Monthly Archives: January 2011

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The Tuesday Night Movies 2011 Oscar Predictions

Need some early help with your 2011 Oscars office pool? Tuesday Night Movies is here to help! All I ask is for a 10% cut.

Best Picture:
Out of the 10 Best Picture nominees, I have seen 9. I would like to see The Kids Are All Right before the Oscars are handed out, but I don’t think seeing it will change my pick here.

Should Win: Toy Story 3
Will Win: True Grit

Actor:
It’s a tough call between Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg and Colin Firth. As great as Jesse Eisenberg was with his quick talking monotone with his potrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, I’m going with…

Jeff Bridges, True Grit

Actress:
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter

Supporting Actress:
Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Director:
This was the hardest category for me to choose a winner. I could see any of the nominees taking this one. I’m picking…

Joel & Ethan Cohen, True Grit

Animated Feature:
Toy Story 3

Adapted Screenplay:
The Social Network

Original Screenplay:
Inception

Best Foreign Language Film:
I actually didn’t see any of these. Not surprisingly, Mademoiselle Chambon didn’t make the list of nominees. I’m going to try to watch these between now and Oscar time.

Nominees I Have Not Seen Yet: The Kids Are All Right, The Illusionist, Blue Valentine, Rabbit Hole, Animal Kingdom, Another Year, Biutiful, Dogtooth, A Better World, Incendies, Outside the Law

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How They Rank: At the Theater 2010

Here they are, all 52 movies I watched in the theater in 2010, with my thoughts on my top 5 and bottom 5 for the year.

1. Toy Story 3 (viewed 6/15/10):  It’s rare for the third installment of a franchise to be a winner, but Toy Story 3 definitely is. Where else are you going to find toys getting existential trying to figure out what happens when their owner grows up.

2. Youth in Revolt (viewed 2/3/10): Proving once and for all that Michael Cera isn’t just George Michael Bluth.

3. True Grit (viewed 12/23/10): My pick for this year’s Oscar winner. The Coens hit a home run here.

4. The Fighter (viewed 12/29/10): Weeks after seeing The Fighter, I’m still thinking about it. I’m looking forward to seeing this again.

5. Iron Man 2 (viewed 5/13/10): Action movie sequels don’t have to suck. Sometimes they’re just as good as the original.

6. The Town (viewed 10/4/10)

7. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (viewed 8/9/10)
8. Inception (viewed 7/17/10)
9. The King’s Speech (viewed 12/21/10)
10. Winter’s Bone (viewed 12/21/10)
11. Today’s Special (viewed 12/14/10)
12. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (viewed 11/20/10)
13. Exit Through the Gift Shop (viewed 5/31/10)
14. The Social Network (viewed 10/10/10)
15. The Fantastic Mr. Fox (viewed 1/12/10)
16. Inside Job (viewed 12/21/10)
17. Sherlock Holmes (viewed 1/7/10)
18. Easy A (viewed 9/14/10)
19. Mega Mind 3D (viewed 12/3/10)
20. Despicable Me (viewed 7/21/10)
21. Black Swan (viewed 11/18/10)
22. Tangled (viewed 12/31/10)
23. Unstoppable (viewed 12/16/10)
24. 127 Hours (viewed 11/29/10)
25. It’s Kind of a Funny Story (viewed 10/7/10)
26. Love and Other Drugs (viewed 12/7/10)
27. Red (viewed 11/8/10)
28. How to Train Your Dragon 3D (viewed 4/15/10)
29. Kick-Ass (viewed 4/27/10)
30. Fair Game (12/17/10)
31. Hot Tub Time Machine (viewed 3/15/10)
32. Up in the Air (viewed 1/21/10)
33. The Ghost Writer (viewed 3/25/10)
34. An Education (viewed 2/10/10)
35. Due Date (viewed 12/8/10)
36. Cyrus (viewed 7/5/10)
37. Oceans (viewed 7/20/10)
38. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (viewed 1/26/10)
39. The Last Station (viewed 2/18/10)
40. Grease Sing-A-Long (viewed 7/16/10)
41. Snowmen (viewed 5/1/10)
42. Letters to Juliet (viewed 6/22/10)
43. Paper Man (viewed 5/1/10)
44. Date Night (viewed 5/6/10)
45. Little Fockers (viewed 12/13/10)
46. Tron: Legacy 3D (viewed 12/30/10)
47. Alice in Wonderland (viewed 3/8/10)
48. A Single Man (viewed 3/5/10): See The King’s Speech instead to get your Colin Firth fix.

49. How Do You Know (viewed 12/21/10): Not even the combined cuteness of Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd could save this one. This was the weakest link of Super Tuesday.

