The Month in Movies - February 2004

[A.J. Hakari]

Hey all. I'm back with my monthly summary of the flicks I caught over the course of the month. I've finished my February edition, but instead of doing the usual top/bottom ten, I'm just going to rank all the movies I saw in the order of how I liked them, but I'm still keeping the awards. And here we go, on a **** scale...

Number of First-Time Viewings: 48

THE BRILLIANT

American Splendor - ****
The Passion of the Christ - ****
The Secret Lives of Dentists - ****

THE GREAT

The Kentucky Fried Movie - *** 1/2
Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns - *** 1/2

THE PURTY GOOD

Miracle - ***
Monster - ***
Neil Simon's Seems Like Old Times - ***
Wonderland (2003) - ***
The Young and the Dead - ***
Lost in Translation - ***
Imitation of Life (1934) - ***
Eurotrip - ***
Out of Order - ***
State Fair (1945) - ***
Pieces of April - ***
Calendar Girls - ***
Journeys with George - ***
The James Bond Story - ***
Decasia - ***

THE O.K.

Dummy - ** 1/2
One from the Heart - ** 1/2
House of Wax - ** 1/2
The Independent - ** 1/2
Sylvia - ** 1/2
Nothing to Lose - ** 1/2
Under the Tuscan Sun - ** 1/2
Smokey Joe's Cafe: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller - ** 1/2
Atomic Ed & the Black Hole - ** 1/2

THE SO-SO

Club Dread - **
Blood & Donuts - **
Gothika - **
The Lion King 1 1/2 - **
Welcome to Mooseport - **
50 First Dates - **
Barbershop 2: Back in Business - **
She-Wolf of London - **
State Fair (1933) - **
The Fighting Temptations - **
Mambo Italiano - **
In the Cut - **

THE SUCKY

Catch That Kid - * 1/2
The Perfect Score - * 1/2
Masked and Anonymous - * 1/2
Twisted - * 1/2
You Got Served - * 1/2

THE REALLY SUCKY

The Food of the Gods - *
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen - *

Best Actor: Jim Caviezel, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
Best Actress: Charlize Theron, MONSTER
Biggest Surprise: THE SECRET LIVES OF DENTISTS
Biggest Disappointment: MASKED AND ANONYMOUS
Most Fucked-Up Movie: DECASIA
Movie I'm Damn Near Positive No Other Schmoe Has Seen: ATOMIC ED & THE BLACK HOLE
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: Lola (Lindsay Lohan), CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN
"Why Is He/She Still in Movies?" Award: Cuba Gooding Jr., THE FIGHTING TEMPTATIONS
Recurring Genre: Documentaries
Ultimate WTF? Moment: The drama teacher's (Carol Kane) modern-day re-envisioning of "Pygmalion," CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN
Best Line: "You might as well know right off the bat, I had a vasectomy." - AMERICAN SPLENDOR
Best Scene: The final phone call between Aileen (Charlize Theron) and Selby (Christina Ricci), MONSTER

Post away with your favorites and least favorites of Feb. 2004!

[ANavissi500]

Number of Movies - 32
Number of First Time Viewings - 26

all the awards are for first time viewings only...

Best Actor: Jim Caviezel, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
Best Actress: Renee Zellweger - DOWN WITH LOVE
Biggest Surprise: THE KID
Biggest Disappointment: ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO
Most Fucked-Up Movie: BATTLE ROYALE
Movie I'm Damn Near Positive No Other Schmoe Has Seen: LOVE ME TONIGHT; HIGH AND DIZZY; ONE WEEK; BALLET MECANIQUE
Person/Character I Never Want to Meet: Little Ze - CITY OF GOD
"Why Is He/She Still in Movies?" Award: Antonio Banderas - ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO
Recurring Genre: Foreign (10)
Ultimate WTF? Moment: The little man walking into his girlfriend's vagina - TALK TO HER
Best Line: "There is no fighting in the war room." - DR. STRANGELOVE...
Best Scene: "We'll meet again" - DR. STRANGELOVE...

(*) means repeat viewing

Beyond Rating

1. The Passion of the Christ

10/10

2. Amelie *
3. Kill Bill: Volume One *
4. The Rules of Attraction *

9/10

5. City of God
6. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
7. About A Boy

8/10

8. The Kid (Chaplin)
9. Harold and Maude
10. Love, Actually *
11. Battle Royale
12. Down With Love
13. Talk to Her
14. The Game *
15. The Triplets of Belleville

7/10

16. Velvet Goldmine
17. Club Dread
18. Rushmore
19. Little Man Tate *
20. Amores Perros
21. Tros couleurs: Rouge
22. The Third Man

6/10

23. Trois couleurs: Bleu
24. Eurotrip
25. Love Me Tonight

5/10

26. Pretty Woman

2/10

27. Scarface

1/10

28. Once Upon A Time In Mexico

Silent Shorts That I Can't Rate

One Week
High and Dizzy
Ballet mecanique
Un chien andalou

[Hannibal21]

ABSOLUTELY MASTERPIECES:
1. Persona - 10/10
2. Mulholland Drive - 10/10
3. To Kill a Mockingbird - 10/10
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - 10/10
5. The Graduate - 10/10
6. The Magnificent Ambersons - 10/10

THE EXCELLENT:
7. Touch of Evil - 9.5/10
8. Moulin Rouge! - 9.5/10
9. Amadeus - 9.5/10
10. Lost in Translation - 9.5/10
11. Shadow of a Doubt - 9.5/10
12. Ninotchka - 9/10
13. Day For Night - 9/10
14. Pleasantville - 9/10
15. The Lion King - 9/10
16. In Cold Blood - 9/10
17. High Fidelity - 9/10
18. Mystic River - 9/10
19. The General - 9/10

THE VERY GOOD:
20. Funny Games - 8.5/10
21. Return to Innocence - 8/10
22. Intolerable Cruelty - 8/10
23. The Wizard of Oz - 8/10

THE GOOD:
24. Death Becomes Her - 7.5/10
25. The Young and the Dead - 7.5/10
26. Breathless (Luc Godard) - 7/10
27. American Splendor - 7/10
28. The Butterfly Effect - 7/10
29. Miracle - 7/10

THE MEDIOCRE:
30. M*A*S*H - 7/10

THE BAD:
31. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) - 6/10

THE AWFUL:
32. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World - 5/10
33. Thirteen - 5/10
34. Ned Kelly - 4/10

PURE GARBAGE:
35. Looney Tunes: Back in Action - 3/10
36. The Medallion - 1/10

A lot of re-watches once again, like I do with movies every month.

[Trinity]

First viewings: 35
Movie of the month: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Best Actress: Jean Arthur, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Best Actor: Tom Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July
Best Surprise: The Majestic
Biggest Disappointment: Autumn Sonata
Recurring genre: Musicals


10/10
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

9/10
Black Narcissus (1947)
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
The Majestic (2001)
The Lady Vanishes (1938)
Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
Amores Perros (2000)
Love Actually (2003)
The Lost Weekend (1945)
Follow the Fleet (1936)
Shall We Dance (1937)
Carefree (1938)

8/10
Dead Again (1991)
Wuthering Heights (1992)
Funny Girl (1968)
Dances with Wolves (1990)
The Searchers (1956)

7/10
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
The Awful Truth (1937)
Midnight Cowboy (1969)
The Desperate Hours (1955)
El Crimen de Padre Amaro (2002)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

6/10
Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
High Noon (1952)
Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944)
Shallow Hal (2001)
Auto Focus (2002)
Shane (1953)
Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

5/10
Amarcord (1973)
Autumn Sonata (1978)

4/10
Easy Rider (1969)

[arto_j]

First viewings: 35 or so
Movie of the month: All the President's Men
Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven
Best Actor: Robert Redford, All the President's Men/Jamie Sives, Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
Best Surprise: Mulholland Dr.
Biggest Disappointment: Scanners/The Ice Storm

All the President's Men - 9/10
Gone with the Wind - 9/10
Mulholland Dr. - 9/10

Possession - 8/10
The Legend of Bagger Vance - 8/10
Far From Heaven - 8/10
Narc - 8/10
The Last Samurai - 8/10
How to Steal a Million - 8/10
Briget Jones's Diary - 8/10
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself - 8/10
Space Cowboys - 8/10
Mrs. Miniver - 8/10
Finding Nemo - 8/10
Heist - 8/10
Bowling for Columbine - 8/10

Out of Time - 7/10
The Ice Storm - 7/10
Nothing in Common - 7/10
Charlotte Gray - 7/10
El Crimen del Padre Amaro - 7/10

Chocolat - 6/10
Scanners - 6/10
Murder by Numbers - 6/10
Two Weeks Notice - 6/10
Dead Babies - 6/10
Undercover Brother - 6/10
Sweet Home Alabama - 6/10

What Planet Are You From? - 5/10
More Dogs than Bones - 5/10
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth - 5/10

Waking Up in Reno - 4/10
Bad Company - 4/10

[charliebobo]

Didn't see much this month... been kinda busy

1.Cold Mountain (7.5)
2.Good Morning, Night
3.Angels In America
4.The Last Picture Show

5.Something's Gotta Give (7)

6.Pirates Of The Caribbean (6.5)
7.Cape Fear
8.The Daytrippers
9.Chacun Cherche Son Chat/When The Cat's Away

10. Psycho II (6)
11.Not Another Teen Movie

12.The First Wives Club (5.5)

13.My Life Without Me (5)
14.Forces Of Nature


Rewatches:

Wonder Boys (9)
Reds (8.5-9)
Office Space (6.5-7)

I think that's about it...

[bankholdup]

I had a pretty slow month as far as feature lengths go. Caught up on plenty of Chaplin shorts though.


Best Picture: The Passion of the Christ
runner-up: Big Deal on Madonna Street

Best Director: Mel Gibson, The Passion of the Christ
runner-up: Federico Fellini, La Strada

Best Actor: Jim Caviezel, The Passion of the Christ
runner-up: Alec Guinness, The Bridge on the River Kwai

Best Actress: Deborah Kerr, From Here To Eternity
runner-up: Sigourney Weaver, Alien

Best Supporting Actor: Frank Sinatra, From Here To Eternity
runner-up: Renato Salvatori, Big Deal on Madonna Street

Best Supporting Actress: Donna Reed, From Here To Eternity
runner-up: n/a


Best Scene(s): Trumpets for Sinatra in From Here To Eternity, The Strong Man at the beach in La Strada, Final Gunfight in Fistful of Dollars

[RogueSpear]

This Month in Movies: February 2004

Total First Viewings: 52

The Excellent
Big Fish
Gangs of New York
The Jerk
The Passion of the Christ

The Great
Awakenings
Open Range
Out of Time

The Good
50 First Dates
American Graffiti
Angel Heart
Cabin Fever
Leap of Faith
The Lion King
May
The Missing
The Rookie
Roxanne
Seabiscuit
Secondhand Lions
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The Average
Earthquake
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
In Hell
La Femme Nikita
The Lion King 1 1/2
Midnight Cowboy
Moonraker
The Recruit
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn

The So-So
10 to Midnight
The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle
Blood Tide
The In-Laws
Under the Tuscan Sun

The Pretty Bad
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
I Love You, I Love You Not
Mouse Hunt
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Star Trek IV: The Final Frontier
The Toxic Avenger
Twitch of the Death Nerve
Zombie Holocaust

The Really Bad
Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane
Flesheater
House of the Dead
Kickboxer 2: The Road Back
The Return of Jafar

The Really Really Bad

The Atrocious
Trap Them and Kill Them

Best Actor: Jim Caviezel, The Passion of the Christ
Best Actress: Angela Bettis, May
Biggest Surprise: Gangs of New York
Biggest Disappointment: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Character I'd most like to meet: Jesus, The Passion of the Christ
Character I'd least like to meet: Bill the Butcher, Gangs of New York
Most Fucked Up Movie (and not in a good way: Trap Them and Kill Them
Best scene: The scene of Jesus falling with the cross which is intercut with a flashback of him falling as a child in The Passion of the Christ. It's the best scene in the movie. Brilliant filmmaking.

[Sad man]

The Hot Chick ~ 6/10 (C+)
Matchstick Men ~ 7/10 (B-)
Zoolander ~ 6/10 (B-)
The Magdalene Sisters ~ 8/10 (B+)
Waking Life ~ 7/10 (B-)
Fucking Amal ~ 8/10 (B+)
Audition ~ 5/10 (C-)
Scary Movie 3 ~ 5/10 (C-)
Krámpack a.k.a Nico and Dani ~ 7/10 (B-)
Beautiful ~ 2/10 (F)
Anything Else ~ 6/10 (C+)
Billboard Dad ~ 3/10 (D-)
Alex & Emma ~ 5/10 (C-)
Seabiscuit ~ 4/10 (D+)
Eyes Wide Shut ~ 7/10 (B-)
Cheaper By the Dozen ~ 6/10 (C+)
Ali ~ 5/10 (C-)
Gigli ~ 2/10 (F)
My Little Eye ~ 8/10 (B+)
The Rules of Attraction ~ 8/10 (A-)
The Blair Witch Project ~ 8/10 (B+)
My Boss's Daughter ~ 1/10 (F-)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) ~ 9/10 (A-)
What a Girl Wants ~ 6/10 (C+)
The People vs Larry Flynt ~ 8/10 (B+)
Bad Boys 2 ~ 7/10 (B-)
The Return of the Living Dead - Part II ~ 5/10 (C-)
Something's Gotta Give ~ 4/10 (D+)
Nadar Solo ~ 6/10 (C+)
Bend it Like Beckham ~ 8/10 (B+)
The Order ~ 2/10 (F)
Open Range ~ 4/10 (D+)
Missions to Mars ~ 3/10 (D-)
The Birdcage ~ 7/10 (B-)
Sylvia ~ 8/10 (B+)
American Splendor ~ 9/10 (A-)
Pootie Tang ~ 1/10 (F-)
Lost in Translation ~ 10/10 (A+)
Scarecrow ~ 2/10 (F)
Splitting Heirs ~ 4/10 (D+)
Trouble Every Day ~ 1/10 (F-)
Kissing Jessica Stein ~ 9/10 (A-)
Red Water ~ 4/10 (D+)
28 Days Later... ~ 8/10 (B+)
Can't Hardly Wait ~ 5/10 (C)

[Briare Rabbit]

War and Peace- 4/10
Rain Man- 6/10
Citizen Kane- 7/10
Nicholas and Alexandra- 6/10
Lost in Translation- 5/10
Thirteen- 9/10
Easy Rider- 8/10
Play Misty for Me- 7/10
Treasure of the Sierra Madre- 7/10
Harvey- 6/10
Platoon- 9/10

[Cyclonus]

Overall a mediocre movie month for me.


Movies I've seen in Feb 2004:


Feb 1 -- Blue Velvet
Feb 2 -- Hairspray
Feb 3 -- Lost in Translation, Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, 10 to Midnight
Feb 4 -- Willard, Blade
Feb 5 -- Cobra
Feb 6 -- Raw Deal, From Dusk Till Dawn
Feb 7-- Commando
Feb 8 -- Bad Boys
Feb 10 -- Rocky, Top Gun
Feb 11 -- Blade II
Feb 13 -- The Evil That Men Do, Angel Eyes
Feb 14 -- The Cell
Feb 15 -- Gigli, Cabin Fever
Feb 16 -- Thirteen, Annie Hall
Feb 17 -- Rambo: First Blood Part II
Feb 18 -- Sleeper
Feb 20 -- Eight Crazy Nights
Feb 21 -- Swimming Pool
Feb 23 -- Open Range
Feb 24 -- Candyman
Feb 26 -- The Passion of the Christ


In descending order:


8/10 or (***1/2)

Blue Velvet*
The Passion of the Christ


7/10 or (***)

The Cell*
From Dusk Till Dawn*
Lost in Translation
Rocky*
10 to Midnight
Thirteen


6/10 or (**1/2)

Angel Eyes
Blade*
Candyman*
Cobra
Commando
Open Range
Rambo: First Blood Part II*
Sleeper
Swimming Pool

5/10 or (**)

Bad Boys
Blade II
Cabin Fever
Eight Crazy Nights
Gigli
Hairspray
Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects
Top Gun
Willard

4/10 or (*1/2)

The Evil That Men Do
Raw Deal

(No rating given)

Annie Hall**

re-watch
[**] I still can't get into this movie, but I won't count it out yet


FIRST-TIME VIEWINGS: 14
RE-WATCHES: 7

TOTAL: 29

[Hucksta G]

The Passion of the Christ (10/10)
Jerry Maguire (10/10)

There's Something About Mary (9/10)
The Pianist (9/10)
Big Fish (9/10)

Mallrats (8/10)
Elizabeth (8/10)
The Insider (8/10)
The Big Lebowski (8/10)
Swordfish (8/10)

Con Air (7/10)
Scream (7/10)
Finding Nemo (7/10)

Doctor Zhivago (6/10)
The Rundown (6/10)

Total: 15

[Hannibal21]

Originally posted by Briare Rabbit
Citizen Kane- 7/10

I've noticed that you have lowered your grade for this film immensely, but why? I remember it being in your top 10, and then it dropped to a 8/10, now a 7/10. What is your opinion of this film, anyways?

[Fisting Ackbar]

With one exception, all decent to great films seen last month. Listed in order of what I liked best, not what would be considered the "best" movie:


GROUNDHOG DAY 9/10
TAXI DRIVER 9/10
SAY ANYTHING... 8/10
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) 8/10
GREASE 8/10
THE OTHERS 8/10
DANCES WITH WOLVES EXTENDED VERSION 8/10
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL 8/10
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? 8/10
THE HORSE WHISPERER 7/10
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM 7/10
METROPOLIS (2001) 7/10
WEST SIDE STORY 7/10
SWIMMING POOL 7/10
BEFORE AND AFTER 7/10
THE HOURS 7/10
RUNAWAY JURY 6/10
ICE AGE 6/10
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE 3/10

[Briare Rabbit]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
I've noticed that you have lowered your grade for this film immensely, but why? I remember it being in your top 10, and then it dropped to a 8/10, now a 7/10. What is your opinion of this film, anyways?

Well, tis true I used to LOVE Citizen Kane. Tis also true I one rated it 10/10. But after rewatching it a few times, the appeal for me drops. The acting is mediocre (apart from Cotten and Welles) and I find the story lacking. I dont know. Seemed so much better the first time.