New Movies in 2011

As of this post there were 5,959 movies listed to be released in 2011. I would assume that is worldwide including all of the Bollywood movies in India for which there are many more made than in Hollywood.

Below is a list of the 2011 movies I (1) definitely want to see (2) maybe want to see (3) definitely don't want to see. I only looked through the first 500 on that list on imdb.com to get ideas for this list.


Science Fiction

• Cowboys & Aliens- very cool concept. High technology in the wild wild west.
  
• Iron Sky - In 1945, the Nazis went to the moon. In 2018 they are coming back.
• Battle: Los Angeles - Reminds me of Skyline which I also enjoyed and crave for a sequel
  
• The Darkest Hour - In Russia, a group of kids struggle to survive after an alien invasion. Yet another alien invasion movie.
  
• Source Code - very cool idea about reliving the past in some kind of virtual reality
  
• Real Steel - Battlebots made huge
  
• Area 51 - some kids happen upon Area 51
  
• Super 8 - SciFi written and Directed by JJ Abrams
• Contagion - some kind of virus break-out movie
  
• The Killing Game - A man is forced into the savage world of a modern gladiatorial arena, where men fight to the death for the entertainment of the online masses.
  
• The Host - One soul, the Wanderer, is fused with a dying human named Melanie Stryder, in an attempt to locate the last pocket of surviving humans on Earth.
  
• The Divide - To survive the end of the world you must first survive each other.
  
• Now - In the not-too-distant future the aging gene has been switched off. To avoid overpopulation, time has become the currency and the way people pay for luxuries and necessities
• The Adjustment Bureau - follow "the plan" or the adjustment bureau will have you "adjusted"
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - based on the book. I love zombie movies and this will be the first 19th century zombie movie I'll have seen.
  

Comedy

• The Dilemma - A man discovers that his best friend's wife is having an affair. Vince Vaughn is always funny in my book.
  
• Take Me Home Tonight - Follow an aimless college grad who pursues his dream girl at a wild Labor Day weekend party. He, his twin sister and their best friend struggle with their burgeoning adulthood over the course of the night.
  
• Jack and Jill - there are like 30 movies with this title. This one stars Adam Sandler so it's probably funny.
  
• Wanderlust - An urban couple branch out to live a more counter-culture lifestyle. Stars Jennifer Anniston.
  
• LOL - In a world connected by YouTube, iTunes, and Facebook, Lola and her friends navigate the peer pressures of high school romance and friendship while dodging their sometimes overbearing and confused parents.
• Just Go with It - Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler yet again.
• Paul - Two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.

Drama, Action, Mystery and/or Thrillers

• On the Road - A young man sets out to travel the roads and railways of America. Sounds interesting.
  
• Inferno: A Linda Lovelace Story - The story of the adult movie Deep Throat
  
• Wrecked - Yet another movie which feels like the TV show "I Should Not Be Alive"
  
• K-11 - Kristin Stewart stars. That's good enough for me.
• Restless - The story of a terminally ill teenage girl who falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals and their encounters with the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot from WWII. There are a lot of movies with this title.
  
• How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Mel Gibson
• The Ledge - something about fundamentalist Christians and an atheist escalates into a lethal battle of wills.
• The Impossible
• Waco - based on the real incident in Waco Texas
  
• Ten - Starring Bruce Willis
• The Grandmasters - The story of the martial-arts master who trained Bruce Lee.
  
• Shadows from the Sky - What if... the pilot about to land your plane has become incapacitated, but you don't know about it. Worse still, neither does he.
  
• Number 13 - On the set of his latest production, Alfred Hitchcock is ensnared in a love triangle and murder mystery that echoes the themes of his work.
• The Beaver - No, it's not based the TV show from the 50s called Leave it to Beaver. It's yet another Mel Gibson movie, this time directed by Jodie Foster.
  
• Apollo 18 - A film about the real mission to space in the 1970's that was canceled by NASA.
  
• Sucker Punch - Forget the plot. Go see it for the amazing CG effects!
  
• Friends with Benefits - The relationship between two friends gets complicated when they decide to get romantic. Same plot as No Strings Attached? Stars Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Emma Stone and Woody Harrelson.
  
• No Strings Attached - there are a lot of movies with this title. Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Same plot as Friends with Benefits? Movies seem to come in pairs sometimes.
  

