Palooza Presents...

[Palooza]

Palooza Presents...!​

It's already pretty obvious I watch waaaaaay too much television and movies. So here is a thread where I can condense lists and reviews of whatever I happen to watch. It's awards season, so I will be catching up on a lot of movies over the next few weeks, why not share it with the VSN community? For now, this will focus mainly on movies until I get back into watching shows online and when some of my shows come back on TV.

Last movie seen: Brothers

coming up:
My top 10 movies of 2009 (so far)
My Flickchart top 100 movies
Review of Brothers

 

[HeDGi]

Hey palooza wouldnt it be nice to have a nice big banner for your page? rather than just having really ugly huge font?

 

[Palooza]

Hey palooza wouldnt it be nice to have a nice big banner for your page? rather than just having really ugly huge font?

not really, if I wanted one, I would have asked someone.

 

[Palooza]

Palooza Presents...
Top 10 of 2009

1. the Hurt Locker

2. Inglourious Basterds

3. Up in the Air

4. (500) Days of Summer

5. Up

6. District 9

7. Sunshine Cleaning

8. the Hangover

9. Star Trek

10. Adventureland

yet to see:
An Education
Avatar
The Messenger
AntiChrist
The Road
A Single Man
Invictus
The Lovely Bones
Nine
Crazy Heart
The Last Station
The Inofrmant!
The Vicious Kind
Moon
Fantastic Mr Fox
Away We Go
The Men Who Stare At Goats
In The Loop
World’s Greatest Dad
Big Fan
Anvil: the Story of Anvil

 

[SethMode]

Dude, I fucking HATED Adventureland. I was so hyped for it too.

Also, my flickchart thing is killing me. All it takes is one fucking shitty match up in your top 20 to fuck everything up. Terminator 3 weaseled its way in to the top 10 by some miracle and now the whole thing is fucked up.

 

[Palooza]

Dude, I fucking HATED Adventureland. I was so hyped for it too.

Also, my flickchart thing is killing me. All it takes is one fucking shitty match up in your top 20 to fuck everything up. Terminator 3 weaseled its way in to the top 10 by some miracle and now the whole thing is fucked up.

I loved Adventureland. It was the first comedy I've seen in a loooooong time where the characters felt real and weren't some cardboard cut outs of a supposed character. It definitely could have been better, but I really enjoyed it. Martin Starr and Bill Hader/Kristin Wiig kept the laughs throughout. Not to mention how awesome the music during the movie was.

 

[BigHouseUSA]

In the Loop will take a spot. At least 20 times better, and more intelligent than Adventureland.

Also proud to see three of my favorite movies in this list.

 

[Palooza]

In the Loop will take a spot. At least 20 times better, and more intelligent than Adventureland.

Also proud to see three of my favorite movies in this list.

That's my only problem with In the Loop; I'm scared it might be TOO intelligent for me.

 

[Palooza]

Palooza Presents...
Flick Chart -- Top 100

1. Donnie Darko

2. the Matrix

3. Boogie Nights

4.Snatch

5. The Big Lebowski

6. 25th Hour

7. Apocalypse Now

8. Collateral

9. Knocked Up

10. Dead Poets Society

11. Iron Man
12. Chinatown
13. LotR: TT
14. Batman Begins
15. Fight Club
16. the Wrestler
17. Saving Private Ryan
18. Pulp Fiction
19. the Dark Knight
20. From Dusk till Dawn
21. Leon: the Professional
22. LotR: RotK
23. Goodfellas
24. Children of Men
25. Full Metal Jacket
26. the Bourne Supremacy
27. the Boondock Saints
28. Gladiator
29. Black Hawk Down
30. the Godfather –Part 2
31. Office Space
32. 21 Grams
33. Kill Bill – Volume 2
34. Platoon
35. the Silence of the Lambs
36. Reservoir Dogs
37. No Country for Old Men
38. Back to the Future
39. Fargo
40. Shaun of the Dead
41. Stand By Me
42. American Beauty
43. Casino Royale
44. the Shawshank Redemption
45. Closer
46. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
47. A Few Good Men
48. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
49. the Shining
50. JFK
51. Lord of War
52. Finding Nemo
53. Cloverfield
54. Blow
55. Ocean’s Eleven
56. the Prestige
57. the Curious Case of Benjamin Button
58. Mystic River
59. Clerks
60. There Will Be Blood
61. True Romance
62. Memento
63. Run Lola Run
64. Pineapple Express
65. Babel
66. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
67. Cast Away
68. Enemy of the State
69. Mission: Impossible
70. Garden State
71. Batman
72. Home Alone
73. Zodiac
74. There’s Something About Mary
75. Watchmen
76. Unforgiven
77. Catch Me If You Can
78. Scarface
79. Gangs of New York
80. Taxi Driver
81. Kill Bill – Volume 1
82. Tropic Thunder
83. X-Men
84. Rocky
85. Sin City
86. Seven
87. Lock. Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
88. Mission: Impossible III
89. 8 Mile
90. Borat
91. 12 Monkeys
92. Road to Perdition
93. Blade Runner
94. the Hangover
95. Carlito’s Way
96. Raging Bull
97. the Untouchables
98. Forrest Gump
99. the Pianist
100. Star Trek

 

[BigHouseUSA]

That's my only problem with In the Loop; I'm scared it might be TOO intelligent for me.

Impossible.

Plus, it thrives off pop culture references you should love.

