fictionsmith

I wound up seeing over 70 films last year, 23 of them in theaters, so here’s a list of mini-reviews of the flicks.

Taken (1/30) - 4.5/5 - I was immensely surprised by this movie.  Pretty much a self-righteous revenge fantasy that held me on the edge of my seat and actually had me cheering and my wife clutching my arm like a vice grip.

Coraline (2/6) - 3.5/5 - Dark children’s story that reminded me that it was a children’s story by occasionally repeating information that an adult would understand the first go ‘round.  Saw it in 3D.

Duplicity (3/20) - 3/5 - I was sleepy when I saw this and I really shouldn’t have been.  Fun story, and I particularly enjoyed the end.

17 Again (4/17) - 3/5 - Sarah convinced me to see this one.  It was surprisingly not what I expected.  Some good humor in there and very much not High School Musical.

Wolverine (5/1) - 2/5 - Disappointing.  Plotholes galore, cardboard characters, and some dicey animation.  Some neat fight scenes but that’s about all I can muster for it.

Star Trek (5/8) - 4/5 - Any movie that can make me tear up in the opening sequence is aces in my book.  Saw it twice in theaters.  I’m excited about where the franchise is heading.

The Brothers Bloom (5/15) - 4.5/5 - I’m a fan of Rian Johnson (director of Brick), so I was one of a few people pumped about this con-man flick with a heart.  Wonderfully acted and very fun.  Saw it three times in theaters.

Up (5/29) - 4/5 - Beautiful, beautiful storytelling.  “Married Life” and “Stuff We Did” off the soundtrack make me choke up every time I listen to them.  Pixar knows what they’re doing, and it’s a challenger to The Incredibles, which I absolutely love.

Moon (6/12) - 4/5 - Another indie that didn’t get much attention in it’s limited run.  Great thinking man’s sci-fi that had a very small cast that performed wonderfully.

Public Enemies (7/1) - 1/5 - Oy.  Seeing Christian Bale and Johnny Depp in what looked like cheap video kept me out of it.  Not having a protagonist that I could care about was the nail on the coffin.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (7/15) - 3.5/5 - Felt more like a continuation of the story than a movie in itself.  It had some fun moments but made me look forward to the final two installments of the series.

(500) Days of Summer (7/17) - 4/5 - Loved the style and the storytelling structure of this one.  Very realistic portrayal of a relationship I believe.  It was also a free screening, which didn’t hurt my opinion in the least…

Julie & Julia (8/7) - 2.5/5 - It was all right.  Not my typical type of movie.  Nothing awful about it, but nothing that would make me want to see it again.  Good acting.

District 9 (8/14) - 3.5/5 - I knew next to nothing about this film going into it.  I’m glad I did.  The style changed halfway through into an action flick, but I was fine with that.  There were plenty of predictable moments where I thought “wouldn’t it be cool if ______ happened,” and then it did.  Overall satisfying.

The Time Traveller’s Wife (8/14) - 2.5/5 - Tough film to make it through.  Evidently only a couple of things are good when your husband time travels.  Everything else sucks… a lot.

9 (9/9) - 3/5 - Pretty animation, cool action… lacked a satisfying ending for me.  Had potential.

Zombieland (10/2) - 4/5 - Fun.  Fun, fun, fun.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.  I also watched this with friends who would enjoy this type of flick, which helped a lot.

Where the Wild Things Are (10/16) - 3.5/5 - I had to mull this one over, but the more discussion that went into it, the more I liked the depth and symbolism that I was able to discern.

New Moon (11/20) - 2/5 - Fight scenes were better than the first Twilight film… … I’m trying to stay positive here.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (11/25) - 3.5/5 - The film that I was enticed into seeing despite its trailer via word of mouth.  I enjoyed the background Wes Anderson comedy more than the overall plot.  Cuss.

Up in the Air (12/4) - 4/5 - An incredibly timely film that held nuggets that I wish the person laying me off had said to me.

Avatar (12/18) - 4/5 - One of the most visually impressive films I’ve ever seen.  Story was a mix of Dances with Wolves and Fern Gully… But the visuals were worth it.

Sherlock Holmes (12/25) - 3.5/5 - A lot of fun.  I very much appreciated the art direction to the flick and was satisfied with the resolution and RDJ’s performance yet again.

-Ryan