Midnight Express (1978)

I'm not sure why, but I love prison movies. This one is even based on a true story. It won the Golden Globe for best Drama Motion picture, was nominated for 6 Oscars and won two.. but not Best Picture... which it lost to The Deer Hunter which I gave a 9/10. Tough year.

We start the film with Billy Hayes [Brad Davis] strapping two kilos of drugs to himself in a low lit room. He then heads to the airport in Turkey with his girlfriend attempting to catch a flight home. He makes it through baggage claim with no issues even though he looks quite suspicious. When the passengers arrive at the plane they find armed guards checking the passengers one-by-one, turns out there have been several bombed planes in the last week and Hayes didn't bother to turn on the news. He is caught, and almost shot until they realize that it is "just drugs" and not a bomb.


Thanks to the help of the American consulate, he is told that he can be let go if he can lead them to the person that sold him the drugs. Hayes decides to make a break for it instead and is caught trying to run. He is given four years for possession, but the system is corrupt, and 4 years is long enough for them to re-try him for the smuggling a week before his sentence is up and is given life. To this point he has been patiently waiting for his release, but this changes everything. His mental state changes drastically and his goal of escape solidify.

A rare 10/10 for me, I would be happy to add this to my home collection, and if you haven't seen it... you should.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077928/

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Clear and Present Danger (1994)

My first non-documentary 10/10 for the year comes from the second Tom Clancy book about Jack Ryan starring Harrison Ford. Why was this better than Patriot Games 9/10? Because there wasn't an incredibly fake boat chase scene.

Jack Ryan is back, this time he has to clean up a mess with a drug cartel in Columbia that is about to tarnish his name. When a president's friend is killed by the cartel he seeks revenge. Little does he know that his friend was working for the cartel until he started embezzling from them. When the president learns that his friend has a large amount of money in an off shore account he starts a little war to acquire these funds he wants to make campaign money. He then decides to hire American troops to go on a secret mission with the money Jack Ryan's got from congress, then abandons them when he gets what he wants. Ryan is forced to go to Columbia with the help of John Clark [Willem Dafoe] to clean up the mess.

So how did it get such a high rating from me. Quite simply, it was 2 and a half hours and I didn't want it to be over when the credits rolled. It really doesn't get much better than Clancy and Ford, if you like action movies you should really watch the Jack Ryan series if you haven't already.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109444/

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Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (2011)

A made for tv [VH1 to be exact] documentary that I felt deserved a post about. This is one of the bands I grew up listening to, and with their latest album just being released the 2 hour film is worth a review. The film centers around Dave Grohl and his journey through his musical career.

Side Note:
I remember not getting tickets to the tour of their self-titled album release back in 1995, then begging my dad to take me to The Colour and the Shape Tour in 1996. We went to the show in mid-July at a venue that didn't have A/C. It was later recorded that it was 112 degrees inside, and I can imagine what it was like on stage. Anyways, I have a lot of memories of this band and seeing a full history was nice.

So the documentary starts primarily with Dave joining Nirvana and his side of the Kurt Cobain suicide, and the difficulties of continuing his musical career afterwards. Just like one of my other favorite bands, Nine Inch Nails where Trent Reznor performed all the parts of his first album Pretty Hate Machine, Dave in fact performed all the parts of the original Foo Fighters album himself. He then went out and found a band that had just fallen apart and recruited three of its members, as well as a former Nirvana band mate to go on tour. After the first three albums and seven years only one of those 4 members made it through.

The documentary does a great job keeping the focus on the bands growth and evolution. I really could have done without the last 30 minutes which was more of an ad for the new album and less about the band's history, but it was nice to see the band interacting and working on new music and the thought process behind that.

Overall: A very bias perfect 10/10 because I love the band, even if I didn't the first two hours is a 7 or 8 depending on if you like this music.


Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853563/

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Inside Job (2010)

The 4th of the 5 Oscar documentary nominees for me. I'm very far behind on my blogging because I actually watched this a couple nights before the Oscars aired. Documentaries can be just as much about the director as they are about the subject matter, and Charles Ferguson's professionalism made this film easily the favorite this year. Ferguson directed  No End in Sight, the 2007 documentary that lost the Oscar to Taxi to the Dark Side. I felt the voters got that completely wrong, and was glad to see Ferguson take the Oscar home this time.

First off, this documentary is about the financial meltdown and explains in layman's terms how everything went down. It was interesting to learn that after the cold war, a number of engineers that had been spending all of the efforts on nuclear defense shifted to the stock market, engineering ways to make money. The film takes a look at Iceland and why and how they went through a big crash. The real kicker for me was that Ferguson not only was able to get interviews with a number of important people, it was willing to ask hard questions. When they started in on how "complicated" these things were, he was quick to make it clear he understood and wasn't going to let them out easily. The graphs and charts were easy to follow and looked very professional.

I highly suggest checking this film out. I suggest pausing in the middle and taking a 5 minute break because at times it is like a two hour intense lecture with a lot of information. I needed a break to stay focused. I loved GasLand, but this one really deserved to win.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645089/

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GasLand (2010)

Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and nominated for an Oscar. Having seen 3 of the 5 documentaries they year I'm willing to gamble and say that this is my pick for the Oscar. Maybe not to win, but it was my favorite.

The film is a look at the unregulated natural gas drilling that is happening all over America. It is ruining stream water, American's well water, and important to me... it creates more pollution that vehicle emissions in my Metroplex.

As a Fort Worth resident it is chilling to see just how much drilling is going on in my own backyard. I now know what the big pool of green water next to the drill a half mile from my home is. It is a way for the gas company to allow toxic chemicals to evaporate into the air... completely unregulated. It is no surprise that the Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex is now home to cities with the highest rates of cancer.

The most important documentary of the year, if I can suggest a single film for residents of my community to see it is this one.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1558250/

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Inception (2010)

Director Christopher Nolan is probably just as famous for Memento as he is for his Batman films. In between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises we get a treat with a film that returns to the style of Memento. A film that can be watched several times before fully grasping everything that is going on.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio [fresh off of an different psychological film: Shutter Island], Ellen Page [Juno], Marion Cotillard [La Vie en Rose and Nine], and Joseph Gordon-Levitt [(500) Days of Summer and The Lookout]. The concept of the film is all about existing in a dream space. Basically the idea that people can enter and share dreams, then inside dreams they can enter dreams. The dream within a dream theory is pretty powerful, and is fully explained over the course of this film. At almost two and a half hours it is a commitment, and I highly suggest that is be watched in a single sitting.

So did I like this or The Social Network better? That gets into a gray area, because they both get the illusive 10/10 for completely different reasons. This is the type of film I could watch again and again. Social Net. is a film that I found myself lost in on first watch, which doesn't necessarily translate into a great second viewing. Nor do I feel that I must pick, since I gave them both 10's. I fully expect The Social Network to win the Oscar, I don't think an action film like this has a chance. If you asked me which I would rather have in my personal collection and would like to go to the theater to watch with you right now... I'd say Inception.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/

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The Social Network (2010)

Only the 2nd film of the year I have given a 10/10 and for many good reasons. Since I expect this post to be heavily reviewed I'll do my best to justify why I really liked this film and am not just jumping on the bandwagon of what everyone says is the best this year.

First off much like a have said in the past, this is one of the few movies I've completely lost track of the time, got lost in the film, and before I knew it, it was over. Second, Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band, so the soundtrack done by Trent Reznor is fantastic. Third, the acting was excellent, the joke I've recently heard is that Mark Zuckerberg plays a great Jesse Eisenberg, I haven't been a huge fan of Jesse to this point. Adventureland annoyed me, and I started to warm up to him in Zombieland. Rooney Mara did so well we will get to see her try and pull off Lisbeth Salander in the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo later in 2011. Supporting roles by Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake were fantastic as well, and might pull in a few awards.


So a little about the film. This is an Adapated Screenplay from the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich, who is the same guy who wrote "Bringing Down the House," which was turned into 21 by thesame production company a few years ago. The film documents the rise of facebook, following the inventor through the development process. Told in flashback were the "present day" is meeting with lawyers determining settlements for co-founders.


Since this was based on a novel I can't knock if for leaving out some controversial issues with facebook over the last several years. Mainly the privacy clause and Zuckerberg's quotes about how we are all stupid people willing to just give away our personal information to anyone. Then of course if the facebook integrating with our phones, other media devices. As well as opening it past the University level to children and adults well out of college. The film did not make him a hero, but seemed to attempt to portray his personality as realistically as possible. It appears to be pretty authentic.

A very good film, that I expect to win many awards. Well worth watching.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/

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Scent of a Woman (1992)

The first 10/10 of the year [the other 3 reviewed I had already seen]. This movie was the perfect example of a single acting performance making a film unforgettable. Al Pacino is at his very best as a blind retired army lieutenant with strong opinions and a short temper.

Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a snotty nosed kid well in a very early performance. Chris O'Donnell's performance is overpowered proving feature films are out of his league. The film is 90% Pacino and O'Donnell and Pacino carries the film the whole way.

O'Donnell goes to a private school and takes a job over Thanksgiving break to pay for his trip home over Christmas break. After witnessing a prank at school he has the long weekend to contemplate admitting what he saw or denying it in front of the school. Pacino takes him on a life changing tour of New York City blowing money and really testing the kid. It is a long watch but well worth it.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105323/

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The Killing (1956)

About a week behind on this post. With some family in town we pulled this one off the movie shelf. Probably my favorite movie from 2008, this classic Stanley Kubrick was one of the first non-sequential films. Considered to confusing for audiences in the 50's it did poorly at the box office. Kubrick was asked to re-edit sequentially, but after he hated the product he went back to the original. Winner of no awards it was overlook, and it wasn't until Kubrick's Paths of Glory and Spartacus that people started to look back at this film and realize just how good it was.

One of the few movies good enough to hold my attention enough to not pause or even look at the runtime to see how much longer was left. I was completely engrossed and still loved it after a 2nd watch.

As we are all familiar with non-sequential films now, you know just how much you can get out of it after repeat viewings. Just a great film, check this one out.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049406/

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The Blind Side (2009)

This is based on the true story of Michael Oher, a current player for the Baltimore Ravens and former college All-American. Michael had a very difficult life growing up and this heartwarming [and tear-jerking] story is about how he came to love football and find a family. This is all I am going to tell you about the plot, JUST GO SEE IT.

There were some great performances in this film, starting with Quinton Aaron, who played Michael, Sandra Bullock playing Mrs. Tuohy, and believe it or not, Tim McGraw as Mr. Tuohy. Bullock's success this year has been widely spoken of, but McGraw has now shown he can act. With Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, and Four Christmases already under his belt, this film is his best yet.

It was interesting to me to read that Mr. Oher is not a fan of this film, he was unhappy about them blowing some things out of proportion and I don't think he wants the attention he has been getting. This is a testament to me believing Quinton did a great job in his role as a humble, honest man.

One of the best films this year, it is not just a sports movie, it is much much more.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/

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Taken (2008)

Wow! I loved this movie. I watched it for the first time this summer and watched it again after a trip to Blockbuster with the family.

The plot is simple, his daughter has been kidnapped and he has to get her back before it is too late. Pierre Morel does a great job directing this film with non-stop action, I will be sure and catch his next film From Paris with Love next year with John Travolta.

Liam Neeson plays the bad ass dad out to get his daughter back. Maggie Grace (Shannon from "Lost") plays the very minor role of Kim the daughter who is kidnapped. If you watched Lost you know she plays a spoiled girl pretty well.

There is not much more to say than, "watch this film". You have enough of the storyline, and you should like Neeson already. I just wish the Bond series would hire Morel.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/

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