The spy who came in from the cold. Dear god its fucking good. 5/5

"I am the machine that reveals the world to you as only I alone am able to see it."

Slumdog Millionaire. God damn Boyle. Kubrickian diversity comparisons abound in post film conversation.

4/5(could increase upon further viewings.)

See it. Its great.

rumor: Malick to make Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Ohhh shiiiit!

"Nothing says date movie like a 3-D ride to hell."

Thanks My Bloody Valentine 3-D trailer.

Scott's Body Of Lies is decent. My brother said it was like being punched in the face with terrorism. Its definitely gritty, the everyones morals get thrown out the window pretty quick which almost always makes for a good watch. Lies has Some decent dialogue throughout and a good performance from Crowe and an acceptable one from Dicaprio. I can see why it tanked though.

3/5

Oliver Stone's W uses only one letter in its title. My review will only have one word. Shit.

1/5

p.s.

Thandie Newton as Condie is to razzies as Daniel Day as Plainview is to oscars.

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A poster almost as badass as the film.

If you thought Citizen soldier was the epitome of awful then wait to you see Kid Rock's gutbuster "Warrior!"

I'm so glad this exists

Tony Takitani.

I was given this flick by a friend who was moving. I looked up it up and read that many favorite creators of mine loved this film including Cormac McCarthy. So I watched it finally after pushing it aside for several months and I wished I had watched it sooner. . Its a great film simply about a man lost in the world  caught between his new world and the world he left behind. The film is simple and at times stylish and always incisive.

5/5

Todd Haynes Film I'm Not There is fucking AMAZING. Proof follows below.

5/5

The trailer for original Inglorious Bastards is boring.

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1704077360

This looks like a goofy disaster.

Neuromaner is being directed by the guy who made Torque. It also is rumored to star Hayden Christensen who blows. What the hell happened to the Cunningham version damnit. The poster is pretty cool though i'll give em credit.

Genius Party Beyond 2nd trailer! from Quiet Earth on Vimeo.

SeeqPod - Playable Search

Peter Bogdanovich's Targets. I thought the only great film Bogdanovich made was The Last Picture Show.I was wrong. Targets is a meta as hell film about the boogey men of yesteryear and the Norman Bates esque newschool monster. Midway through Boris Karloff owns you with a story about Death personified and a man he bumps into at the market. Just when you think Karloff is speaking(and looking) directly at you Bogdanovich shifts the shot and you are back into the world of the film. I can't imagine how unsettled people were watching this picture drive-in's back in the day. A great flick and a perfect last picture for Boris Karloff.

5/5

Aronofsky to direct Robocop for release sometime in 2010. 

via

Im into this

Kurosawa's Red Beard, a stylish fully developed tale of the ugliness of life and those who fight for the needs of others. Every decent man dreams of growing up and being just like Mifune in this movie. A must watch.

5/5

http://www.empireonline.com/video/watchmen/

http://www.empireonline.com/video/watchmen/

Watch it, watch it again. then clean yourself.

I'm Left speechless.

Things like this convince me I'm never going to see everything japan has to offer.

New bond trailer is out, it is pleasing.

Here

Spore is gnarly

da finch

I've  never really been a huge Fincher fan but, this trailer does it for me i'm not gonna lie.

Mania!

Today was amazing as I discovered that the incredible Tatsuya Nakadai who performed his craft in countless classic films including Yojimbo / Sanjuro,Fires on the Plain,Sword of Doom,Ran,Kagemusha,Kwaidan,Hara Kiri, and a uncredited debut role in the Seven Samurai is going to be in DC at the National Gallery of art to screen a film of his directed by the great Kon Ichikawa(I am a Cat). Needless to say my ass is there with bells on. 

link

New Gaspar Noe

They Speak for themselves.

Jesus Von Trier

Innaritu going and being a showoff

Cronenberg

Kitano-sama!

Zhang Yimou

Claude LeLouch(my favorite one)

Tarsem Singh's The Fall

The first trailer I saw for this one did not instill much enthusiasm on my part, but I read a few good reviews and decided to give it a watch(the below posted trailer is great). We hit a fucking mysterious suburban traffic jam on the way to the theatre so I missed the first scene, but It didn't matter the film was awesome. Immediate comparison are going to be made to Pan's Labyrinth which is fair and I would put this film at nearly the same level. The Fall is a bit lighter in tone than Pan's Labyrinth but still going to be to heavy for some. The bizzare style of Singh is just a show-stopper, men are born from burnt trees there are human chandeliers and impossible rows of stairs and its all captured with a stylish and evocative camera(which is apparent from the first shot of the below posted trailer). Basically it boils down to the fact that Tarsem is a badass and you should see this movie post haste. Consider me impossibly excited and preemptively terrified for his version of the videogame condemned(his supposed next project).

