Media consumed in March 2012

Here's the list of what I watched and read this past march. Hopefully this blog will see some new posts that people will actually care about within the next few weeks. We'll see.

As usual, bold indicates something I had seen/read before, and movies are separated by decade.

Movies:

The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) 7/10
The Mummy's Ghost (1944) 6/10
The Mummy's Curse (1944) 6/10
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) 7/10
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Ulysses (1955) 7/10
The Mole People (1956) 6/10
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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1968) 9/10
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The Towering Inferno (1974) 6/10
At the Earth's Core (1976) 6/10
Murder By Decree (1979) 7/10
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Swamp Thing (1982) 4/10
Night of the Creeps (1986) 7/10
The Wraith (1986) 4/10
The Gate (1987) 6/10
Waxwork (1988) 6/10
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El Mariachi (1992) 6/10
Matinee (1993) 8/10
Desperado (1995) 6/10
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Drive (2011) 8/10
John Carter (2011) 6/10



Documentaries:

The Sci-Fi Boys (2006) 8/10



Tv:

Thriller (1960) S1: E36
Lost in Space (1965-1968) S1: E22, 23, 25, 26
The Green Hornet (1966-1967) S1: E1, 4, 5, 10, 18, 19, 21, 23
Batman (1966-1968) S1: E35-38, 41-44
X-Files (1993-2002) S1: E10-21; S9: E1-7
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2002) S2: E16-22; S3: E 1-22; S4: E 1-5
Angel (1999-2004) S1: E1-5
Primeval (2007-2011) S4: E1



Books:

The Beasts of Tarzan (1914) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Doc Savage: The Brand of the Werewolf (1934) by Lester Dent

Media consumed in February 2012

Another month gone by means another list of movies watched and books read. I know nobody probably cares about this, but I like tracking it, and hey, it's my blog.

As usual, bold indicates something I had seen/read before, and movies are separated by decade.

Movies:

Duck Soup (1933) 7/10
The Son of Frankenstein (1939) 8/10
--------------------------------
The Invisible Woman (1940) 6/10
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High Noon (1952) 8/10
Vertigo (1956) 7/10
The Monster That Challenged the World (1957) 6/10
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Munster, Go Home (1966) 5/10
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1962) 8/10
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Billy Jack (1972) 8/10
Doctor Who: Carnival of Monsters (1973) 8/10
The Land That Time Forgot (1975) 6/10
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Dollman (1991) 2/10
Trancers II (1991) 6/10
Demonic Toys (1992) 5/10
Dollman vs. the Demonic Toys (1993) 6/10
Bloodstone: Subspecies II (1993) 7/10
--------------------------------
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008) 8/10
--------------------------------
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) 7/10
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2011) 7/10
HappyThankYouMorePlease (2011) 6/10
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) 8/10
Source Code (2011) 7/10
Super 8 (2011) 7/10



Documentaries:

Best Worst Movie (2009) 7/10



Tv:

The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) Season 3: Episodes 14, 26; Season 5: Episodes 9, 19, 30, 36
Thriller (1960) Season 1: Episodes 1-5
Lost in Space (1965-1968) Season 1: Episodes 18-21
Batman (1966-1968) Season 1: Episodes 27-32
X-Files (1993-2002) Season 7: Episodes 7-22; Season 8: Episodes 1-9
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2002) Season 1: Episodes 1-12; Season 2, Episodes 1-15
Doctor Who (2005-2010) Season 1: Episodes 1-2
Primeval (2007-2011) Season 3: Episode 10


Books:

Non-fiction:
Rebel Without a Crew (1995) by Robert Rodriguez

Fiction:
The Warlord of Mars (1913) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Spider-Man: Revenge of the Sinister Six (2001) by Adam-Troy Castro

Short stories:
The Ship Who Sang (1961) by Anne McCaffrey
Ender's Game (1977) by Orson Scott Card


Geez, I'm slipping. This was a pretty skimpy month, especially in reading, but a lot of my time is being eaten up in planning a short film. Plus February is the shortest month. Hopefully I'll be able to absorb more stuff in March.

Media consumed in January 2012

I love keeping track of this stuff, but putting it up once a year is too long to wait. Here's everything I watched and read this past month, only including complete items (i.e., reading half of Frank Herbert's Dune before the end of the month, or watching most of Abbott and Costello Go to Mars but not really paying attention the entire time don't count). This time I scored all the movies I watched. These scores could easily change if I were to watch the movie again, especially as so many of these were first-time viewings.

