just going to post another pointless thing

MY LIST OF FAVORITE MOVIES!!

http://www.imdb.com/list/jKLua5tCAYc/?publish=save

“That would never happen!!” after something incredible and outrageously unrealistic happens in the movie.

“How could he even do that?!”

Why were you not asking this at the beginning of the movie, when toys were walking around the room, talking to each other?

It really bothers me. I’m not sitting here wondering how they can do these things because it is fantasy. Can we let fantasy be fantasy?

It’s bad enough that a toy cowboy sees more romance than I do, with that slutty shepherdess. Which would never happen because cowboys are gay. That’s right. I’ve seen Brokeback Mountain. I know all about you and your suggestive name, Woody.

When it comes to movies, I am very picky. Of course I have hundreds of DVDs of all different types of movies. However, if someone suggests a movie to me that I have no desire to see, I will probably end up hating it right off the bat. It might sound weird and kind of shitty, but I can’t help it.

I don’t want to make it sound like I will only watch movies in groups when they are movies I want to see, but I guess that’s the only way to put it. I don’t think it’s selfish of me, I just know good movies (no lie. I’m pretty awesome with movie selections), so Horror sequels and inane comedy movies are normally out of the question when I’m in a group, and it gets really awkward when somebody suggests a movie I obviously don’t want to see, and I really want to say no to them.

Hate me for it. I don’t care. It’s just that when I watch a movie that I really hate, I am not lying when I say that it pisses me off and puts me in a bad mood. Sometimes they even ruin my day. Can’t we all just watch good movies. Normally if I know a person, I know exactly what type of movies they will like or dislike. Leave the movie pickin’s to me. Unless I like your taste in movies, then I will allow it. At the end of the day, I’m still an asshole for it.

I love movies, if you couldn’t tell by this page. Also, I know I sound hypocritical when I say I hate film criticism, since that’s all I do on this blog. However, I guess it’s not the criticism that bothers me, it’s the mentality that many critics have that their opinions are above all and must be treated so. They speak as if they know the process of film making, but have no clue at all. That is what I have a problem with. If I write about a movie, I don’t want to critique it really. I speak subjectively and never say that “nobody will like the film” (unless its Nude Nuns With Big Guns. Gross.) However, that too sounds a bit arrogant (then again, I don’t care).

I used to get so angry when I would hear people talk about how they didn’t go see a movie because “the critics say it’s awful”. After hearing people say it so often, it really started grinding my head. I hated film critics passionately.

There was one year that I was looking up a movie that I wanted to see in theaters. I would go onto google and look up the local theaters, and sometimes include the movie I was looking for. I think this one was 127 hours.

I typed it all into google, and found the theater listings. Below it, I found “Roger Ebert: Chicago Suntimes movie review: 127 Hours” (or something like that). I heard the name plenty of times before, and just decided to click on it. He gave it 3.5 stars (or 4?) with Two Thumbs Up. I read the review, and thought the movie sounded better than what I originally thought. On the side of the screen I saw “In Theaters”, including reviews like Black Swan, and other movies of that year. I thought it would be interesting to read them but decided not too. At that point I was kinda done with Ebert already. I didn’t care for his opinion.

*127 hours was my favorite of the year*

The next week, I planned on seeing The King’a Speech in theaters and thought, “why not see what he said?”.. 4 stars. Two thumbs up.

*King’s Speech was another favorite of mine*

After having read two reviews, I gained a little more interest in what he had to say. His words flowed as he praised the movies. He knew what he was saying and what he had to say. His passion for the movies was palpable as it laid on my computer screen.

After I saw The Kings Speech, it became a habit to see what Ebert said about the movies. I identified with him as a fellow movie lover. Whenever I would watch a movie and made up an opinion, I would always check to see his too. I respected whatever I read, Good or Bad. I didn’t agree with him on everything (E.G. Harold and Maude, and Brazil), but I didn’t have to, they were his opinions. One of the things I admired about him the most was how he seemed so open to movies with new and original (and sometimes edgy) ideas. He seemed to take movies for what they were, and that’s why I looked up to him.

