Doug's Favorite Movies of 2010

Day & Night
Black Swan
127 Hours
Kick Ass
True Grit
Inception
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Splice
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
The Town

Honorable Mention:
Fair Game
How to Train Your Dragon
Cyrus

True Grit

Mattie Ross says she wants to hire a man with grit. But it is she who has the truest grit, as played by Hailee Steinfeld in one of the best child actor performances since Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense. But it’s not just an outstanding child-actor performance; it’s also a great performance, thanks to a commitment by the Coens to let her drive the story and let Bridges, Damon, and Brolin support. And she’s driven by just about the best motive any character can have: revenge. The result is a GREAT western, an epitome in many ways. So though it may be an exemplary western, does that make it a great movie? Will it be remembered for many years as quintessential? Will it be reviewed? Will it be studied? I’m not sure. I’m not sure it will transcend from the genre into some high-filmmaking echelon. And I’m not even sure it’ll be remembered as the Coens' best work. (Will there be a True Grit-fest, like Lebowskifest?) But I know one thing for sure: They’ll hold Hailee Steinfeld’s unflinching performance right up there with the Tatum O'Neils and Jodie Fosters. Let’s hope she models her career on the latter and not the former, and lets hope she never invites comparisons to any Fannings or Culkins.

Tron: Legacy

There’s no point in poking holes in this. It is what it is. In certain sequences, the design and effects were stunning. The light cycle sequence, the one the filmmakers were absolutely forbidden to fuck up, must have taken years to produce. It was truly awesome. But other effects seemed rushed and shoddy. The young version of Jeff Bridges looks like those weird, dead-eyed kids from Polar Express. Attempts at story were lazy and conventional. Like the old movie, I didn’t know what was going on most of the time. It just goes to show, no matter how revolutionary the technical achievement is, if there’s no relatable characters, or even a cohesive premise, then it’s never going to be more than a get high and eat popcorn kind of night.

The Fighter

The Fighter wants to be a lot of things. The new Rocky. A comeback for David O. Russell. A weight-losing, method-acting showpiece for Christian Bale. The authentic bean-town drama. For the most part, it succeeds. However, and I’m sorry to be such a slave to story structure, but when the hero wins the big fight and you have this empty feeling inside, that’s a problem. The Fighter is a very good movie, there’s no doubt. But it lacks a eureka moment. A resolution. An epiphany that sums up the movie’s purpose, or the purpose of the characters journey, or the reason why the people in the audience paid to watch it. It’s more or less a straightforward biopic, but Russell and company split time between Wahlberg’s Mickey Ward and Christian Bale’s Dickey Eklund with mixed results. The acting is strong from both players, and their on screen-bond is strong, but their journey feels unfinished and dissatisfying. It’s worth seeing for the performances, but nobody cuts off their own arm and sometimes you need that, story-wise.

Inside Job

A complicated and maddening indictment of all the Goldman Sachs dickheads who fucked up the entire world’s finances to inflate their own personal fortunes. While biting my nails watching this, I chipped a tooth. True story.

Unstoppable

Helicopters filming the actual train in question hover about 10 feet to the side. To justify that they’re in the shot, the copters are painted to be press and police. So, in the reality of this movie, a press helicopter is hovering perilously close to a runaway train filled with explosives. You gotta love Tony Scott.

Black Swan

** MAJOR SPOILERS **

They got the title of this all wrong. It should be called All About the Three Faces of Eve. Or better yet, Next Stop, Crazy Town! Either way, it’s Aronofsky does DePalma or maybe DePalma does the Grimm brothers. It’s a wickedly twisted psychological meditation on the craziness of artists set in the swan-eat-swan © world of a ballet company and it's... KOO-KOO!

Natalie Portman is terrific as a troubled, sexually repressed girl, her growth stunted by her overbearing stage mother (a remarkable turn from Barbara Hershey). Portman’s anxieties manifest in conventional ways, but Aronofsky and company slyly depict her decent into koo-koo-ville as originally as possible, as though mania has never been portrayed on film before, ever. For those of us who have seen a movie every day of our lives that notion is absurd, but to Portman’s character, walled-in, repressed and full of doubt, her express train to the booby-hatch is all new to her. And it’s twisted, tragic fun to watch her as she pirouettes into la-la land, where her rival (Mila Kunis, deliriously dark) may or may not be out to get her or sleeping with her, and… hey what’s that sore on her back??

