Movies From A Hat #3
by acharpentier2010 | created - 04 Nov 2012 | updated - 17 Dec 2012 | PublicMy wife & I choose 40 films (20 we've seen, 20 we haven't, 20 each), mix them up, and watch them in order. These are the 140-character reviews that result.
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1. Marnie (1964)
PG | 130 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Mark marries Marnie although she is a habitual thief and has serious psychological problems, and tries to help her confront and resolve them.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery, Martin Gabel, Louise Latham
Votes: 53,858 | Gross: $7.00M
Marnie is repetitive and misogynistic, yet I somehow still enjoyed Hitcock's style. Connery was his usual hammy self. In short it was O.K.
2. The Meaning of Life (1983)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Musical
The comedy team takes a look at life in all of its stages in their own uniquely silly way.
Director: Terry Jones | Stars: John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones
Votes: 125,344 | Gross: $14.93M
The Meaning of Life is quintessential Monty Python's, full of irreverent skits, socio-political commentary, and fantastic Gilliam animation.
3. The Oranges (2011)
R | 90 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The enduring friendship between the Walling and Ostroff families is tested when Nina, the prodigal Ostroff daughter, returns home for the holidays after a five-year absence and enters into an affair with David, head of the Walling family.
Director: Julian Farino | Stars: Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Catherine Keener, Allison Janney
Votes: 13,530 | Gross: $0.36M
Unavailable!
4. Below (2002)
R | 105 min | Action, Horror, Mystery
Strange happenings occur on a WW II submarine.
Director: David Twohy | Stars: Bruce Greenwood, David Crow, Matthew Davis, Holt McCallany
Votes: 24,134 | Gross: $0.61M
Most horror films include some amount of strange noises that can be attributed to crew members offscreen whispering. Below is ALL this.
5. The Factory (V) (2012)
R | 104 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An obsessed cop is on the trail of a serial killer prowling the streets of Buffalo, N.Y. but when his teenage daughter disappears, he drops any professional restraint to get the killer.
Director: Morgan O'Neill | Stars: John Cusack, Dallas Roberts, Vincent Messina, Jennifer Carpenter
Votes: 11,797
The Factory breaks a very important rule in the last five minutes (I'd hate to spoil it) and nullifies all my good feelings prior. Skip it!
6. Mixed Nuts (1994)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
The events focus around a crisis hotline business on one crazy night during the Christmas holidays.
Director: Nora Ephron | Stars: Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Robert Klein, Anthony LaPaglia
Votes: 13,526 | Gross: $6.80M
Mixed Nuts was BORING and Sandler's appearance using his 'Waterboy' voice took us right out of the movie. Is it a comedy? It isn't funny.
7. Basic Instinct (1992)
R | 127 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A violent police detective investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn
Votes: 219,202 | Gross: $117.73M
Basic Instinct: a homicidal homosexual, a corrupt/idiot detective, a lack of mystery. I wish I could unsee this frustrating, oversexed mess.
8. Iron Sky (2012)
R | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The Nazis set up a secret base on the dark side of the moon in 1945 where they hide out and plan to return to power in 2018.
Director: Timo Vuorensola | Stars: Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto, Udo Kier
Votes: 96,554
Iron Sky is one of the most mindlessly entertaining films that I've seen in 2012. It's hilarious, "innovative", and totally worth your time.
9. Double Indemnity (1944)
Passed | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A Los Angeles insurance representative lets an alluring housewife seduce him into a scheme of insurance fraud and murder that arouses the suspicion of his colleague, an insurance investigator.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Byron Barr
Votes: 167,487 | Gross: $5.72M
Double Indemnity is quintessential noir, more than any Bogart film, and I can't think of any flaws, though "See?" and "Baby" get repetitive.
10. Puss in Boots (2011)
PG | 90 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
An outlaw cat, his childhood egg-friend, and a seductive thief kitty set out in search for the eggs of the fabled Golden Goose to clear his name, restore his lost honor, and regain the trust of his mother and town.
