Best Movies of my Life #14

The Departed
Martin Scorsese is one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. The Departed actually won best picture in 2006. And amazingly it is only his fifth best movie. But over his long career with several critically acclaimed movies, The Departed was the his first movie to win best picture at the Academy Awards. Based off of a Chinese movie by the name "Infernal Affairs." The film revolves around an undercover cop played by Leonardo DiCaprio who infiltrates the Irish mafia in order to find a rat on the police force played by Matt Damon. And while all this is going on Leo is also gathering evidence in an attempt of trying to put a mob boss away played by Jack Nicholson. With a twist a couple twists you won't see coming The Departed is a nonstop thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire movie. And on top of that every actor in this movie gives an incredible performance, the best of a couple of the actors careers. A mature, violent, and vulgar movie laced with dark comedy, The Departed is a fantastically written movie that finally got Martin Scorsese the Oscar that he deserved.

Best Movies of my Life #15

Toy Story
Like many other people, this was the movie of my childhood. A true classic, and one of the most beloved children movies of all time. I'm assuming that everyone has seen this movie, but if for some odd reason you haven't I'll give a quick summary. Toy Story is just like it sounds, it's about toys. When the kids leave the room, the toys come to life. The movie revolves around a kid named Andy and his toys, and the toy in charge is a cowboy named Woody. One day Andy gets a new toy named Buss Lightrear, who thinks he's real and not a toy. And throughout the movie this group of toys gets involved in a series of hilarious shenanigans. Superb voice acting, a great soundtrack, lovable characters, a unique plot, and just about everything else in this movie is original and fantastic. Toy Story was Pixar's masterpiece, and to be honest I feel bad for Pixar. Toy Story was there first feature film, and that's a hard movie to follow up. But time and time again Pixar has proved they are one of the best film companies out there.

The Imposter Review

The Imposter
To be honest this is one of those movies that is really hard to review. If there wasn't documented proof that this really happened, I would call the whole thing bullsh*t. Released in 2012, the film tells how in 1994 a 13 year old boy from San Antonio named Nicholas Barclay went missing. Three years later his family gets a call from some police in Spain that they hound him. He is then flown back to his family and resumes his former life. But something is off, from the way he talked to the way he looked. People were suspicious, was this even Nicholas. It is learned that this imposter is a French nationalist named Frederic Bourdin, and is wanted by Interpol for impersonating hindreds of people. Frederic is a sociopath who grew up in an abusive home where he was unwanted, and found an escape from his life by pretending to be others. One day he placed a fake phone call to the police claiming to be a couple on vacation who found a kid, locked himself in a phone booth and waited for the police to come, claimed to be Nicholas after he gathered some information about missing persons at random, and then proceeded to fool the police and the family about who he was for weeks. This movie would best be classified as a psychological thriller, it's like something out of a nightmare. How someone could do this to the family of a missing person and give them hope that they found them only to have it taken away from them is a sick individual. They actually got Frederic involved in the movie and when you hear him talk, he just doesn't sound right. He doesn't talk like a stable person, he should be locked away in and insane asylum. Documentaries are my favorite type of movies, and this is one of the best I've ever seen. Similar to "Man on Wire" in how it was shot, and creepier than almost any movie I've ever seen. An astonishing film that isn't just the best documentary film of the year, it's one of the best movies of the year in general. 5/5

Best Movies of my Life #16

The Hurt Locker
Released in 2009, "The Hurt Locker" took the film industry by storm. Praised by critics and audiences, the film went on to win literally hundreds of awards. It even won six Oscar's including best picture and the director Kathryn Bigelow would be the first woman to win best director at the Oscars. But while in theaters, it was a financial flop. It didn't even make its 15 million dollar budget back. Fortunately all the award coverage boosted DVD sales, bringing the total revenue to 50 million. The movie follows the lives of an EOD (explosive ordinance disposal group) squad during their tour in Iraq. After the death of a teammate the squad receives a new member, and he's a thrill seeker. And in multiple parts of the movie he puts his team members at risk. After a couple of missions don't go according to plan, his outlook on his situation changes. One thing that makes this move so interesting is that it's not so much about the war, but more about the soldiers. This movie makes you connect with the characters like few movies do. You see what makes them tick, what keeps them up at night, and what they would rather be doing. Beautifully shot, well written, superbly acted, and as intense of a movie as you will ever see.  

Silver Linings Playbook Review

Silver Linings Playbook
I'm going to be honest, this film was a lot better than I thought it would. And the reason is because it is different than I thought it would be. "Silver Linings Playbook" is about a guy named Pat played by Bradley Cooper (the Hangover). One day Pat comes home early from work and finds his wife with another man. Unfortunately for that guy Pat is Bipolar and goes off the deep end and beats him within an inch of his life. After spending the next eight months in a mental facility he is released to go live with his parents. Not long after that he is set up on a blind date by one of his friends with a young lady named Tiffany played by Jennifer Lawrence (the Hunger Games), who is also a little unstable. Tiffany is a recent widow who had a mental breakdown after her late husband died, and she believes it is her own fault. Almost instantly you see some sort of connection between Tiffany and Pat. Tiffany wants to be more than friends, but while Pat is attracted to her he is optimistic that he can patch things up with his now ex wife. Tiffany (who is knows Pats ex wife) offers to get Pat in touch with her if he agrees to be her partner in a dance competition. At first Pat thinks it's stupid, but he soon learns that the competition will effect the ones he loves and his relationship with Tiffany. This movie was marketed as a romantic comedy, but really it's not. It is first and fore most a drama with romantic comedy elements, which adds so much to the movie because they take it seriously. Most romantic comedy's are pathetic, thrown together, money grabs meant to get couples to shell out 20 dollars to see a sub par movie. But Silver Linings Playbook is about two damaged and emotionally vulnerable people who are trying to put there lives back together. And the most impressive thing about this movie is how attached you get to the characters, I can't think of a movie where I was rooting for the characters to get it together so much. Both Cooper and Lawrence did a fantastic job in their roles, and they have the best chemistry I've seen from a couple in recent memory. Jennifer Lawrence may even be up for an Oscar for best actress in a leading role. I loved this movie and it's been one of my favorite films of the year. And while some people may be turned off at how serious this movie is, it is a emotionally charged film that I highly recommend others to see. 4.5/5