50. Mademoiselle Chambon (viewed 7/2/10): I’m amazed I didn’t fall asleep during this boring French adultery film.

51. Greenberg (viewed 4/10/10): I wasn’t ready for a movie this bad only two days after Remember Me.

52. Remember Me (viewed 4/8/10):  The Wackness of 2010.

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How They Rank: On the Couch 2010

For posterity’s sake, I wanted to post a list of 52 movies I watched on the couch in 2010 with my thoughts on the my 5 and bottom 5 films of the year.

1. The Lives of Others (viewed 5/12/10): Rent this now. Don’t wait for the American remake.

2. Zombieland (viewed 3/19/10): BM FTW

3. Shades of Ray (viewed 12/21/10): Best romantic comedy I saw in 2010.

4. Rudy (viewed 12/18/10): This movie inspired me to finish the year at 52 and 52 despite being seriously under those numbers at the start of December.

5.The Iron Giant (viewed 12/19/10): This and Rudy are a 1-2 punch of tearjerkers

6. Inglourious Basterds (viewed 1/20/10)

7. Mystery Team (viewed 8/5/10)
8. Blood Diamond (viewed 6/27/10)
9. The Hurt Locker (viewed 3/7/10)
10. Food Inc. (viewed 3/4/10)
11. Shutter Island (viewed 10/15/10)
12. Taking Woodstock (viewed 9/23/10)
13. She’s Out of My League (viewed 8/4/10)
14. Marathon Man (viwed 11/11/10)
15. First Blood (viewed 11/11/10)
16. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (viewed 3/14/10)
17. Fred Claus (viewed 12/18/10)
18. Brothers (viewed 6/4/10)
19. Batman: Under The Red Hood (viewed 11/15/10)
20. The Informant! (viewed 4/22/10)
21. Spies Like Us (viewed 6/29/10)
22. Charlie St. Cloud (viewed 12/19/10)
23. Top Gun (viewed 11/7/10)
24. An American Crime (viewed 5/29/10)
25. Raising Arizona (viewed 4/28/10)
26. The King of Kong (viewed 1/2/10)
27. The Incredible Hulk (viewed 5/24/10)
28. Funny People (viewed 2/4/10)
29. Braveheart (viewed 12/16/10)
30. The Blind Side (viewed 8/21/10)
31. Dawn of the Dead (viewed 10/24/10)
32. 28 Weeks Later (viewed 10/25/10)
33. When in Rome (viewed 8/23/10)
34. The Men Who Stare at Goats (viewed 3/31/10)
35. The Proposal (viewed 12/25/10)
36. Julie & Julia (viewed 2/14/10)
37. District 9 (viewed 3/3/10)
38. Risky Business (viewed 8/18/10)
39. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (viewed 3/29/10)
40. Scarface (viewed 11/23/10)
41. Couples Retreat (viewed 4/9/10)
42. The Secret of Kells (viewed 11/13/10)
43. House of 1000 Corpses (viewed 11/8/10)
44. Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (viewed 3/28/10)
45. It’s Complicated
46. Bad Santa (viewed 12/31/10)
47. Green Zone (viewed 8/22/10)
48.Planet Hulk (viewed 5/27/10): Gladiator Hulk should be a great movie. But it isn’t.

49. Biggie & Tupac (viewed 1/2/10): Or How To Not Make a Documentary.

50. Bruno (viewed 4/11/10): This failed in every way that Borat worked.

51. The Ugly Truth (viewed 9/4/10) Making Bruno look good since 2010.

52. The Room (viewed 5/18/10): I’ve been accused of not getting it. Maybe The Room 3D will fix that.

Coming up next…How They Rank: At The Theater 2010

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At The Theater #52: Tangled

Talk about coming in at the wire! With less than 12 hours left in 2010, I caught a 1PM screening of Tangled, my 52nd movie at the theater for the year! I was joined by the people who I saw my first movie of the year with, and who I will hopefully see more movies with in the future.
Movie #52! I did it! Wooo!
I loved Tangled. 2010 has been a great year for animated movies. Toy Story 3, Mega Mind, How to Train Your Dragon, Despicable Me and Tangled were all great.
Rapunzel is well versed in the martial art of deadly frying pan.
Despite Mandy Moore costarring in Tangled, I didn’t realize it was a musical until she belted out her first song. Most of the songs that Rapunzel sings are forgettable, but the ruffians centric “I’ve Got a Dream” is terrific. It’s definitely the best song in the movie and might be the next song I sing out at karaoke.
Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore have great chemistry together, or should I say their voices and animated avatars have great chemistry together. I love Zachary Levi from Chuck and Shades of Ray. He doesn’t disappoint here.
There isn’t a hair dryer powerful enough.
Don’t think of Tangled as a kids’ movie. It’s an all ages movie in the broadest sense. I can see people of any age enjoying it.
Well, that’s it for 2010. 52 movies on the couch and 52 movies at the theater. On December 1, I thought the likelihood of completion was small. But here we are. Mission accomplished!