Moviewatcher122's 2016 Film Diary: January

January 1



"I don't want to talk about time travel because if we start talking about it then we're going to be here all day talking about it, making diagrams with straws."

Ah, Looper. A movie with such an interesting concept and it was executed so well. It had great dialogue, interesting characters and a believable depiction of the future. This movie was so close to being a great one. Something I could see myself watching more than once, but then the second half of this movie happened. When this movie decides to stay on the farm location they decide to throw these out of place sci-fi/horror elements like that kid with the telekinetic powers and at this point it felt like a completely different movie. I was really enjoying the first half when it stuck with it's original concept and I was wanting more of it and all the possibilities they could've done with it, but instead they focus on something unrelated. Fortunately it does start to pick itself up near the third act, but I was still let down by the change in tone to truly enjoy it. So, I liked this movie enough to give it an 8/10 and I'll probably watch it again sometime, but knowing what happens in the middle of the film I'm not so eager to revisit it.

January 2



"Work for me, and all this will be yours: respect, power..."
"Banana!"
"...Banana!"

I was really looking forward to this movie at first when the trailers for it were released and after I saw Despicable Me 2, I was open to the idea of a Minions movie, but around the time it actually came out I was unsure how they were going to make a movie revolving around characters with a limited vocabulary work. Since my younger brother hadn't seen it yet I decided to watch it with him and to my surprise it as actually decent. It's not as good as the Despicable Me films, but it's good in it's own right. The minions were still funny here and it has interesting enough human characters to keep it from getting stale. Scarlet Overkill was a very good villain and Sandra Bullock does a really good job voicing her and I didn't even know it was her until it ended. It was a surprisingly decent movie that delivers what it promises and I think whether you'll enjoy it or not depends on your tolerance with the Minions. If you think they are hilarious then you'll enjoy this, but if you're one of those people that liked Despicable Me, but couldn't stand the Minions then you're probably not going to like it.

January 2



"What a dramatic airport."

I have been putting off watching this for a while because I wanted to familiarize myself with more of Hitchcock's films, but now I decided to watch it because even if I haven't seen all of Hitchcock's famous movies, a truly good parody doesn't require you to know the source material to understand it. I will say that it is recommended if you want to truly appreciate it, but this is something you could probably still enjoy even if you've only seen two of his films. Not only is this a hilarious spoof movie, but the attention to detail and how Mel Brooks' did his best to make it feel like an authentic Hitchcock film is very remarkable. It's a hilarious movie and it's one of Mel Brooks' finest moments.

January 3



"Look, I don't wanna get in the middle of no big gang hassle!"
"Gang? You think we some punk ass gang?"
"I am a businessman. These are my associates."

This was a fun little movie. The acting was decent especially Ice Cube who was just as good as he was in Boyz N The Hood and it shows that he does have talent as an actor. It's just a shame that he chooses to star in bland and unfunny comedies. Anyways while this movie is nothing special, it's still an enjoyable movie with a decent scenario.

January 5



"I know I seem a little too old to be in College. But for this movie you've gotta suspend disbelief."

Before I saw this movie, I couldn't stand Howard Stern at all. There were quite a few instances when I was carpooling with someone and this was their choice of what they wanted to listen to so whenever I would hear his show in the background I thought he was just obnoxious and not funny at all and it seemed like his only purpose with his show. This movie though managed to make a very funny and interesting autobiography based on a guy that I originally found annoying. I found his story interesting and judging from his movie it seems like his show was a lot more entertaining and controversial back then than it is now. I was surprised by how much I liked this and it's so well-made that even people who are not a fan of him could find some enjoyment in this.

January 7



"What's Russian for 'ass'?"
"Schzopa."
"Well, stop blowing smoke up my schzopa."

I got this movie on Blu-Ray along with another for 3 dollars and for a price that low it was worth getting. While it is pretty cheesy, I still enjoyed it and Charlie Sheen's performance was decent for this kind of movie and he really looked like he had fun being in it. He also had some funny one-liners as well. Even though it's not a great movie, I feel like I got my money's worth with this one and I'm keeping my Blu-Ray copy as I wouldn't mind watching it again.

January 7



"Is that the best your petty, prosaic little mind can come up with?"
"It's a petty, prosaic little world, Mr. Cornell."

This is another Blu-ray that I got for cheap except with this one I don't believe I've even heard of it. I was surprised by this one and how much I liked it as I'm normally not a fan of Dennis Quaid or Meg Ryan. This was a very interesting thriller with an interesting premise that was executed well and Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan both deliver good performances. Even the ending was really good and I didn't see it coming at all. It was a solid movie and I'm glad to have it in my collection.

January 8



"Where the hell were you?"
"Stuck in traffic."

This was just an average big-budget blockbuster that doesn't have a lot of substance nor does it feel like a Terminator movie. While the action scenes are good and Arnold Schwarzenegger does do a good job as the title character, the characters weren't that interesting, the tone felt too dark for a Terminator film and I thought there was a lack of tension to it. While I did enjoy watching it at certain times and is in no way a bad movie, it isn't very memorable and out of all the Terminator movies I've seen so far this one is the weakest.

January 9



"If the younger generation doesn't get into opera, then, guess what? No more opera! An art form has died. If opera goes away, we're fucked!"

I thought that this movie was underrated. For me it was consistently funny and I really enjoyed the character that Cameron Diaz played. I thought this was a funny movie and not as bad as some people make it out to be.

January 10



"Ordinarily, I don't like to be around interesting people because it means I have to be interesting too."
"Are you saying I'm interesting?"
"All I'm saying is that, when I'm around you, I find myself showing off, which is the idiot's version of being interesting."

Not the best movie that Steve Martin has been in, but it was still pretty funny and it had this kind of surrealism and odd storyline that I wasn't expecting from this movie.

January 11



"I'm sorry, are you on drugs?"
"Currently or in general?"

While the story is not very original, it still works due to Al Pacino's performance, the writing, the music and the humor. While I don't think anyone will be calling this one of Pacino's best movies, it's still good to know that he's still starring in good movies to this day.

January 11



"That's not fair!"
"You say that so often, I wonder what your basis for comparison is?"

Like a lot of people, David Bowie's death really took me by surprise. He was a fantastic musician and he was also a really good actor as well and this movie proves it. I hate to admit that this is my first time watching this and it sucks that it took the death of David Bowie for me to get around to watching it.

This movie has a very simplistic story, but it's executed so well and the acting in the movie is pretty solid for the most part. Jennifer Connelly's performance isn't perfect, but it is one of her early roles, so it's not a big deal. I loved how creative they got with such a simple story and it was also very funny at times, but then again I would expect at least some humor from a Jim Henson movie. As for David Bowie's character I really thought he was interesting and David Bowie did a really exceptional job of bringing this character to life. I also listened to quite a few of his albums since his death and I even respect him even more as a musician than I did before and Blackstar was the perfect final album to end his legacy with.

R.I.P David Bowie

January 12



"It isn't that I'm sorry I killed them; it's that I'm sorry I killed them badly."

Ben Kingsley is pretty much known for being a great actor, but is also known for starring in weird movies that don't suit him very well like The Love Guru for example. This is one of those movies in some ways except this is a well-made movie with a great performance from Ben Kingsley as usual and it's one of the few movies where Tèa Leoni isn't annoying in. It is a decent movie with an interesting character played by Ben Kingsley, the writing is decent and it is worth watching once if you're a fan of him, but it's nothing too remarkable and it's nothing that I would have an urge to watch again.

January 13



"Malcolm lives in Inglewood, California, in the Darby-Dixon neighborhood referred to as the Bottoms."
"Give me your bike!"
"Malcolm's friends Jib and Diggy are also geeks."
"All I wanna do is a zoom, zoom, zoom and a boom boom.
"Word."

This is a very cool movie that lives up to it's title. It was very funny, had interesting characters and well-written dialogue and it had a really cool soundtrack. It was confusing at first though how it made references to the 90's at the beginning, but also made current ones as well until I realized that one of the characters is obsessed with 90's culture. Still a great movie and it's definitely worth checking out.

January 14



"My old man wrote me a letter from prison once. It said if you don't want to end up in here, stay away from crime, women and drugs. Trouble is, that don't leave you much else to do, does it?"

I've had this on DVD for quite a while and I don't really remember why or how I had it in the first place, but now that I've seen it I think that it's an underrated gem. Mainly because I am a sucker for gangster movies, but even with that said this is different from some of the mob movies that are made today. While the story isn't that much different, what it's trying to do is capture the feel and style of those crime films from the 80's like Scarface and it really succeeds in doing that. Everything from the 80's soundtrack and the story of this movie really makes it feel like an 80's gangster movie and that's really what made this movie enjoyable. Not the best movie of it's kind, but I still really enjoyed it and it's a strong effort for a low budget film.

January 15



"Sometimes you have to accept looking one way in order to protect something more important."

This is one of those movies where the performances pretty much make this movie. Jonah Hill proves that he can do serious roles in this one very well and James Franco is also really good in this movie as well, but then again it's already well-established that he's a solid actor when it comes to comedic and serious roles. The story was interesting for the most part although it does start to lose a bit of steam near the second half. I do think it's a good movie and it's worth watching at least once, but it also could've been better and it kind of lacks that emotional impact.

January 16



"Amoebas don't make motorcycles and atomic bombs!"

I used to love anime as a kid, but it was something I grew out of as I got older and I used to love comic books, but I kind of grew out of that as well. Even with that said I loved this movie and it reminded me why I loved those two things in the first place as this movie really feels like a comic book in movie form. The animation is colorful and visually nice to look at and it has a lot of creative ideas, but I also loved the story and the characters as well and I was invested in with what was going on. This is a fantastic movie and it's the best anime film I've seen so far.

January 17



"Smile, my boy. It's sunrise."

This is one of Robin Williams final appearances in a movie and unfortunately it's the worst movie I've seen him in. While he did do a decent job as Teddy Rosevelt like he did in the last two movies, this was just so flawed and so godawful that not even he could save it. The main problem with this movie is that it feels so tired and stale at this point and the idea of a museum coming to life isn't interesting or funny anymore. Hell, it wasn't even that funny in the second movie, but at least that one had it's moments. With this movie however I was bored throughout the whole thing and it just shows that a third Night at the Museum movie was overkill. It wasn't even funny and most of the times it's like it's not even trying to be funny. There were a few jokes that I liked like Hugh Jackman's cameo, but most of it was tired and just desperate to try and get a laugh out of it's audience. The acting isn't that great either as beside Robin Williams, the rest of the performances weren't good. It felt like Ben Stiller just phoned it in at this point, the kid from the shitty Vacation reboot who now plays Larry's son was really bad and just unlikable and Rebel Wilson's role was completely pointless. I guess others like Ricky Gervais, Mickey Rooney and Steve Coogan were OK, but they still couldn't make the movie interesting. Also Ben Kingsley was in this and I was shocked that he decided to star in this. What the hell is up with that guy and his weird role choices? He's a great actor and he shouldn't have to star in crap like this.

I loved the first movie as a kid and I still have fond memories of it, but with this movie I'm wondering if even kids will be interested in this. They probably will, but going through my perspective and what I enjoyed as a kid, if this came out when I was a kid and it was still the same movie it is today then I think that even as a kid I would find this movie boring and that's saying something. Really the most interesting part about this movie is that the first two minutes of it was filmed in my local area. Overall this was a very unnessecary sequel and they really should've stopped right after the first one.

January 17



"Would you mind getting inside the oven to clean it?"