 

[Palooza]

<3 pop culture

 

[Rush]

Snatch is the best movie of all-time. #3 booooooo

 

[Palooza]

Snatch is the best movie of all-time. #3 booooooo

It's my second favorite of all time so I'm a little upset myself. I am having too much fun to cheat and set my top 10 or so to be 100% realistic.

 

[Palooza]

Palooza Presents...
Reviews
BROTHERS

Directed by:
Jim Sheridan
Written by:
David Benihoff
Based off of:
2004 Danish film 'Brødre' by Susanne Bier
Starring:
Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Clifton Collins Jr.
Rated:
R
Seen in:
Theaters​

I came into this movie with pretty low expectations and even though I saw 90% of the movie in the preview, I left the theater very satisfied.

Brothers is a remake of a 2004 Danish movie, translated to the same title. The film is about a marine (Tobey Maguire), who is assumed dead during a tour in Afghanistan and how his wife (Natalie Portman) and his brother (Jake Gylenhaal) cope with it. While I have not seen the Danish version of the film, supposedly it is a much superior film than this, but I won't be doing any comparing. If you have seen television within the past two months, it is safe to assume you have seen the trailer for this movie. This is my biggest gripe with this movie -- the trailer gives faaaar too much away. The climax, as you would have guessed, is the part where Tobey Maguire's character, Sam, flips out in the kitchen and then runs outside waving a gun as the cops show up. It didn't necessarily take away from the scene, except that it made it quite predictable, but still entertaining.

The acting was actually very well done, much to my surprise. I wish Natalie Portman's character, Grace, was given more to work with. Her character needed beefing up and seemed a little too two-dimensional. Tobey Maguire carries the second half of the movie and even though the Afghanistan scenes definitely developed the character, I would have preferred to have seen them in flashback form, which would have made his character and his actions much more mysterious. Tobey Maguire does a very good job transitioning from loving father to desensitized psycho over the course of the movie. The interactions between the father, Hank, (Sam Shepard) and Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) felt very realistic. Hank's inability to accept Tommy's failures makes Gyllenhaal's change from irresponsible felon to a helpful, responsible, surrogate father all the more difficult, but, as I said before, realistic.

The comic relief brought by Sam and Grace's youngest daughter, Maggie (Taylor Geare) was very necessary and well placed. Most of the time the movie feels very tense and Jim Sheridan's use of the little girl very much helps take away from the seriousness of the movie, which is a good thing.

Last word: Clifton Collins' character was virtually useless

Rating : 6.5/10

 

[Palooza]

Next movie to watch: The Messenger

Next review: Up in the Air

 

[Chill]

<3 palooza

fillen up my need to see movies.

 

[Palooza]

Palooza Presents...
Reviews
UP IN THE AIR

Trailer:
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Directed by:
Jason Reitman
Written by:
Jason Reitman
Based off of:
Walter Kirn's novel of the same name
Starring:
George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride, JK Simmons, Zach Galifinakis
Rated:
R
Seen in:
Theaters​

The concept of George Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, is so extraordinary that it draws you in. His life as someone who is hired to go around the world firing people for companies is not something I've ever heard of before the novel/film. This movie is a lot about choices and how you create your life's path. Ryan's choice was to stay alone, live one day at a time (preferably on the road raking up miles) and make sure he had no excess baggage. His life is turned upside down when Anna Kenrick's character, Natalie, introduces a new way to fire people. Ryan and Natalie's boss, Jason Bateman, is skeptical after Clooney makes Kendrick look silly, so he sends her out on the road with him.

Regardless of what W2B says about George Clooney, this guy can act. Doesn't matter if he is playing George Clooney in all of his roles, he still puts forth a lot of emotion, mostly subtly (see: the wedding scene(s)). Speaking of acting, Anna Kendrick, as the girl whose technological advancement of the company may put Clooney's character out of the job, is getting a lot of hype for Oscar season and it is understandable, even though her character is a little unrealistically naive. Vera Farmiga plays Clooney's love interest and it is hard to throw her into the plot synopsis because she is just someone Clooney meets on the road. Her and Clooney have some great chemistry and that helps Farmiga's acting ability.

What Jason Reitman has done with this movie is something beautiful. The overhead shots in the opening credits and when Ryan travels to a new city is gorgeous, especially for someone like me who has never been on a plane. The movie is funny and sad at the same time, something Reitman achieves very well with his writing. There is one scene in particular with JK Simmons, George Clooney and Anna Kendrick that was truly the turning point for me. After this scene I understood everything Clooney's character was doing. I think while this is not the best movie of the year, it is still worthy of a lot of people's attention and is just as relevant to today's world as the Hurt Locker.

Last word: More Zach Galifinakis please & JK Simmons is one of the most underrated actors in the business today. His single scene was the most powerful of the entire movie, as I mentioned earlier

Rating : 9.5/10

 

[Palooza]

Next Movie to See: An Education
Next Movie(s) to Review: the Hurt Locker ; the Messenger

 

[Palooza]

Palooza Presents...
What I'm Watching Tonight​

8 pm - 10 pm - the Office (marathon) - NBC
8 pm - 11:30 pm - Holiday Bowl - Arizona vs. Nebraska - ESPN
10 pm - 11 pm - the Real World: District of Columbia (Premiere) - MTV
11:35 - 12:35 - the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (Zach Braff; Sarah Palin; Bear Grylls; Tony Bennett) - NBC

 

[Buzzman]

JK Simmons is sweet. 1st time I saw him was in the HBO show Oz and I always thoguht of him as a badass but then everything post Oz, he was in a comedic role and was funny as hell.