5/5

The Good, The Bad and the Weird

Recent Watchings

Summer Palace by Lou Ye

4/5 . College life and romance in troubled china of the 80's . Filled with great Scorcese esque cinematography intense acting not to mention it was banned in and the director is not allowed to be

involved in film for 5 years. Sex scenes will probably make some people panic due to their frankness.

Speed Racer by the Wachowski's

3/5 I enjoyed it for its goofy and fun sensibilities. It felt like it was a labor of love for the Wachowski's.

An affront to taste and decency, lacking completely in geometry and theology.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/beverlyhillschihuahua/

Mid Shift Fourth/Fifth Night

Some more John Wayne stuff I cant really remember. You can only take so much Wayne. I think it was Wings of eagles(3/5(got muddled at the end) and Wake of the Red Witch(2/5 he fights a giant squid like the thing in Ed Wood).

Fellini's 8 1/2 finally got snuck in. Its a delicious amount of fantasy and movie industry personalities makes for a great watch. Not to mention the killer stylish direction.

5/5

Once upon a time in America

Possibly Leone's best film, mainly due to the fact the our Protagonist is plainly a monster of a man. You can still respect him a little bit because he seems to live his life by some kind of code but god what an asshole. Almost shocking in its depiction of sex and violence which I'll have to give Leone some serious credit for.Its a damn tragedy we lost Leone so early cause he was really becoming something amazing.

5/5

New Oshii

On of my favorite directors is back with a new piece. Its looks decent, I hope for some spacey malickey moments ive come to love from Oshii.

Mid Shift Third Night

The commancheros

John Wayne meh fest directed by Curtiz. 2/5

Broken Arrow

Decent but a bit wonky Jimmy Stewart helps the Apache Indians film.

3/5

Little Big Man

Hilaroius and occasionally sad forest gump of westerns starring a young ass Dustin Hoffman.

4/5

damn

Jean luc Godard once interviewed John Ford for les caheirs du cinema...

Jean Luc Godard:"What brought you to Hollywood?"

John Ford:"A Train."

Mid Shift Second Night

John Ford back to back action

First up is the undeniable classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Vera Miles in a entertaining and intelligently composed western about legends and truth. SO GOD DAMN GOOD. UGHHH! "There is nothing to good for the man who shot liberty Valance" last line. Watch the damn flick

5/5

They Were Expendable was next with Wayne and Ward Bond and the girl from White Christmas Donna Reed. Its got a few decent scenes but its over long and muddled as hell in the middle. Probably the worst John Ford movie I've ever seen.

2/5

hopefully tonight I can sneak 8 1/2 in while the other guys arent looking. But I doubt it.

Mid Shift First Night

1941- Steven Spielbergs WW2 paranoia comedy. It's Crap. It's a big budget explosion laden disaster with a joke success ration of about 1 in every 20. Makes for an annoyingly long and boring ride

2/5

White Heat - James Cagney as a cold blooded gangster with mommy issues. Lots of twists and turns and Cagney is fun to watch. Deserves the Departed treatment to really capitalize on some of the grit the story has but washes over.

4/5

True Dat: !!!!!!!

Screw Superhero movies till the die. I think i'd rather watch a pg-13 teen slasher flick then another damn b-grade marvel comics flick. Not that I really saw many of them but about ten minutes of fantastic four 2 set me to a tiff for about 3 hours. Stick with your A-game and leave all this hulk bullshit in the gutter.

There Will Be Blood

There will be Blood out on DVD today. Dont even try to call yourself a cinephile without it in your collection.

David Gordon Green's Snow Angels

Snow Angel's is the new film from personal favorite David Gordon Green. I have to say that out of his films this is probably my least favorite All the real Girls being #1.

Snow Angels tells the story of 3 different couples Teens/20ish/50ish all of which sort of sentimentally play off each other. The film has a very organic feel (common to all DGG) that makes it very involving. The style of the film is a highlight filled with emotive music and matching slick camera angels.

The downside of the film is the odd feeling the ending causes. It feels somewhat out of place but there is no real reason to say why so. Also the acting by Kate beckinsale is ok at best and is quite underwhelming for such a dramatic part. All in all its still a good watch from one of the best young talents in american film.

