Me Against The World

Was out all afternoon at the BeerMapping meetup at Lunar so only had a few hours in the evening to watch films. Dug into the Amicus feature The Asylum (1972) which is a solid horror anthology w/the familiar faces from Hammer Films & Amicus.

And finally saw Black Roses (1988) which I haven't seen since around that time. Damn this is such a great terrible movie. Forgot that Lizzy Borden provided a tune for this. Almost considering buying this film it's that hilarious. And the score sounds like it was taken from a direct to video Disney film. So mismatched.

Classic Monster Films at Portage Theater

Disappointed I couldn't get my act together to hit a couple of After Dark Horrorfest films during the day. But at least I made it out to Portage Theater for another Classic Monster Films event. Skipped the first one as I'd seen King Kong Escapes at G-Fest a few years ago (and own it) but made it for The Monolith Monsters (1957) and War of the Colossal Beast (1958) a.k.a. Revenge of the Colossal Man, neither of which I had seen before. Overall fun evening (didn't stay for last screening of Hugh Jackman's Van Helsing).

Came home to see Jodie Foster and Gerald Butler in Nim's Island (2008). It was watchable. Followed that with the worst adaptation I've seen of Journey to the Center of the Earth (this one from 1989). O.M.G. this is bad. By the 3rd act I couldn't even follow what was going on. Horrendous. And, yes, I'm trying to watch every JttCotE film adaptation. So far the 1959 version is still the best.

A Little Lost

Spent my viewing time catching up with Lost: The Complete Fifth Season. Watched the first 5 episodes. Awesome season as anticipated.

Also started another Dolph Lundgren film, Direct Contact (2008). It's actually as retarded as you would expect.

Jesus Cristo

Dug the hell out of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). Liked Caviezel playing hero but don't like Pearce as the bad guy. Prefer him in more honorable roles. But still quite entertaining. Damn Richard Harris is just cool.

Now fired up Toby Tyler (1960) featuring little Kevin Corcoran in a film I watched a lot when I was a child but remember so little of it now. Just the chimp & circus story (made me want to run away and join the circus like all kids of my time).

Erasing The Virgin

Just finishing watching Peter Fonda in the well-paced thriller Race With the Devil (1975).

Ok, add The Last American Virgin (1982) to tonight's viewing.

Superstitious Dreams

Tyrone Powers drives the suspense in Nightmare Alley (1947) and turns it up in every scene. Very cool noir about mentalists and their con game.

Thank you TCM for Superstition (1982), a truly awful horror film with some of the best (and brutal) kills captured on film. The practical effects are excellent and redeem the entire film.

In It To Finish It

Watching the last of unseen sequels to Bring It On: Bring It On: In It To Win It (2007) and I'm nearly certain it's the worst of the 5 (gasp!). Feeling more ashamed of watching this than having not seen a number of classics (until recently for most of those). My BIO game is to guess the plot within 15 minutes and once again I guessed correctly. SPOILER: the rival cheer squads join forces. The shock. The horror... mostly horror. And the fact that ultimate evil is named "Voorhees" is just fucking silly.

Not sure whether I should be proud to have now seen all 5 Bring It On films. Now at least you know someone who has. Huzzah!

Watching Peter Sellers in the 1959 precursor to Dr. Strangelove, The Mouse That Roared is a real treat. Stating the obvious, the film's funniest moments are when Sellers is on screen as one of his three main characters (Duchess Gloriana being the best of the three). Worth seeking out if you enjoy Sellers and his excellent comedic work.

Diving Tricky Dick Dracula

Watching Frost/Nixon (2008) while I make all these well overdue updates here. Pretty good flick but not quite worthy of all the Oscar praise it rec'd a year ago. Decent watch and great acting.

Late in the evening (after two excellent Championship games), I threw in S.O.B. (1981). Said by Kevin Smith himself to be his favorite film, I can believe that as it's full of rich dialogue all swelling around the demise of a once successful Hollywood film director. Really enjoyed the banter and everything up to the final act (kinda fell flat after the real climax). But a truly solid flick with a terrific cast. Recommended!

4, 3, 2, 1... Earth Below Us Drifting Falling

Here's the Saturday tally...

Maid-Droid (2008) via Instant Watch.

The Book of Eli (2010) via Kerasotes Theatres at The Glen.

Lemora - A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973) via Netflix.

Election (1999) via Library.

Get Off My Lawn

Here's Friday's viewings...

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) via Instant Watch.

Battleship Potemkin (1925) via Instant Watch.

Burnt Offerings (1976) via Netflix.

Gran Torino (2008) via Library.

Return of Another Journey

Thursday screenings...

Munich (2005) via Library.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) via Instant Watch. This is the Rick Schroder remake not to be confused w/the Brendan Fraser remake of the same year.

Return of the Living Dead Part II (1988) via Instant Watch.

Go Joe!

Only watched G.I. Joe: Resolute (2009) via Netflix.