A lot of people are saying this is M. Night Shymalan's best movie in years and while I haven't seen a lot of his movies, I don't know if I agree with that statement and it's obviously one of the weaker films I've seen from him so far. That's not to say it wasn't good, but it was kind of underwhelming. I did like how they used the found footage style in this one and it was a lot more believable than most movies that use that style, most of the comedy in this movie hit for me and the actors in this movie do a good job especially the child actors, but for a horror movie it really wasn't that scary. It was creepy at times, but it didn't really get under my skin like I hoped it would, so as a horror movie it does fall flat a little bit. It doesn't help that it gets predictable near the end either. Still it's a decent movie for the found footage genre even though the horror in it is lacking.

January 19



"What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?"
"Derek, this is just a small..."
"I don't wanna hear your excuses! The building has to be at least... three times bigger than this!"

Since a sequel to this movie is coming out, I decided now would be the perfect time to see this. Now I had watched parts of this movie before, I'm pretty sure this was the first time I saw it from start to finish. I decided to count this as a first time watch because the only thing I remembered from this movie was Ben Stiller having a high-pitched cough from working in an underground mine. Anyways this is a hilarious movie and one of the funniest movies I've seen Ben Stiller in. The comedic premise was also very original for it's time and they managed to make a lot of funny jokes revolving around models. This was a hilarious movie and I can't believe it took me this long to properly watch it.

January 19



"As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight. You breathe... keep breathing."

First I want to start off by saying that the cinematography in this movie is amazing. It was just so breathtaking and it was worth seeing it theatres just for the cinematography alone. The story on the other hand isn't really original and it is a simple revenge story, but that really isn't a bad thing since it focuses more of the journey of the character than it is about the story itself. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers an amazing performance and he manages to pull it off without even talking that much and most of his performance relies on body language. Unfortunately it's very likely that he's going to get snubbed by The Academy of Pricks and I feel like it will be inevitable at this point. Tom Hardy is also great in this movie although that always seems to be the case as even in not so great movies he can deliver a great performance and even the actors with smaller roles like The Maze Runner guy also deliver good performances. While I did really love watching this movie and seeing it on the big screen was a treat, this movie is almost three hours long and there are some parts in this movie where it really shows. While most of this movie was fascinating to watch, I couldn't help but think that some scenes went on longer than they needed to and I think it would've helped if they were shortened a little bit. That keeps the movie from being a masterpiece for me, but it was still an interesting movie and if this movie is still in theatres and you haven't seen it yet, then you should find the time to see it there as seeing the cinematography on the big screen is the best way to see it.

January 20



"But Pa its gonna take me all night to deliver this!"
"Quit yer bellyachin Ellie May, or else I ain't gonna save any mash for ya. I'm just gonna save it for my self and for your brothers and Ma... and maybe even some for Perky."
"You shouldn't give any to Ma. You know that stuff makes her crazy!"
"You quit your sassin' boy! I'll pulled you outta yer mother and I'll shove ya right back in!"

This was a very cheesy movie with bad acting, corny dialogue and the movie itself looks like it was filmed with an VHS camera, but I still couldn't help but enjoy this movie. It's really not trying to be anything it isn't and it succeeds in being what it wants to be. The concept of this movie was executed well, the gore effects were decent and it succeeds in being funny as far as intentional laughs go. It is a good effort for a film with a very low budget and it is worth a watch if you really enjoy cheesy b-movies.

January 20



"Do you know how many hours I spent looking for my "Temple of Poon" tape? One. That is a long time to be looking for porn, Matt. What the fuck is going on here?"

This was a funny movie and I did think Josh Harnett did a good job as the leading role, but while I did like this movie I did think the ending was pretty stupid. I'm not going into detail into why the ending is a slap in the face, but anyone who's seen this movie will know what I'm talking about. Also there were quite a few unlikable characters and the only characters that were good was Josh Harnett's character and his love interest. This is still a decent comedy for the most part and it is funny, but it is flawed and I can see why other people don't like it that much.

January 21



"What are you buzzards doing here?"
"Well, well. Ha. We go to a lot of funerals, Shaft, Willy and me. One day, we'll drop in on yours."
"Real soon."
"You're not invited."

