I really liked this one. I actually think it was better than Up, both in terms of animation and overall production value. The story was pretty good, and something that is perfectly suited for animation. There was just no other way to make something like this. I actually thought the look of the movie was one of the most cinematic, eclectic and beautiful aesthetic designs I've seen in a long time. It has such drastic changes in scenery. The story was interesting, voice acting was top notch. Plus there's a cat so I already like it.
8.5/10
Film#87 - Let The Right One In, 2008, dir. Tomas Alfredson
This was hard to judge. Not because I was unsure how I felt about the film, but because the version I got was dubbed in english, rather than subtitles. It pretty much ruined the entire experience. It's as if the translator had no idea what they were doing. Take an early scene for example, where two drunk russian men are saying goodnight. The dialogue went something like this:
"You are my favourite pal"
"Thanks bud, I enjoy you as well"
"Oh friend, have a good night"
This dialogue, along with the horrendous voice acting, it made me cringe basically the entire length of the film. However, beyond this problem with my copy, the film was phenomenal. The basic idea is 12 year old girl moves into an apartment beside a 12 year old boy. She happens to be a vampire, and her father goes out at night to drain people of their blood for her to survive on. The boy, Oskar, he's bullied at school and has no friends. What genre is this film? It's a horror, but it's horror elements are rather toned down. It mainly deals with emotional problems and elements of fitting in, so it's a drama. It's also romantic, and at times very sweet. So I guess it's a horror drama romance. And it's done beautifully.
9/10
Film#88 - Drag Me To Hell, 2009, dir. Sam Raimi
This really isn't a movie for everyone. If anyone saw Raimi's Spiderman 3 and it's notorious dance sequence, you have a vague idea of how cheesy this man can get. This is sightly different though, as the film is very aware it's cheesy, both in style and premise. We've got a woman who gets cursed by a gypsy for not giving her an extension on her mortgage payment. It's filled with voodoo and blood, but the movie doesn't take itself all to seriously, and neither should the audience. I think the audience is somewhere between a Shaun Of The Dead fan and an Evil Dead fan. It's bizarre, and not terribly well acted, but it makes up for it with these strangely funny quirks added to the most horrific and gory scenes.
7/10
Film# 89 - The Machinist, 2004, dir. Brad Anderson
This was like a bad version of Fight Club for me, both in the content of the story and some aesthetic choices. It's dirty. The first thing that sticks out, and sadly one of the most interesting parts of the movie, is that Christian Bale is literally a stick figure. He lost 60 pounds for this role, and he looks disgusting. The director obviously knew this, so Bale spends a considerable amount of time shirtless. It's unbelievable how thing he is. This film is full of strange occurrences you're not sure what to make of, but I guess in the end they all make sense. It's that kind of movie. And it's not particularly well done, in comparison to other films like it.
6.5/10
Film#90 - Moon, 2009, dir. Duncan Jones
This was nuts. I was literally saying, out loud and to myself, "What is going on." Sam Rockwell is an astronaut who is stationed on a base on the moon. The basic idea, that is explained at the film's start so no spoilers, is that in the not so distant future scientists discover that the moon has absorbed helium over time from the sun's rays, and has it stored in the rock. There is an operation where automated machines go along the surface and collect what they call Helium3, which is a clean energy source that supplies the entire Earth. The station is fairly fully automatic, except Sam (both real name and character name) is given a 3 year contract to live there in case things need maintenance. I can't say much more without spoiling the movie, but what I can say is Sam Rockwell is an absolutely brilliant actor. This is a unique story, and it's done so well. So much of the film is just so technically difficult, and it's done flawlessly. Highly recommended.
9/10