Sequels

• A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas - I've loved the Harold & Kumar movies
  
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules - the first movie was very good
  
• Blue Crush 2 - enjoyed the first movie
  
• Zombieland 2 - enjoyed the first movie
• The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 - I love the Twilight saga
  
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - it's finally going to end. Loving it.
  
• The Hangover Part II - Loved the first movie.
  
• Sherlock Holmes Sequel Part 2 (untitled) - first movie pretty good
  
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - I like the Mission Impossible movies
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - I've enjoyed all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
  

Reboots- I liked the originals so I'll probably see the remakes

• Footloose
  
• Red Dawn
• Ghost in the Shell
• Battle Royale
• Rise of the Apes
  

CG Animation Movies

• Rango - Awesome animation. I like how the animation was sort of based on the actors acting out the scenes. Johny Depp does the voice for Rango.
  
• Kung Fu Panda 2 - Love Jack Black and loved the first movie.
  
• Cars 2 - First movie was awesome.
  
• Mars Needs Moms - The trailers look pretty good
  
• Noah's Ark: The New Beginning - Hmmm ... need to see a trailer.
  

Super Hero Movies

• X-Men: First Class - I'll see any comic book movie
  
• The Wolverine - I'm into the X-Men movies and all of the spin-offs
  
• Green Lantern - Not a big fan of the Green Lantern movie. I don't know how that title has stayed around for so long. As a kid, I thought Green Lantern was stupid. I can't believe the huge universe they've built up behind the Green Lantern.
  
• The Green Hornet - Seth Green is hilarious. Looks good.
  
• Captain America: The First Avenger - it will be interesting to see how the Avengers will pull together all of the various Marvel Comics franchises into one.
  
• Luke Cage - I wasn't a big fan of the Luke Cage comic book but I'll go see it anyway.
  
• Thor - I'm not a big fan of Thor but I'll go see it anyway.
  
• The Man with the Iron Fist - I'm assuming this is based on the Marvel comic Iron Fist
• Limitless - A copywriter discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with super human abilities.

Movies I might see

• Wild Hogs 2: Bachelor Ride - linked part 1
• Death Note - saw a bit of the anime. Looked interesting.
• The Crow - a reboot?
• Vivid - maybe too creepy for me. A serial killer places his consciousness into the bodies of various individuals in order to experience what it is like to live and die as another person.
• Them - a remake? One woman's journey to unmask the secret rulers of the world.

Definitely don't want to see

• Arthur - Reboot. Didn't like the original
  
• Conan the Barbarian - Reboot: I'm not into barbarian movies.
  
• Straw Dogs - Remake: No interest
  
• Scream 4 - Horror: I've seen Scream 1, 2 and 3. I'm done with it.
  
• Halloween III - Horror: I've seen every Halloween movie. I'm done with it. Wait, there was already a Halloween III:Season of the Witch movie. Is this like a reboot/remake of one of the sequels??? BTW, Nick Cage stars in a new movie named Season of the Witch which opened yesterday.
  
• Paranormal Activity 3 - Horror: No interest
  
• Final Destination 5 - Horror: I've seen most of the Final Destination Movies. I'm done with it.
  
• Scary Movie 5 - Comedy: I've seen most of the Scary Movies. I'm done with it.
  
• Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World - Saw the first Spy Kids. Bored.
  
• The Thing
• Jeepers Creepers 3: Cathedral - Horror:No interest in any of these movies
  
• xXx: The Return of Xander Cage - Action: Saw the first one. Bored.
  
• Sleepaway Camp Reunion - Horror: Remake - saw the original. That's enough for me.
  
• National Treasure 3 - Action/Drama: Saw the first one. That's enough for me.
  
• Happy Feet 2 in 3D - CG Animation: No interest
  
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair - CG + Real Life - Saw the first movie. Bored. Is this like the 4th movie?
  
• Puss in Boots - I'm bored with Shrek and its spin-offs
  
• Universal Soldier: A New Dimension - Action: Saw the first movie. It was OK. Unless they can put some new spin on it that interests me, I'm skipping this one.
  
• Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 - CG Dogs: No interest in any of these movies
  
• Grayskull - Based on He-Man. After my time. No interest
  
• S.W.A.T.: Fire Fight - Action/Sequel: Saw the first one. That's enough for me.
  
• Pee-Wee-Herman movie (Untitled) - Comedy: First one mildly entertaining. That's enough for me.
  