This was a pretty average blaxploitation movie. While I wasn't the biggest fan of the first one, at least that one was entertaining. That's not to say this movie isn't entertaining at times either and Shaft is still as cool as he was in the first movie, but it's pretty unremarkable for the most part and it's just a forgettable sequel. Not bad, but there's better movies you could be watching than this.

January 21



"I have to believe that when things are bad I can change them."

While this was a good movie, I also thought it was also pretty overrated. It is a well-done boxing story with strong performances and all, but at the same time I didn't emotionally connect with the characters as much as I should have. So even though it's a decent boxing movie, it's not the best movie of it's kind and it just left me kind of underwhelmed when it ended.

January 22



"Loads of elevators play Celine Dion - that don't make it right."

This was a funny movie. It had a lot of moments that made me laugh and I thought that Rainn Wilson really pulled off the rock star character very well.

January 23



"He's leaving, isn't he?"
"Tomorrow morning. He'll need his city clothes."
"But why? What does he have to go back to?"
"He's going back to his world, where he belongs. He knows it, and you know it, too."

Even though it's not Peter Weir's best work, it is still very interesting. It told a very interesting story and Harrison Ford was perfect for the leading role.

January 23



"This is great I never win at checkers."
"Well, it's kinda easy to win when you NEVER MOVE YOUR BACK ROW!"

Even though this is very similar to Tommy Boy, this movie was still really funny. While there was a joke that didn't work every now and then and for the most part it isn't as funny as Tommy Boy, but it doesn't really matter as there are still some moments involving Chris Farley whether it's dialogue-based or physical humor that really made me laugh. While I wouldn't call it a comedy classic or anything, it's still funny and it's kind of underrated.

January 23



"How come they chained a white man to a black?"
"The warden's got a sense of humor."

What a great movie this was. Sidney Poiter and Tony Curtis performances are just as great as they were back then and the story was really engaging. While it does kind of lose a bit of steam near the end, it's still a great movie that I'm surprised that there's a lot of people that don't know about it.

January 24



"Morning."
"What's good about it!?"
"Well hell, I said "morning." I didn't say "good morning."

This was a badass action movie that is an underrated classic of the genre. Nick Nolte is great as the sheriff character, the action scenes were very exciting and intense some cool one-liners and there was even some homage to Sam Peckinpah which I liked. It has everything it needed to be a classic 80's action film, but for some reason it has been overlooked. It's a very underrated movie of the genre and it really deserves a Blu-Ray release.

January 25



"Life is beautiful. Really, it is. Full of beauty and illusions. Life is great. Without it, you'd be dead."

I'm going to cut the shit by saying right off the bat that this is a really fucked up movie. After seeing it I can definitely understand why it has it's polarizing reputation as it is a very different kind of movie. As you may already know, I normally don't care for movies that don't have a plot as some of them tend to have no substance to them at all, but with this movie while there really isn't no real point to it I was still fascinated by it as I thought it was a pretty unique experience. I was really admiring the unusual imagery and I was really interested in this movie. This was close to being a near-masterpiece, but around the one hour mark it was starting to feel pointless like that one part where that girl shaves her eyebrows for no real reason. It just got weird at that point and not in a good way. Still this was a very interesting movie to say the least and while it does fall apart near the end I still liked the whole idea of this movie and I think that for the most part this movie achieves in what it's trying to convey.

January 26



"I'm about to throw myself off this building."
"You could kill yourself."
"That's the whole idea."
"Oh, ah, right. I'll just wait till you're finished."

Since I liked the first movie and I liked Crocodile Dundee himself enough to have an urge to watch the sequel, I decided to watch it. Turned out I could've gone my whole life without watching it as it isn't really good. What really sucks about this movie is that the first act tricked me into thinking I was getting a funny movie. That portion of the movie was actually funny and made me laugh quite a few times like that suicide jumper part which was a hilarious bit of dark humor. After that though the movie focuses on more action and adventure and I can forgive that if it was interesting, but it isn't. It's just dull and there aren't that many jokes during the second half of the movie which is odd since that's what people would expect from a Crocodile Dundee sequel. I really think this movie would've been better if there was more of a balance between the comedy and action/adventure than just focusing on the latter. Because it didn't focus on that it ended up being a boring sequel with not too much to offer. Not even close to being the worst sequel I've ever seen, but it's just not good.

