The Lookout

Year: 2007

Why'd I Watch It?: JGL and surprise Matthew Goode.

What's It About?: A brain damaged young man falling in with assholes.

What'd I Think?: Pretty good, though a little depressing. Kinda part sad indie slice of life flick and part heist thing. JGL was pretty excellent as was Jeff Daniels.

Rating: 4 waffles

The Exterminating Angel

Year: 1962

Why'd I Watch It?: My dad wanted to.

What's It About?: Surrealist look at high society and its limiting mindset.

What'd I Think?: Sufficiently strange. Unlike some of the other older foreign movies my dad has had me watch, this one was much easier for me to grasp why it was worth watching. It was psychological and strange.

Rating: 4 waffles

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

Year: 2009

Why'd I Watch It?: It was on Netflix instant and had people I like in it.

What's It About?: Men not understanding women and just sexuality being odd in general.

What'd I Think?: (I haven't read the David Foster Wallace, so this is all on the movie) Some parts were way more successful than others. Some of the stories seemed disjointed from the initial point of the narrative. Also, John Krasinski's final monologue was really flat and added nothing, imho. I got the feeling that nearly everyone involved was a pretentious ass.

Rating: 2 1/2 waffles

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: I'm obligated.

What's It About?: The continuing adventures of Harry Potter except it's like a real movie now.

What'd I Think?: This one had some real cinematic flourishes, like someone finally tried to make Harry Potter a film rather than a thin narrative propped up by a redonkulously successful book franchise. Nice post-apocalyptic flourishes, too. I see you guys watched Children of Men.

Rating: 4 1/2 waffles

Sunshine

Year: 2007

Why'd I Watch It?: Heard good things

What's It About?: A group of scientist on their way to save the world by restarting the sun.

What'd I Think?: Some good hard sci-fi. Kind of Armageddon meet Event Horizon, but better.

Rating: 5 waffles

Dog Day Afternoon

Year: 1975

Why'd I Watch It?: My dad wanted me to.

What's It About?: A bank robbery gone really wrong.

What'd I Think?: It's a classic. Al Pacino is wonderful. That's really all.

Rating: 5 waffles

The Kids Are All Right

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Trying to watch all the Best Picture noms.

What's It About?: Some lesbians and their marriage in crisis.

What'd I Think?: It was nice with a good script and a fine story. The only problem I really had was with Annette Bening's character. I never really liked her until the end. Maybe that was the intention, but I tend to want to like characters to start off with. I get that she had to act in a way that justified Julianne Moore's actions, but still. I'd like to care about her before things go south, so it makes sense why they're trying to make things work.

Rating: 4 waffles

Casque d'Or

Year: 1952

Why'd I Watch It?: My dad got it from Netflix.

What's It About?: A beautiful girl who wants to be with a guy she shouldn't.

What'd I Think?: It probably meant more then than it does now, but frankly this movie was just too French for me. Simone Signoret is really pretty too. It's a love story. A very French love story. That's really it.

Rating: 3 1/2 waffles

True Grit

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Coen brothers, 'nuff said.

What's It About?: Hailee Steinfeld being a badass, Jeff Bridges being drunk, Matt Damon being a square, and Josh Brolin being a coward.

What'd I Think?: It's a Coen Brothers movie, of course it's amazingly put together. Amazing acting on everyone's part. Beautiful cinematography. See it. Right now.

Rating: 5 waffles

Red

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: It looked like my cup of tea.

What's It About?: Retired secret agents having to get back in the game.

What'd I Think?: As a Warren Ellis fan, I was happy. It was fun, witty, and violent. Everything you could want from such a movie.

Rating: 5 waffles

Layer Cake

Year: 2004

Why'd I Watch It?: I started to three years ago and finally decided to watch all of it.

What's It About?: One drug dealer that can't catch a break.

What'd I Think?: Poor Daniel Craig. Frankly it's pretty brutal, but an intriguing story if you like mafia type action movies, also Brits.

Rating: 4 waffles

The King's Speech

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: I heard good things and my mom loves Colin Firth.

What's It About?: King George VI and his stuttering problem.

What'd I Think?: First off, it's really nice to see Helena Bonham Carter doing something different, she really is a good actress. This film was wonderful, full of powerful acting, delightful writing, beautiful cinematography, and lush art direction. Also, corgis. Seriously, it was really good.

