The Monday Corner 1/30/2012

Movies/TV Watched This Past Week:

The Descendants: Being more than a stone's throw away from a fan of Sideways, though far closer to Election and About Schmidt, I was very cautious going into Alexander Payne's latest outing. I must say, while there's a lot here that can be picked apart and mocked, I found it to be quite rewarding and easily relatable. Both of which helped make it sad without being too sad, and fun without being too fun.

Doctor Who Series 3 & 4: OK so last week I lied and went on a bit of a Who rampage this past week. Loved Martha Jones as a companion and Donna Noble was top form. A great collection of episodes definitely helped them both as well. I definitely don't want to see David Tennant leave, but alas all things but end.

For Your Consideration:

With over 5 million posts being presented last week about the Oscar nominations, I had a hard time narrowing down which one was going to get the Monday Corner bump (which is akin to about 1 page click, I imagine). For that honor, I have chosen the ever lovely blog FlixChatter and their post The Good, Thad Bad, and the WTF.

Continuing along those same lines, Lauren of Man I Love Films went all out in her introductory post The Good, The Bad, and the Remake. Though clearly her post is a remake of a classic post by some random European dude.

If you're looking for a bit of a change of pace on the Oscar front then look no further than Jess at Insight into Entertainment. Her series, 30 Days of Oscars examines the past and present Oscar films with great reviews and insightful writeups. A must read.

John of The Droid You're Looking For is throwing in the towel on the creation of Fake Criterion Covers. Though not before going out with a bang as he burns through a host of Coen Brothers films hoping to make that Criterion leap!

Last, but most definitely not least, Rachel has announced her stepping down from the position of top lamb at the Large Association of Movie Bloggers, handing the reigns over to Joel of Deny Everything. Rachel has been a top class leader of the LAMB, and I wish Joel the best of luck!


Have a great Monday everybody.

The Monday Corner 1/23/2012

Movies/TV Watched This Past Week:


Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides: Let's put it this way - the rather lifeless first half definitely ended on stronger footing than it started.

Spaced Series 2: I'm a bit torn here. On the one hand I'm feeling sad Spaced ended (seemingly) so prematurely. But on the other hand I know any effort now - no matter how talented those involved are - would never live up to the expectations of their predecessor. Still, I loved every moment of it.

Doctor Who Series 2: Was sad to see Rose Tyler leave, but I do admit there were some damn fine episodes leading to the finale. Series 3 is looking good so far. At my current rate, I'll have caught up with the ongoing show by the year 2014!

For Your Consideration:

Over at The Flick Chick, 2011 has been wrapping up with a bang as Norma Desmond tackles the year in a series appropriately titled the Top 10 Week! Of course we all know if I did a top 10 it'd be a clean sweep for Jack and Jill.

Andrew of gmanReviews is digging deep into his emotional spectrum and wondering if he should feel guilty for treating action sequences in historical biopics with the same 'reverence' as he does those in mindless action entertainment.

I'm terribly blind when it comes to Bollywood cinema, so this post over at Lime Reviews and Strawberry Confessions explaining why Dil Se is their favorite movie caught my attention on more levels than one. 78 reasons all with equal amounts of passion and fascination... makes me wonder if I could do the same about mine.

Lest we never forget - for he'll do it for us - Andrew's Encore World of Film & TV celebrated their 3rd year in existence and might I add it's been three years of beautiful writing through and through.

After the incredibly fun and exciting series that was 60/60, Nick from Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob has kicked off his brand new 50/50 series with a review of the oft unspoken Tarantino thriller, Jackie Brown.

Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 1/9/2012

Admit it. Oh come on, admit it! You know you missed me. You know you did! Go on, just say it. I won't shy away. Just yell out into the sky "I love The Monday Corner!" Or not. You know, if you don't want to that is. It's OK, I won't cry... *sniff sniff*... :)

Movies/TV Watched This Past Week:
I've seen quite a bit since we last met up so here are just a couple of the big highlights!

Attack the Block: No film could live up to the onslaught of praise this one had received, but I do admit it does a damn fine job trying.

Spaced Series 1: Gah, what have I been missing all these years?! (seen via Netflix instant)

Merlin Series 1 - 3: After a painfully dry and uninspired first series, I was worried that this would turn out to be another Fantasy gone so terribly wrong, but there was enough promise for me to continue on. Series 2 had more than its fair share of 'oh come on already' moments, but again the promise was there. For Series 3, that promise finally came into being a bit. The start of Series 4 has, thus far, promised to come as close as ever to delivering in full. (Series 1 through 3 seen via Netflix instant. Series 4 airs Fridays at 10 PM on Syfy).

For Your Consideration:

Ryan "She Bangs Mad Hatter Style All Night Long" McNeil over at The Matinee throws in his two cents for the year that has passed with his Top 5 of 2011! One of these days I'll convince him the best number for any list is 7.24393 items!

If Ryan's list is not enough to fulfill your craving for year end goodness, be not afraid for Castor over at Anomalous Material double down with his Top 10 of 2011! *Spoiler Alert* Lots of Tree of Life love and hate hiding in the background waiting to pounce on these lists' comments.

Alex the Film Forager has been granted the opportunity to see the one film of 2011 left that I most desperately want to see (that's right, I'm looking at you stupid Galaxy Cinema) and her views has only gone to bolster that regard.

Major props and throngs of adoration for John over at The Droid You're Looking For as his blog reached a milestone worth such accord, 500,000 views! Of course we all know he cheated. Writing engaging content with creative viewpoints and high entertainment value. It goes against everything blogging stands for!

