What Films did You Watch Last Week (12/11 - 18/11) CLOSED

First Time Viewings:

Cop Out (2010, Kevin Smith)

This buddy cop movie is pretty average. Bruce Willis is solid, but I wasn't a big fan of Tracy Morgan's performance or character, as I found them kind of annoying. Sean William Scott was pretty fun in his part though. The movie as a whole just isn't nearly as fun or exciting as it thinks it is though.

5.5/10 I don't mind Tracy Morgan in this movie, but the script is very phoned in by Kevin Smith.


Red State (2011, Kevin Smith)

I wasn't sure of this one at first, but then it became pretty interesting. Unfortunately is completely falls apart in the second half, which I found to be incredibly lazy. I just stopped caring about what was happening, which is a shame, because the potential was definitely there.

5/10 Same exact opinion as you and the only thing that kept me somewhat interested in the second half is John Goodman.

Gangster Squad (2013, Ruben Fleischer)

I was looking forward to this one before it came out, but put it off all this time because of the negative reactions. Emma Stone isn't given much to do and the usually reliable Ryan Gosling and Sean Penn weren't that great here. Josh Brolin was pretty good, but the movie is pretty dull for the most part. 

5/10
4/10 Josh Brolin's performance is the only aspect of the movie I like.

Tusk (2014, Kevin Smith)

This one is pretty interesting for the first two thirds or so, but the last act fell a bit flat for me. Johnny Depp's character and performance didn't really work for me and the last act no longer has the balance between comedy and horror right. 

6.5/10
7.5.10 This movie hits all the right notes for me.

Yoga Hosers (2016, Kevin Smith)

Yeah, it sucks.

3.5/10
3/10 Awful

The Meg (2018, Jon Turteltaub)

I was hoping this would at least be amusingly bad, but it's pretty dull for the most part and I didn't care about a single character.

4.5/10
3.5/10 There is almost nothing good I can say about this movie.

Hostiles (2018, Scott Cooper)

This one has some very good cinematography and a very good score. The cast is good too and it starts out pretty good, but the story never fully grabbed me. 

6/10 

BlacKkKlansman (2018, Spike Lee)

A pretty interesting true story right here. I enjoyed it.

7/10

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018, The Coen Brothers)

None of the other chapters lived up to the wacky fun of the first for me, but I still liked all of them. The cinematography is very good too.

7/10
8/10 The more I think about this movie the more I like it. Some brilliant stuff here and there and everything else is good too.


Repeat Viewings:

The Basketball Diaries (1995, Scott Kalvert)

Leonardo DiCaprio is really good here, but the film doesn't do much else to stand out from other similar films about drug use. It feels a bit cheaply made a lot of the time too, but it has its moments.

6/10
5.5/10 Arguably Leonardo DiCaprio's best performance but the screenplay and directing fall flat for me.

J. Edgar (2011, Clint Eastwood)

I feel like this could have been better, but it's still a fairly interesting biopic.

7/10

Leaving Las Vegas (1995, Mike Figgis)

Some powerful stuff in this one and Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue are wonderful.

7.5/10
8/10

Good Will Hunting (1997, Gus Van Sant)

Not sure what it was, but I really loved this one this time, and I really liked it before. Matt Damon, Robin Williams, and Minnie Driver put in some very strong work, it has an excellent script, and several scenes which are flat out brilliant. It also packs a huge emotional punch. Great stuff.

9/10
8/10 I don't think any of the scenes are brilliant, but the whole movie is still very good.

AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004, W.S. Anderson)

Liked this even less this time. Forgettable characters and it honestly just bored the hell out of me. 

3.5/10
4.5/10 

AVPR: Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem (2007, Colin & Greg Strause)

Not quite as boring as the first one (thanks to some good unintentional humor), but still pretty boring and the characters are even worse. The lighting is terrible too, so it's hard to see what's going on a lot of the time. 

3/10 I shut this movie off half-way through. It is just awful and nothing is unintentionally funny from what I watched, mostly it's cringe-inducing.

Hugo (2011, Martin Scorsese)

Far from Scorsese's best work, but still quite good.

TV Vieiwngs:

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! - Season 1 (1969-1970)

Pretty fun show, mostly thanks to Scooby and Shaggy.

7/10
Besides Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, this show just kind of bores me.


Movie Awards:

BEST FILM - Good Will Hunting 
BEST ACTOR - Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas)
BEST ACTRESS - Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Masanobu Takayanagi (Hostiles) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BEST SCORE - Max Richter (Hostiles) Hugo 
BEST SCRIPT - Matt Damon & Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting)
BEST DIRECTOR - Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting)