Movie Grades 2Q 2010
I guess this is a few weeks late, but I’ve been pretty busy this month with the WSOP and driving 3,200 miles in a week (first back to Houston from Vegas and then back to Houston again from New York after helping my girlfriend move). I actually really enjoy driving a lot probably for the same reason I enjoy flying (provided there’s not wifi on the plane): it’s a nice chance to disconnect from technology and reconnect to yourself and your thoughts. I know this is achievable in everyday life, but I find it pretty hard to avoid the impulse to get out my phone and visit some random website or whatever (though I am working on trying to get better at this; it turns out the iPhone’s battery life isn’t as bad as I thought provided you’re not playing with it constantly).
Anyway, here are the movies I saw in the second quarter of this year along with a letter grade on how much I liked them and a brief comment about them. I saw Inception a couple days ago (that will appear in the 3Q grades) and I was really disappointed. Based on all the things I had heard people saying, I went into it expecting it to have a good shot at surpassing Shutter Island for my favorite movie of 2010, but it didn’t even come close. The storyline concept was cool, but I thought the movie did an inadequate job of making you empathize with the hero. The whole movie hinged on DiCaprio’s struggle to get back to his children which was a struggle that I thought the movie did a terrible job of getting the audience to support. I could have cared less whether or not he succeeded, so the movie was very unsatisfying imo.
A-
Usual Suspects – I saw this when I was a teenager but don’t think I was really able to follow it then.
Kick Ass – I can’t think of another movie where gratuitous violence was so hilarious.
El Secreto en sus Ojos – Coulda done without the romantic storyline, but was otherwise an awesome murder mystery thriller.
B+
Law Abiding Citizen – A poor man’s Se7en.
Nordwand – German mountain climbing movie. Started off slow, but got really good by the end.
Syriana – Never really got as suspenseful as I was hoping it would, but a good movie nonetheless.
The Damned United – Brian Clough reminds me a little of Phil Hellmuth.
B
Edge of Darkness – Got a little over the top with the villain figure.
B-
MacGruber – I laughed my ass off a few times, but overall should have probably just waited for it to come out on video.
Rendition – I normally like the war on terror genre, but this kinda sucked.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – This had stretches of being pretty good and stretches where I nearly shut it off.
C+
Dog Pound – Succeeded in being violent and captivating but the storyline was simply too far-fetched.
Robin Hood – This could have been a good movie, but they let it get too cheesy in some parts.
C
Men Who Stare at Goats – Stupid.
Tenderness – Mediocre psycho-thriller.
D
Streets of Blood – This was just a trainwreck.
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