# 185 In Bruges (2008)

In Bruges is a dark comedy about two hitmen who have to lay low in the city of Bruges, Belgium, after one of them accidentally kills a young boy. Whereas Ken is enjoying the beautiful sights of a medieval city, Ray is devastated and haunted by guilt. Then he starts a romantic relationship with a local girl, and from then on things go as though the creators of the film drew their inspiration from a popular teen comedy EuroTrip.

Alright, maybe they didn't, but still I think the movie is absurd. First of all, since when romanticizing hitmen, and showing how vulnerable they can be is considered funny? The movie is trying to show us that they can be really nice people, with their own feelings, that they can be very sensitive, and as for their job, it's not even a flaw, it's just something they have to do for a living. And of course, when they kill people who didn't really "deserve it", they feel awful. May be I'm taking it too seriously, but as someone who studied criminology and criminal behavior, I can reassure you that professional killers never act the way it was portrayed in the movie. So what part of it was supposed to be funny?

Secondly, Collin Farrell's acting was also pretty annoying. I think that the role of a melancholic guy with this naive look and updrawn eyebrows doesn't fit him at all. And the ending was disastrous. What happened there reminded me of the Wayan's brothers' film Little Man where nobody was able to distinguish between a midget and a child (that movie's rating is 3.6).

As for the good side, Ralph Fiennes acting was alright, and some of his lines were indeed really funny. The film is pretty slow, and that helps create the atmosphere of living in a small town. Finally, the views of Bruges are very pretty. But other than that, I felt like In Bruges wasn't worth the time I wasted on it. But even if you don't agree with me, feel free to express your feelings in the comment form below.

Interesting fact: The film has a total of 4 actors who also appeared together in the Harry Potter series: Ralph Fiennes (Harry), who plays Lord Voldemort; Brendan Gleeson (Ken), who plays Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody; Clémence Poésy (Chloe), who plays Fleur Delacour; Ciarán Hinds (The Priest), who plays Aberforth Dumbledore.

Favorite quote: "An Uzi? I'm not from South Central Los Angeles. I didn't come here to shoot twenty black ten year olds in a drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person".

# 184 Children of Men (2006)

The Oscar race is almost over and I'm happy to announce that I've seen almost all of the major nominees (except for The King's Speech which I'm going to see in a couple of hours), which includes the contenders in the Best Motion Picture, Best Performances, Best Writing and Best Animated Feature Film categories. However I noticed having lost some of my followers, which is natural since I haven't had enough time for my reviews, but for those of you who have stayed around, I'll try to get back on track with blogging.

Children of Men is a sci-fi drama, set in the United Kingdom of 2027. It's about the world in which global infertility leads to societal failure, and people can no longer hope for a better future. Accidentally, the main character, Theo, finds out that there is a pregnant woman who happens to be a refugee, and he must find safe transit for her in order to save her and her baby.

First of all, I have to say that infertility as an idea for apocalypse is very interesting. While a lot of movies show the human race trying to avoid extinction by fighting natural disasters, Children of Men shows us what would happen if people didn't have to fight for their own lives, but at the same time had to face the fact that after their death, there will be no more mankind. I have to admit that the idea of leaving this world without leaving some kind of mark in it is pretty terrifying.

Another interesting issue this film brings up is illegal immigration. I loved how The Children of Men deals with it because it doesn't try to glorify the immigrants, but at the same time we see that to "mother nature" it doesn't matter what color of skin we have, which step of the social ladder we're on, and how well-educated we are. So to me the main idea behind this is that all humans should be treated as humans, even if for some reason you find their presence disturbing. This is a very deep movie, and, at times, very thrilling.

Interesting fact: When Theo is walking down the ramp on Battersea Power Station, a stenciled image of two policemen kissing can be seen on a wall. The image was created by "Banksy", a British "guerilla artist" who specializes in that kind of work. Other Banksy works appear in the film, including a stenciled image of a child looking down a shop.
Favorite quote: "Whiffet! I'm a virgin. Nah! Be great, though, wouldn't it? Fuck knows. I don't know half the wankers' names".

# 183 The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Wild Bunch is about a group of aging outlaws who can no longer keep up with the changing modern world. The whole film we see one group of tough guys following another group of tough guys, and half of the time I couldn't even tell which group was on the screen at the moment.

I hate reviewing westerns because everyone else but me seems to like them. This one is not an exception. There were a couple of good things about it, one of them being Bo Hopkins' acting who played Crazy Lee. I also liked how it was revealed that Crazy Lee was Sykes' grandson. Another thing I would like to mention is that we get to see the gang members' memories a lot, so I guess we could say that the non-linear narration is used in this film, however, sometimes it was confusing.

Other than that I saw a lot of bloody violence and men striving to survive by any means. I don't even think that the idea of changes and people not being able to fit in in the new world was delivered that well. The question is, if I weren't so biased towards the genre, would I be able to appreciate it more? Probably not. Definitely not my type of movie.

The February is here, which means were getting closer to the Academy Awards. We're trying to see all of the films that have been nominated, but most of them haven't even come out here yet. Five out of ten nominees in "The Best Motion Picture" category come out in theaters in the second half of the month, and there are many more movies in other categories that we haven't seen yet. So February is going to be very busy, but I'll try to find some time for at least two more reviews this month.

Interesting fact: There were not enough uniforms for all of the stunt people and extras in the gun battle. If someone was filmed getting shot, the costume people would repair a uniform by washing off the fake blood, taping and painting over the bullet holes, drying the paint and sending either the same or a different performer out to get shot again.

Favorite quote: "What I like, and what I need, are two different things".

