The 365s: Movie that Deserve a Remake

I'm calling it the '5er. Really TBD.

The winner of this category is one that has many quality elements, but because of some limitations or wrong direction, failed to live up to it's full potential, or didn't get full recognition because it was a foreign language film. And the nominees are:

Bounty Killer

This fun low budget action film was really a fun watch. However, the low budget comes through in the important plot points. You can tell that the special effects budget was small even from an "indie" film point of view. Bounty Killer should be re-made because with a bigger budget and stronger actors in the role of the villains, SHOUT OUT TO GARY BUSEY, the movie could be a real success. The danger is that a remake could take it's self too seriously and lose all the fun from the original.

Escape from Tomorrow

This movie has gotten a lot of press because it filmed inside of Disneyland without proper consent from the Disney company. The black and white movie was a smaller budget film that follows a man, who just lost his job, and his family on a day at the happiest place on earth. The father starts seeing things that don't seem like they could be real. The entire film is in black and white and you can tell they don't quite get every shot perfectly.  With approval and a larger budget this movie could be even more surreal then the current iteration.

47 Ronin

This movie is about the historic Japanese tale of the 47 Ronin. Unfortunately, it is completely supernatural and Keanu Reeves is in it. It could easily be that the movie doesn't get made without the inclusion of Neo, but he takes you out of the film entirely. I was originally interested in the story of the 47 Ronin, which is still well known in Japan, instead I get a story of mystical beings and dragons. This movie needs a straight telling of the 47 Ronin.

Instructions Not Included

When I saw this originally, the helpful ticket taker told me that this film was not in English. Apparently, someone complained that the movie was NOT in English. There were subtitles, but I suppose you should be angry for no reason because you couldn't research what you were seeing or just read. However, the movie did not get a great push to American audiences. While it would be difficult to change the premise for the lead to become an American, like the remake of Starbuck in Vince Vaughn's Delivery Man, the movie could be recasted with known actors to Americans with more slightly more English. The movie is already fantastic in it's own right, but I would like more people to see the film.

And the 5'er goes too....

New Oscar Categories!

The Oscars are the top honors for movies every year. Unfortunately, they don't cover all the aspects of movies or reward for being good for an entire year. I will slowly roll out the awards the 365's! I have serious and a little less serious section for the awards.

If I had a design skill this would be a reward. Alas, look at the pretty picture.

Serious Awards

Actor of the Year/Actress of the Year:

Actors/Actresses are only awarded for a single performance. This doesn't take into account their entire year. This is an MVP Award. Difficulty will obviously increase with more movies and good performance. But it must be weighed against one terrific performance. 

Best Fight Choreography:

This is similar to special effects. The big difference is that this will also include the actors themselves. Something like Oldboy's hallway scene or The Raid: Redemption's entire movie wouldn't win for special effects. However, they are incredibly difficult scenes to choreograph.

Best Comedic Performance:

The Golden Globes already has Best Comedy/Musical.  Comedy is a very difficult to thing to perfect on screen. You are in front of cameras and there is no live audience to give you cues on what is proper. When I pick the winner I will go deeper into why comedies should really get more nominations for best editing. 

Fun/Non-serious awards.

Most Creative Premise:

This doesn't mean that the movie was executed correctly or that it was a bad movie. Just that the premise was different than other media that is being made.

Best Sequel:

Considering that all the big blockbusters are now sequels it should at least get an award.

Movie that deserves a remake:

This is pretty self-explanatory. It's a movie that has many good factors, but for some reason doesn't come together. Sometimes it's budget, actors, director, or editing, but it should be remade.

I will release nominees for each category, the next day I will post the winner.

Missed the Cut

Best Ensemble Cast:

It's already an award for SAG or BAFTA's.

Best Non-War Documentary:

A bit too jokey, but there are too many war docs nominated every year.

#7 Dallas Buyers Club

This is the year of Matthew McConaughey. He was fantastic in Mud, Dallas Buyers Club, The Wolf of Wall Street, and now is the star of HBO's True Detective. This is the sole movie where he is the absolute main character.

Look McConaughey lost a bunch of weight. That doesn't make it a great performance. But it was. 

This is your classic story of the straight white male coming to save a minority community. Well, that's what it is, but it didn't strike me that way immediately. Ron Woodruff wasn't going out to save to the gay community and the Aids issue because he thought he had a moral high ground. Woodruff did it because he needed to solve his own problem and he could make some profit of the misery of others.

Now, Dallas Buyers Club doesn't explain the reasons completely. Woodruff starts a Buyers Club when after visiting a doctor in Mexico he realizes that he "could make a fortune" selling the drugs in the states.  Since selling the drugs in the United States would be illegal he sells memberships to a club that give the drugs away for free.

