30 September 2016

My Thoughts On 50 Movies This Summer

As you might already know, over the summer months I decided to up my "film major" game, and actually watch some of those movies I kept purposing to watch but never did.  "Some" being fifty.  Which was a ridiculous but also awesome idea.

So, today, the last day of September, I'd like to finally give you guys the recap of those fifty films and what I (personally) thought of them.

(in order of release)
  1. Inception (2010) - Lives up to the hype. 5/5
  2. I Was a Male War Bride (1949) - Pretty bland; funny at parts. 2.5/5
  3. Hercules (1997) - I understand why I hadn't watched it until now. 3.5/5
  4. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - Man destroys family for aliens. 1.5/5
  5. The Emporer's New Groove (2000) - Amusing but not quite my sense of humor. 2.5/5
  6. The Tree of Life (2011) - Absolutely brilliant journey through life. 5/5
  7. Beyond the Mask (2015) - Pretty solid and really fun. 4/5
  8. Gone with the Wind (1939) - I loathe this well-made film with a burning passion. 1.5/5
  9. The Love Bug (1968) - One of the genuinely funniest movies ever; also Dean Jones. 4.5/5
  10. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Ehm, it was rough. 2/5
  11. Psycho (1960) - Not sure what made me think I should watch this. 1.5/5
  12. Now You See Me (2013) - Not great, not terrible. 3/5
  13. Rear Window (1954) - Murder seen through the window really is a murder okay then. 3/5
  14. Belle (2013) - Surprisingly great; a different kind of period drama. 4/5
  15. The Ten Commandments (1956) - Moses' hair just keeps getting better. 3.5/5
  16. Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Could've been way better. 2.5/5
  17. Hail, Caesar! (2016) - Seriously amusing commentary on classic Hollywood. 4/5
  18. Days of Heaven (1978) - Boring movie, bad subject. 1/5
  19. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - The first one is the only good one. 2.5/5 
  20. Citizen Kane (1941) - I can go along with the opinion that it's the greatest film ever made. 4.5/5
  21. Saving Mr. Banks (2013) - Absolutely beautiful story of the power of filmmaking. 4.5/5
  22. Zootopia (2016) - Could barely get past the political correctness. 2.5/5
  23. The Martian (2015) - Fantastically made, seriously fun. 4/5
  24. The Grapes of Wrath (1940) - Well made but kinda boring. 3.5/5
  25. Bella (2006) - Great subject, but not super interesting as a whole. 3.5/5
  26. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Not bad, but not really my cup of tea. 3/5
  27. Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) - Just watch Prince of Egypt instead. 2/5
  28. Faith Like Potatoes (2006) - A surprisingly good movie about a Christian in Africa. 3.5/5
  29. An American in Paris (1951) - Gene Kelly isn't my fav. 3.5/5
  30. And Then There Were None (1945) - Not as good as the book, but still good. 4.5/5
  31. Spider-Man 2 (2004) - I didn't hate it... maybe even enjoyed it. 4/5
  32. The Maltese Falcon (1941) - Depressing, but not bad. 3.5/5
  33. August Rush (2007) - Except for the not-so-great backstory, wow so pretty. 4/5
  34. End of the Spear (2005) - Uhmmm my parents wanted to watch this. 3.5/5
  35. The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) - Seriously so nice. 3.5/5
  36. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - Nothing short of magnificent. 5/5
  37. Mr. Holmes (2015) - Most boring well made film ever. 2.5/5
  38. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - It's not bad, it's not great -- it's just fun. 3.5/5
  39. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) - Somehow it ended up being a good story. 4/5
  40. Love & Friendship (2016) - Slightly problematic period drama. 3/5
  41. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Barely got through it. 2.5/5
  42. Fahrenheit 451 (1966) - Actually upheld the spirit of the book, I felt. 4.5/5
  43. The Swan (1956) - The ending ruined everything they were going for. 2.5/5
  44. Les Miserables (1998) - An important story. 3.5/5
  45. The Finest Hours (2016) - Chris Pine was reason enough for me to dislike it. 3/5
  46. In the Heart of the Sea (2015) - Wow, yes, a solid "I liked it." 4/5
  47. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - Brilliance (that probably informed Winter Soldier). 5/5
  48. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) - That dear Mr. Smith though. 4.5/5
  49. The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958) - Hm, not bad, not great, and too long. 3.5/5
  50. Stagecoach (1939) - Surprisingly good for a western that I thought I wouldn't like? 3.5/5
And there you have it.  That's kind of alot, right?  Not sure if I'm going to do this 50 films thing again next summer... ;)

Before I get back to working on feeling better from my annual Fall cold, here's a few of my favorite movies from the list that I can whole-heartedly recommend:
  • Inception
  • The Tree of Life
  • Beyond the Mask
  • The Love Bug
  • Saving Mr. Banks
  • The Secret World of Arrietty
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai
  • The Manchurian Candidate (a bit mature, but really good)
And there you have it, friends!  Which movies from my list have you seen??  And would you agree with my assessments of them? :)

16 comments:

  1. SAVING MR BANKS! EXCUSE ME WHILST I JUST SOB IN THE CORNER







    seriously tho it was an amazing film

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  2. THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE. I watched it this summer too, and I absolutely loved it.

    I do agree that POTC #1 was the only really good one, although I did enjoy On Stranger Tides. Dead Man's Chest and At World's End were definitely not my cup of tea, however.

    GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Overall, it was a solid "good, not great" for me, but THE ENDING. YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I SOBBED.

    In the Heart of the Sea is one I have Definite Opinions about. It was a well-made movie - yes. But it portrayed an extremely black-and-white version of events, one that casted George Pollard firmly as the villain and Owen Chase firmly as the hero. In reality, both of these men had a little bit of hero and villain inside of them. Neither was any better than the other, and they both made mistakes and did good things. Also - although this is an opinion many people don't agree with - I wish there had been more blood and gore and a more honest portrayal of the suffering of the men of the Essex. What was shown was fairly gruesome, but it still came nowhere near to showing the true extent of what they went through. It almost feels like we're cheating the actual men of the Essex by not showing what they truly experienced.

    Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality

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    1. AHHHHHH yes yes yes. All the yes. I thought On Stranger Tides was better than #2 and #3, but still not awesome. I'm cautiously excited for the 5th one that's coming out in 2017 though??? Like, it looks kinda cool from the trailer? But, withholding judgement of course bhahaha.

      Guardians of the Galaxy's ending was PAIIIIIIN

      Hah!! I totally get what you're saying about In the Heart of the Sea. I felt that dichotomy a little too much as well, I think. Not too cool, especially when it's not true to life. I'm not *entirely* sure I could agree with you on wishing for more blood and gore, but, yes, I totally get what you mean by that. For PG-13, it was solid. ;)

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts, girl!! Loved hearing what ya think. :D

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  3. I think I've only seen a few of the movies on your list, but I love Beyond the Mask, The Secret World of Arrietty, and The Love Bug! <3 Some of the lesser known movies tend to be the best!

    Blessings!

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    1. :D YES!! Those three are just perfection. Loved them all so much. And I heartily agree -- the majority of those "film classics" that I kinda made myself watch were not very enjoyable at all. :P

      :)

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  4. So glad to see you recommend Arrietty ;) Surprised how much our tastes matched up at times and others when they really didn't at all :P Looking forward to trying some of these though!

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    1. YES of course. I'm waiting to get some free time so I can watch some more anime now hehe. But right?? Differing opinions are just so interesting. :D Totally let me know if/when you see any of these! I'd love to compare opinions. :D

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  5. thats a lot of movies! Ive been watching so many movies (not like 50, but more than I usually would.) haha. my best friend is a film fanatic so Ive been seeing all these super interesting ones lately.
    recently I watched Birdman, Pulp Fiction, Interstellar, Mad Max, and American Beauty. I really enjoyed all of them actually. but especially Mad Max. lol. it was so great.

    I really should watch Inception again though. great film. and Joseph Gordon Levitt is wonderful.

    it was nice hearing from you! I hope college is going well <3

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    1. HAH right, like I said, I'm crazy. ;D Oh wow, lotsa classics yes! I have yet to see any of those except Interstellar (which I don't like now because I've seen it too many times lol). I'm dying to see Mad Max... looks so good. And YES Joseph Gordon Levitt really truly is wonderful hehe. :)

      Mm yes college is going so well. way too busy but that's the way it needs to be right now. <3

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  6. Hey! I'm new on your blog and thought you would like to be tagged for the Q&A Tag game! You can check out how to play on my blog: http://chokmahkishron.blogspot.com/

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    1. Hi, welcome, it's nice to meet you!! :D Thanks so much for tag! I so appreciate it :D Imma go check out your blog now hehe

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  7. YAS! Faith Like Potatoes was good, wasn't it??? :) Agh, I need to watch Inception... And I'm so glad you hated Gone With The Wind! I haven't seen but I KNOW I'll hate if I ever do! Love this idea of watching fifty movies over a summer (that was the idea, right?)!

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    1. YES! It really was so surprisingly good! :) Also, you definitely need to watch Inception (it's AMAZING), and you definitely do NOT need to watch Gone with the Wind! XD Seriously tho, it just made me mad. :P

      And yes, 50 movies in a summer was the idea! It really was fun, and I think I might do it again next summer... maybe, we'll see. The idea is looking good again, now that I haven't even watched 10 movies since the semester started (film withdrawal really is a thing)! ;)

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  8. I really liked Prince of Persia. I like how the oldest brother(the king after their father died)was closest to Dastan and believed he didn't kill their father

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    1. Me too!! I loved that family dynamic. I feel like it's kinda underrated... :)

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