# 182 Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Judgment at Nuremberg is a courtroom drama about a military trial of four Nazi judges, which takes place three years after all the major Nazi leaders have been already tried. One of the defendants, Ernst Janning, is a very intelligent and likable man, and it's hard for the judge to understand how Janning could have supported Hitler's politics and passed sentences that resulted in genocide. The situation gets even more complicated by the beginning of the Cold war, and since the United States needs Germany's support, everybody understands that strict sentences may poison the atmosphere.

I started writing this review two days ago, and I wish I had a chance to finish it because January 27th was the Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the day of the Siege of Leningrad Lifiting during WWII, which is widely celebrated over here, so writing a review on that special day would be very significant. Unfortunately, the end of this week turned out very busy, but better late then never, so here's my review of Judgement at Nuremberg.

One of the reasons why I think this is a great movie is that it questions how the whole nation could have turned blind eyes to the Holocaust. But then it goes even further, and points out that all of this couldn't have happened without the support from other countries and political leaders. At the same time, just because the whole worlds is guilty for not trying to stand up against Hitler at the beginning of the Nazi regime, doesn't mean that a specific person shouldn't be held responsible for his or her own decisions.

We see what it takes to be a good judge, and how hard the decision-making process can be, how hard it is to pass a decision not influences by the politics, what other people think of the situation, or even your personal feelings. I liked the ending too, when the judge visits Janning in prison, but despite of all the things Janning says, the judge doesn't even try to make him feel better because he knows that the sentence was fair. Judgement at Nuremberg is a perfect courtroom drama, and it's hard for me to understand why it is so much lower on the list than 12 Angry Men.

Interesting fact: Marlon Brando wanted to play the role of Hans Rolfe, the German lawyer who defends the German judges. Brando, in a rare attempt to garner the part, actually approached Stanley Kramer about it. Although, Kramer and Abby Mann were very intrigued with the idea of having an actor of Brando's talent and stature in the role, both were so impressed with Maximilian Schell's portrayal of the same part in the original Playhouse 90 TV broadcast of "Judgment at Nurmemberg", that they had decided to stick with the relatively unknown Schell, who later won the Oscar for Best Actor for that role

Favorite quote: "Janning, to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he *loathed* the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and death of millions by the government of which he was a part".

# 181 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Kind Hearts and Coronets is a British black comedy about a distant relative of a duke who is rejected by his family because his mother had run away with a lower-class opera singer. However he wants to inherit the title, and once he grows up he realizes that the only way he can achieve it is by murdering all the other heirs who are ahead of him in the line of succession. The Kind Hearts and Coronets title derives from Tennyson's poem Lady Clara Vere de Vere (1842): "Kind hearts are more than coronets, And simple faith than Norman blood."

Lately I've realized that I've fallen in love with British films, especially comedies. This is one of the finest, most brilliant comedies I've seen in my life, and I never thought I'd say something like that about a movie made over sixty years ago. It also has the darkest humor, as we see a very likable and charming English gentleman having no problem with killing his whole family in order to regain what he believes is due to him. What makes this film special is that there's absolutely no slapstick humor, all the jokes are conveyed verbally, through dialogue or the main character's narration. Of course you could say the same thing about a few other films on IMDb's Top 250 list, but this was probably the only one that had me laughing out loud through most of it.

Alec Guinness played eight characters, and I didn't notice it, though one of the reasons is probably that I was paying attention to other things. Still that shows that he did a darn good job. To me the ending was sort of predictable, I don't mean it in a bad way, but I'm just saying I knew what was going to happen. But hey, this is not a thriller (at least that's not the main point), and for a comedy this movie has an incredibly twisted plot. So yes, this movie deserves to be on the list, as well as on the list of my personal favorites.

Interesting fact: An alternate ending was required for the US, where distributors balked at the film's ambiguous ending (The US Production Code at the time stipulated that crime could not be seen to pay). These extra ten seconds were not kept by Ealing but were unearthed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where they had been quietly filed away in a film storage facility.

Favorite quote: "It is so difficult to make a neat job of killing people with whom one is not on friendly terms".

# 180 The Killing (1956)

The Killing is a film noir, directed by Stanley Kubrick. It's a story about a race track heist, committed by a man who, after spending five years in prison, decides not to aim low anymore and steal $2,000,000. He seems to have a good plan, the people he can rely on, and everything else he needs in order to achieve the goal, however, the more people involved in the scheme, the higher the chances of things going wrong.

What I like most of all about this film is how Kubrick takes each character and shows us his involvement in the scheme, then goes back and shows us what somebody else was doing at the same period of time. The narration, with the time of every step being announced helps build the tension, and to me sounds like somebody reading out a police report. By the way, the narration was added at the studio's insistence. Stanley Kubrick hated the idea and thus makes much of the information that the narrator provides false or mistaken.

I don't agree with the people who say that they liked the movie, but hated the ending. They say that with two million bucks he could have bought a better suitcase, but who knows, may be back then they didn't have too much of an assortment of suitcases, and it wasn't easy to find a good one, especially when you're running out of time. Besides, it was fun to watch all that money flying around.

Now I won't say that The Killing is brilliant because Stanley Kubrick is not my favorite director, but he was definitely very talented, whether I like what he was doing or not. He made this movie at a very young age, and it's not as weird as some of his later works, but still shows that he was already very skillful when he was working on it.

Interesting fact: "Day of Violence" and "Bed of Fear" were both working titles for the film. Oh, and if anyone can explain the title to me, please comment.

Favorite quote: Johnny Clay: A friend of mine will be stopping by tomorrow to drop something off for me. He's a cop.

Joe: A cop? That's a funny kind of a friend.

Johnny Clay: Well, he's a funny kind of a cop.