Film Intel goes back in time and experiences life in a new way as he traverses the majestic world of It's A Wonderful Life. It may be post holiday season but the message of IAWL is eternal.


Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 12/19/2011

It's a well known fact that Kim Jong-Il was a big fan of The Monday Corner. Many a time did I receive emails of immense support and dedication through both the good and bad times of this series. At least I'm pretty sure that's what they were about. Now that I think about it he could have just been trying to sell me radioactive Yo-Yos. In all honesty I don't speak Korean, and the only person I know who does moved to South Korea about three years back. So I could have been mistaken about Kim Jong-Ils emails, though of course I'd like to think that deep down all he really needed was links to quality movie blogs. Optimism for the win.

Movies/TV Watched This Past Week:

The Help: How this film could have been great: 1) Cut the unnecessary Stuart-Skeeter romance subplot. 2) Don't hide the only male character capable of being less than 3/4 asshole until the last five minutes of the film. 3) More Mary Steenburgen. There. I think The Help is a good film. It definitely has lots of great performances. In fact I'd argue the performances are too good. While watching the film I felt they highlighted all the flaws in the plotting of the film, but afterwards they help cover your memory of what exactly those flaws were.

Ip Man 2: Let's be honest, these movies could have just two hours of characters saying "boogah boogah" into the screen and as long as the action was mint, everyone who aimed to view it would go "OMG AWESOME!!!!" So it's no surprise that this film effectively took the start of Fearless for the first three quarters and then lifted the plot of Rocky IV to finish it off.

(New) Doctor Who Season 1: I've seen lots of the new-age Doctor Who episodes but never in order to get the full picture and I must say I quite liked it. Christopher Eccleston was a real solid Doctor and I loved his chemistry with Billie Piper. Would love to see him get more roles though I fear his early exist worsened his chances after being overshadowed by the Tennant machine.

For Your Consideration:
Mission Impossible VXI: LINK PROTOCOL

Rich of Wide Screen World takes on one of the greatest enemies of the Univarn - hype. Check out his colorful and creative take on the subject!

These times they are a changin' and Ryan "Dancing in the field of Hatters" McNeil of The Matinee sees the change everywhere around him as the blogging world has opened up doors he'd never imagined.

In what is arguably my favorite weekly series among the blogs I follow Let's Not Talk About Movies' Don't Make a Scene takes on the essential classic male character in Rick from Cassablance, and has been doing so all December long!

With Christmas just on the horizon now, Cinema Viewfinder steps up to the plate and delivers unto you a list of the must see Criterion releases of this final quarter of 2011!

Last, but not least, the review of the week goes to the two-headed investigative team over at Anomalous Material Castor and Sam who came to similar, and yet very different deductions during their outings to see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.


Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 12/12/2011

Not one attempt at my Movie Picture Code this past week? Not one? I hate to appear downtrodden in any way but ouch, that hurts. Perhaps I've made them too hard or the novelty of it has worn off? If you've got any feedback/input don't be shy about sharing it! I'd much rather hear "tough one this week" than crickets - otherwise I had no demonstrable way of telling if the series should go on or not. After all they do take quite a deal of time and effort to come up with. Thanks!

Movies/TV Watched This Past Week:

The Disappearance of Alice Creed: I think it's safe to say Eddie Marsan is fast becoming one of my favorite performers to watch. He's got such a persona that whenever he strolls in front of the camera my eyes immediately become fixated on his every move, just begging to see what he'll do next. Oh, and yeah, Gemma Arterton's nice too. On the whole, wouldn't call this film great, but still quite entertaining.

Jimmy Carr - Being Funny: I've spent the last few years watching the evolution (or perhaps better put the deevolution) of Jimmy Carr's standup routine and I must say, I'm not sure. He's definitely gotten progressively more perverse and less repressed on social issues, which gives his cutting edge style more impact. But I can't help feeling some of the sharp wit he brought in his earlier routines have faded off to quick sex jokes and "I bummed your mom" humor.

Breaking Bad Season 3: Without a doubt the best season yet. Absolutely loved the finale. Really can't wait to dive into season 4. Now I've just got to find a place to watch it.

For Your Consideration:
Linker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Movies that take place over the course of a single night (or day) are a staple of the world of cinema and with the release of The Sitter, gmanReviews is on the case, delivering us 10 more films which take place over the course of an evening.

No doubt you heard the internet blow up this past week with the (premature) release of a review from David Denby for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Duke & The Movies tackles the affair and the recently brought to life issue of review embargoes.

2011 is coming to an end and I still haven't seen nearly enough movies. Luckily enough great folks like Stevee over at Cinematic Paradox have and have the time and effort to create wonderful lists such as this: The Best and Worst Posters of 2011!

It's not great secret that the quickest way to a spot on the Monday Corner is through the world of Kurosawa. And so with two shining - positive - reviews, Anna of Defiant Success delved into the world of Rashomon and the human condition in Ikiru this past week.

Last, but not least, Film Intel reviews one of my favorite movies of last year - that I feel got well overlooked last year - in Rabbit Hole.

Soundtrack of the Week:
Elmer Bernstein's Walk Away from the film Far From Heaven




Enjoy your Monday, Everybody!

The Monday Corner 12/05/2011

Random Thought: Why is Best Buy trying to start a war with Santa? Have you seen the commercials? It's as if they're recruiting an army to battle the gifts Santa brings... Too harsh. Besides, Santa has an entire army of elves at his disposal. If all we've got is Best Buy, we're screwed!

Movies Watched This Past Week:

To Catch a Thief: I actually meant to watch this before but never got around to it and I must say it was great! Love Cary Grant and find myself continually annoyed that Grace Kelly didn't do more movies. Rather standard affair for Hitchcock, luckily the dialogue and interplay carry nicely where the plotting trails off.

