The five movies to advance from January were:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2
What will move on from the month of February? Let's find out. Spoiler warning: this was a very underwhelming month of movie watching for me, so this should be interesting.
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Snowpiercer
I first watched this movie 2 years ago, and I thought that it was only so-so. I liked the concept, I liked how the movie kicked off, but the more it went on, the more disinterested I became. I figured now that some time has passed, I would give it another try and see how I liked it this time.
I actually did like it more this time than I did the first time. I still enjoy the concept. In this movie, the world has frozen and humanity's last survivors are residents of a cold resistant train that is circling the world at high speed. The people at the back of the train are basically slaves living in squalor and doing all the hard labor, while the people in the rest of the train are high class and living it up at the tail section's expense. The dirty, downtrodden, tortured and tormented tail section rises in a rebellion against the rest of the train and fights their way forward to overthrow their evil captors.
The action in this movie is very over the top and comic book-esque, which seems appropriate because if I remember correctly this is based off a graphic novel. I really like the mythology of the movie and seeing all the different, creatively designed sections of the train as the rebels move forward. I enjoyed myself watching this. I really did. But whether or not it was good enough to rank among the top 5 movies I watched this month remains to be seen.
Friday the 13th Part 3
It's a goal of mine this year to watch through all of the Friday the 13th movies. Technically, I watched the first movie back in 2015, but what does it really matter?
I knew that this movie was a big turning point in the series because it is where Jason becomes the Jason that we all know and love. In the first movie, the killer was his mother. In the second movie, he wore some kind of pillow case or sheet over his head. In this movie - he gets the hockey mask. Finally!
But other than this milestone, I found the movie to be quite lackluster. It just didn't do enough for me to separate it from the other films in the series. It is more of the same thing. Which is nice because the formula works, but at the same time a little disappointing because it does nothing original. Of all the 4 movies in the series I have watched so far (my evaluation of part 4 is coming up) it is by far my least favorite.
Elysium
I didn't like this movie the first time I watched it a couple years ago. The same thing happened with District 9 - and I ended up watching that movie a second time and really liking it upon rewatch. And the same thing happened here. I thought it was pretty good.
This movie is set in the future. Earth has gone to shit, and all the rich, privileged individuals now live on a paradise-like space station named Elysium. Not only do they live relaxed, easy lives - but they also have machines that can basically cure any and all medical ailments. Occasionally people from Earth try to invade Elysium, but they are always pushed back by the station's heavy defenses. Matt Damon plays a man with radiation sickness and nothing to lose who must lead a group of rebels to Elysium. It is his only chance to gain access to the medical equipment needed to save himself from certain death.
I think the movie could have gone further, could have really explored the mythology of Elysium a little bit more. Instead it was a little predictable, there weren't really a lot of big surprise moments. But I still enjoyed it. It is fast paced, action oriented, and kept my interest the whole way through.
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Funny story - it actually took me quite a long time to find this movie. Not available at the library. Not available on any streaming programs. I couldn't find it anywhere! That's because it is not titled Friday the 13th Part 4. It is called the Final Chapter instead. Now, I had seen this movie around, but I knew that there were a shit ton of Friday the 13th movies. I never figured that the 4th one would be called the final chapter. Because it is nowhere near the final chapter! Isn't there like 8 or 9 of these movies?
Anyway, I actually really did like this movie. It tweaks the same old tired Friday the 13th formula just enough to make it interesting and unique. I like the black humor found in the movie. I like the cast (Cory Feldman is in this!). And the kills are just as fun as ever. It is one of my favorite Friday the 13th movies - and with the lack of quality movies I watched in February it has a good a chance of any movie to advance in the ranking. It doesn't have a chance in hell of winning, but I still liked it.
Fantastic 4
This movie has been destroyed critically, so I didn't have high hopes for it. I think that this actually helped me enjoy the movie more than I would have normally, because I expected it to suck so bad.
But I actually liked it! I can see why people wouldn't like it, but I had fun. The look of the movie is great, I like the cast. The sci-fi story line really had me interested. As a superhero movie it wasn't great. They don't really do anything fantastic until the very end of the film, where there is an epic 20 minute or so battle against Dr Doom. The rest of the movie is very light on action - very high on science fiction.
This has potential to be a good series if they ever make a sequel for it. But with how bad this movie bombed, I don't know if that is going to happen.
Evil Dead
This movie had potential to be a complete disaster, but I enjoyed myself. It doesn't try to be the original Evil Dead, which would have been sacrilege. Instead, it takes similar themes from the first movie, combines it with a VERY familiar locale, and does its own thing.
There is no humor in this movie. They don't attempt to "reboot" the Ash character. Instead, this is a very serious and dark film. I actually was scared in a few places, which rarely happens in movies anymore. Some may question the need to remake a classic film like the Evil Dead - and then change so much about it. But I like what they did here.
The Book Thief
This was a pretty big disappointment for me. I have read the book before, and really liked it. I expected great things from this movie. Endearing characters, dramatic moments that leave you on the edge of your seat, heartbreak to make even the most manly men weep like little girls.
But to me this was really boring. The film doesn't do a good job at helping us connect with the characters emotionally, and this is what the book was all about. It is pretty much just a straight up, flat, lifeless translation of the novel to the big screen. It was decent, but there is something majorly missing here. I hate to say this, but I pulled out my phone in the middle of this and started playing games because I was so bored.
That is never, ever a good thing.
Locke
This whole movie is about a guy driving in his car, talking on the phone. While it sounds like it could be really, really lame - it got solid reviews. So I figured I'd give it a chance. Turns out I actually did like it.
It really is a guy driving and talking on his phone for the whole movie. It is not as bad as it sounds though. I got really into it as I watched. The movie begins with Locke (Tom Hardy) leaving work. He comes to an intersection and takes his time deciding whether he is going to go left or right. He starts to go left, but at the last minute changes his mind and heads the other way.
Through a series of phone calls, we watch as his life goes to hell all around him. He tells his employers he is not going to be coming in tomorrow, which happens to be the day of the biggest multi million dollar job his company has ever taken on. And he was supposed to be a critical player in making sure that everything went as planned. He is forced to juggle between walking his coworkers through difficult situations, telling his wife he is not coming home tonight, and - the big twist - that he is on his way to be with a woman he impregnated as she goes into labor and gives birth to his illegitimate child.
Through monologues and inner dialogue scenes in between phone calls, we find out that Locke's dad was a deadbeat who abandoned him when he was young - and now Locke hates him for that. He doesn't want to make the same mistakes his own dad did. He wants to be there for this kid, whether it is legitimate or not. Whether it means leaving his wife and his career behind or not.
Despite his shadiness in cheating on his wife and getting a strange woman pregnant - you never get the impression that Locke is a bad guy. In fact, you grow quite attached to him as the movie goes on. He has a moral code - and although he broke that code in a moment of weakness, he is now out to redeem himself.
I liked this movie a lot, and it was a lot more complicated and heartfelt than I had expected. This is definitely moving on.
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So, moment of truth. Which 5 of these movies will advance to my year ending top 60 (which will be trimmed to a top 50) and then make my ultimate ranking? Let's get down to it.
Moving on are:
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
Fantastic 4 almost made it, but I couldn't justify putting it above Snowpiercer. Not the greatest group of movies, I admit. But not as bad in retrospect as I made it out to be before writing this blog entry.
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So far, combining my top 5 from January and my top 5 from February - the top 10 movies I have watched this year are:
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2
Locke
Evil Dead
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Elysium
Snowpiercer
A little underwhelming of an array, but there is still a lot of 2016 left. Here's to ten months of... better movies than these!
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