• Super Troopers 2 - Comedy: First one was funny. OK, I might just give this one a try if the trailer looks funny.

My Favorite Movies of 2010

I did an advanced search on imdb for movies released in 2010 and discovered there are 7,503 of them! I looked through the first 1000 and made this list of movies I've seen and movies I would like to see. The two lists are ordered from favorite to least favorite.

I saw 35 movies which were released in 2010. I actually saw more movies via NetFlix but this list is just about the 2010 movies.

1. Inception - one of the best movies in the past decade
   
2. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - entertaining from start to finish
   
3. Eclipse - yes, I'm a huge Twilight fan. I admit it.
   
4. Kick-Ass - I'm a sucker for super hero movies, especially about ordinary people. The foul-mouthed 12-year old girl who could take-out a room of thugs, was also cool to watch.
   
5. The King's Speech - we can all relate to stage fright. Overcoming it may take years of hard mental and physical work. Based on true events. Great movie.
6. Black Swan - The pressures of work can really get to us sometimes and in this case, drive us crazy. Seeking perfection is an unrealistic goal.
7. The Fighter - you can probably relate to trying, succeeding then later failing, then trying harder and succeeding again. Boxing is a really tough profession.
8. The Karate Kid - I was not a fan of the original but loved the remake
   
9. Hot Tub Time Machine - I dropped in on the movies with nothing in mind to see and spotted this movie I never heard about. I loved the idea of going back to the 70s to right the wrongs.
   
10. Let Me In - I saw the Swedish original Let The Right One In and it really left an impression on me. The American remake was really true to the original movie. I was thoroughly impressed.
    
11. 127 Hours -My adventures could have put me in similar situations where I would be forced to do something extreme to survive. This movie really made wonder what I would do in this situation.
    
12. Eat Pray Love - I loved this movie about seeking the meaning of life.
    
13. The Book of Eli - Gritty post-apocalyptic movie about one man's goal to preserve the King James Version of the bible owning the last copy in existence.
    
14. True Grit - I never saw the original but this movie hooked me from start to finish.
    
15. The Other Guys - Very funny movie that pokes fun at police action movies.
    
16. Get Him to the Greek - likable characters put in very funny situations. The rock star also learns something in the end.
    
17. Secretariat - based on the true story of the greatest race horse ever. I love racing movies.
    
18. Due Date - Funny road trip movie that goes way over the edge.
    
19. Date Night - Mistaken identity, crazy chases ... very funny.
    
20. Skyline - Great special effects and exciting story about alien invasion. I can't wait for the sequel! It felt like the movie was just starting when it ended.
    
21. The Social Network -Fascinating movie about how brains, luck and talent played a part in making some people very rich.
    
22. Iron Man 2 - Not as good as the first movie but still very entertaining. I look forward to the sequels as well as expanding Marvel comics movies yet to come out.
    
23. The Crazies -yet another survivor movie during a zombie break-out. I do love the zombie movies for some reason.
    
24. Gulliver's Travels -great special effects and funny remake of the old classic story.
    
25. It's Kind of a Funny Story -funny and touching story about mental illness
    
26. Diary of a Wimpy Kid -I can relate to being a wimpy kid in school struggling with bullies and popular kids.
    
27. Grown Ups -I can relate to being a kid in an adults body.
    
28. Devil -From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan. This was his best movie in a long time.
    
29. Love and Other Drugs -
30. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 -Yes, I enjoy the Harry Potter movies. I have not read the books. Part 1 was kind of boring at times but I understand it's just the setup for the real ending.
    
31. Tron: Legacy -I loved the original and the remake was pretty good too.
    
32. Frozen -scary because it can happen to you. It really makes me wonder what I would do.
    
33. Alice in Wonderland -you either love or hate this movie. I hated it.
    
34. Megamind -Some good parts but for the most part, I was bored surprisingly.
    
35. Alpha and Omega -Cute story and good animation.
    
36. Furry Vengeance -I really did not like this movie about animal revenge.
    
37. Nanny McPhee Returns -silly movie. good for kids though.
    
38. Marmaduke -Awful.

Movies I missed but want to see

1. Super
2. Shutter Island
3. The Experiment
4. Easy A
5. Going the Distance
6. Happythankyoumoreplease
7. The Virginity Hit
8. She's Out of My League
9. Kaboom
10. Edge of Darkness
11. Flipped
12. The Freebie
13. Hesher
14. Tiny Furniture
15. Father of Invention
16. Seven Days
17. Trust
18. I'm Still Here
19. Monsters
20. Despicable Me
21. Toy Story 3
22. Knight and Day
23. Sex and the City 2
24. The Expendables

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

I wanted to see this when it came on in theaters but somehow missed it. I just watched it on DVD and loved it. It's a little uneven and over the top sometimes but they made a strong effort to get some good laughs. I was most impressed with an amazing cast. You either love or hate this movie. What blew me away is all of the actors I recognized. You should see it just for the amazing talent this movie features.