TV Series Wrapped Up This Past Week:

Chrome Shelled Regios (anime): A friend of mine recommended this anime and I must say it's incredibly 'alright'. The only thing that's really spectacular here is the world in which the anime operates, but unfortunately that plays backbone to some very generic main characters. Oh, and why doesn't every anime hire someone who clearly can't handle the English language to do English speaking roles? I'd watch this again just to see that. Hilarious! If they make a season 2 I'll check it out, but I'm in no hurry.

For Your Consideration:
Link it like a rock star!

I actually meant to link to this one last week, so my apologies but The Great White Dope has announced his brand new Public Domain Theater series, inviting us all to see those lovely gems of films that are available for free on the internet! How can you say no to anything that involves the title "Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla"?

John of The Droid You're Looking For is stepping up to the plate early and taking on a new New Year's Resolution after a recent outing to see Christmas Vacation infected him with the thought - "how much of a movie experience gets lost in translation when you're watching a movie at home instead of a theater."

Tough guys and Hollywood go together like spitting tobacco and archetypical baseball players. Yet we all know it's the classic tough guys that really put the tough in tough guys. So be sure to check out Kevyn Knox's countdown of the Top 10 Classic Hollywood Tough Guys over at Anomalous Material. Steve McQueen for the win!

Kudos to Rory of Top 10 Films who spent the last few weeks watching every - yes, I said every - A Christmas Carol re-imagining brought to the silver screen. To make life easier on us, though, he's counted down the top 10 versions dating from the dawn of cinema in 1901, all the way up to the present!

Last but not least, I've got a bit of fanfiction for you as Nick of Cinema Romantico takes on the task of envisioning a future for the secondary romantic interests in one of my favorite guilty pleasure romances of the last 10 years, Serendipity!

Soundtrack of the Week:
Maybe one day I'll do a best movie scores of all time list, but until then you'll have to settle for me just oozing over some of my own personal favorites. Here's one from Once Upon a Time in America!





Enjoy your Monday, Everybody!

The Monday Corner 11/28/2011

The Monday Corner, brought to you in part by Safety Dance. Because you can dance when you want, you can leave your friends behind. Safety Dance, available in all good second hand store outlets.

Let's go!

Movies Watched This Past Week:

Hugo: There was lots of potential and lots of quality and beautiful visuals interspersed throughout, but the whole time it felt like there was something missing. Expect a review on this one day this week.

TV Series (kind of) Wrapped Up This Past Week:

The Walking Dead season 2: After a killer first three episodes, The Walking Dead's season 2 seemed to stall something awful. It's a shame that it took them until the final 10 minutes of their "mid-season finale" (which I'm pretty sure isn't an actual thing - grammar wise) that they remembered what the first season brought audiences that attracted them in droves.

For Your Consideration:
Hey look, it's links! Oh, the good ol' days are back.

Andrew of gmanReviews is calling upon everyone to discuss the appeal of the failed romance in cinema! The appeal is rather easy: after years of reality television we've all grown cynical and believe there's no true love left in the world. In other words - it's all MTV's fault.

John of The Droid You're Looking For tackles a subject near and dear to my heart in his piece on Film Writing: The Canon vs. The Current. If only a proper canon existed with which we could strategically attack particular points in current film and replace them all would be right with the world!

Sam of Film Intel is Johnny on the spot this week as he offers Hollywood the opportunity to do a sequel and rip on the News International scandal all in one go! That's practically giving Hollywood its cake, letting them eat it, and then cleaning up the dishes yourself.

Hollywood is such a tease, and Joanna of Man I Love Films is getting tired of it in her op-ed piece this week on teaser trailer fatigue.

Lastly, for this week's review of the week, we travel on over to the land of Hatters and Madness at The Matinee who tackles Martin Scorsese's 2011 offering, HUGO!

Soundtrack of the Week:
One of the real bright spots of Hugo is Howard Shore's throwback/modern mixture of a score. Check out some of it below:


Enjoy your Monday, Everybody!

The Monday Corner 11/21/2011

Movies Watched This Past Week:

It's countdown to Turkey Day time. My fellow Americans - I sound so presidential right now, don't ruin this for me - I wonder, what is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

For me, it's homemade rolls. Granted I end up making them half the time but we use my great grandmother's recipe and *drools* delicious!

For Your Consideration:

It's been far too long since I've linked to the LAMB - or partook in any of their events (that's all on me though, no excuses) - and I feel such linkage is well overdue. This week they're calling upon everyone to help in an all out effort to recast Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Be sure you head on over there and vote for your favorite!

The m0vie blog is at it again with this editorial on Classic Directors and Not-so Classic films! I wonder if this is the Francis Ford Coppola' Jack honorable list? If so, I admit, I loved that movie as a kid.

Mike of You Talking to Me? digs in with this mind bender on the role of the "Anti-" (particularly war) movie in film criticism, if a role should exist for it at all. I'm still waiting for Hollywood to make an anti-enchilada movie but they continue to disappoint.

Continuing on the trail of FlixChatter's post last week, Rich of Wide Screen World unveils five movie crushes of his, and one actor he'd go gay for. I thought by default Stephen Fry was the go to actor for people going gay for? After all, you only have to meet him half way.

And for our review of the week we head on over to Between the Seats and their Forgotten Film Noir marathon with this week's installment of 1944's Murder, My Sweet. Don't worry if you haven't heard of the movie - that's kind of the point of his marathon.

Soundtrack of the Week:
Arguably my favorite scene in the history of film. The song Gondola no Uta in the Swing scene of Ikiru!