Director: Chris Miller | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton
Votes: 192,371 | Gross: $149.26M
Who the Hell thinks Puss In Boots is funny? It's one recycled joke beat repeatedly until it's flat enough to stretch across an entire film.
11. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
R | 116 min | Crime, Drama
A laconic, chain-smoking barber blackmails his wife's boss and lover for money to invest in dry cleaning, but his plan goes terribly wrong.
Director: Joel Coen | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James Gandolfini
Votes: 115,017 | Gross: $7.49M
The Man Who Wasn't There is an exceptional film, one of the Coen Brothers's best (>Fargo), yet I never heard of it. Thank you, Netflix!
12. Casino Royale (2006)
PG-13 | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
After earning 00 status and a licence to kill, secret agent James Bond sets out on his first mission as 007. Bond must defeat a private banker funding terrorists in a high-stakes game of poker at Casino Royale, Montenegro.
Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright
Votes: 694,698 | Gross: $167.45M
Rewatching the fantastic Casino Royale, I realized that Skyfall stuck VERY close to its formula. I hope it doesn't become a crutch.
13. Unforgiven (1992)
R | 130 min | Drama, Western
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Votes: 436,264 | Gross: $101.16M
I've come to expect a gruelling build from Eastwood films, but Unforgiven's well-rounded characters and hi-tension make it worth the wait.
14. Racing with the Moon (1984)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1942 California, two young men await induction into the U.S. Marines and say goodbye to their girlfriends.
Director: Richard Benjamin | Stars: Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage, John Karlen
Votes: 5,248 | Gross: $6.05M
Racing With the Moon feels like a lost Spielberg or Disney film from my childhood, stars Sean Penn and Nick Cage, and is very unappreciated.
15. The Dead Zone (1983)
R | 103 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability to foresee future events.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom
Votes: 77,336 | Gross: $20.77M
The Dead Zone is a character study I expected to be a supernatural thriller. Get over 90% of it being build-up and you'll enjoy yourself.
16. Local Hero (1983)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Drama
An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.
Director: Bill Forsyth | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay, Denis Lawson
Votes: 26,703 | Gross: $5.90M
If Local Hero is interesting, then I assume my Babel fish has mistranslated the word. Watch in lieu of sedatives and you need a nice nap.
17. Looper (2012)
R | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano
Votes: 603,062 | Gross: $66.49M
Looper was great but no one has mentioned the most horrifying torture ever devised on film or the confounding, unnecessary death at the end.
18. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks, Tom McCamus
Votes: 36,741 | Gross: $3.25M
The Sweet Hereafter is a wonderfully depressing film. Watch it straight through to see not just the plot unravel but the world entire.
19. Rear Window (1954)
PG | 112 min | Mystery, Thriller
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his Greenwich Village courtyard apartment window and, despite the skepticism of his fashion-model girlfriend, becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter
Votes: 522,182 | Gross: $36.76M
Rear Window's the greatest film (with the greatest set) Hitchcock made. I hardly have room to explain here, so I won't even try. See it.
20. The Prince of Tides (1991)
R | 132 min | Drama, Romance
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
Director: Barbra Streisand | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Nick Nolte, Blythe Danner, Kate Nelligan
Votes: 19,737 | Gross: $74.79M
The Princes of Tides is a better book than film, but the acting is top-notch and the whole story IS distilled well and there's less whining!
21. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A high-school boy, Cameron, cannot date Bianca until her anti-social older sister, Kat, has a boyfriend. So, Cameron pays a mysterious boy, Patrick, to charm Kat.
Director: Gil Junger | Stars: Heath Ledger, Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik
Votes: 385,407 | Gross: $38.18M
10 Things I Hate About You is renowned for being one of the few teen rom-coms that doesn't suck eggs and that's entirely accurate.
22. A Perfect Murder (1998)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A wealthy Wall Street speculator discovers that his wife has a lover. He investigates him and uses the carrot and stick to make him murder his wife. Planned to detail, it seems like a perfect murder.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen, David Suchet
Votes: 92,236 | Gross: $67.64M
23. High Anxiety (1977)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Mystery, Thriller
A psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.