Let's first start with the star, Jeremy Piven. I'm a big fan of this actor since I saw him star in one of my all time favorite movies, PCU. Say Anything is one of my favorite movies and I think that's his second movie ever. He followed John Cusack into a roll in the movie Grosse Pointe Blank. He was also in The Grifters with John Cusack. I just learned why. They're buddies. He was in Black Hawk Down? I don't remember his character. OK, let's move on.

Ving Rhames is #2 in the credits. I have seen him in a lot of movies, none that I can recall by memory but a quick look on NetFlix and I see that I saw him in Jacob's Ladder, Dave, Striptease, Mission Impossible I and II, Con Air and Surrogates. I definitely remember him now from Pulp Fiction.

Will Farrell has a short but memorable roll in the film.











Alan Thicke whom I first saw as the dad on Growing Pains. I have the feeling I've seen him in other movies but I can't think of them.

I don't recall ever seeing James Brolin before but I have seen his movies for example Our Man Flint, Fantastic Voyage, Westworld, The Car, Capricon One and Catch me if you can.






I remember David Koechner from The 40 year old Virgin, Thank You for Smoking, Talladega Nights, Snakes on a Plane, Drillbit Taylor, Get Smart, Sex Drive, Extract and on TV, The Office.










For me, Kathryn Hahn had the best character. She really went beyond what she normally plays. I've seen her in Anchorman, The Last Mimzy, Crossing Jordan (TV) and Step Brothers.











I love Ed Helms in The Office. Here he plays a very similar character except a little more extreme and nasty. He was awesome in The Hangover. I've seen him in Walk Hard, Semi-Pro and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.








Another delight was Jordana Spiro. I can't recall ever seeing her before but she was not your typical female start. She had a very unusual voice that made her stand out. I haven't really seen her movies but I might have caught her on TV. She's done episodes of CSI:NY and Cold Case to name a couple.

Craig Robinson is one funny guy. He was a crazy SOB in this movie. I'm familiar with him from The Office, Knocked Up, Walk Hard, Fanboys and Pineapple Express. I especially liked him in Zack and Miri make a Porno and most recently, Hot Tub Time Machine. The guy is a riot.


I first got to know Tony Hale in Arrested Development. I think he's under utilized in this movie. I've seen him in RV and The Informant!







I've seen Ken Jeong in a lot of movies. I didn't like this character in Furry Vegeance but I've enjoyed him in The Hangover, Knocked Up, Step Brother's, Pineapple Express and Couples Retreat.







I've seen Rob Riggle (funny name) in Step Brothers, The Hanger, The Office and Furry Vengeance.












Joey Kern is the only main actor I didn't recognize from another movie or TV show. He was one of the "boys" in the man band BigUps.










The old guy who fought in a World War is Charles Napier. He's so old, he was in an episode of Hogan's Heroes in 1969. He was also in one episode of Star Trek (the original series 1969). I was in the TV shows Mission Impossible, Kojak, Baretta, The Rockford Files and Starsky and Hutch so I've probably seen him when he was younger. He was in the movie The Blues Brothers movie and other TV shows I've seen like BJ and the Bear, Walking Tall, Private Benjamin, The Incredible Hulk, Knight Rider, Simon & Simon, CHiPs, Dallas, Night Court, The A-Team, Murder She Wrote, Louis & Clark, Star Trek DS9, CSI, Monk and The Night Stalker. Other movies I've seen that he was in are Silence of the Lambs, The Grifters, Philadelphia and Austin Powers. It sure would be great if they had a photo of the actor from every movie and TV show they were in. I'd probably recognize the guy.




And last but certain not least in the funny dept is Kristen Schaal who I first became aware in the series Flight of the Conchords for which I've seen every episode. I've seen her interviewed and she really does act and talk like that.

