I left one movie off my previous post from 2007, which was my Part One list of Twelve Movies From The Last Five Years That I Wanted To Like But Didn’t.  Remaining are the movies from 2008 and 2009 that made (or didn’t make, if you look at it that way) the cut.

2007 continued

American Gangster

Common = Gangster in RIdley Scott's American Gangster.

This movie was built up to be pretty big in the minds of those that love a gangster film.  You have Denzel, Russell Crowe, Ridley Scott directing, a Jay-Z-laden soundtrack, and comparisons to the classic film Scarface, then…ehhh.  The movie was just okay. It wasn’t along the same lines of the Pacino/DePalma classic, it didn’t really move me, nothing about it was very memorable, even though it was a solid film.  It was just another movie and that was disappointing. I still haven’t seen it since.

2008 – Be Kind, Rewind & Blindness

Be Kind, Rewind

Be Kind featured Mos Def and Jack Black, an odd and intriguing pairing, mixed with the directing talents of Michel Gondry, and the result was one of the weakest movies of the year.  Mos was almost impossible to watch (to listen to him), the lo-fi film recreation storyline should have been a lot more fun, and it really amounted to a schlocky, underwhelming piece, that made me further question the talents of those involved, and have highly soured me on Gondry as a director. He has to earn back the good will that he built with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and I don’t know that he is up to the task.

Blindness

This turned out to be the biggest rip-off ending in a film that I have seen in years.  With Fernando Meirelles helming one of my favorite films of the past decade and a high-ranking personal favorite of all-time in the amazing City of God, this was an opportunity to see him take the next huge step as a director and reap the rewards that fans of City of God wanted for him. (Fernando, feel free to mix in a Lil’ Dice cameo).  Instead, he didn’t take advantage.  The movie kept your attention (though not easily) for the duration and then yanked the rug out from beneath your feet in a horrendous ending.  I don’t know that I will ever forgive him.  BTW, Fernando, call me – because in truth I don’t remember the ending, I just know I absolutely hated it.

2009 – Bronson, Watchmen, The Hangover & Public Enemies

Bronson

Tom Hardy was Bronson, pre-Inception.

Nicolas Winding Refn’s film built up as A Clockwork Orange type of film, but was nothing more than a weird, sordid tale about a guy, told in an odd, and rather uninspiring way.  I was very high for the film before I saw it only to be incredibly let down. It was actually hard to make it through. I know it was based on a true story, but it didn’t redeem it at all for me. I hoped for a lot more.

Watchmen

This was a film that had a great trailer. Normally I wouldn’t have had much interest in a film like this, but it was built up to be perhaps one of the biggest movies ever, and landed with a rather resounding thud.  This wasn’t a horrible work, but if you counter it with a movie like The Dark Knight which more than matched the hype, it only exaggerated the difference of what this film might have been.  I think Zack Snyder may be able to become an interesting director, but he also might be the next Michael Bay. At this point, the meter is swinging in the “Bay” direction. Not good.

The Hangover

I don’t like comedies. Rarely, do they ever live up to my expectations, which are, I don’t know, how do I say this, to….laugh during the movie.  Is that too much to ask?  Absolutely. I chuckled two to three times during the film.  That does not a good movie make, nor is it worthy of being the biggest comedy of all-time.  This movie exemplifies how different the tastes of mainstream America and mine are.  I envy you, mainstream audiences.  To derive enjoyment from such average work must be nice. I wish I was as easily entertained, but alas, I am not. I’d rather be hung over, than watch The Hangover.  It was not believable, nor very fun.

Public Enemies

I have to include this movie on the list, because we did a dedication week to Michael Mann here on The Film Nest, and I (essentially) had breakfast with the man a few months ago. I was hoping for another movie along the lines of his previous actioners such as Heat and Collateral.  This did not match that.  I don’t think that this is a bad movie by any means, it just wasn’t great, and I thought it had the potential to be that.

Casting Johnny Depp (a feminine man in a masculine role) was the starting point of this heading down the wrong path.  The action was ordinary and you didn’t care enough about the characters to engage in the story.  It was a movie you simply watched but didn’t interact with. For that, it makes the disappointing list.  And Michael, next time we are at breakfast, easy with the staring at me brother, I’m just trying to eat and mind my own business.  Don’t use me for your script inspiration – unless of course, you really, really needed it.

I hope all movies I see are entertaining, but the odds are stacked wildly against me.  In the next five years, if I lower my expectations, perhaps there won’t be a need to compile such a list. I’m counting on you Hollywood, to bail me out.  If not, my pen (or keyboard in this case) is ready. Good luck.