January 27



"Couldn't you just buy the actual paintings?"
"Maybe for a big motion picture like Mission Impossible 3, but I haven't seen Tom Cruise around the set, have you?"
"Tom Cruise... what's he look like?"
"Like Tom Cruise...... Geez Mick, were you born in a cave?"
"Yeah! How'd you know that?
"Never mind."

I watched the last Crocodile Dundee movie the day after I watched Crocodile Dundee II just because I wanted to get this series over with. To my surprise this was more enjoyable than the last one. The laughs are a lot more consistent than they were in the previous movie and even though it's not that different from the first one, I still liked some of the jokes they were able to make with the different setting. While not all of the jokes work and the whole fish out of water story does feel tired at this point, I still found some things to like about this movie and I don't think it deserves the hate it gets. It might've came out a decade too late, but a part of me wonders if this would've been slightly more well-received if it came out in the 90's.

January 27



This was a very interesting movie and a nice twist on the romance genre. Mark Duplass and Elizabeth Moss both deliver very good performances and the premise was executed very well. I would say more about this, but since I barely knew anything about it going into it and I recommend going into this movie blind as possible.

January 28



"So, you two are dictionary salesmen?"
"You would be punctilious in assuming that."

This was a pretty funny movie that I wish I saw years ago. Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid made for a good comedic team and Bill Murray was also really funny as the supporting role. Overall it's a funny movie and probably one of the Farrelly Brother's best movies.

January 29



"This is an institution of learning, ladies and gentlemen. If you can't control it, how can you teach? Discipline is not the enemy of enthusiasm!"

Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors of all time, but even though I knew his performance in this movie was going to be nothing short of amazing, I can't believe that his role in this movie isn't talked about that much. Not only was his performance excellent, but it's also one of the best characters he's ever played as he's a very well-written character who can be a real hardass, but is also very caring about his students and wants to help them. The dialogue in this movie is also great and some of Morgan Freeman's dialogue is very breathtaking. This is a fantastic movie that is one of Morgan Freeman's more underrated films and it's an even better version of Dangerous Minds.

January 30



"I'm worried about you, brother."
"I think I might be losing it."
"I don't blame you. There's a lot to lose out there."

This was a really well-made biography movie and it really does a good job of showing the talent and genius of Brian Wilson and why he was important to The Beach Boys. However there is this one thing that keeps this movie from being great and that is John Cusack as the older version of Brian Wilson who doesn't even resemble him in the slightest. They didn't even attempt to make him look anything like Wilson either, they just made him look like John Cusack and John Cusack did a performance that wasn't that much of a stretch for him. Now it's not like he isn't a good actor because he is and his performance in this movie was at least decent, but it was just so blatantly obvious that he was pretending to be Brian Wilson and they didn't transform the way he looked at all which was really distracting at times. If they really wanted an actor that would be more believable as Brian Wilson in the 80's then I think that Jeff Daniels would've been a much more fitting choice. As for Paul Dano as the younger Brian Wilson, he's really convincing as him and it felt like I was actually seeing the person he was portraying and not just some actor pretending to be him and Paul Giamatti is great as well even though it's not too different from a few of the other characters he's played. With that said I still really enjoyed this movie and it actually made me want to start listening to a few of The Beach Boy's albums, but that one problem keeps it from being a great movie.

January 30



"War? Who are we at war with?"
"Anyone who impinges on America's freedom. Terrorist states, Stanley. Someone must bring their war to them. They bomb a church, we bomb ten. They hijack a plane, we take out an airport. They execute American tourists, we tactically nuke an entire city. Our job is to make terrorism so horrific that it becomes unthinkable to attack Americans."

This was a very cool action movie that delivered exactly what I expected from it. While it's mostly being talked about mostly just because Halle Berry is topless in it, the movie itself is actually a really solid action-thriller. The writing is decent, the acting is solid especially John Travolta who pulls off the tough guy role very well and the action in this movie is very well done and it's a fast-paced thrill-ride that doesn't stop until it ends. It's a really fun movie that I wish I saw earlier and it's definitely a movie I would love to have in my collection.

January 31



"He's a cockroach; first you think you kill him and he pops right back up again!"

This was an different movie for it's time as it came out at a time when superhero movies were a huge gamble and what's even more interesting is that this was based on an original character created by Sam Raimi himself instead of it being an already existing character. While this movie is really campy and it is flawed, I still had fun with this movie. It was cool to see Liam Neeson in an action role very early in his career and even though it is campy I think that's part of what makes this movie fun. While it's not Sam Raimi's best movie and I can understand why some people didn't like it, it still is a fun superhero movie that also does a decent job at paying homage to the Universal horror movies.

January 31



"How can you walk away from something and then come towards it?"
"Walk around the world."
"Small world."

I was going to end the month with Strangers on a Train, but when I realized that I wasn't in the right mood I decided to end the month with this instead. Now I would be surprised that I haven't watched this earlier, but I actually recall that when this movie came out in theatres I had no urge to see it. I don't know why exactly. I know that my taste in cinema was starting to mature around that time and lost interest in movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks or Hotel For Dogs and was more interested in other kinds of movies, but even with that I still don't get why I had no interest in seeing it since I liked Tim Burton movies at the time and Henry Selick's style of animation is very similar to his work. With that said it is a great animated film that is very inventive, has awesome stop-motion and it takes it's target audience seriously while making it appeal to most ages as it would be too scary for younger kids. It's a great movie and it was a great way to end the month.

January 4



"You're not playing with a full deck, are you?"
"Oh, I don't play cards."

Even though I decided to scrap the whole monthly focus thing back in September, I had this idea for one last month and decided that I would watch every Police Academy sequel to date. Even though I can't really call this a monthly focus and I'm not even sure if it's a bi-monthly focus, but if I find something I want to dedicate the month to then I will do it. I'm aware that there's a small chance that most of these will not be very good, but I'm willing to take a chance with this.

While this one is not as funny as the original and even though they do play it safe by toning this one down from an R rated film to having the rest of the sequels be PG-13, I still found quite a bit of entertainment value in this one. It still delivered some good laughs and I did think Bobcat Goldthwait's character was a good addition to the movie. Still the highlight of this one is Michael Winslow's sound effects which are just as funny as they were in the first Police Academy. Even though it's not as good as the original, it's still funny and it's probably going to be the best Police Academy sequel out of all of them.

January 6



"You had impressive moves for a cadet."
"Thank you. You see, it's a matter of the mind being mightier than the bosom."
"Interesting theory."

This sequel is pretty much the same stuff, but it's still entertaining to a degree. It still is funny, but at the same time there are quite a few jokes that miss and some of the material in this movie is starting to feel tired at this point. Also Bobcat Goldthwait's character is a bit more annoying than he is funny and I think he would've been better as a one-off character. Even though it's really a good movie and it is forgettable, but at this point the series is still watchable.

January 8



"You want to become one with the gun. Feel the gun, caress the gun until it's a living, breathing, vibrating extension of yourself."
"I look for the same in a woman."

While the first three movies were so stupid to the point that they were funny, (Even Police Academy 3 to a lesser extent.) this was just stupid. It wasn't very funny and it's just boring to sit through. Also Bobcat Goldthwait's character was even more annoying and is just proof that too much of him is a bad thing and thank god that this was the last time his character appears in this series. Really most of the times that I laughed or at least chuckled was at Michael Winslow's sound effects which seem to be the series saving grace at this point. It's a bad and uninteresting sequel and I fear that it's only going to get worse.

January 10



"Sir, I realize this is your jurisdiction. But if there is a rescue attempt, we would like to volunteer."
"Commissioner Murdock, I couldn't agree more. I think it is vital that the rescues know Commandant Lassard intimately. Now, I can vouch for the abilities of these officers. After all, I trained them myself."
"Must be the drugs."

I knew what I was getting myself into by watching this series, but this was awful. It was filled with so many unfunny, predictable, generic and stale jokes and it was painful to watch due to how unfunny this movie is. It was so bad that not even Michael Winslow and his sound effects couldn't save this movie. I will give this movie credit for making me chuckle with the fire extinguisher gag, but other than that, this is the worst movie in the series so far.

January 13



"Proctor! You have been singing Christmas songs for the entire five hours of this stakeout. And Christmas is a good four months away. If you sing so much as one more note... I will shoot you."

This really wasn't as bad as I was anticipating it to be. It wasn't good, but it actually was entertaining and it is actually funny unlike the last one. There are still quite a few jokes that miss and it does feel too familiar at times with this being the 6th movie and all, but it looks like they actually had fun with this movie and just went all out with it. I honestly don't get why it's one of the lowest rated films in the series as there's a lot more effort put into in compared to the last two movies.

January 18



"The red zone is for communist parking only!"

Just like the last one, this one was also not as bad as I was anticipating it to be. It's still not good and it's actually pretty terrible, but unlike the other bad movies in this series I thought this one was fascinatingly bad. I had a hunch that this movie would be enjoyably bad just from the beginning where I was able to notice an amusing goof which was when they was a fake game for the Game Boy and someone was playing it. What was so funny about that is that they don't even try and make it look convincing as if you look closely enough you can see that there it no cartridge in the slot at all. Was it really too much to have just any ordinary video game cartridge to put into the system? I don't even notice stuff like this that often, but this was so obvious that I was able to catch it. Also while I'm pointing out minor details, why didn't they label this as Police Academy 7 while still keeping the subtitle? Were they really trying to hide the fact that they've made too many Police Academy movies or something?

Anyways this movie is really stupid and while I did laugh a few times, most of the times I did laugh was because of how stupid the jokes were, but that's still better than a movie that fails to make me laugh in any way. The acting was bad and the recurring actors seemed to be tired of being in this series and I really can't blame them either. I was surprised to see Christopher Lee and Ron Perlman in this as they really stand out like a sore thumb compared to the regular cast. Ron Perlman has starred in some weird movies before, so this isn't much of a surprise, but I really want to know what Christopher Lee was doing here. I never thought I'd ever see him in a Police Academy movie, but there he was. Still he was the best part of the movie and it was amusing to see him play a Russian character. Even though this is a terrible movie, it was never really painful to watch and it ALMOST falls into "so bad that it's good" territory. It's really not as bad as I thought it would be and it's not the worst movie in the series as it isn't nearly as insulting as Police Academy 5 was. So yeah, this series wasn't that much of a waste of time for me.

January 6



"The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000."

This was a very interesting and informative documentary on how bad the food industry has gotten over the years and it was really hard to watch at times. It had a very important issue to cover and this documentary did it well. With that said however the reason my rating for it isn't higher is because while I did think it was very well-made and informative, I did think it had the same problem that some documentaries have is that they tend to drag and get less interesting the longer it goes on. It's still a very strong documentary, but that problem just keeps it from being great in my opinion.

January 22



"If you know anything about fairy tales, then you know that a hero doesn't appear until the world really needs one."

I wasn't really feeling this movie. While the animation looks nice and the voice acting was good, (Although with the huge amount of talent involved in this movie, I'd be surprised if it wasn't good.) but when it comes to story and characters I didn't really connect with it that much. It's a well-made movie and it's never boring, but it's easily forgettable and it's probably something I would've enjoyed much more if I saw it as a kid.

January 31



"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. Human emotions are like works of art. They can be forged. They seem just like the original, but they are a forgery."
"Forgery?"
"Everything can be faked, Virgil. Joy, pain, hate... illness, recovery. Even love."

I wasn't sure what to think of this at first, but the more it went on the more interested I was in where this was going. It was a really well-done mystery story with an intriguing premise and I think they executed it well not to mention that this movie looks really good visually. It was a very good movie and I'm glad I checked this one out.