#235

Hello all.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend! I love weeks that start on Tuesday so I am looking forward to this week. The ninth entry into the Year 2000 in Film project is complete and up, check it out and let me know what you think. I am off tonight without anything to do so I am considering going and seeing either A Single Man or Crazy Heart, or maybe both depending on when I get off. I haven’t done a double feature in a long time and I think it’s about time I did it. I unfortunately don’t have much time to write a substantial update due to the fact that I have to get ready for work soon. Here’s this week’s last.fm chart…

This week’s playlist features Spoon’s new album “Transference,” both of Los Campesinos!’ previous releases, and I stuck Vampire Weekend’s “Contra” on this week’s too because I have been enjoying it that much. I have done an excellent job keeping up with my Resolutions thus far. I am aware we are not even twenty days in the New Year but I am still impressed with my ability to keep up with a couple. I guess without school I have no excuse but still! Tomorrow, I will write something a bit longer and hopefully a bit better.

Thank you for reading!

#233

Hello all.

Friday is here already. It’s been a quick but long (see: me being sick for the first half) week, I am looking forward to this weekend. I work the next three days but have been so bored this week that I am anxious and content with having something to do. It’s sad to think that I officially do not care about NFL until the draft. I think how poorly I did with my picks this last weekend has a lot to do with it. I am a huge Kurt Warner supporter so I will be, sort of, cheering for him come tomorrow night. For the most part, I am all about hockey and basketball right now (with baseball right around the corner!).

A thread topic of a forum I frequent last night was “Favorite Episodes.” And I thought this was interesting given last year’s confession of how many television shows I have seen in their entirety (not considering the fact that I am working through the last season of Dexter and about to start Deadwood). I sat down for a minute, went over Wiki’s list of episodes for some of my favorite shows, Futurama, The Simpsons, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and LOST, and could not answer the question. The closest I could come was two of my very favorite episodes of The Simpsons are “Cape Feare” and “Hurricane Neddy.” Then, I move further down the list and I start thinking of equally good or even better (“Marge v. the Monorail” came to mind) episodes, and the question for me is damn near impossible.

Enough rambling. Everyone have a great Friday and an even better weekend. Thank you for reading!

p.s. don’t forget to check out my picks for the Best Films of 2009 and let me know what you think!

Top Ten of 2009

From Cherished Cinema…

Hello all.

I am a bit late for this as I was holding out to see a handful of films that I just never got around to/never came to Atlanta. I will set up this list by saying that I have yet to see the following films: A Prophet, Crazy Heart, A Single Man,Police, Adjective, Breathless, Bright Star, and Broken Embraces. Here goes…

1. The Hurt Locker
2. The White Ribbon
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. A Serious Man
5. 35 Shots of Rum
6. Up in the Air
7. The Limits of Control
8. An Education
9. Up
10. Moon

There are tons of honorable mentions, so I will just post a list of films I hated to leave off of this list: District 9, Observe and Report, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Adam, Star Trek, and Zombieland.

If you all have any thoughts/problems with this list, let me know in the comments or email me. I would love to get some feedback. As I stated in my personal blog, this is the first year that I had a definite number one. I loved every film on this list (and a good deal more that came out last year) but nothing came close to the quality and experience that isThe Hurt Locker.

Thank you for reading!

#232

Hello all.

I am finally back to 100% after a rough stretch of being sick. Due to that, it has been a rather uneventful week. My sleep schedule is finally back on track, I have been asleep before 10:30 the last two nights and awake before 7:00. I will hopefully continue this trend and get back to where I used to be. I am sitting here enjoying Observe and Report for the time being, I have a few errands to run today before going to work tonight.

I have a rough Top Ten done, and after seeing a handful films that I need to see, I will post it here. The films I still need to see are A Single Man, Breathless, Bright Star, Police, Adjective, Broken Embraces, and Crazy Heart. I can tell you all that this is the first year in which I have a clear number one, which is The Hurt Locker. The last few years I have really struggled between the number one and two picks, and in hindsight, I would most likely switch them. This is especially true with last year (switching Synecdoche, New York and Slumdog Millionaire).

Hawks improved to 25-13 last night, and with the Magic losing, we are just half a game behind them in our division. Glad to see us consistently winning games, save last Saturday night, with no mid-season slump. Fans, in true Atlanta fashion, are getting behind a winning team and hopefully this level of support this early will lead to being successful in the post-season. I am going to wrap this movie up, and head out for the day.

Thank you for reading!

#231

Hello all.