Bold=watched or read before

Movies (separated by decade):

Faust (1926) 7/10
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The Phantom of the Opera (1943) 6/10
House of Frankenstein (1944) 6/10
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Invaders From Mars (1953) 7/10
Them! (1954) 8/10
Tarantula (1955) 6/10
The Killing (1956) 7/10
The Deadly Mantis (1957) 4/10
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Konga (1961) 6/10
The Pit and Pendulum (1961) 7/10
Dr. No (1962) 5/10
The Dirty Dozen (1967) 8/10
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The Big Boss (1971) 7/10
The Legend of Hell House (1973) 8/10
Rollerball (1975) 7/10
Dracula (1979) 6/10
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The Stuff (1985) 7/10
Hellraiser (1987) 7/10
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Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992) 7/10
The X-Files (1998) 5/10
Office Space (1999) 8/10
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The New World (2005) 7/10
The Road (2009) 7/10
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13 Assassins (2010) 6/10
The King’s Speech (2010) 7/10
Let Me In (2010) 8/10
Somewhere (2010) 8/10
Another Earth (2011) 7/10
Batman: Year One (2011) 7/10
Hanna (2011) 7/10
X-Men: First Class (2011) 6/10
The Tree of Life (2011) 8/10
Win Win (2011) 7/10



Documentaries:
Best Worst Movie (2009) 7/10



TV:

Ultraman: Towards the Future (1990) – Season 1: Episodes 1-13 (full series)
Batman (1966-1968) – Season 1: Episodes 19 20 22-26
Lost in Space (1965-1968) – Season 1: Episodes 14-17
Alcatraz (2012)– Season 1: Episodes 1-4
X-Files (1993-2002)– Season 5: Episodes 15-20
Season 6: Episodes 1-22 (full season)
Season 7: Episodes 1-6
Breaking Bad (2008-?) – Season 2: Episode 5
Spectacular Spider-Man (2008-2009) – Season 1: Episodes 4-16
Primeval (2007-?) – Season 3: Episodes 5 6 8 9



Books:

The Return of Tarzan (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Gods of Mars (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Spider-Man: Wanted: Dead or Alive (1998) by Craig Shaw Gardner



Comics (I may not keep track of these in the future because it's too much work):

