DVR Purge: 3/31-4/6

A certain series finale and March Madness in April almost brought me past the week mark again. Oh well, no need to worry about either of those again.

Past Purges


How I Met Your Aunt Robin "Last Forever"
Not again. See this.

Archer "Archer Vice: Palace Intrigue - Part I"
On the plus side, this is the last week in which my HIMYM fury will cloud my thoughts of this show. On the negative side, there's no chance it could make an impression this week other than I enjoy how Fred Armisen seems to have the market cornered for Colombian characters. Didn't recognize Lauren Cohan at all though as Juliana.

Agents of SHIELD "End of the Beginning"
I'm still adapting to watching this show the right way, and the current run of episodes is making it a lot easier for me. The writers finally have a grasp of all the characters. With Skye an agent now, they feel like a team, a unit, so watching them work in an episode like this is more about seeing their individual strengths come together and the conflict of something like whatever May is up to works so well because there's the feeling that she is ruining the good thing they had going. Also, the show is handling the Herculean task of fitting in the Marvel universe without getting in the way of the movies far more nimbly. It's reached the point where I am watching each week to see what happens next as opposed to watching to see if it's getting any better. I still have questions about where the show's ceiling is, but if they keep up their current pace, I'm more than happy to keep up with it.

The Mindy Project "French Me, You Idiot/Indian BBW"
I'm not sure if my fondness has grown in Mindy's absence or these were simply two of the better episodes this season. While the 'shipping of Mindy and Danny has never been an overwhelming push of the series, it is nice having them together for a couple reasons: 1) No revolving door of potential love interests that we no are going nowhere 2) Mindy and Chris

Cougar Town "We Stand a Chance"
Oh, a baby...yay? I have no desire to follow a baby season of this show. Overall, this was an ok season of the show. It's definitely reach a point of diminishing returns, which isn't so bad for a show finishing its 5th season.

The Middle "The Smell"
DVR Issues. I think my cable box hates ABC. In turn, I hate my cable box.

Suburgatory "The Ballad of Piggy Duckworth"
See The Middle.

Modern Family "A Hard Jay's Night"
I'm really getting tired of the show adding one last beat to stories with Cam and Mitchell. Without the last beat, it is a story of Mitchell being uncomfortable with the gender roles others are trying to force him and Cam into  and ends with a revelation that the cake topper is actually a sign of acceptance. With the last beat, Cam is using Mitchel's insecurities to exploit him. See what I mean? These two shouldn't be together. Elsewhere in the episode, Jay and Claire are emotionally stunted but they at least end in a nice place, the writers take another step to accepting that they can't write Luke as a 10 year old anymore, and Phil fits entertainingly naturally into a hair salon. All in all, not bad except for the expected bad story.

The Americans "Behind the Red Door"
Well, that got uncomfortable quick. Here I thought Elizabeth wanting to sleep with Clark was playful. It's clear now why Phillip didn't want to do it. I like that they are using Lucia as a parallel to young Elizabeth instead of using flashbacks. The whole episode was about how messy the job can be, especially emotionally.

The Big Bang Theory "The Indecision Amalgamation"
How has it taken the writers this long to have Amy patronize Sheldon like that? Mayim Bialik was wonderful at the dinner table pretending to care about Sheldon's dilemma. I'm starting to get the feeling that the writers are just going to rotate between women with Raj until they find someone who works with the rest of the cast. The struck gold with Rauch and Bialik and they seem to have the good sense not to force it now. As much as I love Kate Micucci (and I really do), she wouldn't fit well. This new girl could. Who knows.

Community "G.I. Jeff"
Only Community can get away with this. And, not just Community, but season 5 Community. Abed's Christmas required a lot of explaining. This episode had much more of a "just go with it" feeling. I'm slightly too young for all the G.I. Joe-kes, but I got most of them and it worked very well.

Parks and Recreation "Prom"
I love you, Parks and Recreation. The Pikitis ending was a master-stroke. I was in both disbelief and a fit of laughter that carried past my DVR recording. Everything else in the episode worked too. Tom realizing he's not cool. Ben finally getting to be cool. Donna's continued dominance in the dating pool. April and Andy working despite all reason. Ron and Leslie being worthy foes. But, Pikitis...Loved it!

