20. Good Will Hunting
Genre - Drama
Notable Cast - Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck
Synopsis - A professor discovers that an janitor is also a math genius, and a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.
What I think - Damon's character is one that we want to like, but he keeps making the wrong decisions. We want to see him succeed but he just can't get it together. It isn't until we get to Robin Williams that the movie takes the turn that we want. Pleasant movie to watch. I would have prefered the cliche finished ending, but the bar and therapy scenes more than make up for it.
Interesting fact - Minnie Driver, who I hadn't seen in anything before was super cute. Stellan Skarsgård from the Avengers also surprised me. I suppose these aren't interesting nor facts. Too bad.
How much did this movie make - 451 million pounds of bananas
19. Batman
Genre - Fantasy-Crime
Notable Cast - Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger
Synopsis - Bruce Wayne tries to make a name for himself when the Joker immerges threatening the city.
What I think - The beginning of understanding that a dark Batman is the way to go opposed to the campy version. Nicholson is iconic here as the Joker. Plot is a straightforward one but satisfying. The end of the movie gets long but they take appropriate measures to make sure things get wrapped up nicely. There is a scene with Bruce getting shot in Vicki's apartment - but then he just leaves afterwards - which doesn't make much sense. Overall excellent movie.
Interesting fact - Michael Keaton casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman caused a controversy amongst comic book fans, with 50,000 protest letters sent to Warner Bros. offices.
How much did this movie make - 15% of a new casino
18. Minority Report
Genre - Sci-Fi-Mystery
Notable Cast - Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow
Synopsis - Precrime has stopped violent crimes in the future, but it comes under fire when a precrime cop finds out he is to commit murder.
What I think - The beginning and the chase scenes are awesome rides. It gets very heavy handed at moments. The climax never worked very well with me - it's all based on assumption that he was going to kill John. Nothing ever gets called in - though we see it - it's still weak. Magnificent set pieces and some great ideas for the future - including the blind surgery, spiders, ads. Agatha just slows the movie down when she shows up, though Colin is excellent. The kidnapped boy drug angle was probably not done in the best way.
Interesting fact - Originally a Total Recall sequel.
How much did this movie make - 179,000 of the best talking parrots
17. Transformers
Genre - Action-Sci-Fi
Notable Cast - Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Jon Voight
Synopsis - Alien robots find themselves on earth looking for the source of their race.
What I think - First effort that was wise in lots of ways. Sure we all complain about Bay now, this movie was by far the best effort. We get a rise out of the beginning scene. The characters are likable though many aren't needed. Jazz was about a third of the size of Megatron - so they kept things realistic in spite of the cartoon. The action scenes can be the worst part. Too many close ups to really tell what's going on, too fast to tell even who is fighting at times. Love they got Optimus Primes voice, and the family's interaction is good comic relief from everything going on.
Interesting fact - To keep the film realistic and under budget, the U.S. Department of Defense provided their support towards the film's production, the largest project they have assisted since Black Hawk Down.
How much did this movie make - 708 million pieces of bubble gum
16. Moneyball
Genre - Biography-Drama
Notable Cast - Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jonah Hill
Synopsis - Baseball player turned GM with less money to spend tries an unconventional tatic.
What I think - Not entirely realistic portrayal of Billy Beane. We know going on that it doesn't end well - The A's never win. But it ends on a great note. Pitt's interactions are the best part. Though the movie is cut between flashbacks of his playing career which is completely unnecessary except to fill time. If they didn't have the reminiscing then this would be just as moving while making it more interesting. There are almost two separate movies. The baseball stats part of it was great to me.
Interesting fact - First baseball movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award (Oscar) since Field of Dreams twenty-two years earlier.
How much did this movie make - 68,000 new pinball machines
15. Scarface
Genre - Crime-Thriller
Notable Cast - Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer
Synopsis - Rise and fall of a cuban refugee to drug kingpin.
What I think - Al Pacino's best movie - yes Godfather. Some of the highest quality of film making. The ending obviously is awesome. Everything with his sister works. All the scenes with Michelle slow the main story down.
Interesting fact - F-bomb 226 times
How much did this movie make - 275,000 tours of Chernobyl
14. Warrior
Genre - Action-Drama
Notable Cast - Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton
Synopsis - Brothers – a soldier awol and a school teacher pursue their dreams in MMA
What I think - The greatest part is that you don't know who is going to win. You route for both guys, both have their own motivations. The movie does the correct thing. Both are way too mad at their father which gets old in Edgertons case. No one is really happy throughout.
Interesting fact - Joel Edgerton tore his MCL during production, halting fight scenes for six weeks. Tom Hardy suffered a broken toe, broken ribs, and a broken finger.
How much did this movie make - 5 and a half million games of bowling
13. The Amazing Spider-Man
Genre - Action-Fantasy
Notable Cast - Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen
Synopsis - Peter Parker discovers his new powers while going after Gwen Stacy and hunting the Lizard.
What I think - They do away with Leary and Sheen, but was it done that well, not so sure. Parker breaks his promise to Leary's character almost immediately. Stone looks way too old to play a high school-er now. Some of the action scenes were clever. Solid job - much better than S3. I've pondered over the last scene in the movie as we really don't know who it is. Garfield is likeable. The reveal to Stone's character that Parker is Spider-man was not nearly as great as the original. Lizard was nothing special for a villain.
Interesting fact - First Spider-man movie without Mary Jane.
How much did this movie make - 4,000 average houses
12. Spider-Man
Genre - Action-Fantasy
Notable Cast - Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe
Synopsis - When Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider, he gets new powers which allows him to take on a new villain.
What I think - Marvelous adaptation of bringing the web slinger to the big screen. People complain about little things - web shooters not being natural, Goblins helmet. I like these elements. Green Goblin's monologues are fantastic, the action scenes are great. Dafoe is the perfect crazy guy. We don't get completely behind Dunst in this movie as she isn't really likeable.
Interesting fact - They painted a spider red and blue.
How much did this movie make - 273 thousand swords
11. Batman Begins
Genre - Action Adventure
Notable Cast - Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman
Synopsis - Bruce Wayne wants to fight corruption and the league of shadows and decides he can do it as a symbol.
What I think - After Batman and Robin any movie was going to be better. This was an expert take by Nolan who in hind sight was a slam dunk. This movie has two villains but neither one of them are the catchy headliner that you would put Batman up against. The creation of Batman the character as well as in Wayne's head is a great journey. The end fight wasn't great, but the use of the city as a character was a great idea. The fight for the city will be a reoccurring theme in all of Nolan's takes.
Interesting fact - Christian Bale lost his voice three times during filming after altering his voice while playing Batman.
How much did this movie make - 9.3 million umbrellas
Genre - Drama
Notable Cast - Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck
Synopsis - A professor discovers that an janitor is also a math genius, and a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back.
What I think - Damon's character is one that we want to like, but he keeps making the wrong decisions. We want to see him succeed but he just can't get it together. It isn't until we get to Robin Williams that the movie takes the turn that we want. Pleasant movie to watch. I would have prefered the cliche finished ending, but the bar and therapy scenes more than make up for it.
Interesting fact - Minnie Driver, who I hadn't seen in anything before was super cute. Stellan Skarsgård from the Avengers also surprised me. I suppose these aren't interesting nor facts. Too bad.
How much did this movie make - 451 million pounds of bananas
19. Batman
Genre - Fantasy-Crime
Notable Cast - Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger
Synopsis - Bruce Wayne tries to make a name for himself when the Joker immerges threatening the city.
What I think - The beginning of understanding that a dark Batman is the way to go opposed to the campy version. Nicholson is iconic here as the Joker. Plot is a straightforward one but satisfying. The end of the movie gets long but they take appropriate measures to make sure things get wrapped up nicely. There is a scene with Bruce getting shot in Vicki's apartment - but then he just leaves afterwards - which doesn't make much sense. Overall excellent movie.
Interesting fact - Michael Keaton casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman caused a controversy amongst comic book fans, with 50,000 protest letters sent to Warner Bros. offices.
How much did this movie make - 15% of a new casino
18. Minority Report
Genre - Sci-Fi-Mystery
Notable Cast - Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow
Synopsis - Precrime has stopped violent crimes in the future, but it comes under fire when a precrime cop finds out he is to commit murder.
What I think - The beginning and the chase scenes are awesome rides. It gets very heavy handed at moments. The climax never worked very well with me - it's all based on assumption that he was going to kill John. Nothing ever gets called in - though we see it - it's still weak. Magnificent set pieces and some great ideas for the future - including the blind surgery, spiders, ads. Agatha just slows the movie down when she shows up, though Colin is excellent. The kidnapped boy drug angle was probably not done in the best way.
Interesting fact - Originally a Total Recall sequel.
How much did this movie make - 179,000 of the best talking parrots
17. Transformers
Genre - Action-Sci-Fi
Notable Cast - Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Jon Voight
Synopsis - Alien robots find themselves on earth looking for the source of their race.
What I think - First effort that was wise in lots of ways. Sure we all complain about Bay now, this movie was by far the best effort. We get a rise out of the beginning scene. The characters are likable though many aren't needed. Jazz was about a third of the size of Megatron - so they kept things realistic in spite of the cartoon. The action scenes can be the worst part. Too many close ups to really tell what's going on, too fast to tell even who is fighting at times. Love they got Optimus Primes voice, and the family's interaction is good comic relief from everything going on.
Interesting fact - To keep the film realistic and under budget, the U.S. Department of Defense provided their support towards the film's production, the largest project they have assisted since Black Hawk Down.
How much did this movie make - 708 million pieces of bubble gum
16. Moneyball
Genre - Biography-Drama
Notable Cast - Brad Pitt, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jonah Hill
Synopsis - Baseball player turned GM with less money to spend tries an unconventional tatic.
What I think - Not entirely realistic portrayal of Billy Beane. We know going on that it doesn't end well - The A's never win. But it ends on a great note. Pitt's interactions are the best part. Though the movie is cut between flashbacks of his playing career which is completely unnecessary except to fill time. If they didn't have the reminiscing then this would be just as moving while making it more interesting. There are almost two separate movies. The baseball stats part of it was great to me.
Interesting fact - First baseball movie to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award (Oscar) since Field of Dreams twenty-two years earlier.
How much did this movie make - 68,000 new pinball machines
15. Scarface
Genre - Crime-Thriller
Notable Cast - Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer
Synopsis - Rise and fall of a cuban refugee to drug kingpin.
What I think - Al Pacino's best movie - yes Godfather. Some of the highest quality of film making. The ending obviously is awesome. Everything with his sister works. All the scenes with Michelle slow the main story down.
Interesting fact - F-bomb 226 times
How much did this movie make - 275,000 tours of Chernobyl
14. Warrior
Genre - Action-Drama
Notable Cast - Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton
Synopsis - Brothers – a soldier awol and a school teacher pursue their dreams in MMA
What I think - The greatest part is that you don't know who is going to win. You route for both guys, both have their own motivations. The movie does the correct thing. Both are way too mad at their father which gets old in Edgertons case. No one is really happy throughout.
Interesting fact - Joel Edgerton tore his MCL during production, halting fight scenes for six weeks. Tom Hardy suffered a broken toe, broken ribs, and a broken finger.
How much did this movie make - 5 and a half million games of bowling
13. The Amazing Spider-Man
Genre - Action-Fantasy
Notable Cast - Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen
Synopsis - Peter Parker discovers his new powers while going after Gwen Stacy and hunting the Lizard.
What I think - They do away with Leary and Sheen, but was it done that well, not so sure. Parker breaks his promise to Leary's character almost immediately. Stone looks way too old to play a high school-er now. Some of the action scenes were clever. Solid job - much better than S3. I've pondered over the last scene in the movie as we really don't know who it is. Garfield is likeable. The reveal to Stone's character that Parker is Spider-man was not nearly as great as the original. Lizard was nothing special for a villain.
Interesting fact - First Spider-man movie without Mary Jane.
How much did this movie make - 4,000 average houses
12. Spider-Man
Genre - Action-Fantasy
Notable Cast - Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe
Synopsis - When Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider, he gets new powers which allows him to take on a new villain.
What I think - Marvelous adaptation of bringing the web slinger to the big screen. People complain about little things - web shooters not being natural, Goblins helmet. I like these elements. Green Goblin's monologues are fantastic, the action scenes are great. Dafoe is the perfect crazy guy. We don't get completely behind Dunst in this movie as she isn't really likeable.
Interesting fact - They painted a spider red and blue.
How much did this movie make - 273 thousand swords
11. Batman Begins
Genre - Action Adventure
Notable Cast - Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman
Synopsis - Bruce Wayne wants to fight corruption and the league of shadows and decides he can do it as a symbol.
What I think - After Batman and Robin any movie was going to be better. This was an expert take by Nolan who in hind sight was a slam dunk. This movie has two villains but neither one of them are the catchy headliner that you would put Batman up against. The creation of Batman the character as well as in Wayne's head is a great journey. The end fight wasn't great, but the use of the city as a character was a great idea. The fight for the city will be a reoccurring theme in all of Nolan's takes.
Interesting fact - Christian Bale lost his voice three times during filming after altering his voice while playing Batman.
How much did this movie make - 9.3 million umbrellas
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