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Movies for 2009
P/f is whether the movie passes the Bechdel Test. There must be 1) Two female characters 2) who talk to each other, 3) about something besides a man.
1) X-Men 2: X Men United. The war between humans and mutants heats up with a raid on Xavier's school. Rewatch. (p)
2) Journey to the Center of the Earth. Trevor's brother went missing 10 years ago. Now, it's up to him and his nephew to find out what happened. (f, 2)
3) A Knight's Tale. William Thatcher is a squire trying to change his stars and become a knight. Highly entertaining anachronistic soundtrack. (f,3)
4) Dodge City. Cattleman turned sheriff cleans up the town. Big lavish technicolor western. Racist stereotypes (one black character, a porter,played for laughs), sexist banter (typical of the period, also done for comedy) both flaw what could be a great film. Excellent barroom brawl. (f, 3)
5) Resident Evil: Extinction. Zombie plague. Oded Fehr. Heavy machinery and THREE kick-ass heroines. What more do I need to say? (I could pick apart the world-building and such, I'd like to see a fourth movie where they eradicate the zombies and get civilization and, you know, FOOD, started again) (P)
6) The Cake Eaters. Lovely little indie film about a girl with Fredrick's Ataxia finding love. Beautifully shot and edited. Typical acoustic music, but really well done film. I confess, I saw it for Aaron Stanford, who looks very nice shirtless, but Kristen Stewart really impressed me a lot. (p)
7) Little Caesar. James Cagney in the role that made him famous. A gritty little gangster picture. (f,2)
8) Gods and Monsters. James Whale befriends his yardman and tries to dealk with life after a stroke. Poignant, wrenching and very tense. Brendan Frasier holds his own, in a non-typecast performance. (f,2)
9) San Antonio. Big technicolor Flynn western. He was drunk most of the shooting but it doesn't show. Not like it did on The Sun Also Rises. Rewatch, (p)
10) Desperate Journey. WWII pic about downed RAF fliers trying to escape Germany (almost on the Polish border). Not too bad. Even Ronald Reagan turned in a pretty good one this time. (f,2)
11) The Mummy Returns. Rick and Evie and their son are in trouble again. Lots of early CGI, not all of it perfect. Lots of shooting and chasing and chaos. Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weiscz sell the romance and the action. Oded Fehr at his hottest (the hair and the eyes and the beard and the mouth and GUHHHHHHHHHHHH). Delightful. Rewatch. (p, even if it's just Evie and Ankh-su-namen trading threats)
12) Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Disgraced cop Jill Valentine is the first to catch on to the problem occuring in Raccoon City. She is joined by a band of irregulars including a SWAT team member, a pimp and Alice, who has been altered by Umbrella Corp (the masterminds behind the T Virus outbreak) They work together to get a scientist's daughter out of the city so they can escape it before the tac-nuke goes off. Nice little action movie, despite some plot holes (one character was SHOT, so why is he back as a zombie?) (p. Big time pass.) 4 major female characters, who talk very little about men because there are zombies to deal with.