Identity Crisis (2004), issues 1-5

What I watched in 2011

The end of a year means it's time for a list. In 2010 I watched twelve new releases (I accidentally left Tron: Legacy off that list), but in 2011 I was only able to watch four, due to not having money or a car. But that doesn't mean I didn't watch a lot of movies. This is a list of every movie I watched in 2011, separated by the decades in which they were released. If a movie appears on this list more than once, that means I watched it that many times. Movies in bold are movies that I had already seen at some point prior to this year.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
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Vampyr (1932)
The Mummy (1932)
Island of Lost Souls (1933)
Island of Lost Souls (1933)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Sabotage (1936)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
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The Mummy’s Hand (1940)
Dr. Cyclops (1940)
The Invisible Woman (1940)
The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
The Ghost Breakers (1940)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
The Phantom of the Opera (1943)
The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944)
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1944)
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
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Strangers on a Train (1951)
Ikiru (1952)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
The Giant Claw (1957)
The Fly (1958)
The H-Man (1958)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Tingler (1959)
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Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Jigoku (1960)
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
The Time Machine (1960)
The Brides of Dracula (1960)
13 Ghosts (1960)
Hercules in the Haunted World (1961)
Yojimbo (1961)
Mysterious Island (1961)
The Innocents (1961)
Mothra (1961)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
La Jetee (1962)
Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Reptilicus (1962)
The Great Escape (1963)
Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)
The Gorgon (1964)
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)
Repulsion (1965)
Django (1966)
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)
Born Losers (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Bullitt (1968)
Danger: Diabolik (1968)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Frankenstein Must be Destroyed (1969)
Hercules in New York (1969)
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Patton (1970)
Harold and Maude (1971)
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)
Shaft (1971)
Silent Running (1972)
Joe Kidd (1972)
Dracula A. D. 1972 (1972)
Beware! The Blob (1972)
Blacula (1972)
The Night Stalker (1972)
The Sting (1973)
The Creeping Flesh (1973)
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)
Chinatown (1974)
Deep Red (1975)
Switchblade Sisters (1975)
Carrie (1976)
The Enforcer (1976)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Mighty Peking Man (1977)
Spider-Man (1977)
The Car (1977)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
The Sentinel (1977)
Rabid (1977)
Superman: The Movie (1978)
The Fury (1978)
The Inglorious Bastards (1978)
Drunken Master (1978)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Brood (1979)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Mad Max (1979)
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Superman II (1980)
Inferno (1980)
The Final Countdown (1980)
Friday the 13th (1980)
The Beyond (1981)
The Road Warrior (1981)
The Howling (1981)
Time Bandits (1981)
Dead and Buried (1981)
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
Basket Case (1982)
Poltergeist (1982)
Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
Tenebrae (1982)
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
Blade Runner (1982, director’s cut)
The Thing (1982)
The Thing (1982)
Krull (1983)
Fire and Ice (1983)
Project A (1983)
Starman (1984)
Blood Simple (1984)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Frankenweenie (1984)
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
This is Spinal Tap (1984)
C.H.U.D. (1984)
Wheels on Meals (1984)
Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985)
Trancers (1985)
Legend (1985)
Brazil (1985)
Phenomena (1985)
House (1986)
Aliens (1986, theatrical cut)
Aliens (1986, special edition)
Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Dead Ringers (1988)
Alice (1988)
Alice (1988)
Arena (1989)
Samurai Cop (1989)
Warlock (1989)
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A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell (1990)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Frankenstein Unbound (1990)
Subspecies (1991)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Dinosaur Island (1994)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
The City of Lost Children (1995)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995)
Strange Days (1995)
Trainspotting (1996)
Fargo (1996)
Jackie Brown (1997)
Pi (1998)
American Beauty (1999)
Fight Club (1999)
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
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Space Cowboys (2000)
Memento (2000)
Amelie (2001)
The Others (2001)
Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2002)
Cypher (2002)
City of God (2002)
Ong-Bak (2003)
Memories of Murder (2003)
Lost in Translation (2003)
Brick (2005)
Brick (2005)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
The Fountain (2006)
The Baby’s Room (2006)
Juno (2007)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
Timecrimes (2007)
Planet Terror (2007)
Big Man Japan (2007)
The Man From Earth (2007)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Interplanetary (2008)
Enter the Void (2009)
Triangle (2009)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Daybreakers (2009)
Valhalla Rising (2009)
Harry Brown (2009)
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Monsters (2010)
TrollHunter (2010)
The Runaways (2010)
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
127 Hours (2010)
Winter’s Bone (2010)
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Buried (2010)
Catfish (2010)*
Rubber (2010)
Scott Pilgrim vs, the World (2010)
The Trip (2010)
Love and Other Drugs (2010)
The Fighter (2010)
The Social Network (2010)
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
Super 8 (2011)
Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)
Thor (2011)
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

*Catfish (2010) is really a documentary, but it's produced and presented more as a movie...I'm still not sure whether or not it belongs on this list--I don't normally count documentaries as movies.

That's a total of 216 viewings of 211 separate movies.
But why stop there?

Separated by genre, including multiple viewings (and keeping in mind that a movie can be of more than one genre, and that some movies don't fit cleanly into a genre, and whether or not a certain movie is of a particular genre can sometimes be debatable--there were some tough decisions here), I watched:

41 action movies (19% of total viewings)

27 comedies (12.5 %)

96 dramas (44.4%)

20 fantasy movies (9.3%)

88 horror movies (40.7%)

10 romance movies (4.6%)

66 sci-fi movies (30.6%)

6 westerns (2.8%)

2 animated movies (0.9%)


So, drama comes first, followed by horror and then sci-fi. Makes sense. If there were more hard sci-fi movies out there, that would definitely be higher.


I also tried to keep track of what books I read, but unfortunately this list may not be 100% complete because I didn't think of tracking books until partway into the year and had to try to remember what I had read since January 1st. Also, this does not include the many short stories I read (most of which were from Richard Matheson, H. P. Lovecraft, and Edgar Allan Poe), only complete books, although novellas are included. Again, bold indicates a book I had read before. Anyway, here it is.

