Moviewatcher122's 2014 Film Diary: December

December 1



"Why Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave."

This movie is cinematic greatness. First of all, the acting is excellent all-around. This movie is one of Kurt Russell's finest hours and Val Kilmer is also great and it sucks that his career went downhill because he is a really underrated actor. This movie also had some great dialogue and some really great shootout scenes. This is a great western and probably one of my favorite movies of the genre.

December 2



I was skeptical about this movie going into it, but what I saw was something different. Now this movie does have very little dialogue, but Robert Redford still delivers an amazing performance just by facial expressions and body language and it is just an emotionally powerful movie. Now this movie isn't for everyone. Some people will be turned off by the lack of dialogue and will just find the movie boring, but if you're looking for a different kind of movie experience then it's worth a try. It's a great movie that was better than I was expecting it to be and it's a rewarding experience overall.

December 2



"Why they call you Pyro, honey?"
"Cause I hooked a flashbang in a meth lab, burned down the whole fucking apartment building."

This movie is a travesty in every way. The movie actually gave away what was so awful about it right from the beginning of the movie. It starts off with a woman getting brutally beat up and that was when I had a feeling that the movie was not going to redeem itself. Needless to say, it didn't. This was just an awful movie. The tone was just too dark, the characters were borderline unlikable and the action scenes would be good if it wasn't for these problems. This is just a travesty in every way and it's the worst Arnold Schwarzenegger movie I've ever seen.

December 3



"You know, it's funny... you come to someplace new, an'... and everything looks just the same."
"No kiddin', Eddie."

This wasn't that great of a movie. While the dialogue was OK and it does have some things to like about it, I just didn't connect with the characters and for a comedy it was only mildly funny at times. It's one of Jim Jarmusch's weaker films and it just doesn't have a lot to offer.

December 3



"I hope life on Earth is everything you remember it to be."

This was a really fascinating movie. It had some great acting, a simplistic yet really well done story and it is also really visually appealing. It's a great movie and it's one of the more realistic sci-fi movies.

December 4



"You don't remember your name?"
"No, but for some reason I remember yours."

This movie was actually pretty underwhelming. While it had a lot of creative ideas and the animation is amazing, (Even though great animation is the norm for anime.) I just didn't emotionally connect with the characters and there were a couple of times where I could actually predict what was going to happen in this movie. In the end it's a decent movie, but it's very overrated.

December 5



"Holy shit, he fight clubbed himself! We have a fight clubber!"

If you're expecting this movie to be as good as the first one then you will be disappointed. However, if you're just looking for a funny movie like I was then this movie might deliver. This movie had some good laughs and I liked how this movie went in a different direction than the first one. It's nowhere near as funny as the first movie, but it's good in its own right and it's worth seeing when there's nothing else playing in theatres.

December 5



"Are you going to shoot me?"
"That depends. Do you see me?"

I think I just found my new favorite Coen Brothers movie. This movie just had great storytelling and it was very disturbing at times. Also Javier Bardem just steals the show in this movie. Even when he's not even saying anything he's still very menacing and just really creepy. It's the best Coen Brothers movie I've seen so far and I don't think anything can top it.

December 6



"Does he have Alzheimer's?"
"No, he just believes what people tell him."
"That's too bad."

I'm sorry, but I don't get the praise for this movie. While it does have some good acting, I just thought the movie was dull and I just thought the story was not very interesting. Now this movie does have some interesting moments and it can be occasionally funny at times, but overall this movie is overrated and Alexander Payne has made better movies than this one.

December 6



"Your Majesty, my task is completed now. My decision will cause the deaths of many and Your Majesty will live on. A dead man begs you to remember; a warrior's ultimate act is to lay down his sword."

While the story of this movie isn't really original, it's still a really good movie with some pretty good acting and some really well-done fight scenes. The movie could've been longer though.

December 7



"So you found God, huh? That's awesome. See, Mom kept calling out for him but he wasn't around. I guess Jesus was down at the mill forgiving all the drunks. Who knew?"

This movie is pretty much the Rocky of the UFC generation. While I do think that Rocky is the better movie, this movie still has some very good storytelling, great acting and I can see a lot of people relating to this movie.

December 8-9



"What kind of hooker takes credit cards?"
"A rich one."

Even though this was my most anticipated movie of last year, I didn't get around to seeing it until now because of it's time length. I made a goal to watch it before the year ended and fortunately I got around to doing so. This movie was just as great as I was expecting it to be. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers what is quite possibly his best role ever. He just really disappears into his character and he really should've won the Oscar for his performance. Also Matthew McConaughey who I mostly can't stand even in his newer films also delivers a great performance. This movie has lots of funny lines and it's one of the funniest movies of 2013. It also tells a really great story and the dialogue was just really good. For a 3 hour movie it never feels like a chore to watch and not once does it feel too long. I'm glad I finally saw this movie and it's on par with Martin Scorsese's other great movies.

December 9



"Isn't it lonely, if you can't go out?"
"Why? Are you less lonely because you can sit in the garden? Do you feel less lonely in the metro than at home? Well then! Anyway, I have my family friend... with remote control. Whenever they annoy me, I just shut them up."

I was reluctant to watch another one of Michael Haneke's films after I saw Funny Games which not only failed at being disturbing, but it also really made me angry. This movie however was actually good. It was very intriguing at times, it has some very good acting and whenever it tries to be disturbing it actually works. On the other hand this movie also does drag on at certain times and it just feels like this movie has too much padding at times. It really does keep this movie from being any better than it already is.

December 11



"I read your letters, convict. Don't play no reindeer games with me."

This movie is pretty much a poor man's Die Hard. The story of this movie is weak, the writing is very uninspired and Ben Affleck was just godawful. I never thought Ben Affleck was that bad of an actor, but this is the first time that I've seen a performance from him that was so bad. He was just a very wimpy POS that no sensible person would want to root for. Even as an action movie it fails and it's just a bad movie. Gary Sinise was an alright villain though.

December 11



"A lot of great-looking women in the world. I never met one made me wanna give up all the others."

While I was underwhelmed by this movie at first, it kept getting better as the movie went on. It is a really powerful movie with some really good acting and it's a movie that I could see myself watching again.

December 12



"My ass may be dumb, but I ain't no dumbass."

While this is the weakest Quentin Tarantino movie I've seen so far, it's still pretty damn awesome. Instead of having the crazy amount of violence that most of his movie have, this one is all about the acting and dialogue which isn't a problem as I love Tarantino's dialogue and the acting is just fantastic. Every scene with Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro was in were the best parts of the movie, but Pam Grier also delivers a pretty good performance and even Chris Tucker is great which is not really surprising considering that he's pulled off serious roles before. Even though it's not Tarantino's best work, I still think it's a great movie and it's different from everything else he's done.

December 13



"You can't stop him, Stoick. You can only prepare him. I know it seems hopeless, but the truth is you won't always be around to protect him! He's going to get out there again. He's probably out there now!"

This may surprise you, but this is my first time seeing this movie and it looks like it won't be my last either. While the story isn't really anything new, it's still done really well and it also has some really great characters and I really loved how this movie actually takes it's target audience seriously which is something we don't get too often in kids movies these days. Also the animation in this movie was really something special. While I mostly prefer hand-drawn animation, this movie is proof that CGI-animated movies can look amazing too. It's a really great movie and I regret not seeing it earlier.

December 14



"Man, I can't believe you. Every time you do coke this shit happens."
"Hey, wait a minute man, how come every time I do coke you say that 'every time you do coke' thing?"

While it's not as good as the first movie, I do prefer this one over Cheech and Chong's Next Movie. It was very funny and it also was pretty surreal near the end of the movie.

December 15



"Sometimes I think I have felt everything I'm ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I'm not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I've already felt."

This was a beautiful, yet also underwhelming movie. While this movie does have it's amazing scenes, it also has some average and just non-engaging scenes. It just felt like an inconsistent movie and the type of humor it goes for didn't really suit the tone of this film. Now this movie does have some impressive acting and it does have a lot of good things for me to give it a 7/10, but it is just isn't an amazing movie although I can understand why it would be for other people.

December 16

Re-watch



"Why the hell did you take your shoes off?"
"Why the hell are you dressed like a chicken?"

This movie still holds up very well after all these years. This is probably one of my favorite Christmas movies if not my favorite. (I'll have to watch A Christmas Story again to see which one's better.) First of all Macaulay Culkin really delivers an excellent performance for his age he was back then. It's just very impressive with how he was able to carry most of this movie on his own. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are also awesome as the cat burglars and I especially love how Joe Pesci plays a more exaggerated version of some of the other characters he's played. While the trap scenes with the end are hilarious and it's one of the funniest scenes ever in my opinion, this movie is actually very consistently funny from start to finish. It's one of the best Christmas movies and even though it suffered from some bad sequels, this movie will always be great even if they keep milking this cow until Home Alone 10 which might happen. I should revisit Home Alone 2 though as it's been a while since I've seen it and it could possibly be better than I remember.

December 17



"Good morning! Let's get to the chopper!"

This movie has one fatal problem that ruins this movie: It's PG-13. Hell, I watched the unrated version and it barely has any blood. It's obviously just some extra 5 minutes of footage, but they shouldn't call it the unrated version if it has just as much blood as a pricked finger. Now I have nothing against PG-13 movies, but it's clear that this movie was meant to be rated R. Most of the action in this movie revolves on gun violence and that's a problem. The action in this movie is mostly mediocre at best and while there were some cool special effects every now and then, there were also other times where I was thinking "God, that would be cooler if there was some blood." Also it just doesn't have the humor that was part of what made the second movie good. The only line in this movie I found amusing was Arnold's line that I quoted. Another thing I really hated this movie was how it wastes it's cast on a very boring action movie and it also adds unnecessary cast members that add nothing to the movie whatsoever. This movie just takes away everything that make The Expendables 2 good and all it's nothing, but a soulless summer blockbuster movie which was the opposite of what the previous movie was. It was a self-aware action movie that also made the best out of its legendary cast. While I wasn't a fan of the first Expendables by any means, it still had some good action scenes even if the script was lacking. This movie had the potential to be the best in the series, but instead it's the worst and Sylvester Stallone really sold-out with this movie.

December 17



"Insanity is wasting your life as a nothing when you have the blood of a killer flowing in your veins. Insanity is being shit on, beat down, coasting through life in a miserable existence when you have a caged lion locked inside and a key to release it."

While this movie does have it's share of flaws like how the tone of this movie keeps changing and how wimpy the main character was at times, it's actually a pretty entertaining movie. It's not trying to be anything more than a entertaining movie and even though the middle of the movie is the worst part, it still had it's moments. The acting was mostly good and I just loved how a serious actor like Morgan Freeman showed up in this movie. It's definitely one of his funnier roles of his career along with Nurse Betty. While the ending is similar to the ending that aggravated me in Funny Games, in this movie it surprisingly wasn't a problem. While I didn't like how it basically rewinded back to the beginning of the movie at first and I was preparing to hate it, but when James McAvoy looks at the camera and says "What the fuck have you done lately?" then I said to myself "Well, he's got me there. I could see some people really hating that ending, but that final line made the ending work for me. While this movie has flaws, it's just too fun for me to not enjoy it.

December 18



"This list... is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf."

I have been putting off watching this movie for a while mainly because of its time length and because I assumed it was going to be nothing but depressing for most of the movie. Today I finally decided to give in and finally watch it. Fortunately it wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Now this movie is really hard to watch at times and it is depressing, but it's only like that for about half of the movie. Anyways, this movie is just as great as I was lead to believe. Everything about this movie is fantastic and it just captures the darkness of the Holocaust very well. Also Liam Neeson gives his best performance and this is probably my favorite Spielberg movie to date.

December 19



"Wanna know what a cockroach is called in Algeria?"
"Why the fuck would someone want to know that?"

This was a really bad spoof of Pulp Fiction, but yet I've seen spoof movies that are far worse than this one. Now this movie is bad and awful in some parts, but it actually had a funny joke once in a while which is something I can't say for the spoof movies worse than this one.

December 19



"Can I help?"
"Only by going away."
"No, no, no, no. My father always taught me, never desert a lady in trouble. He even carried that as far as marrying Mother."

I haven't seen any of Alfred Hitchcock's movies this year, so I watched this one and I might have to watch another one before the year ends because this one was underwhelming. Now this movie does have some of Hitchcock's trademark suspense and while it does work in this movie and it does have some interesting moments, I just wasn't invested in this movie like I was with his other movies. It's a decent movie, but it's the weakest Hitchcock movie I've seen so far.

December 20



"Butts are bad because they wash out to sea, and fish smoke them and become nicotine-dependent."

This movie is fantastic in every way. The animation style is very unique, the storytelling is great and I just really loved the odd sense of humor this movie had. While I do feel like this movie could've been longer as I felt like I could've gotten a bit more out of it, I can tell that this is a movie that I'm going to watch more than once as I can see the re-watch value being very high with this one.

December 21



"You did it Katniss, you showed them. You showed them that no one can stop you. Thank you."

This is the weakest Hunger Games movie so far, but it still worked for me than it did for most people. I thought the storytelling was good, the acting was solid and it still has that social commentary that I enjoyed from the other movies. It does rely on too much build-up though and I still think it would've worked better as one movie, but for what it is it's pretty good. Hopefully the second part is better though.

December 21



"I have wasted thousands and thousands of kisses on you - kisses that I thought were special because of your lips and your smile and all your color and life. I used to think that was the real you, when you smiled. But now I know you don't mean any of it. You just save it for all your songs. Shame on me for kissing you with my eyes closed so tight."

This was a somewhat fun, yet unremarkable movie. Most of the humor was just mildly amusing and it's really just a generic music movie. Even though it's Tom Hanks' directorial debut, it is a very forgettable movie and it is the kind of movie you're likely to forget about after watching.

December 22



This was a really interesting documentary. While I'm nowhere near as obsessive as a movie buff as these guys, I still really liked their passion for cinema and it's a shame that these people aren't accepted into society very well. It's a very interesting documentary and it is one that anyone who loves cinema should see.

December 23



"Those who you fight, we will help you fight them."

It's about time that I watched another Uwe Boll film because so far he's been more of an inconsistent director instead of one of the worst directors. When Uwe Boll makes a good movie like Postal or Rampage, it's good in a surprising kind of way. However when Uwe Boll makes a terrible movie like House of the Dead and this one, it fails in a unique kind of way. It's just a really abysmal LOTR knock off with terrible fight scenes, atrocious dialogue, a story that's disjointed like a thumb and the special effects look horrible. While the actors do actually try to work with the shitty material they're given, but they just can't save this movie from how truly terrible it is. Now is it worse than House of the Dead? Definitely! House of the Dead was just a movie that was so abysmal that it was hilarious, while this movie was just so bad that I just couldn't believe it exists.

December 23

Re-watch



"He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny."
"He does not!"
"He does too, he looks like a pink nightmare!"

Since it has been about 10 years since I saw this movie, I thought it was about time I'd see it again. It's a great movie that captures the spirit of Christmas very well, it's very hilarious at times and it's pretty much just as great of a movie as I remembered. I was originally going to lower my original rating for it though because I just didn't feel like it was deserving of a perfect score, but when the ending of this movie happened I just decided to keep it. While I still think Home Alone is the better movie, this one is still up there as one of the best Christmas movies.

December 24



Seriously? This was the movie that North Korea got offended over? Unbelievable! This movie is one of the worst comedies to come out this year. This movie should've just been a trailer as almost all of the funny parts in this movie were already in the trailer. Most of the time it's like this movie isn't even trying to be funny and for a movie that had a lot of controversy surrounding it, it was actually pretty inoffensive. To explain this movie's "humor" in a nutshell, it's just a bunch of dick jokes and swearing. I was pissed off about this movie being pulled from the theatres at first, but now I'm glad it was released on YouTube instead because I'm glad I didn't waste a lot of money on this movie like I would've if I saw it in theatres. Terrible movie and it's one of Seth Rogen's worst movies.

December 24



"Movies and porn are different, Jon. They give awards for movies."
"And they give awards for porn too."

I was expecting this movie to be good, but I never thought that I would love this movie that much. It is a really great movie with lots of really great dialogue and it is also very funny at times, but I also really loved the acting and what this movie had to say. This is a excellent directorial debut for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it's proof that he needs to write and direct another one because he really has a talent outside of acting.

December 25



"As we sat there listening to the carolers, I wanted to tell Brian that it was over now and that everything would be okay. But that was a lie, plus I couldn't speak anyway. I wish there was some way to go back and undo the past. But there wasn't. There was nothing we could do. So I just stayed silent and tried to telepathically communicate how sorry I was about what happened. And I thought of all the grief and suffering and fucked up stuff in the world, and it made me want to escape. I wished with all my heart we could just leave this world behind. Rise like two angels in the night and magically disappear."

This was a very messed-up movie, but it's also very powerful and very realistic. It's not a great movie and it is a bit too much at times, but I still really liked it for what it is. I'm just not sure if I would want to watch it again though.

December 26



"It's a little more complicated than that, mother."
"Meaning what, exactly?"
"Billy raped and killed a sixteen year old girl."
"I'm sure he had his reasons."

I don't get it. I do not understand what this movie was going for at all. Was there a point to it? It seems like it was trying to be realistically violent, yet I thought the violence in this movie was senseless and this was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn who has mastered this kind of stuff in his previous movies. He's the guy who directed Drive, a movie that tries to do the same thing and it portrays it better than it was in this movie. This movie just felt needlessly violent for the sake of it. Then there's Ryan Gosling who is a great actor, but in this movie he wasn't given much to do. He didn't bring anything special to this movie and neither did the rest of the cast. The dialogue is also horrible and it tries to be intelligent, but just comes off as pretentious. I cannot believe that this piece of shit was directed by the same guy who directed great movies like Drive and Pusher. This is just a movie that tries to be artistic, but it's just a bunch of trash.

December 27



"Well, I just figure any man who risks his neck to save a dog's life isn't going to kill someone for gold teeth."

This was a pretty cool movie. The chemistry between Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin is great and it's just a really cool action movie over all. If I did have a complaint it would be that the ending was pretty abrupt and I think they could've chosen a better way to end the movie, but other than that it was a very good one and it's very overlooked.

December 28



"Listen guys, there are plenty of successful people who didn't go to college. Albert Einstein. You know? Pocahontas never went to college. Corey Feldman and Corey Haim; they had a great run. Both Lewis and Clark. Suzanne Somers. Bono."

It's not a great movie, but it does have many funny scenes and it kind of feels like a modern John Hughes movie. It surprisingly has that kind of heart that his films had and the speech near the end of the movie was pretty well-done.

December 28



"I'm not going to lose it. I'm going to gamble it."

Since the remake of this movie has just recently came out which I may or may not see in theatres and since it is also leaving Netflix, I decided to check out this movie. This movie is a underrated classic in every way. James Caan is great as always and it's probably one of the most accurate portrayals of gambling in a movie. It's a movie that does not deserve to be overlooked and hopefully this movie will get more recognition from the remake although it doesn't seem too likely.

December 29



"To win your next match, use the element which brings life."

What a bunch of crap. While the fight scenes in this movie was decent, it suffers from a weak story, bad acting, terrible jokes and it just captures the style of the game very poorly. This is a movie that fails as a video game adaptation and it fails as a standalone movie.

December 30



"I'd offer you a beer, but it seems you blew up my bar."

This was a very fun movie. It had some good action, it was funny and Dwayne Johnson and Seann William Scott actually made a pretty good team. This movie had everything it needed to be a box office success, but for some reason it flopped. It's a really good movie and it's one of Dwayne Johnson's best movies.

December 30



"I want to know why you are the way you are!"
"And I'm telling you it's not any one thing that I can point to and say "That's why!" It doesn't work that way with people who have problems, Ann, it's not that neat, it's not hat tidy! It's not a series of little boxes that you can line up and count. Things just don't happen that way."

If you've been reading these lists for a while then you'd already know that I'm not a fan of Steven Soderbergh's work. I just find his style of filmmaking to be dull and he just hasn't made many movies that I consider to be good. This movie however is an exception. This is one of the few movies that he actually wrote the script for and his writing was actually pretty good. While I did think this movie was a bit slow, it still manages to be interesting most of the time and it's overall a decent directorial debut. It's not a great movie and it's not something I would want to watch again, but it's still a good movie and I have no regrets watching it.

December 31



"Perhaps you did not come here to live like a Gypsy, but I did not come here to work like an Arab... to be treated like an Arab. For four years we have lived a life we could not afford and spent almost everything to marry Soraya with a good family. This apartment alone has cost us over one hundred forty thousand dollars in rent. And what of Esmail's university education? Soon we *will* have nothing... And then you will see what it is like to walk in the shoes of the Gypsies... So... Beginning tomorrow you will begin packing, and there's no more to discuss. Mrs. Behrani, do not open your lips."

This was a very powerful movie. It had exceptional performances from Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley and the plot sounds like something that wouldn't work on paper, but it surprisingly works really well. It's a great movie and it's just a emotionally powerful experience.

December 31-January 1



I've been planning to watch this movie this month, but later on I decided that it would be better to end the year with this movie. It's a good thing I chose to do that as it was the perfect movie to end the year with. This movie is a fantastic tribute to cinema with a remarkable coming of age story. I loved everything about this movie and one thing I really loved in this movie was the score. I rarely talk about a score to a movie, but the score in this movie really adds to the emotion of this movie. It's a really beautiful movie and it's one that every film buff should see.