The Crazy Ones "Danny Chase Hates Brad Paisley"
I like that Josh Groban likes being funny. I like that he realizes his strength is playing someone who is a little insufferable. I hate that he's so good at it. In all seriousness that, it's weird that an episode featuring Brad Paisley playing himself (entertainingly, if I may add), also has Groban playing a character and not himself. I'm all for it. It's weird though.

Parenthood "Cold Feet"
I'm so happy they aren't backtracking from Camille and Zeek selling the house, although the story seems to have shifted from them moving to be in the city more to moving for a more manageable house.
This charter school nonsense is proving to be less annoying than I expected. They are getting an expected level of adversity and it all seems to be laying the groundwork for an even larger arc next year. And, most importantly, it keeps Kristina out of politics.
I'd feel a whole lot better for Hank is Romano was a regular on this series. As long as he's not, not matter how many sweet moments he has with Sarah, and that speech in her apartment was very sweet, I'm not going to predict that ends well.
I'm not sure how the writers got me to like Drew's roommate but they have and I'm not really sure how that happened. Good job, writers.
Oh, then there's Roy Ed. Poor Roy Ed. He does all the legwork with Julia but then she goes and sleeps with Dave Mr. Knight instead.

Hannibal "Futamono"
The more I watch this show, the more I want to actually read the books about these characters. It would be nice to know all the holes the show is filling in the stories. Regardless, this is an unbelievably pretty show. I think it's style alone is remarkable enough for it to warrant twice the viewers it gets.

Saturday Night Live "Anna Kendrick/Pharrell"
After a couple really good episodes, this one faltered a bit and it wasn't anything in particular. The sketches were just all in the B range for me. "Dongs" was really funny but didn't seem diverse enough for the length. The Little Mermaid was mainly a way to get Anna Kendrick to sing (don't get me wrong. I'm always for that), but wasn't exceptionally funny after the first time. I love "Les Jeunes De Paris". The only problem this time was that I simply didn't like the song they used. Pharrell was surprisingly wooden in the one sketch they used him in. Even Weekend Update was less than inspired (except I did love the Memory contest jokes more than the studio audience did).

Delayed Reaction: Predator

The Pitch: It's like Commando with aliens!

What Took Me So Long: I surprised myself when I realized I'd never seen the original. Not sure how I missed it.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Well, the Predator has weirdly outlived everything else about the movie. One wonders if it didn't look so cool, would we really have ever seen Alien vs. Predator: Requiem? All things considered, this is a very basic survival movie. It's full of all the tropes one expects in this sort of movie. It rests on its merits and doesn't aspire any higher and I appreciate that.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: A lot of Governors in this. While the action was good, the story is not very compelling. Not that I was expecting it would be, but the acting is pretty dicey too. I'm not kidding about this series bombing if the Predator didn't look as cool as it did. There's not a lot here without a good monster to fight.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend

IMDB Top 250 Examination 2014

It's that time of year again. Yes, it's time to check up on the IMDB Top 250, one of my favorite lists of best movies. I covered my reasoning for this in past editions in 2011 and 2012 but basically it comes down to this: It's user generated, taking in a lot of votes. There's no prize associated with being on it, so there's less incentive for people to flood and/or fix the voting, so it comes closer to reflecting people's honest opinions. I've also accepted the limitations which basically comes down to recency bias, male skewed, and less worldly. Little has changed in regards to this, but it's still fun to catch up with it and see  how things have changed.
The mildly observant of you out there will notice it has been about a year and a half since the last time I did this. There's two reasons for this and I'll let you decide how much each one applies. Reason 1: I'd done the list after the summer season and at the beginning of the fall which was causing too much skewing of the placements (see The Avengers in 2012 and Drive in 2011). By the time April rolls around, few good new movies have come out and the Oscar movies have been out long enough to level out some. Reason 2: I got busy and lazy at the year mark and put it off. I like to think it was more the former than the latter but who am I kidding?
Let's see how things break down.