Twelve Movies From The Last Five Years That I Wanted To Like But Didn’t – Part One of Two

Right off the bat, I don’t want the title of the article to be misleading.  In my eyes, it’s a given that you want to like every movie you see.  That’s the reason you pay money to go to the theater or take the time to rent and watch a movie.  Sure there are some movies that you have low expectations (or no expectations) for and end up being pleasantly surprised. But what I am concerned about here are movies that I was looking forward to seeing and came away disappointed.  These are, as the title states, movies that I wanted to like but ultimately didn’t (or I didn’t enjoy them nearly as much as I had hoped to).

This is an entirely subjective list.  I understand that.  I’ll say right off the top that these are not movies that I saw that were ruined by a particular experience taking place either – i.e., a bad movie-going experience where teens are talking all the time (one of the reasons I prefer to see films in an empty theater usually, and often by myself) or your dog just went to the vet and the bill was $1,000 and you tried to watch a movie to cheer up, unsuccessfully. These are simply movies that I wanted to be better.

I should also specify that these aren’t the worst movies I saw in a given year; these just didn’t live up to my expectations.  There is a reason I have learned to temper my expectations for movies throughout the years, and it is because of film viewing experiences such as these. Note: Movies are from 2006-2010, hence, the 5-year window.

2006

Clerks II & The Fountain

Clerks II is kind of a given, considering the classic that Kevin Smith’s original Clerks is.  As far as I am concerned, his whole career has been a struggle to live up to the expectations he set with that film.  (That being said, while still a classic, even Clerks is incredibly flawed upon repeated viewings).  Still, the sequel was ridiculous and over-the-top where the poor acting stood out more.  He should have went back to B&W film stock and shot that for $100,000 to force everyone to become more creative.  I know that’s a tall task, but still, adding Rosario Dawson didn’t help. This was one of the worst movies I saw that year.

The Fountain suffers a similar fate for a different reason.  While not an awful movie, director Darren Aronofsky was coming off his incredible Requiem For A Dream (6 years earlier, but still), and you had two reasonably big stars (Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz) and a big budget.  I expected so much more from this bizarre fantasy film. It just didn’t do it for me (and I don’t think I am alone here).

2007

Death Proof, The Darjeeling Limited & Transformers

Noticing a theme here already? I am.  These are all movies from directors I like (or want to) and the movies failed to move me.  Quentin Tarantino made three of my favorite films in years past with the triumvirate of Jackie Brown, Pulp Fiction (particularly P.F.) and Reservoir Dogs. Then he wasted his (and my) time making this schlock.  I know its supposed to look cheesy, and aside from the purposely edited film stock that made the film look like a true B-level movie, the acting and story were just weak.

This was a pointless exercise to me.  I know that this is not the most popular opinion among film (nerds) fans and Tarantino backers, but I call people out when they deserve it. He redeemed himself with Inglorious Basterds, so there.

Transformers is just devastating for personal reasons. Making it a kid’s film (robots hiding behind the house from parents? Really?) was tantamount to heresy for me.  I need to see Megatron as a size defying Gun and not a plane.  All of the robots had virtually the exact same voice save for Peter Cullen’s distinctive Optimus Prime.  This made it hard to care about any of them much. Where was Starscream’s high-pitched whine? I needed it.

On the positive side, the effects were cool, but not enough to save the film for me.  I can live with the human element (though its not easy), with the love story and all, but while most of my friends enjoyed it (the last time I saw a movie in a rather large group), I was not down.  I have yet to see it’s sequel either. Michael Bay should finally go darker with the next film (like Christopher Nolan’s Batman/Dark Knight) and then we might have something to work with.

The Darjeeling Limited began to show Wes Anderson’s time in the spotlight was fading.  I still enjoyed his previous effort, 2004’s Life Aquatic, and Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums are great movies, but Darjeeling did little for me.  You have the Wilson brothers and add in Jason Schwarztman, I expect so much more.  One particular moment, a J.Schwartz ad-libbed hand lick was the only redeeming thing in this movie.  I was highly disappointed with the art-house hero on this one.

Semi-redeemed himself with Fantastic Mr. Fox, but the jury is now out on Anderson.  Wish I could say the same thing for M.Night Shyamalan, but its no longer out on him. He just sucks now.

Part Two with the other movies will come soon enough. Stay tuned and share your comments on this so far. Thanks.