Yours:
The Meyerowitz Stories - I also watched it this week.
3:10 to Yuma - good western with a strong cast, good score, and a good story. 7.5/10
Fedora - lesser Wilder for me, but that's not exactly a bad thing. 7/10
Allied - one of Pitt's weaker performance, but I liked the film overall. 7/10
Body Double - a good Hitchcockian thriller from De Palma. 7.5/10
The Bad and the Beautiful - I liked the structure of this one, it has a very good story, and the cast is excellent. 8/10
Spider-Man: Homecoming - I'd put the first two Raimi's slightly above it, but I agree Holland is the best Peter Parker/Spider-Man. 7/10
First Time Viewings:
Orphan (2009, Jaume Collet-Serra)
This one is about a married couple that recently lost their baby, ho decide to adopt a 9 year old girl. Vera Farmiga is really good here and Isabelle Fuhrman is even better as the title character. The story went in some interesting directions and features a very unexpected twist. The first two thirds of the film are quite good, but the last act was a bit of a step down, though still pretty good. It's intense and unsettling and I definitely liked this one.
7/10
Martin (1978, George A. Romero)
A young man, who believes he is a vampire, moves in with his much older cousin and attempts to rid himself of his blood cravings. The film is very odd, which is actually part of its charm. It has some really good scenes, a very good score, and the cast is solid, but it didn't quite work for me overall.
6.5/10
Creepshow (1982, George A. Romero)
This anthology horror film has five different segments written by Stephen King. I wasn't a fan of the first two parts, but I enjoyed the last three quite a bit. Leslie Nielsen and E.G. Marshall are the standout performers.
6.5/10
Creepshow 2 (1987, Michael Gornick)
This one is half an hour shorter than the first and only has three segments. The first and last are just okay, but the middle part is pretty fun.
6/10
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984, Charles E. Sellier Jr.)
This slasher is about a boy that witnessed his parents murdered by a man in a Santa suit. After growing up in an orphanage where he was abused by the mother superior he finally snaps while working at a toy store during the Christmas season. Apparently this one caused quite the controversy when it first came out, but I found it to be alright. I thought the story was a nice twist on the genre and there are some memorable scenes.
6/10
When a Stranger Calls (1979, Fred Walton)
This one is about a babysitter than is tormented by an unknown caller, who returns after seven years to torment her again. The opening 20 minutes are very good and the last 20 minutes are pretty good as well, but everything in between wasn't nearly as interesting or engaging.
6/10
Final Destination (2000, James Wong)
After having a vision of him and his friends dying in a plane crash, a young man saves a few of them from the accident, only for death to hunt them down one by one. The concept is actually pretty cool and I enjoyed the film for the most part. The main problem is that there was only really one character from the main group that I really cared about, so their deaths didn't have as great effect as they should have. Still, there are some creative death scenes and I liked that the killer was fate. There are a few attempts at dark humor, but I don't think they really worked.
6.5/10
Final Destination 2 (2003, David R. Ellis)
This sequel has some memorable moments, but his a poor and unnecessary follow up overall. I didn't care much for the characters and once again the dark humor didn't work very well.
5/10
Final Destination 3 (2006, James Wong)
the third film of the series is the best of the sequels and is the first time that some of the dark humor really works, though this is largely due to the fact that there's simply more of it. Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays the lead here and she's my favorite character of the series, which helped make this one solid. I also thought the ending was great and I found the pictures subplot to be pretty interesting. It's still just okay overall, but it could have been much worse.
6/10
The Final Destination (2009, David R. Ellis)
This one is the worst of the series for me. It has poor characters, weak performances, and is just pretty bad overall. It's still somewhat entertaining though.
4.5/10
Final Destination 5 (2011, Steven Quale)
The fifth film is a step up from the fourth, but is still pretty weak. I didn't care for the characters that much, but it does have its moments, including a great ending.
5/10
American Made (2017, Doug Liman)
This one is based on the true story of Barry Seal, an American pilot who became a drug runner for the CIA. Tom Cruise puts in his best performance since Collateral and the film is full of energy and is pretty entertaining throughout.
7.5/10
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017, Noah Baumbach)
The latest film from Noah Baumbach is right in his comfort zone and he delivers quite well here. The dialogue is strong, the characters are memorable, and the cast is pretty strong across the board. It has a nice blend of humor and drama and entertains throughout.
7.5/10
Repeat Viewings:
Vampire's Kiss (1988, Robert Bierman)
In this one a publishing executive thinks he is turning into a vampire after an encounter with a neck-biter. The film is pretty hilarious, thanks mostly to a ridiculous, but awesome turn from Nicolas Cage. He really went for it and it pays off. I can't see anyone else playing the character like Cage did and the film is a lot of fun because of him.
7.5/10
Scream (1996, Wes Craven)
I've seen this one four times now and it's still awesome. I love the characters, the cast, and how it mocks its own genre. It's really intense at times, but hilarious at others and incredibly entertaining throughout. The opening scene is one of the best of all time, but the entire film is fantastic.
9/10
Scream 2 (1997, Wes Craven)
Not nearly as good as the first, but still a pretty good sequel with some great moments.
7/10
Scream 3 (2000, Wes Craven)
Much like the second film this one doesn't come close to the original, but it's still pretty good overall.
7/10
Scream 4 (2011, Wes Craven)
This one is one equal ground with parts 2 and 3, but I'd call this the best of the sequels due largely to the last act, which features the most shocking killer reveal of the series.
7/10
Friday the 13th (1980, Sean S. Cunningham)
This horror classic has a few memorable characters and has a great sense of dread to it. It also has some awesome kills and a pretty cool storyline.
7.5/10
Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981, Steve Miner)
It's fairly similar to the original, but it's a pretty good follow up with a few great moments and a better final girl than the original.
7/10
Friday the 13th Part III (1982, Steve Miner)
Another pretty good sequel that is fairly similar to the original, but different enough to still work.
7/10
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984, Jospeh Zito)
This one didn't quite work for me when I first watched it last year, but I decided to give it another shot. I'm glad I did because I enjoyed it more this time. It has a few memorable characters, awesome cool kills, and some nice tension.
7/10
Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986, Tom McLoughlin)
The sixth film of the series is the most fun of them all, but I'd still put it a bit below the original. This one doesn't take itself seriously, which makes it pretty entertaining with a nice mix of horror and humor. It also has some good characters and some great kills.
7/10
Movie Awards:
BEST FILM - Scream
BEST ACTOR - Nicolas Cage (Vampire's Kiss)
BEST ACTRESS - Neve Campbell (Scream)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Matthew Lillard (Scream)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Cesar Charlone (American Made)
BEST SCORE - Donald Rubinstein (Martin)
BEST SCRIPT - Kevin Williamson (Scream)
BEST DIRECTOR - Wes Carven (Scream)