Highest Additions

There were a total of 33 new movies in the last year and a half. The most surprising development is that foreign movies, especially Indian ones, came in force.
In addition to Like Stars on Earth, 3 Idiots (#125), Rang De Basanti (#143), Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (#202), and Swades (#219) all found a spot on the list.  India has found IMDB. In total, 17 of the 33 movies new to the list are foreign. I could argue that this has to do with the improvement of world cinema, but I'm pretty sure it's that the .com users are becoming more savvy to IMDB.
Then there's the movies most likely to fall off. Obviously, older movies that joined the list are on better footing than the newer ones since there's less "flavor of the month" appeal. Despite the popularity of the The Lord of the Rings movies, I am surprised that The Desolation of Smaug showed up here. I don't know anyone who went nuts for this movie and doubt it has staying power. Notice how the first Hobbit movie isn't there anymore. From the last Oscars, 4 of the Best Picture nominees made the list look primed to fall. After the critical and award praise dies out, they should take a fall. I think Her is almost certain to drop. Don't let me forget The Lego Movie, the one 2014 movie. That's falling, probably off the list by this time next year. #179 isn't too high to be protected like The Avengers was when I did this last list.

Greatest Risers

Remember how I said the movie was getting more favorable to foreign movie? Here you go. I'm rather shocked to see The Intouchables make a 38 spot jump. I know I predicted it would fall off big last time. I was very wrong. Japanese cinema made some big strides as well. Miyazaki movie Howl's Movies Castle and My Neighbor Totoro both made big 38 spot jumps as well as a 26 spot jump for Princess Mononoke. All, Isao Takahata's Graves for Fireflies moved up 28. I have no idea what caused In the Name of the Father and A Beautiful Mind to jump so big.

Largest Falls

Black Swan continues to fall big. This is the second list in a row that it has fallen. I imagine it'll be gone by the next one of these. The Avengers also took that predictable nosedive. I was a little surprised that The Dark Knight Rises only fell 21. It means Christopher Nolan is still a force to be reckoned with here. I fully expect Interstellar to be top 50 in a year. I'm not sure what to make of the other drops. I can't think of any good reason for any of them to fall.

Biggest Drops

Moonrise Kingdom's fall shouldn't be a surprise when you consider that, for all the love Wes Anderson gets, he had only the one movie on the list last year and now none. The Artist came off that Oscar high and the list seems to determine it is more gimmick than classic. The other big falls from the list are just that ugly recency bias rearing it's ugly head.

Direct Comparisons

Not a ton of change hear. Of course, 18 months of new movies has led to a small spike to the post 2010 list. Nothing alarming about that. The average age of the movies in the list shifted but not by much. In 2012, the average movie was 32.4 years old. Currently, it is 31.3. As I said, not a big leap. It is the youngest of the three times I've done this however, so make of that what you will.

Directors

A lot of the same names in the list of directors with multiple entries. Hitchcock and Kubrick are still the top two although they are now tied. The Wolf of Wall Street moves Scoresese into first by himself. Then, Leone, Terantino, and Wilder have moved into the 5 way tie for 4th.
On a larger level, Directors with 3+ movies on the list has gone down again from 41.2% to 40.8% although Directors with 2+ movies has taken a slight uptick from 60.4% to 61.2%. In other words, not much has changed. People still like to revisit directors and it looks like the people who are the best at this keep producing the best final products.

What I've Seen

I'm slowly working through the list still. Seen 10 of the top 10, 41 of the top 50, and 138 of the 250. That's not a gain of more than a couple since last time. Granted, the list is a bit of a moving target, so that makes it a little tough. I'll admit, my Club 50 project is definitely my focus over seeing movies that are necessarily good. I'm setting the minimum goal of 150 when I revisit the list.

In Conclusion
I like this move to March/April for the list. Laziness motivated it a lot but it really is a better time to do it. There aren't as many new movies on the list that are likely to fall off and any that did have settles and aren't all that high anymore. The biggest new development on the list has to be the spread of world cinema. Since I like that this is a cumulative list, I'm glad that it has more of worldly feel.  I'm sad I didn't have the time to do a full breakdown of the countries the movies all come from.
Well, I hope to see you again about this in a year.

                    Top 250 as of 3/29/14

1	The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2	The Godfather (1972)
3	The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4	The Dark Knight (2008)
5	Pulp Fiction (1994)
6	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
7	Schindler's List (1993)
8	12 Angry Men (1957)
9	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
10	Fight Club (1999)
11	The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
12	Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
13	Inception (2010)
14	Forrest Gump (1994)
15	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
16	Goodfellas (1990)
17	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
18	Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
19	The Matrix (1999)
20	Seven Samurai (1954)
21	City of God (2002)
22	Se7en (1995)
23	The Usual Suspects (1995)
24	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
25	Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
26	It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
27	Léon: The Professional (1994)
28	Casablanca (1942)
29	Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
30	Life Is Beautiful (1997)
31	Rear Window (1954)
32	Psycho (1960)
33	American History X (1998)
34	City Lights (1931)
35	Saving Private Ryan (1998)
36	Spirited Away (2001)
37	The Intouchables (2011)
38	Memento (2000)
39	Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
40	Modern Times (1936)
41	Sunset Blvd. (1950)
42	Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
43	Apocalypse Now (1979)
44	The Pianist (2002)
45	The Green Mile (1999)
46	The Departed (2006)
47	Gladiator (2000)
48	Back to the Future (1985)
49	The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
50	Alien (1979)
51	Django Unchained (2012)
52	The Lives of Others (2006)
53	The Prestige (2006)
54	The Great Dictator (1940)
55	The Shining (1980)
56	Cinema Paradiso (1988)
57	Paths of Glory (1957)
58	American Beauty (1999)
59	WALL·E (2008)
60	North by Northwest (1959)
61	The Lion King (1994)
62	Amélie (2001)
63	Citizen Kane (1941)
64	Aliens (1986)
65	Toy Story 3 (2010)
66	Vertigo (1958)
67	M (1931)
68	Das Boot (1981)
69	Taxi Driver (1976)
70	A Clockwork Orange (1971)
71	Double Indemnity (1944)
72	Oldboy (2003)
73	To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
74	Princess Mononoke (1997)
75	Reservoir Dogs (1992)
76	Requiem for a Dream (2000)
77	Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
78	Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
79	Braveheart (1995)
80	Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
81	Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
82	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
83	Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
84	Full Metal Jacket (1987)
85	Singin' in the Rain (1952)
86	The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
87	The Sting (1973)
88	Bicycle Thieves (1948)
89	Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
90	Amadeus (1984)
91	All About Eve (1950)
92	Rashomon (1950)
93	The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
94	Snatch. (2000)
95	L.A. Confidential (1997)
96	The Apartment (1960)
97	Some Like It Hot (1959)
98	The Third Man (1949)
99	For a Few Dollars More (1965)
100	A Separation (2011)
101	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
102	Inglourious Basterds (2009)
103	Batman Begins (2005)
104	Yojimbo (1961)
105	The Kid (1921)
106	2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
107	Unforgiven (1992)
108	Raging Bull (1980)
109	Metropolis (1927)
110	Chinatown (1974)
111	Toy Story (1995)
112	Scarface (1983)
113	Up (2009)
114	Die Hard (1988)
115	Downfall (2004)
116	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
117	The Great Escape (1963)
118	Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
119	On the Waterfront (1954)
120	Like Stars on Earth (2007)
121	The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
