All Movies
All the movies that I've seen since joining this site.
Not completed.
Not completed.
List activity
377 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
86 titles
- DirectorJames MarshStarsEddie RedmayneFelicity JonesTom PriorStephen Hawking gets unprecedented success in the field of physics despite being diagnosed with motor neuron disease at the age of 21. He defeats awful odds as his first wife Jane aids him loyally.Dance while you can.
8.5 - DirectorFrank CoraciStarsAdam SandlerDrew BarrymoreWendi McLendon-CoveyAfter a bad blind date, a man and woman find themselves stuck together at a resort for families, where their attraction grows as their respective kids benefit from the burgeoning relationship.'You don't see that in New Jersey.'
- DirectorCraig GillespieStarsJon HammAasif MandviAlan ArkinA sports agent stages an unconventional recruitment strategy to get talented Indian cricket players to play Major League Baseball.Not bad.
- DirectorAlastair FothergillKeith ScholeyAdam ChapmanStarsJohn C. ReillyA documentary that follows an Alaskan bear family as its young cubs are taught life's most important lessons.Decent narration, I didn't have a problem with it.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsRalph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricA writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.Nazis aren't funny, Wes.
- DirectorShawn LevyStarsVince VaughnOwen WilsonRose ByrneTwo salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital age find their way into a coveted internship at Google, where they must compete with a group of young, tech-savvy geniuses for a shot at employment.Well, I was expecting it to reach for above average, and it didn't. The set-up in the beginning was pretty good, but then it declines pretty markedly in the middle; if I had to choose one thing to cut, it would have to be the excursion into Harry Potter, which was pretty surreal and weird, and not in a good way..... It's a little hard to explain. But I've taken Harry Potter for a long time now as social stiffness and disconnect, however you want to say it, but only in a bad dream does Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughan hop on.... I suppose the danger with comedy is that unless it's actually about real life, (the way that sci-fi isn't), it's inauthentic, like a counterfeit coin, and sometimes without someone semi-serious like Ben Stiller or Steve Carell to right the ship, you risk it being about everything "absurd" and which "means nothing"-- although nothing comes from nothing and everything is something, social stiffness is certainly *something*, confusion has its causes, and things "mean nothing" only from one point of view: nothing is *absolutely* nothing, the way that people say that, for example, a sort of stream-of-consciousness lyric "means nothing" and is probably "because of drugs", and therefore is *nothing* somehow, because it isn't a philosophical treatise on mathematical logic: as if half the people who arrogantly dismiss everything creative and "because of drugs" would understand any of *that*.... I suppose even sci-fi is about *something*, but it's about social stiffness, about a world where intelligence grows out of the barrel of a gun, or at the very least the repose of the false heart, where it is Opposite Day precisely because you cannot abide the non-post-nuclear-war world outside your window, and want at the very least a sort of Brittanic medieval caste system to slide all of your social interactions into, or better yet the drug-like no-mind nullity situation which arises when literally everyone around is a warrior, including your social partner.... Certainly we have to at least be withdrawn like monks who reject the world.... 'I am a rock; I am an island'; I am the poet of disconnect and the artist of the faux pas; I should have seen this coming!
So it's not *exactly* like they were getting a Californian career to right the marital ship, not exactly.... although the Potter scar is only an interlude, and it's not like it made the whole thing objectionable. It actually picked up towards the end, albeit according to a formula. And somewhere inbetween was the bar scene, which was not terrible but not great.... and a little meandering and at times almost out of place, like someone who put up some expensive tapesty somewhere, mostly to prove they had the money, although apparently not with enough left over to consult a real interior decorator, or perhaps not enough humility. I know where that goes.
Although, again, about two thirds of the movie was probably written by an architect; it's rather architectural.... And, damn it Past Ted!, did we *really* need *another* flick with a chick who's an executive or whatever, and.... what, is this somebody's fixation? We can only like a girl if she's in meetings with Sheldon Cooper all day? And why in a movie where everything gets tied-up-at-the-end almost disgustingly well, is the marriage-dilemma at the beginning introduced and then totally forgotten? Doesn't anyone give a damn? Doesn't anybody *care*?
Although like I might have mentioned; it could have been worse. I did actually watch the whole thing. It was a watcheable movie. Not all of them are.... It's somewhere inbetween, the real *beep* floppers, like "The Sitter", "Charlie Bartlett", or "Date Movie", and the real gems, like "Meet the Fockers", "Dinner for Schmucks", and "Juno".... It was a little boring, but I got through it okay without retching.
It's a bit like those almost-quotable moments; they were almost worth remembering. Almost.
At least it's not *beep* afraid of a good old fashioned conversation with your friends on the job, like some people really do seem to be a little afraid of the non-directed nature of the modern world, without a brutal military simplicity or a Brittanic medieval caste system to give you a sort of cheat sheet to the betting odds. In this country a paragraph or two of Exposition isn't going to tell you your Destiny, only a little sketch of uncertainties. Although, again, I'm not sure the answer is to make birth destiny in a sort of distant medieval Catholic-'guild'-city-state parochialism, or a cariacature of Belfast, the Balkans, or Iraq. The problem child doesn't need to be our hero, and I don't want to be the problem child.... some of these new things we have, like Google, are rather good.... It's a system that has no idea where you're going to meet someone-- 'here, there, and everywhere': all bad places.... including bars, meetup.com events, and pretty much wherever you'll spend your time, usually-- but it also has no set plan to tear your fingernails off or plot against you in the dead of night or tell you what you're not allowed to say or where you're not allowed to go or what you have to spend your life doing. Getting pulled before the Paradox Court for Time-Travelling Crimes doesn't actually happen.... A lot of things don't happen. A lot of people try to work for Google, don't get in, and don't get thrown into the Pit of Snakes....
A lot of things don't happen. This movie isn't gold-standard realism, (although it doesn't matter so much because it has a certain degree of plausibility and anyway an agreeable lack of cynicism-- it has that watchability), and especially in that bar scene.... well, I don't live in California, but I've been to bars, and mostly nothing happens, really. A lot of things don't happen. People do alot of talking, talking about the sort of things that don't happen. I suppose an average movie is really 'only a movie'.
Oh, and the choice of "Try it Again" by the Hives for the the credits music-- not really a good choice, and I know because I used to listen to them. They're not really the most mature group. I don't know.
It's not like anybody can just casually walk into a bar and find they've traveled through that hole that goes all the way to China; it's not like every band making noise in the garage knows the secret of love; it's not like some composers aren't just following their little baroque formulas.... It's not like some things aren't just workaday products of watchwatching workers.... just passing the time.
Because 'until the Day, there are only days'.... - DirectorChris BuckJennifer LeeStarsKristen BellIdina MenzelJonathan GroffFearless optimist Anna teams up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven in an epic journey to find Anna's sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter.Well, for one thing I find it a little unfortunate that the most famous song ("Let It Go") is one of these trite pop-empowerment songs that basically says, Screw you, get over it (hey we can make a political tie-in!); I'm a cool kid (literally, lol) and I have better things to do than make nice.
I figured at least they didn't want to make a villain out of anybody-- Elsa ruins everybody's lives, but she didn't mean to, that's mildly non-villain-y-- but you can see how that turned out. Hey Anna, guess what, being the romantic makes you NOT COOL, your lover is a real creep and you'd better get even more edgy than you already are (Do you wanna fight a snowman....) if you want to get through this on the right side of the assumptions.
Although that wouldn't have been as pronounced if they had just let love be (just let it be) a.... dramatic winter rescue, okay, less than ideal, but....
Oh, no, but what DID they do. 'Screw my boyfriend, I only really care about my *sister*!' I guess this is the result of all that nerd-tastic pop media bashing about maturing girls too early: 'Love is... Love is.... *gets nervous* Love is loving your sister!' That's the result-- you don't have to mature at all, you can just be one of those curiously naive and undeveloped girls for whom love is filial duty or sibling affection or something.... That's right, you can be seven forever.... Not only can can you be little, but your heroes, your plans, your world can be little, too....
