First post - some reviews

So I decided to create a blog, mainly because I was looking at this new facebook movie application thing and I started rating and reviewing movies, and I thought this would be an easier/better way to do movie reviews. I've also been reading a decent amount of poker blogs, so there's another reason. Anyways, I've been watching a lot of movies this summer, and since I don't feel like going through all of them, I'll just throw out the best ones I've seen this summer with some short comments. The Devil's Backbone - 9.0 This is a ghost story set in a boy's boarding school at the end of the Spanish Civil War directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labryinth). I've been having a debate with myself if this was better than Pan's Labryinth or not. They are very similar in tone and theme. Both have compelling stories and likable protagonists. I think Pan's Labryinth had a better villain, but The Devil's Backbone was scarier (scientifically measured by how many times the movie made me jump). Anyways, I have been leaning towards The Devil's Backbone's side of the debate but I think it is only because I have seen it more recently. Someone else needs to watch this, debating myself is getting old. Charade - 9.0 This is a Hitchcock-esque thriller starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It works for a number of reasons: -clever, entertaining dialogue -well set-up suspenseful "action" sequences (not action like modern action, but action like Hitchcock action) -good twists and turns in the plot And most of all: -charismatic lead performances from Grant and Hepburn who are two of my all-time favorite movie stars. Downfall - 8.5 This is a German film about Hitler's last days in power. It's really interesting as it humanizes Hitler to a certain extent, showing he is kind to his secretaries, loves his dog, etc. But it still emphasizes how deranged and demented he was at the same time. This is a much more nuanced and realistic way of presenting Hitler, in my opinion, than just saying he was a crazed mad man. Here's another one that someone else should see so we can have a nice discussion about it. Oldboy - 8.5 This is a twisted and gripping Korean action movie about a man's quest for revenge following his release from 15 years of imprisonment after he was kidnapped. It's ultra-violent and pretty disturbing on several different levels, but if you can separate movies from reality, it can definitely be enjoyed. Anyways, after watching this, my first thought was "damn that movie was sweet, I really liked it." So, I went to check what people said about it on the imdb message boards and you know who else really liked this movie? Cho Seung-Hui - the VT gunman. Apparently, it was his favorite movie and there were some allusions to it in the videos he sent to NBC. So there's one thing I have in common with a mass murderer... Knocked Up - 8.0 Very funny movie, I laughed a lot almost the entire way through. It did slow down as it got more "serious" towards the end, but it didn't take away too much from the rest of the movie. I normally don't like comedies much at all, so now that he has made two straight excellent ones (this and The 40 Year Old Virgin), Judd Apatow is quickly rising up my list of favorite current filmmakers. Off the top of my head, he's definitely behind Michael Mann, the Mexican trifecta (Innaritu, del Toro, Cuaron), Scorsese and Spielberg (duh), Tarantino, Fincher, and a few others I'm sure. See this is why I made my own blog, so I can write (and think) about stuff like this that no one else would ever care about. Back on topic, Knocked Up is the only really good movie I've seen in theatres so far this summer. Ocean's Thirteen was breezy and pretty entertaining but not great, Pirates 3 was significantly better than #2 but still overdone and too long, Spiderman 3 was moderately entertaining but not nearly as good as #2 (and I'm not a huge Spiderman 2 fan), and Shrek 3 was complete crap (and I was a fan of the first 2). While there are several other movies that have yet to come out this summer that I'll probably end up seeing, the new Bourne movie and especially Harry Potter are the only ones I'm really looking forward to. Pretty crappy summer for movies (stupid threequels). So those are my 5 favorites so far from this summer. Some others one I may write up later that I liked were Boogie Nights, Zodiac, Love Actually (yes Love Actually), and The Italian Job.