The Avengers (2012) (27/50 Movies)

I've really come around on this Joss Whedon fella in the past month. I'm not kidding about that, I mentioned this before in my Cabin In The Woods review, I was never a fan before, I know Buffy fans might be incredulous, but yeah, wasn't into his stuff before. But this past month might have made me a believer, not that I'd go back and watch Buffy or anything else now, but I might be more attune to his future efforts. I could go on and on about this movie, how he gets the characters right, in particular Bruce Banner and Tony Stark (Stark in Iron Man 2 became smug and unlikeable, here he is just snarky and egotistical). I mean he managed to give the characters here better stories and story arcs then they even had in their own movies, and there are a bunch of them here. It's fun, the action scenes are genuinely thrilling and well-done, crazily upping the ante in the end, and it's actually funny. Take away all the "saving the world stuff" and this could have been a well-done workplace comedy starring superheroes in their secret lair. There might be something to all this "best comic book movie ever" talk in that it is really a comic book movie with bright colors and all that never feels cheesy. It's different from Christopher Nolan's Batman movies because, even though those were still about a millionaire dressing up as a bat to fight bad guys, they always seemed so much more grounded in reality, if that seems right, especially in comparison to The Avengers. Joss Whedon obviously loves and is invested these characters and it comes across greatly in the actual movie.  It might some of the most fun I've had at the movies in a while. I mean, it's not without it's flaws, of course, but the good here outweighs that, I think. Also there is a great cameo in here that NO ONE seems to be talking about.

-Kevin

2 Movies and A Book: 25/50 Continues On...

From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell (9/25 Books)

Considering how much I love Watchmen and V For Vendetta (but lets be honest, I really like V For Vendetta very much but consider Watchmen an all-time classic, that's right, classic-not a controversial opinion, I know.) It's odd that it has taken me so long to get to From Hell, considering it's reputation. I actually liked the Hughes Brothers version of From Hell with Johnny Depp which transformed the work into much more of a whodunnit then Alan Moore does here, but after finally reading the book, I don't think I like the movie quite as much as I thought I did. Simply put, this was, well, mindblowingly amazing (?) Which sounds like hyperbole and there is probably better and more poetic ways to put it but that's the best I can do right now. The book is a theory of the origin of Jack the Ripper, tying in an illegitimate marriage in the royal family and a hushed up bastard child. And tying in the Freemasons, who have their own motives in regards to the royal family. The cops who are investigating the murders have their own issues with dealing with the suspects at hand, and the prostitutes who are getting slowly picked off are also followed in detail. Then from there Moore delves into history and....the universe, and even manages to pull together nearly every famous figure of the time in one way or the other. At the same time it is also a treatise, or theory, on how the Jack The Ripper killings, in a way, ushered in the horrors of the twentieth century. (Adolph Hitler was born around the time of the killings, and yes, that's also in there) There are theories on time and space here (and architecture) ....it doesn't make too much sense me trying to explain it, but it is mindboggling. Also mindboggling, is Alan Moore's two appendices, the first of which you can find a break down of the research that went into EACH PAGE, and it is truly crazy how much research went into this thing. The second appendix is even more impressive, as it is a another mini comic and it is charts the evolution of all the Ripper theories and "Ripperologists" that have come out of the woodwork and how they have changed and grown to a point where as Moore puts it, all the research becomes basically half truths, rumors, lies, without anything concrete. To put it bluntly the whole thing is on another level. And it shows, as Moore usually does, that the graphic novel, and comics in general, can be just as artistic as any other form/medium. (Also, as Pat O'D points out, Victorian London seems like an absolutely miserable place be)

I loved it. Not in that “OMG that was awesome way”, but in that “oh god – this is really good. REALLY good. This is an Important Book.” Even as a historical study – and it has been painstakingly researched – it will take your breath away.

The Cabin In The Woods (2012) (24/50 Movies)

This is going to be weird because I don't have the talent to give this movie a proper review without giving anything away about it and this is a movie that demands you go into it as cold as possible because this one of the few times where I can say this movie takes you to a place you absolutely do not expect and totally mean it. The premise is amazing, the writing is good where they give you just enough information but keep you clamoring for more, and it is one of the few times I can say you really do not know where the filmmakers are gonna lead. Plus, with all of this, it is SO much fun. At least I thought so, it's fun and funny, again in a way you wouldn't expect but absolutely helps out. It's sort of like Scream, only in that it will definitely make you think of horror movies in a different way when you watch them. Drew Goddard the director and co writer was also a writer on Lost and it makes me wonder if he tried to pitch this premise as how Lost should ultimately end but got shut down. He might have been onto something. And, this is sacrilege to some, but I didn't think too much of Joss Whedon before, I wasn't a Buffy fan and I has skipped everything else, but before this I was worried about what he would do with The Avengers but now that I've seen this I am even more excited for that. 

And I found this poster for it which is awesome

Lockout (2012) (25/50 movies) 

Hahahahahaha Tina and I went to see this on my birthday. I was dragged into the movie theater by two things from the trailer: 1) written by Luc Besson and 2) It's about a SPACE PRISON BREAK. I will admit this: I am easy and I was sold. And I mean it was an entertaining enough 2 hours or so, but this is definitely destined to become one of those movies that you keep running into on a weekend afternoon on TBS or TNT. It's basically an Escape From New York riff where a space prison(!) filled with prisoners in stasis, where the prisoners get awakened and take over and take the visiting president's daughter hostage. Guy Pearce plays Snow, the wise-cracking convict/special agent who gets sent in to save the President's daughter, but also to meet up with his former partner in crime so he can clear his name. It's a fun enough trifle if you ever happen to run across it. The President's daughter is played by Maggie Grace, who I thought I recognized. I eventually figured out where I knew her from: she played Boone's stepsister, Shannon, on Lost. Two movies, two Lost connections. Nice.