The Iliad (unknown) by Homer
Tarzan of the Apes (1912) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
At the Earth’s Core (1914) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Gods of Mars (1914) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Pellucidar (1923) by Edgar Rice Burroughs
At the Mountains of Madness (1931) by H. P. Lovecraft
Brave New World (1931) by Aldous Huxley
Who Goes There? (1938) by John W. Campbell, Jr.
The Illustrated Man (1951) by Ray Bradbury
The Currents of Space (1952) by Isaac Asimov
Casino Royale (1953) by Ian Fleming
Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) by Kurt Vonnegut
The Forever War (1974) by Joe Haldeman
Sphere (1987) by Michael Crichton
The Dark Half (1989) by Stephen King
The Langoliers (1990) by Stephen King
Relic (1995) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997) by J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998) by J. K. Rowling
Spider-Man: Venom’s Wrath (1998) by Keith R. A. DeCandido and Jose R. Nieto
Stardust (1998) by Neil Gaiman
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999) by J. K. Rowling
Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro
Marsbound (2008) by Joe Haldeman
Button, Button (various years) collection by Richard Matheson
Mythology and You (?) by unknown


It was a lot of fun to keep track of all of this, and I will probably continue for every other year of my life. Next time, I'll try to rate each movie and book as I watch or read it.

Favorites list: Top films of 2010

I'm pretty sure I saw more new releases this past year than in any other. However, there were still many that I wanted to see and missed, especially True Grit, Enter the Void, Daybreakers, Frozen, The Crazies, REC 2, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Never Let Me Go, The Town, Catfish, Buried, The Social Network, Paranormal Activity 2, Winter's Bone, and Somewhere. I think 11 new releases is still a record for me though. I'm just usually more the type who waits for DVD.

Instead of doing a top ten list (since less than 10 of the new releases I saw were worthy of being on one), I'm putting all of them in one list, in order of how much I liked/disliked them, beginning with:

11) The Wolfman
directed by Joe Johnston

I was surprised that we got so many good science fiction and horror movies this past year, but this one was just terrible. Great cast, but no real characters, bad direction, really bad cartoon CGI. Read my full review here. Johnston better not screw up Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

10) Predators
directed by Nimrod Antal

The buzz on this movie was good, but the movie turned out not to be. Sci-fi channel level stuff here. Would probably have enjoyed it when I was a kid, but as an adult, this movie was pretty crappy. Read my full review here.

9) Shutter Island
directed by Martin Scorsese

I didn't think Shutter Island was necessarily bad, but from an interesting premise it didn't go anywhere. And the ending was possibly the most disappointing ending I have ever seen in a film; it basically voided the entire movie. Read my full review here.

8) Iron Man 2
directed by Jon Favreau

Finally, the last one I distinctly did not like. Sure, it was unquestionably worse than Shutter Island, but at least it didn't try to trick you into thinking you were watching something interesting only to pull the rug out at the last second. Plus, I'm a huge Marvel fan, so it was cool to see how Marvel Studios is setting up their (hopefully better) upcoming films. Either way, I'll probably never watch it again. Read my review here.

7) Toy Story 3
directed by Lee Unkrich (yeah, I know--who?)

I liked the first Toy Story, at least back in the day (never saw all of the second), but this one is just okay. There are some really funny elements (the clown), and I appreciate the willingness to go into pretty dark territory, but there's really nothing to this movie. It was very much a 'watch, then forget' experience for me. Not bad, just not interesting and very insubstantial.

6) Black Swan
directed by Darren Aronofsky

Now we move into the 'liked' movies, and while I did like this one, it was very overrated. It's not some kind of masterpiece; it's just a good, small character movie, nothing particularly remarkable.

While watching it, I was constantly reminded of Italian horror movies like Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace (1964, with a bunch of girls obsessed with image and being perfect), Demons (1985, both have a similar train scene early on, and the first 10 minutes or so of Demons has a similar feel of wondering what is really happening and what it means; unfortunately it then becomes kind of goofy), and Suspiria (1977, a semi-surreal horror movie set at a dance school).

All the actors do a great job, even Mila Kunis (That '70s Show) surprisingly, and, unlike Shutter Island, the film successfully makes you question whether the main character is imagining everything without having it all turn out to be inconsequential. I like Jacob's Ladder (1990) too, but I think this movie pulls it off far better than any other I can think of.

5) Kick-Ass
directed by Matthew Vaughn

The more I think about this one the more I want to see it again. I didn't think it was anything more than just 'good,' but it's a lot of fun and (mostly) maintains a sense of having things happen in the real world, which makes you think about what it would be like to be in Kick-Ass's position. From about midway to the end it gets increasingly more implausible, but by that point you know the characters and are enjoying the film enough to continue. The first half is still better though.

Read my full review here.

4) Monsters
directed by Gareth Edwards

Technically a 'giant monster' movie, but one that only uses that as a backdrop to follow two well-crafted characters. I wish it had more of everything (the movie is only 94 minutes long; I could have stayed in this world with these characters for much longer), but as it is, it is a moving and involving experience.