# 179 Hotaru no haka (1988)

Hotaru no haka, also known as Grave of the Fireflies, is a film about a relationship between two orphaned siblings, a teenage boy named Seita, and his younger sister, Setsuko. The story takes place in Japan towards the end of the World War II. After their mother's death, they end up staying with their distant aunt, but as soon as they run out of food, she becomes resentful and tell them that they have outstayed their welcome. Seita and Setsuko decide to start living on their own in an abandoned bomb shelter.

I have to admit that I had never seen anime until I was in college. Everyone around me was going crazy about it, and out of curiousity, I asked a friend of mine if she could recommend me a film she liked, to get me introduced to the whole thing. So guess what, she said that Grave of the Fireflies was a must-see, and I followed her advice. I really enjoyed it the first time I watched it, not to the point of falling in love with the genre, but at least I learned that there was some good anime out there.

Having watched it again, I have to say I have pretty much the same impression.  The movie makes you feel hopeless, from the beginning of it you know that nothing good is going to happen, and no matter how hard Seita tries, no matter how much he loves his sister and sacrifices himself, he can't help her. This is a story that has probably happened to many families and still happens to this day. But despite all of this, there are still some moments when we see how beautiful this life can be, like when you see fireflies in the dark. It's a very strong anti-war movie, and even though I didn't learn anything new from it, and may be it wasn't as deep as I expected it to be, it's also very emotional and beautifully drawn. 

Interesting fact: NTV in Japan produced a live-action version of "Grave of the Fireflies" in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Like the animated version, the movie focuses on two siblings and their struggle to survive the final days of the war in Kobe, Japan. However, unlike the animated version, the movie tells the story from the point of view of their aunt, and it deals with the issue of how a wartime environment could change a kind woman into a cold-blooded demon.

Favorite quote: "September 21, 1945... that was the night I died".

# 178 The Incredibles (2004)

The Incredibles is a computer-animated film about a family of superheroes. The father (Mr. Incredible) and the mother (Elastigirl) used to be the best crime fighters in the city, but now, after a surge of lawsuits, they and their three children are forced to hide their abilities and live a normal life. One day Mr. Incredible, who cannot wait for get back into action, travels to a mysterious island for a top secret assignment.

The movie came out five years after Pixar's Toy Story 2 and a year after Finding Nemo, but to me it stands pretty much on the same level, so this time I will not agree with those who say that the studio outdoes itself with every movie it makes. It's true in most cases, but not this time because we see the same texture-less surfaces and characters that look like plastic dolls as we saw in previous Pixar's works.

Still it's a very good film that can be found interesting by both, kids and their parents. As a matter of fact it's good for all age groups because the main characters are: Dash, a kid who cares about nothing but fooling around; Violet, a shy teenage girl who is having her first crush; and a married couple who go through the same problems all couples go through. The relationships and the dialogues in this movie are pretty realistic for a cartoon.

The movie is very funny, the people who provide jokes for Pixar's films surely have a very good sense of humor. A lot of jokes revolve around getting older, losing shape, and going through a mid-life crisis. I felt like there was too much action towards the end of the film, and after a ten-minute action sequence I just start losing track of what's going on, but I know that this is common for all superhero flicks.

Interesting fact: In order to give Dash a realistic out-of-breath voice, Brad Bird made Spencer Fox run laps around the studio.

Favorite quote: "No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again. Sometimes I just want it to stay saved! You know, for a little bit? I feel like the maid; I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean for... for ten minutes!"

# 177 The Princess Bride (1987)

The Princess Bride is a story presented as a book being read by a grandfather to his sick grandson. A young woman Buttercup accepts a proposal from a prince, despite the fact that she is still in love with a farm boy who tragically died at sea when seeking his fortune. Right before the wedding she is kidnapped by three outlaws who intend to instigate an international conflict. Soon they found out that they are being pursued by the same pirate who is believed to have killed Buttercup's lover.

I watched parts of the film when I was little, but wasn't mature enough to appreciate the satirical humor. This time I thought that it's a fun, easy-to-watch movie, but it didn't linger in my mind the next day. To me the biggest flaw is that Buttercup doesn't really have a personality, her character is too stereotypical. I'm not sure if it's the script, or may be it's just Robin Wright's acting. After all, movie requires more acting skills than a 1980s TV show (at the age of six, I loved Santa Barbara).

My favorite scene is when Westley defeats the outlaws who kidnapped Buttercup. There's some good action in it, it's witty, and just really really enjoyable. Another good one is when the magician is trying to bring "mostly dead" Westley back to life. Like I have already said, the movie is a fun ride, but at the same time not that funny. In a way it's a lot like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but to me it wasn't nearly as good.

Interesting fact: Mel Smith (The Albino) has confessed to never having watched his performance in this film due to the painful experience involved in filming the role. His character required him to wear coloured contact lenses and, unknown to Smith and the costume department at the time, he was actually allergic to the lens solution used. This meant that Smith was in constant pain and discomfort throughout filming; hence, he is reluctant to relive the memory.

Favorite quote: You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.

# 176 The Night of the Hunter (1955)

The Night of The Hunter tells us a story about Harry Powell, a man who marries widows for money and kills them. While in jail, he finds out that his cellmate, Ben who is about to be hanged, had committed a robbery. After being released, Harry Powell decided to marry Ben's widow in order to find out where Ben had hid the stolen money before he was captured.

The interesting part of this film is that the main character is a religious fanatic. He did not only use people's faith to get them to do anything he wanted, but he actually believed that what he was doing was right. He also had his own weird principles I guess, for example, on their wedding night he tells Ben's widow that they will never have sex because it is sinful. I highly doubt he acted this way because he found her unattractive, I mean, after all the things he had done to find the money, sleeping with a woman he didn't like wouldn't be much of a problem.