All or Nothing

Another BIO sequel down: Bring It On - All or Nothing (2006) starring Hayden Panettiere via Library. Only one to go!

Imagination Rules

Cruised out to catch The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009) at Kerasotes Cross Village 18. Well worth the trip to see on the big screen.

Love is 18hrs of Magic

Sunday viewings...

Contact (1997) via Library.

Shakespeare in Love (1998) via Library.

Black Magic a.k.a. Jiang tou (1975) produced by the Shaw Brothers via Netflix.

B-Movie Madness 2

Went to B-Movie Madness 2 at Portage Theater... only caught a couple of screenings but fortunately I was on the guest list so free entry. And I found a $20 bill on the floor while there.

First up: Night of the Demons (1988) with Q&A by Director Kevin Tenney afterwards.

Then Tenney's Brain Dead (2007) followed w/another Q&A. Both excellent B-Horror flicks.

Finished up The Hot Spot (2005) via Netflix. Awful film.

Eating Bullets

Only watched Bite the Bullet (1975) via Netflix. Great Hackman/Coburn flick!

Rocking Legos

No film viewing but playing the hell out of Lego Rock Band. They made it easier and it's renewed my interest in Rock Band.

Ninjas in San Francisco

Only watched The Killer Elite (1975) via MGMHD DVR. Really fun James Caan / Robert Duvall assassin flick.

Rather Arresting

Catching up on Arrested Development - Season One.

Another New Game

Finished off Lego Indiana Jones 2. The Adventure Continues... 100% Achievements. Hells yes. Ok, it was a little easy but damn satisfying to get all achievements.

Hog Heaven

Couple of Sunday screenings...

Darktown Strutters a.k.a. Get Down Boogie (1975) via TCM (DVR). Damn crazy exploitation flick! Can I have my Sky Pig shirt now?

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters for DVD (2007) via Netflix. Decent film adaptation of the Adult Swim staple.

Nightfixers

Went out for Daybreakers (2010) at Kerasotes Showplace 12. Not a bad modern vampire tale but had a few problems with it. Willem Dafoe made it worth it. And Claudia Karvan is hot.

Nightmare Musicals

Friday night round up...

Mamma Mia! The Movie (2008) via Library. Pierce Brosnan really should avoid roles that involve singing. Amanda Seyfried is damn fine.

Finally Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1986) is on DVD via Netflix and featuring the mighty Jon Mikl Thor!

Capped the evening with The Ape Man (1943) a not so good Bela Lugosi flick. After that dropped in Fury of the Wolfman a.k.a. La furia del Hombre Lobo (1972) featuring the late & great Paul Naschy (who just recently passed away November 30, 2009).

Developing Arrests

Fired up my Arrested Development - Season One set. So glad to watch these episodes.

Sure, Whatever Works

Only viewed Woody Allen's Whatever Works (2009) via Netflix where Larry David does a great Larry David. Missed this one in 2009 but it wouldn't have made my best-of list.

Burned Out...

... ...

Terror in the TV

Thanks to TCM I recorded TerrorVision (1986), which is still OOP! Damn hilarious 80s B-flick that gives W.A.S.P. a little screen time including the Winged Assassins shirt that Jon Gries (The Pretender anyone?!) is wearing that I also own (bought on tour). Check out this trailer (you'll see that shirt!):

My Best of 2009

Of the 95 films I saw in 2009 (that were released in 2009), here is my top ten:

1. Star Trek
2. Anvil! The Story of Anvil!
3. Moon
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. District 9
6. (500) Days of Summer
7. Trick 'r Treat
8. Up
9. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
10. Avatar

No real surprises here but sorry I've limited to ten because a few I definitely wanted to place in that top ten such as Orphan, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and others. Guess I went with the films that touched me the most although I wonder about Up... also, since I tend to only go out of my way to watch films I wanna see there are only a few stinkers in my total viewed list, lots of middle of road flicks, and some I wish were included such as World's Greatest Dad and Knowing, which were both batshit insane for different reasons.

Best of 2009... according to Flickchart

According to Flickchart here's my best of 2009:

1 Star Trek
2 I Love You, Man
3 The Hurt Locker
4 Coraline
5 Fantastic Mr. Fox
6 Up
7 Watchmen
8 Trick 'r Treat
9 Anvil! The Story of Anvil!
10 Avatar
11 Moon
12 The House of the Devil
13 Inglourious Basterds
14 District 9
15 The Road
16 The Hangover
17 Adventureland
18 Where the Wild Things Are
19 Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
20 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
21 Grace
22 G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
23 Fanboys
24 Orphan
25 Paranormal Activity
26 Bandslam
27 World's Greatest Dad
28 Thirst
29 Dead Snow
30 Zombieland
31 State of Play
32 The Girlfriend Experience
33 The Brothers Bloom
34 Extract
35 Observe and Report
36 Carriers
37 Sherlock Holmes
38 Monsters Vs. Aliens
39 Land of the Lost
40 Pandorum
41 Tyson
42 Knowing
43 The Tournament
44 17 Again
45 Ink
46 Up in the Air
47 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
48 Drag Me to Hell
49 Sin Nombre
50 (500) Days of Summer
51 Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
52 The Uninvited
53 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
54 Terminator Salvation
55 Taken
56 Laid to Rest
57 The Last House on the Left
58 Jennifer's Body
59 Shorts
60 Inkheart
61 My Bloody Valentine 3D
62 9
63 Sunshine Cleaning
64 Tales of the Black Freighter
65 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
66 Confessions of a Shopaholic
67 Bruno
68 A Perfect Getaway
69 Friday the 13th
70 Law Abiding Citizen
71 Battle for Terra
72 Humpday
73 Away We Go
74 Duplicity
75 The International
76 Push
77 X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Safe to say that this really isn't how I'd line-up those 77 films from 2009 (but Wolverine being last? Nearly spot on). I just pulled the list as is w/o bother to re-rank. Just interesting to see how things stack up there. I will revisit FC to rank just 2009 cuz Basterds, D9 & Moon easily make my top 10.
Now to compose my real top 10 of 2009...

Oh, I also watched my BRD of Monsters, Inc. (spurred by my recent excursion to Disneyland and the Monsters, Inc. attraction). Looks fabulous.

Something Old, Something New

Watching Terry Gilliam's Brazil (1985) on this fine, cold New Years Day evening. A little angry at my stupid self for waiting so long to watch this. Honestly did not know that Bob De Niro was in this.

First official movie of 2010 will go down as Sherlock Holmes (the 2009 Guy Ritchie version). 'course I wanted to see this *in* 2009 but wasn't going to be possible opening on xmas day (same day as my flight to L.A.). Still counting it towards my total 2009 films watched but it ends there for the final tally. Overall decent film but rather a lot of just "OK" and not terribly special. Did dig the chemistry between Law & RDJ. Hopefully the next installment will improve on this foundation for a more compelling story.

96 Films of 2009 Seen in 2009

Now that the year is in the bag it's time to reveal my winners (& losers) of the year. But first: the films I saw a.k.a. the pool I will choose from... as of this moment, I viewed approximately* 95 films released in 2009 during 2009 (make sense). *I say "approximately" b/c films get limited screenings or overseas releases before 2009 or don't make it out to DVD despite being made years earlier (but never released theatrically). Here's the list (alphabetically) with a few notations:

(500) Days of Summer
[rec] (orig. released '07 in Spain; came to US in '09)
17 Again
9
A Perfect Getaway
Adventureland
Avatar
Away We Go
Bad Lt: Port of Call New Orleans
Bandslam
Battle for Terra (Toronto Film Fest '07; US in '09)
Black Dynamite
Blood The Last Vampire
Bring It On: Fight to the Finish
Bruno
Carriers
Chandni Chowk to China
Cirque du Freak Vampire's Assistant
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Collapse
Command Performance
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Coraline
Crank 2 High Voltage
Dead Snow
District 9
Drag Me To Hell
Dragon Hunters (Europe in '08; hit US festival in '09)
Duplicity
Extract
Fanboys (Comicon '08; wide US in '09)
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Food, Inc.
Friday the 13th
G.I.Joe: Rise of Cobra
Grace
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Humpday
I Love You, Man
Inglourious Basterds
Ink
Inkheart
Jennifer's Body
Killshot
Knowing
Laid to Rest
Land of the Lost
Last House on the Left
Law Abiding Citizen
Martyrs (Fantastic Fest in '08; US release in '09)
Megashark vs. Giant Octopus
Monsters vs Aliens
Moon
My Bloody Valentine 3D
Ninja Assassin
Observe & Report
Orphan
Outlander
Pandorum
Paper Heart
Paranormal Activity
Ponyo (Japan '08; US '09)
Prometheus Triumphant: A Fugue in the Key of Flesh
Push
Samurai Princess
Sauna (Fantastic Fest '08; DVD avail. '09)
Sherlock Holmes
Shorts
Sin Nombre
Star Trek
State of Play
Sunshine Cleaning
Taken
Tales of the Black Freighter (I don't count this but Flickchart does)
Terminator Salvation
The Brothers Bloom
The Girlfriend Experience
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
The International
The Road
The Tournament
The Unborn
The Uninvited
Thirst
Tokyo! (Fantastic Fest '08; ltd release '09)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Tyson
Underworld Rise of Lycans
Up
Up in the Air
Watchmen
Where the Wild Things Are
World's Greatest Dad
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Zombieland

So those are the 96 2009 films I watched in 2009. May have missed an obscure title or two but that's the bulk of them. Missed seeing several films that I really wanted to see, some (Antichrist) more than others (New Moon). I'll note those in my "Best of 2009" list coming tomorrow!