3/5

theplaylist.blogspot.com

This site is pretty hip. Check out this soundtracks made with certain directors in mind. I'm part way through the david gordon green list and a tear came to my eye once already.

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/search/label/Playlist%20Soundtrack%20Series

A slight revelation

Upon my recent rewatching of Amelie I realized that it is the reverse of a minimalist film. In pickpocket or l'enfant everything is so passive and and emotionless until the climax when all the passion pours out. Amelie is in your face constantly until the climax when all the overtly emotional music and cinematography dissapears and Amelie gets her make out on with no flash a all. It still functions the same way though, the films condition you to a particular style and then supplant them in the emotional climax throwing you for an emotional whirl.

New Kim Ki Duk

Michael Haneke's Funny Games U.S.

Funny Games is a shot for shot remakes of Haneke's 1997 original. The first destroyed me, the remake continues its rampage but I would say its basically the same. I read his thought behind remaking the film was that it's points was being lost in translation for western audiences(who he felt most needed to hear what he had to say). Judging from the theatre reaction people still just ending up confused, but us fuax d-grade suburban intellectuals will probably agree his not so subtleties are easier to grasp in our native tounge. His willingness to disrespect his audience is something to behold. The film is simply a trap for those who love tourture porn/slasher flicks. Haneke is judge and jury adn wants to punish us lowly sinners once he gets us in our seats. I'm not wild on torture porn and the only film in the genre I would champion is the original Texas chainsaw Massacre. The majority of the genre is dreck that really we could all do without.

My question is where does his condemnation start and end. Obviously the beforementioned films have little to no value beyond carnal entertainment and are basically for all purposes obscene, but does Haneke condemn something as masterful as say Hitchcock's Psycho or Cluzout's Diabolique? Neither Film makes some point about existence or tells a story that is going to change peoples lives to attempt and justify its use of the darkside of humanity they are simply brilliant thrillers. Can a masterwork be excludeded from the moral complications of its vile content?

Since most people (i'm somewhere in the middle) do not accept that these films are obscene or are ambivalent about it. What is the price we are paying for this sort of entertainment being accepted? From my experience I can't see any. One might argue America's impressive output of this sort of film could possibly go as far to explain some of our more aggressive tendencies but I'm certain that this sort of cult entertainment that the populus for the most part leaves behind upon graduating highschool(or dropping out) has not a damn thing to do with it(who the fuck knows why). I mean look at the Japanese, they make the most fucked up films in the highest quantity and they are about as dangerous as a wet kiss.I have come to no answers to any of the questions the film brings forth, but goddamn do I love this film for making my head run around in circles. Haneke is a mad genius.

5/5

Miwa Nishikawa's Yureru

Yureru seems to combine elements of Capra's It's a wonderful life and law and order into one simple film with a killer ending. The film tells the story of a murder, a brother gone off to find himself in the city(and become a hipster) and brother left to stay at home and the gap that grows between them. The film features the trademark japanese understated approach, simple camera work with occasionally beautfiul compositions and a somber somewhat resigned tone. The powerful and ambigous ending really makes up for the films average first two acts. On a side note the film features a scene stolen from my boy infys film Growing Down

4/5

Neil Marshall's Doomsday

Doomsday is a big dumb mashup of movies from the 80's that Neil Marshall loved. Since it wasnt screened for critics I was expecting an absolute disaster but it really isnt as bad as all that. If it had screened I would expect a tomatometer of about 20% which is about average for this sort of fair. It plays somewhat like a cinematic version of a Girl Talk song. Snippets of Mad Max, Escape from New York, and Alien with some sword and sorcery thrown in from way the fuck in left field for good measure. It has basically no focus, a ton of screaming and overbearing music but, somehow I still enjoyed it.