The rest of the movie is a disaster. At first I thought that may be The Night of the Hunter is considered to be good because it was way ahead of its time back in 1955, but then in Wikipedia I read that it was not a success with either audiences or critics at its initial release, and Laughton never directed another film, nevertheless, the film has found a wider audience over the years.

This leaves me at loss. The beginning with the drifting heads is cheesy. All the women in the movie are absolutely dumb, what is up with their fanatic devotion to Powell? He's definitely not very slick, so why does he always come out on top? And whereas the first half of the plot was not that bad, and at times even thrilling, the second half, after the kids flee down the river turns into a social drama. And that's where the movie stopped making sense to me, and left me wondering why it had gained such widespread acclaim.

Interesting fact: So disappointed was he by the poor reception of this film on its initial release both critically and commercially, Charles Laughton vowed never to direct a film again, and he never did. The film he was planning to direct next was going to be a screen adaptation of "The Naked and the Dead.

Favorite quote: "Salvation is a last-minute business, boy".

# 175 Casino (1995)

Casino is a story of two mobsters, Sam "Ace" Rothstein (De Niro) and Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro (Pesci). It tells us about the mob involvement in the gambling industry in 1970s - 1980s. While Ace attempts a civilized lifestyle, Nicky, his childhood friend, doesn't want to give up his criminal life, getting even more violent, and ends up being banned from every casino.

It isn't original as it takes the formulas of  Goodfellas (# 14 on IMDb Top 250 list) and applies them to a very similar plot with the same actors. But you know, these formulas really work, because we see them over and over again, and they never fail to be interesting. In all of his criminal dramas Martin Scorsese shows us the details of different levels of organized crime. In this film the photography speaks for itself: most of it was shot in a shiny casino or an expensive hotel, so, of course, the main characters are the top-level criminals who run the whole city.

Despite of all the similarities, the movie still stands on its own. It was a little hard to follow, but I guess I can say this about most of Scorsese's movies. I've never been a fan of Robert De Niro, but in Casino he did an great job. Talking about his acting, I was really impressed by the scene where Ace is arguing with the senator after his license hearing was adjourned.

I really like how the director portrayed the character development, as well as the change in the relationship between Ace and Nicky. They've always been good friends, but now one of them is willing to change, and the other one is pulling him back. We see the tension between them grown, and, later on, it bursts into a conflict. Another tragic flaw was Ace falling in love with a "hustler" (Stone). At first I though this relationship would turn into some sort of "Scarface" drama, and he would lose interest in her as soon as they got married. But contrary to what I had expected, Ace turned out to be a very patient husband. His character is indeed very likable in this film.

Interesting fact: When released, Casino had the most uses of the word "fuck" (422) in a feature length film (2.4 times per minute on average).

Favorite quote: [a plane just landed on the golf course] The Feds were watching Nicky play golf for so long that they ran out of gas. Just what I needed, right in front of the control board.

# 174 Les diaboliques (1955)

Les diaboliques is a French suspense film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot (the same person that directed the film I reviewed in my previous post). The plot revolves around a boarding school headmaster, his wife, and his mistress. Both of the women are treated very badly by him, and when they realize that they can't take it anymore, they plot to kill him. They have planned what they believe to be a perfect murder, but everything goes the way they had planned.

The first two thirds of the movie feel like they have been heavily influenced by Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. The body disappears, which leaves the women confused, and causes them to think that someone else knows about their secret. The wife of the killed man keeps thinking that they are going to get caught, and wants to turn herself in to the police. And even though the director managed to make this part very intense, the idea itself is not new.

Towards the end of the film, the direction, in which the plot unfolds, changes dramatically. The suspense deepens. Some unexplainable things start to happen, and for a second I started to think that may be it was going to turn into some sort of a mystic horror movie, I really didn't know what to expect. I don't want to give it all away, but I just want to say that the ending exceeded all of my expectations. And I'm not only talking about the substantial part, but also the camera work, the lighting, the pacing, everything.

This movie contrasts Clouzot's previous film (The Wages of Fear) so much, that it's hard to believe both movies were directed by the same person. He was able to create so much suspense, without even using any background music, and, I hope that Hitchcock's fans will forgive me for this, but I found this movie even more thrilling than Psycho. Highly Recommended.

Interesting fact: The film is based on Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac's novel "Celle qui n'était plus" (She Who Was No More). Alfred Hitchcock also attempted to buy the rights to this novel; Boileau and Narcejac subsequently wrote "D'Entre les Morts" (From Among the Dead) especially for Hitchcock, who filmed it as Vertigo (1958).

Favorite quote: "I may be reactionary, but this is absolutely astounding - the legal wife consoling the mistress! No, no, and no!"

# 173 Le salaire de la peur (1953)

La salaire de la peur also known as The Wages of Fear is a film about men who are stuck in a South American village because buying a plane ticket is beyond their means. A US oil company dominates the village, and when one of its oil wells catches on fire, four men from the local community drive trucks full of nitroglycerine across miles of rocky mountains to the oil field in order to extinguish the fire.

The movie is 131 minutes long, and the first half of the movie nothing significant or even a little bit interesting happens. It's devoted to introducing the characters and showing their day-to-day routine, but I think that twenty minutes of this would be enough to understand what's going on, an hour was just too long for a set-up, I was sitting and wondering if anything was going to happen at all. The only reason I kept watching was knowing that later I would have to write a review.

In the second half of the film we see the obstacles the truck drivers have to face on their way to the oil field, and, what's even more important, we see a reversal in the roles of the main characters. The younger driver, Mario, who used to look up to his older companion Jo, has to take everything in his own hands because Jo turns from a macho into a coward in the face of real danger. I guess this character drama is the main point of the film, and it's pretty interesting to watch it develop, but I found the whole idea too simple.

