Week 2 2011. And things just got a little hotter!

Entry relating to 1/8/2011 – 1/14/2011
Movies Seen: First Time Viewed*
The Town (2010 Ben Affleck)*
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007 Jon Turtletaub)
Taken (2008 Pierre Morel)
Winter’s Bone (2010 Debra Granik)*
Horror of Dracula (1958 Terrence Fisher)*
Arlington Road (1999 Mark Pellington)

The Town:
So, everyone expects great things from Ben Affleck now right? I think he is a fine actor, I might even go to say a MIGHTY fine actor. This movie was not that good. I feel like I had seen the whole thing before. And what was the Chris Cooper appearance? Talk about wasting your talent. The only thing good to come out of the movie is my continued admiration for Jeremy Renner. He’s good. Good in a way that makes me question my sexuality. Wait, that came out wrong. Obviously The Hurt Locker was my favorite movie of 2009, so I may be biased. Not much else to say. Not even a very good heist movie.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets:
Was there something really wrong with this movie? Sure, it wasn’t as good as the first movie, but sequels hardly ever are. I am very fond of the National Treasure franchise, and I hope it continues. When it comes to these movies, you either agree with me or you don’t. I think they are pretty good adventure movies with a rich history to back them up. Maybe the problem is this film jumped a little too far into fiction? No, that doesn’t make any sense. Never mind. I liked it.

Taken:
This movie is pure guilty joy for. Something about Liam Neeson, of all people, kicking copious amounts of arse just makes me grin ear to ear. The fast pace of the movie keeps the entertainment factor at a constant momentum. People who enjoy old fashioned butt-kicker movies need to watch this one.

Winter’s Bone:
This is a film where I do not possess the writing ability to surmise its goodness. See? I just used the word goodness. Enough self-deprecation, I really loved this movie. I don’t know if it was the way it showed me a life style so alien and yet REAL, or the amazing acting all around, but the movie is bittersweet and tragic and just plain good. I know I am just repeating what I have heard from a hundred other sites, but John Hawkes is amazing. You want to know what I am talking about? Watch You and Me and Everyone We Know, then watch Winter’s Bone. I did not believe those were the same people, but that is in fact the case. If you like good movie, please watch this. If you decide you don’t like it, maybe you don’t like good movies? Did you enjoy Wild Wild West?

Horror of Dracula:
I was actually pretty excited to watch this movie. I have heard a lot about Hammer and their horror movies. Unfortunately I left the movie feeling disappointed. Dracula has like 6 lines in the whole movie, which I guess shouldn’t be a big deal. It is a “horror” movie after all. But everyone else in the movie (that is a man) has so many eloquent lines. Peter Cushing is just wonderful to watch, but I wanted more Christopher Lee! Sigh, you can’t always get what you want. Maybe the next film in the series will be better?

Arlington Road:
This is another of those movies I watched when I was younger and can’t really remember what happened. All I remembered from before: I HATED IT. Now having watched it again, I can see the root of that hatred, but I no longer feel that way. See, like my father before me, I used to prefer movies with happy endings. I have always been all about drama, but if the movie didn’t at least end on a hopeful note, it got the old thumbs down. I still give the movie a thumbs down, but only because I thought it was dumb. No one believes the paranoid college professor with ties to the FBI. Why not? There wasn’t a good reason not to at least look into what Jeff Bridges character was saying… jeez. Still not a fan of this movie.

I’m late, I’m late, I know. Starting off the second week like this was not my plan. Hell, the new year hasn’t been going according to my plan at ALL. I am determined to keep this up though. Hopefully if you are reading this you aren’t bored out of your mind. Just slightly insulted.

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