True Grit - So good. Right now, I say it's not the Coens' best, but all of their films grow in esteem upon rewatch. It's merely fantastic. Re-read that last sentence and tell me the Coen Brothers aren't awesome.
Jeff Bridges is awesome, even though his version of Rooster Cogburn sounds exactly like the grizzled prospector from Blazing Saddles. ALL HAIL THE COENS' AUTHENTIC FRONTIER GIBBERISH!
The Social Network - Movie critic Pauline Kael once said, "A great film is rarely a perfect film." I thought this quote was nonsensical babble until I saw The Social Network. I learned it in a vice-versa sort of fashion.
See, The Social Network is just about impeccable. The filmmaking, the script, the performances of the entire cast, all terrific. It's probably the best film of the year. Still, when you ask me about my favorite film of the year, this one never enters my mind. I'm sure every time I see it on cable in reruns, I'll think, "What was I thinking? This was a brilliant film!", but it simply didn't move me like other films. Maybe it's because I come from a place where I rarely think, "Boo-hoo, I hope the billionaires turn out okay!" Ah, sweet class resentment.
127 Hours - THIS, however, has stuck with me. Like all Danny Boyle films, it's visually audacious, and there's a shitload of stuff that doesn't work (the constant montages of busy crowded streets, while well-meaning, meant nothing to me), but damned if it hasn't stuck with me. James Franco is great in this.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Reminded me of the movie Speed Racer: A film with a visually audacious vision that will actively annoy 80 percent of the people that see it. I liked it; visual comparisons aside, Pilgrim's script and story are way better than whatever the hell Speed Racer's story was. I didn't have the mindgasms with this film that some critics had, nor did I think it was the worst thing ever like the other critics. The middle ground may be boring, but sometimes it makes sense.
The Fighter - An extremely well-acted version of your average sports story. And yeah, I get that Christian Bale's character was all crack-y, but is there any chance that The Fighter wins in the end? (SPOILER)
Bale, Melissa Leo (check her out in Frozen River) and Jack McGee are all excellent, and Wahlberg does his "Well-meaning, nice, completely blank guy" thing. I'm happy I saw it, and I look forward to flipping past it when it plays on FX.
The A-Team - A gigantic pile of stupid with a fine cast that's having enough fun to keep me engaged.
Look, I wasn't asking for much from this movie, so I freely admit it was on my sliding scale. I was just praying that there wasn't a sequence where everybody farted. And yes, lost of it doesn't work. The scenes with Jessica Biel are pure torture (there's no quicker way to de-sexy a woman than to cast her as a government employee), and there's a 20 minute lull between the 2nd and 3rd acts where I literally just got up and rummaged around the kitchen until it's over.
Still, shit blows up, and WELL, and the main cast actually seems to be enjoying themselves, which puts it above the downright dull Iron Man 2. A-Team and IM2 are pretty much the same crappy movie, only the cast of A-Team doesn't seem bored. A huge difference.
Black Swan - Really good, but frankly, if you've seen Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, you have a pretty good sense of where the story beats are going to go. This film is Aronofsky's mirror-image follow up. Aronofsky used his distinct POV style to explore the character of Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler; here, he uses the same style to show Natalie Portman going crazy. Portman's best performance, no doubt.
So, those are some quick thoughts. Hopefully, it's just the start of a discussion. Leave your thoughts below!
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)
The A-Team (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
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