Spoiler here. The only thing that I found really good in this movie is the scene where Jo dies. No matter how mad Mario was at him, he still shed tears when Jo was dying as if he was losing the best friend. It's interesting, that when his roommate's truck explodes, he doesn't look nearly as devastated. The ending is not bad, but it's predictable. I don't recommend this movie unless you're a fan of old French cinema.

Interesting fact: Henri-Georges Clouzot originally planned on shooting the film in Spain, but Yves Montand and his wife, Simone Signoret, refused to work in Spain as long as fascist dictator Francisco Franco was in power. Filming took place instead in the south of France, near Saint-Gilles, in the Camargue. The village seen in the film was built from scratch.

Favorite quote: "Those bums don't have any union, nor any families. And if they blow up, nobody'll come around bothering me for any contribution".

# 172 Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Twelve Monkeys is a post apocalyptic drama about a convict who is sent back in time to 1990s in order to gather the information about the epidemic that wiped out 99 percent of human population. In "the past" he gets in trouble with the authorities, wanted for murder and kidnapping. He also refuses to go back to the future and falls in love with the woman he kidnapped.

When I first watched this movie, I was probably around twelve years old, and I found it weird and boring. After that I watched it a few more times, and I gradually grew to like it. The first thing that attracted me was Pitt's acting. To me this was the role that made me realize that he is more than just a pretty boy. I honestly don't think I've seen anybody do a better job portraying a psycho.

This film touches upon such issues as totalitarian society, both in the future, where the main character has to do everything he is told by a group of scientists, and in the past, when he gets locked up in a mental hospital. But this is not the main theme of the movie. Being very sympathetic to environmental concerns, I also find it interesting how the movie shows us that any idea can turn into a disaster in the hands of a madman.

My favorite part in this movie is when the main character starts doubting his own sanity. He'd rather believe that he has a multiple personality disorder, than that he comes from a world destructed by a lethal virus. He convinces himself that everything that happens in the future is nothing but hallucinations, and wants to be cured. My least favorite part is the sentimental stuff towards the end of the movie, but who knows, I might grow to like even that part next time I watch it.

Interesting fact: A tagline originally suggested for this film was; "The future is in the hands of a man who has none." This was considered to be a confusing tagline, as it made it sound as though he had no hands, as opposed to having no future.

Favorite quote: "There's no right, there's no wrong, there's only popular opinion".

# 171 Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is Guy Ritchie's feature film debut. It's about a guy who loses £500,000 to a powerful crime lord in a card game. He overhears his neighbors, who plan a heist on marijuana growers, and, in order to pay off his debt, he and his friends decide to rob them after they come back from their heist. "Lock, stock, and a barrel" is an English expression, which means basically the same as "the whole nine yards", which is a title of another well known movie.

If you watch the movie after seeing Snatch, like I did, you probably won't find anything new here. These two movies share the same ideas, themes, motifs, visual style, and some of the same actors. I've heard that some critics accused Ritchie for delivering two very similar movies, but of course, if there is anything to criticize for that reason, it's Snatch, since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels came out first.

I had difficulty understanding what was going on at first, because of all the characters we see on the screen, and it's hard to understand in which way they are connected before their plot lines intertwine. The movie is very well balanced between being humorous and serious at the same time. I got to laugh a lot because the characters were acting like complete idiots. There was also a good psychological scene in this film, I'm talking about the three card brag game scene.

Sting's appearance as the father of the main character was a nice surprise. Sting's wife Trudie Styler was an executive producer on the film, and the two later introduced director Ritchie to Madonna, whom he later married. So I think the film is good. It didn't blow my mind like Snatch did, but if I watched this one first, it probably would have had the same effect on me. And it's definitely a great movie for a director's debut.

Interesting fact: The movie is dedicated to Lenny McLean. He was a famous bare knuckle boxer before he became an actor. He was ill during filming with what he believed was the flu. After filming had ended he was hospitalized and initially told that he had pleurisy. However, tests revealed that he had lung cancer which had metastasized to his brain. McLean died of cancer exactly one month before the movie's debut in England.

Favorite quote: "Hatchet" Harry: You must be Eddie, J.D.'s son.

Eddie: Yeah. You must be Harry. Sorry, didn't know your father.

"Hatchet" Harry: Never mind son, you just might meet him if you carry on like that.

# 170 8½ (1963)

Don't get confused by all the numbers in the title of this post, today I'm reviewing Federico Fellini's 8½, or Otto e mezzo (the way it's pronounced in Italian). This movie is about a famous director, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who struggles to work on his next masterpiece, a deep sci-fi film with autobiographical references. Besides having a "director's block", he also goes through marital problems, and because of this, he loses his inspiration for the upcoming movie.

It was funny when, after twenty minutes of watching this film, I realized that I've already seen this somewhere else. The thing is, a 2009 musical Nine is based on this movie, and I saw it when I was watching Academy Awards nominees last year. I'm expecting disapproval from my readers as I'm writing this review because I barely found the strength to finish watching Nine a year ago, and I think that 8½ isn't any better.

The characters left me cold. I kept getting lost between the director's memories, fantasies and reality. There is almost not plot. After all, I've never liked movies about the struggles involved in the creative process. And I didn't know where the title came from until I looked it up online. For those of you who still have no idea, it refers to being Fellini's eight and a half work, after six feature films, two short segments and a collaboration.

Now I'm ready for your criticism, because I seem to be the only one who feels this way about the movie. I really didn't get it. Aside from it being # 170 on the list, it received two Oscars, and ranked 3rd best film of all time in a 2002 poll of film directors conducted by the British Film Institute.