I mean, *come on*, why not just let 'true love' be sending a letter to your aunt, or saving your best friend a trip to the post office. True love's kiss, no no no.... true love's.... polite affection. Be a dear and send your aunt a letter about your summer vacation. Why not try something a little Victorian for your.... modernism.
But as long as you can spite Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, it hardly matters, this is girl-faction time, not uh, uh.... Well, it doesn't matter if we have to kick a few girls out of the universal and catholic girl-faction, as long as we can keep ALL the boys out!
I try so hard to be the optimist, but it just seems to keep on getting more and more cynical and anti-romantic, and.... Frozen. They could have called it, 'Frozen Heart'.
But who cares. As long as you can score points with the press-- the cynical, cynical, cynical, press, who cares. Too bad THOSE people will never *really* ever like you, anyway. Who's chasing faithless lovers, now, ha.
*rolls eyes* But at least the first scene was good. That, and it made money. Lots and lots of and lots of money. Comfort for your frozen soul.
..........................................................
I mean, they could have let Hans kiss Anna, and then have it not work; it's not *true* love's kiss; it's merely an act of infatuation. (And aren't I a good boy for introducing a Plot Twist; I'm gonna give myself a pat on the back!) Then, they could have let Kristoff's love, which developed over time, be what saves Anna, and maybe let Hans--who spent some time with Elsa, which could be re-worked to have more emotional content-- end up with the 'Snow Queen', and thaw her frozen heart. ;)
But no, he's just *too nice*, and we're *too cynical*, so it must just be a "ruse". So he's just a disposable villain, and the other guy is also sorta shunted off to the sidelines for no particular reason, so that the seven-year-old girls who are too young to do anything but rule in their own name in icy isolation can be spared the risks of growing up....
I suppose it's not surprising: chauvinists always have some sort of sectarian objection to marriage. "It's only for the money! They only want your money!" Although as usual, it is only one sort of sectarian observation which is appropriate; its equivalent is.... *haha* bad. Although if the only or easiest indictment would be to calumniate against Cindy, they'd do that too; it all depends on what's the low-hanging fruit, for the people who need to have something cynical on the lips gravitate towards what they can get away with. But I suppose that the only thing easier to get away with than saying that a girl is a fool is saying that a man is no-good.
All I really understand completely is how easy it is to get away with it.....
I mean, they could have just let Hans stick with Anna-- have it be the beginning of what doesn't end. A few hours isn't long enough, although it's long enough that you don't let it end yet, and.... and a few days.... have you ever seen "Dan In Real Life"?
*annoying spoiled little girl* I don't wanna real life!
And that's why the premise of the contrasting-sisters, a theme common to "Sense and Sensibility", "Liv and Maddie", and lots and lots else, ends up being up in this case being worth about as much as the annoying story that your raspy-voiced crone-maiden aunt tells to you while you're stuck in an elevator or a really long car ride, one of those things worthy of one of those Adam Sandler bellows ("Shut up!!!!").....
Where's the contrast? They don't come to love in different ways; they avoid it in the same way. {They hide: I am a rock; I am an island. And a rock never falls in love, and an island is never really your friend.... I hate those two f-ers sometimes, especially when you're supposed to pretend that there could ever be, I don't know, the Simon & Garfunkel Disney Christmas Extravaganza.... 'I am just a poor boy and my story's seldom told; I carry with me the reminders of every glove that's every tore me up and cut me down in the boxing-ring.... And I don't have any woman; all I have is my brother.... Brotherhood is all I need....' *cut* Wait! Wait! Even Disney can't contort and pretzel-bend its way into this one.... We may take a perverse pleasure out of tossing Cindy's family heirlooms to the winds of public opinion every premiere night, but there are some things we can't do! Now! If only you were....} Anna isn't the romantic counterpoint to the isolationist Elsa; in the end, she thinks of you in just the same way. She might as well have spent all her time making ice-cubes or whatever, just like Elsa....