3/5

Jason Kohn's Manda Bala

Manda Bala is an odd beast for sure, it's the kind of documentary that one of your friends will be certain that in fact is not a documentary. The film focuses on the state of modern brazil, which apparently is fucked up beyond belief(as if City of God didnt make brazil look rough enough). Kidnappers, paranoid wealthy businessmen, kidnapping victims, plastic surgeons who fix mutitlated kidnapping victims, frog farmers,oddball cops and possibly the most corrupt politician Ive ever seen populate this oddly comic film. The editing has an eye for humor that is top-notch leaving us in the scenes long enough to catch some hilarious bit of personality from the subject. At one point the interviewer asks a policeman who is displaying his massive gun collection "Can you buy a nuclear weapon in Sao Paolo?" to which he replies in seriousness "I've never tried to. But I'm pretty certain you can". The laughs dont last forever though because as I started to think the film is making a joke out of the troubles in Brazil the film hits you with some sobering footage from kidnapping ransom videos or the very real effects of political corruption on the people of Brazil. The director is quoted saying that he felt the film was a "Non-fiction robocop" which seems a pretty insane claim, but after watching the film its an accurate way of describing the situation. Manda Bala is handled with a wit and eye for minute comic detail which is a rare treat in documentary film makes for both an enjoyable and truly eye-opening experience.

4/5

Southern Comfort

This trailer is to awesome not to share. Quoth the end sir.

Carl Theodor Dreyer's Vampyr

Dreyer is a director I've been reading about for a long time but have yet to get around too, I would always look at his stuff my college library but never made him as my choice. So after reading another article by Paul Schrader where he exalts Dreyer I figured it was time to get a move on. So I watched Vampyr. In General its a bit of a mess. Its a bit hard to follow and is fairly light on exposition but whatever its a stylish masterwork. Dreyers smooth flowing camera really has to be beheld and will take you off guard. There are two particularly amazing scenes one in which the strange doctor comes to meet our intrepid hero face to face coming down a dim stairway which is short but sweet. The second is a long dream sequence where our the main character leaves his body for a macabre bit of hallucination captured immaculately.

5/5

Massive Attack video featuring one the killer scenes from Vampyr.

SHOTS: Kihachi Okamoto's The Sword of Doom.

Kihachi Okamoto's samurai classic Sword of Doom has both a complete psychopathic murderer for a main character and also features stylish and evocative black and white cinematography.

The Sword of Doom is a stylish swordplay classic that features an incredible performance by Tatsuya Nakadai as well as some truly Iconic Imagery.

Two of the many amazing stonefaced shots of Tatsuya Nakadai.

The films shocking freeze frame conclusion will not fail to stir.

Catch Up

Double Indemnity

Stylish as hell and filled with badass performances.

Pic is enough said.

5/5

The Signal

An offbeat horror mashup that succeeds more than it fails

3/5

Be Kind Rewind

Gondry is consistently going downhill but I still like him. If he keeps up his next movie will be a mess.

3/5

Lucky Number Slevin

2/5

Blah Blah Blah it reminded me of smokin aces in its attempts to be cool.

Talia Lugacy's Descent

Talia Lugacy's Descent is basically a mess with an occasionally impressive performance from  personal favorite Rosario Dawson. The film is an attempt at taking a commonly tale of female revenge and legitimizing it by attempting to place it in a more real world situation. In the end though cheesy genre tropes find there way back in and force to the film to be more of a  schlocky shocker. 

My first and biggest problem with the film was its failed attempts at creating a style, it felt like a sad imitation of influences biggest to my eyes was Gus Van Sants Elephant. If I have to watch another 9 minute dark night club dance scene in the next year I'm going to vomit. I think this is the kind of film that every cinephile secretly fears making. 

The films supposed dramatic punch is definitely shocking but has no real impact. The films final attempt at poignancy feels undeveloped and amateurish(it reminds me of the Magnificent Seven's holding on to The Seven Samurai's "the farmers have won we have lost"). 

The only redeeming feature of this film is Rosario Dawson's occasionally impressive performance. Its a very raw and bare persona to take on and she does it with a severe intensity but only in a few scenes across the whole film. To director Lugacy's credit she captures Dawson in some impressively long close ups that a bit gut-wrenching to watch(in a good way).

A good way to look at this film is to remember that stupid ass change is Peter Parkers personality in Spiderman-3. Comb his hair to the side and give him a black suit and he is soooo saddd, this film is the same thing but with college rape/revenge.

As a side note: If this lame fucking guy with his fratish mop cut can get Rosario Dawson to go on dates with him jesus christ who can't.

2/5

George A Romero's Diary of the Dead

Diary of the Dead is a return to form for legend Romero, gone is the cheesy mainstream feel of Land and back is the cheesy angsty feel of olde. Its shot docu style best I've seen so far and actually uses the camera mans filming as part of the story instead of just a storytelling method. Ends with a nihilistic bang that I dug hard.

4/5 

Blood of Heroes

It's a goddamn postapocalyptic inspirational sports film starring Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen, and a young D'nofrio. Nough said.