122	Heat (1995)
123	The Hunt (2012)
124	The Seventh Seal (1957)
125	3 Idiots (2009)
126	Wild Strawberries (1957)
127	12 Years a Slave (2013)
128	The Elephant Man (1980)
129	The General (1926)
130	Ran (1985)
131	Ikiru (1952)
132	The Gold Rush (1925)
133	Blade Runner (1982)
134	My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
135	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
136	Gran Torino (2008)
137	Rebecca (1940)
138	Good Will Hunting (1997)
139	The Big Lebowski (1998)
140	The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
141	It Happened One Night (1934)
142	Rush (2013)
143	Rang De Basanti (2006)
144	Her (2013)
145	Warrior (2011)
146	Casino (1995)
147	Cool Hand Luke (1967)
148	V for Vendetta (2005)
149	The Deer Hunter (1978)
150	The Maltese Falcon (1941)
151	Fargo (1996)
152	Gone with the Wind (1939)
153	Trainspotting (1996)
154	Into the Wild (2007)
155	Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
156	How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
157	Hotel Rwanda (2004)
158	The Sixth Sense (1999)
159	Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
160	Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
161	The Thing (1982)
162	Annie Hall (1977)
163	Dial M for Murder (1954)
164	Platoon (1986)
165	A Beautiful Mind (2001)
166	Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
167	Sin City (2005)
168	No Country for Old Men (2007)
169	Touch of Evil (1958)
170	Mary and Max (2009)
171	Diabolique (1955)
172	Finding Nemo (2003)
173	Life of Brian (1979)
174	Network (1976)
175	The Princess Bride (1987)
176	Amores Perros (2000)
177	The Wizard of Oz (1939)
178	The Avengers (2012)
179	The Lego Movie (2014)
180	Stand by Me (1986)
181	The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
182	Ben-Hur (1959)
183	The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
184	Incendies (2010)
185	There Will Be Blood (2007)
186	The 400 Blows (1959)
187	Million Dollar Baby (2004)
188	Gravity (2013)
189	Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)
190	8½ (1963)
191	Donnie Darko (2001)
192	Strangers on a Train (1951)
193	The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
194	In the Name of the Father (1993)
195	High Noon (1952)
196	Gandhi (1982)
197	Persona (1966)
198	Notorious (1946)
199	The King's Speech (2010)
200	Infernal Affairs (2002)
201	Jaws (1975)
202	Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
203	Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
204	Twelve Monkeys (1995)
205	Fanny and Alexander (1982)
206	La Strada (1954)
207	The Terminator (1984)
208	The Night of the Hunter (1955)
209	Ip Man (2008)
210	Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
211	Stalker (1979)
212	The Big Sleep (1946)
213	Groundhog Day (1993)
214	Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
215	The Battle of Algiers (1966)
216	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
217	Rocky (1976)
218	La Haine (1995)
219	Swades (2004)
220	Barry Lyndon (1975)
221	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
222	Before Sunrise (1995)
223	Shutter Island (2010)
224	The Graduate (1967)
225	The Celebration (1998)
226	The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
227	The Hustler (1961)
228	A Christmas Story (1983)
229	Monsters, Inc. (2001)
230	Castle in the Sky (1986)
231	Underground (1995)
232	Roman Holiday (1953)
233	Memories of Murder (2003)
234	Stalag 17 (1953)
235	In the Mood for Love (2000)
236	The Help (2011)
237	A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
238	Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
239	The Killing (1956)
240	Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
241	Black Swan (2010)
242	Rope (1948)
243	The Truman Show (1998)
244	Three Colors: Red (1994)
245	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
246	La Dolce Vita (1960)
247	Beauty and the Beast (1991)
248	Star Trek (2009)
249	Prisoners (2013)
250	Jurassic Park (1993)

