The Great Gatsby

11th of 365.

D'Angelo Barksdale: He's saying that the past is always with us. Where we come from, what we go through, how we go thought it all this shit matters. Like at the end of the book, ya know, boats and tides and all. It's like you can change up, right, you can say your somebody new, you can give yourself a whole new story. But, what came first is who you really are and what happened before is what really happened. It don't matter that some fool say he different cuz the things that make you different is what you really do, what u really go through. Like, ya know, all those books in his library. He frontin with all them books, but if you pull one down off the shelf, none of the pages have ever been opened. He got all them books, and he hasn't read nearly one of them. Gatsby, he was who he was, and he did what he did. And cuz he wasn't willing to get real with the story, that shit caught up to him. That's what I think, anyway. 

The Wire had more insight into the Great Gatsby than anything this movie.

Judgement: Skip

 

Star Trek Into Darkness

10th of 365

​

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH!

The movie starts off like a traditional Bond film. There is immediate action from the cold open and it has an impact on the rest of the movie but is not the main driving plot point. From there Star trekkie things happen.

​

Everyone gives a good performance, but this gives me space to talk about Sherlock. It is available on Netflix Instant and is the best representation of Sherlock I have ever seen. ¹ It has the best villain in the 21st century. It is a must watch!

Judgement: See in Theaters

​ ​

---

^{1. Meaning it beats out House, Sherlock Holmes with RDJ, and the Sherlock CBS show.↩}

Epic

9th of 365

It's a kid's movie. It's not bad. It's not Pixar.

There is a belief in magic that kind of takes the adult viewer out of the movie. There is no science involved, which is kind of a bummer for me. I wish that in the movie they had the eternal battle between growth and decay. Instead, Beyonce ¹ saves the world with magically powers and Cristoph Waltz is the NAZI of the forest.

Judgement: Skip, unless you have kids, then you are going to see this regardless.

---

^{1. As Pete Holmes would say, You must Be Yonce.↩}

Iron Man 3

8th of 365

I've never been a very big fan of the Iron Man series. They are well made movies that I could never fully get into. This is probably my favorite movie of the trilogy. It was aptly quoted by John Favreau as Kiss Kiss, Clang Clang¹.

The more down to earth stories of the previous Iron Man trilogies continue, even though there the main plot line contains issues from the super sci-fi avengers movie.² It makes for a wonderful plotline where Ironman is unsure what is real and what makes sense. It makes him fearful of the unknown and unable to sleep because of the post-traumatic stress.

This is the first time I saw Stark as a human rather than a guy with incredible hair, unmatched wit, and charisma. Instead he is a man who is still trying to figure out how to protect what he loves.

Judgement: Send Away for It.

---

^{1. Writer/Director of Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang Shane Black, was also the writer for Hombre Hierro Tres.↩ 2. Aliens, black holes, a Norse God, and some other crazy stuff. ↩}

42

7th of 365

This movie is dull. This movie is slow. This movie is skippable. 

From the in-game scenes, Jackie Robinson would appear to hit about 30-40 Home Runs a year and 30 SBs. They show as many base hits as home runs and after his base hits he is stealing bases.   

Not only is Jackie prominently featured as a legend, but so are Branch Rickey and his wife. Harrison Ford plays Branch and you could understand every third bible verse that came out of his mouth. Rickey threatens other managers to play against his black ball player otherwise HELLFIRE will rain down upon them and face their ultimate destination at the gates of heaven.

Judgement: Skip

What Maisie Knew

6th of 365

There has been a recent string of movies that have relied on young protagonists. Mud, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Super 8, and now What Maisie Knew.

Every scene in the movie contains Maisie. The custody hearing is just the parents coming out of a court room. The parents fighting is only around the corner. The information given is only what Maisie can know. For the first third of the movie, Maisie is the most adult person in the movie. She makes her own sandwich and tries to make everyone feel better. Her parents are more interested in winning than they are caring for their daughter.

Each parent gets remarried to a person who is far more attentive to Maisie's needs. This movie was able to tug at the heart strings even for detestable characters. 

Judgement: Prime/Instant

Oblivion

5th of 365

This movie was not very good. I guessed the twist in the first five minutes, it was the first note I made.

Now,

SPOILERS 

The movie not being good may not totally be it's fault. It wasn't good enough to overcome a trailer that shows too much. Look, there is no reason Morgan Freeman needs to be shown in the trailer.  The beginning third of the movie we are told that the enemy are "Scavengers" and an alien species. They go through the trouble of masking the voices and being heavily disguised. They take extra time to describe why they would have all the extra gear and decoration. It is completely ridiculous that the writer and director thought it was important to explain how they are human, when the trailer gives away the fact there are humans on Earth. It is terrible.

Also, I can't imagine Tom Cruise listening to music is totally perplexing.  What music would Tom Cruise listen to? There is no genre that is a satisfactory answer.

Judgement: Watch on HBO

Frances Ha

4th of 365

A coming of age tale, but she's 27. Frances Ha is about a woman who can't accomplish her dreams. She wants to be a dancer, but she won't make it as a professional dancer. 

The story really comes down as a love story between college best friends. One has a more conventional job with consistent money. The other has a love and passion for art which doesn't pay much when they are successful and nothing when they can't make it. 

Frances isn't a lovable character. She doesn't want to grow up, but she also doesn't get along with others very well. She tries to 'fake' fight with someone taking her in for free. She can't hang in a conversation with people who have successful careers. 

Judgement: Watch on Instant

Kon-Tiki

3rd of 365

What are lengths people go to just to say they were right? That would be the correct Jeopardy question to Kon-Tiki. Based on a true story¹ the movie starts with Thor in Polynesia with his wife. While they are fishing in the ocean his wife comments that it must of been difficult for someone to row against the current from Asia to Polynesia.

This piques his interest and ​asks the locals where they believe their people originated. The wise man informs him that Tiki came from the east and he followed the sunset. Everything came from the east, the current, the sun, and Tiki.

Thor Heyerdale was unable to publish his theory that the Peruvians traveled to Polynesia to settle. No publisher believed his theory because the Peruvians did not have any boats. They did have rafts, so his decision was to take a basalt wood raft and sail across the Pacific ocean with 6 men. ²

The movie picks up and is a thrilling adventure. There are some beautiful shots that would be even more impressive if The Life of Pi hadn't already taken the most beautiful ocean shots in 2012. Kon-Tiki was a 2012 movie that was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film even though they speak English throughout. ³

Each crew member makes there own mistakes, but Thor is a psychopath. He will not listen to reason and has a blind faith in ​his theory. He is painted as a hero, but really he is a crazy guy who happens to be right.

Judgement: See it in the Theater.

---

​ ^{1. [See the Full Documentary if you have Amazon Prime]↩} ​^{2. [Only one had sailing experience and Thor couldn't swim.]↩} ​^{3. [My biggest issue with the movie was that it was in English. I'm not sure why a Norwegian with a bunch of Scandinavians on his crew would speak English. It was distracting.]↩}​

Mud

2nd of 365

 Matthew McConaughey stars as the titular character in Mud. The movie takes place in Southeast Arkansas around the intersection of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. There is a wonderful feel of the movie. There is not quite a small town big city feel, but there is a definite division between the shots right on the river where our protagonist, Ellis, lives and the town in which they sell the day's catch.  

The town is not glitz and glamour, it is teenagers hanging out in parking lots of the piggly wiggly next to worn down hotels. This is the type of small town living that still has a separation. At one point Ellis bemoans the fact he could never be a townie. He only knows life down on the river even though he is in town often throughout the movie.

Love takes center stage in this movie. It is the driving force for the plot and the reason for any actions taken by the characters. However, it displays that Love may not conquer all. 

Judgement: Watch in Theaters

The Iceman

1st of Three Sixty Five.

This Michael Kuklinski Biopic focuses more on family than it does on the approximate 100 murders he is suspected of committing. The Iceman starts with a wonderful opening scene where an older fully bearded Michael Shannon is asked "Do you have any regrets?"

In this still shot there is an eye shaking as if it was ready to explode. Michael Shannon was fantastic. I previously was not a big fan of anything Shannon had starred in, but he was great as the family man and psychopath. 

The movie was made extra special with David Schwimmer in a ridiculous mustache and pony all while donning a track jacket. He is there to move the plot forward by being bad at his job. So good work Ross.

Judgement: Send Away for It/Rent It