3/5

Paul Schrader's Hardcore/ Richard Fleischer's The Vikings

Paul Schrader's Hardcore is George C. Scott as a old time religioney father searching for his daughter caught up in the LA porn underground. Its directed by Schrader therefore its got some really stylish scenes and tight characterizations. The high point for me was an enraged George C. Scott brawling with a lowlife through a thinly divided porn dungeon, smashing through walls all the way out onto the steep san francisco streets. Schrader lets the camera glide down the hills as Scott tosses this guy around screaming at him, it's fantastic. Schraders masterful camera movement is always a joy and George C. Scotts is always at the top of his game. A great piece of cinema.  

4/5

The Vikings is a late 50's epic filled with some cheesyness(to many people looking up and yelling ODIIIINNNNNN!!!!!)but a decent story over all. Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis are half brother vikings who both want to get with Janet Leigh the princess of wales etc etc vikings. The concluding fight scene high in a castle tower is classic, it shows how much shooting a cool place can make a decent scene and amazing one.

3/5

Joygasm

JONNNNNESSSSSSSSSSS!

Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This film upon finishing the book and rewatching the film has inched itself closer to becoming one of my favorite films if not the tip top. It features some of the most awe inspiring cinematography and nothing short of stunning acting as well as the fact that it is one 
of the most somber films I've ever seen(which I freaking love). Typically I love to share all of the films I really like with other people and enjoy that other people like them too. With this film though I could honestly give a rats ass if anyone else likes it.

Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey

I never would have thought a picture like this would have been released in 1966. If Mel Gibson didnt have this in mind when he made Apocalypto I'll eat my shoe. It's a story about  a dude credited as the Man running from a tribe of african warriors he has pissed off .The first 15 minutes consist of about 2 minutes of travel 2 minutes of shooting elephants and then 11 minutes of every character being killed except for the main dude. He of course is then sent out with a short headstart to be chased by the warriors of a tribe he has run afoul of. There is about maybe 10 lines of english dialogue  before the film is over and no subs for the stuff not in english(its not necessary though). Its main edge on Apocalypto is that it has a better sense of place then apocalypto did. The film features heavily features wildlife scenes that sort of act as transitions and show you the untamed nature of the films surroundings. Its a film far ahead of its time with its break neck pace and use of violence but keeps that old-timey dignity that has pretty much dissapeared from film today.

4/5

 

Yups

Favorite Films: Hunter

H. Parsons favorite film.

Mamoru Oshii's Avalon

 In a nutshell Oshii's movies are like genre Malick. They have a restrained pace while the camera  glides smoothly through hazy orange cinematography with reflective narration and occasionally stuff blows up. As I said genre Malick. The plot centers around an online game that people play for a living similar to something like battlefield but you get paid. The main character Ash is a solo player who is all tough and famous etc etc blah blah blah. This sort of plot always sounds stupid to me but, I think he pulled it off by making the movie look so good and featuring his typical heady dialogs. The movie has some issues with cheese here and there and occasional nerdy "cool guy" shots that make me groan. The film is worth it for its occasionally great sequences of Ash wandering the city  and some good cinematography.

3/5 

Daily Watchings

Richard Fleischer's the Narrow Margin. RKO noir that is only 70 minutes long but is good for a few thrills. Acting feels hammier than usual in a noir but its still has something going for it.

3/5

Kevin Macdonalds Last King of Scotland is a decent film with a virtuoso performance by Forrest Whitaker. The film works well in highlighting Whitakers chops but has a plasticy feel that doesnt work well for high drama imho.

3/5

Bruce Evan's Dexter-esque serial killer film. Muddled by a cheesy attempt at woo-esque style and some lame acting by Dane Cook and Demi Moore but, still not ruined.  A good performance by Kevin Costner and the novelty of following a serial killer make it enjoyable.

3/5

Olivier Dahan's La vie en Rose aka La Mome

Marion Cotillard is amazing as french singer and collector of tragedies Edith Piaf. I was expecting basically a film where 1. Marion Cotillard is amazing and 2 the rest of the movie is so so. I was wrong for sure as the creative editing and stylish direction keep what could be a pot boiler totally fresh. I suppose I should expect the french to take a music biopic and go to town with it. Note the amazing tracking shots and one particularly long and amazing tracking shot at the beginning of the 3rd act. I still haven't seen Ray or Walk the Line but I really doubt they hold a candle to this film.