Hey! And this also marks the halfway point for me as far as movies go. Also nice!

-Kevin

2 Books and a Movie

11/22/63 by Stephen King (6/25 books)

For the first time enact a rule that apparently exists in the real "50/50" challenge, in that book over 500 pages actually counts as two books. Well, here you go, and I admit that if I didn't write that then no one would be the wiser. Anyhow, the book: I go back and forth on the whole Stephen King "thing", I guess like anything else: when he is on he is really on and when he is off he is really off. That being said, I haven't paid too much attention to him lately until this book and Under The Dome started to get all sorts of attention and thus grabbed my attention again. This book, I feel like, is way more entertaining than it has any right to be I think, ostensibly about time travel, it also contains a tragic love story and as with most time travel, a lot of ideas about how the choices we make, big and small, effect the world and people around us. King sets up the rules of the time travel device early on, and later sort of, but not really explains why there exists these bubbles that take people to a certain time and/or place. Here the protagonist has to live 5 years in the past so that he can prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it's about that mission, of course, but also the people he meets along the way. It sounds dumb, but it is a page turner of the highest order, with a really nice  emotional center. There might be a little too much talk about harmonizing and how the past can be "obdurate", but the more I think about it, I wonder of the repeat mention of these things goes along with the idea of patterns in time and history that King was trying to bring up.

One side note, I didn't realize until I read this AV Club "Gateways To Geekery" article on Stephen King that I realized that in his latter day books he tries to link all of his books as happening in the same universe. This isn't giving away too much, I guess, but the main character goes back in time, and spends time in Derry, NH, where he has some other business before the "big business", and it is the same Derry, NH as the one in "It" with the about a year or two removed from the child disappearances. I found it more odd than anything to have that sort of thing linked, but, in a way I found it kind of fun. That sort of detail right there may or may not tell you whether you would be into this book. But, in a way, it sort of makes sense that, sure, portals to another time would just appear in the stockroom of a Diner in NH, it's Stephen King's universe. Which, in a way, is a lazy way of getting out of giving a real explanation. But when the book's this entertaining and engaging, in a way, it doesn't really matter.

Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven (7/25 books)

Someone with more in depth knowledge of comic books can tell me whether I am off base or not here but Mark Millar seems to be one of the kings of taking comic book characters and giving some sort of alternate history. I had to look this up but he had also done Red Son, which was a Superman story where they took Superman and instead of having his spaceship land in Kansas, it landed on a collective in the Soviet Union, and how that changed the world that they existed in. It was really well done. Now,Old Man Logan, is a bit different. The story takes place fifty years after all the Marvel villains teamed up and sneak attacked the Marvel heroes, destroyed most of them, and then proceeded to divvy up the United States into four quarters. Basically, the Logan of this story is like Clint Eastwood's character in Unforgiven, because of something that happened on that night he hid his identity and turned to pacifism, until pushed too far of course. It's really interesting a combination of Western mythos, Mad Max, and the heroes' journey, and of course, some sci fi. I mostly liked it but it ended with what seemed like the setup for a sequel which would be great but I am not sure if it is forthcoming. (Looking around it looks like Millar wanted to do a sequel, but who knows what happened to it. This is one of the few times I would welcome it)

Semi-Pro (23/50 movies)

I'll admit that I love Will Ferrell. I think he's really funny (duh). But at the time Semi-Pro came out I felt he was going to the well one too many times on a couple things :Will Ferrell in the 70's and Will Ferrell in sports-specific comedy. (I think it came out around or after the time of Blades Of Glory-another movie that has it's moments, as well as it's cool co-stars) Now, I happened to catch this on Comedy Central, and it would probably be better to watch the uncensored version for a variety of reasons, but this did indeed, have it's moments, and was a fun trifle, and I definitely laughed, but overall it wasn't the best. I mean, sure, it might be unfair to compare it to his classic, Anchorman, because it doesn't reach those height, but even on it's own merits, it had some fun and funny stuff, but I am not quote sure it worked overall. But it's not a terrible waste of a couple hours either. What was pretty amazing though is the cast of costars he assembled for this thing: Will Arnett, Andy Daly, Woody Harrelson, Andre 3000, David Koechner, Rob Corddry, Kristen Wiig, Maura Tierney, Andy Richter, Matt Walsh etc. The list goes on and on.

-Kevin

The Raid: Redemption (2012) (22/50 movies)

The Raid: Redemption is probably one of the greatest action movies I have seen in a long time. I don't even know where to start. I'll start with the fact that it is truly an international movie, it was made in Indonesia with Indonesian actors but is directed by Gareth Evans, who is Welsh. It has the simplest of premises, one which has been, shall we say, explored in other movies before, a team of cops go to raid an apartment building that is the headquarters of a top crime lord, and soon find themselves locked in and having to battle their way out against the criminal element that live there. The AV Club in their interview with Evans brings up the fact that there are shades of everything from Die Hard to Assault On Precinct 13 to 80's Hong Kong movies in this movie. (No one has mentioned this, but how about shades of New Jack City, Nino Brown owned and operated of one apartment building to, you know. At least in that one small detail it reminded Tina and I of). Oh, also it stars Iko Uwais who is a rookie cop but complete bad ass who has to fight his way through the building and its inhabitants to freedom. Uwais practices an Indonesian martial art called silat, which really and truly involves machetes and, oh boy, are there machetes in this thing.

