100 movies: Checking in at 115

by Jaina
December 1, 2010
comment 0
100 movies of 2010

I think I might just be able to hit my adjusted 120 target for the year. Which scares me a little. Why? I wanted to aim for more movies next year. I don’t think I could top 120 for next year!

UnstoppableUnstoppable (26/11/10)
Unstoppable has all the ingredients of an extremely enjoyable and fun to watch popcorn film. You’ve got Tony Scott directing, Denzel Washington playing the hero, Chris Pine playing a younger hero and the villain of the piece is an unstoppable train. Of course you need the two heroes of the piece to start on rocky ground and then through the events of the film, they grow to be friends. All of this works in Unstoppable’s favour. The movie does take a little while to get into, but once the action kicks in, it’s a fun ride. You do know how it’ll all end before you get there, but there’s enough banter between Chris and Denzel’s characters for you not to care. There are some fun action set pieces and the score by Harry Gregson-Williams is brilliant (With a throwback to his work he did on Man on Fire). A very good action film to lose a few hours to.
Rating: 4/5

The SoloistThe Soloist (28/11/10)
I wanted so much to enjoy this and really like this film. But I got slightly bored and frustrated. I honestly did wonder why Robert Downey Jr’s character cared so much for this homeless but brilliant musician. Of course you can do things out of the goodness of your heart, but I didn’t get any of that from him. Well, not in the beginning. Both him and Jamie Foxx did a good job with their performances; Jamie Foxx in particular. I just didn’t feel the ‘heart’ of this film at all. Everything seemed too superficial, as if it was just skimming the surface of what the real point of the film was. I’m probably missing something. Highlight of the film for me was LaFayette (Nelsan Ellis) turning up as a person who runs a homeless shelter.
Rating: 2/5

The Next Three DaysThe Next Three Days (30/11/10)
Remake of the French film Pour Elle which I saw earlier this year. Back then I had no idea they were remaking the film. When I did find out I knew I wanted to see it. Just to compare. It’s pretty much a straight remake, with little variance from the original. The scene where the wife is arrested is almost exactly the same and there are a few others which are dead on too. The remake is definitely more ‘American’. In the sense that there’s a bit more explanation of the whys and whats. There’s more action. There’s less style. The French version had a bit more realism in it. The Next Three Days is a good enough thriller, if exceptionally slow. It did not feel like a film that was just under two hours. There were far too many endings. Though the cast were all good. Russell Crowe did an ample job of playing the helpless father and Elizabeth Banks the locked up mother. If this sounds like your kind of film just watch Pour Elle instead. It’s much better.
Rating: 2/5