Interesting fact: Federico Fellini attached a note to himself below the camera's eyepiece which read, "Remember, this is a comedy."

Favorite quote: "You see, what stands out at a first reading is the lack of a central issue or a philosophical stance. That makes the film a chain of gratuitous episodes which may even be amusing in their ambivalent realism. You wonder, what is the director really trying to do? Make us think? Scare us?"

# 169 The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Grapes of Wrath is a drama based on John Steinbeck's novel of the same title. It tells us about a family struggling to survive during the Great Depression. After losing their farm in Oklahoma they travel across the United States trying to find a job. Several of their family members die along the way, and the ones that are still alive have to stay in migrant camps and work for pennies.

My first viewing of this film happened in high school, in US history class. I was tired, bored, and falling asleep. I also had to write a paper on it, and since I didn't get it, it wasn't very easy. You get the idea. My second viewing was more successful, as I knew that it's considered one of the best movies in movie history (at least based on the rating and the fact that it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress), and also was aware of the historical background.

The film is very compelling. Most of all I liked Ma Joad for being such a strong and wise woman. You rarely see women like this in old Hollywood movies. And I think grandpa and grandma were adorable too, especially in the scene where they were all sitting at the table, right before Tom's return. I also liked the southern accent a lot.

In my opinion, the movie focuses extensively on Tom, portrayed by Henry Fonda. There was a funny episode involving him that I really enjoyed though. Right after he returns home, every family member asks him if he "bust out" of prison, and he has to explain that he's on parole, and that he "got his papers". Overall I think that the movie is too long, and the final part, with all of its monologues, was unnecessary, but other than that, it's pretty interesting, and I'm glad I got a chance to watch it again and re-evaluate it.

Interesting fact: The novel's original ending was far too controversial to be even considered for a film in 1940. It involved Rose-of-Sharon Rivers (Dorris Bowdon) giving birth to a stillborn baby and then offering her milk-filled breasts to a starving man, dying in a barn.

Favorite quote: "Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one".

# 168 The Gold Rush (1925)

The Gold Rush is Charlie Chaplin's forth film on the list. It tells us about "The Tramp" who takes part in the Alaska Gold Rush. We follow him through different adventures as he's trying to find gold and win the heart of a saloon girl.

I got to see a re-release of this movie, which I believe was made in 1942, with a new musical score. Much of the new music was written by Charles Chaplin himself, in collaboration with musical director Max Terr. Chaplin also added sound effects to the film, and replaced the silent movie title cards with descriptive voice-over narration.

If you get past the fact that I watched the re-release, this is the oldest movie I've seen to this day. Nevertheless, the plot is pretty interesting (for such an old movie). Chaplin himself mentioned many times that this is the movie he wanted to be remembered for. There's not much I can say about it, I mean everybody knows it's a classic, but motion pictures have advanced so much that it's sort of hard for me to take this film seriously.

There were two really memorable scenes though. The first one is, of course, the dance with bread rolls, so if you haven't seen the movie, at least check out the dance on youtube, it's absolutely worth it. My second favorite scene is when Charlie Chaplin was dancing with his girl, and he didn't know he had a dog tied to his belt. He was a genius, a good actor, and an outstanding comedian.

Interesting fact: The "dancing rolls" sequence was so popular with audiences that, in some cases (such as the film's Berlin premiere), projectionists stopped the film and replayed the scene.

# 167 V for Vendetta (2006)

The plot of V for Vendetta is set in the near future, in Britain, ruled my a totalitarian government. A masked freedom fighter, known as "V" is planning a rebellion. He also avenges the ones who disfigured him and does all sorts of fun things in the process. A young woman, whom he saves from being raped, complicates his plans even more. As a result we have an incredible mix of a dystopia, a thriller, an action movie and a love story.

As a college student I loved the genre of dystopia, and I think I've read too many of these novels. Don't get me wrong, I think this movie offers a very good graphic representation of the idea, and is way better than Equilibrium (2002) which has a lot in common with it, except for it's too primitive. But at the same time I feel that everything that could have been said about it, was said back in 1920s - 1940s by Zamyatin, Huxley and Orwell, when the subject was the most relevant. So if the movie was all about the idea, it would have ruined it for me.

Fortunately, there is also a very complex plot in V for Vendetta, and this is that made this film so enjoyable for me. The most interesting part was the story of V's origin, his incarceration in the detention center, and his vengeance. What I liked the least were the action scenes, with all the slow motion and flying daggers. Talking about the love line, I don't think it was so important, but I didn't seem out of place either. After all, I believe that most women who became part of revolutionary movements, did it because they fell in love with revolutionary activists.

It was good to see Stephen Rea in this movie, he is a very talented actor, who became internationally known after playing the lead role in The Crying Game (the movie I highly recommend to everyone). Another thing I would like to mention is the dialogues. They are very witty and poetic, a little bit too intense at the beginning, but you get used to it after a while. The pacing is good, especially for an adapted screenplay. It' amazing how the Wachowski brothers managed to fit so much plot into one movie.

Interesting fact: The cast and crew were only allowed to shoot near the British Parliament and the Clock Tower from midnight to 4:30 am, and they could only stop traffic for four minutes at a time.

Favorite quote: "I killed you ten minutes ago. While you slept".

# 166 Gandhi (1982)

Gandhi is a biopic based on the life of Mohandas Gandhi. I'll have to be careful here and refrain from expressing my opinion about this historical character. The last thing I wanna do is start a political debate, so I'll focus on the movie as a piece of art. The film covers a significant period of his life from 1893 (when he was 24) to his death in 1948, with an opening statement that "there is no way to give each year its allotted weight".

We see Gandhi's evolution from a young lawyer in a classy business suit to one of the most popular ideological leaders, who wore self-woven clothes and looked like the poorest person in India. This evolution took roughly three hours of running time, and I wish the movie was a little more fast-paced, but I guess it had to meet the demands of the genre, and I can understand that it's hard to depict 55 years of somebody's life, especially when it's full of events that influenced the whole nation.

Ben Kingsley looks so much like Gandhi, and I think he was worthy of receiving the Award as the Best Actor in a Leading Role. However, even more outstanding (and not awarded by the Academy) was the make-up. They had the same actors playing throughout the whole film, so they didn't have one actor playing "young Gandhi", another actor playing "Gandhi", and another one for "old Gandhi". The make-up made the actors look the age of their characters, which raises the question why The Curious Case of Benjamin Button received the Best Achievement Makeup award, and Gandhi didn't.

My favorite part of the movie is when Gandhi is talking to a man who killed a child because the Muslims killed his son. The road to salvation that he suggested really impressed me, I know it's pretty simple, but still, I choose it as my favorite quote for this movie. Overall, I can't say that I really enjoyed watching this film, or that it's the best biopic I've ever seen, nonetheless, it's a good one, and helped me learn stuff I had missed in history class.

Interesting fact: Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Bhanji) looked so much like Mahatma Gandhi, many natives thought him to be Gandhi's ghost. The actor's paternal family was from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state Mahatma Gandhi was from.

Favorite quote: "I know a way out of Hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father have been killed and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim and that you raise him as one".

# 165 Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Dog Day Afternoon tells us a story of the bank robbery that happened in New York in 1972. The title refers to the "dog days" which are the hottest, most sultry days of summer. After the robbers realize that they are surrounded by the police, and there will be no simple escape for them, they take bank employees hostage. Later on, we discover that one of the criminals, played by Al Pacino, is gay, and his main goal was to steal his share of the money to pay for his "wife's" sex reassignment surgery.

I knew that Al Pacino's plays a homosexual in this movie before I started watching it, and I was wondering how he was going to pull this off. You know how he always plays though guys, with this yelling voice that has become his signature. But I'm glad that he gave it a try because no matter how good he was in his other movies, I couldn't help thinking that he always plays the same character over and over again, and Dog Day Afternoon proved me wrong. Of course the stylists did their thing, but Pacino's acting was very persuasive as well.

John Cazale deserves a couple of words in this review also. In my personal opinion, in this movie he did a lot better than in The Godfather or The Deer Hunter. The role of a quiet psycho who points his gun at the hostages every time he loses his nerve fits him perfectly. I never actually figured out what was wrong with his character, but I'm pretty sure he had some kind of mental disorder. And the part where he gets upset because on TV the robbers were described as "two homosexuals" is probably one of the funniest parts of the movie.

Talking about funny, IMDb defines the film as a criminal drama, and I'm surprised that it doesn't mention "comedy" as one of its genres because some of the scenes, especially at the beginning of the movie, are indeed very humorous. The fact that one of the robbers used to work in a bank and knows all of the tricks doesn't stop him from making every possible mistake and turning the robbery into a nightmare. But I going to stop here, so I don't ruin it for those of you who haven't seen it yet. All I'm going to say is that I've never seen a bank heist like this before!

Interesting fact: In the 1972 "Life" magazine article that inspired the film, P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore describe robber John Wojtowicz as "a dark, thin fellow with the broken-faced good looks of an Al Pacino or a Dustin Hoffman". Al Pacino, of course, played the role based on Wojtowicz, and when he nearly quit the film early on, the role was offered to Dustin Hoffman. Pacino changed his mind when he heard that his rival was in the fray.

Favorite quote: Sonny: So what country do you want to go to?

Sal: Wyoming.

Sonny: Sal, Wyoming's not a country.

# 164 Ratatouille (2007)

Ratatouille is a movie about Remy, a rat who has an exceptionally good sense of smell and taste. After seeing a culinary TV show, he realizes that with his abilities he can become a very good cook. The problem is that he is a rat, and people usually associate rodents with disease and dirtiness. Remy meets a garbage boy, and tries to fulfill his dreams of becoming a chef with his help.

This time I'm going to start with the thing I did not like about the film. The only flaw of Ratatouille, in my opinion, is that it's naive. And I'm not speaking about talking animals here, which is common for most animated films. I'm talking about the scenes like the one where the head chef finds out that the reason the garbage boy can cook so well is because a rat manipulates him like a marionette and believes it so easily. Well perhaps a more precise word for this would be simple-hearted. But at the same time those moments made me laugh as if I was an eight-year-old, so I guess it's not a big flaw.

The tech side in Ratatouille, as well as in all of Pixar movies, is perfect. I've heard that it's very hard for animators to create textures like fur or skin to look natural, and not like plastic. The creators of this film went even further, they managed to make animated food look delicious. Seriously, this cartoon made me find a recipe of ratatouille, and, with the help of my little chef (which is my dog), spend the whole Saturday night cooking it. By the way, it turned out good.

Talking about the main idea of the movie, I think a lot of people like it because it's about what it means to be an artist and stuff like that. I understand it, but I can't say I really relate to it. What I really like about this film though, is the idea of of breaking stereotypes and going against what everybody is expecting you to do. Besides, the ending is probably not what most people expected it to be, and it teaches us that things don't always go the way you planned them, but whatever happens, happens for the best.

Interesting fact: Remy has 1.15 million hairs rendered, whereas Colette has 115,000 hairs rendered. An average person has about 110,000 hairs.