While it’s true the plot has some Hitchcockian conventionalism, the filmmaking is supremely imaginative and passionate. The dancing camera, the ominous music, and the inspired special effects make this a feast of the senses. It’s so worth seeing. It’s a pure kick!

127 Hours

** SPOILERS AHEAD **

Despite what you may have heard, this is not a movie about a guy amputating his arm. This is a movie about a guy DECIDING to amputate his arm, which is totally different. The decision is, in fact, pretty hard. The actual amputation: pretty easy. (Don’t believe the hype. It’s not nearly as horrific as the squeamish press would have you believe. It’s much less gruesome than ER, Dexter, or The Walking Dead, for example.) James Franco is incredible as the lonely hiker in the tough pickle. The storytelling here is inspirational and life-affirming. Tough decisions await us all, and decisions define who we are, whether it’s cutting off a limb to survive, or never going hiking alone. It’s a simple human drama, and it’s absolutely worth seeing.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

The third movie in the “millennium” series, i.e. Swedish rape thriller, by Steig Larsson. The acting is strong, but the plot and story felt suspiciously tacked-on, as if they decided to make the sequels after the first movie, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was a hit. So it’s kind of like The Matrix. The first one was good, but the second one, and this, the conclusion, were both aftermath and therefore, so-so. Also, at no point in the movie does a girl ever kick a hornet’s nest.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part 1

“Hermione! Let’s spend 140 minutes of screen time in this magical tent trying to figure out what one mysterious symbol means.”

“Okay, Harry. And I might occasionally take a few moments to sit on some rocks in the woods and read.”

“That sounds like a ripping good idea, Hermione! Erectus tenticus!”

And so on...

Due Date

After all the heavy relationship dramas at AFI Fest this year, I was in the mood to laugh. Alas, this was not funny. Not at all. Swing and a miss.

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

A 3D documentary about the oldest cave paintings in history from the real-life “most interesting man in the world” Werner Herzog. Slow, meditative doc focuses on the personalities of the scientists as much as the caves themselves. The 3D seemed a little blurry and out of focus sometimes, but maybe that’s because I had to sit in the second row. Nevertheless, some moments of this were amazing.

Casino Jack

The second movie I’ve seen in two weeks that had Karl Rove as a character. Kevin Spacey is great in this, but it plays for laughs the world of lobbying and Jack Abramoff's financial influence of our government. Actually, it’s really maddening. Sure, I’ve got as much of a sense of humor as the next guy, but at a certain point you realize it’s REALLY fucked up what this guy was doing. One wonders HOW MANY of our government’s decisions are made this way. (All of them?) At least this guy got thrown in jail and did hard time (unlike Scooter Libby in Fair Game). Worth seeing for Spacey's edgy performance.

Rabbit Hole

Starring Nicole Kidman’s weird lips. Despite Kidman’s distracting cosmetic surgery, John Cameron Mitchell et al have fashioned a decent and poignant drama about a grieving couple. Yes, at times it’s very sad, but there’s also some dark humor and ultimately a sense of optimism about the human condition. All the leads, including Kidman, are outstanding. Too, the low-budget, Red-camera cinematography looks like a real movie and not like a found-footage, faux-documentary soaked in iodine and bear poo (re: Blue Valentine). Not really a FUN! HAPPY! night at the movies, but a solid, rewarding drama.

Blue Valentine

I hated this. It’s so premeditated. The filmmakers seem desperate for indie cred. It feels like a computer model of the perfect Sundance movie, and it doesn’t have a sincere moment during its painfully long running time. Even the casting of indie darling actors who have been great in other movies like this, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, reeks of Oscar-baiting effort. Everything: the non-plot, the flawed characters, the bad haircuts, the grimy color correction, the moody music, felt contrived and false. I couldn’t wait for this to end.

The King's Speech

Will get lots of Oscar nominations and stuff, because it’s based in a true story and the acting is strong. But no matter how you slice it, it’s still a kind of dull story about English people talking.

Love and Other Drugs

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

The advertisements would have us believe this is a funny, sexy comedy about a Viagra salesman. That’s because no one would come if they knew the movie is about a guy who falls in love with a girl with Parkinson’s. The first third is a pretty normal rom-com, and the occasionally nude leads Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are pleasant enough in their archetypes. But this quickly turns into a clichéd “disease-of-the-week” movie and doesn’t really add much to the genre.

Fair Game

I followed the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson story closely from the very beginning. It was one of the many offenses of the Bush administration that appalled me, and I was astonished that no one was held accountable for what was clearly multiple acts of high treason. When I first heard the story was going to be dramatized into a movie, I wasn’t sure I would see it. I was afraid it would make my blood boil again, as it had when the story originally broke. But it turns out the movie is great, based mostly on the merits of superb performances from Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It helps too that the story is foolproof. It’s such a perfect and uncomplicated depiction of flagrant injustice, it would take a real moron to fuck it up. So director Doug Liman has a relatively simple job: don’t fuck up. He doesn’t. The pace is quick, the drama is strong, the acting is outstanding, and low and behold, by the end my blood was boiling. But the principals should all get their tuxes and dresses dry-cleaned. It’s going to be a major kudo-fest. Deservedly so. It’s a great and worthy drama.

Army of Darkness

It’s been almost 20 years since this was originally released and even though I’ve already seen it like, a couple of dozen times, it was worth seeing again for the excellent q&a with Bruce Campbell afterwards. He does about an hour of standup comedy shtick and takes questions from the crowd. Although I’m sure he’s told those stories repeatedly at various Comicons, it sure was funny.

Jackass 3D

Well, they didn’t do what I hate, which is fuck with innocent people on the street, so that’s good. It’s almost turned into a Mythbusters episode, wherein science and physics are pushed to the dangerous brink. Some of it’s funny, too.

Hubble 3D:IMAX

An excellent journey into space with a 3D Imax camera. Leonardo DeCaprio’s narration is a little too low-key and hypnotic, but otherwise this is technically amazing.

Secretariat

Diane Lane, painted and poised, acts her heart out, within an inch of her life. It’s clear she thought this will be the next Seabiscut, and she had better deliver. Because the horse, apparently, was unstoppable, so the filmmakers focus on making this story about the owner of said horse, the impossibly sincere, in-over-her-head ranch owner Lane portrays. But the script is dull and the drama is ginned-up to make this formidable horse seem like the odds were against him. They weren’t. So all the clever camera angles depicting the famous races from the point of view of the hoof or mane are all for naught. With a critical lack of drama, the script’s lame.

Never Let Me Go

I wondered, while watching this movie, if Carey Mulligan wakes up every morning and says to herself, “I have the most beautiful English accent in the world.” I also wondered what part of England all the happy, dancing people were from in the Richard Curtis movies. I also wondered if any of the talented leads had seen the Michael Bay movie The Island that came out five years ago with the exact same plot. I also wondered, impatiently, when the movie was going to end.

The Social Network

They say it isn’t accurate. And I’m not a big David Fincher lover. Didn’t like Benjamin Buttons. Sorta liked Zodiac. But Fincher/Sorkin et al made the HELL out of this movie. Social Network delivers a riveting, beautifully-made drama about the internet in which, thankfully, characters aren’t sitting in front of a computer the whole time. I also liked the characterizations, too, and the way the creative team works to carefully stir some sympathy into what would otherwise be an unsympathetic situation. Although, from what I understand, it is these human moments that are considered factual embellishments. I don’t mind. It made the movie intense and watchable, and a strong parable about the nature of outsiders and feeling “left behind” as the internet connects and then disconnects us all.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

There’s a lot of talking about money, which is not so cinematic. So Oliver Stone plays with visuals. Stock tickers stream through the air, numbers fly in and out of frame, phone calls bloom into split-screens, all to make a movie in which people talk about money more interesting. For the most part he succeeds. The cast, especially Frank Langella, is solid. (Who knew Eli Wallach was still alive?) And the moral of the story, considering it’s from Oliver Stone, is neither radical nor cynical: money matters, but personal relationships matter more.

The Town

It’s a terrible title, but I’ll be damned if it’s not a good movie. Ben Affleck is strikingly, scarily adept as a director. He makes a better Micheal Mann movie than Michael Mann can. The cast is all superb. I’ve never seen Blake Lively in anything but SNL. She looks like she got run over by a Legal Sea Foods truck and she was great. The plot’s not all that original, a typical heist yarn, but the execution by Affleck and company is positively first-rate. I was very impressed by Gone Baby Gone. Here, Affleck shows off his actors, moves the camera and builds suspense better than most seasoned pros. To put it another way... It was a hell of a lot better than Public Enemy.

Easy A

Emma Stone is a 25-year-old who smokes 2 packs a day who has a 30-year-old friend and they are, for some reason, still in high school. She’s really funny and attractive, she has the coolest, funniest parents in the world, she’s extremely talented and well-adjusted, but for purposes here and for the sake of a major suspension of disbelief, she can’t get a date. And then, for some reason, Lisa Kudrow gets dropped into the movie like a bomb. Ahh, I’m being nit picky. Easy A is more or less a harmless and enjoyable high school farce painstakingly paying tribute to John Hughes, so much so that he and his movies are referenced numerous times. Stone holds the screen well, but the supporting cast could’ve used a little jolt. It’s a pleasant enough of a movie, but it’s not world-rocking.

Resident Evil: Afterlife

Unfortunately, there’s not enough zombie killing here. There’s a lot of talk about finding paradise and escaping the hell-hole they’re in (Los Angeles) and… NOT enough violence! I’m not sure why the Resident Evil movies make me think they should have more sex and violence, but they do and they should.

American: The Bill Hicks Story

A sad but very well-made doc about comedian Bill Hicks. Most impressive was the Ken Burns style photo animation, ramped up to a Monty Python level of intensity. Interesting, too, because it avoids the usual star-power interviews about celebrity, etc.

The American

A slow and pretty dull spy thriller. Not that bad, or so terribly made, but a lot of this was like watching paint dry. Clooney helps hold this together, with a little help from the oft-nude European woman, Violante Placido. But I was about ten seconds ahead of the plot the whole time, so there were few surprises.

Mesrine: Part 1

Not necessarily a badly made film, but very clichéd. Many of the same crime drama episodes that we’ve seen a hundred times before are here again, but this time they’re in French. It wants to be Peckinpah. It wants to be Tarantino. It succeeds in imitating what it intends to.

Machete

Funny, but could have been funnier. It’s no Black Dynamite.

Piranha 3D

Quick, Elizabeth Shue, that guy needs a bandage! Rip off your shirt and use it as a tourniquet! Oh no! Now there are hundreds of partying girls in bikinis being eaten! In 3-D! There’s blood everywhere! It looks like the opening of Saving Private Ryan! But your kids are lost in a boat out on the lake! Better go save them! Thank God Ving Rhames is there to chop up a few of the dino-fish and thank God Doc Brown is there to explain the plot! Swim, Elizabeth Shue’s horny, thickheaded son! Swim for your life!

Middle Men

A strong, fast-paced bio-pic cut from the same cloth as Blow and Boogie Nights. Luke Wilson plays it perfectly, a laid-back, light-on-his-feet Texas businessman. A good guy in over his head. Supporting cast is a mixed bag. The filmmakers didn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s an interesting slice of embellished history and it’s never boring.

The Expendables

Really felt like it time-travelled from the 80’s. So it’s not nostalgic, or even tongue-in-cheek, it’s a bona fide throwback, for better or worse. I’m amazed Kurt Russell didn’t show up. Stallone and the gang all seem like they’re having fun, even though the script is weak and doesn’t make sense most of the time. Also, it could have been a little more violent. I’m happy for Stallone, but… meh.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Great! It’s not the second coming, but the special thing about this feast of eye-candy is that the filmmakers appear to have an unbridled joy of movies. They seem to love cinema, and editing, and hero and villain clichés and all the sugary ingredients that cook-up to make an enjoyable night at the theatre. The playful comic-book, video-game devices keep the story rocketing forward and the laughs rolling in. The dialogue is snappy and quick-witted, the music is catchy, and the effects are all uber original and creative. Kudos to everyone involved.

The Other Guys

The sillier of the “bromance” comedies this weekend, The Other Guys does a good job of landing jokes and keeping the action spry. It’s a featherweight spoof more determined to showcase Ferrell/Wahlberg schtick than goof on particular cop movie clichés, which is fine. How could any movie surpass Loaded Weapon 1?

Dinner for Schmucks

Succeeds because Steve Carell and Paul Rudd own and embody their characters SO WELL. If there had been any winking at the camera or any false notes, the whole comedy house-of-cards would have collapsed. But because you have to believe that Carell’s socially inept recluse has the best possible intentions, the preposterous situations set up and payoff skillfully, creating an explosion of humiliation about every three minutes. It runs long and it doesn’t really surprise story-wise, but the characterizations are expertly, sublimely goofy.

Salt

The last time I enjoyed Angelina Jolie in anything (Not counting Kung Fu Panda) was Mr. And Mrs. Smith. I’m just not crazy about her choices. But despite the terrible title, Salt isn’t bad. It’s got a Jason Bourne, Manchurian Candidate vibe with some fun twists. The taut action and brisk pace, orchestrated with precision by Jolie’s Bone Collector helmsman Philip Noyce, beguiles you into ignoring the big plot holes and the impossibility of Jolie’s physical feats. So, taken with a grain, it’s one of the funner movies of an unimpressive summer.

Inception

Second viewing. There’s no point to all of the "what’s-it-about" guesswork. It’s an action movie. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Inception

** SPOILER ALERT **

Chris Nolan’s experiment in originality is a blast of fresh air over what was shaping up to be a stagnant and stale summer. It’s not in 3-D, but it might as well be. It’s a completely visceral experience -- you can’t just sit and idly watch. It’s tense, and it grabs you and never lets go, minute by minute, scene by scene. Chris Nolan and company honor their dreamworld subject matter and treat it with utmost seriousness. It feels important. It’s why so many of his fans worldwide are beholden to his every move -- he rewards them by RESPECTING the art form and the fan’s thirst for something new and cerebral. But it’s not a journey of typical human emotion, so it’s not sentimental or "good triumphing over evil" or whatever. The emotion is in the tension, kind of like Hurt Locker. Like the characters, you’re lost in a maze, and that feeling of fear and disorientation is the emotion that drives the movie. So even though the acting is excellent, character-wise, it’s a bit thin. But I can forgive Inception for having a slightly thin emotional spine, especially if something REALLY COOL is happening on screen. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt, defying gravity, bounding through the hotel halls, kicking asses, and "floating" his colleagues to safety… that was REALLY FUCKING COOL.

The Kids Are Alright

A strong and familiar family drama. It’s as if the filmmakers decided: because the parents are gay, the rest of the plot and story must stay safely within family drama conventions. It was certainly not necessary, keeping this story so predictable and fenced-in, but it works for what it is: a very well-acted and not all that surprising piece of dangling Oscar bait.

Predators

I can imagine the pitch meeting. The filmmakers said, “Let’s remake Predator but with good actors.” It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot of fun and pretty bad-ass. To me, it’s as if the Hollywood town crier rang a bell and declared, “Summer is finally here!”

Grown Ups

This piece of shit is a fucking travesty. The arrogance and laziness on display is appalling. How DARE the filmmakers misuse this ensemble of strong actors and comedians with this sophomoric, story-less script. Did Adam Sandler and company honestly think, “We don’t need a script! We’re hilarious! We’ll just shoot a long-ass montage in a water park and the jokes’ll write themselves!” Fuck you, Adam Sandler! Have some fucking respect. You had Maya Rudolph, for Christ sake! You had Maria Bello? And this? This lazy, conceited piece of shit is what you come up with? You’re fucking dead to me, Sandler. Funny People SUCKED! I don’t even think P.T. Anderson can save you now. “Hey everybody! Let’s make a movie by a lake in the summer! And we’ll take all of our friends and it’ll just be one big, expensive party that the studio will pay for! We don’t need a script. We’ll just get all the guys together and go canoeing and pee off the side of the boat! It’ll be hilarious! ‘Cause peeing is funny! And off of a canoe!? That’s priceless!” Fuck you, Happy Madison. The Waterboy was twelve years ago. You better get off your rich, lazy ass and do something funny, because this bullshit about releasing your home movies of your vacation with your buddies as a feature film doesn’t fucking fly.

Cyrus

I liked this. It’s funny and poignant. Yes, there are some dangling loose ends, but nothing crucial. It’s a charming take on a topical subject matter, and a strong blend of sentiment and humiliation. Kudos to the Duplass Brothers.

Grey Skies

A very low-budget take on a trapped in a cabin, ufo abduction tale. The cast was apt and the money-saving techniques were clever. Should easily find a home on SyFy.

Centurion

I’m a little rusty on my ancient history, so I had a little trouble following which Roman was who and where the fuck they were. I wish I’d read up on the whole “Romans in Scotland circa 100 A.D.” thing on Wikipedia beforehand. Nevertheless, there's lots of heads flying and blood splattering and entrails protruding and swords impaling, so it’s really entertaining. All the performances are solid, and the technical stuff is all top notch. Sure, I would’ve had a better time if I knew who was who and why they were all trying to decapitate each other, but that’s a minor note.

Jonah Hex

It’s well-directed, but it’s a post-production train wreck. The music is terrible, there’s no color-correction, and the movie feels hacked-up for time. Blech! I normally wouldn’t notice things like that, so it’s obvious that some bean counters finished the movie in spite of the director. The performances that remain are decent, but one wonders how much better the movie would have been if the meddlers had given Josh Brolin enough time to stare-down bad guys before sawing them in half with a Gatling gun.

