Pure Awsomeness!
• The Road - If they can even come close to the standard of the Novel, it will be amazing
• Avatar - James Camerons (Terminator 2) took 10 years to make this film and it's finally here.  IMAX 3-D was made for this film specifically
• Daybreakers - It's like The Matrix meets Blade... Does it get any cooler?!
• Inception - From the Director of Memento and The Dark Night comes... A really fucked up film (that I can't wait to see!)

What are you looking forward to?

Movies I've Watched Lately

I'll get around to writing a blurb for these and if they're worth watching...
Big Screen

• Whatever Works
• Zombieland
• Couples Retreat
• District 9
• The Hangover
• Inglourious Basterds
• Up In the Air
• Whip It
• Jennifers Body
• Me and Orson Wells*

'Rentals'

• The Surrogates
• GI Joe
• Assasination of a High School President
• Observe and Report
• Crank 2
• The Invention of Lying
• Pirate Radio (aka The Boat that Rocked)

Favourite Movies (Alphabetical for now!)

• Aliens
• Alien Nation
• Almost Famous
• American History X
• Annie Hall
• Bad Santa
• Baraka
• Batman Begins/ Dark Night
• Being John Malkovich
• Best in Show
• Boondock Saints
• ? Borat
• Bowfinger
• Brain Candy
• Brick
• Bubba Ho-Tep
• Chasing Amy
• Children of Men
• City of God
• Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon/ Hero
• Dark City
• Dazed and Confused
• The Departed/ Infernal Affairs Trilogy
• Donnie Darko
• Election
• Enemy of the State
• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
• Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind
• The Fall
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• The Fifth Element
• Fight Club
• The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
• Friday
• Galaxy Quest
• ? The Godfather
• Gross Pointe Blank
• ? The Hangover
• Heat
• High Fidelity
• Idiocracy
• In Bruges
• The Incredibles
• Into the Wild
• Kingpin
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• Kung Fu Hustle
• Last Night
• Mad Max/ Road Warrior
• The Matrix
• Memento
• Office Space
• Oldboy
• Predator
• The Professional
• Primer
• Roger Dodger
• ?Run Lola Run
• Sexy Beast
• ? Saw
• The Sixth Sense
• Seven
• Shaun of the Dead
• Showgirls
• Smokin' Aces
• Starship Troopers
• Super Troopers
• Swingers
• Thank You for Smoking
• 300
• Tigerland
• Terminator 2- Judgment Day
• Total Recall
• Training Day
• True Romance
• 12 Monkeys
• Unbreakable
• Unforgiven
• Very Bad Things
• X-Men/ X2