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Django Unchained 2012
I was amazed during this re-watch that the near 3 hour runtime just flew by. I was conscious that the film slows up a touch, after the beginning but pre-Candieland, on first viewing. That didn't feel the case this time around. If anything Tarantino's film feels all the more complete on second viewing. So I'm bumping it up to full boat.
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Predator 1987
Watched as part of my attempt to watch every Arnie film and boy have I been looking forward to this one. Everything about Predator is perfect. The Mexican jungle it was shot in. The hungry young director in John McTiernan eager to get his shots, determined to make the best film possible and yet so inexperienced he has to rely on the right people to do the right thing. The score is genius.
In front of the camera you've got…
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The Terminator 1984
I've seen the Terminator many, many times since it was released in 1984. Almost obsessively at one point. I used to watch it whenever I had the chance. To the point where I think I've probably seen the Terminator about 80-100 times. So I had no issues re-watching it for my watch every Arnie film project. However one small thing starting nagging at me during this viewing that I'd never noticed before.
What if Sarah Connor had been ex-directory? The…
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Skyfall 2012
I missed this at the cinema. I've had to sit here absorbing positive reviews in the knowledge that I intended to wait for the blu ray release so I could sit and watch the movie in my own home-made cinematic setting.
It was worth the wait. I love Bond. I own all the Bond movies. I love that Skyfall indulges itself in a little nostalgia; be it cars or characters or scenes, that hark back to Bond's of time gone…
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Back to the Future Part II 1989
Couldn't help myself. After finishing up Back to the Future I just had to watch the sequel. I thought what they did with II was quite brilliant. I love all the stuff where II interacts with the first movie. It was the first time, as a 13 year old kid, that I'd ever seen a movie that just screwed with my head. I started to think about paradoxes and such. It was a real headfuck. The Evil 1985 did that…
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Back to the Future 1985
Every now and again I have to watch Back to the Future because it's easily one of my favourite movies of all time. This time on blu-ray for the first time since I picked up the blu-ray box set. The transfer is really good. It looks brand new and shiny. There aren't many FX shots in Back to the Future, considering it's a sci-fi movie about time-travel so there are no FX to age badly. And now I can get…
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Toy Story 3 2010
Toy Story 3 completes my blu-ray rewatch season of the Toy Story films and like Toy Story 2 I underrated this on my previous viewing. It is an epic. It runs the gamut of emotions. I fully admit to getting choked up at the end. Not as much as during the opening 20 minutes of Up, where I was openly blubbing and needed a hug (I still haven't re-watched it for fear of crying again), but it's an emotional moment where Andy says goodbye to his childhood. Toy Story 3 is about growing up, the importance of friends and a love of samba rhythms.
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Toy Story 2 1999
The second in the Toy Story blu-ray trilogy rewatches season. Toy Story 2 is one of those incredible sequels that takes the basis of Toy Story 1 and goes to another level. Like Spinal Tap, and Zurg's gun, it goes up to 11. I rated this at ****1/2 at first and second viewing but I'm upgrading it to five stars because it is so much fun. The references come thick and fast, unlike the sporadic references in Toy Story (although…
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Silver Linings Playbook 2012
Oh wow, I know this has gotten positive reviews, even by people I like and respect here on Letterboxd, but I still didn't see this coming. Its a rom-com for crying out loud. A rom-com has no right to be this good. For those sitting there thinking it's not a rom-com, it most certainly is. Its romantic and its funny, which actually puts it ahead of most films normally dubbed rom-com. Plus Robert DeNiro plays a wacky father and the…
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The Avengers 2012
This would be my fourth viewing and a deliberate attempt to see whether I could set up a passable home cinema in my living room. It kinda worked. Except when my daughter kept turning the light on just outside the door and giving me glare in the corners. I still haven't been able to get her to even watch this. I cannot get a read on her movie tastes.
Oh, and yes, its still awesome.
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Goodfellas 1990
I decided to finish the December Project with my favourite film. Scorsese's epic masterpiece is still amazing after all these years. I originally saw it in high school and loved every single minute. Almost half the lines in the entire film give me chills. Ray Liotta has never been better. Joe Pesci is incredible. Robert DeNiro is so subtle. Lorraine Bracco is amazing. And it all really happened. Henry Hill's book, written with Nic Pileggi…
