1/13 DVD Releases

Few movies coming out, but very good ones.

Appaloosa - Granted I haven't seen the movie, but I would really like too. You can't go wrong with Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen as cowboys
VERDICT: RENT IT

My Best Friend's Girl - BOOOOOOO DANECOOK
VERDICT: SKIP IT

My Bloody Valentine (1981 Re-Release) - One of my favorite golden age slasher films, and I did see it/hear of it before they even mentioned a remake. This is the movie I'll be purchasing this week.
VERDICT: BUY IT

Mirrors - Alex Aja is a horror god. This is my second pick of the week.
VERDICT: BUY IT

The Family that Preys - No Thanks.
VERDICT: SKIP IT


Sorry for the short blog, but most of my energy went into the Best of 2004 blog below.

Top 15 Movies of 2004

The Violent takes hold of the list in 2004 as this year was met with extremely gruesome (yet sometimes funny) and brilliant movies.

15. Jersey Girl - One of the only not violent movies on the list, and I will take crap for liking this because its a good film and really shows that Kevin Smith has matured as a film maker.

14. The Village - I'll also take your crap for liking this, but I love it. If you're going to judge this movie based entirely on how you didn't like the twist ending really shows how naive of a film viewer you really are.

13. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey is incapable of playing a bad-serious role.

12. The Terminal - I also have the guts to admit that this is a good movie by Spielberg. I still don't like the guy, nor do I like the majority of his films Post-Jurassic Park. I like this.

11. Collateral - I enjoy the film, and consider this the only good film Tom Cruise has made since he converted to crazies.

10. HellBoy - Guillermo Del Toro is incapable of making a bad movie. Even if it is based on a comic book, which isn't a bad thing.

9. Team America: World Police - Trey Parker and Matt Stone are geniuses, and this is proof that they don't have to be making a cartoon to do well.

8. Dawn of the Dead - My opinion on this is exactly what Kevin Smith says in A Threevening with Kevin Smith "When they announced they were remaking Dawn of the Dead, I thought ' What a terrible Idea. Dawn of the Dead is a brilliant movie.' And Zach Snyder made a PIMP-F***ING version of Dawn of the Dead."

7. Fahrenheit 9/11 - Michael Moore Fan here, also pretty opposed to Bush. Love it.

6. The Punisher - Though not the definitive Punisher that is Punisher: War Zone, still a good film and more or less the Taxi Driver of our generation.

5. The Butterfly Effect - Fantastic mind-blowing movie, and surprisingly great acting by Ashton Kutcher.

4. Spiderman 2 - My favorite of the Spiderman movies, and a fantastic action/superhero/comic book movie here.

3. Saw - The movie that turned the horror community on its head finds its way near the top of my list, and for good reason too.

2. Kill Bill Volume 2 - The better half of Tarantino's epic vengeance film, but in my opinion not as FUN or GOOD as .....

1. Shaun of the Dead - A BRILLIANT movie. One of the few movies I can re-watch, that I know all the lines too, and still laugh my head off when I watch it. Shaun of the Dead is the best movie of 2004 and one of my favorite horror/comedies or simply just comedies of all time.

Top 15 Movies of 2003

2003 was a great year for horror and action films, both of which are very well represented on the list.

15. The Matrix Reloaded - Some people didn't like the sequels, they can deal with it because I did and felt that it was a very good film in and of itself.

14. Big Fish - I'm a big fan of ensemble movies like this, where the lead character does through a series of trials in their life and meets many interesting people. (You could have guessed that since I had 25th Hour, Bubble Boy, and O, Brother where are Thou? on my previous lists) Plus its tough to go wrong with Tim Burton at the helm.

13. Finding Nemo - Again not my favorite Pixar movie, but you'd have to be blind to not notice how good the movie actually is.

12. Lost in Translation - You can't go wrong with Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Sofia Coppola at the helm.

11. Cabin Fever - Granted every other word in this movie is explicit and probably only four letter long, but it still shines out as great among the horrid sea of PG-13 horror films and Japanese remakes.

10. The Matrix Revolutions - In my opinion, a great way to end the series. Much better than Reloaded and a fantastic movie to just watch.

9. House of 1000 Corpses - Proof that Rob Zombie is a mastermind of the ideals of the horror film. I don't care if you didn't like it, that just means you didn't get it.

8. Dreamcatcher - A Stephen King movie starring: Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, and Donnie Whalberg. Good stuff here.

7. Once Upon a Time in Mexico - Robert Rodriguez knows how to make a good action flick and not chock it full of hollywood action movie norms. Great film.

6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Need I say anything about this movie?

5. Bad Santa - If you read my Christmas blogs you know how much I love this movie, and by having its presence so high on this list you can guess even more how much I like it.