Enjoy your Monday, Everybody!

The Monday Corner 11/14/2011

Movies Watched This Past Week:

The Trip: Quite pleased that I sat down to watch this. Rob Brydon is just pure fun, and I really enjoyed the interplay between him and Steve Coogan, who did a find job at the film's center point.

Unstoppable: After a long day of physical labor, this was just the wind down the doctor ordered. Assuming that a doctor would order such a thing, which I'm not 100% convinced they wouldn't.

For Your Consideration:

While I'm hoping this isn't considered contributing to the delinquency of an adult, this week Ryan "Not Mads Mikkelsen, I said 'Mad Hatter'" McNeil of The Matinee is heeding the advice of yours truly, Allison of nerdvampire.wordpress.com, and most specifically Alex from FilmForager.com and diving in to the wonderful world of anime!

We've all got our movie crushes, whether we openly admit it or not, and this week Ruth of FlixChatter dove into the fantastical world of our inner desires. Does Jasmine from Aladdin count? If not, Disney has seriously skewed my view of women...

Expectations are the elephant in the room for most reviews, and despite our best efforts to dove them up with sheets, and verbal magic, they never go away. This week Nick of Anomalous Material kicked up some dust as he examined the myth of cinematic expectations. Will his post be everything you expect it to be?

Andrew of Encore's World of Film & TV is beginning a new series of his own this week, The Supporting Actor project. To kickoff this campaign he's going all the way back to 2010 and examining Ruffalo, Rush, Bale, Renner, and Hawkes!

And for our review of the week I'm taking you across the pond to the wonderful world of Sam at Film Intel, who took the time to traverse one of the best movies, let alone anime movies, I've ever seen in Grave of the Fireflies. He may not come down quite in the fixated section that I did, but all the same, a worthy review!

Soundtrack of the Week:
It may be a bit cheesy but I do love to sit back, turn off, and watch Independence Day from time to time. Be sure to check out the score below!



Enjoy your Monday, Everybody!

The Monday Corner 11/07/2011

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the number one post on the web for quick glances and grumblings about lack of linkage! Look at this way - if I did link to you it would only materialize our relationship. I love you for you, which is why I don't like to you every week. See? Now doesn't that make you feel better?

For Your Consideration:
This is the place where links are given, enter with caution.

Can factual accuracy harm the flow of a film? That's the question Ben Cooper over at Anomalous Material tackles this Q&A session.

The Great White Dope is kicking off his trek towards his 200th review, be sure you head over there and wave your signs in support!

Reel Talk steps up to the plate and bats against the prevailing tide in this week's post on five reasons not to hate the much blehed Tower Heist.

Don't let the title fool you, this post on The Ugly Truth About Chick Flicks over at Man, I Love Films dives into the many fundamentals flaws with the perception of 'chick flicks' from both those outside looking in and those inside looking out.

Lastly, for the review of the week, we're going back to Nick of Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob who tackled one of the few films to ever rack up a near perfect score from me on the first viewing in The Seventh Seal!

Soundtrack of the Week:
Watched Beauty and the Beast again this weekend for the first time in a long time, and I can't help but think about how epic and beautiful the score to the film is!



Enjoy your Monday, Everybody!

The Monday Corner 10/31/2011

Welcome to a Halloween edition of the Monday Corner. An edition so scary you won't even notice you've already called your mother on speed dial begging for help. What makes this post so scary you ask? Well... BOOOOOO! Scared? No? Damn... I'll try harder next time.

Movies Watched This Past Week:

Captain America The First Avenger: The movie benefits greatly from using the Avenger tie in but staying its own beast for a great portion of it. I also like that it's not a slave to the action, and really seems to enjoy having the characters just go out and have good ol' fashion fun. Granted the acting felt a bit flat at times, but Evans is always more charisma than range. Unfortunately there's that ending... which, I hate to say it, is dreadful. If The Avengers film turns out to be less than what many have hoped for then I can safely say they went a long way suck the life out of some potentially awesome films.

Fiddler on the Roof: Alright, technically I've seen this movie before, but I think I was 12 and had no appreciation for what it was trying to do because nothing with kaboom. Now that I'm 24 and am seeing it with fresh eyes I have to say, amazing movie. Really love the characters and the story and how they all intertwine. Especially the opening act, that is just pure cinema perfection.

For Your Consideration:
Opening this week's link fest is a post so scary it features the name Armond White! Yeah, now you're shaking in your boots.

Duke and the Movies dives into the tricky territory of what exactly defines film criticism, and how the professional and amateur worlds are constantly becoming more entangled. When your comments are equal to the prose of the post you've written, you know you've done something right - good post Sam.

In honor of the frightful Halloween tradition, Defiant Success has been burning through a plethora of horror and thriller mainstays, along with a few relative newcomers. Be sure you head on over and check it out for all the scary goodness!

Encore Entertainment navigates the world of abusive relationships as he weighs his male perspective of the classic Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire, against the female perspective of his fellow classmates.

While American audiences continue to chomp at the bit over news for Spielberg's upcoming motion capture adventure in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, and Film Intel is johnny on the spot with this early review.

What exactly is the 'role' of a director? We all have vague ideas about what exactly they do, but few of us have sat through the entire mental process and placed them within the context of the entire film making collective. Kid in the Front Row does exactly that with his post on what makes a good director.

Poll Update:
Wahoo for few ties this week, I was beginning to worry you all had gone soft on me.

Poll Results: Do You Like Scary Movies?
1. 5 votes: I like them from time to time (fair enough, I think they're a seasonal endeavor)
2. 4 votes: A couple, but not many (this might be more towards my leaning, I appreciate more than I like)
3. (tie) 2 votes: Only the Classics (who can deny the power of Karloff/Lugosi?) and Too scared to watch scary movies (If you play disco in the background, I bet that'd help cure it)
4. 1 vote: Only the cheesy B-horror movies (one of these days I'd like to tackle a few of these but not today)

Soundtrack of the Week:
Seriously what other score can you possibly post about on Halloween, other than the score to Halloween itself!



BOOO! Still no? Fine, have a happy Halloween!

The Monday Corner 10/24/2011

Movies Watched This Past Week:

Hanna: I was a bit disappointed with this one. Major fan of Saoirse Ronan, anything with Cate Blanchett is instantly in my fave queue, and Eric Bana has really molded himself into a fine performer... but it just didn't all click for me. I'll definitely say that with each passing film Joe Wright seems to be getting more and more intrusive as a director. Which might have been part of the reason I came out a bit mixed on this one. It just felt like a major component was missing. The B to connect A and C if you will. Oh well, sadly this will be my first big disappointment of the year.

Trick 'R Treat: I hate go there, but the one two punch of these two really made this weekend the weekend of disappointment. I didn't know much about this one, except from Kaiderman and a couple other posts I'd seen around the bend, but... meh. Perhaps because I wasn't expecting mediocre horror mixed with primarily dark humor that it really caught me off guard? I'm not sure, but I will say that I wasn't wholly upset when the credits began to roll. If anything, I was a bit relieved.

For Your Consideration:

With Halloween quickly approaching, The Great White Dope is counting down towards the much revered holiday with a collection of fun pop culture and obscure horror film references. Why hasn't anyone made a horror film yet about a crazed religious icon who hops on couches and decries PPD? That would scare the hell out of me...

Cinematic Paradox celebrates their second birthday in style, throwing out the love to their fellow bloggers and revamping their top 100 films! I've always wondered, will me linking to a post that links back to my blog which links back to their post create an infinite loop in the internet? No better way to find out than with a blog with 'paradox' in the title!

Ever wonder what kind of horror film is just perfect for you? The Droid You're Looking For has you covered with this high flying flow chart, guiding you through the land of horror. Though I must protest, I do feel Twilight, no matter how genre-ish it is, has no place on this flow chart, and should be punishment for those who fall off trying to navigate the thing.

Tackling one of the films that made me fall in eternal adoration of Jimmy Stewart, Sam over at Film Intel dives into the complicated, but wonderful world of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I've said it before, I'll say it again - it's always sad when you see a film decades old taking on a flaw in our world and realize it's still 100% applicable today.

Last but not least is the movie list to end all movie lists. In fact, upon finishing this if Heather didn't see in giant letters "Game Over" floating above her head then the world is in far worse shape than I realized. So join Heather and her post over at Man, I Love Films as she counts down the top 10 urination scenes in movies.

Poll Update:
Apparently everyone needs to put on their Sunday best because this is tie city.

Poll Results: Best Movie Apocalyptic Scenario
1. (tie) 3 votes: Zombies (Walking Dead may have skewed this a bit), Nuclear War (just so long as you don't fight in the war room), and Environmental (shhh, the trees are out to get you!)
2. (tie) 2 votes: Robots (I am a machine... please insert your debit card now) and Aliens (some acid trips you don't come back from)
3. (tie) 1 vote: Sickness (till death do us part) and Vampires (I can't help but feel Twilight has unjustly undone this genre)

New Poll: To take a line from the Scream franchise, simply "Do you like scary movies?"

Soundtrack of the Week:
For my money, John Murphy has to be one of the best working composers of the last ten years. Here's his main track of the films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later!



Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 10/17/2011

Movies Watched This Past Week:

Miller's Crossing: If I were to rank the Coen brothers' films I would safely put this near the top and not blink twice. I was really worried I wouldn't like it given my previous experiences with them, but they sure as hell delivered on this one.

Transformers Dark of the Moon: Well, at least this time around they did try. I can say that. Unfortunately for all their technical innovation they still haven't grasped the fundamental blocks that make up interesting characters and plot, which in turn build powerful tension. It's pretty too look at, but the action all feels lifeless because the emotion just isn't there.

Moneyball: Not as good as I wanted it to be, but a far cry from bad or mediocre. I really liked the concentration on characters. However, Sorkin and Miller really struggled to keep things fluid, leaving to a lot of strong disjointed scenes that don't build up to the ending so much as reach it.

For Your Consideration:

If you haven't been keeping up with Edgar Chaput's ongoing Shaw Brothers marathon over at Between the Seats than you've really been missing out. Be sure you check out his latest review on Golden Swallow!

Is the Manic Pixie Dream Girl an annoying caricature that undermines women or a romanticized version of the 'ideal' woman? Nick Prigge dives into the oft debated territory over at Anomalous Material and comes out wanting his own manic pixie dream girl.

I've been torn for some time now as to whether or not I think Ides of March is a theater film or DVD film. Well, this review from Yojimbo_5 over at Let's Not Talk About Movies may have just convinced me to stick with the DVD go of things after all.

For my money, The Shining is the best psychological horror-thrillers of all time. However, everyone else may not think so, and on his 60/60 journey Nick of Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob came out with positive but mixed feelings on the film.

Lastly, throwing some love out there for one of the best all around bloggers on the net - Alex J. Cavanaugh. The trailer for his second book, CassaFire, hit the interwebs last week and it's pretty sweet. Be sure you check it out and support this fellow movie buff!

Poll Update:
Look on the bright side, at least you're not being attacked by a koala.