Favorite quote: "Food is fuel. You get picky about what you put in the tank, your engine is gonna die. Now shut up and eat your garbage".

# 163 The Thing (1982)

The Thing is a movie about American scientists working in Antarctica. They come across a parasitic alien organism capable of imitating its victims whether it's dogs or human beings. It's a story of paranoia and not being able to trust your teammates because you don't know which one of them may be infected. But in the end, none of it matters because they have nowhere to go to escape from this thing.

This is the first time I'm reviewing a horror movie (The Sixth Sense doesn't count as IMDb doesn't label it as "horror"), and I can say that it really impressed me because along with Alien and Aliens, the special effects don't look tacky, even though all of these sci-fi movies were made in the eighties. I watched the director's commentary where John Carpenter said that their goal was to shoot a black-and-white movie in color. They did an excellent job, and it really helped create the atmosphere and make all rubber alien things look natural. The scene where one of the characters had his arms bitten off is probably one of the scariest movie moments I've seen in my life. It's also amazing what they did with the reverse motion photography and how many special effects they created using this technology.

The pacing in this movie is good, you have enough time to understand what's happening, but at the same time there is something going on in every scene, you receive little pieces of information every minute, and you also get to see how different characters react to this situation. Psychology is very important in this movie because it really makes you feel like you can't trust anybody, and slowly you start to realize that there is no way out. This feeling intensifies and reaches its peak towards the end. The whole part with the blood test was awesome, it explains a lot about the nature of the thing, and it's also very thrilling, probably the best part of the film.

I liked the acting in this film. Only when I started writing this review I realized that Childs was played by young Keith David. In my opinion the best actor in this movie was the dog. This half wolf/half husky was an excellent animal actor, never looking at the camera, as if he understand what he's supposed to do, this dog performed perfectly. The Thing is a classic and definitely deserves a spot on the list.

Interesting fact: The Norwegian camp scenes were actually the charred remains of the American site from the end of the film. Rather than go to the expense of building and burning down another camp, John Carpenter re-used the destroyed American camp.

Favorite quote: "Maybe we're at war with Norway?"

# 162 Amores perros (2000)

Besides being really busy at work, I also haven't written in a very long time because I took my time to think about the movie that I'm about to review. Amores perros tells three stories connected by a fatal car accident. It represents the devision between classes in any society, and in a very strange way all three stories have something to do with people's love for dogs. This movie impressed the hell out of me.

As soon as I finished watching it, I thought it was pretty good, but I kept thinking about it more and more, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. It's not really helping me write this review because I feel so emotional about it that it's hard for me to put all my thoughts together into some sort of relevant order. I don't normally enjoy overtly graphic movies, and this one contains quite a few disturbing dog fighting scenes, but in Amores Perros they seemed just right. I've read some reviews that say that the movie is about the cruelty of humans towards animals and towards each other. I can't agree with it because the way I see it, the movie is about love.

We see people's romantic love, weather it's the beginning, or the end of a relationship, and we see people's love for dogs. Octavio loved his dog, even though he made him participate in dog fights, but we all saw that it wasn't "just business" to him. Valeria loved her dog too, although it did seem weird to me that she didn't try to get him up from under the floorboards. And I guess El Chivo's love was the most pure because he was able to forgive Negro, Octavio's fightdog that killed the rest of his dogs. So to me the bottom line is that love is imperfect, it's cruel, and it brings a lot of pain to the ones we love.

Of course, there's a lot more to this movie. Gael García Bernal's performance was amazing. I think Alejandro González Iñárritu had directed only four feature length films, three of them are his so-called "trilogy of death", and the fourth (Biutiful) came out this year. I watched Babel is 2006, and thought it was fantastic, 21 Grams is good too, but Amores perros is a masterpiece.

Interesting fact: Unlike most films, a disclaimer stating that no animals were harmed in the making of the movie comes at the beginning instead of being buried in the credits.

Favorite quote: "If you want to make God laugh... tell Him your plans".

# 161 Scarface (1983)

Scarface is an update of a 1932 film about a Cuban gangster Tony Montana who immigrates to the United States, builds his criminal empire in Miami, but as his power and wealth grow, so does his paranoia. It shows the downside of the American dream in a very raw way.

As I've mentioned in one of my earlier reviews, I like movies that I can learn from. Before watching this movie I didn't know anything about the Mariel boatlift. I found it so interesting that later on I looked it up in Wikipedia. In reality, only 2% of the refugees were classified as serious or violent criminals under U.S. law and denied citizenship on that basis. But anyway, I thank the creators of this film by giving me a history lesson.

It was also interesting to find out that the movie has received mixed reaction. It's hard for me to judge because this whole watching IMDb Top 250 thing has changed me so much that I've become a crime-drama lover. But I agree that this movie is a little bit over the top. I don't know if I would call it a flaw, but I can understand why some people didn't like it for that reason. The only thing I didn't like that much is the ending. Did you see how many times Tony Montana got shot? Still he kept walking around like a Terminator. And I think if he had stayed alive after everything that had happened, it would have made the movie a lot more tragic.

Talking about the acting, I think F. Murray Abraham did a really good job as Omar Suárez. Al Pacino... well you either hate him or love him, but I couldn't think of a better actor for the role. Most of all I liked how the movie showed the change of Montana's attitude towards his woman and his best friend. After all, if money hasn't changed you, you haven't made enough.

Interesting fact: The word "yeyo" is used by Tony Montana (Al Pacino) as a slang word for cocaine. This word was not in the script, and was ad-libbed by Pacino during the first drug deal scene (chainsaw scene), and Brian De Palma liked it enough to keep using it throughout the film. Pacino learned the word while learning the Cuban accent.

Favorite quote: "Every day above ground is a good day".