4. High Tension - Alex Aja is a horror cinema GOD, and he proved it with this debut film that is perfect in almost every way.

3. Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl - Good action, clever story for what they have to work with. Though not my favorite of the series.

2. Kill Bill Vol. 1 - Though I prefer Volume 2, Volume 1 is still exceptional filmmaking on Captain Tarantino's part, and brilliantly coreographed fight sequences.

1. Oldboy - This movie, while not only my favorite of the year, is one of my favorite movies of all time. Oldboy is the only film I can think of that is better than its source material (a japanese manga that sucks hardcore). Brilliantly stylized with a sinister plot, Oldboy is the best movie of 2003.

Top 15 Movies of 2002

2002 brought some of my favorite films of all-time. It's a pretty epic list if you ask me, but I am little biased.

15. The Mothman Prophecies - An X-phile and skeptic such as myself can't help but like this movie. An interesting concept delivers with its fantastic story and creepy visual style.

14. Lilo & Stitch - This is one of the last actual animated films to be released, and I guess you can say they went out with a bang. Lilo and Stitch is a fantastic animated movie with humor for everyone, even though its a more or less cliche' story.

13. Resident Evil - Being a fan of zombies, video games, zombie video games, but not that big of a fan of Paul W. Anderson. I was skeptic about the film. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie though and think that the sequels only enhance the series(as sequels should!), even though it did differ from the source material a lot.

12. 25th Hour - Being a Spike Lee and Edward Norton fanboy I couldn't help but like this movie. Plus its hard to make a bad movie with Rosario Dawson and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

11. Bowling for Columbine - I'm also a Michael Moore Fanboy, and consider this better than his debut Roger and Me.

10. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Yea all of you Lord of the Rings fanboys are probably screaming at your monitor "WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET ONE OF THE TRILOGY IN THE TOP 5 OF HIS LISTS!". Well in all honesty they're very fantastic movies, but I just like these next 9 movies more.

9. Minority Report - Yes I hate Steven Spielberg and most of Tom Cruise's, but I do have the nerve to admit that this was a very good movie.

8. Road to Perdition - Tom Hanks playing a gangster? Brilliantttt.

7. Blade 2 - One of the few sequels in the entire world that is probably better than the original. With someone at the helm like Guillermo Del Toro, you can't go wrong.

6. Insomnia - Robin Williams in a serious role (always great), Al Pacino, and directed by Chris Nolan. Whoever came up with this combo deserves a medal.

5. Infernal Affairs - The HongKong basis for The Departed is possibley even better than its American remake (as the case usually goes).

4. Spiderman - Sam Raimi is one of my favorite directors, though I do think the series could have been just as good (if not better) with James Cameron at the helm (Damn you court system!). Raimi still delivered as good of a Spiderman film to start with as you can.

3. Death to Smoochy - This is one of my top 3 favorite comedies ever. Fantastic film with great neo-noir elements and clever characters.

2. Punch-Drunk Love - I'm a P.T. Anderson fanboy as well, and don't usually go for Adam Sandler (the only film of his I enjoy is Billy Madison, and Happy Gilmoure at times). So seeing Sandler in a serious film written and directed by PTA is just what he needed IMO.

1. 28 Days Later - Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and Cillian Murphy. All great at what they do, they in turn delivered a great horror film and an all around brilliant movie.

Top 15 movies of 2001

2001 was a good year for sci-fi/fantasy films, as well as comedies and thought provoking dramas. All of which are present on the countdown.

15. Bubble Boy - Granted this is no Oscar winner, but its still a very fun movie to watch. Bubble Boy is one of my favorite comedies because it hits close to home (no I never lived in a bubble). Granted all the things that happen to him are very unrealistic but that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the movie.

14. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back - Another one that will never win any mainstream awards, but a favorite nonetheless. Granted you have to see four other movies to fully understand all the jokes in this but man is it worth it.

13. Spirited Away - I usually don't for the anime related things but I have to admit this is one you can't afford to skip. Spirited Away is a fantastic.

12. The Man Who Wasn't There -You can't go wrong with Billy Bob Thornton and the Coen Brothers. (Or Scarlett Johanssonn and James Gandolfini)

11. The Royal Tenenbaums - It is also hard to go wrong with Wes Anderson films.

10. Legally Blonde - Yea I like Legally Blonde Its actually a pretty good comedy with a good message. Which is something that most Comedies fail in.

9.Monster's Inc. - Though not one of my favorite Pixar movies, its still very good. Plus I love John Goodman/Steve Buscemi.

8.Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone - Yes the films begin to feel a little tired after the second one, but this first film is actually very good at introducing the world of Harry Potter and you have to admit that Chris Columbus knows how to make a movie.

7.Ocean's Eleven - You CANT go wrong with a clever heist film, especially one with a cast like this!

