IMDb Top 250: The Fighter

David O. Russell has been more of an indie movie director, with such movies as I Heart Huckabees and Flirting with Disaster. Even his war movie with George Clooney, Three Kings, wasn't the usual war movie we tend to see from Hollywood. So my hopes for The Fighter were quite high. Russell directing Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale in a boxing movie. Should be something unusual and more quirky, right?

Well, it really isn't. The Fighter is a story of Micky Ward, a boxer who isn't doing very well and Dicky Eklund, Micky's brother and trainer. Set in Massachusetts and based on a true story, the movie tells a story of the two brothers inside and mostly outside of the ring.

You know, there's a reason why you hear everyone praising Christian Bale in this movie. He's definitely the main reason to see it. His Dickie is energetic, crazy and absolutely the MVP of the movie. Melissa Leo playing the boys' mother got an Oscar for her role, but I didn't think she was anything that special in the role. But I think Mark Wahlberg should get his share of the kudos given to the acting in the movie, as his portrayal of Micky keeps the movie more grounded than it would be otherwise. Just because he's not as OTT as the other character doesn't mean Wahlberg's acting is any worse than the others.

Like I said before, I'm a big fan of Russell's movies, but this one didn't really work for me. There was nothing new in the story, it's basically a retread of Rocky, but this time based in real people. And Russell's direction was very basic and understated, which I suppose works for the movie, but it doesn't give it any personality of it's own. It just feels like it's going through the motions.

Executive Producer Darren Aronofsky was originally slated to direct The Fighter, but bailed out to do Black Swan. Good choice on his part, but I can't help but wonder how much better this movie could've been if it was by Aronofsky.

For some reason The Oscars seem to love boxing movies. There's Rocky and Raging Bull, both masterpieces, but then there's Million Dollar Baby and now The Fighter as well, all nominated for Best Picture. I know they're not about boxing as such, but that's pretty good odds for boxing movies, considering how rare they are. But The Fighter definitely doesn't deserve to be on that list, no matter how good the acting in the movie is. My score for The Fighter: 6/10

PS. The Fighter isn't on the Top 250 anymore. Must've fallen off since I started doing the list. Good riddance.

IMDb Top 250: The King's Speech

The King's Speech came kind of nowhere. There wasn't huge publicity for before people actually started seeing it. That's when the hype began. Colin Firth being phenomenal, everyone should see this movie etc. Personally I thought it was funny that people were talking about a movie about a guy who couldn't talk.

Everyone knows the story of the stuttering king now, so a plot synopsis isn't really needed. For some reason this movie reminds me of Forrest Gump, except The King's Speech is about a billion times better. Maybe it's the main character's disability thing and the fact that everyone seems to love both movies.

What works for the movie the most is the characters. Colin Firth given an amazing performance as King George VI and gets to number two on my all time favourite movie stutterers list. No. 1 is still Brad Dourif in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Helena Bonham Carter proves that she actually is able to act in movies, no matter how Tim Burton is trying to show us otherwise. Geoffrey Rush also shows us that there's more to him than a pirate. If you want to see Mr. Rush at this absolute best, you should see "Shine". Brilliant movie and an excellent performance by him. Everyone in the movie is excellent, and it's always great to see Guy Pearce making an appearance.

Of course building a movie is never an easy feat, but directionwise it felt that Tom Hooper gave the stage to the actors. The movie feels like so many other British costume dramas, it sometimes feels like it's keeping the movie becoming all that it could be. The script was good as well, as it brought the human side to all the characters, and I loved that while he was actually able to give the speech at the end(spoilers!), he wasn't completely cured of the stutter as usually happens in movies.

All in all, The King's Speech is a good movie, that could be a great movie if polished a bit more. I can see why it got it's Oscars and it's definitely not the worst Best Picture winner ever. I want to see The King's Speech 2: The Adventures of Bertie and Lionel, as the movie is at it's finest with the interaction of those two. My score for The King's Speech: 7/10

Top 5 Friday #5: Favourite Remakes

These days a remake is pretty much the worst thing a movie can be. You hear it with almost every other movie, it's a remake, reimagining, retelling, remodelling, rewejustwantyourmoneying, you name it. But they're not all bad. Hell, True Grit just came up and blew the original out of the water. Granted, most of them are quick cash grabs, trying to make money off a familiar name (Looking at you here, Platinum Dunes. Good job of the new Friday the 13th, though.)

Anyway, for this weeks Top 5 Friday, I wanted to list my favourite remakes.

5. Dawn of the Dead

Coming out during the start of the remake craze, Dawn of the Dead actually breathes new life to the zombie genre (28 Days Later helped as well). Making zombies fast makes them a new kind of foe to deal with and James Gunn's script and Zack Snyder's direction made everyone go "Oh, now, it doesn't suck!"

Original is better though. Slow zombies for me, thank you.

4. (Horror of) Dracula

Hammer made it big in the UK with their version of Dracula. Christopher Lee makes for an iconic Count Dracula and Peter Cushing is the best Van Helsing ever on the silver screen. Marketed in the US as Horror of Dracula, because the Lugosi version was still going around in the cinemas at the time of release. Changes made into the story work brilliantly and for my money, this is the best version of Dracula ever made, that isn't called Nosferatu.

Also stars Michael Gough, who passed away this week at the age of 93. RIP.

3. The Fly

The original 50's The Fly is mostly remembered for the ending "Save me!" and for Vincent Price's small role. David Cronenberg's remake tops the original in every aspect. Jeff Goldblum has never been better than here, the story is heartbreaking as you care about the characters and the Best Makeup Oscar was more than well deserved. See if you can spot the director cameo in the movie.

I always thought it was funny that the movie was produced by Mel Brooks's production company. It's a long way from Blazing Saddles to The Fly.

2. A Fistful of Dollars

A remake that started a whole new movie subgenre and gave us a lot of movie legends. Though it's not the first movie for Sergio Leone or Clint Eastwood, it's basically here where their careers took off. Ennio Morricone creates an iconic movie score and everyone falls in love with a different kind of western.

A remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo, which is a masterpiece as well. Remade later as Last Man Standing, starring Bruce Willis. Not so much in the masterpiece category, that one.

1. The Thing

John Carpenter's masterpiece died in the box office back in 1982, thanks to Spielberg's slightly friendlier extra-terrestrial, but in the recent years The Thing has been recognized as the classic sci-fi horror movie it is. Claustrophobic, paranoia-inducing and just a great fricking movie. Excellent special effects as well, guaranteed to stick with you. A prequel/remake is coming out this year, let's see how that compares to this one. The 1951 The Thing From Another World is worth watching as well.

Ennio Morricone's haunting score was nominated for the Worst Musical Score in the Razzie Awards in 1983. It "lost" to The Pirate Movie.

And so another list comes to a close. Join me next week on the blog as I finally will review The King's Speech and The Fighter. And a new Top 5 on Friday again! What will it be? You'll find out on Friday! It's only a week from now. Now if you excuse me, I'll go and recover from St. Patrick's Day.

Uninteresting movies of 2011: Conan The Barbarian

I thought it would be fun to have a companion thing to the Interesting Movies of 2011 I have going on and go for the complete opposite, so here is Uninteresting Movies of 2011 where I list movies that I have basically no interest in at all.

First up is the new Conan The Barbarian movie. It's not because of I feel the original Schwarzenegger movie is legendary. It's not because of Basil Poledouris's kickass score will most likely stay unheard. It's because there's absolutely nothing interesting in it. Conan is played by Jason Momoa, of Baywatch and Stargate: Atlantis fame. From what I've seen of him I'm highly doubting him being able to carry a movie.

The New Conan is directed by Marcus Nispel, whose previous attempt to this genre was Pathfinder, which is better just forgotten and I'm sure most people involved in it already have.

Only good thing I can think of is Ron Perlman. But he has been in a lot...subpar movies throughout his career (Hello, Mutant Chronicles!), so I don't think he's able to save this movie either. We also have Rachel Nichols and Rose McGowan as eyecandy, but that's hardly a reason enough to go see the movie.

And if you need more convincing to stay away from this Conan, just check the new teaser trailer, laugh and go see the original movie. Trust me, it's much more worth your time.

And you can watch this for some Poledouris love:

Interesting Movies in 2011: Super 8

You remember those cool Steven Spielberg movies that we watched when we kids? E.T. and Jurassic Park? Hell, some of us even thought Hook was fun back then! Haven't had much movies like that since. Joe Dante does what he can with movies like The Hole and Small Soldiers, but there's something that only Spielberg can bring to the table when it comes to capturing a boy's life.

Only time will tell how much of Spielberg is in J.J. Abrams's Super 8, though knowing J.J., I don't think he's releasing much control of his movies to anyone. Still mostly shrouded is secrecy, although not as much as Cloverfield was back in 2009, Super 8 seems to give us that same feeling again, based on the trailer below. Also the  score on the trailer sounds a lot like old school John Williams. Sounds like another winner for Michael Giacchino.

Ps. Does anyone remember the TV show Early Edition? Kyle Chandler kicked ass in that one. When is that coming on DVD?

March Check-Up on IMDb Top 250

So a belated look into what's happening with this list. We're down to 75! I've watched six last month, most to them to catch up on the Best Picture nominees, reviews are coming later for those. Still, need to pick up the pace here. A lot of good movies there waiting for me, or so I've heard. I've got Gone With The Wind and Lawrence of Arabia waiting for me at home, but finding time for those is proving to be a bit of a challenge as well.

1. City of God (2002)
2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
3. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
4. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
5. Black Swan (2010)
6. The Pianist (2002)
7. City Lights (1931)
8. The Lives of Others (2006)
9. Modern Times (1936)
10. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
11. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
12. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
13. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
14. All About Eve (1950)
15. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
16. The Great Dictator (1940)
17. Downfall (2004)
18. The Elephant Man (1980)
19. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
20. On the Waterfront (1954)
21. Rebecca (1940)
22. The Seventh Seal (1957)
23. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
24. Touch of Evil (1958)
25. Yojimbo (1961)
26. Ran (1985)
27. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
28. Wild Strawberries (1957)
29. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
30. It Happened One Night (1934)
31. Notorious (1946)
32. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
33. Gone with the Wind (1939)
34. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
35. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
36. Ben-Hur (1959)
37. The King's Speech (2010)
38. The Big Sleep (1946)
39. The Graduate (1967)
40. Amores Perros (2000)
41. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
42. The Kid (1921)
43. Ikiru (1952)
44. The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
45. Gandhi (1982)
46. 8½ (1963)
47. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
48. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
49. True Grit (2010)
50. The Killing (1956)
51. La Strada (1954)
52. The 400 Blows (1959)
53. Network (1976)
54. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
55. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
56. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
57. Persona (1966)
58. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
59. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
60. 127 Hours (2010)
61. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
62. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
63. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
64. Mary and Max (2009)
65. Manhattan (1979)
66. Barry Lyndon (1975)
67. Nights of Cabiria (1957)
68. The Celebration (1998)
69. Patton (1970)
70. The Fighter (2010)
71. Roman Holiday (1953)
72. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
73. Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
74. In the Mood for Love (2000)
75. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
76. Harvey (1950)
77. Crash (2004)
78. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
79. A Christmas Story (1983)
80. Three Colors: Red (1994)
81. Rope (1948)
82. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003)

So now it's 75 movies and 292 days. And still approximated four days per movie. Unless I'm counting that wrong. I might very well be, but I'm going by my math.

I'm back!

The blog took a little break, as you might've noticed. But that was mostly due to wedding related stress and then having some time off to actually get married and celebrate and whatnot. But now that that's over and done with(sadly), the blog is back!

There's some reviews to write, movies to look forward to and also need to catch-up on the IMDb Top 250, which will be interesting. I've seen more of them than I did in January, but still think I'm quite far away from my target. Doesn't help that DragonAge 2 just came out either.