Delayed Reaction: Congo

The Pitch: Planet of the Apes but we can't call it that, so let's put it in Africa because I think that's where gorillas are.

What Took Me So Long: I never heard anyone talk about this movie ever, which is generally a sign that it should be avoided.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Pass

Why I Wish I Hadn't: What in god's name was this? All I came away with was a flurry of gray gorillas, blue diamonds, Bruce Campbell and Tim Curry. I'm not sure why any of the characters' stories bring them together beyond "we are making a movie and these are the characters we want to have in it".

Verdict (?): Strongly Don't Recommend

April Movie Preview

Somehow, a quiet March came and went and one of my few locks, Muppets Most Wanted went unviewed by me, which goes to show I am getting too soft with my locks. Not a problem this month. April starts off with the only movie I absolute must see. And, let me say, it is one that I'm very excited about.

2014

January | February | March 

2013

March |  April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December

4/4

The Lock: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Marvel movies are priority viewing by now for someone who sees movies as often as I do and this looks like the best "Phase 2" movie yet for them. I was pleasantly surprised by the first Captain America and find myself liking Chris Evans more and more. I'm very curious how it will do with this April release because this could cement Summer blockbuster season starting a month earlier for years to come if it can put up Iron Man numbers rather than Thor numbers.
Odds I'll See It: 97%


Other Options:

Under the Skin [Limited] - I should probably make this clear. I'll be seeing this. It's just a matter of when. Scarlett Johansson as a creepy sexy alien. I'm already sold. Seriously though, I've heard this movie is grim.
Odds I'll See It: 39%

Dom Hemmingway - Jude Law is the only reason to even mention this for me. This sounds like Carlito's Way except about a safe cracker. Too much potential for this to be bad.
Odds I'll See It: 6%

Alan Patridge - I like Steve Coogan but I'm not anglophile enough to be familiar with this character. I'll for forced to pass on this, I imagine.
Odds I'll See It: 4%

Nymphomaniac: Vol. II - I didn't see the first and it's not like I even had the opportunity. Buzz hasn't carried over to profits in the box office, so maybe I'll get my chance when it comes to Netflix.
Odds I'll See It: 2%

Island of Lemurs: Madagascar - It's a documentary about Lemurs. Do I need to explain why I won't be seeing this?
Odds I'll See It: 1%

Afflicted - Found footage horror movie about someone getting afflicted by a mysterious disease. I'm gonna need to know a little more before I consider watching this generic premise.
Odds I'll See It: 1%

4/11

The Lock: As I said, I'm officially tightening down on this distinction.

Other Options:

Oculus - 1) I'm curious to see Karen Gillan in a non-Dr. Who context. 2) I heard good things about this horror movie that has something to do with mirrors coming out of Sundance (I think that's when I heard about it). 3) I'm growing to really enjoy matinee showings of horror movies.
Odds I'll See It: 32%

Rio 2 - Well, I saw the first movie and it wasn't that bad. I like to see anything with Anne Hathaway in it as a rule but it is only her voice and there will be children in the theater. That's what we call a major deterrent.
Odds I'll See It: 25%

Draft Day - Part of me is extremely curious to see how they can make an entire movie out of an NFL Draft Day. Kevin Costner should be given the benefit of the doubt by now with sports movies but this looks like too much of a misfire to overcome.
Odds I'll See It: 11%

Cuban Fury - Ooo, Rashida Jones, Chris O'Dowd, and Nick Frost in what looks like a generic romantic comedy. Here's the thing. None of these people are actors I trust as leads yet, so the is Netflix fodder until proven otherwise.
Odds I'll See It: 8%

Only Lovers Left Alive - Loki, the White Witch, and Alice (of Wonderland fame) in a vampire movie. Other than being a little confused by Mia Wasikowska being in another movie like this after last year's Stoker, there's not much about this that I care to follow up on.
Odds I'll See It: 4%

The Railway Man - This movie looks like it was filmed 15 years ago, put in storage and is now being released. It's some sort of WWII revenge movie that would've been an awards contender the same year as The English Patient. It does have Colin Firth in it. That's enough for some people.
Odds I'll See It: 3%

Joe - So, this isn't Mud? Are we sure? Look at it again. Are we still sure?
Odds I'll See It: 2%

4/18

The Lock: Still None

Other Options:

Transcendence - God help me, I may have to see this. It looks like Eagle-Eye if the computer was the star of the movie instead of Shia LaBoeuf. Kate Mara looks like the female Wikileaks guy and Johnny Depp, well, he's officially lost all his draw power with this one.
Odds I'll See It: 22%

Heaven is for Real - I spent the whole time I saw this preview thinking it was The Five People You Meet in Heaven (obviously, I don't know anything about either). Regardless, a movie about a kid who sees people in heaven promises to have wishy-washy ending that I have no desire to see.
Odds I'll See It: 11%

Fading Gigolo - Woody Allen acting again, only acting. That curiosity is nearly enough to sell me on it. It's also John Turturro's directorial debut and the movie sounds like a less broad version of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. So, that's damning.
Odds I'll See It: 7%

A Haunted House 2 - I never even considered seeing the first of what is basically this Scary Movie reboot series. The second looks even less appealing.
Odds I'll See It: 2%

Bears - What the hell is up with all these documentaries about animals? March of the Penguins was popular, like, a decade ago. Why's the bandwagon taken this long?
Odds I'll See It: 2%

4/25

The Lock: Nope. Nothing strong enough.

Other Options:

The Other Woman - Comedy with three attractive blondes, two completely proven comedic talents (Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann), the other a Victoria Secret model (Kate Upton). This is one of the movies that has little chance to be great but just as little chance of being horrible. In short, I know what I'm going to get: Think, The Sweetest Thing.
Odds I'll See It: 57%

The Quiet Ones - Generic horror movie starring people I recognize but couldn't name.
Odds I'll See It: 13%

Brick Mansions - As fascinating as it is to watch a movie released after an actor dies, I have no strong desire to see this Paul Walker movie, which, based on the trailer, looks to mostly be about David Belle doing parkour.
Odds I'll See It: 4%

Locke - I do like me some Tom Hardy. That's all this has going for it. Otherwise, it sounds a lot like Getaway meets The Call.
Odds I'll See It: 1%

For No Good Reason - Another documentary? When did this start getting popular? Ok, popular implies box office success. This one about Ralph Steadman has Johnny Depp's name attached to it. That got it into theaters in some form. That won't be enough to get people into those theaters though.
Odds I'll See It: 1%

Movie Reaction: Noah

Formula: (The Road * Lord of the Rings) / Passion of the Christ
 

Why I Saw It: I'm sorry, but "Director of Requiem for a Dream takes on Genesis" is too juicy to pass up.

Cast: Russell Crowe is cast here to do what he does best: make his character tough (See: Oscar winning Best Picture, Gladiator). He also brings what he does second best: make his character a little crazy (See: Oscar winning Best Picture: A Beautiful Mind). So, that's our Noah: crazy badass on a mission from God. Jennifer Connolly is his wife. I with I could say there's more to her character than that. She cries some. That's about it. Emma Watson is the new Eve, basically. Whoops, I meant to start that with spoiler alert. Oh well, it clear early on that that's where the story is going. Logan Lerman brings his Perks of Being a Wallflower cred to play Noah's middle child, who is basically new Cain. Douglas Booth is Noah's oldest son (aka new Abel). There's a third son as well, although I'm pretty sure he was just there because the bible said Noah had three sons. Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins show up as well. Neither are all that interesting.

Plot: The movie starts by establishing that Noah is the last of the line of Adam and Eve's third son, Seth. Noah is sort of a vegan type (doesn't like picking flowers or killing animals for food). He's willing to kill people in defense though. Don't worry. This is Russell Crowe we're talking about. Noah has a couple visions about a flood and gets a band of rock monsters (no kidding) to help him. After a while, all the other humans of the world get word of this and want a ticket to ride. Then the flood happens and there's a whole other hour of tension. Eventually, the world's washed clean of all the wicked people but mostly, wrong place-wrong time people. Oh, and Noah goes stir crazy. None of this is subtle.


Elephant in the Room: How biblical is this? There's still an arch and all the animals as well as a flood. A lot of the characters have familiar names. It mentions the Creator a lot. That's about all the similarities to the bible that you need to know. Clearly, Aronofsky is working through some questions he has about religion and there's a sense that he wants the bible and real life to come to terms somehow and this is his best attempt at it. I'd even venture to say it does a better job pleasing both sides than isolating both, so that's a plus for him.

To Sum Things Up:
This is Aronofski's pet project. Any director at a certain level needs to get this out of his/her system. Occasionally, it gives us Schindler's List or Inception. Other times, we get Days of Heaven or Cutthroat Island. This is somewhere in between. It's enjoyable if not a little misguided. It makes a few good points and gives a number of actors I like something to do. It's also not too memorable. The controversy over the movie and it's changes to the biblical story is far more interesting than anything that makes it into the movie...except maybe the rock monsters. Those are pretty cool no matter what side you're on.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend