A list of my top 25 favorite movies.

The other day my brother in law ask me a simple question. "What are you top favorite 25 movies of all time?". Seemed simple enough to answer I thought. I sure was wrong. It was extremely hard not only to remember all these great movies I love but to put them in a ranked list. Everyone has there favorite 5 on lock to tell at parties those five were easy, but what about beyond that? Eight list later I think I have my list down. For now.. Here it is and also my  Brother in law's lists. I also put in there Rotten Tomatoes score.

Jacob's list.
25. Alien: 97%
24. Gangs of New York: 75%
23. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: 60%
22. Reservoir Dogs: 92%
21. Midnight Cowboy: 88%
20. The Incredibles: 97%
19. Watchmen: 64%
18. Shawshank Redemption 90%
17. Behind the Candelabra: 95%
16. Inglorious Bastards: 89%
15. Beginners: 84%




14. Saving Private Ryan: 92%
13. Looper: 93%
12. Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World: 81%
11. The Departed: 92%
10. Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers: 96%
09. Goodfellas: 97%
08. The Shinning: 92%
07. Jurassic Park: 93%
06. Star Wars, Return of the Jedi: 79%
05. Dark Knight: 94
04. Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back: 96%
03. 2001: A Space Odyssey: 97%
02. There will be Blood: 91%
01. Star Wars, A New Hope: 93%











Matt's list.
25.X-Men: 82%
24. The Hobbit: 65%
23. The Matrix: 87%
22. Anchor Man, The Legend of Ron Burgandy: 66%
21. Wedding Crashers: 75%
20. Harry Potter, Order of the Phoenix
19. Back to the Future: 96%
18. Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl: 79%
17. Dances with Wolves: 80%
16. Gangs of New York: 75%
15. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back: 96%
14. Dark Knight: 94%
13. Liar Liar: 81%
12. The Last of the Mohicans: 97%
11. Braveheart: 81%
10. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers:  96%
09. Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows: 96%
08. Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith: 80%
07. Jurassic Park: 93%
06. Dumb and Dumber: 64%
05. Star Wars, Return of the Jedi 79%
04. Lord of the Rings, Return of the King: 94%
03. Spaceballs: 54%
02. Star Wars, A New Hope: 93%
01. Lord of the Rings: Fellow Ship of the Ring: 92%

Gravity: Review

Gravity

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Stars: Sandra Bullock George Clooney

Genre: Science Fiction

      

347 miles above the solid ground of earth are Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), two astronauts working on repairing a malfunctioning part of the Hubble Space Telescope. After a catastrophic event that puts the mission in jeopardy, Dr. Stone and Kowalski try as fast as they can to quickly get back to the safety of the space shuttle, but it’s too late.  They lose radio contact with Houston, and the two astronauts are thrown around sending Dr. Stone outward into the dark depths of space. Dr. Stone and Kowalski now have a new mission: survive and get back to earth safely without drifting away into the abyss of space never to be heard from again.

Buckle up your seat belts for Gravity; it’s quite the crazy ride. Gravity definitely has spot on special effects. Alfonso and his special effects team really out did themselves by capturing the movement of particles in space. Anytime the characters would look down at earth or look up at the stars, it felt like you were looking out into space or down onto earth in real life. It was just gorgeous. A real fantastic spectacle for the eyes.  Sandra Bullock definitely acted spot on. A lot of people doubt her acting capabilities, but Gravity really shows what she can do. George Clooney didn't act badly by any means whatsoever; it just seemed that he wasn’t really acting at all. He was just kind of being George Clooney, which is never a bad thing. No? If you met George for a drink some Saturday night he would probably act the same way as he did in Gravity. It definitely did not take away from the film in any way, it was just something my friends and I noticed. Alfonso Cuaron was brilliant when making Gravity. A lot of work went into it.  When he was filming, he had to measure out each scene to look as authentic as possible. He worked really well with the actors and special effects team to make it the most visually entertaining and gorgeous film for us. Alfonso Cuaron really knows what needs to be done when making a film. There is sadness, happiness, and loneliness all right there for you in Gravity throughout the entirety of the film.

I’m normally not the one racing to the 3D theater, but this time I thought, "Heck, why not see this movie in 3D? It looks like it could be fun." I was correct. I’m not sure if it was because I saw it at the IMAX, or if Alfonso Cuaron just knows how to make a 3D movie. Either way, I was definitely pleased with the choice to pay the extra money to see it in 3D. The action sequences were not overpowering, and there were not too many things flying off the screen at your face. When there were, it didn't feel forced because they were in space. Also, it did not make me feel sick.

9/10

Prisoners: Review

PRISONERS

Director: Denis Villeneuve 

Stars: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano

Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller 

 It's Thanksgiving morning. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), his wife, son and young daughter are going to eat a Thanksgiving Day meal with Franklin Birch (Terrance Howard) and his wife, and two daughters. Before the meal, the four kids go on a walk in the neighborhood, and a mysterious RV is parked outside a house. The young girls think it is very cool and start to play on it. After being pulled off it unwillingly by Keller's son, they head back to the house to feast on all the great food that is prepared for Thanksgiving. After the meal, the families are lounging, and the two young girls decide to go play outside, this time going without the guidance of their older siblings. A few hours pass, and the girls don’t return. Keller and Franklin set out to look for them. After Keller’s son tells him about the weird RV in the neighborhood, they call the police. Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), a cop who has solved every case he has ever been assigned, is tasked to find the two little girls. After an arrest on Alex Jones (Paul Dano), the family thinks they can rest a little easier. However, no charges are made on Alex, and forty-eight hours later, he is released. Keller, who is distraught over his missing daughter, decides to take matters into his own hands, while detective Loki follows other leads he has come across.

Make sure to bring a jacket to this one. It's cold, and not just outside. Prisoners had this whole dark, wet, cold theme going on the whole time. For instance, it was raining for most of the film. Prisoners has really good acting throughout its entirety; I definitely would not be surprised to see Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal get nominated for their rolls this coming award season. Jackman really brought out the inner chaos of what a father would go through if something like this were to happen to his child. Gyllenhaal seemed like an icecold Brooklyn detective who had a lot of emotion invested in finding the two missing girls. The story was really well told; I was shivering on the edge of my seat the entire time. At times one may think that it takes a weird turn in to something you might not like but it all comes out to one hell of a ride. The score for Prisoners did not stand out to me as something that is making the scene more intense. It was the acting that really made me feel how suspenseful this movie really was. This is something that is very hard to do; not a lot of movies can pull this off. Argo, for example, pulled this off last year. Prisoners is definitely worth a watch, whether you choose to see it in a theater or rent it. Seeing it on TV one afternoon would definitely take away from the story.

8/10

Prince Avalanche: Review

PRINCE AVALANCHE                      

Director: David Gordon Green

Stars: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch

Genera: Comedy/Drama

Alvin (Paul Rudd) and Lance (Emile Hirsch) are two city road workers, working on the last parts of a new highway after a fire ripped through the area, painting lines and replacing reflector polls. Alvin and Lance are out there alone with only themselves and their deepest thoughts. The two characters clash with differences; Alvin is a hard working solitude loving man who hirers his girlfriend’s brother, Lance. Lance is a party loving socialite who doesn’t do well with the quiet isolation of the wild. The characters have their head-butting matches and comedy ensues. But, this is not just a simple slapstick comedy. ‘Prince Avalanche’ has some heart in there. As a coming of age tale, it shows you that no matter how you may think you have your life planned out everyone could still have some growing up to do.

Prince Avalanche had some fantastic cinematography: a lot of the scene splitting cuts looked like something out of a Redbull produced snowboard video; very gorgeous and beautiful surroundings. The writing is quite clever. Really take notice in the beauty of the characters' movements and the subtle actions that they use in each scene. A lot of scenes aren’t about the spoken jokes but about what all is happening in the specific shot. Emile and Paul have great chemistry on screen together; its literally like Paul Rudd hired his girl friend’s bonehead brother to work with him.

All in all I was a real big fan of this film. It was funny well put together easy on the eyes. There was a few parts that didn’t make sense and I’m not sure if I just missed something or if that just the way it was.

7/10

Side note: Once I went to a meet up to meet Olan Rodgers that man from Balloonshop fame and before meeting him I went to a comic book store and they had ‘Prince Avalanche’ poster so I took on and had Olan sign it. He seemed kind of offended at first. That was before I saw the movie and now I kind of wish he wouldn’t have signed it because the poster looks pretty cool and everyone who looks at it will say who singed it and I’ll have to tell a boring story. Boring to the listener, pretty neat to me.