Another weekend passes by, so here I am again at Monday morning with the previous week’s wrap-up. I went two for four on my Wildcard Weekend picks, taking Cincinnati and the Cowboys yesterday and the Ravens and Green Bay today. Hopefully I will be a bit better next week. Finally got a chance to see A Serious Man, and man, what a film. I watched it earlier today, after the first game got a bit boring, and was engrossed the entire time. There is so much going on, even at times when it may need to seem to be the case. The film may warrant its own full-page review (depending on how I do with the project this week), it was simply phenomenal. It is definitely a film, such as Synecdoche, New York, that needs multiple viewings but God did I love it the first time around. Can’t wait to see it again. Not only will I be displaying my weekly last.fm statistics and this week’s playlist but I will also be putting forth my Best of 2009 list for music. Movie list will come sometime within the next week after I see A Single Man and Crazy Heart.

This week’s playlist is extremely simple, The Good Life’s “Help Wanted Nights,” Spoon’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” and again, Vampire Weekend’s S/T (will be adding “Contra” to the playlist on Tuesday). Spoon is on there as to the fact that I am getting ready for their new release and this was my last week during my revisit of The Good Life’s discography.  I am not entirely sure what band I will do next, and I also need to pick back up on The Who. So, a bit late, but I actually took this serious (at least when compared to the last couple of year’s lists) so I hope enjoy/agree and if you do not, then please feel free to let me know.

1. St. Vincent – Actor
2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
3. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing
4. Real Estate – Real Estate
5. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
6. The Mercury Program – Chez Viking
7. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
8. fun. – Aim and Ignite
9. If These Trees Could Talk – Above the Earth, Below the Sky
10. Brand New – Daisy
11. Cursive – Mama, I’m Swollen
12. Say Anything – Say Anything
13. William Elliot Whitmore – Animals in the Dark
14. Thrice – Beggars
15.  As Cities Burn – Hell or High Water
16. mewithoutYou – It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s alright

I added on a sixteenth spot because mewithoutYou’s latest was good, certainly wasn’t as great as their previous two releases but still deserves some attention that I most likely have not given it. I tried to look at this as objectively as possible, a bit difficult to do with something in the realm of ranking music but last.fm was a big help. For example, where St. Vincent’s “Actor” was my favorite release of the year, it was also, just behind “Mean Everything to Nothing” in total listens. I have never had an artist creep so quickly my top fifteen overall in listens. I enjoyed all sixteen of these albums and there were a few I hated to leave off (…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead’s “The Century of Self” and Freelance Whales’ extremely impressive first album are the first that come to mind); This was an absolutely fantastic year for music, and here’s to 2010 attempting to be just as good or maybe even better, new Vampire Weekend and Spoon in January is hopefully a good indicator of this possibility.

Thank you for reading!

#230

Hello all.

Enjoying today off after a stretch at work (and right before a rather long stretch at work). I slept in a bit and plan on watching a few movies today, and hopefully getting some writing done. I usually love the winter but this year, for whatever reason, I am over it and ready for spring. Thrashers are seriously on a nine game losing streak and the Hawks have lost four straight. The Hawks should, or I guess I should say better, break that streak this evening against the Nets. Flyers have dropped a couple in a row, but are looking good and have started to turn around from that terrible first half of the season.

Went out and made a few DVD purchases with Christmas money yesterday. I picked up Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Blu-Ray from Costco at $14.99. Then, I ventured out to Best Buy and picked up both I Love You, Man and Observe and Report for $10 a piece and scored a $5 giftcard with which I purchased Fight Club on Blu-Ray. They are all sitting on my TV stand to keep in line with my New Year’s Resolution. The next  resolution is that of one that I already spelled out over at Cherished Cinema, to cut down on my movie watching in order to take more time with those that I watch. Too bad I am already sort of going back on this, seeing as how I have already watched eleven films this year. It’s hard to say going back due to the fact that I am not limiting myself to a certain number of films, I just don’t want to have some sort of number I want to get to (like last year with 365, which I did with both full-time work and school so who knows how many I will watch this year).

That’s it for now, thank you for reading!

#229

Hello all.

I’m up! I can’t believe it myself but I am awake at seven o’clock in the morning starting my day off with Snatch and a giant cup of coffee. Hopefully today is the start of a new lifestyle in which I don’t sleep through every morning. The dog refuses to get up though; I fed him and he ran right back to bed and got right back under the covers. Suppose it’s too cold and too early for him. Today is not a particularly big day for me, have a few errands to run and then I plan on watching the Orange Bowl this evening. I need to keep busy this week.

To continue on with setting out my New Year’s Resolutions: the next one is reading more books. I make this Resolution every year, and every year I consistently read more. In 2009, I read a ton of nonfiction books- most of which were film-related -and I intend to read forty or so books this year. I will keep track of it in the same way I keep track of what movies I watch. I will periodically post random thoughts on books I am reading in here, a lot like I did last year.

That’s it for now. Thank you for reading!

#228

Hello all.

Monday is here again and in 2010, Monday will be taking over Sunday’s spot of the weekly roundup. I plan on writing for both this blog and Cherished Cinema strictly throughout the week, that is Monday through Friday. If I get inspired or want/need to catch up on something I will of course stray away from this. My hope is to be considerably more consistent with posting this year opposed to last year. I do not have school getting in the way so this goal is anything but unmanageable.

Here’s last.fm for the week, it’s a bit skewed on Right Away, Great Captain! because I did not make an iTunes playlist and whenever the fantastic, and I mean fantastic, Real Estate self-titled album was finished it would roll into RA,GC! and I would either be too lazy to get up and change it or satisfied with what I was hearing. Anyway, check it out…

This week’s playlist includes: Vampire Weekend’s self-titled (getting pumped and ready for Contra), The Flaming Lips – The Dark Side of the Moon (which is wonderful if you get the chance to hear it), and The Good Life – Album of the Year. I pick these playlists based on first recommendations (that most of the time either come from my cousin John or various reviews I read on websites), second on albums that pop up in my mind that I have either not been paying enough attention to or let slip through my fingers when they were released (AKA catching up), and finally on albums of bands that have upcoming releases (see: Vampire Weekend this week and next week’s playlist will feature Spoon).

On to a Resolution, as promised I will slowly be setting them out in here over the course of the week and maybe longer if need be. Again, my Resolutions are very small and doable but important nonetheless. My first resolution of 2010 will be to watch every DVD I buy this year. In the past, I have had a severe problem with buying mass amounts of DVDs (90% of the time being movies I have already seen so I do not see a foreseeable need to revisit them) and not watching them for some time. Hell, there are DVDs over on the shelf that I bought in 2006 that still have the wrapper on them. This year, I plan on keeping all the movies I buy from January 1st separate from my collection until I watch them. I have never tried this before and I think it will a) help me cut back on my spending-not that I have not done that drastically already- and b) MAKE SURE I watch movies that I buy. My overall goal is to eliminate purchasing movies that I do not intend to visit more than a handful of times, thus gaining value from them. Think of it this way: one viewing of a DVD that cost $20 is much less valuable opposed to five or six (not counting loaning the damn thing out) viewings of the same $20 dollar DVD.

That’s it for now, enough blabbing. Everyone have a great start to the week. Thank you for reading!

The Films I Watched in 2009

Wanted a link to my list of films I watched in 2009 and thought it should be here.

January

1. Låt den rätte komma in (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
2. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)
3. The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
4. Rocky III (Sylvester Stallone, 1982)
5. Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
6. Speed Racer (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 2008)
7. Resident Evil: Degeneration (Makoto Kamiya, 2008)
8. Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008)
9. Boy A (John Crowley, 2007)
10. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008)
11. Babylon A.D. (Mathieu Kassovitz, 2008)
12. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
13. The Spirit (Frank Miller, 2008)
14. Traitor (Jeffrey Nachmanoff, 2008)
15. My Best Friend’s Girl (Howard Deutch, 2008)
16. Catch Me If You Can (Steven Spielberg, 2002)
17. Just Friends (Roger Kumble, 2005)
18. Appaloosa (Ed Harris, 2008)
19. Match Point (Woody Allen, 2005)
20. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008)
21. Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008)
22. Max Payne (John Moore, 2008)
23. Hot Rod (Akiva Schaffer, 2007)
24. Frost/Nixon (Ron Howard, 2008)
25. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995)
26. Before Sunset (Richard Linklater, 2004)
27. The Rocker(Peter Cattaneo, 2008)
28. Blades of Glory (Josh Gordon & Will Speck, 2007)
29. Be Kind Rewind (Michel Gondry, 2008)
30. Cinemania (Angela Christlieb & Stephen Kijak, 2002)
31. Lakeview Terrace (Neil LaBute, 2008)

February

32. RocknRolla (Guy Ritchie, 2008)
33. The Visitor (Thomas McCarthy, 2007)
34. Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Peter Sollett, 2008)
35. Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008)
36. Cinemania (Angela Christlieb & Stephen Kijak, 2002)
37. The Rules of Attraction (Roger Avary, 2002)
38. Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller, 2008)
39. Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
40. The Reader (Stephen Daldry, 2008)
41. Changeling (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
42. Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008)
43. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
44. Yes Man (Peyton Reed, 2008)
45. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Nicholas Stoller, 2008)
46. Il mio viaggio in Italia (Martin Scorsese, 1999)
47. Role Models (David Wain, 2008)
48. The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
49. Role Models (David Wain, 2008)
50. W. (Oliver Stone, 2008)
51. Nothing But the Truth (Rod Lurie, 2008)
52. Starting Out in the Evening (Andrew Wagner, 2007)
53. Frozen River (Courtney Hunt, 2008)
54. The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)
55. Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)
56. El Milagro de Candeal (Fernando Trueba, 2004)
57. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
58. Role Models (David Wain, 2008)
59. Scary Movie 4 (David Zucker, 2006)

March

60. Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008)
61. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Henry Selick, 1993)
62. House of 1000 Corpses (Rob Zombie, 2003)
63. Diarios de motocicleta (Walter Salles, 2004)
64. Watchmen (Zack Snyder, 2009)
65. The Jerk (Carl Reiner, 1979)
66. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002)
67. Miracle at St. Anna (Spike Lee, 2008)
68. In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
69. Pinocchio (Hamilton Luske & Ben Sharpsteen, 1940)
70. Cidade dos Homens (Paulo Morelli, 2007)
71. 300 (Zack Snyder, 2007)
72. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Mark Herman, 2008)
73. Role Models (David Wain, 2008)
74. The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)
75. Futurama – Into the Wild Green Yonder (Peter Avanzino, 2009)
76. V for Vendetta (James McTeigue, 2005)
77. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
78. The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
79. I Love You, Man (John Hamburg, 2009)
80. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998)
81. Hot Rod (Akiva Schaffer, 2007)
82. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne, 2008)
83. The Iron Giant (Brad Bird, 1999)
84. Les Triplettes de Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, 2003)
85. What Just Happened (Barry Levinson, 2008)
86. Alice (Jan Svankmajer, 1988)
87. Killshot (John Madden, 2008)
88. Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008)
89. Elegy (Isabel Coixet, 2008)
90. Marley & Me (David Frankel, 2008)
91. Dumbo (Ben Sharpsteen, 1941)

April

92. The Aristocats (Wolfgang Reitherman, 1970)
93. Millennium Actress (Satoshi Kon, 2001)
94. Adventureland (Greg Mottola, 2009)
95. Step Brothers (Adam McKay, 2008)
96. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell, 2006)
97. Quantum of Solace (Marc Foster, 2008)
98. Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (Eleanor Coppola, 1991)
99. White Dog (Samuel Fuller, 1982)
100. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
101. Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes, 2002)
102. La Historia oficial (Luis Puenzo, 1985)
103. Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
104. L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
105. The Foot Fist Way (Jody Hill, 2006)
106. Observe and Report (Jody Hill, 2009)
107. L.A. Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997)
108. Talladega Nights (Adam McKay, 2006)
109. Donkey Punch (Oliver Blackburn, 2008)
110. Crank (Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, 2006)
111. Crank: High Voltage (Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, 2009)
112. El norte (Gregory Nava, 1983)
113. Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)
114. 24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom, 2002)
115. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)
116. X-Men: The Last Stand (Brett Ratner, 2006)
117. X-Men (Bryan Singer, 2000)
118. X2 (Bryan Singer, 2003)
119. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Gavin Hood, 2009)

May

120. Meet Bill (Bernie Goldmann & Melisa Wallack, 2007)
121. Fanboys (Kyle Newman, 2008)
122. Blindness (Fernando Meirelles, 2008)
123. Semi-Pro (Kent Alterman, 2008)
124. Careful (Guy Maddin, 1992)
125. Star Trek (J. J. Abrams, 2009)
126. Mission Impossible III (J. J. Abrams, 2006)
127. Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)
128. Deja Vu (Tony Scott, 2006)
129. The Big Lebowski (Joel Coen, 1998)
130. Anvil! The Story of Anvil (Sacha Gervasi, 2009)
131. Talladega Nights (Adam McKay, 2006)
132. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher, 2008)
133. Bottle Rocket (Wes Anderson, 1996)
134. Ratatouille (Brad Bird & Jan Pinkava, 2007)
135. Permanent Vacation (Jim Jarmusch, 1980)
136. The Opposite of Sex (Don Roos, 1998)
137. Troll (John Carl Buechler, 1986)
138. Troll 2 (Claudio Fragasso, 1990)
139. Terminator Salvation (McG, 2009)
140. Brick (Rian Johnson, 2005)
141. The Jacket (John Maybury, 2005)
142. Låt den rätte komma in (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
143. Monsters, Inc. (Pete Docter, 2001)
144. No Country for Old Men (Ethan & Joel Coen, 2007)
145. The Signal (David Bruckner, Dan Bush, & Jacob Gentry, 2007)
146. Up (Pete Docter, 2009)
147. Superbad (Greg Mottola, 2007)
148. Ratatouille (Brad Bird & Jan Pinkava, 2007)
149. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008)

June

150. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
151. Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009)
152. He’s Just Not That Into You (Ken Kwapis, 2009)
153. Bram Stoker”s Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola, 1992)
154. Choke (Clark Gregg, 2008)
155. Land of the Lost (Brad Silberling, 2009)
156. Old School (Todd Phillips, 2003)
157. The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
158. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (Joseph Sargent, 1974)
159. Strange Wilderness (Fred Wolf, 2008)
160. Fearless (Ronny Yu, 2006)
161. Raising Arizona (Joel Coen, 1987)
162. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Marcus Nispel, 2003)
163. Away We Go (Sam Mendes, 2009)
164. The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
165. The Hit (Stephen Frears, 1984)
166. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008)
167. Transformers (Michael Bay, 2007)
168. The Fountain (Darren Aronofsky, 2006)
169. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
170. Rain Man (Barry Levinson, 1988)
171. Southland Tales (Richard Kelly, 2006)
172. Pineapple Express (David Gordon Green, 2008)
173. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Michael Bay, 2009)
174. My Sister’s Keeper (Nick Cassavetes, 2009)
175. Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
176. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (Steven Soderbergh, 1989)
177. Gray’s Anatomy (Steven Soderbergh, 1996)
178. Schizopolis (Steven Soderbergh, 1996)
179. Slackers (Dewey Nicks, 2002)

July

180. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Carlos Saldanha & Mike Thurmeier, 2009)
181. Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh, 1998)
182. The Limey (Steven Soderbergh, 1999)
183. Whatever Works (Woody Allen, 2009)
184. Munich (Steven Spielberg, 2005)
185. Erin Brockovich (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)
186. Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000)
187. Push (Paul McGuigan, 2009)
188. My Dinner with Andre (Louis Malle, 1981)
189. Role Models (David Wain, 2008)
190. Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderbergh, 2001)
191. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Chris Columbus, 2001)
192. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Chris Columbus, 2002)
193. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mike Newell, 2005)
194. Religulous (Larry Charles, 2008)
195. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (David Yates, 2007)
196. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (David Yates, 2009)
197. My Dinner with Andre (Louis Malle, 1981)
198. Full Frontal (Steven Soderbergh, 2002)
199. The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
200. Solaris (Steven Soderbergh, 2002)
201. Starsky & Hutch (Todd Phillips, 2004)
202. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards, 1961)
203. [REC] (Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza, 2007)
204. I Love You, Man (John Hamburg, 2009)
205. 40 Year Old Virgin (Judd Apatow, 2005)
206. Beowulf (Robert Zemeckis, 2007)
207. Knocked Up (Judd Apatow, 2007)
208. I Love You, Man (John Hamburg, 2009)
209. Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009)

August

210. Observe and Report (Jody Hill, 2009)
211. 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
212. Made in U.S.A. (Jean-Luc Godard, 1966)
213. In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008)
214. The Soloist (Joe Wright, 2009)
215. Moon (Duncan Jones, 2009)
216. GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra (Stephen Sommers, 2009)
217. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Nicholas Stoller, 2008)
218. Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009)
219. Eros (Michelangelo Antonioni, Steven Soderbergh, Wong Kar Wai, 2004)
220. Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh, 2004)
221. Bubble (Steven Soderbergh, 2005)
222. The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992)
223. District 9 (Neill Blomkamp, 2009)
224. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)
225. Ocean’s Thirteen (Steven Soderbergh, 2007)
226. The Class (Laurent Cantet, 2008)
227. Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998)
228. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
229. Four Rooms (Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino, 1995)
230. In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
231. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell (Bob Gosse, 2009)
232. Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997)
233. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003)
234. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (Quentin Tarantino, 2004)
235. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
236. Man Push Cart (Ramin Bahrani, 2005)
237. The Man Who Wasn’t There (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2001)
238. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)
239. Lumière et compagnie (Various, 1995)
240. (500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)
241. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Jake Kasdan, 2007)
242. Chop Shop (Ramin Bahrani, 2007)
243. The Player (Robert Altman, 1992)

September

244. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
245. Intolerance (D.W. Griffith, 1916)
246. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991)
247. Reprise (Joachim Trier, 2006)
248. Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999)
249. Stranger than Fiction (Marc Forster, 2006)
250. Sin Nombre (Cary Fukunaga, 2009)
251. 9 (Shane Acker, 2009)
252. Deep Red (Dario Argento, 1975)
253. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Jonathan Mostow, 2003)
254. Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936)
255. Sugar (Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, 2008)
256. The International (Tom Tykwer, 2009)
257. Standard Operating Procedure (Errol Morris, 2008)
258. The Good German (Steven Soderbergh, 2006)
259. Deja Vu (Tony Scott, 2006)
260. Death Proof (Quentin Tarantino, 2007)
261. Olympia 1. Teil – Fest der Völker (Leni Reifenstahl, 1938)
262. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Adam McKay, 2004)
263. Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008)
264. Star Trek (J. J. Abrams, 2009)
265. Sexy Beast (Jonathan Glazer, 2000)
266. The Girlfriend Experience (Steven Soderbergh, 2009)
267. Triumph of the Will (Leni Riefenstahl, 1935)
268. Star Trek (J. J. Abrams, 2009)
269. El laberinto del fauno (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
270. George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
271. Dark City (Alex Proyas, 1998)
272. The Last Metro (François Truffaut, 1980)
273. The Waterboy (Frank Coraci, 1998)

October

274. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (Ray Müller, 1993)
275. Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)
276. The New Guy (Ed Decter, 2002)
277. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (Gisaburo Sugii, 1994)
278. The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
279. Homicide (David Mamet, 1991)
280. Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Errol Morris, 1999)
281. Toy Story 3-D (John Lasseter, 1995)
282. Toy Story 2 3-D (John Lasseter, 1999)
283. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
284. In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
285. Pierrot le fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)
286. The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, 2009)
287. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
288. Dead Ringers (David Cronenberg, 1988)
289. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
290. Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
291. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Blake Edwards, 1961)
292. She Done Him Wrong (Lowell Sherman, 1933)
293. Where the Wild Things Are (Spike Jonze, 2009)
294. Whatever Works (Woody Allen, 2009)
295. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
296. Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)
297. Suture (Scott McGehee & David Siegel, 1993)
298. Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)
299. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (Michael Bay, 2009)
300. Doctor Zhivago (David Lean, 1965)
301. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Jake Kasdan, 2007)
302. Antichrist (Lars von Trier, 2009)
303. Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997)
304. Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)
305. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (Neal Brennan, 2009)
306. Session 9 (Brad Anderson, 2001)
307. Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997)
308. What About Bob? (Frank Oz, 1991)
309. Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)
310. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

November

311. Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982)
312. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002)
313. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
314. Beau Travail (Claire Denis, 1999)
315. Year One (Harold Ramis, 2009)
316. The American Nightmare (Adam Simon, 2000)
317. Blade Runner (Ridley Scott, 1982)
318. Zombieland (Ruben Fleischer, 2009)
319. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (Neal Brennan, 2009)
320. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
321.The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976)
322. Alice in Wonderland (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, & Hamilton Luske, 1951)
323. Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
324. The Men Who Stare at Goats (Grant Heslov, 2009)
325. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
326. Cache (Michael Haneke, 2005)
327. Underground (Emir Kusturica, 1995)
328. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)
329. Funny People (Judd Apatow, 2009)
330. Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2002)
331. In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
332. Up (Pete Docter, 2009)
333. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)
334. Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
335. My Name is Nobody (Tonino Valerii, 1973)
336. Roger Dodger (Dylan Kidd, 2002)
337. Up (Pete Docter, 2009)
338. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009)
339. Gamer (Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor, 2009)
340. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini, 1963)
341. The General (John Boorman, 1998)
342. Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)
343. The Road (John Hillcoat, 2009)
344. The Brothers Solomon (Bob Odenkirk, 2007)

December

345. Terminator Salvation (McG, 2009)
346. The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998)
347. Swimming with Sharks (George Huang, 1994)
348. The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975)
349. Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
350. Chocolat (Lasse Hallstrom, 2000)
351. Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000)
352. George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
353. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2009)
354. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski, 2003)
355. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Gore Verbinski, 2006)
356. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Gore Verbinski, 2007)
357. Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara, 1992)
358. Surrogates (Jonathan Mostow,2009)
359. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)
360. Four Christmases (Seth Gordon, 2008)
361. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
362. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, 2009)
363. The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
364. Bruno (Larry Charles, 2009)
365. Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)
366. Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
367. The Blind Side (John Lee Hancock, 2009)
368. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)
369. The Waterboy (Frank Coraci, 1998)
370. Layer Cake (Matthew Vaughn, 2004)
371. Nine (Rob Marshall, 2009)
372. The Toxic Avenger (Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman, 1984)
373. Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
374. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
375. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
376. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)

#226

Hello all.

The year is officially coming to a close, 2009 was a huge year for me, and a great one at that. 2009 will forever be personally marked as the year that I earned my Bachelors. I also watched three hundred and seventy six films this year, surpassing my goal of averaging one a day. New month is here as well, which means it’s time for last month’s conclusion. Here are the films I watched…

345. Terminator Salvation (McG, 2009)
346. The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998)
347. Swimming with Sharks (George Huang, 1994)
348. The Passenger (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975)
349. Gladiator (Ridley Scott, 2000)
350. Chocolat (Lasse Hallstrom, 2000)
351. Unbreakable (M. Night Shyamalan, 2000)
352. George Washington (David Gordon Green, 2000)
353. Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2009)
354. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Gore Verbinski, 2003)
355. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Gore Verbinski, 2006)
356. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Gore Verbinski, 2007)
357. Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara, 1992)
358. Surrogates (Jonathan Mostow,2009)
359. High Fidelity (Stephen Frears, 2000)
360. Four Christmases (Seth Gordon, 2008)
361. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
362. 35 Shots of Rum (Claire Denis, 2009)
363. The Hangover (Todd Phillips, 2009)
364. Bruno (Larry Charles, 2009)
365. Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)
366. Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
367. The Blind Side (John Lee Hancock, 2009)
368. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)
369. The Waterboy (Frank Coraci, 1998)
370. Layer Cake (Matthew Vaughn, 2004)
371. Nine (Rob Marshall, 2009)
372. The Toxic Avenger (Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman, 1984)
373. Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007)
374. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005)
375. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Peter Jackson, 2001)
376. Dancer in the Dark (Lars von Trier, 2000)

Thirty two films watched, and I am ready to start a new year. I will be laying out my Resolutions in here over the next week or so. They are all very minor, I like to keep them that way so that I am best able to keep up with them. I spent a little of my Christmas money the other night and ordered a bunch of things. I preordered 8 1/2 and Che on Blu-Ray. I also purchased, all on BD, The Wild Bunch, District 9, and Watchmen: Ultimate Cut. I had not purchased anything in awhile so it was a nice treat.

I have some good projects set for the new year, and I am excited for it. I am thankful for everyone who reads this site, hope to keep you guys around next year and don’t forget to check my other site, Cherished Cinema, and let me know what you think. I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Years.

Thank you for reading!

#225

Hello all.

I have slowly found myself in such a strange sleeping pattern. Even if I get up at a reasonable hour, I still cannot go to bed anywhere near a normal time. Let me put it this way, think about the latest hour you think I stay up until, then add two hours to that number. It is getting pretty ridiculous. Fortunately, I am using that time to catch up on Dexter (impossible to start an episode and not immediately follow it by watching two more episodes) and watching movies. I will probably wrap up Season 3 tomorrow or Wednesday and then move on to Season 4. Love that damn show.

Upset to say that there is still no news on Derek Lowe. There’s a good deal amount of speculation out there, but I would kill to hear some news before Christmas. It has been an incredibly fun baseball offseason thus far. Falcons pulled out a miracle victory in New York on Sunday, one down and two to go to rid our franchise of the curse of not having back-to-back winning seasons. That should not be too hard considering they are closing out the year with Buffalo at home and the dismal Buccaneers on the road. I am going to try and update this blog with my team’s standings from time-to-time, just because it a) helps me out to remember where all of my teams stand and b) let you guys in on what teams actually are my teams. All of the pictures are taken from ESPN.com

My Flyers and Thrashers

What do I even say about the Flyers? Losing four straight and they are not only the second worst team in the Conference but also the second worst team in the league. Thrashers have looked decent to good most of the year, I am excited to see how they do as the season progresses.

Atlanta Hawks

Hawks have looked great for most of the season, I hope to see some steady improvement but overall I could not be happier with the way they are playing.

Atlanta Falcons

Sitting right at .500. All I want is for them to reach 9 wins (suppose that’s all that I can hope for after Dallas’ victory in New Orleans on Saturday sealed our fate.

Holy hell, did I really not put my last.fm stats from this week up? I am so behind on everything.

I think I have officially given every album I wanted to consider for my end of the year lists a proper listen, so I will be working on that this week. I should have plenty of time seeing as how it has been impossible to find any shifts this week at work. My playlist for this week is very simple: Quadrophenia and Hey Mercedes discography. That’s it for now, I am going back to Dexter and hopefully to bed soon.

Thank you for reading.

#224

Hello all.

Sorry about the lack of updates, I have been sort of taking a “pre-vacation” vacation, meaning that I am not doing much leading up to my upcoming trip. We are so close to the end of the year it is crazy, with any luck, I will have my year end list for music done by Christmas and will post it here. I would not expect to have one done for films until around the second week of January and I want to have an attempt at a decade list sometime next year.