4/5

Slyggy Sly's Rambo

Violence! Jesus? Violence! Jesus?? VIOLENCE VIOLENCE GORE GORE GORE VIOLENCE! jesus?

Rambo in a nutshell

3/5

Julian Schnabel's The diving bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a film which vibrant style exudes life in every scene.  The amount of passion for life this film packs is just amazing. At the end of the first act the film jerked a few tears out of my general direction as it vibrantly express Jean-Dominque Bauby's attempts to make something in possibly the worst situation imaginable. At times I would say its hard to watch but, I would say that it is very rewarding and worth viewing if your a human being.

5/5 

My Oscar Picks

Best Picture

Atonement ok. Juno really?Michael Clayton havent seen it. No Country for Old Men of course There Will Be Blood duh!

Im hoping for There will be Blood, Expecting Attonement but will be dissapointed if Michael Clayton wins (until i see it to change my mind).

Best Actor

As far as I'm concerned only Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated so only he can win.

Best Supporting

Casey Affleck In Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (He is amazing), Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men he is also amazing, Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild(didnt see it), Phillip Seymour Hoffman(the your a swell guy but not gonna win nod), Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton(No opinion).

Hoping for Casey Affleck, Expecting Javier Bardem, dissapointed by anyone else.

Actress

Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth:The Golden Age(not gonna happen), Julie Christie in Away From Here(no idea),Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose(havent seen it), Laura Linney in The savages(havent seen it either), Ellen Page in Juno(the swell job but you aint gonna win category).

Hoping for I guess Marion Cotillard cause I want her to get more famous, Expecting Marion Cotillard because she took the globe, dissapointed by Cate Blanchett cause that movie looked lame.

Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett in I'm not there(looked great but i missed it), Ruby Dee in American Gangster(color me suprised), Saoirse Ronan in Atonement(an obvious choice), Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone(the underdog, not as overt as Saoirse but still good), Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton(still no opinions of Clayton).

Hoping for Amy Ryan cause I still have a crush on her from the wire. Expecting Saoirse Ronan because she was fantastic, dissapointed by Ruby Dee becasue I wasnt moved at all.

Director

PTA - There will Be Blood(My choice hands down)

Ethan and Joel - No Country(B.A. but not PTA)

Tony Gilroy - MC(no opinion)

Jason Reitman - Juno(swell job but you aint gonna win)

Julian Schnabel - Diving Bell and the Butterfly(ask me tommorow)

Hoping PTA, expecting PTA, dissapointed by Tony Gilroy because I can see this winning and pissing me off cause its not PTA.

Cinematography

The assassination of Jesse James(It earns the nod in about 2 minutes of screen time), Atonement(same as Jesse James), The Diving bell and the butterfly(i heard amazing things but, ask me tommorow), No Country for Old Men(what you expect of the brothers coen), There Will Be Blood(Beautiful and filled with intensity but not as overt in a good way)

Hoping for Jesse James because I'll champion this film till I'm dead and fuck everyone else, Expecting No Country For Old Men cause I see the academy picking it disappointed by nothing cause this category does it for me this year.

The rest of the categories I either dont care about or cant formulate an opinion on or in the case of best original score piss me the hell of because Nick Cave and Warren Ellis were not nominated. Oh yeah and in the case of best original song who gives a fuck?

Ohhh no's Playa.

Matt Reeve's Cloverfield

Cloverfield is really about as good as the trailers lead you to believe. It's a monster/disaster film from a first person perspective that joyfully exploits its gimmick.  It does not have the most original or in depth plot but it serves its purpose and we as an audience can color ourselves thrilled.

There is a short lead in of about 20 minutes that is fairly generic and then the film goes into full on panic mode. The CG is effective and at times downright cool looking. The amount of monster in the films is actually quite small but it works for the overall feel of the film. The film balances between the main monster battle and the central characters odyssey like journey throughout the city. I wouldn't go as far to call the film scary but, I would definitely say its intense. 

Comparisons to Blair Witch will probably run through many heads. The filming is not as jarring or as spontaneous as Blair Witch and has a much more calculated feel while still somewhat maintaining the amateur look. It is my guess that Cloverfield will probably cause less motion sickness than Blair witch and in turn alienate a few less viewers.

Monster films have had a nice little resurgence lately with The Host and now Cloverfield. Basically if you actually wanted the Emmerich Godzilla to be good, this was the film you were looking for. 

3/5 "Its pretty good."