Director: Mel Brooks | Stars: Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Harvey Korman
Votes: 23,887 | Gross: $31.06M
24. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Comedy, Drama
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 929,722 | Gross: $13.18M
25. Gladiator (2000)
R | 155 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed
Votes: 1,620,633 | Gross: $187.71M
26. What About Bob? (1991)
PG | 99 min | Comedy
A successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation.
Director: Frank Oz | Stars: Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo
Votes: 74,481 | Gross: $63.71M
27. House of Sand and Fog (2003)
R | 126 min | Crime, Drama
An abandoned wife is evicted from her house and starts a tragic conflict with her house's new owners.
Director: Vadim Perelman | Stars: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Frances Fisher
Votes: 72,608 | Gross: $13.01M
28. The Guitar (2008)
R | 95 min | Drama, Music, Romance
The life of a woman is transformed after she is diagnosed with a terminal disease, fired from her job and abandoned by her boyfriend. Given two months to live, she throws caution to the wind to pursue her dreams.
Director: Amy Redford | Stars: Saffron Burrows, Isaach De Bankolé, Paz de la Huerta, Mia Kucan
Votes: 3,166
29. The Family Man (2000)
PG-13 | 125 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven
Votes: 119,405 | Gross: $75.79M
30. Speed (1994)
R | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A young police officer must prevent a bomb exploding aboard a city bus by keeping its speed above 50 mph.
Director: Jan de Bont | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton
Votes: 392,021 | Gross: $121.25M
31. The Cove (2009)
PG-13 | 92 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renowned dolphin trainer Ric O'Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health.
Director: Louie Psihoyos | Stars: Richard O'Barry, Louie Psihoyos, Hardy Jones, Michael Illiff
Votes: 51,451 | Gross: $0.87M
32. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
PG | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Two Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their original glory.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd
Votes: 856,634 | Gross: $474.54M
33. Disclosure (1994)
R | 128 min | Drama, Thriller
A computer specialist is sued for sexual harassment by a former lover turned boss who initiated the act forcefully, which threatens both his career and his personal life.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Michael Douglas, Demi Moore, Donald Sutherland, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 54,431 | Gross: $83.02M
34. Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror
Affable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.
Director: Eli Craig | Stars: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Votes: 193,571 | Gross: $0.22M
35. The Cake Eaters (2007)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Two families are brought together by the return of one family's son -- a reunion that conjures up old ghosts and issues that must be addressed.
Director: Mary Stuart Masterson | Stars: Elizabeth Ashley, Jayce Bartok, Bruce Dern, Miriam Shor
Votes: 7,452
36. Fever Pitch (2005)
PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Lindsay is stuck in the middle of her relationship with Ben and his passion for the Boston Red Sox.
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly | Stars: Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, Jason Spevack, Jack Kehler
Votes: 47,772 | Gross: $42.07M
37. Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
PG-13 | 136 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian climber, breaks out of prison and travels to the holy city of Lhasa. He is employed as an instructor to the 14th Dalai Lama and soon becomes his close confidante.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Brad Pitt, David Thewlis, BD Wong, Mako
Votes: 155,986 | Gross: $37.96M
38. Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
PG-13 | 100 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Miles, a high-profile divorce lawyer, wins a case for his rich but adulterous client Rex Rexroth. But Rex's ex-wife, Marylin, who is no saint and is a gold-digger, plots to take revenge on Miles.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Billy Bob Thornton, Geoffrey Rush
Votes: 101,860 | Gross: $35.33M
39. Secret Window (2004)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.
Director: David Koepp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 209,565 | Gross: $48.02M
40. On the Road (2012)
R | 124 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
Young writer Sal Paradise has his life shaken by the arrival of free-spirited Dean Moriarty and his girl, Marylou. As they travel across the country, they encounter a mix of people who each impact their journey indelibly.
Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams
Votes: 43,300 | Gross: $0.72M
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