Poll Results: Do You Buy Into a Film's Oscar Hype?
1. 7 votes: Sometimes, if it's a movie I'm interested in anyways (the power of reinforcing one's own preconceived notions ftw!)
2 (tie) 4 votes: Always, I live for Oscar hype (just be careful you don't step in the bullshit - killer SPR reference, if you got it that is) & Not until it's Oscar season (right with you there)
3. (tie) 3 votes: Never. Oscar Hype is a bane on cinema (I wouldn't go that far but too each their own) & Seldom, Oscar hype is a bit annoying (that it can be, especially when hype overwhelms content).

New Poll: With The Walking Dead coming back, I want to know - what is your favorite cinema apocalyptic scenario?

Soundtrack of the Week:
Upon my viewing of Miller's Crossing I was quite taken with Carter Burwell's beautiful score. Be sure and check it out below!



Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 10/10/2011

Movies Watched This Past Week:

Fast Five: Yeah I buckled down and ended up watching it anyways. They did a smart thing when they looked around and saw the likes of the Ocean's 11 series and The Italian Job and thought "hey, our series could fit into that mold." It was only aided by them actually coming up with some creative driving sequences to boost the thrills. Well played Justin Lin.

Winchester '73: Technically I saw this a long time ago. Too long in fact. Still ranks as one of my favorite westerns. Stewart is dynamo and I love what Mann does with the gun. Really spins it into that All Quiet on the Western Front boot syndrome.

For Your Consideration:

Subjective versus Absolutism, rummaging through a topic right out of the Uni playbook Darren of The m0vie Blog tackles one of the most complicated, and indeed fascinating, dualities in cinema criticism.

I make no qualms about the fact that I love Hitchcock and am at the same time torn by my limited list of viewings. Still, Rich of Wide Screen World takes on of my favorites of the Hitchcock collection in Shadow of a Doubt.

In perhaps one of the most insightful and analytical reviews of a film that seldom receives much of either, Simon's Classic Columb segment over at Man, I Love Films dives deep into the world of Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones.

Not everyone has climbed aboard the Red State bandwagon, and as someone who has recently fallen out of love with Kevin Smith I'm finding it an interesting battle of the fandom to watch. Be sure you check out Ryan "I Used To Tango Twice on Wednesdays With a Mad Hatter" McNeil's look at the much praised and bashed film over at The Matinee.

One of the most beautiful films ever made, The Elephant Man finds its way into the heart of Anna of Defiant Success. Still remember the power of that still shot on Anthony Hopkins welling up when he first laid his eyes upon Merrick - wholeheartedly agree it's the best shot of the film Anna!

Poll Update:
Hey you guys, hey you guys, hey you guys. That is all.

Poll Results: Favorite Kind of movie ending?
1. 8 votes: Bittersweet farewell (its like crying but not really being unmanly)
2. 6 votes: Twist You Never Saw Coming (OMG!)
3. 4 votes: Other (oh come on I through this out there just for completeness sake, you weren't actually supposed to vote for it)

New Poll: How much do you buy into the Oscar film hype?

Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 10/3/2011

Be sure you tune in to the blog this Thursday as I will be calling on all of your help for devising a solution for a very specific dilemma I'm dealing with!

For Your Consideration:

While my own experiences with him may be far more limited than I would have hoped, there's no denying - in my eyes - that Buster Keaton is awesome. And this retrospective on the man's illustrious, albeit complicated, career from The Droid You're Looking For rises to the occasion in paying homage to him.

Ever want to have a Requiem For a Dream lunchbox when you were a kid? How about an Unfaithful setup? If so, you're in luck because Go See Talk's blog-a-thon envisions all the R-rated lunch awesomeness that you were deprived of as a child! I'm still waiting for my Ichi the Killer lunchbox...

You know, people cut off their own hair a lot in movies. Maybe it's the 'hip' thing to do? Wait, does that mean I should cutoff my hair? You know, being the hip guy that I am. Well, in such tradition and in honor of the release of 50/50, Alex the Film Forager stepped up to the plate and counted down her top five hair cutting scenes in movies.

Should celebrities change their name? Does it really do any good? That's the challenge taken on by The Great White Dope this week as he looks at everyone from Natalie Portman to Chuck Norris and the moves they made to ensure their cinematic immortality.

Everyone seems to be high up on this latest Joseph Gordon-Levitt (I refuse to openly call him JoGo) and this review from Ryan "Rocking it Like a Mad Hatter in Remission" McNeil of The Matinee.ca has only gone to bolster that stance.

Poll Update:
Alright we're back on track with a brand new poll. Put on your straight inner reflection face and let's go!

New Poll: Here's what I'm curious about this week - What is your favorite kind of movie ending?

Soundtrack of the Week:
For my money this is one of the best scores of all time. It just has the great misfortune of being from an M. Night film that will likely be disregarded by all in 10 years as he continues his spiral into social oblivion.



Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 9/26/2011

New Movies Watched This Past Week:

Bridemaids - More on this one later, but for now I'd like to say: there are a handful of critics I can think of who have done this film quite a disservice in their representation of it.

For Your Consideration:

There's no denying that I love me some Pete Postlethwaite - aka former King of the misspelt last name - and as such I really dug this writeup from Big Thoughts From a Small Mind; reflecting on his illustrious, if not at times frustrating, career!

What are the worst movies you've ever watched? Are they ones certain collectives hold in high regard, or are they your standard much maligned affair? Either way, Alex J Cavanaugh is diving through some of an assortment of awfulness as he and his loyal legion of followers took part in The Worst Movie Ever blogathon.

Fashion in film is a tricky thing. Go too far to the chic and risk your characters being laughed at. Go too far to the plain and risk your characters not being taken seriously. It's a surprisingly interesting subject, which Defiant Success tackles by looking at key examples from key decades in Hollywood history. All part of The Hollywood Revue's Fashion in Film Blogathon.

There's nothing quite as bad as a great villain being trapped in a sordid film. Or at least a villain with aspirations of greatness being held back by one. Such was the road traversed by Kai in this past week's list installment over at Man, I Love Films. . Of course, the lack of a Mr. Freeze mention - with his killer lines like "freeze" - is an obvious oversight on Kai's part.

Now, normally I avoid posting to reviews of films here because, well, after a while they can get a bit samey. That said, one review last week really caught my eye; and not in a way you might expect. It is said of certain movies that "you just had to be there." But I never considered This is Spinal Tap to be one of those. This review by Duke and The Movies has me reconsidering that stance.

Movie Soundtrack of the Week:
Don't ask how, but this past week I was reminded just how awesome the soundtrack to the original Pinocchio film is.




Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Corner 9/19/2011

New Movies Watched This Past Week:

Tron Legacy - Curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, like its cinematic father before it, the movie is equally mediocre in execution. Not to mention Jeff "who just farted in here, man" Bridges' digitized youth face was used way too much in lighting way too unkind to it.

For your Consideration:

Is Paul Rudd the new Jack Lemmon? In my opinion, no. Not even close. However, that doesn't stop Andrew of gManReviews from thinking so and doing quite a good job of selling his point.

Perhaps as equally renown as the Star Wars mythology is the Star Wars "that doesn't make sense" phenomenon. The folks over at Go See Talk decided to take that concept and put it into action with their Top 5 Things I Never Understood About 'Star Wars.' What I never understood is why R2D2 never took his beat boxing skills on the road. I'd pay to see it.

Are there really movies that would be better with bacon? Obviously, bacon is delicious and let's be honest some movies could use the sizzle. Well John over at The Droid You're Looking For has decided to take this to the next level and envision which movies would most benefit from making the bacon transition. Don't worry vegans, I'm sure he'll have a Tofu version coming out soon....

It's the age old question - to go to the theater with others or to stick it alone? Dylan of Man I Love Films thinks the benefits of going it alone have some heavy value and has thus organized a list to make his case for it. Personally, I go alone and just sit uncomfortably close to people to make it look like I'm there with others. See, that's called compromise.

Few things make me happier than reading Sam from Film Intel break down the utter stupidity of certain aspects of the Hollywood industry. This past week he took a gander at the movie poster for "I Don't Know How She Does It" and didn't care for what he sees. So, in fine form he broke down the seven things wrong with it for your reading pleasure.

Poll Update:
As you may have noticed there was no new poll last week. Sorry to say, the same for this week. Maybe I'll do a post as to why, but for the time being polls are on hiatus.

Movie Soundtrack of the Week:
For your listening pleasure, I give you the cool soundings of Quincy Jones for the 1969 classic The Italian Job!



Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monay Corner 9/12/2011

New Movies Watched This Past Week:

Contagion - Nothing quite like an allergy attack right in the middle of a film about a deadly disease sweeping the world. Really gets the crowd around you, and in no way incites suspicious stares.

For your Consideration:

It's roughly that time of the year again (no not that one, the other one) which can mean only one of a few million things. That's right, it's TIFF time! And as usual, I'd like to direct everyone over to my good blogging buddy, Ryan "I Can't Get No Satisfaction With Mad Hatter" McNeil of The Matinee whom I shall be living through over the next couple of weeks as he covers all that the festival has to offer!

The career of a director can be a fickle and complicated series of fine tuning and careful selection. Yet the words every director fears most are "box office bomb." Be sure and check out FlixChatter's look at six directors whose careers have been put on notice since they're surefire hit, dumped down into viewer abyss.

Let's be honest, when we talk about the cult scene what we're really trying to say is "people who spend an inordinate amount of time watching Rocky Horror Picture Show. Surprisingly enough that's not all cult film watchers do! So if you want to know more, head on over to Movie Reviews by Tom Clift and check out his in depth article on the cult scene in Melbourne, Australia!

In an effort to dispel the myth that all remakes are evil, Jim Turnbull over at Anomalous Material tackled the tricky and argumentative task of naming 5 Remakes Better Than the Original. Some part of me secretly kept hoping to see Swept Away there, if for no other reason than to just open my window and hear the screams of bloggers everywhere echo across the land.

How awesome is Jimmy Stewart? So awesome he could turn back time, then travel forward into time, and then back again and still not create any confusing paradoxes! Make sense? No? Well, no fear because Great White Doper over at Mecha-Blog-Zilla tackles the lovable world of Jimmy Stewart in a more succinct, and hilarious manner!

Poll Update:
No soup for you. You split too much. I need clear winners or bust!

Results: How do you feel about 'shaky cam' recovered footage movies?
1. (tie) 5 votes: There's a couple I really dig (I take away your shovel) & Liked them at first but they're not aging well (I think this of Blair Witch Project every day)
2. (tie) 4 votes: Love them to death (you would) & Can't stand them, they're always dark and all a bit samey (I do suppose it depends on the film, but yeah...)

Movie Soundtrack of the Week:
Alright, so I'm back on my anime kick. It's bound to happen at least once a year. However writing that article on Shinkai Makoto a couple weeks back reminded me just how awesome anime films music are. Be sure to check out The Place Promised in Our Early Days!




Have a great Monday everybody!

The Monday Tuesday Corner 09/06/2011

Movie Watched This Past Week:

I actually spent much of this past week watching movies I'd already seen. Some more times than I'm ever likely to admit. The Star Wars saga, whose blatant inconsistencies become ever more apparent with each passing viewing, though I find my care dwindling in contrast. Sunshine, Serenity, Road Warrior, all back to back to back? Man, someone over at SyFy must have fallen asleep in the programming room and hit the "good movies" button by mistake!

For Your Consideration:
Give me the link and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your posts oh oh! Shush, it ties in with the first post and I couldn't think of anything to replace rock and roll with on the fly!

Ryan "Formerly Mad Hatter But Now No Longer Known As That" McNeil of The Matinee was once a feature, and talented list maker by his own right, and yet he was turned his back on this oh holy grail of the blogging forum. Why? Check out his post to find out!

What's one way to get Kaiderman out of the house? Well, yes I'm sure a game of Candyland might work. But, better yet, have your theater play one of the directors Kai goes gaga for (and by gaga I mean gaga, not Lady Gaga and if that was your first then you are forever shamed). Check out his post over at Man, I Love Films!

This past week saw the entire geek community rise up in a single voice and yell "ugggh, OMG Lucas! WTF?" Admittedly it's not quite as powerful as it could have been but all the same check out Screen Insight as they dive into one of the most 'no'-tastic yells of all time courtesy Star Wars Episode 3!

There's no feeling quite like waking up in the morning to your robotic companions taking care of all the mundane work you never want to deal with. But which robots to pick? Well, follow The Droid You're Looking For's journey through the world of cinematic Robots as he gauges the ones most worth hiring.

Where a film is set and the impact that has can often be as big a factor in the unveiling of our characters as the plot itself. Big Thoughts From a Small Mind takes a gander at this phenomenon, delivering a collection of films where the setting rises up to be a supporting character in its own right.

Poll Results:
I've decided to extend the poll for this week. Be sure you get out there and vote as soon as you get the opportunity!

Noteworthy DVD Releases of the Week:

X-Men: First Class: I prefer to think of this film as the start of a new series which is really kind of like the old series, but let's be honest will never really match up point for point. That's the problem with prequels on the whole. Characters actions in the earlier installments often lead you to wonder why they would act in a completely different manner, supposedly later on in the series.

Hanna: Still jumping to see this, never could find the right time to check it out at the theaters.

Have a great Tuesday everybody!

The Monday Corner 8/29/2011

New Movies Watched This Past Week:

Limitless - Ah, nothing quite like two hours of cool trying desperately to outweigh the blatant stench of unlikable characters.

5 Centimeters Per Second - It is appropriate to say each of the film's three episodes, on their own, don't account for much, but as an entire collective it's quite a powerful film.

A Place in the Sun - Gah, Montgomery Clift, Shelly Winters, and Elizabeth Taylor are to die for.

The Troll Hunter - While I appreciate what this film was trying to do, and admire some of what it did, the whole shaky cam 'recovered footage' sub-genre is really dying out to me.

For your Consideration:

Ever looked at the wide collection of infamous directors and ever thought "man, if only I had a nice and easy flowchart to help me weed through the unnecessary ones"? If so, you're in luck! The Droid You're Looking For has organized this lovely Flowchart to directors for your convenience. That said, I find it quite shocking that one answer either way would lead me to Kurosawa or Lars Von Trier... *shivers* never wanting to make that mistake!

I don't say it often enough but I will say it now - this guest post for She Blogged By Night on Yor, the Hunter from the Future by Scott of World O' Crap had me in tears I was laughing so hard. If I never see the movie it'll be fine because I'll always have this post to go back to.

You know, 1964 was one hell of a year for cinema. Becket, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, and Dr. Strangelove (and a movie called Zorba the Greek which I had not heard of but have since been told is pretty good). See AMPAS, that's how a Best Picture category is supposed to look! Thanks to Silver Screening Room for taking the time to give a film by film breakdown of the year!

While the title may put a damper on some who've traversed the same subject matter, Between the Seats is continuing their ever popular 'Definitive Bond Marathon' with 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me. Really hoping the titular spy is Chevy Chase from Spies Like Us. I think he and Moore would have been a dynamite couple.

Are you really into standing in roughly the same place as those actors from that movie you quite enjoy? Well, you're in luck! This week Film Intel tackles the ever popular movie shoot location guide with a look at the London Movie Guide. Let's be honest, the only proper way to go about something like this is to get a full England one and recreate - move by move - the entirety of An American Werewolf in London. If you can get Jenny Agutter to tag alone, it'd be the greatest thing ever.

Poll Update:
Revenge is a dish best served cold, unless it's ice cream. In which case, what the hell are you trying to do getting revenge by ice cream? Brain freeze the person to death? Are you mad? Honestly. The state of revenge seekers these days have really gone down hill.

Results: Revenge films are....
1. 8 votes: Good when unconventional (a.k.a good when they have Bourne in the title)
2. 5 votes: A personal favorite (I like the series but lately it's been a struggle.
3. 2 votes: The best genre, period (you are fully entitled to your opinion *cough*)
4. 1 vote: Seriously, how many husband/wife/brother/sister/son/daughter combinations are there? (I tried to do the math on this but I just didn't have it in me to bother).

New Poll: As I mentioned above in my brief sentence thought on Troll Hunter, the shaky cam genre is really starting to whimper in my book. They're blending together with relatively same ambiguous "did they live, did they die" endings with lots of the same guises circling the narrative. So I want to know, how do you feel about the films? (Keep in mind I'm including everything from Blair Witch to Cloverfield, Rec, Quarantine, etc.)

Movie Soundtrack of the Week:
If you weren't sold to check out his work after reading my post yesterday, be sure to check out the soundtrack for 5 Centimeters Per Second! It's quite a beauty.



Have a great Monday everybody!