Double Or Nothing: 2013, 200 Movies, 100 Words (Complete!)

[King Kool]

Do you guys remember this?

Well... despite my better judgment, I'm at it again. I, King Kool, will strive to watch 200 movies this year. I hope to split them between the theater and DVDs, but they might not end up 100/100 split. I still always watch something every week on Toast Reviews, so those will also count.

I'll be noting if I re-watch something, but those won't count. The point is to see 200 movies I HAVEN'T seen before.

Movie 1: American Graffiti – I love cars from the fifties and sixties. They’re beautiful and shapely. That was my main takeaway from this movie. Apparently, kids drove around all night, listened to the radio and hung out at the drive-in. I’ll take their word for it. It’s an optimistic and sincere period piece of the “simpler times” preceding the pessimism of Vietnam. I still don’t connect with it. It’s nostalgia for something that happened before I was born. My mother loves it, but it was her youth. Not looking forward to explaining to kids what the big deal about the Matrix was. Great music.

Movie 2: The Master of Disguise – Dana Carvey is an excellent impressionist. But impressions are not inherently funny. The makers of this movie must disagree. Dressing silly can be funny, but not here. Scenes are truncated, tenuously connected with voice-over, even strangely slow at times. There are almost as many deleted disguises shown during the credits as included in the movie. Minus the opening and credits, this movie is only seventy minutes long. This movie went completely wrong and some valiant editor tried to save it. It reminds me of Leonard Part Six or Furry Vengeance. Criticizing it feels like making fun of a student film.

Rewatched: A View To A Kill

This year, feel free to make suggestions. I'm gonna need ideas, so suggest your nuts off.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

Dead Poet's Society, War Games, The Motorcycle Diaries, Source Code, Invictus, Cloud Atlas, South Park Movie, Equilibrium... any of those you haven't seen already?

[King Kool]

Dead Poet's Society, War Games, The Motorcycle Diaries, Source Code, Invictus, Cloud Atlas, South Park Movie, Equilibrium

I've seen the ones in bold. Most of those are good.

Movie 3: Babe - A piglet goes to a farm after being won by James Cromwell (lucky a FARMER won him, I guess). Babe's a smart pig who befriends some sheepdogs and decides he wants to try. It's easy when you can just talk to the sheep. Or is it? This is a sweet little movie about talking animals with interesting personalities and NO pop culture references! Yeah, the downbeat in the second act is almost completely inexplicable, and that's not the only time the movie cheats a bit to conjure emotion. Mostly, it's heartfelt. How are the animated mouth effects better than Marmaduke?!

I swear I'll watch something from this year sometime soon. Or at least last year.

[RoyalBlue]

Melencholia (sad film but visually interesting), Moonrise kingdom,Branagh's Hamlet (4 hours so only if you can manage), kiss kiss bang bang, tinker tailor soldier spy, muppet christmas carol (for later down the line), the hobbit

Searching for sugerman (see it. do not research it go in blind, this applies to anyone seeing this message)

hope you haven't seen at least one of these and good luck

[JustAName]

Muppet Treasure Island! Muppet Treasure Island!

[King Kool]

If there's enough Muppet movies left that I haven't seen, I'm likely to do a Muppet Movie Month and a Wes Anderson month.

[Metcarfre]

Christopher Nolan month. That's eight movies right there.

[Ptangmatik]

Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall,

Catch 22,

Life of Brian (though I assume you've already watched it),

Panique au Village 'A Town Called Panic' (French stop motion animation http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1433540/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1),

Kontroll (hungarian black comedy about a subway ticket inspector http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373981/),

The Secret World of Arrietty (though again, you've probably seen it)

[King Kool]

I think I've seen every Chris Nolan feature film.

Ptangmatik, I haven't seen any of those movies.

Rewatched: The Living Daylights and Star Trek (2009) for the fourth time (I skimmed some parts).

I am getting really sick of that movie.

[Lord Chrusher]

A bit of Australian Cinema:

The Castle

The Dish

He Died with a Felafel in His Hand

Weirdly I can suggest more Australian films than Canadian.