I actually love the movie. I think it's very well acted, I think Woodruff is a sympathetic character, I think that it was extremely emotional, and was a wonderful film making achievement. Jared Leto's performance was good, but was extremely overacted and borderline offensive. The set design was fantastic, the minor characters all shined, and McConaughey was so charismatic it trumps all issues with movie. 

Ron Woodruff has some minor changes, but the changes are not light and day. Most of issues come from people messing with his business. It's a great movie that displays what a great, great actor Matthe McConaughey is. He should never do a romantic comedy again and keep selecting interesting roles.

Dallas Buyers Club is in theaters for a short while longer. Go see it.

#8 Mud

My name is MUDDDDDDDDDD. I said that for a good 3 weeks after seeing Mud. The biggest issue with this, that was never uttered in the entire film. I may have taken it from Arrested Development or from a place that I cannot quite thing of at this time.

He wears his shirt most of the movie. No really, It's a plot point.

This movie was the 2nd movie I saw on my journey and has stayed on top this long. It also was the start of fantastic child acting the entire year. Mud, Kings of Summer, Wadjda, Instructions Not Included, The Way, Way Back, and The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete all had fantastic acting from young actors.  

Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland play Ellis and Neckbone. Although they sound like they are a morning zoo radio show, they are middle schoolers in the Arkansas bay area. Ellis's parents are on the brink of a separation and Neckbone lives with his brother (Michael Shannon) who dives to bring up anything of value.

The kids look to find a rumored boat that was left up in a tree on a tiny island. This is where they discover Matthew McConaughey, with his shirt on, fishing and hiding from the cops. The boys make a deal with Mud, if they fix the boat they get to keep it as long as they get Mud to meet his girl. 

The movie has a concise story which keeps it from being an absolute classic. It moves back and forth between a thriller, action, and romance movie. It doesn't strike a perfect balance, but it is an excellent movie.

Mud is available on DVD.

#9 Gravity

The premise of gravity is widely known. An issue occurs in space that separates an astronaut during a spacewalk from the space shuttle. Craziness ensues.

This movie is all about the effects and *gasp* the 3D. It really is a movie that should have been seen in the theater in 3D. It's still intense watching it on the small screen, but the breathtaking shots still leave you with some air. In 3D the beauty punched you in the gut and was simply spectacular. 

This movie is not written with a sharp tongue. It is a bit on the nose in some parts and it tends to get a bit verbose and overly dramatic. The drama is already happening on the screen, there is no need to increase it with mediocre dialog.

I've never been a big fan of Sandra Bullock, but she performs admirably. Clooney is given a little more rope with his role, but he's here to be charming and does that very well. 

If this movie had a little less dialog, like All is Lost (#10), this would be much higher on the list. The director was not confident enough in the images telling the story, so we get a lot of words that we can understand with the beautiful scenes depicted through the camera.

A wonderful accomplishment in cinematography, digital effects, and 3D, but the story falls short of classic status.

Gravity releases on DVD on February 25th and is still in some theaters. 

#10 All is Lost

Ever wanted to be in a boat with Robert Redford for 2 hours? Then I have the movie for you!

Honestly the movie is breathtaking. He is all alone, so there is about 6 or so lines of dialog. However, the film takes long shots and lacks an overwhelming score that you hear so often in action packed movies. Instead, we see a man make sensible decisions in a difficult situation. This Man vs Nature tale shows that even when prepared things may not go the way you intended.

It is nice to see nature fully take control in this situation. Into the Wild is the last survival movie I remember about a man alone versus nature on Earth. This movie shows the overwhelming power of nature. Into the Wild details a young male thinking he can live in the wild with no real preparation. This man seems to have been well versed in boats and is able to make smart decisions every step of the way.

An incredible performance by Robert Redford is overpowering the fantastic job by the director. J.C. Chandor does a wonderful job not being in a rush throughout the movie. Shots are stagnant but full of life. There are not quick cuts to try to trick you into believing the action is has moved quickly. The pacing of the movie allows the real, but not extravagant, issues come up become real world problems that have very few realistic solutions. I expect big things out of this director. This is only his second motion picture, the first being Margin Call, and it's his second success.

All is Lost is currently available on DVD. 

Oscar Snubs! Well, other worthy Oscar Nominees.

I will quickly go through and pick one movie/actor/actress which could be picked for the top 5 awards. I am going to try not to double up on the same movie and separate from any movie nominated in the top 5 awards to show what a great year for movies it has been.

Best Picture: ...In A World

In a World is the type of movie that will never be a movie to get any Oscar nominations. It's a comedy, those always are undervalued by the academy, which has a premise that goes into the unexplored world of voice over artists. Written, directed, and starring Lake Bell the movie talks about the early mid-life crisis that seems to be happening more and more in real life.  Lake Bell is struggling in her effort to be the rare female voice over artist and her father, a star in the business, does not believe her goals could ever be matched. A lovely movie from beginning to end.

Honorable Mention - The Spectacular Now

Throwout: Philomena

Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station

Michael B. Jordan portrays the last day in the life of Oscar Grant. The movie does a great job not to make out Grant as some sort of super hero cut down short of great things in his life. However, his quest to simply get on the straight and narrow and get out of any illegal dealings and raise his daughter and seek a long a committed relationship with his girlfriend. This charismatic performance is fantastic. You understand he still just a kid struggling to move on in life. A must see movie and spectacular performance from an Actor who's future is bright.

Honorable Mention: Robert Redford - All is Lost

Throwout: Bruce Dern - Nebraska

Best Actress: Waad Mohammed - Wadjda

The character role in the first female directed Saudi Arabian film was a first time actress at the young age of 12. The movie centers around a girls need to buy a bike and beat her male friend in a bike rice. She is a wonderful actress who portrays the wonderful spirit of wanting to be westernized in her conservative religious culture. More impressively, she had to act while her female director was in a van because she could not be publicly seen directing men around the set. I'm not sure if I will ever see her in another movie, but there is hope that she becomes a genuine star.

Honorable Mention: Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Enough Said

Throwout: Sandra Bullock - Gravity

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Bill Nighy - About Time

Bill Nighy plays the time traveling, secret toting father in the most recent of movie from director Richard Curtis. Nighy depicts a wonderful loving father who is a bit aloof, but ultimately wise beyond his years.  Nighy somehow brings levity and gravitas to all his scenes as he acts as guide to his son and the audience about teh rules of their gift of time traveling. The relationship between father and son has not so lovingly been portrayed since Field of Dreams.

Honorable Mention: Moises Arias - Kings of Summer

Throwout: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club*

*This was the most difficult category to replace a current nominee.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Reese Witherspoon - Mud

Witherspoon plays the unrequiteed love of the title character portrayed by Matthew McConaughey. Both Witherspoon and McConaughey get to play with their southern roots in this tale of childhood love and escape from the real world provided by the treehouse in the woods. The two kids that are messengers for the two supporting roles are the real stars, but the job done by Witherspoon and McConaughey elevates the performances of the child actors.

Honorable Mention: Brie Larson - The Spectacular Now

Throwout: Julia Roberts - August: Osage County

The Way Way Back

45th of 365.

Sam Rockwell is all that is right with the world. He is just such a charismatic character that has yet to find the perfect role to blow him up into superstardom. If you haven't watched Moon, directed by David Bowie's son, do so immediately. It is a fantastic movie.

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash wrote and directed this coming of age tale that takes place in a summer ocean town full of summer homes. Duncan is a 14-year old kid struggling with confidence and his mother's asshole boyfriend played by Steve Carrell. 

Steve Carrell pretends to be a father-figure with Duncan, but he doesn't quite try to meet the halfway. Duncan is at a difficult time and his method to motivate is just to chastise until the kid does something about it. 

Support this movie, it really is the type of movie more people need to see.

Judgement: See it in the Theater

Pacific Rim

44th of 365. 

Guillermo Del Toro is an effects genius. 

Look, this movie is everything that is cliche about a summer blockbuster. However, since Guillermo, we're on a first name basis, is the Anti-Michael Bay. He can take a movie that is based on big fights and create something more than what is on the screen.

Charlie Day was a pleasant surprise as the scientist researching the Kaiju monsters providing laughs with a reasoning on why certain strategies cannot work. It also features my favorite movie trope, the best XYZ has to return because nobody does it better!

Judgement: Watch in Theaters! 

Grown Ups 2

43rd of 365.

Just don't. 

Judgement: Skip

The Lone Ranger

42nd of 365.

Much has been made of how bad this movie is. It isn't.  

However, the movie doesn't quite know what it wants to be. It tries to have some call backs to the old tv show, while at the same time having it's own story to tell. The origin story is pretty similar to how I understand the TV and Radio shows tell it.  

Armie Hammer is a likable enough character that just seems too dumb to become the Lone Ranger of lore. They seem like they were trying to make it like the Bond origin story where he struggles with enemies, but it was more of making him look like an imbecile. 

They did accomplish one feat, I think 8-12 year olds will love this movie. It is funny and has great action scenes and will be the fun for everyone. 

Judgement: Watch on Cable

The Amazing Spiderman

41st of 365

The Amazing Spidderman! 

Another of the AMC summer series, the Amazing Spiderman is an example of when you don't need a remake. 

Everyone was fine in the movie, but it feels like you have seen the movie before. It's probably because you have. 

Emma Stone deserves better. 

Judgement: Watch on Cable

Pain & Gain

40th of 365.

Michael Bay ruins movies.

Look this story was amazing. It is a true story that deserves better than it got. It had to constantly remind you that it was a true story. It decided to tell instead of show. It decided that movie making is just about making stuff explode and be gross. 

Every actor in this movie gave a good performance. Unfortunately it was surrounded with directing that didn't live up to those performances. This movie is a perfect example of something that needs to be remade. Great premise, just not executed correctly. 

I will give Michael Bay credit for trying. This isn't just a mindless movie like the transformers franchise, but he just is not a great director. I think he is the perfect producer, but he just doesn't have a vision. He can create great effect, but he just doesn't have the ability to tell a story.

Lootera

39th of 365.

This is what happens when O. Henry short stories are adopted to 3 hour movies. 

I read afterwards this was based on The Last Leaf. The main plot line is based on the short story by the famed American author, but there is a whole sub plot about the Raj empire falling and the new democratic Indian government taking land and money from Zamindars all over the country.

The issue is that I don't feel bad for the rich guy losing things, the daughter of said rich guy, the guys stealing from the rich people, or anyone with lines in the movie. 

In addition to the boring movie it was difficult to watch because a father was taking care of their 3-6 month old child right in front of me trying to quiet the baby down. I missed about 40% of the subtitles and got a bit frustrated. 

Judgement: Skip! 

Ghanchakkar

38th of 365.

BOLLYWOOD! This movie was fine. But it wasn't the joy of the previous realm into Indian film, but it was still watchable.

A criminal pulls off a big caper and hides the money. The three robbers split up for a while and will get the money at a later date. Unfortunately, the guy who hid the money lost his memory in an unfunny accident. 

There was not much charisma and not many laughs.

Judgement: Skip

Django Unchained

37th of 365.

DJANGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

AMC is doing a Summer series where they are showing late spring offerings at 10 PM for about $3. I need movies to watch, so I will see them all. 

Django Unchained has a fantastic soundtrack. Even if you don't agree with the choice of modern music during montages and shootouts, it still fits and is a bold choice. For some reason Jim Croce seems to fit the movie just fine for me, but then I hear Rick Ross and 2Pac I get pulled out of the scene.  

Judgement: Love Tarantino, See it in the theaters, but now send away for it. 

Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain

35th of 365.

Kevin Hart produced and distributed this movie himself. He is going to make a lot of money off of this production.  I have been told that this should not count towards my movie. Well, I'm running out of things to watch. This makes it no problem.

Kevin Hart is a very good comedian that is not often talked about among my social circles. Everyone enjoys his small roles in movies, most famously as the belligerent customer in 40 Year Old Virgin, but most probably don't know he is a stand up comedian.  

This is was very funny, even if not aimed at my demo, and I would watch it again. 

Judgement: Watch on Instant

Despicable Me 2

34 out of 365.

I did not see the original Despicable Me. I do not know if that detracted from this sequel, but this animated picture didn't really do it for me. 

The minions are cute and the best part of the movie. Unfortunately, the main characters don't quite have the place in my heart that others may have. Gru seems like a good father, but I don't care if he finds himself a wife or not. The Villain doesn't show up until the final third and isn't that enjoyable. These films rely on a good antagonist and it just falls short.

Judgement: Watch on Netflix

White House Down

33rd of 365.

The White House is under attack! Our only hope is the guy who can DANCE! Whenever I enter a movie with low expectations that meets those expectations, I try to imagine that the main characters are really former performances from those actors in a sequel. 

In this case, Channing Tatum is Tyler from the Step Up series. He danced into your hearts and now he is going to stop terrorists with some dope moves!  Jamie Foxx was a toss up from MotherFucker Jones from Horrible bosses or the Lawyer from Law Abiding Citizen. I figured that the president would more likely be a lawyer than a career criminal, so the lawyer won. 

Honestly, the movie is fine on it's own. Channing Tatum shows that he is better at comedy than he is an action star. The charismatic characters outshine the boring plot points and explosions.  

Judgement: Watch on Netflix Instant. 

The Heat

32nd of 365.

The highlight of the movie for me was Bill Burr. 

This was a very fun movie. It wasn't great for uproarious laughter, but there were many jokes that were cute. Everything hit, but it was never the home run they were aiming at. 

Paul Fieg makes his normal appearance in his own movie. This may be my biggest pet peeve. I blame Hitchcock. I mean he really set it up so everyone could put their mug into the movie. At least most of the time he is a bit part. Now we have directors coming in and doing terrible Australian accents, looking at you Quentin, and trying to sell jokes. 

Directors are very talented people, however, they are not talented in every facet of movie making. Just stay behind the camera guys.

Judgement: Watch on Instant.