Surprisingly, after I finished with school (which is official now that I have my grades back!), I have been flying through films. I had a rough list of about thirty to thirty-five movies I wanted to try and watch by the start of January and I may actually knock out a good percentage of those. Most of these are from this year or from 2000 (for the other site’s project). I have had a blast so far being away from school, but come January when I am not going back for the first time I think I will begin to miss it.

I have been slowly working on a new budget for 2010. It will be a complete shift from the one I have been using for the last two years and I am actually having a good bit of fun with it. I am interested to see how well it holds up with the previous one.

That’s it for now, I will quit boring you all. I want to go see Avatar tonight or tomorrow but it isn’t looking good. Unfortunately, I am not dying to see it like others but I still think it’s a must-see (we owe it to Cameron and I want to see how “revolutionary” it really is). I haven’t posted my thoughts on a recent movie in awhile, I need to do that. The same goes for TV shows.

Thank you for reading.

#223

Hello all.

This should mark a long stretch of posts to come seeing that I am now officially done with school. The last two weeks were rough, but in hindsight, not nearly as bad as I expected and well worth it. I spent the weekend mostly working and taking it easy today. The Falcons lost a tough game today, but they hung in there with an undefeated team and gave a great showing. The sad news is that the Falcons now have to win out in order to have their first EVER back-to-back winning seasons. Thankfully those last three game are against the decent Jets followed by the terrible Bills and Bucs. Here’s hoping they make it happen.

It’s Sunday so here is my last.fm wrap up of the week (no picture, my laptop is in the other room and I honestly do not feel like getting up).

1 Murder by Death 65
2 The Good Life 44
2  The Dead Weather 44
4 The Who 43
5 Andrew Bird 38
6 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds 36
7 The Mercury Program 34
8 Manchester Orchestra 18
9 Deerhunter 5
10 The Gaslight Anthem 4

Strange week music-wise but this week’s playlist will be even stranger because I am attempting to have a End of the Year List for music done by the time I leave for PA on Saturday. So this week’s playlist has a bunch of music that I have either a) been meaning to give a listen or b) albums from earlier in the year that are contending for one of the Top Five spots. I could not be more excited about the vacation and then I come home to my brother and sister being home and then Christmas. This will be a great month and I intend to close out the year in the best possible way.

I saw Up in the Air on Saturday and it was hands down the best movie I have seen this year. I would be exceptionally shocked if it does not ultimately end up as my favorite film of 2009. I am excited for the weeks to come film-wise with Avatar coming out this weekend and then coming home to a bounty of Christmas releases. Alright, enough rambling. Everyone have a good start to the week and thank you for reading!

#222

Hello all.

I have been sitting here for the last two hours slowly working my way back through my Computer Science book and I need a damn break. The other site was without an update today unfortunately. In my defense, it is not only finals week but it is also my final finals week. I will be working diligently throughout tonight and tomorrow night and I hope to catch a couple of breaks in-between to write a couple of solid posts. The year is gone. Today is 8th (damn near the 9th), before we know it, Christmas will be here and the New Year will soon follow. It is absolutely bizarre to think that this year is even close to being over.

I have been making some headway on my end of the year lists for music. I won’t even start thinking about my lists for movies until the first of the new year, if not later. I think I have a good rough list for top ten and I am thinking about expanding it to a top fifteen to take away honorable mentions. Last year, I only made a top five, which only means that a) this has been a much better year for music or b) I have been actively expanding my listening habits. I would most likely conclude that it’s a combination of the two.

After I get through Thursday, assuming I get through Thursday, I intend to sit down and write out some goals. I would like to set out where exactly I want to be in the near future. I have to start considering switching jobs/adding another job. There’s no way I can have that much idle time each week. I will miss school for reasons beyond learning about things that I care about (philosophy/film), I will also miss it because it has been a great use of time over the last few years. I have to find something to fill that void. We’ll see. For now, I am back to studying. I hope everyone is having a great week.

Thank you for reading.

#221

Hello all.

It’s Sunday, which means time for a good day full of football and hopefully some studying later on as to the fact that my finals start on Tuesday. I have had sort of an interesting week, probably the toughest I had throughout undergrad. I got through it, and have had a couple good days at work followed by yesterday’s decently entertaining day of football. I would have loved to see Nebraska pull it through, that Suh is one hell of a football player and he will be a great goddamn player at the pro level. Not to mention that both the Hawks and Thrashers won, and I am hoping that the Falcons can pull it through today. I will quit rambling.

I have been on such a huge Nick Cave kick after seeing The Road, absolutely wonderful stuff. This week’s playlist include his Let Love in, The Who’s Tommy, The Good Life’s Black Out, and The Dead Weather’s Horehound. That’s it for now, time to go take a shower and get ready for the game.

Thank you for reading!