[Metcarfre]

Canadian Films I Can Think Of Off The Top Of My Head;

Strange Brew

Bon Cop Bad Cop (I really liked this one)

Take This Waltz Heart-wrenching as a married man

Men With Brooms &

Passchendaele &

Gunless Paul Gross FTW (none all that good though)

One Week If you're Canadian, your mom probably watched this a couple years ago.

Young People Fucking

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

[Ptangmatik]

Hell, I'm gonna go rewatch catch 22 and Kontroll

ok, how about:

Dark City http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/
Waiting http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348333/ (also there's a sequel: Still Waiting, also quite cool)
Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910554/
Paranorman
Jackie Chan: Master With Cracked Fingers (though there's a LOT of early Jackie Chan films that are amazing. Project A, Project A 2, Police Story)
Last Man Standing http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116830/ (remake of Yojimbo http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055630/, also a good film)

[Yaxley]

Canadian films? How about Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter?

[Drdiggit42]

Sleepwalk With Me and OMG YOU HAVEN'T SEEN LIFE OF BRIAN WATCH IT NOW!

Please tell me you've seen the other Monty Python movies.

Also a +1 for Wes Anderson Month. Make sure to include Rushmore. It's considered his best by many and it's one of his first movies.

[Tapir12]

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

Wow, this movie, it stuck with me. Very different from anything I had ever seen.

Another Canadian film is Last Night, which I honestly can't remember if I liked or not, so it was probably ok.

Some more Japanese suggestions: Ikiru, Red Beard, Seven Samurai, Harakiri, Jin-Roh, Millenium Actress (all of these are dramas).

[King Kool]

Canadian Month sounds good, though I have plans for February and March (and possibly April). Is there a culturally significant month for Canada that isn't July?

I've actually seen Master with Cracked Fingers. And I did a Jackie Chan Month recently on the show.

Rewatched: Licence to Kill.

It might be kinda dry until I get through all the Bond movies. On the other hand, I haven't ever seen Casino Royale OR Quantum of Solace.

[My pseudonym is Ix]

You'll be in for a treat with the former, and will be simultaneously confused and bored by the latter

[Metcarfre]

Canadian Month sounds good, though I have plans for February and March (and possibly April). Is there a culturally significant month for Canada that isn't July?

October? Thanksgiving, after all.

[King Kool]

Maybe YOUR Thanksgiving...

Wait, that's the point.

[Keab42]

How about a Danny Kaye Month?

Or go proper old school and dig out some old Errol Flynn films.

[Metcarfre]

Maybe YOUR Thanksgiving...

Wait, that's the point.

"The Thanksgiving In October Canadian SUPRA-SALE!!!"

[Lord Chrusher]

I can not believe I forgot Strange Brew.

[JustAName]

How about a Danny Kaye Month?

Or go proper old school and dig out some old Errol Flynn films.

...Goodyesgood.

[King Kool]

Movie 4: Lincoln - I'm on record for disliking The Social Network. Here's another biopic with perhaps dubious historical accuracy, but this film is set in a time period long enough ago where fictionalization is acceptable. It's also more evenly presented, despite it being about something we all agree on. It's really less biopic than it is political procedural. Still not sure I totally believe Tommy Lee Jones in this time period, but he does a great job. Everyone does. I like thoughtful talky movies and I'm glad I saw it, but it didn't leave much of an impact on me. Not sure why.

Movie 5: A Haunted House - I don't wanna give this movie too much credit, but I did laugh more than I expected to. Imitating the sudden shock moments in horror movies can work for comedy; comedy's all about surprise. This seems mostly edited together from improvisation. I've done improv; what's funny in the moment isn't always funny later on. This movie is strangely paced, certain jokes try too hard (like accidentally uploading embarrassing footage to Youtube), Nick Swardson gets naked for no reason, and there's no ending. But at least it's TRYING. It's not as deadly as the later Scary Movies Marlon Wayans escaped from.

Rewatched: Goldeneye.

[Drdiggit42]

How about a Marx Brothers month? Duck Soup is one of my favorite comedies of all time.

Marx in March!