Anyway, once inside it hardly matters that you can guess who is allied with who and who is going to betray who. As they get inside, there is some backstory, betrayal, and corruption. But you’re not watching The Raid: Redemption to dig into characters’ relationships or decipher complex histories. You’re here to see shooting and kicking, neck snapping and back breaking, flips and falls, as well as a series of amazingly choreographed battles. These are rendered in awesome long takes. Two things jumped out at me here: one in these long takes, where battles are taken to a balletic level of choreography, there are spots before the BIG spots that would have been the big spots in American action films that are glossed over because the action is moving so quickly, which I found interesting. Also in my review for The Hunger Games I mentioned that Paul Greengrass should teach Hollywood action directors who direct with that shaky camera for action sequences, I take that back because Gareth Evans should teach that. The camerawork is speedy here, but still legible, where you understand completely what's going on. It really is pretty amazing. And really fun to see with an audience just gasping away at what is going on at the screen. 


It's 100 minutes of this:

If you feel like you'd be into then you will, basically. If not then steer clear.


-Kevin

3 Underrated 90's Rap Albums You Should Know About

I don't know why I have been thinking of this lately, but in the land of hip hop, actually with most music, the 90's were both great and terrible. I guess you could pretty much say that about anything in any year of human endeavor, but I figure it was a good way to start things off. On the positive side though, there was a lot of gold there. And when there is a particularly fruitful time for a genre some worthy albums are gonna go by the wayside. When things are overflowing a few things are going to go by the wayside. I have been thinking of these three, although one of them, it could be argued isn't actually all that underrated, but, at least to me it doesn't seem to come in up in conversation all that often. Here you go, in order of when they were released:

The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (released November 24, 1992)

I feel like I might be off base on this one, but I feel in my gut that this is still a pretty underrated album, and influential in it's own right. When it came out there was virtually nothing else out there like it, especially on the West Coast. I mean this was still a time when "gangsta" rap was still dominant out there, and I think to a certain subset found it to be refreshing because of it's jazzy production and it's sense of humor. Along with I Wish My Brother George Was Here by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien and Freestyle Fellowship's To Whom It May Concern.... started a new movement of (I hate this term but for lack of a better one) "alternative" hip hop on the West Coast with crews like Jurassic 5, Hieroglyphics, The Coup, and Lootpack coming up in their footsteps. Although, I guess I never realized that this album went Gold back in the day, largely on the strength of it's second single, "Passing You By"

A couple others that showcase their sense of humor:

Officer

Oh Shit. (This is a banger)

And hey, Kanye West recently said that this was his favorite album. And I am really not sure where people stand on it now. I feel like it is sort of a lost classic. Definitely worth it to revisit.

Digable Planets-Blowout Comb (released October 18, 1994)

It definitely wasn't until the 2000's when someone hepped me to the fact that I should check this album out. And to be honest, at the time when people pointed me in it's direction, I might not have even been sure that Digable Planets HAD a second album. This is one that had definitely been lost to the mists of time. Of course their first album Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) has been big largely because of the single Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) was such a big hit (while we're on that subject that albums also worth listening to for the deeper non-famous single cuts) But I am getting away from myself, basically Blowout Comb builds on where Reachin' started, with their heads somewhere in the Black Power movement of the sixties, with some absolutely amazing production. For whatever reason, people don't seem to be going back to this sophomore effort like they eventually did with Paul's Boutique and Pinkerton. Maybe that's because they never properly made anything after they made this, I'm not sure. But it's well worth your time to go back and revisit it. It's a great album for to walk around to on a beautiful day.

This is a weird side story, but my favorite song of this album is one called Black Ego. When I first started REALLY listening to this album it was back sometime in 2004, and I had recently been dumped, and I remember putting on this album and just listening to this song over and over. When you hear it you might wonder why, and really it's a mystery to me, but something about it just grabbed and in an odd way helped me out at that time. Who knows how these things work? It might be the beat in and of itself and check when the drums kick in around 1:12 or so. It's so good. 

Heltah Skeltah-Nocturnal (released June 18, 1996)

So this would fit firmly on the more, shall we say, grimy side of the aisle. This is the debut album featuring Ruck and Rock (which is short for one of the best rap names: Rockness Monster) who, obviously, make up Heltah Skeltah. (BTW, Matt, at least according to what I was reading that definitely is a Beatlres reference, their crew before was even called The Fab 5) They themselves were a part of a larger Brooklyn supergroup called The Boot Camp Clik. And this might just be a wikipedia thing, but they refer to this as 90's underground classic, but to me, yes I do feel like it is a forgotten classic, but I feel like people don't remember it as well as they should. It seems to be me like it has sort of gotten unfairly lost in the shuffle. But, again, that's just me and I could be wrong. So what did I think was so great here? Well, it was simple, their lyrical ability and the dark, (here's this word again) grimy beats from Da Beatminerz. Plus, Rock's voice sounds like it is just this side of Chali 2na's, which, I mean, is awesome.

-K

The Hunger Games (21/50 Movies)

When seeing the adaptation of a popular book on the big screen, particularly a popular book you read, as much as you don't want it to be there, there is always going to be that give-and-take in the back of your head, the subconscious checklist of what the movie left in and left out. In 50 years when the future generations of English teachers start putting this book on the syllabus, students might do okay if they decide to be lazy and seek out the movie (unlike the curveball teachers throw when they assign The Natural). There is, of course, the argument that the film and the book represent separate mediums and thus should be divorced from each other. I get it, but I find it hard to do. So I will say this: I think the movie is both good as an A) adaptation and a B) movie in and of itself though it's hard to say if certain aspects of the book that went by the wayside due to time constraints will become a bigger part of the story in the next two installments. Judging by how much money this thing seems to be making, it is inevitable that the sequels will be made.  It will be interesting to see what details might come back, if at all. There are a few small additions here that I actually enjoyed too, particularly one in the end. This is a pretty streamlined effort with some power to it although movie makers who are not Paul Greengrass (okay not Paul Greengrass making the Bourne films) need to go to some action movie bootcamp to learn how to film fight scenes as the scenes in the arena get so frenetic it was hard to tell what was going on. For the most part, I liked the casting. I was probably most worried about the how the scenes would be played at the Capitol, but overall I didn't find them too cheesy or distracting. People say we get the science fiction that reflects the time we live in.  If that's true, judging by this, that's pretty chilling.

-K

25/50: 2 Books and A Movie

Well for once I have more books to talk about in an entry than movies. Will wonders ever cease?

Sundays With Vlad by Paul Bibeau (3/25 Books)

Not that it really matters but I should mention that even though Paul and I have never met, we are Facebook friends and I have been friends with his cousin since high school. That being said, his book is an amazing intersection between pop cultural and historical nerdery. Patton Oswalt once said, and I am paraphrasing here, that everyone is a nerd for something, whether that is someone who is super into sports and sports statistics or maybe you are heavily into jazz, everyone is a nerd for something. Paul's book proves it as he plunges headlong into the connections, if any, between Vlad the Impaler (the historical Dracula, I guess you could day) and the Dracula of literature, and how vampires and vampire lore has spun out in a thousand different directions. Along the way he meets a rogue's gallery of historians, archivists, goths, psychic vampires, to the lady who invented Count Chocula, to the people that used to work at the Castle Dracula attraction in Wildwood, New Jersey, he spends his times with historians and collectors of old letters among stack upon stack of old books and manuscripts. The book is bookended by two trips: in the first he goes, on his honeymoon of all times, and tries to find the "real" Castle Dracula in Romania, the Vlad the Impaler one, and in the second he follows the trail of Jonathan Harker, the protaganist from Bram Stoker's Dracula as he takes the route he took through Hungary and Transylvania to the fictional Dracula's castle. It's really entertaining, like across between Sarah Vowell and Bill Bryson.

One aside: this isn't a big part of the book or anything, but Paul mentions, like I said, going on his honeymoon and trying to find Vlad The Impaler's castle in some small, out-of-the-way place in Romania. This made me think two things: how sometimes the significant other of the history nerd (or otherwise obsessed) always seems to get dragged along on some quest to see something or other. I've done it to my own wife, not out in Romania (yet) but I've done it. When I got my history degree (pause to be impressed) I wrote to my favorite teacher from high school, my history teacher, to tell him thanks for instilling that love of history in me. He wrote me back and in part of the letter described how he had just come back from vacation and had made his wife go see something or other, I want to say Roosevelt's grave but I know he's been there before. On the same note, and my single friends will roll their eyes at this, but I have to say, it is so important, and it is awesome when it happens, when you meet someone who just does not give a shit and will indulge you (and hopefully vice versa) in all the weird (and possibly annoying) stuff that you're into.

Another "It's A Small World" Aside: I actually sent Paul a note about this, but a truly weird thing happened when I was reading his book, but among the chapter talking about the people who deal in old manuscripts and letters and what not is a small half paragraph about someone I actually knew. Well, it has probably been a good twenty years since I had seen him, but judging by where he was located, and, well his name, I figured out it was the same guy. He was a guy who was a neighbor of a good friend's cabin in Truro, Mass who, oddly, we had had beach cookouts with, and he was an interesting storyteller. It was just weird to run across him so many years later even though, sadly, he has passed away probably about 13 years ago.

Oh and you can check out some of Paul's other writing at his blog

Also, I'm not sure if I got a different edition of the book, but when looking for an image to display I happened upon this other cover which is pretty cool.

The Remarkable Intruder by Peter Swanson (4/25 Books)

I'm sure, since everyone who reads this commits everything I write to memory you'll remember that I mentioned when I wrote about Game Change which was a television movie, not a theatrically released movie, I can make up my own rules. That's right! Just try and stop me. Well the same goes here for The Remarkable Intruder which is an online published novella written by friend and coworker Peter Swanson. In his introduction (incidentally that's on his own blog, which is also worth a look) He mentions how he feels that often times the novella is a better vehicle for a mystery story, given it's length, it doesn't allow for the story to get too stretched out over, say, 200 or so, pages (he puts it better but that's sort of the gist) And I have to admit, I see his point. Just from talking to him today, it's nice to have the author work down the hallway from you, he mentioned that he was going for a lightly comic mystery story. I think he achieves it here, it moves at a brisk pace, and I am not sure if he is planning on using these characters again but the two main characters, Miles and Tommy, are really great. They are two best friends whose tastes are sort of "out of time" so to speak, they drink the same drinks as Cary Grant orders in North By Northwest, and they play the sort of Sherlock and Watson archetype. Miles is the brains, and Tommy is sort of the William Powell-esque man-about-town. It's a quick read with a nice twist. I personally would love to see more from Tommy and Miles.  Like I said, check out his blog  and also his website for some more of his short stories and some more of his writing. (In fact he is working on a series of sonnets based on all of Alfred Hitchcock's movies.)


Young Adult (2011) (20/50 movies)

After Juno, which I thoroughly hated, and after fifteen minutes of Jennifer's Body, I thought I was done with Diablo Cody. (Seriously, the only good thing about watching Juno was reminding what a good song "Expectations" by Belle and Sebastian was) And I am prepared to hate her again for her remake of The Evil Dead. But there was always something about Young Adult that made me set aside my prejudice against Diablo Cody, maybe it was the fact that Patton Oswalt was in it, maybe it was the fact that the original movie poster (below) was pretty awesome. There was something about it. And then when it came out people seemed to really enjoy it. Now, having seen it I will say, that, while not a home run, it was waaaay better than I thought it would be given it's pedigree, and it is easily the best thing Diablo Cody has written, although since I hated her before maybe that's damning with faint praise coming from me, but this dark comedy shows a lot more sophistication than what she was putting out before. Charliza Theron plays the titular young adult ghost writer who writes books for a Sweet Valley High type book series, who comes back to her hometown, where she was the popular girl, to try to win back her old flame. I know judging by that description it sounds like a thousand other movies, but it does not go the way you think it is going to go, and, really, the character shows no signs of actually learning anything along the way. This is almost what Friends With Kids could have been if they didn't play it so safe. Oh, and Patton Oswalt is a revelation here has a poor dork who had an unfortunate  accident in high school and himself has never been able to move on himself after an unfortunate accident in high school. Let's just say they become unlikely, I don't friends might be too strong a word, allies? partners? Anyway, it's well worth your time, Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt are really good. Patrick Wilson has made a cottage industry for himself playing harried suburban fathers.

