What Films did You Watch Last Week (05/11 - 11/11) CLOSED

First Time Viewings:

The Lincoln Lawyer (2011, Brad Furman)

This is considered to be the first film of the McConaissance, but I never got around to it until now. The story is interesting, but gets a bit too messy and unbelievable in the final act. McConaughey is very good though.

6/10

Chasing Amy (1997, Kevin Smith)

This one is about a comic artist who falls in love with a movie that he finds out is a lesbian. The film is well written, has strong characters, a good cast, and some pretty powerful scenes. It's quite funny too.

7.5/10

Dogma (1999, Kevin Smith)

This one works so well because of its creative story, which I found really fun. The cast is good and it has a nice balance between comedy and drama. I really enjoyed this one.

7.5/10

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001, Kevin Smith)

The titular characters are fun, but I think they work best as side characters. The film has too many references in my opinion and the first half is pretty inconsistent. There are some fun cameos though, the second half is actually pretty fun, and it is hilarious at times. it never quite came together because I wasn't big on the first half.

6.5/10

Jersey Girl (2004, Kevin Smith)

This one doesn't have a great reputation, so I went in with lowish expectations. I ended up pleasantly surprised. It's cliche at times, but I liked the characters and cared about them and what they were going through. The cast definitely helps. The film has some good laughs, but also some pretty powerful dramatic moments. Underrated if you ask me.

7/10

Clerks II (2006, Kevin Smith)

I'm a big fan of the first film, so I was looking forward to this one. It was a bit of a disappointment for me. The first two acts have some very good moments here and there, but overall felt lacking and pretty inconsistent. I liked the last act quite a bit (especially the jail scene), but it wasn't quite enough to save the movie for me. 

6.5/10

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008, Kevin Smith)

This one has a fun story, plenty of laughs, and also some good drama and emotion to it. The cast is good and I liked the characters.

7/10

Christopher Robin (2018, Marc Forster)

This one is a wonderful little nostalgia trip about childhood and imagination. Winnie the Pooh and his gang are fun as usual and I cared about the human characters too. The score is good, the film is funny, sweet, and entertaining, with some good emotional value.

7.5/10

The Predator (2018, Shane Black)

This and Iron Man 3 are proof that Shane Black should stay away from franchises and just do his own thing. This is one of those movies where I just didn't care about what was happening. The cast was okay, but I didn't like any of the character enough to actually root for them and the action scenes weren't at all exciting. The story was pretty weak too and the ending was dumb. They never should have made this into a franchise.

4.5/10


Repeat Viewings:

Chinatown (1974, Roman Polanski)

A timeless classic right here. It has a great story, great dialogue, great characters, great performances, and wonderful cinematography and a great score.

9/10

Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

A masterpiece of Sci-Fi/Horror. The cast is really good, the characters are all memorable, it has very good cinematography and score, incredible set designs, and the way it slowly builds tension throughout is masterful.

9.5/10

Aliens (1986, James Cameron)

One of the greatest sequels ever made. It's not quite as good as the first, but it is more entertaining, which puts it on par with the original for me.

9.5/10

Alien³ (1992, David Fincher)

I really didn't like this when I first saw it, but after viewing the assembly cut a couple years later I became a fan of the film. This was my first time I've gone back to the theatrical cut and while I do still prefer the assembly cut, I think this one is pretty good too. 

7/10

Alien³: Assembly Cut (2003, David Fincher)

It;s flawed and nowhere near as good as the first two, but if you can get over the beginning of the movie, like I have, I think it's a pretty good close to Ripley's story.

7.5/10

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977, Wolfgang Reitherman & John Lounsbery)

A charming and entertaining little piece of animation with fun characters and good music.

7/10

Winnie the Pooh (2011, Stephen J. Anderson & Don Hall)

Not quite as good as the 1977 film, but still pretty fun and very easy to sit through due to it's length.

7/10

First Time TV Viewing:

House of Cards: Season 6 (2018)

I'm a big fan of the first five seasons, but this one was unsurprisingly a huge disappointment. It's still well made and acted, but the story is kind of messy, the ending is stupid, and I just found it hard to care about what was going on. As expected, this season sorely missed Frank Underwood and Kevin Spacey's performance as him.

4.5/10


Movie Awards:

BEST FILM - Alien
BEST ACTOR - Jack Nicholson (Chinatown)
BEST ACTRESS - Sigourney Weaver (Aliens)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - John Huston (Chinatown)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Faye Dunaway (Chinatown)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - John A. Alonzo (Chinatown)
BEST SCORE - Jerry Goldsmith (Chinatown)
BEST SCRIPT - Robert Towne (Chinatown)
BEST DIRECTOR - Ridley Scott (Alien)