Daybreakers

I had never heard of this movie before NetFlix recommended it to me. It's a SciFi vampire movie that has some really interesting concepts. Somehow a bat virus got into humans turning them into vampires. It spread through the population until there were almost no humans left. This is a problem since the vampires live off blood harvest from humans. Once a vampire begins starvation, they begin to mutate into man-sized bats and can make a full transformation within weeks. These creatures would feed off other vampires or any humans they might happen upon.

These were true vampires in every sense. They had the fangs, the yellow eyes and immortality. They could also be killed by sunlight and a stake to the chest. Any wooden object thrust into their chest would cause a vampire to explode into flames. Sunlight would fry a vampire into ashes within 20 seconds.

Vampire scientists are hard at work to find an artificial blood that can be manufactured to replace the human blood. So far all attempts have failed.

One man claims he has found a cure. He was a vampire but accidentally cured himself by exposing himself to sunlight then snuffing out the flames after a precise time so that he didn't die, but his heart was restarted. The transformation happens within a minute with the eyes returning to normal color and somehow their fangs disappear instantly as well. They return to being human and can walk in the sunlight and do not explode when their chests are penetrated by wooden objects.

Any vampire that feeds off a cured vampire turns into a human. A vampire scientist gets cured and tries to bring the cure back but his friend scientist has found a blood substitute and can make a fortune selling it. He's worked for 10 years on creating artificial blood so he wants to stomp out any cure. He likes being a vampire. He's in perfect health, can smoke all the cigarettes he wants with no ill effects and can live forever. Sounds good to me.

I'm not sure what Vampire culture was like. Do they have babies or does everyone just stay the same age for life? If you were 10 years old when you became a vampire, do you stay 10 forever? Do vampires enjoy music and art? There was artwork on the walls inside the houses so they probably did. Do vampires love? This one businessman vampire loved his human daughter.

Life in the future in vampire world look pretty good. They enjoyed high technology and seemed to be living pretty good lives. They even had cars that could drive around during the day with shades windows and cameras to see in all directions. They could be out during the day as long as they stayed in the shade and away from direct sunlight. Indirect sunlight was OK.

Since they had a cure and had artificial blood, it seems they had the best of both worlds. Those who wanted to be human again could convert. Those who wanted to be vampires could convert. Those who wanted to stay human or vampire could stay and the two populations could live side-by-side together but the movie ended to suggest that humans and vampires are still human and that the quest to convert the world back to humans would continue.

Kick-Ass

I'm still a little bit in shock after watching Kick-Ass which definitely lived up to its name. I thought maybe I should wait a few days and absorb and contemplate what I just saw. What the hell, let's go for it. Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) really stands out as the 11 year old girl with the purple hair who can shred a roomful of gangsters with guns like it was child's play. Hit-Girl is the new Grrrrl Power poster girl. This movie is rated R for a reason. The violence is way more extreme than you'd see in a PG-13 flick. The potty mouth on Hit-Girl is pretty shocking. You just don't hear 11 year old girls use that kind of language in movies. There is sex and nudity so it has everything to bump it up to an R-rating. What is up with Clark Duke. His career is on fire with Superbad, Sex Drive, Hot Tub Time Machine and now Kick Ass. Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays Red Mist. You might remember him as Fogell in Superbad. I didn't recognize him in the Red Mist outfit. The Red Mist setup at the end is proof there will be a sequel. I waited to the end of the credits but there was no bonus scene. I was able to suspend disbelief until the scene with the jet pack. Modern jet packs can only stay aloft for about 1 minute and this one definitely exceed that time limit. Plus I think having gatling guns on each shoulder would not only leave you deaf but the kick back would send someone in a jet pack flying backwards. Hit-Girl does this amazing move where she ejects her hand-gun cartridges and flips two more up in the air as she's running and manages to slam the guns onto them in mid-air. I'm not sure that's possible but it was certainly cool to watch. I thought Big-Daddy looked too much like Batman. I saw a web page that compared the comic to the movie and he had a very different appearance in the comic. So did Red Mist. One final thought ... I don't think anyone will dress up and try to be a superhero. The movie definitely made it clear that fighting crime is dangerous to your health.