“… and I have this infantile fantasy that someday I’ll amount to something as an actress” - Cabaret

Not a profound quote, I only use it to stick to the whole movie thing, and to say that I have an “infantile fantasy” as well. For my entire life I’ve wanted to make movies. I view that dream as intangible, and sort of ridiculous, but it still means something to me. I would read about Roger Ebert talking to directors/ Writers about the movies they worked on. Since I first read about how he spoke with Sophia Coppola about the final scene in Lost In Translation, I wanted to meet him too. I wanted to make a movie, and have the one person whose opinion about movies actually matters to me give me a good rating, or an awful rating. I wouldn’t have cared, I respected his opinion.

Again, it’s a stupid fantasy, but the possibility of it is now gone.

However, this isn’t supposed to be my pity party. I just want to get out that he was much more than just another film critic, he was a passionate movie lover, who at least had one large fan. It sounds weird to idolize a movie critic, but he helped me love movies even more. He made me realize that I’m not the only one passionate about it. Even though I may not ever follow through with a dream, the dream will always matter to me. Ill never meet him, but ill always look up to him.

Oh, but if Woody Allen dies. Expect a huge sob post from me. These older famous people are the only ones I look up to. Sucks, I know. It’s whatever though.

Well, I didn’t see Zero Dark Thirty, nor did I see Hyde Park on Hudson… but I want to make this list now. There is no need to rate them with stars since I’d give them all 4 stars. SO, HERE THEY ARE:

10.

Django Unchained

I was dying for this to come out for years! I couldn’t wait to finally get the chance to see a Tarantino movie in theaters. Great Movie, and I knew before I saw it that I’d put it in my Top 10 of 2012!

9.

Silver Linings Playbook

There’s no wonder why this would be in my Top Ten. Have you SEEN Bradley Cooper in that garbage bag?

8.

The Snowtown Murders

Very Disturbing. Great Performances. Chilling. Horrifyingly graphic. Yyyyyyeah.

7.

Moonrise Kingdom

Yeah, it’s basically Hipster Movie of the Year, but I love Wes Anderson, and this movie was incredible. If you don’t like Royal Tenenbaums or Rushmore…. then maybe you’ll disagree.

6.

Lincoln

Excellent Cinematography. Incredible Movie. However, I think I’m the only one who thought that Daniel Day Lewis was pretty sexy as Lincoln (Not joking)

5.

Argo

Congratulations to Ben Affleck, on moving from playing a blind, seemingly homosexual super-hero, to becoming an accomplished director.

4.

Flight

Denzel is basically Chocolate Superstar #1. He plays a convincing alcoholic/drug addict, and looks good doing it…. well, he looks OKAY doing it.

3.

The Sessions

I fell in love with this movie when I saw it. It was a pleasant view, but I loved it. Also, maybe an Oscar is gonna go to Helen Hunt’s vagina for this movie.

2. Amour

The movie was outstanding. Once again a foreign movies makes its way into my Top 2 of the year (Last year, being A Separation being #1). However, I reeked of death when I left the theater (old people).

1.

Beasts of the Southern Wild

I saw this movie pretty early in the year and knew that it was going to be at the number one spot of my list. I absolutely fell in love with this one. It was one of those movies where when it came out on DVD, I didn’t care how much it was, I had to buy it. I don’t know how to spell the lead actress’s name, but she gave an incredible performance for her age (hence the Oscar Nom).

I have to sigh though when I finish typing this. I can’t believe it’s been a year already…

taffydavenport913music:

I’ve already posted about how I am not the biggest fan of Hip-Hop/Rap, then I posted about one great Hip-Hop Song. Here I go again… with another Hip-Hop song that I feel should be mentioned.

I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. The hours rolled by, and once I saw the clock hit 7am, I decided…

but I still need to see: Lincoln, Amour, Zero Dark Thirty, This Is Forty, Life of Pi, Hyde Park on Hudson, Flight, and Argo….

Until then… here are some ones that missed the cut :\

The Ones That Could Have Been On The List

Safety Not Guaranteed * * * 1/2

It Starred the gorgeous and … strrrrrange… Aubrey Plaza. It was funny, and kind of cute, and had a plethora of humor that probably only reached weirdos. It was a great odd comedy, and there is nothing else like it. However, it didn’t quite meet what 10 other films achieved

Wreck - It Ralph * * * 1/2

This was such a bright, colorful, and overall fun movie. It had the intensity of a video game, but made room for some touching moments and had some scenes that would bring you to tears. I didn’t think I would like it when I went to see it, but the surprise of how good it was made me love it. Unfortunately, it will be a cold day in hell before a let an animated movie on my Top 10, very few get a placement so high from me. In case you didn’t know, animated movies put me in a bad mood for some reason… not to say this wasn’t good… it’s just the fact that it’s animated that makes me feel weird placing it any higher.

The Hunger Games * * *

Well… I knew this one wouldn’t make it on the list, but I thought I would mention it because it really was not a bad movie. Which is surprising, because all of the Twilight people obsessed over it the same way the did for Breaking Dawn. This one just seemed as if it was based off of a book that was not written by a 30 year old cat lady who crushes over teenage boys.

LOLOLOL The Ones That Never Had  A Chance

Les Miserables * *

This one won, “Biggest Disappointment of the Year”, from me. It seemed like out of the people who went to go see it, half liked it and the other half hated it. I’m not going to say I hated it, I just won’t ever watch it again. I guess I’m not going to tell people not to see it, since I said it was 50/50, but I definitely will not tell people to see it.

Take This Waltz *

Just a bunch of pretentious garbage. It’s not over-the-top terrible, it’s just not good… at all. Nothing else to say

Best Picture (I don’t know how many nominations there will be, so they are listed in order of which is most likely to get a nom)

1. Lincoln
2. Argo
3. The Hobbit
4. Les Miserables
5. Django Unchained
6. Zero Dark Thirty
7. Skyfall
8. Beasts of the Southern Wild
9. The Master
10. Moonrise Kingdom
11. Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• John Hawkes - The Sessions
• Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln
• Jauquin Phoenix - The Master
• Jamie Foxx - Django Unchained
• Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables

Richard Gere - Arbitrage

Bradley Cooper- Silver Linings Playbook

Ewan McGregor - The Impossible

Jack Black - Bernie

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
• Judi Dench - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Helen Mirren- Hitchcock
• Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
• Naomi Watts - The Impossible

Meryl Streep - Hope Springs

Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln
• Leonardo Dicaprio - Django Unchained
• Dwight Henry - Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Christopher Waltz - Django Unchained
• Matthew McConaughey - Bernie

Tom Wilkinson - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Bruce Willis - Moonrise Kingdom

Alec Baldwin - To Rome With Love

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

• Amy Adams - The Master
• Anne Hathaway - The Dark Knight Rises
• Maggie Smith - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• Shirley McClain - Bernie
• Helen Hunt - The Sessions

Penelope Cruz - To Rome With Love

Best Director

• K B (can’t remember her name) - Zero Dark Thirty
• Tom Hooper - Les Mis
• Steven Spielberg - Lincoln
• Quentin Tarantino - Django Unchained
• Paul Thomas Anderson - The Master

Best Writing : Original Screenplay

• The Sessions
• Moonrise Kingdom
• Django Unchained
• The Master

Best Writing : Adapted Screenplay

• Lincoln
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Argo
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Cinematography

• Django Unchained
• Lincoln
• The Impossible
• The Hobbit
• Life Of Pi

Les Mis

Moonrise Kingdom

The Master

Best Art Direction

• Lincoln
• Moonrise Kingdom
• The Hobbit
• Les Mis

Best Costume Design

• The Deep Blue Sea
• Mirror Mirror
• Les Mis
• Moonrise Kingdom
• The Hobbit

Django Unchained

Best Sound

• Prometheus
• The Hobbit
• Django Unchained
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Les Mis

Best Editing

• Prometheus
• The Hobbit
• Django Unchained
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Zero Dark Thirty

Best Visual Effects

• Prometheus
• Life of Pi
• The Hobbit
• The Dark Knight Rises

Best Sound Editing

• Prometheus
• The hobbit
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Les Mis
• Zero Dark Thirty

Skyfall

Best Sound Mixing

• Prometheus
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Zero Dark Thirty
• Skyfall

Best Make up

• Les Mis
• Lincoln

Best Song

• Django Unchained

Best Score

• Les Mis

• The Sessions
• Lincoln
• Skyfall
• Anna Kerena

Best Foreign Language Film

Best Documentary

• Queen Of Versailles

Best Animated Film

• Wreck It Ralph

The Sessions  * * * *

I’m going to rush this review.

John Hawkes and Helen Hunt’s performances are flawless. Not to single one out but… I’m going to single one of them out. Helen Hunt gave one of the best performances of the  year. When she gets on the screen, she creates a very warm and comforting feeling. She plays a professional sex surrogate in the movie, and that is how she portrays herself; a professional.

I think what I am going to do now is just post a link to the movie’s imdb page, so I am not trapping myself in lengthy descriptions of movies, and I will just give the positives and negatives.

For me, there were no negatives in this movie. It was what it was: Devastatingly romantic, unafraid, and brazenly sexual. Plain and simple, one of the best of 2012.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1866249/

I’m going to try to make these very short

Just as a reminder… I do not consider myself a “movie expert”, so I don’t try to come off as “I know how to make a movie, they don’t”. So, in reality, I know nothing about making movies compared to some of my least favorite directors.

Since it is more fresh in my mind than the other, I will start with the movie I saw tonight:

Les Miserables * *

I was very excited to get to the theater tonight. I have been waiting to see Les Mis since I heard it was in production. However, as the title of this post reads, this was the one that didn’t quite meet my expectations.

The performances from Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway are definitely leading them to the oscars this year, and the same might go for Russell Crowe. Although, I’m not going to say that everyone’s singing was top notch. Frankly, Jackman and Crowe have just plain awful singing voices. Don’t get me wrong though, aside from their singing, they gave great performances, so I am definitely not going to take that from them. I just feel as if they could have cast people who know how to sing, but I understand that they would want people who know how to act too, so I can see that they were at a crossroads. Nevertheless, normally with any musically (speaking strictly from my taste), singing trumps acting; in other words, look for the singers. This made me feel as if it was just out to get the oscar noms, which I didn’t like. 

One thing I especially did not like was the duration. Some people would think it was too long, but I say it was not long enough. I felt as if we were all jumping from scene to scene. Sure, the point was made, but how you make the point is everything. Nothing more was needed for the characters to say, but a movie with a story like this needs to be a little bit more dragged out.

Three things to sum this up: 1. Of course the storyline was great, but credit for that does not go completely to the film makers, so I do not base my criticism on the writing of the film. 2. Needless to say, a great director (Tom Hooper) gives great direction 3. The Cinematography was probably the best part of the film, and I mean that. With that comment, I’m not attacking the film, I am seriously praising the cinematography (I was thinking while watching the movie that some of the shots reminded me of The King’s Speech, then I saw that Tom Hooper directed it… so it was probably the same cinematographer?)

Django Unchained * * * *

Tarantino knows how to take a genre and make it his own. This time, he took the Spaghetti Westerns.

It takes place a few years before the Civil War, when slavery was still in full effect. Django, a tough slave with whip marks on his back, is taken by a German Bounty Hunter, who needs him to detect a group of people who he seeks to kill. Django knows who they are because he has some traumatizing memories of them torturing him and his wife.

The Bounty Hunter basically takes Django under his wing, and makes him into a Bounty Hunter. However, Django says he would help him out, only if they would be able to rescue his wife from a large plantation that is known for being brutal to the slaves.

To sum this up quickly, it is a horribly violent/bloody tale revenge and redemption. Jamie Foxx and Christopher Waltz give great performances, and Tarantino shines as the writer/director as always. It is a wonderful addition to the great Tarantino films among Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, etc.

taffydavenport913music:

I’m gonna create a Top 40 Albums list :D

My 3 followers should be SUPER excited lol

Artists you will see on the list:

Beatles

Alkaline Trio

Bob Dylan

The Finches

Carole King

and yes…. already Stemm has made it on a list of mine, Beth lol

Now follow my other blog!!!! It’s lonely

Safety Not Guarenteed * * * 1/2

  I Really Don’t Know what to say about this movie, other than it was a lot of fun. Aubrey Plaza brings her typically off weirdness to this movie, instantly separating it from the other comedies that have been released lately.

It’s about a man who puts an ad out in the paper, looking for a trustworthy partner in his trip to the past. However, Aubrey Plaza’s character and her partners are not there to be buddies, but investigate this guys life and write an article basically about how insane he is. Of course, Plaza goes undercover and tries to get him to trust her, but she begins to believe him, and realizes there are things in the past that haunt her that she wants to change.

Done with this review. Just believe me, it was good, but I will say that the ending was a little MEH, but it did not ruin the movie. THESE ARE GOOD THINGS TO SAY PEOPLE!!

Snowtown Murders * * * *

CUTEST MOVIE OF 2012!!! HAHA!! YEAHH!!!!!

NO… Absolutely not. I have seen Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Pink Flamingos, Saw…. and this one lands itself near the same levels as them, in terms of how disturbing it is.

It is a movie about Australia’s worst serial killer, John Bunting, who (in this movie) looks exactly like Max Bemis from Say Anything, but that’s a whole other story. Anyway, there is this kid, and bad stuff happens… and thhings.. and all of that other bad stuff. *Yawn* I don’t feel like typing. WATCH THE MOVIE!! It’s on Netflix, and you have my recommendation! I was as explicit as possible people.

Sorry… I really just lost interest in typing. I WILL CONTINUE BOTH REVIEWS SOME OTHER DAY WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT.

Smell ya later Tumblr

I love Roger Ebert… well…. I trust him…. normally. If I am worried about going to see a certain movie in theaters, I sometimes check to see what Roger said before I see it. If he gave it a 4 star, I try to go see it. If he gave it a 1 star, I might go see it, if I think it looks good.

There have been so many movies where I actually give the same rating to movies as Ebert does, but there have been a lot of movies that we completely disagree on. Here are some that I will be doing short ratings of (They are movies that me and Ebert do not see eye-to-eye on):

• Harold and Maude
• Brazil
• Super 8
• To Rome With Love

I used “Their” instead of “They’re” in one of the sentences.

Celeste and Jesse Forever  * * * 1/2 out of * * * *

I will go right ahead and begin this review by saying that this was one of the most satisfying movies of the year for me, and maybe that is why I loved it so much. Also, because Rashida Jones stars in it and she co wrote the screenplay!

When I first saw the previews for this movie I knew it was going to be good. However, I couldn’t help but wonder how well Andy Samberg was going to do in an obviously more serious role. He was the goofy guy from Saturday Night Live, and that was all I knew him as. Now I know that there is much more to Samberg than meets the eye, he can actually act. Maybe it wasn’t an Oscar Worthy performance, but still pretty good. 

The movie is about a married couple who are getting a divorce, but they remain best friends throughout the process. During the dinner scene with their friends in the beginning of the movie, their friends are angered by how they appear to be unaffected by their choice to split-up, and still go out together. Initially, they remain the same way after the one friend blows up on them, but after Jesse decides he wants to start actually seeing other people, their relationship slow deteriorates; despite how much they still love eachother.

Now I really want to say some more things about this movie, but it is so hard to without spoiling some scenes. I want you to see this movie and have the same affect I did while watching this. It is truly a great and funny ride, and has some very “tear-worthy” scenes.

Finally, I am going to explain what I meant by how this was one of the most satisfying movies of the year for me. I went in believing I was going to love this movie, and that it wasn’t going to be one of those disappointing trips to the theater (which I ended up getting a few weeks later when I saw The Master), and it was just that. It did not fail to meet my expectations, and it did not exceed them either. It was just right.

Great Movie.