If only the Japanese were to start going in a more serious/realistic direction with their giant monster movies. Luckily, Edwards is directing the new American Godzilla movie. It's sure to be quite different from this one, but he has proven himself a good director regardless.

Read my review here.

3) Let Me In
directed by Matt Reeves

Let the Right One In (2008) was great; this one is different, but also great.

Read my review here.

Chloe Moretz makes the list twice (this and Kick Ass); it's no wonder she was probably one of the most talked about actresses of the year.


2) Splice
directed by Vincenzo Natali

A pair of scientists (Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody) secretly create a human-animal hybrid, which grows into a 'girl' named Dren.

Most of this movie was great: the Frankenstein-like concept, following the creature as it matures, seeing how it changes along the way, and seeing how it affects the lives of the scientists. I love that the film doesn't follow the typical horror movie formula of creating a creature that then begins to kill everyone. In fact, I was surprised that the majority of the film doesn't have to do with people being in danger of being killed at all. The characters and changing situation are very interesting and you become engrossed in the relationships on-screen.

Then you get to the end, where it becomes a typical horror movie about a creature that begins to kill everyone. The rest is great enough that it doesn't ruin the movie, but it is disappointing.

Altogether a great film though; very Cronenberg-esque and not afraid to venture into disturbing territory. Easily one of the best horror movies I've seen from the last 10 years or more.

Natali also directed Cube (1997); read my review of that one here. I can't wait to see what he does next.

1) Inception
directed by Christopher Nolan

If you know me you're probably surprised to see this movie in the #1 spot, but I think this could be one of my new favorites. As much as I hate The Completely Terrible Piece of Trash Known as The Dark Knight (2008), I really liked Memento (2000), The Prestige (2006), and even Batman Begins (2005), albeit to a lesser extent. However, Inception is easily my favorite of Nolan's movies so far.

I've always been interested in dreams. Neil Gaiman's Sandman is one of my favorite comics, and I sometimes get story ideas from dreams. But beyond that, dreams let you live in a world that doesn't actually exist. It's not unusual for my dreams to involve impossible monsters or amazing environments, or for me to have abilities in my dreams that I unfortunately do not in "real life," like being able to fly. I've had dreams where I had to outwit pursuers trying to shoot me, dreams where I got to beat up people I don't like without negative consequences, even a dream where I was a secret agent trying to kill a hidden alien creature on a cruise ship without panicking everyone. Most of my dreams are set in worlds that I would immediately trade with this one if I had the chance.

All of the most terrifying experiences of my life also involved dreams. I've had nightmares that shocked me awake and scared me so bad that they prevented my falling asleep for the rest of the night. And the most unpleasant and terrifying thing I've ever experienced in my life was sleep paralysis. You can read about it elsewhere, but basically, it's when you wake up while you are still in REM state. Your body is unable to move during REM sleep (which is when you dream--all those movies that show people thrashing around during a dream are obviously inaccurate), so you lay there unable to do more than open/close your eyes. That isn't the bad part though. People experiencing sleep paralysis often have visual or auditory hallucinations and sensations of panic/fear. When it happened to me, I recognized it as sleep paralysis and intellectually understood what was happening, but still felt the presence of someone standing over me and the fear I felt was stronger than I've ever felt in any other situation, although I didn't actually see or hear anything. Even knowing what it was, it was absolutely terrifying.

All of which is way too long of a way of saying that dreams are an important part of my life and a huge source of interest for me personally. I've even been thinking of starting a lucid dreaming experiment to document on this blog, but we'll see. Either way, when it was revealed what Inception was about, I was immediately interested.

The plot itself (a team of people are hired to plant an idea in the mind of a company heir by a competitor in order to subversively get him to destroy the company) is really more of a background than what the movie is actually about. The movie's main character, Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) has a wealth of issues to deal with relating to the death of his wife, which is directly related to sharing dreams. The movie explores a lot of possible directions for the concept, like having dreams that feel (far) longer than they actually are and being able to control certain aspects of the dream world. Some people complain that the film doesn't go far enough in depicting the weirdness of dreams, but this is adequately explained in the film by having the dreams be constructed in a realistic way so that the dreamer does not realize it is a dream. I found all of this immensely interesting.

I only had two major problems: The film goes to lengths to establish the rules of how the dream world works, only to break them later (if each successive level experienced the same inertial/gravity shift that the dreamer experienced, then every level after the hotel level would experience the same effect, so all the people on the snow level should have been thrown out into space), and most of the action sequences (there are many) are inconsequential and uninteresting.

After my first viewing, I found the first of those issues to be absolutely inexcusable, but after a second viewing, I realized that I loved the film despite its flaws (although that first one still sticks out; the dream concept is at least half of the substance of the entire movie--if it doesn't work, then half the movie doesn't work. It's not a small issue--it is the movie itself.)

Even if it is not perfect, the basic concept offers unlimited interest for me (any minor aspect of which could be enough to supply a story for an entire film), I really liked the Hans Zimmer score (unlike the Batman films), the mostly-practical effects were really cool (including the much talked about hallway scene), the main character was very interesting, and I loved the progression and complexity of the story.

As for the ending...I thought it was perfect. I don't feel that it is really worth thinking about much (thinking about the different possibilities doesn't really change the rest of the film), but for the film it is the perfect choice.

So there you have it: four negatives, a neutral, and six positives. Considering the studio-driven age we live in, I'll have to be happy with that. I'll be watching several of the movies I mentioned as having missed soon, including The Social Network, Enter the Void, and hopefully Somewhere. I expect my opinion of the year as whole to increase as I get to more of those.

Movie review: Monsters (2010)

A man and woman must travel through an area of Mexico inhabited by dangerous alien creatures to reach the U.S.

Check out the trailer:



Monsters is the premier effort from writer/director Gareth Edwards, a former visual effects artist (he did the visual effects in the movie himself on his laptop). The film was made on a very low budget, with many of the background roles being played by people who were not professional actors. There are only two real characters, and Edwards made sure to get actors who were really good for the roles that mattered (not that the others stick out at all--they all feel very authentic).

The movie begins by explaining that a crashed space probe brought extraterrestrial life to Earth, leading to a quarantine of most of Mexico. However, the monsters themselves (which are sort of like octopi with crab legs) are not the focus of the film. Instead, we follow photographer Andrew Kaulder as he attempts to escort Sam Wynden, his boss's daughter, to safety, and the focus of the film becomes the relationship between the two, which changes as we get to know them and they get to know each other.

This is a very good film; almost a great one. The characters feel real and are likable, and following them on their journey is a great experience. The film as a whole is utterly unpredictable and presents a unique world and situation. There aren't many monster scenes, but that doesn't matter because the characters are what is really interesting. The only problem with it is that it is too short (only 94 minutes). If there had been more both of character scenes and creature scenes, the film would have even better.

There have been comparisons made between this film and District 9 (2009), as both are science fiction films that (like many science fiction stories) act as allegories for political/social issues. This is only a superficial similarity though: District 9 dealt with racism and had a message that became a large part of the film; this film deals with racism as well, but also environmental issues, as well as people profiting from the misfortune of others, but on a much more subtle level. There is also the title "Monsters." The film treats the creatures as real biological animals, asking what a monster is, and what might really be the monster in a situation. At its core, it remains a movie about characters. I think Cloverfield (2008) would be a better film to compare it to, although they are still very different; this film is much more serious and realistic and is not a "found footage" movie. Maybe a character movie like Lost in Translation (2003) is the best comparison.

A very good movie, just not quite as good as it could have been.

7.5/10

Favorites list: My top zombie films

As a kid, zombie movies were the ultimate viewing experience. Back then I was much less critical than I am now and would enjoy pretty much any movie with a monster in it, but zombie movies in particular amazed me. I remember going to my cousin's house and watching the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead and being scared but, more importantly, absolutely engrossed. I've mentioned before my interest in movies where the entire world is the threat, especially as a kid, and nothing encapsulated that idea more than the concept of zombies overrunning the world.

Nowadays, we are somehow experiencing an overflow of zombie movies, many of them surprisingly good but many unbelievably bad ones as well. As a kid growing up in the '90s, this would have driven me completely crazy; back then, zombie movies where relatively rare and somewhat difficult to come across, making it a glorious occasion when you did. I remember Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993) being aired a few times (that one made me so uncomfortable that my mother tried to make me stop watching it--she only did that with movies that clearly scared me, which was understandable but frustrating), and I caught most of Dawn of the Dead (1979), which instantly became one of my favorite films and has been ever since.

