I watched nine movies in the month of September. As always, I will briefly run down these movies and pick which five of them will advance to my ultimate year end movie ranking. The nine movies I watched in September were:
Grave of the Fireflies
Carnival of Souls
The Help
Timecop
Manhunter
Field of Dreams
Trauma (2017)
Saw IV
Stephen King's IT miniseries
Alright, time to see which ones are moving on.
Not Moving On:
Timecop
I have been in the mood for some Van Damme movies lately. I had planned to watch several of them, but unfortunately Timecop might have ruined my interest in doing so.
As a kid, I remember my parents and brother watching this movie and saying it was hard to follow. For some reason, I never bothered to watch it though. I finally came back after 30 years to give it a try. I am familiar with time travel so I thought it would be easy to follow, and I started playing around on my phone while I watched. I was wrong. I quickly lost the thread of what was going on because I was not paying close enough attention. When I finally realized what was happening and put the phone down, I was already hopelessly lost. No way was I going to go back and rewatch the movie though, because it kind of sucked. I did not enjoy it one bit, and I think even if I was paying attention I would have disliked it. So it gets the heave-ho here.
Carnival of Souls
I have seen this movie a few times now, and every time I watch it, I come into it desperately wanting to like it. I enjoy the premise, but unfortunately the execution is not great. I only watched it in 2024 because I had listened to a podcast about it that made the movie sound underrated and better than it actually is. I thought "oh, I haven't been giving it a fair shake all these years." So I came back and gave it a fair shake.
Nope, still don't like it.
Saw IV
I'm not a movie snob. I like the Saw movies. But I have to say that this is probably the worst of them (at least of the ones I have seen). I'll keep going and continue on and watch the rest, but this one killed my interest in the series for a little bit.
Field of Dreams
Everyone keeps telling me "You've got to watch Field of Dreams! I can't believe you've never seen it before!" I finally got off my butt and watched it. But, uh.... it was not at all what I was expecting.
Is this a ghost movie? A movie about mass delusion? What is even happening here? Even if you look past the improbabilities and loopholes, I still did not think it was a very good film. It is certainly a watchable film, and not necessarily bad. But it is a bit hokey and ham-fisted. It is also very, very off-putting to someone who watches movies with a rational eye, wanting an explanation for everything. I just could not get past a LOT of things in this film.
Moving On:
Stephen King's IT miniseries
This one just barely made the cut. It may have been a fun and terrifying film when I've seen it in the past, but for some reason it just wasn't doing it for me here in 2024. It is a good story and it kept my interest at least, but I just wasn't as invested in this as I have been in the past. It definitely shows its age too. It barely edges out Field of Dreams to make my top 5, but don't expect this film to do much when it comes to my year end ranking.
Manhunter
Finally, a movie I truly enjoyed in September. I've seen this movie in the past, and I have always had a soft spot for it. It's so unique, with a different feel and tone from Silence of the Lambs or other Hannibal movies. I loved every second of this film, and it even made me run out and start re-reading the book (Red Dragon) for like the fourth or fifth time in my life.
Trauma (2017)
I'm kind of a soulless, emotionless human being, so I'm always on the lookout for movies that can elicit some type of reaction from me - whether it is happiness, sadness, terror, or disgust. After reading about this movie online, I knew right away I just HAD to see it. People were all up in arms about how disturbing it was, and how they could not make it through the first five minutes. Sold.
This movie is pretty darn disturbing. The depictions of violence are very gruesome and upsetting. This is not about just blood and gore though. There is a feeling of dark oppression and dread that permeates every second of this film. And I love it. I'll save my spoilers for the year end review, but if you like dark and disturbing movies this is a must watch.
Grave of the Fireflies
My motivation for watching this was similar to my motivation for watching Trauma. I wanted to watch something that made me feel human emotions. While I did not cry during this movie, I did enjoy it and I was invested in it. I've seen this before (a long time ago) but this was my first time watching it as a father, and it truly made me appreciate the film more.
The Help
I had forgotten how good this movie is. I instantly lost myself in this as soon as I turned it on. The acting, the story, the cinematography, the emotional heft of the film. It is so dang good. I was in tears like the entire damn movie. The Help is a masterpiece, and a film that is destined to make major waves when I do my year end ranking. I don't know if it will win or not, but it is certainly a contender.
With these 5 movies advancing, here is a look at the top 45. 9 months down, 3 to go! At the end, we'll have 60 movies - 5 from each month that move on. And then I will determine my favorite. In no particular order, here are the 45 that have moved on:
Last Night
The Help
Doctor Sleep
A Star is Born
Mystic River
Stephen King's IT miniseries
Stand By Me
Dune (1984)
Dune: Part One
Dune: Part Two
Legends of the Fall
Cloverfield
Grave of the Fireflies
Glass
The Shape of Water
Milo and Otis
Gerald's Game
Dr. Giggles
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition
Ghost
Milk
Forrest Gump
Platoon
Fried Green Tomatoes
The Four Falls of Buffalo
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Open Water
Old
The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker
Bone Tomahawk
Deadpool & Wolverine
Grizzly Man
Dumb and Dumber
The Skeleton Key
The Illusionist
The Prestige
Trauma (2017)
Rear Window
Martyrs (2008)
Transformers
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition
The Disaster Artist
Manhunter
Saw
Halloween
Past 2024 rankings:
For a complete index of all my past posts and game reviews, click
>HERE<
No comments:
Post a Comment