Pandorum (2009) stars Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. I love SciFi movies involving massive Starship Arcs traveling thousands of years with millions of people in suspended animation. As I kid I loved the British TV show StarLost which had the same plot. I never heard of this movie and only learned about it from a NetFlix recommend but I was pleasantly surprised. I feel inspired to write my own SciFi story involving a massive Starship traveling thousands of years with millions of people in suspended animation. I'd love to know where they filmed this. The set was amazing. Lesson learned: DO NOT trust a cute little alien child. She may be smiling and looking all cute but it's only to draw you close so she can cut your throat.

Lars and the Real Girl

This is a hidden treasure. I never heard of this movie until NetFlix recommended it. Here is the NetFlix description: "When a delusional loner buys a life-size sex doll over the Internet, promptly falls in love with her and starts telling people that the doll is his girlfriend, his brother and sister-in-law decide it's time to intervene." Based on the advice from a psychologist, everyone decides to go along with his delusion and gets very involved in the life of this sex doll. The sex doll ends up making a big impact on people's lives in a positive way including Lars. This is really a feel good movie that I recommend. People who rented this movie also rented Maid-Droid. I added that to my queue but have not watched it. Here is description: "When he tries to reprogram his robotic maid to gratify him sexually, he begins to fall in love with the droid -- only to discover that her batteries are slowly but permanently losing their power. Meanwhile, a detective investigates a series of rapes that may be connected to the robot." A NetFlix member review says "This is a great movie, but not for the reasons you would think by reading the summary." I would say that is true for "Lars and the Real Girl" too. I found another "sex doll" movie called Love Object but it's a horror flick so I'll avoid that one. Here's the description: "Attempting to get over his fear of revealing his feelings to his co-worker, he purchases a realistic doll named Nikki that looks like Lisa and eventually works up the nerve to talk to his dream girl. Unfortunately, the doll soon becomes jealous of Kenneth's affection for Lisa and reveals her violent tendencies." I had no idea there were so many movies about sex dolls. We have a drama, scifi and horror. What we need is a sex doll comedy.

Special

The superhero movie Kick-Ass is almost upon us. Can't wait for a movie about average people becoming superheroes? Then check out this hidden Indie treasure. Here's the NetFlix description: "Enrolling in a drug study to spice up his humdrum life as a low-paid meter reader, Les begins taking an experimental antidepressant, which proves to have a few unexpected side effects. Convinced that he's actually developing special powers that can be used to fight evil, Les decides to quit his day job and focus on being a superhero … despite his doctor's professional opinion that his abilities are all in his mind." imdb.com user review "A seriously under-rated masterpiece" A user review on NetFlix says "It has the lovable character quality of Lars and the Real Girl and it cleverly integrates comic books and there influence without really becoming a superhero movie or a comic book movie." Ignore that it's 25% fresh on rottentomatoes.com. A review from that site says "It may not be perfect, but this under-the-radar indie from Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore is smart enough to leave you glad you found it." The thing I liked is the message that anyone can do amazing things if they simply believe they can.

Ice Station Zebra (1968) - Reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who had experience both as a movie producer and a defense contractor for the U.S., is said to have watched Ice Station Zebra dozens of times on a continuous loop in his private hotel suite during the years prior to his death. This movie is 2.5 hours long with an Intermission. It stars Rock Hudson and Ernest Borgnine. I also recognized this actor named Ron Masak. I've seen him in dozens of TV shows and movies but he's never been a starring man. The guy is still working! There are no women in this movie. It is wall to wall testosterone. This is a manly man's movie. If you like submarine movies (and who doesn't) this is your cup of tea. Of course the sub has to sink to 1000+ feet and nearly implode. You can't have a sub movie without that happening! I love how when the sub is diving, the whole set is titled so everyone is standing at a 20 degree angle. Nice touch of realism. I did spot one glaring error. These jets were passing mountains when 2 minutes away from the North Pole. They allowed smoking on the submarine. Manly! My favorite line is when Ernest is checking out the nuclear engine and says "It ... it seems almost benevolent." Rock: "In that state yes. Confined. Controlled. Shielded. But it is nuclear fission and it hates being confined even more than you do." At the start it has a 2 minute Overture showing the sub and the word OVERTURE. The intermission shows the sub and the word ENTR'ACTE for 2 minutes. After the credits roll, it shows the sub and the words "EXIT MUSIC" and plays some music for 2 minutes. Interesting. The final scene is of a teletype printing out a news story indicating that the rescue went well and America and Russia worked together on this heroic mission and another example of of International cooperation ... NOT! Howard Hughes was mentally ill and I'm sure this propaganda at the end fed into his paranoia about governments and never trusting what you read.

Hell's Angels

After watching Howard Hughes' favorite movie, Ice Station Zebra, I decided to follow that up with one of Howard Hughes most expensive movies which he directed called Hell's Angels (1930) which by the way is one of Stanley Kubrick's 10 favorite films. It's the story of two brothers who become combat fighter pilots in World War I. One is a coward and the other is brave. The film is amazing for many reasons. About half the film was shot as a silent film before it was decided to re-shoot it as a talkie. Some of the scenes appear to be from the original silent cut since they appear to be running at double-speed and yet re-dubbed with normal speed voices. Some scenes were filmed in Multicolor and printed by Technicolor. It's a little odd watching a black and white movie then have it go into color. Night battle scenes are in a blue tint. When the zeppelin crash and burns, it's in a red tint. This works quite well. This movie was made before Hollywood starting censoring films. This has some very strong language for its time but its very tame these days for example "son of a bitch", "goddamit" and "for Christ's sake". The scene where they bomb the ammo depo is freakin' amazing even by today's standards. They really do blow up a whole lot of buildings ... for real! Being one of the first talkies, you have to forgive how bad the lines sound. The transition for actors to move from silent movies to talkies could not have been easy. The sexuality is off the charts for the 1930s. Major side-boob in one scene and very low cleavage. Very passionate kissing. Lots of sexy dresses and heavy flirting. This is an anti-war film that deals with the issues of why we fight. It also deals with the nature of women ... they're all bitchy sluts that can't be trusted. The ending is quite shocking. If you want to know what I'm talking about, you can read about it on the wikipedia link below.

If you liked Memento, the movie in reverse, then you'll like the movie 11:14. Just like Momento, this is a movie essentially in reverse and from different perspectives which then overlap the previous time-line. At first you ask a lot of questions like "who threw that guy off the bridge?", "why did that girl walk in front of the van?", "Whose that guy with the gun?", "what's that bowling ball doing in a grave yard?", etc. All of your questions are eventually answered as we reverse time and see what happened from the point of view of different people. Henry Thomas is at the center of everything. You'll remember him Elliot from ET. He's hilarious. He had me ROTFL. Patrick Swayze is also a major actor in this. You cannot miss Hilary Swank. Ben Foster who played the troubled artist in HBOs Six Feet Under has a key roll. 11:14 pm is the time all of the events come together in the lives of these dozen people. That is one crazy night where the paths of so many people criss-cross to create such amazing beautiful chaos!

The Box

Richard Kelly extends his Darko mythos with The Box. It started with Donnie Darko and was followed by Southland Tales.

A man delivers a box with a button inside. He visits the mom and says ...

If you push the button, two things will happen. First, someone somewhere in the world whom you don't know, will die. Second, you will receive a payment of one million dollars. You have 24 hours.

You can watch the YouTube HD Trailer here. There are several scenes in the trailer that are not in the movie. Expect the DVD "The Box:Director's Cut" with those missing scenes! The picture to the left was not in the movie and seems to be part of a part in the movie where the mom and dad infiltrate the NASA building to learn its secrets.

At first I wasn't going to see The Box because there's too many movies involving super-natural forces out now including Paranormal Activity, The Fourth Kind, The Men Who Stare at Goats, A Christmas Carol and The Twilight Saga:New Moon but then I learned Richard Kelly directed and helped write the screen play. I loved Donnie Darko and Southland Tales and I also loved The Box. I also can't wait to see what Richard Kelly has in store for us in the future.

The movie goes way beyond what it shown in the trailer. Their decision of whether to push the button or not will affect all of mankind, not just one person. The right thing to do, of course, is not to push the button. It's wrong to kill someone, even for one million dollars. But we all have our price ... a level of reward we'll accept to do something against our ethics and morals. If most of us humans would push the button, do we deserve to live as a race?

The visuals and special effects are often reminiscent of Donnie Darko. In fact, there are visuals that are taken directly from Donnie Darko linking them into the same universe. This movie occurs in the 1970s so you can think of it as a prequel to Donnie Darko.

One good point the movie makes is from a quote from Arthur C. Clarke, "Profiles of The Future", 1961 (Clarke's third law) where he says "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. " This is especially true in this movie. I'd like to think that it is 100% science fiction with no super natural element and yet I've read descriptions that say it has super natural elements in it. I think they are confusing magic with advanced technology.