In an attempt to stick to our movie-related New Years resolutions, Jess and I plan to keep a weekly record of our progress towards our goal. See if we hit our goal this week and what movies we watched. You can also check out our initial resolutions post here.
My big goal this year is to watch three types of movies a week:
- 1 New Movie (anything that has come out in the last 3-4 months)
- 1 Movie From My Netflix Queue (it has to be from the list I cemented in stone at the beginning of 2014 to count)
- 1 Movie I’ve Been Meaning to Rewatch
Lets take a look at what was watched this past week.
New Movies:
- Ex Machina – Brilliant film, and definitely one of my favorites from this year. I am excited to rewatch it because there are so many facets and questions about the movie that I think I could return many times. Oscar Isaac is delightful in this.
- The Last Five Years – Cute premise and all, but overall nothing too exciting. I loved all of Anna Kendrick’s parts and wasn’t nearly as into Jeremy Jordan’s. I don’t know how much of that is my love for Kendrick versus how much Jordan’s character sucked.
- Everest – Read my review here!
- The Overnight – I was hoping to like this more. It definitely is more unique than your average indie and goes to some REALLY weird places, just not the ones I thought it might. If you like awkward comedy this is perfect for you.
- Man Up – Not a great movie, but not a terrible romantic comedy either. Lake Bell and Simon Pegg make this a decent watch, but I also wouldn’t recommend it just because there’s not much there.
- Macbeth – Watched in London during the LAMB meet up which felt fitting. It’s a really beautiful film that I’m glad I saw in theaters if I was going to see it at all, but it’s not a must-see in my opinion. Fassbender is great as Macbeth, but I was expecting a lot more from Lady Macbeth and the witches.
- Inside Out -This movie is super sweet and super smart. Not sure how it would land with kids because damn is it SAD, but there’s also a lot of bright colors and neat visuals to keep them interested I suppose. I love Amy Poehler in this.
Re-watched:
- Midnight in Paris – This was my favorite movie the year it came out. I absolutely loved it when I saw it in theaters. On a rewatch it’s a little more slight than I remember, but still really delightful.
- Juno – Watched this on the plane back from London and cried when Paulie runs to find Juno. Gets me every time. This is definitely one of my most loved movies of all time. I just love everything about it.
- Trick ‘r Treat – This is possibly the coolest movie made about Halloween with all the interconnecting stories having a really fun angle. If you haven’t seen this, do yourself a favor and get on it.
- The Thing – Speaking of horror movies, rewatching The Thing was another great experience, just like any other time I’ve watched it. Check out our Mini podcast where we gush about it forever.
- Poltergeist – This was one movie that really benefited from a rewatch in my mind. I saw it quite a bit growing up (check what I wrote about it on this list), but hadn’t seen it all the way through as an adult. I think it’s quite awesome and although the effects and hardcore 80’s stuff doesn’t hold up, the premise still does.
Off the Queue:
- In Bruges – I knew a lot of people really love this film, so I was hoping for something at least a little amazing. Doesn’t quite get there. I think it’s a good movie, but not one I’d really worry about rewatching. Brendan Gleeson is really good in it, and Ralph Fiennes is awesome though.
- Man on Wire – Decided with The Walk coming out that I’d finally watch this acclaimed doc that has been in my queue for years. It really is a magical story and a really well made doc. I was transfixed by the interesting story and ragtag group of dreamers and totally get what all the fuss is about.
- The Visit – I really enjoyed this latest effort from Shamallama. I won’t say that he’s “returned to form” because I’ve never been terribly impressed with his work but I thought this was a mighty fun effort.
- MacBeth – About what you’d expect – beautiful, well acted and very dense. I’m glad I watched this but I doubt I’ll return to it again any time soon.
- Circle – This is one of those figure out the “why”, last man standing type survival movies. There isn’t a lot of takeaways here and at most you’ll have an internal debate over who should die between a 10 year old child and a pregnant lady. Very stupid conclusion.
- The Lazarus Effect – This is another well acted but otherwise lame cinematic effort. It just exists in a realm of mediocrity.
- Dear White People – Massively over-hyped. Conceptually fantastic but not funny enough to land as a satire and not thought-provoking enough to work as a poignant piece. Overall it would have been a more effective watch without the preconceived notion that it was something of “greatness”. Still, I welcome the fresh perspective and I hope it brings about more films of similar ilk.
Re-watched:
- Poltergeist – I’ll be discussing this on an upcoming episode of the Lambcast and I’m excited about that. The movie is a bit dated but very effective. It’s easy to see why this movie is such an inspiration for the horror genre.
- The Thing – Remains high on the list of all time favorite horror films. Check out our latest podcast to hear more thoughts.
- Focus – Still fun. The sorely underrated flick that should be enjoyed if you’re in the mood for something not too meaty but still entertaining.
- Spy – Still hilarious. Worth about a million rewatches for MaCarthy’s lines and Statham’s delivery.
- Mad Max: Fury Road – We watched this 3 times on vacation. THREE! It’s just bad ass and thrilling from start to finish. What a lovely day indeed!
Off the Queue:
- Munich – Finally ticked this Spielberg effort off my watch list for an episode of The Exploding Helicopter with Will. Listen and find out all about our favorite scene of Rumpy Pumpy!
- The Human Centipede 2 – I’m not entirely sure Tom Six likes horror films. I think he just likes to annoy and prod people. The second installment of the film does not improve upon the first.
- Marathon Man – Loved this. I finally decided to just dig in to my Instant list and thankfully I jumped off with a really solid flick. This continues my love of Dustin Hoffman and the art of making movies in the 70’s.
- The House I Live In – A brutal look at how fucking stupid drug crime laws are in the U.S. just in case you didn’t already know that. Still a great watch even if you already have a good handle on the subject matter.
- Detropia – Interesting but not terribly exciting. A few of the stats surprised me but I felt like I could have just read an article on this topic.
- John Dies at the End – Weird and fun. I can see why the movie is both hard to describe and outright love but I liked a lot of what it was going for. I wish it had a slightly bigger budget to pull off some of the film’s bigger moments. I’d love to read the book it’s based off of.