There's supposed to be a thing called a 'girl' in the world, whose own distinctive value is the most non-sectarian and universal of all things.... It ought not be as though everyone filled our idea of the modern magistrate, who to fulfill our ideals of cynicism must be sectarian and--effectively-- non-responsible, and a particular privilege to a certain faction.... If only we had a president who was born in Belfast-- it would be a special privilege to all the Belfasters!.... Ah! for a few minutes, at least....
'But Disney is MINE, and I DON'T WANNA SHARE. *stamp* *pout*.' Well, there's nothing quite so limited in the world as a baby, and Odin knows we don't want them to mature.....
*sighs* But there was one funny line, the one by the snow giant: DON'T COME BACK. (It's not like there were any subtle turns of phrase, ha.) Really, though, take this trash far away, and don't bring it back to me.
...............................................
It's only ironic because there are some guys who are so subtly *arrogant* (sometimes subtly, ha), who think they live on the planet called Dante Prime or something, and not on planet Earth, and so they think they're so --I'M SORRY, AM I BEING CENSORED AGAIN?-- (so 'politely') invulnerable..... They think that they'll never need a girl, and so they don't care: they don't give a damn, so, why care?
..............................................
You can stuff a kid's head full of nihilist lies--I'm not sure if you're a boy or a girl, honey, the National Organization for Political Correctness says it's a sin to acknowledge the truth.... but you can't tell them what's "bleeping" real, and what's "bleeping" good, and "bleeping" wrong, and really Not Okay. - DirectorBen StillerStarsBen StillerKristen WiigJon DalyWhen both he and a colleague are about to lose their job, Walter takes action by embarking on an adventure more extraordinary than anything he ever imagined.This is what Walter Mitty found on the mountaintop: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keepin%27_the_Summer_Alive#mediaviewer/File:KTSACover.jpg
Incidentally, "Ted" (Adam Scott) reminds me of Tom Cruise, and is he the guy from the vodka commercials? (mixologist, etc.) *checks* He is.
Also, I was gonna give it that extra star (that I was expecting to give it), until "people who liked it also liked"-- .... Bradley Cooper's bitch thinks she's funny; I don't even wanna talk about it. I hate *him*, even, you know.
It was an impulse, you know. I liked it, but....
It had a promising beginning, which bled into a good middle, and then, *snaps out of it*, woh.
It made you think they were gonna cop-out, and they didn't, they cleaned up nice, but, I don't know.
[Although maybe if they hadn't mock-coped-out, they would have had some time to *process* the "quintessence"-- really test the idea, you know, I don't know. Don't just kick it out there, turn the other way, and run.]
.... Maybe the movie should have been about Adam Scott firing people. There's *effin* potential for you, right there.
[Site censors curse-words? I'm not insulted, but I feel patronized. What is this, the internet, or "effin'" kindergarten librarian class or something?]
[It was slightly better than 'Delivery Man' maybe, certainly more raw talent and potential.... not really a really great movie like 'A Hard Day's Night' or 'Horrible Bosses' or something.... Like '13 Going on 30': a good movie, that was almost a great movie.... It's not like 'The Informant!' where I'm gonna watch it 30 times.... it didn't 'come close to sucking'; it was above that level rather comfortably....
Maybe I just don't think of movies what I used to.
It's a "battle" just to avoid a effin frackin' failure.]
[Also, everyone named "Ted" in media is supposed to either be a effin' hero, or embody one of my personal failures, neither of which this does. :P]
{P.S. Finds the song, reads the lyrics. That sucks-- that's like Pink Floyd or something.
Adam Scott was right about you, Mitty! :P} - DirectorKen ScottStarsVince VaughnChris PrattCobie SmuldersAn affable underachiever finds out he's fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago. Now he must decide whether or not to come forward when 142 of them file a lawsuit to reveal his identity.The humble father of the mighty clan. Not bad.