Which brings us to the list. Obviously, this is subjective. I didn't organize it based on which movies I thought were technically the best, but on which ones I liked the most. I also didn't try to do a top ten, but rather simply the ones I particularly liked for one reason or another. Here we go:

9) Day of the Dead (1985)
directed by George A. Romero

During the (original) zombie apocalypse, a group of people hole up in an underground military complex surrounded by zombies. The military personnel use their power to push around the scientists and other survivors, and things start to get out of hand.

Romero is of course the grandfather of the modern zombie movie, pretty much singlehandedly creating the entire genre (more on that later).

The third film in his 'Dead' series, Day of the Dead, was originally going to be of larger scale than it ended up being. On the one hand, a smaller scale lets us get to know the characters better, but they simply aren't that interesting in this one, which I think is its biggest flaw.

On the other hand, the effects (by Tom Savini, who appears in three of the films on this list) are by far the best yet seen in a zombie movie and the performance by Sherman Howard as 'Bub,' a zombie that shows evidence of intelligence, is fantastic. The inclusion of Richard Liberty as a scientist (nicknamed 'Dr. Frankenstein') experimenting on the zombies allows for some great concepts, and by extension, great effects imagery. The inevitable ending, in which the zombies overrun the complex, is also great. If only we cared about the protagonists.

Bub.

8) Slither (2006)
directed by James Gunn

Alien slugs arrive on a meteorite and begin turning everyone in a small town into zombies. If that sounds like Night of the Creeps (1986)...yeah, it's very similar. I like this one more though; it goes farther in the direction of 'weird' and is funnier.

Some might argue that this doesn't belong on this list since the zombies themselves aren't necessarily the main threat, but they are still a major part of the movie.

As with Night of the Creeps, this one is at least as much a comedy as a horror film. The cast (including Nathan Fillion and Elizabeth Banks) is great, the effects are cool and interesting, and it's really funny. For what it is, this movie is pretty close to perfect. The only issue is that, again, we don't particularly care about the characters. They're more likable in terms of being funny than characters that we actually like in themselves. Still a highly recommended movie.

Yes, that is Pam from The Office as a zombie.

7) Zombi 2, aka Zombie
directed by Lucio Fulci

When her father's boat shows up in New York with only a zombie as a passenger, a woman teams up with a reporter to find answers. They end up on an island where a scientist is trying to find an explanation for how voodoo is able to make the dead rise.

Read my review here.

As time has passed since seeing this film, I've come to appreciate it more. Maybe I should go back and tweak the review.

The only thing I hate about zombie movies is that they always make me hungry...

6) Dawn of the Dead (2004)
directed by Zach Snyder

When the dead suddenly rise and begin violently attacking and eating people, a group of people (including Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames) seek refuge in a mall.

I hesitated on where to put this one because I haven't seen it in a while.

This one had everything going against it: it was a remake of a great classic, it was from an unknown director, the zombies were going to be fast. But it worked somehow. It's still the only Zach Snyder film I really like.

It's not perfect. There are too many characters, which means we don't get to know them well enough, unlike the original, and there are some little things that just don't make sense. I'm also torn on the ending; I like that the movie continues through the credits, but not so much what actually happens.

The zombies look good, but the speed thing still bugs me. They made it work in the movie, but I just prefer the slower style, and not just because it makes more sense to have decaying zombies not have great muscularity.

But the tone of the film is a relatively realistic one, with some humor thrown in, effective tension and mostly good effects with little CGI.

Running zombies...*sigh of exasperation*...

5) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
directed by George A. Romero

The dead begin to attack and a group of people hide out in an isolated farmhouse.

The original zombie film. The entire genre can be traced back to this movie, and few since have surpassed it. As far as I know this is the only black-and-white zombie movie, and it lends a documentary feel to the film. Even if all the actors aren't super great, the movie feels like a record of real events; when the zombies are on-screen, you don't think 'those are people playing zombies,' you think 'those are zombies.'

That also enables you to think about what you would do in the situation and what it would be like to be there, which is the most interesting aspect of zombie films in general. It shouldn't be any surprise that zombies have become a hugely popular adversary in videogames. The best zombie movies, and this one in particular, are more about what the people do than about the zombies themselves.

The original walking dead.

Some people read messages into the film about politics or race (admittedly, Romero does often include such subtexts in his films), but whether you do or not, I don't think it feels like a big part of the film.

Modern audiences may have trouble with the slow pace (although the zombies show up right at the beginning), but if you give yourself over to the movie, you will become engrossed as if it is really happening around you.

4) Planet Terror (2007)
directed by Robert Rodriguez

A military-created chemical is released near a small Texas town, turning people into--what else--zombies. A go-go dancer (Rose McGowan), her boyfriend (Freddy Rodriguez), and a sheriff (Michael Biehn) are among the people fighting to survive.

This was originally the first part of the excellent Grindhouse (2007).

There's no way I could adequately describe this movie without just showing it to you. It's funny, has a great cast (including Bruce Willis in his strangest role since Death Becomes Her [1992]), lots of cool action sequences, great gory effects from KNB, a great score by Rodriguez...this movie is pure fun from start to finish.

As for the zombies, these are very unique. They are constantly mutating; growing more and more grotesque, with large pustules spouting all over their bodies. They generally move at sort of a medium pace and can still talk.

The effects of the toxin are more pronounced in some individuals.

Describing any other specific things would probably be pointless; you really have to watch it to get the tone and humor. So just watch it.

3) Shaun of the Dead (2004)
directed by Edgar Wright

A man (Simon Pegg) tries to patch up his relationship with his girlfriend while also trying to survive a zombie uprising.

This movie is absolutely fantastic. Watching the movie generates constant laughter over the course of the entire film. Unlike 99% of modern comedies, the quality of the rest of the film isn't compromised for the sake of bad jokes; the entire film is great, from the acting to the cinematography to the effects. A friend once called this the greatest zombie film ever, saying that if all the comedic elements were removed, it would still be a great zombie movie, which is true.

It's hard to talk about comedies because either the humor works for you or it doesn't, and you have to watch it yourself to find out. But in this case, if you are a zombie fan, or a horror fan in general, you'll probably enjoy it; there is a lot to love here, with many references to other films that only fans would get.

For a comedy, the zombies are surprisingly well executed.

2) [REC] (2007)
directed by Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza

A female reporter (Manuela Velasco) and her cameraman accompany a group of firefighters on a call to an apartment building, where they become trapped inside with the tenants, some of whom may have a contagious virus.

Read my rave review here.

Is this a zombie movie? I don't really know. But it's close enough that for the purposes of this list I am including it.

Watch this movie. NOW. As of Nov. 15, 2010, [REC] is available for free viewing at fearnet.com.

I didn't think old, fat people could get any scarier. I was wrong.

1) Dawn of the Dead (1978)
directed by George A. Romero

As the zombie apocalypse that began in Night of the Living Dead escalates, four people hide in a mall, which appears to be the perfect place to live.

Is it any surprise that this is #1?

This movie takes the realistic feel of Night and amplifies it by showing the effects of the zombie plague on a larger, more open scale while focusing on a smaller cast that we really get to know over the course of the film.

Some of the scenes early on are oddly edited and paced, but once the film gets to the mall, the movie glides along. There are some montages where you see glimses of their lives and other scenes where you just see the zombies stumbling around; it maintains the feel of the previous film, that this is documentary footage of what was happening.

The characters act the way real people would, taking advantage of the situation they are in. Again, it's the idea of 'what would you do in the situation?' If you had free reign over a mall, you'd probably do what these people do: loot the place and not hesitate to make use of all the fun possibilities presented. This film really makes you feel that you living alongside the characters, which makes it all the more interesting when a gang of thieves come and try to take control of the mall from them. You know exactly what these people went through to set the place up for themselves, so you empathize with their fear and anger.

On the zombie front, you have some...odd colors. The blood and zombie skin color don't always look great (it was a low budget movie), but there are great makeups and some great kills, like the helicopter decapitation. But it's the realistic tone that makes the zombies effective. Throughout the film, you'll catch glimpses of zombies you've seen before, which adds to that as well, making it feel like these events are really happening as you watch.

I was going to use another shot of zombies eating someone, but decided it would be in poor taste.

It all amounts to the greatest zombie movie of all time for the specific reason that it makes you feel like you are there. It may not be particularly scary or polished-looking, but the tone is spot on, the characters feel real, and the world is realistically depicted. As a kid, this movie absolutely blew me away; that feeling has not diminished over time and I don't think it ever will.

So that's the list. After all that I've come to realize that there are several zombie movies I really need to watch. Return of the Living Dead (1985) is first up, but there's also [REC] 2 (2009), Dead Snow (2008), Undead (2003), Quarantine (2008), and probably several others. I'm of the mind that 28 Days Later (2002) is not a zombie film, but it's been too long since I watched it regardless, not to mention not having seen 28 Weeks Later (2007) yet. Hopefully I can get to some of those soon, as well as doing lists on other subjects.