-Kevin

Summer of '82

We are about a week away here on the East Coast until it officially becomes Spring. We've had a mild winter to say, the least, and besides the implications there concerning climate change, it's been a welcome change from last year's epic snow dump. I'll take it. I hope we aren't underwater soon, but I'll take it for now. So the calendar says that it is almost Spring, and then of course the Summer comes. For the movie nerd, or just, you know the general nerd, that means that the Summer movie season, which typically begins during May is also just around the corner. Although some might argue that this year, The Hunger Games is kicking things off early, since it opens next week. I turn 35 next month, and still, two of my most anticipated movies during this season involve superheroes (to say nothing of the aforementioned tween book adaptation.)

It was 1975 when Jaws unwittingly made the Summer blockbuster a thing. (I mean Star Wars also helped two years later) Ever since then the major studios would roll out their biggest popcorn movies, tentpole franchises, and sequels hoping for some of that big big cash that comes from anticipated entertainment and people wanting to escape into some air conditioner. Of course a lot has changed since 1975, people can argue to death about this, how the Summer blockbuster ruined movies etc. etc. I mean it's kind of hard act to follow anyway trying to chase the quality of a Jaws or Star Wars. I mean, a lot of times the don't try....I am getting off track, one thing that has definitely changed is the sheer amount of movies that are not only released in the Summer but throughout the year all over the country.

So where am I going with this? Usually, like in those Summers there might be one either really good movie or really popular movie (sometimes both see : The Dark Knight) but there's usually one or two, nowadays MAYBE more just because the market gets so flooded. But there was one Summer that just might be considered the greatest summer of all just by the shear amount of classics that were released during that Summer, and THIS year is the 30th anniversary of that Summer. That's right (of course) I am talking about the Summer of 1982. The Alamo Drafthouse in Austin is doing a mini-film festival of the 9 gargantuan (their words) classics that were released that Summer (Also, I am using the word classics loosely. I mean it could be argued, and probably will be if all these are really classics, and it's a fair criticism with one or two of them-or all, depending, of course, on your point of view) For a movie nerd, or a just an obsessive nerd in general it really is an embarrassment of riches. (I wish they were doing the same around here at one of the theaters. But it doesn't stop all of us from having our own festivals with friends. Ideas!)

Here is the video the Alamo Drafthouse made for their Summer of 1982 Film Festival

Here they are in order of their release dates:

Conan The Barbarian (May 14, 1982)

While I am at check out this clip of the ridiculous/strangely mesmerizing commentary from the Conan DVD from John Milius and Arnold Schwarzenegger 

One more fun fact: John Milius was an inspiration, if not THE inspiration for Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski.

The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)(May 21, 1982)

LOL. This was obviously the Americanized version of the trailer for U.S. audiences with all the weird voice dubbing in the trailer. They seemed really scared about Americans not understanding the Australian accent.

Rocky III (May 28, 1982)

This is definitely one that can be argued, but I love this movie. Without a doubt the best Rocky sequel (I know this is damning with faint praise) but it pretty much set the model for nearly every fighting movie that came after it. Plus, you can not front on Mr. T here, in his wide introduction to America, as the ultimate bad ass.

Poltergeist (June 4, 1982)

I know this says it was directed by Tobe Hooper and Steven Spielberg only produced it. But rumors have persisted for years that Spielberg was very hands on, so to speak, on this one. His hands are all over it. Funny thing too, this movie scared the bejeezus out people (okay me) and now it seems like a more quaint haunted house story, particular to modern day youngsters. The most "shocking" part, and the part that might get it censored at kid's events and parties: Jo Beth Williams and Craig T. Nelson, former hippies, blazing up before they go to bed one night. (I maintain the stuff with the clown is still pretty scary. Clown + Ghosts = nightmare fuel)

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (June 4, 1982)

The best Star Trek sequel. Introduced us (and Quentin Tarantino) to the old Klingon proverb : "Revenge is a dish best served cold".  Plus,  Ricardo Montalban and William Shatner making absolute mincemeat of the scenery. PLUS, a really sad and sort of brave ending. C'mon!

Here's a taste:

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (June 11, 1982)

Speaking of Spielberg and Jaws at the time the master of the Summer blockbuster rears his head again with another classic. Only a sharp tug on my nose hairs will bring me to tears faster than the last part of this movie.

The Thing (June 25, 1982)

"Man Is The Warmest Place To Hide". Amazing. Kurt Russell rules. Kurt Russell and John Carpenter in the early days rule even more.

Blade Runner (June 25, 1982)

Tron (July 9, 1982)

Here is another time when the word classic might be thrown around a bit too loosely. But, hey, I grew up with Tron  and will maybe not a great, or even objectively good, movie it has a certain cheesy charm too it. Plus Jeff Bridges. (Plus Bruce Boxleitner-remember Scarecrow and Mrs. King!?)

--------------------------

Alternates:

Now in case you need a couple of fill-ins or something you can go through what came out the rest of the year, but here is a couple of alternates if need be one a classic comedy and one, to me, a classic action movie.

First Blood ( October 22, 1982)

80's audiences learned a lesson here: never ever harass a Vietnam vet, this might be what happens.

Also, it has an amazing song playing over the closing credits: "It's A Long Road" by Dan Hill. (Sample lyric: "It's a long road, and it's hard as hell..."

Tootsie ( December 17, 1982)

Seriously, it's good. Plus Bill Murray's in it too.

-K

25/50: More Movies

Okay, you can't stop the 25/50 train. Sometimes I wonder if I should wait and group more of these together like Pat does, but I feel like I might lose what I was going to say about them in the interim.

Friends With Kids(2012) (18/50 movies)

I was excited for this mostly because of the cast, but I found this to be, overall, a let down. It's the story of two people (Adam Scott and Jennifer Westfeldt) who have been best friends for ages (such good friends they call each other at 4 in the morning with their dates from last night still in bed with them), they are surrounded by married couples who are starting to have kids, and they decide that they should have a kid together and that without the emotional baggage things would work out better for them. From there it becomes really, super predictable. What drove me nuts about this movie is, and I am probably bringing too much outside information in is the night before I saw Jon Hamm on Bill Maher. He has been in a relationship with Jennifer Westfeldt for fifteen years and the two have no plans to get married or have kids. Upon hearing this, I thought, oh man I bet Jennifer Westfeldt could make a really interesting movie which shows that people can be happy in different sorts of situations, they all don't have to be married with children to be happy, they can be single, they can be single parents, whatever combination you might want to think about. And it starts out like they were seriously going to explore these types of ideas, but they don't and it basically, by the end, turns into your run-of-the-mill, predicable romcom And I found that disappointing. But they cast was game, I particular liked Adam Scott, Chris O'Dowd and Maya Rudolph. Kristen Wiig seemed sort of wasted, but Jon Hamm played a good asshole. So there's that, I suppose.

Game Change (2012) (19/50 movies)

I'm cheating a little here because, of course, this wasn't a theatrical release. But like the ads say: it's not TV it's HBO, so there you go. IT'S NOT TV. They did something with this movie that I really like: it is adapted from the best-selling book, Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, but they decided to only adapt a portion of the book rather than the whole thing. Obviously, they decided to adapt the section about the seemingly disastrous choice to have Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate. If you are anything like me this movie just proves that she is someone you would rather not be around, to say nothing of having any sort of power in this country. So it definitely depends on which side of the political spectrum you fall on on how you are are going to take this. This is surely a pretty vicious takedown, but it also made me wonder how close to reality it all skews. Which I guess goes without saying for any real life event made into any movie. It also suffers in it's dialogue, every time people talked it sounded like they were talking in pre-recorded soundbites and platitudes, and that was when they were having private conversations. Ed Harris and Julianne Moore do good impressions of John McCain and Sarah Palin respectively, but they don't feel like fully realized people to me (see the dialogue problem for part of it) But some of it is waaaay too on the nose for me, like they way they used top 40 country music every time Sarah Palin was doing something. The only people that really come off feeling like three dimensional people are Woody Harrelson as Steve Schmidt, on of the campaign managers, and Sarah Paulson, who plays one of the speech writers and one of the army of people that tried to get her ready to talk to actual reporters. It's definitely interesting to say the least, but I am not quite sure how successful it was in the end. Beyond reminding me why Sarah Plain seems unpleasant and shouldn't be anywhere near a national office.


They also should have changed the title from Game Change to Things Done Changed and used this as the theme song. Talk about thinking outside the box:



-K

25/50: Books Books Books

Mockinjay by Suzanne Collins (2/50 Books)

So, from what I understand, a lot of people didn't like the ending of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy. While, I didn't think it was the best book, (that would be the original Hunger Games) it was definitely the second best book. I guess I would have to say similar to what I said about Catching Fire, in that I think it is pretty astounding how violent and, ultimately, cynical these books are. Particularly in Mockingjay where Katniss gets pushed and pulled by people with different agendas, trying to use her as the ultimate pawn in their own game. Sure, they eventually get their comeuppance, but at what price for the survivors?

25/50 Lurching On

Everyone on the edge of their seat for when I finally finish a book!? Stay tuned!

But until then:

Unstoppable (2010) (14/50 movies)

I have to give this props for a movie that is so gloriously stupid. It comes off as one of those eighties movies that are ultraspecific in the occupations it explores (i.e. action movie about being a bike messenger: Quiksilver!) I also have to give it props for using, at least to my eye little to no CGI in the stunts which is pretty unheard of these days. Even though it is a true story, it still comes off as the cinematic equivalent of this:

Where problem is stacked on top of problem, but I guess it wouldn't be excitement without that. Also, I mean it lives up to it's name and moves at a brisk pace, so there's that.

I was disappointed though, that nowhere, not even the closing credits did they use this song:

I mean half the time they are showing a TV Screen with the words "Runaway Train" on it.

I would have settled for this one as well


Also, it features the greatest looking railroad boss

And Kevin Corrigan as...I believe a railroad...inspector of some sort

Kevin Corrigan usually gets roles as scumbags, so it was quite a twist to see him play someone helpful.

Rampart (2011) (15/50 movies)

You know, I thought that this was gonna be my first new, as in first newly release in 2012 movie, but at least according to IMDB it came out last year. Which is true, it's been on the festival circuit for a long time last year, and I feel like I have been hearing about it for a while. I tried to go catch "The Adventures Of Tin Tin" but it was only being shown in some special screening room and was sold out. So I hurried across town and caught this. Now, I had been interested in seeing it but was slightly annoyed by it's tag line in the trailers, something about Woody Harrelson playing "The Most Corrupt Cop In Movie History" which, as Vincent Vega would say, is quite a bold statement. And it turns out I was right, Harrelson's performance is really good, but I still expected better from a James Ellroy script, this should be right in his wheelhouse. Harrelson plays the main cop character, who has been corrupt his whole life, and gets embroiled in a new scandal, scandals actually, just as the heat is coming down on the LAPD in  general over the Rampart scandal in 1999. I mean it's a somewhat interesting character study of the machinations of a true asshole, but in the end, I don't know, I didn't find it all that interesting. And, quite frankly, Harvey Keitel's life falling in "Bad Lieutenant" was still more interesting, and even that I don't feel like going back and watching again.

Sidenote: there have been rumors for a long time that the Rampart division rogue cops were involved in Biggie and Tupac's death. The fact that I kept thinking about this during the movie shows how much I kept drifting during the movie.

Moneyball (2011) (16/50 movies)

This is an interesting case, especially as far as "sports movies" goes. This is like The Social Network of sports movies. Let me explain: before I saw The Social Network I wondered how they were going to make basically a bunch of people hanging out on their computers into anything dramatic, and David Fincher managed to do so. With this I was like, how are they going to make a book that is basically about statistics into an interesting, dramatic movie? Well, they managed to, and while it is an interesting attempt it didn't grab me as much as The Social Network did. But when thinking about this as a sports movie or a baseball movie, it's interesting how it definitely did not end up where a typical sports movie ends up, I don't want to spoil it, but it ends in a much different place than one would expect, and I liked that as a surprise. Being a true story I am not sure how much you can chalk up to drama, but even the one big triumphant moment is at a somewhat strange spot, again as far as baseball movies go. I thought for the most part it was perfect, I liked the flashbacks to Billy Beane's (Brad Pitt's) playing days, but I thought they could cut the personal stuff with Pitt and his family. I did think Pitt and Jonah Hill were perfect for their respective parts, I'm not sure it is Oscar-worthy performances, but in these parts they were cast really well. I just think in the end it was a bit overlong and lost a lot of steam as it came to the ending, but maybe that was sort of the point.

But, hey, Bill James ended up helping the Red Sox to 2004, so I guess, for this area. there is a happy ending embedded in there.

Happy Birthday, Sidney Poitier!

Fun fact: He also directed the Bill Cosby comedy, "Ghost Dad"

-K

Something Borrowed (2011) (13/50 movies)

So let me say this straight off the bat: Tina and I weren't looking for a romantic comedy to watch on Valentine's Day last night, we just happened upon this as a placeholder. We really wanted to watch "The Loving Story", the new documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving, the interracial couple who brought their case to the Supreme Court and which led to them declaring all interracial marriages legal. That was a great Valentine's Day watch. Something Borrowed? Not so much. In fact,  Something Borrowed feels like it goes on forever, and basically, treads water for close to two hours as people cheat one eachother and try to figure things out because they are.... GASP....turning thirty?! What does it all mean? Ugh, it is so tedious. And the worst has got to be Colin Egglesfield, who I guess came from soap operas, who is supposed to be this romantic ideal and just comes across as a block of wood. One of the funniest scenes that wasn't supposed to be funny was seeing him try to emote while standing in the rain. (It especially suffers in comparison, and I guess this is somewhat unfair, when one thinks about some genuinely great screen couples of the past, which is what my friend, co-worker, and fellow bloggers Peter did yesterday) There were actual two good things about this movie: 1) John Krasinski did the best he could and was also funniest in the best friend role, and 2) there was a song I really enjoyed by a band called Hipjoint somewhere in there.

-K

The Intros to 22 James Bond Movies All At The Same Time

There is no reason why this should exist. This is one of those times when one could just say: Well, it's the internet, this is what the Internet does. What, is someone on the Internet not going to make a video 22 James Bond movie intros all at the same time? C'mon, grow up.



-K

Happy Birthday, Kim Novak!

You're becoming kind of crazy in your old age, but hey, you're 79, what can you do?

I may or may not be preaching to the choir here but if you haven't seen Hitchcock's Vertigo, this goes without saying, but I highly recommend it. To many people, it's Hitchcock's best movies, personally, it's not mine, but it is great, and it is oh so surreal.

Also, I want to dine in a restaurant decorated like the one she is walking in the photo above. I shouldn't put this out there because this blog is so highly read, but I always wanted to open a Hitchock-themed restaurant/bar/lounge called the Vertigo-go. Maybe some day. Any rich donors out there?

Another Reason Why Roger Ebert Rules

25/50 (50/100) Rolls On

50/50 (2011) (10 of 50 movies)

I thought this was a really well done cancer "comedy" (dramedy?) It was actually based on the real life story of a friend of Seth Rogen's (who here plays the best friend) battle (and eventual triumph over cancer-knowing that sort of took some of the suspense out of the ending but whatever) and Rogen does his thing as a vulgar, funny buddy to Joseph Gordon-Levitt who is suffering from cancer. I am not sure why, actually, this hasn't received more attention but it could find another life on DVD and what not. I am sucker for a good story with best friends, and one shot of Seth Rogen when he was waiting to see the results of Levitt's surgery. I will admit it made me tear up. I have to stop admitting that.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) (11/50 movies)

Pretty much the 180 degree opposite of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, a spy movie that is dry as melba toast, and, pretty slow moving. Which sounds like I didn't like it, but I did. First off, it's an acting masterclass, Gary Oldman does away with his usual histrionics and plays George Smiley so quiet, trying to sniff out a double agent in the British secret service. They manage to wring, to me,  suspense out of simple conversations as he tries to suss out people's motivations and loyalties. It's good, but it is slow, it is not just a homage to seventies movies, but it seems like it has been transported via time machine from the seventies.

The whole reminded me of Eddie Izzard's bit about British Vs. American movies


To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) (12 of 50 movies)

I am quite sure that someone smarter than me could watch this movie and tell me that there are a bunch of different ways that this Hollywood movie got cross-dressing and/or homosexuality wrong, or it is offensive in some way to either or both of these groups. I will give them that, most certainly. So, we started watching this out of the blue one night, Tina had seen it in the theater when she was younger, and to be perfectly honest, it totally broke through my black, cynical heart. It was intending to be heartwarming while maybe, just maybe (I know) shining a positive light on a minority group. And it's just nice, very very nice. So if mainstream movies like this, The Birdcage, and In and Out helped push the needle a bit as far as the acceptance of different people and different lifestyles, I'll say there isn't anything wrong with. Its wholly inoffensive in a good way, and it has a nice message of being oneself. You can't really go wrong with that sort of thing, I think.

100/50 Super Post

From now on, I'll try not to wait a month and just stack everything up like this, but Pat and I just came up with this idea, so I thought I could get started this way. I am doing well on the movie front (as you shall see) not so much on the book front...yet. So here are the new movies I watched in January. If you happened to read my favorite films of 2011, you'll definitely see some overlap. Here we go:

Oh and to be clear for our ridiculous idea, we are taking the 50/50 challenge model and modifying us so the 100/50 model is 100 movies and 50 books for 2012 between the two of us (so 50/25 each. Why? because we know our limitations all too well)

At this pace, I might even go over in the movie category. All right, I'll stop stalling:

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (movies 1/50)

Surprising in that 1) it wasn't terrible, 2) it was a mainstream movie that had me basically cheering the downfall of humanity by the end. To be honest, the real meat here is the last 45 minutes of ape violence, but it wouldn't have been half as cathartic without the first part of the movie, of course, where apes and monkeys, some intelligent, through a ridiculous set of events are systematically mistreated. Oh, and I guess Andy Serkis' "performance" is good, I mean it's probably better than James Franco's, he made feel sympathetic but I am not sure an actual monkey wouldn't have done the same thing.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) (2/50 movies)

I've already talked about this, but I will add this, I am a non-glasses wearer, but I have never seen someone pull the move that Daniel Craig does here where when he isn't wearing his glasses he sort of has them hooked on one ear and under his chin. Is this something people do? Give to Craig for introducing me to this. Maybe it's a European thing.

Shame (2011) (3/50 movies)

This didn't work for me overall, I mean it is a harrowing look into addiction, in this case sex addiction. And after a while it just became too much, which perhaps that's what they were going for. I will say this, Steve McQueen, the director, makes a beautiful looking movie, and Carey Mulligan and especially Michael Fassbender, are especially good as a brother and sister who come from some screwed up childhood, of which it is never explicitly spoken about.

Fast Five (2011) (4/50 movies)

I mentioned this before, but I really have to give it up for an action movie which does not take itself too seriously, and is just as ridiculous as possible. I also have to add that I think The Rock needs to get in touch with Jason Statham's agent, because considering his background and athleticism, and charisma (which isn't really on display here) he could be a bigger action star than he is. I stand by that.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) (5/50 movies)

I love how this also was ridiculous, and even though it is definitely high tech, it is also strangely old school, what with the Kremlin getting blown up and the rogue insane person trying to destroy part of the U.S. with a nuclear missile. I hope the producers of the next James Bond movie are/were paying attention, because this movie is doing the whole fun, outrageous spy thing in the best way possible. I am making assumptions here, but Brad Bird seemed to have brought a lot of lessons gleaned from The Incredibles  to bear here on the great action setpieces here, some which just pile on twist and turn upon on another in a way that should be but isn't messy. The one unbelievable thing? Well, two actually, 1) I had to get used to Tom Cruise playing the world's biggest badass in the beginning, but I was able to suspend disbelief (and you really need to here-but it's so much fun it doesn't matter) and 2) that the best Mission Impossible movie (or best movie in nearly any series) would be the fourth one. It made me want to go back and actually see #3.

The Ides Of March (2011) (6/50 movies)

You know, I enjoyed this mostly, I thought it was well acted particularly by Gosling, Giamatti, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Particularly the latter two basically having a gruff-off among eachother. I have to admit that George Clooney, at first, casting himself as the world's most perfect progressive candidate was a bit annoying, but that sort of sorts itself out as the movie goes on. Overall I thought it was good, but I don't know, the message in the end where the young buck learns to play politics, or is it politics are particularly ruthless, while it was mostly well done, it also left me feeling that it was sort of a well trod idea and territory.


Hall Pass (2011) (7/50)

For a present day, Farrelly Brothers comedy, it's not that bad, if not that memorable either. The actors here definitely elevate the material. But I would be lying if I said I didn't laugh at all because I definitely did. I mean, if there is nothing else on, which is why we were watching it, then it's worth a look.

Insidious (2011) (8/50 movies)

You know, for real, this, at least for the first 2/3 was some really creepy stuff. There was some great haunted house stuff a la Poltergeist. It doesn't exactly fall apart in the last part, there are still some scares, but depending on your sensibility it sort of gets a little silly. But I mean, you're already dealing with psychics, ghosts, demons, and people that have out-of-body-experiences, so your mileage is going to vary anyway. I definitely was surprised at how much some stuff wormed it's way into my head for days (and particularly late nights) afterwards.

Timer (2009) (9/50 movies)

Now this was a pleasant surprise, particularly because Tina picked it randomly to watch from Netflix Watch Instantly. I like the idea, since it never seems to happen nowadays, of going into a movie completely blind and it's even better when the movie turns out a lot better than you were expecting. It takes a silly conceit, that in an alternate future people can be fitted with "timers" which will tell you when you have met your exact romantic match. I know it sounds cornball, and to an extent it is, but good acting and likable characters elevate this one over the usual romantic-comedy dross, which is nice nowadays. It's also nice that it isn't completely predictable, which, again, is some fresh air these days.