Rambling Film

It's been a LONG time since I've done one of my "birthday posts." I don't even want to look through my archives to see when the last one was, it will just be embarrassing. I haven't got to see as many new movies as I usually do these past weeks and I am in need of some content. Luckily it happens to be one of my all time favorite director's birthdays... Happy Birthday Christopher Nolan! 1) My favorite film: The Dark Knight. After viewing the brilliant Dark Knight Rises last week, it took me awhile to decide which one I liked better. I'm going to have to go with this one. Batman Begins was good, but his follow up was fantastic. It's rare that sequels one up the original and this film had everything going for it. Great story, intense action, one hell of a villain, magic tricks, (Do you want to see me make this pencil disappear?) phenomenal score, and it never slowed down. Crafted to perfection all around. 2) My least favorite: Insomnia. The...

I haven't written a birthday post since 11 November. So what better actor to get off my lazy ass and honor? My favorite, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Will this post be incredibly bias? Probably. I can't get enough of this guy. One of the things I like the most about him is his creativity, which he shows in his various roles, and on his website hitRECord Let's get on with it..Happy Birthday, JGL! My Favorite Film: Brick Easily one of my top 5 favorite films, Brick is a detective story/noir about a young man named Brendan and his mission to find out who killed his ex girlfriend. The rapid fire dialogue gets you hooked right away, and JGL keeps you interested throughout. (fun fact: He's making a new film called Looper with Brick director Rian Johnson) My Least Favorite Film: Havoc  Havoc actually had a few good actors in it and probably sounded really good on paper. As amused as I was to see JGL play a wanna be gangster the film didn't really come together that well. ...

Ahh..one of my all time favorite actresses. When she was on Once and Again everyone used to say I looked like her. I hated that back then. Then I saw her in Thirteen and I didn't mind being categorized with someone of her talent. She's extremely underrated in my opinion. She's made tons of beautiful indies, and it's only time until everyone else realizes the talent she possesses. My Favorite Film: Thirteen Thirteen is one of my all time favorite movies, I can't say enough good things about it. It feel so real. They way these girls act, the trouble they get into, the lesson learned at the end. Nearly everything in this film was relateable to me as a teenager. I think it's an important film for teenage girls to see. Maybe even with their moms. The mother/daughter relationship in this film is the most important aspect. Also the way it was shot was lovely, listen to the commentary on the DVD. There's a lot of interesting info in it. She was robbed of an Oscar n...

Going through Robert De Niro's filmography is tough. This guy rarely does wrong. This is probably my laziest b-day post because I just can't seem to make up my mind. Happy Birthday Robert De Niro! You deserve a better post than this.. Favorite Film(s): The God Father Part II, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter, Cape Fear, Taxi Driver. Instead of putting a lot of thought into it and picking one, I just picked them all. Seriously, one performance doesn't top the other. Raging Bull is probably my favorite film of the bunch. Although The God Father series is legendary. Least Favorite Film: Off the top of my head, I couldn't actually think of a film that I hated him in. After going through his filmography I finally spotted one! The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I completely forgot he was in that. I'm sure he hopes everyone else does too. Do you think this flick to De Niro is what Garfield is to Bill Murray? Most Bizarre/Fun/Random: Hide and Seek. It's not one of his...

It's Anna Paquin's birthday today too, but I know Van Sant's filmography better, so he's who I'm going with. Happy Birthday to the King of the looooooooooooooooooooooooong takes. Favorite Film: Milk Van Sant is one of those directors I just love. I'll see anything directed by this guy, even though some of his films are duds. Milk is my favorite because of it's phenomenal cast. Oscar Winner Sean Penn (whether you like him or hate him) was perfect as Harvey Milk. The supporting cast of James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Joseph Cross and Alison Pill were the icing on the cake. I also loved the music in the film. It fit so well. It told a great story. Least Favorite: Psycho This was a toss up between this and Elephant. (FYI Aussie film 2:37 is better, everyone always compares the two.) A masterpiece like Psycho didn't need a shot for shot remake. Even the decent cast couldn't save this mess. Most Bizarre/Random/Fun: Paranoid Park A word that I n...

You know the drill, if not please see the "Birthday Posts" bulletin at the top of the page. Happy Birthday Robin Williams! Whether you like him or hate him, there's no doubt that this man is good at making people laugh, and making people cry. Sometimes in the same movie. Favorite Film: Good Will Hunting . This was a flick that was just good all around. The entire cast did a great job. Williams was the veteran and not only did he make himself look great, he made the rest of the cast (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, etc.) look great as well. That's a true performer, one that can help himself and help other. I appreciate that. My 5 year old self likes Aladdin the best. Worst Film: Jack This film was supposed to be touching and ended up depressing. Williams played a boy with an (exaggerated) condition that made him look older. It missed every chance to be charming and felt a lot longer than it's 113 minute run time. It's strange to think this was directe...

This is a new column I thought would be fun to write. I originally started writing one a few days ago when it was Nicole Kidman's B-day, then I got lazy and just never finished. Basically what I will do is on my featured actor/director/writer's birthday, I will name my favorite project of theirs, my least favorite, their most bizarre/fun, and their most underrated. I'll also name one film that I haven't seen yet that I probably should, and if you've seen it, tell me how you felt! Let's start with Mrs. Joel Coen, shall we? Happy Birthday, Frances! Favorite Film: Almost Famous There was a lot of things I loved about this movie. The entire cast gave the best performances of their careers in this film and it all came together so nicely. Least Favorite Film: Fargo I understand that I am absolutely in the minority with this one. I hated Fargo. Absolutely hated it. I HATED the phony over enunciated accents. I hated the geography errors. (William H Macy's characte...