- DirectorRichard CurtisStarsDomhnall GleesonRachel McAdamsBill NighyAt the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.Basically perfect.
(ask me why, lol.) - DirectorNat FaxonJim RashStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteAllison JanneyShy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.Steve explores his darker half.
- DirectorRichard LaGraveneseStarsAlice EnglertViola DavisEmma ThompsonEthan Wate longs to escape his small southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena Duchannes. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history, and their town.A disappointment.
It would be too exhausting to enumerate the reasons why. - DirectorBrian RobbinsStarsEddie MurphyCliff CurtisKerry WashingtonAfter stretching the truth on a deal with a spiritual guru, literary agent Jack McCall finds a Bodhi tree on his property. Its appearance holds a valuable lesson on the consequences of every word he speaks.Full of meaning.
- DirectorPeter LordJeff NewittStarsHugh GrantSalma HayekJeremy PivenPirate Captain sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.This isn't the past.
This is the future.
This is Polly. - DirectorDavid BowersStarsZachary GordonRobert CapronDevon BostickSchool's out. Summer vacation is on. However, Greg may not have the best summer vacation ever. What could go wrong?
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJodie FosterKate WinsletChristoph WaltzTwo pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behavior throws the discussion into chaos.Verbally combative, but inconclusive. Mildly introspective.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsJonah HillAri GraynorSam RockwellA college student on suspension is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.If it's unrealistic, that often means that it shouldn't happen.
- DirectorSteven SprungStarsMichael BershadBruce BohneJohn ApicellaHollywood, cinema capital of the world, a place where dreams come true. Years ago Nick was a successful screenwriter, now he's a dispatcher at Utopia, a limousine company. Dispatch follows him on one inglorious overnight shift.Realistic, but uninspired.
- DirectorSeth GordonStarsJason BatemanCharlie DayJason SudeikisThree friends conspire to murder their awful bosses when they realize they are standing in the way of their happiness.Quality.
- DirectorJay RoachStarsSteve CarellPaul RuddStephanie SzostakAfter he finds out that his work superiors host a dinner celebrating the idiocy of their special guests, a rising executive questions the merits of his invitation just as he befriends a man who would be the perfect guest.ART.
- DirectorPierre CoffinChris RenaudStarsSteve CarellJason SegelRussell BrandGru, a criminal mastermind, adopts three orphans as pawns to carry out the biggest heist in history. His life takes an unexpected turn when the little girls see the evildoer as their potential father.The Steve Carell Story, all Disney-like.
- DirectorNicholas StollerStarsJonah HillRussell BrandElisabeth MossA record company intern is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theater.It's not as good as the theatrical poster.
It's not a 'cast of The 40-Year-Old Virgin' (Jonah Hill) success story, although I suppose every artist has a 'what were they thinking' moment.
As far as sub-par movies go, it is slightly better than Allyson Hannigan's Date Movie, since it did have this cool cover of the Turtles' Happy Together, in French. - DirectorRichard LevineStarsLiev SchreiberHelen HuntCarla GuginoA comedy about a New York City couple (Schreiber and Hunt) in romantic and family crisis.It came close to sucking, but it didn't suck so bad.
Although, someone else called it "very familiar" and I think it would be easy to list other movies that deal with similar themes in a more memorable way..... (to wit-- gay teen, "Dare", aged father living with married couple, "The King of Queens", burned-out worker, "Dispatch"..... troubled marriage, Steve Carell-type movie, like "Crazy, Stupid, Love").....
.... Consider it one of those rounded up from a high 7.
.... It was believable, but there's so much more to being really good than just that. - DirectorNathan GrenoByron HowardStarsMandy MooreZachary LeviDonna MurphyThe magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.Overall not bad, but too much thwacking.
Not really the "new classic" that the bright poster children led me to believe it would be. - DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMatt DamonTony HalePatton OswaltThe U.S. government decides to go after an agro-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president-turned-informant Mark Whitacre.It's worth watching many times, and I have.