Movie #18- Willaim H. Macy Movie

Hard to go wrong with any Coen brothers film...

Fargo is such a great movie to watch, just to watch how all of William H. Macy's little scheme is going to play out, plus all the very well crafted Northern stereotypes... "Sonofagunderson" is one of my favorite lines in the film. 

Plenty of dark humor to go around with this wonderfully done crime thriller. 

Obviously some Coen films are better than others... this is one of their best and it deserves its place towards the top of my favorites. 

Rating: 8/10

Movie #17- An Evil Curse

Paranorman was one of my favorite films from 2012... it also surprised me the most (Hunger Games also surprised me because I thought it was going to be poopoo.)

This isn't a little kids movie by any means, sure its animated and hilarious but there is a lot of adult humor in the film and I love it.

Such a great little film to enjoy!

Rating: 8/10

Movie #16- Peter Lorre Film

I watched the original The Man Who Knew Too Much which recently got a criterion release.  First off great transfer, I have yet to watch the supplements but I imagine they are great.

I chose Peter Lorre because this is his first English speaking film.

Also, Hitchcock is either my #1 or #2 favorite director depending on the day. Though this isn't necessarily my favorite Hitchcock... its still a great one.  I couldn't believe that I had never seen the remake Hitchcock did (remake is a very loose term).

Good classic Hitchcock, you can definitely tell its him... though I dont think its as polished as other Hitchcock films. In my opinion 39 Steps is a little bit better so if you are considering a Hitchcock criterion go with that one... though you can't go wrong with this one either.

Rating: 6.75/10

Movie #15- Edgar Wright Movie

Shaun of the Dead is one of my all time favorite movies and is a no brainer to watch in a year long challenge... simply because I watch it multiple times per year.

Great movie, great on your own or great with a group. Still remember the very first time I saw it.

Rating: 9/10

 For challenge purpose 40 mins into the film I realized I hadn't taken the pic yet

Movie #14- Death by Machete

Been super busy so the reviews are going to be short and sweet as I just try to stay current with the movies I watched.

The Book of Eli was watched for the Death by Machete category.

Fun little post apocalyptic film, nice surprises, and plenty of nice action.

Rating: 6.5/10

Movie #13- Australia

I'm not sure I grasped everything in this movie...

Walkabout was just another shelf sitting Criterion, not getting any playtime. No reason to just leave it there, just never had popped it in. First off, beautiful film, and beautiful use of nature. This film is very deep, and I'm pretty sure I didn't pick up on everything on my first watch through it.  Everything the film tries to portray is very subtle, and one of my complaints is that the movie didn't do the best job of keeping my attention, equally my fault always multitasking etc.

As usual the Criterion supplements were a welcomed addition, and I think the commentary is something Ill explore next time I pull this film out.

Just a heads up though, Roeg is very subtle, this is no means a popcorn survival story. When I first popped this in I thought the film was going to fit into the Man vs Nature slot... but I don't think thats right, after now watching and reading about the film, Roeg definitely achieved something  much more than a survival story.  Roger Ebert had a wonderful review of this film that is definitely worth checking out.

Beautiful and important use of nature. Wonderful cinematography. Deep undertones and an all around pretty good story. Worth adding to any Criterion collection.

Rating: 7/10

Movie #12- Movie Received in the Gift Exchange

Who knew video games actually come from space...

2 gift exchanges ago /u/Slayster hooked me up with a number of films.  One of those films was The Last Starfighter. The movie is fun and enjoyable, definitely a popcorn flick. Nothing really original, especially considering it came out just a few years after Tron. The premise of the movie is a kid sets a high score on the Star Fighter video game so aliens recruit him to be a pilot.  Sure the movie is full of all kinds of cheese but its all one of the first films to use CGI to such an extent... its pretty cheesy but still cool to see it done.

The acting isn't as bad as you would expect, its pretty enjoyable and its cool to see the early 80s special effects. You won't see this film topping anyone's top films list but its definitely entertaining. 

Rating: 6/10

Movie #11- Dystopia

Another film I was had yet to watch...

12 Monkeys was a very good film that I think got much better in the latter half of the film.  The whole film keeps you guessing and the ending in my opinion does a nice job of wrapping things up.  Kind of a mind fuck of a film, and can be a little confusing but its well wroth a watch.

Willis and Pitt are awesome in the film and the story is one that is very clever and is going to keep you intrigued the entire duration of the film. 

If you watch this film and don't enjoy it at first, stick with it, to me it is really one that you have to stick with to appreciate the whole film, and when you do you'll really enjoy the film. 

Rating: 7/10

Again for competition purposes, had to run some errands during the film. 

Movie #10- Remake

Somethings are better left untouched...

The new remake of Red Dawn is a prime example of why shouldn't fix things that aren't broken... that is of course unless you do it very very very well (see Dredd, awesome remake). Red Dawn wasn't awful, it wasn't really good either, I guess it was just poor... I expected I would like it more than most being such an action film fan and all but it just wasn't there with this film. 

I was slightly entertained throughout the movie, and its a cool concept that of course had already been done. 

In this case though... just stick to the original.

Rating: 5/10