13) Prince Caspian. I made it through this one (unlike LWW which sent me into pure squick during the Lucy & Tumnus bits) It wasn't bad. It's been a long time since I read the books, but I thought it captured the basics. Of course the last battle felt like a second-string Two Towers remake. (p)
14) The Golden Compass. I haven't read this book, but the movie was...slow. Pretty to look at, but slow and heavy-handed. Not bad steampunk. Very anti-clerical. I can only imagine how much more the books are. Nicole Kidman is deliciously evil. (p)
15) The Wicker Man. (1974) Inspector Howie pays a visit to Summerisle to solve a mystery and runs afoul of its inhabitants. This struck me as a parable for today's economy, showing the dangers of mixing religion and desperation. The Summerisle folk may be pagan, but getting zealous about religion in times of trouble is a universal human trait. (p)
16) Jason and the Argonauts. Jason and his crew sail for the Golden Fleece. Plenty of Hercules/Hylas hoo-yay. Excellent work by Harryhausen on the creatures. Entered "too stupid to live" territory during the final fight scene. Jason, DUDE, when skeletons with swords pop out of the ground? run like Oedipus! (f, 2)
1) X-Men 2: X Men United. The war between humans and mutants heats up with a raid on Xavier's school. Rewatch. (p)
2) Journey to the Center of the Earth. Trevor's brother went missing 10 years ago. Now, it's up to him and his nephew to find out what happened. (f, 2)
3) A Knight's Tale. William Thatcher is a squire trying to change his stars and become a knight. Highly entertaining anachronistic soundtrack. (f,3)
4) Dodge City. Cattleman turned sheriff cleans up the town. Big lavish technicolor western. Racist stereotypes (one black character, a porter,played for laughs), sexist banter (typical of the period, also done for comedy) both flaw what could be a great film. Excellent barroom brawl. (f, 3)
5) Resident Evil: Extinction. Zombie plague. Oded Fehr. Heavy machinery and THREE kick-ass heroines. What more do I need to say? (I could pick apart the world-building and such, I'd like to see a fourth movie where they eradicate the zombies and get civilization and, you know, FOOD, started again) (P)
6) The Cake Eaters. Lovely little indie film about a girl with Fredrick's Ataxia finding love. Beautifully shot and edited. Typical acoustic music, but really well done film. I confess, I saw it for Aaron Stanford, who looks very nice shirtless, but Kristen Stewart really impressed me a lot. (p)
7) Little Caesar. James Cagney in the role that made him famous. A gritty little gangster picture. (f,2)
8) Gods and Monsters. James Whale befriends his yardman and tries to dealk with life after a stroke. Poignant, wrenching and very tense. Brendan Frasier holds his own, in a non-typecast performance. (f,2)
9) San Antonio. Big technicolor Flynn western. He was drunk most of the shooting but it doesn't show. Not like it did on The Sun Also Rises. Rewatch, (p)
10) Desperate Journey. WWII pic about downed RAF fliers trying to escape Germany (almost on the Polish border). Not too bad. Even Ronald Reagan turned in a pretty good one this time. (f,2)
11) The Mummy Returns. Rick and Evie and their son are in trouble again. Lots of early CGI, not all of it perfect. Lots of shooting and chasing and chaos. Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weiscz sell the romance and the action. Oded Fehr at his hottest (the hair and the eyes and the beard and the mouth and GUHHHHHHHHHHHH). Delightful. Rewatch. (p, even if it's just Evie and Ankh-su-namen trading threats)
12) Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Disgraced cop Jill Valentine is the first to catch on to the problem occuring in Raccoon City. She is joined by a band of irregulars including a SWAT team member, a pimp and Alice, who has been altered by Umbrella Corp (the masterminds behind the T Virus outbreak) They work together to get a scientist's daughter out of the city so they can escape it before the tac-nuke goes off. Nice little action movie, despite some plot holes (one character was SHOT, so why is he back as a zombie?) (p. Big time pass.) 4 major female characters, who talk very little about men because there are zombies to deal with.
13) Prince Caspian. I made it through this one (unlike LWW which sent me into pure squick during the Lucy & Tumnus bits) It wasn't bad. It's been a long time since I read the books, but I thought it captured the basics. Of course the last battle felt like a second-string Two Towers remake. (p)
14) The Golden Compass. I haven't read this book, but the movie was...slow. Pretty to look at, but slow and heavy-handed. Not bad steampunk. Very anti-clerical. I can only imagine how much more the books are. Nicole Kidman is deliciously evil. (p)
15) The Wicker Man. (1974) Inspector Howie pays a visit to Summerisle to solve a mystery and runs afoul of its inhabitants. This struck me as a parable for today's economy, showing the dangers of mixing religion and desperation. The Summerisle folk may be pagan, but getting zealous about religion in times of trouble is a universal human trait. (p)
16) Jason and the Argonauts. Jason and his crew sail for the Golden Fleece. Plenty of Hercules/Hylas hoo-yay. Excellent work by Harryhausen on the creatures. Entered "too stupid to live" territory during the final fight scene. Jason, DUDE, when skeletons with swords pop out of the ground? run like Oedipus! (f, 2)
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::snerks::
It's a rare breed of geek that 1) gets that joke and 2) thinks it's funny.