The People Vs. George Lucas

It’s therapy for Star Wars geeks. An interesting and well-made doc about people who love Star Wars but were irrationally devastated by George Lucas’ various departures of common sense and artistry. The gist, and it’s a good one, is that Lucas should release the old movies as they were as well as the new way.

Toy Story 3

Wow.

It starts out unextraordinarily, a Great Escape adventure populated by Pixar’s great familiar heroes. Fun and funny, but nothing Earth-shattering. But in the second half it gets heavy. It becomes about legacy, family, and death. And just when you’re through another impossibly dramatic plot revelation, filmmakers blindside you with another one, more complex, more surprising, and more emotional. Heart strings are not being tugged, they’re being yanked and woven and dyed and dirtied and dry-cleaned. It’s devastating, but beautifully made, and a must-see in 3-D.

Also, the short beforehand, Day and Night was amazing. One of their best. Volumes could be written about how good it is, too.

The Killers

We walked out of this after about an hour. Everything was so horribly FORCED. It was awful.

The A-Team

A movie that feels like it was blasted out of a cannon. Ridiculous, forgettable fun.

Get Him to the Greek

Likeable buddy road movie tries to be funny, raunchy, and character driven all at once. For the most part, it succeeds. Russell Brand’s rock star party beast was custom-built for him. No one else could play this part. He can even sing! Attempts at character development are clumsy, though. It’s best when the filmmakers go for the silly.

Splice

It’s not often, and it’s a rare treat, when a movie that appears to be a typical sci-fi cautionary tale gets... FREAKY. Like as in sexually freaky. Kinky. Cronenbergian. How are puritanical Americans going to react to this? Who knows. I LIKED it. I thought it was cool. Refreshingly, psychosexually bold. That’s all I’ll say.

MacGruber

Brief moments of mild amusement, but mostly pretty stale. I never really got the SNL sketch, and I didn’t really get this. But Val Kilmer makes a game villain. He seems to understand what he signed up for and schemes appropriately.

Date Night

Funny. I laughed. Steve Carell and Tiny Fey are comedy pros, and their timing is impeccable. In less expert hands, the whole ridiculous yarn would feel worn out and hacky. But the leads elevate the material and make a stilted script exciting, enjoyable and fun.

Survival of the Dead

A low-stakes zombie scenario by the genre’s grandfather George Romero. The acting by the primarily Irish cast is proficient but the script is weak. Not because anything’s unclear or stupid, but just because the stakes feel really low. It seems like it could be a small chapter in a much larger movie. Nevertheless, it functions well, as all good zombie parables do, as a metaphor for how human beings treat each other.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

A wild documentary about a filmmaker following street artists who decides, “I could do that.” A fast-paced and pretty straightforward doc, but calls into question so many things about the definition of art and its purpose. Fascinating and worth seeing, even though I often wondered, as I was watching, how much of it was a hoax, or contrived for the benefit of the camera, and whether there was anything inauthentic about that. To elaborate on whether or not something is a hoax or not is sort of missing the point. Whether the story or characters are true or not, it is authentically entertaining and thought-provoking.

Robin Hood

Forgetting all of the crazy shit this movie went through in development, I thought this was pretty good. It’s not one of Ridley Scott’s better movies by any stretch, but it’s still better than many ordinary movies. That’s basically because any movie where guys kill other guys with sticks automatically gets a c+ right out of the gate. And if the guys getting killed are French, that’s another boost. So I thought it was a fine piece of “guys killing French dudes with sticks” entertainment, which is all I really expected.

Iron Man 2

Thoroughly enjoyed this sequel, though I had no heavy-duty expectations. The theme of weapons stockpiling and war profiteering is a worthy one, and provides the slimmest of foundations for filmmakers to build a spectacular comic book adventure. Action scenes are exciting, but sparse. The movie seems more intent spending time with Tony Stark descending into illness, self-doubt, and alcohol abuse, which is fine with me. Downey delivers on all levels: the silly and the pseudo-serious. Special kudos to Mickey Rourke, who totally gets his cold-war relic villain. Dead serious, so he doesn’t steal any thunder from Sam Rockwell or Downey, but still deliciously monosyllabic and coldly vindictive. All in all, a fun night at the movies.

The Losers

It’s The A-team lite. (If that’s something that really needs a “lite” version.) Plenty of shooting and ass-kicking, double-crosses and betrayals. A good filler of time, but won’t resonate. It’s just too featherweight; too fleeting.

Kick Ass

Yep. I saw it again.

Kick Ass

SPOILER ALERT!

Surprisingly dramatic, Kick Ass does a good job of motivating the hero; frontloading the movie with visceral, vengeance-triggering clashes so when it comes time for the hero to “kick ass” – she does. That’s the big twist. One of a few really good surprises about this that puts it a cut above: The hero is “Hit Girl.” And “Kick Ass” is more of a sidekick. Yes, he has a small arc. But nothing like the show-stopping and scene-stealing bloodbath dispensed by the violent little hellion played by Chloe Moretz. The filmmakers expertly and methodically set-up her story, as told by her father, Nic Cage’s “Big Daddy.” And being patient pays off. Kick Ass lives up to its title. You’d be surprised how happy you’ll be watching this ten-year-old girl not just kick the asses of but brutally KILL everyone in her path. Sure, it derives a lot from Kill Bill, The Professional, and a slew of fetishy Japanese action flicks. But that’s the point: to give you what you want. And you want to see a ten-year-old in a Catholic school girl outfit dismembering goons. Don’t you?

Clash of the Titans

This has been a tough entry to write because I don’t really have anything to say about this movie. Sam Worthington is becoming the go-to leading man. I can see why. He’s sincere and formidable. But kind of bland here. The 3-D was retrofitted, so sometimes it seems funky and jerky. It’s not terrible, but just totally forgettable.

The Big Lebowski

Great seeing this on the big screen at Lebowski Fest 2010. Like a rock concert with thousands of screaming fans.

Hot Tub Time Machine

The viewing public and the ad campaign would have you believe that Hot Tub Time Machine is all about reliving your youth, righting wrongs, and generally getting a “do-over” in life to fulfill your long-lost dreams. But there was another layer about losing touch with your old friends as you get older. The issue comes up many times in the dialogue. How did the main characters lives stall-out, or take such drastic turns away from their young man dreams? Because they lost touch with their close friends, who egg them on when encouragement is needed and check-up on them once in while, so the burden of loneliness doesn’t take over. None of these issues really get resolved beyond a quick line of dialogue or two, but it’s interesting that they’re there. Maybe they’ll dig more deeply into that in the sequel.

Otherwise, it’s a funny movie with some of the usual sex-comedy shenanigans. Performances are par for the course, except for an especially funny turn from time-travel movie veteran Crispin Glover as an armless bell-hop. I laughed from beginning to end. Not pee-in-my-pants laughter, but the amused chuckling kind of laughter, which is fine with me.

How to Train Your Dragon

Hiccup reveals his desires in life neatly in the opening minutes. As a teenager, he wants to be his own man but still lives and longs for his father’s approval. He’s a nerd, and rather than wield an ungainly axe or hammer, he aspires to use his mind to invent new ways to do things, i.e. hunt pesky dragons. And, of course, he wants the girl, but he’s a nerd and doesn’t think he has a shot.

It’s not that How To Train Your Dragon is all that original, it’s just SO WELL DONE. In the first five minutes of the movie, filmmakers successfully create a fully relatable character. From then on, Hiccup's voice and desire drives the plot, and we completely understand how he and Toothless, the bad-ass misunderstood dragon, could secure such a deep bond. The jury’s still out on the 3-D trend, but in this case it’s a MUST SEE in 3-D. Filmmakers deliberately use 3-D to showcase the depth and danger of Hiccup’s hostile home, and it’s a delight to see him and Toothless dart through the jagged rocks and islands and shoot up into the sky.

To put it another way, it’s not like they reinvented the wheel, they just made one REALLY good wheel.

One Too Many Mornings

Interesting, ultra-low budget buddy comedy about a young party animal trying to quit drinking. Noble cost-cutting efforts and some decent performances make it watchable, but the script felt like it missed some opportunities. Still, a really strong effort.

The Green Zone

A very well-made movie, but a bit of a downer. We all know how it’s going to end: our elected officials lie about WMDs to justify invading Iraq. So in spite of some extremely dynamic and exciting action sequences, and another rock-solid portrayal from Matt Damon, it’s hard not to come out of the theater feeling pissed off.

Alice in Wonderland

Enjoyable in 3-D, but not a lot of heavy-duty story. The effects are great, and the lead Mia Wasikowska is sturdy and watchable, but the moments that are supposed to be funny aren’t really that funny. So it’s a mixed bag, but worth seeing for the visual feast.

Brooklyn's Finest

This should have been called, “Whatever you do, don’t go to Brooklyn. It’s a gang-infested hell-hole.” The movie skillfully jumps around between multiple characters all of whom are cops. The acting is strong but we don’t spend enough time with the characters to REALLY get to know them. Technically impressive, suspenseful sequences of police raids in tight, confined gang lairs make for gripping drama. But it’s ultimately a depressing depiction of corruption and good cops’ fruitless efforts to control drug-violence.

The Crazies

Pretty much what you would expect from a movie called, “The Crazies.” It’s more or less a zombie scenario. Timothy Olyphant plays the ubiquitous sheriff stoically but the movie suffers from poorly thought-out, “Scooby Doo” logic (i.e. “Hey gang! Let’s split up!”), presumably to insert suspense. There’s an interesting supporting performance from Joe Anderson, and some decent production value, but otherwise this is an average and forgettable remake.

Ghost Writer

A twisty thriller with old-fashioned sensibilities. No knife-wielding psychopaths or torture. It’s about books and writers and spies. It felt very 70’s. Ewan McGregor plays Roman Polanski’s surrogate superbly -- a man under siege by a presumed conspiracy. But that’s where the comparisons to Polanski’s crimes end. McGregor’s anonymous writer is innocent, and stumbles into a situation by accident that becomes more complicated the more he unravels it. Enjoyable and worth seeing.

The Tooth Fairy

Yes, I saw this. What of it?? Wanna fight about it?? Anyway, it’s a dud. I think Dwayne Johnson can be funny (i.e. Southland Tales), but he’s not Jim Carrey. He can’t make an unfunny script funny by sheer will. Even for a kid’s movie, the jokes were stale and the timing was off. Johnson’s character was uneven and inconsistent, and badly contrived redemption scenes have him redeeming himself for things that weren’t presented as problems in the first place. The supporting cast was out of synch, too. And The Rock standing there in a tutu isn’t foundation enough to build a feature length comedy.

Shutter Island

Expertly filmed and acted in every way. Everyone in the cast was great from DiCaprio to the gripping cameos from Jackie Earle Haley and Patrica Clarkson. Apparent allegiance to the source novel is honorable, but causes the movie to drag a little. Certain scenes, up to and including Ben Kingsley finally explaining the far-fetched plot to everybody, could have been shorter. But high-marks for everything -- the music, acting, and design all make for an extremely unalloyed, if slightly lugubrious thriller.

The Wolfman

Worth it for the scenes of great carnage. There were entrails everywhere! Attempts to rush through the first act are clunky. The bombastic Danny Elfman score is overused early on, and loses impact later. It should have started slow, like a regular corset drama, rather than the highlight-reel-style editing there is now. “Previously on Lost…” Del Toro was GREAT, but the supporting cast was unextraordinary. It’s no masterpiece, but like I said, there are a couple of fantastic scenes of wolfman pandemonium, beautifully and bloodily filmed by Joe Johnson and company, paying great tribute to the classic sub-genre.

Legion

Disappointing. It’s poorly directed, and the dramatic timing is way off. Scenes that should have been longer and more elaborate get cut short. Unnecessary scenes go on way too long. Dennis Quaid and most of the cast are off of their game. Paul Bettany is good, but he’s not enough. Too bad. It’s a ripe premise, but execution was half-assed.

Edge of Darkness

Mel Gibson, looking sad and leathery, pries, interrogates and punches his way through this -- a Death Wish meets Erin Brockovich melodrama. Gibson still commands attention as an actor and I admire the premise. Execution is by-the-numbers and detectivy with few surprises. But the acting’s strong and the pace is brisk, so I didn’t hate it. It’s been so long since I’ve seen a movie that I think I was just glad to see anything.

The Book of Eli

Attempts to surprise and upset expectations are admirable, and Denzel is always watchable, but there really isn’t a plot. And after learning about all of the revelations, looking back at the thin plot can be frustrating -- there’s some logic cheating going on. The look is cool and atmospheric, but filmmakers try too hard, and the movie sometimes seems like a commercial for sunglasses.

Youth In Revolt

I saw this again because I liked it so much.

The Princess and the Frog

I have almost nothing interesting to say about this. Animators had fun with some of the cool voodoo sequences, but the songs by Randy Newman were dull and they all sounded the same. Too bad. A wasted opportunity to include some great music. I’m not really the target demo for this, though, am I?