115 movies so far this year

  1. Three Kings (4/5) 04/01/10
  2. Defiance (5/5) 06/01/10
  3. Frost/Nixon (4/5) 06/01/10
  4. Dreamgirls (4/5) 07/01/10
  5. Munich (2/5) 08/01/10
  6. Ray (4/5) 09/01/10
  7. Max Payne (1/5) 09/01/10
  8. Mirrors (2/5) 09/01/10
  9. Ali (5/5) 10/01/10
  10. Slumdog Millionaire (4/5) 16/01/10
  11. Australia (2/5) 16/01/10
  12. Yes Man (2/5) 17/01/10
  13. Shrooms (1/5) 23/01/10
  14. Valkyrie (4/5) 30/01/10
  15. Love the Beast (3/5) 30/01/10
  16. Brick (4/5) 31/01/10
  17. My Bloody Valentine (2/5) 06/02/10
  18. Fantastic Mr. Fox (3/5) 06/02/10
  19. Children of Men (4/5) 13/02/10
  20. We Own the Night (3/5) 14/02/10
  21. Outpost (1/5) 20/02/10
  22. Push (4/5) 21/02/10
  23. Revolutionary Road (5/5) 24/02/10
  24. Milk (5/5) 26/02/10
  25. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (3/5) 27/02/10
  26. Rendition (3/5) 27/02/10
  27. The Reader (4/5) 28/02/10
  28. Flags of Our Fathers (4/5) 03/03/10
  29. A History of Violence (4/5) 03/03/10
  30. Office Space (5/5) 04/03/10
  31. The Eye (2/5) 04/03/10
  32. Alice in Wonderland (4/5) 05/03/10
  33. Bolt (4/5) 06/03/10
  34. Gran Torino (5/5) 06/03/10
  35. Franklyn (2/5) 07/03/10
  36. Green Zone (4/5) 11/03/10
  37. Whip It (4/5) 12/03/10
  38. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus (0/5) 12/03/10
  39. Shutter Island (3/5) 13/03/10
  40. Triangle (4/5) 27/03/10
  41. Kick Ass (5/5) 01/04/10
  42. Clash of the Titans (3/5) 02/04/10
  43. Fast & Furious (4/5) 02/04/10
  44. Silent Hill (2/5) 03/04/10
  45. Final Destination 3 (1/5) 03/04/10
  46. Lilo & Stitch (3/5) 11/04/10
  47. Lord of War (3/5) 17/04/10
  48. The Core (2/5) 25/04/10
  49. Iron Man 2 (4/5) 02/05/10
  50. Drones (3/5) 03/05/10
  51. The Orphanage (4/5) 08/05/10
  52. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (4/5) 09/05/10
  53. Robin Hood (4/5) 15/05/10
  54. Underdog (1/5) May
  55. Dan in Real Life (3/5) May
  56. In the Loop (3/5) May
  57. State of Play (4/5) 19/06/10
  58. Pride and Glory (2/5) 19/06/10
  59. The Losers (3/5) 20/06/10
  60. [REC] (4/5) 09/07/10
  61. Inception (5/5) 17/07/10
  62. Moon (5/5) 18/07/10
  63. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (1/5) 23/07/10
  64. Mars Attacks! (3/5) 24/07/10
  65. Inside Man (4/5) 25/07/10
  66. Splice (3/5) 27/07/10
  67. Made of Honor (1/5) 29/07/10
  68. Funny People (3/5) 01/08/10
  69. Toy Story 3 (5/5) 03/08/10
  70. The A-Team (4/5) 05/08/10
  71. The Children (2/5) 07/08/10
  72. The Expendables (4/5) 13/08/10
  73. Gamer (2/5) 14/08/10
  74. Dead Like Me: Life After Death (2/5) 14/08/10
  75. Pour Elle (Anything for Her) (3/5) 15/08/10
  76. In Bruges (5/5) 15/08/10
  77. Salt (4/5) 20/08/10
  78. Piranha 3D (4/5) 21/08/10
  79. Adventureland (3/5) 22/08/10
  80. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (5/5) 25/08/10
  81. Derailed (3/5) 28/08/10
  82. Atonement (4/5) 29/08/10
  83. Sky High (2/5) 30/08/10
  84. The Final Destination (1/5) 03/09/10
  85. Mesrine: Killer Instinct (4/5) 05/09/10
  86. Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (4/5) 05/09/10
  87. Inglorious Basterds (3/5) 12/09/10
  88. Sherlock Holmes (3/5) 16/09/10
  89. Planet Terror (3/5) 16/09/10
  90. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (3/5) 19/09/10
  91. The Last Exorcism (4/5) 20/09/10
  92. Devil (3/5) 24/09/10
  93. Quarantine (1/5) 25/09/10
  94. Buried (4/5) 29/09/10
  95. The Time Travellers Wife (3/5) 02/10/10
  96. 9 (2/5) 03/10/10
  97. 27 Dresses (2/5) 03/10/10
  98. The Social Network (5/5) 10/10/10
  99. Let Me In (5/5) 16/10/10
  100. Never Let Me Go (5/5) 17/10/10
  101. Black Swan (5/5) 25/10/10
  102. Paranormal Activity 2 (2/5) 28/10/10
  103. Friday the 13th (3/5) 29/10/10
  104. Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2/5) 01/11/10
  105. V for Vendetta (2/5) 06/11/10
  106. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2/5) 13/11/10
  107. New Moon (1/5) 14/11/10
  108. Paranormal Activity (2/5) 14/11/10
  109. The Kids Are All Right (3/5) 15/11/10
  110. A Serious Man (4/5) 19/11/10
  111. Away We Go (2/5) 20/11/10
  112. Law Abiding Citizen (2/5) 20/11/10
  113. Unstoppable (4/5) 26/11/10
  114. The Soloist (2/5) 28/11/10
  115. The Next Three Days (2/5) 30/11/10

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.