6.The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - Cleverly Orchestrated begginning to the series and an all around great movie. Wether its fantasy or horror Peter Jackson can do no wrong.

5.Hannibal - My personal favorite of Thomas' Harris books, my least favorite of the films (which should tell you a lot about how much I like the others since this one is so high up on the list). Ridley Scott might lose his touch after This movie, but boy is it a good one.

4. Blow - Gangster movies about drug running are a favorite of mine, now take that and put Johnny Depp in the title role and its all good.

3. Swordfish - Was 2001 the year for the heist movie or what? Plus with another all star cast you can't go wrong. Plus with a semi-twisty ending with political satire abound whats not to love?

2. A Beautiful Mind - Russel Crowe and Ron Howard are an unstoppable force with this masterpiece of a movie.

1. Donnie Darko - Yea I'm a Darko Fan and I know this movie backwards and forwards. Donnie Darko isn't just the best movie of 2001 its my second favorite movie of all time. (And yea I'm one of those fans that can explain the movie, so Darko Questions should come to me if you have any).

Top 15 movie countdown....countdown.

Next Friday I'll unveil my Top 15 films of 2008. In order to get you comfortable with the way I look at the movies and how I pick my favorites I've decided to pick a year and go over my Top 15 of that year, a countdown to my countdown if you will. I'll be starting with the year 2000, and progress until next friday with my top of 2008.

My Top 15 of 2000

15. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Now I don't consider myself much of a kung-fu movie person, yes I like them but not as hardcore as some people. CTHD is a very well paced film and is very fun to watch.

14. Pitch Black - Surprisingly Vin Diesel has made some pretty good flicks. This being one of them. Pitch Black is one of the better sci-fi movies of recent years.

13. Hollow Man - Say whatever you want about the movie and Kevin Bacon. But I really dig it, and think it has good effects and a great message about too much power.

12. Keeping the Faith - Yes a comedy made the list, its not hard for comedies to do that. Even though I tend to not like Ben Stiller he does a good job in the film, along side everyone's favorite Eddy Norton.

11. Almost Famous - I can rant and rave all day about how good this is, or you can go see it for yourself and believe me.

10. X-men - Granted only 2 sentences from the media god that is Joss Whedon's rewrite made it into the Xmen film. It's still a very good movie, and does its best to work with the X-men Mythology.

9. Cast Away - Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis can never do wrong.

8. O, Brother Where art Thou? - The Coens and George Clooney can also never do wrong.

7. Chicken Run - I love Wallace and Gromit and this movie which is essentially the life of chickens is very fun and entertaining for all ages.

6. Requiem for A Dream - Aronofsky is a brilliant man and also, can do no wrong.

5. Cecil B. Demented - Jon Waters is a great writer/director, and this film which bashes the hollywood system is fantastic and can be re-watched overandover.

4. Memento - Chris Nolan has made quite the masterful film too, and its only his 2nd. Nolan is very good at keeping your attention and leaving you wanting more.

3. Snatch - Guy Ritchie is the next Scorscese and with an All-Star cast like Snatch has you can't help but wonder who will be in his movies in 10 years.

2. American Psycho - This is the movie that proved Christian Bale is one of the better actors currently working. Scary, thought provoking, and wonderfull brilliant.

1. Unbreakable - Call M. Night Shyamalan a one hit wonder if you want. Just shows that you don't know what you're talking about Since Unbreakable is the best film of 2000 and is the pinnacle of Super Hero movies.

1/6 DVD Releases

Well we're all back now and ready to get back in the swing of things, and luckily Its a monday which means tomorrow is New Release Tuesday. Here is the list of releases along with the verdicts.

Babylon A.D. - There is a reason Vin Diesel doesn't make many movies now a'days. This being one of them.
VERDICT: SKIP IT

Bangkok Dangerous - I would reccomend watching the Original Bangkok Dangerous that isn't but a few years old and is directed by the EXACT same people. I hate it when good foreign films are re-made because Americans are too lazy and stupid to read subtitles.
VERDICT: SKIP IT

Disaster movie - Insert your own insult to the *insert genre* movies here. Also a pun or two.
VERDICT: SKIP IT

Midnight Movie - Now granted I haven't seen this, but its a horror movie. So I'm going to watch it. (NOTE: This isn't a movie like Disaster movie. It is titled Midnight movie because its about a horror movie being screened at midnight and the killer gets out in the theater)
VERDICT: RENT IT, SKIP if you're one of those people that don't like horror movies.

Pineapple Express - Love him or Hate him, Seth Rogan still wrote a very good movie here. Pineapple Express wins the Pick of the week for 1/6.
VERDICT: BUY IT

Righteous Kill - I never got to see it, but I still say you can't go wrong with Pacino, DeNiro, and a script by Russel Gerwitz.
VERDICT: RENT IT