Rating: 5 waffles

The Green Hornet

Year: 2011

Why'd I Watch It?: Elizabeth and I thought it looked like fun.

What's It About?: A rich kid playing superhero with his ass kicking sidekick.

What'd I Think?: It was fun. It was tons of fun. Christoph Waltz was delightful. The script was constantly silly. It was everything I wanted it to be. I was entertained.

Rating: 4 1/2 waffles

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: I enjoy Banksy.

What's It About?: Street art and one of it's most avid appreciators.

What'd I Think?: Street art is probably my favorite modern art form right after interactive sculpture. This is a great documentary about the subject and its various permutations. Though Thierry can be hard to take sometimes, he makes an excellent documentary subject.

Rating: 5 waffles

District B13

Year: 2004

Why'd I Watch It?: Nate thought I'd like it.

What's It About?: The near future when ghettos in Paris are walled off and everybody's good at Parkour.

What'd I Think?: Action scenes are really fun to watch. Overall, basic action movie plot, decently executed and enjoyable. Fun.

Rating: 4 waffles

Winter's Bone

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Watching all the Best Picture noms.

What's It About?: A girl trying to find out where her meth dealing father is before her family loses their house because of him.

What'd I Think?: Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted. A good, solid story that begins and ends in the perfect place. Had a little bit of "eh" to it, but maybe that's just me. Probably not a movie I would have seen if not for the Oscar nomination.

Rating: 4 1/2 waffles

Toy Story 3

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Trying to watch all the Best Picture noms.

What's It About?: The toys going to hell and back.

What'd I Think?: I was kind of surprised it held up as well as it did. Very fun and fairly heart-string tugging at times. Also this makes the 3rd Pixar movie in a row that has made me tear up. Damn you.

Rating: 5 waffles

12 Monkeys

Year: 1995

Why'd I Watch It?: It's a Terry Gilliam movie I'd never seen.

What's It About?: Future Bruce Willis going to the past to try and find out about the event that destroyed the surface of the Earth.

What'd I Think?: I miss Brad Pitt playing crazy people. Sweet art direction, wacko Gilliam plot, and good acting.

Rating: 5 waffles

Restrepo

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Looked interesting.

What's It About?: Soldiers stationed in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.

What'd I Think?: Really good insight into soldiers's lives in Afghanistan that humanizes the whole conflict rages on. Emotionally powerful.

Rating: 5 waffles

The Social Network

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Attempting to watch all the best picture noms.

What's It About?: The very dramatic way facebook festered into existence.

What'd I Think?: The two most prominent things I noticed in this film are, 1) Andrew Garfield is really attractive. 2) Mr. Reznor's score sounds like the intro to every song on Transatlanticism. I mean, the movie was good? I just don't see where the ZOMG BEST EVER. is coming from. True Grit and Inception run circles around this shit.

Rating: 4 waffles

Collapse

Year: 2009

Why'd I Watch It?: Looked interesting.

What's It About?: The ongoing energy crisis in the US.

What'd I Think?: While it made me want to move to a remote island and create a self-sustainable environment for myself to hide in for the rest of my life, it also offered a strongly worded but pretty honest look at how screwed we are when it comes to energy and sustainability.

Rating: 4 1/2 waffles

Centurion

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Both Nate and Jonathan recommended it as a good roman time.

What's It About?:

What'd I Think?: For what it was, it was pretty good. Violence and really excellent Roman-y things. If you like slightly campy ancient world things (and who doesn't), watch this for a good time.

Rating: 3 1/2 waffles

Black Swan

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Looked good.

What's It About?: Being a ballerina making Natalie Portman crazy.

What'd I Think?: Very excellent performance from Portman. Overall, I really liked it. It was a bit creepy and fairly disturbing, typical Aronofsky. Beautifully shot. It's not really a movie that begs a repeat viewing thanks to its intensity, but seeing it in a theater was a great decision.

Rating: 5 waffles

8: The Mormon Proposition

Year: 2010

Why'd I Watch It?: Looked interesting.

What's It About?: Mormons being scary and massively funding Prop 8.

What'd I Think?: It was really scary and interesting. Mostly scary. Watch it if you want to be angry about gay rights or scared of Mormons.

Rating: 4 1/2 waffles