Best Movies of my Life #17

Synecdoche, New York 
First off, I have no idea how to pronounce the name either. And second, I would be impressed if you've ever heard of this movie let alone seen it. "Synecdoche, New York" is written and directed by Charlie Kaufman (witter of "eternal sunshine for the spotless mind" and "being John Malkovich"). The film follows the life of a local theater director named Caden (Philip Semour Hofman), and his depressive ass life. I'm not joking, Caden has the saddest life I've ever seen. His luck goes from bad, to worse, to just plain terrible. Seriously, if I were him I would have put a bullet in my head after the first thirty minutes. Early in the film Caden is met with his depleting health and starts to go mad throughout the film. And on top of all this Caden's selfish bitch of a wife leaves him and takes his daughter, who he doesn't see for 30 years, because she believes she is in a passionless marriage. One thing you need to know about this film is that time is irrelevant, years pass in an instant. In the film Caden is awarded the MacArthor Grant (a 500,000 dollar grant given to geniuses) which Caden uses to put on a massive play inspired by his own life. He rents out a giant storage house and essentially builds a city inside of it filled with people told to live out a regular life. But throughout the film the line between reality and fantasy is blurred. At a certain point you can't tell if what is happening is real or if it is just going on inside Caden's head. I'm going to be honest, this film is much smarter than me. Filled with motifs, allusions, and metaphors. Brilliantly written and filled with dark humor. An intelligent and entreating film about a sick man's decent into madness over a period of years. And the most depressing f*cking movie I've ever seen in my entire life.        

Best Movies of my life #18

Spirited Away
When I first heard about Spirited Away I didn't think I would like it, but in reality I was amazed at how moving it would be. The story revolves around a young girl who has her parents taken away from her and is transported to another world. And the only way she can get them back is if she works for the owner of a supernatural bathhouse for demons, spirits, and monsters. So this young girl has to adjust to her new life and learn to work with the spirits of this world in order to gain her life back. You can never really put your finger on what's going to happen next in this movie. When you think one thing is going to happen, the opposite does. And the shear uniqueness of everything in this film keeps you engaged until the last second. An epic fantasy about overcoming adversity and the love of a daughter. And one of the best animated movies ever made.

Best Movies of my Life #19

The Dark Knight
In 2006, Christopher Nolan rebooted the batman franchise with the first film of a new trilogy called "Batman Begins." And it was great. One reason it was so good was that the previous film was so bad. I'm not sure how many of you saw Batman and Robin, but it is one of the worst movies ever made. It's not worth the film it was captured on. But Nolan pitched this idea of a new nitty gritty style and it resulted in one of the best trilogies in cinema history, and the crown jewel of the series was "The Dark Knight." Honestly the Dark Knight was a lot better than we thought it would be. As good as Batman Begins was, we had no idea how this one would turn out. It was an action packed emotional thriller with layers we weren't expecting, and Heath Ledger's incredible performance as the Joker was the icing on the cake. Unfortunately Ledger passed away before the film was released. Praised by critics, audiences, a financial success, and the greatest super hero movie ever made. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight is absolutely incredible.

Lincoln Review

"Lincoln" is about just what it sound like, the 16'th president of the United States Abraham Lincoln. Directed by one of the greatest directors in cinema history Steven Spielberg, Lincoln is a triumph. The film revolves around the president during the height of the civil war when he is trying to pass the 13'th amendment to abolish slavery. But with both political and personal problems standing in the way, this is no easy task. The first thing you notice about this film is the outstanding acting. Every actor gives an incredible performance. But without question the best performance comes from the man playing the president, Daniel Day Lewis. Lewis's most notable work was staring in one of the best movies of the last decade "There will be Blood" (which he won an Oscar for). And incredibly he may have done an even better job in Lincoln. His performance is nothing short of incredible, and he may have just one himself another Oscar  Another notable performance would be Tommy Lee Jones who plays one of the best characters in his movie. His character wasn't just emotionally charged about passing the amendment, but he was an hilarious smart ass in the process. And Jones may have also won himself an Oscar for best supporting actor. From the great cinematography, to the great score, to the superb writing. Speilberg has truly outdone himself. Making not only one of the best movies of the year, but one of the best of his already legendary career. 4.5/5

Best movies of my life #20

28 Days Later

I'm sure a that there are a couple of you thinking, "really? That's one of the 20 best movies in the last 18 years?" Well it's my damn list and I say it is. And the reason it is is because it is a culturally relevant movie. It's not often we get a movie that completely changes a genre. Before this movie the zombie genre was dying, the ideas were stale and washed up. But in 2002 Danny Boyle released 28 Days Later which breathed live back into zombie movies. What actually makes this movie unique actually seems insignificant. 28 Days Later was one of the first movies to have fast zombies and zombies made through infection. And since the films release there have been dozens (maybe even hundreds) of movies and video games that have tried to follow the 28 Days Later formula (very few have succeeded). And I've got to give Danny Boyle props for this movie, he made it for the price of a bowl of ramen and made like a 100 million. So the reason this is number 20 on my list is not just because it is a great movie, but it's also one of the most influential movies in years.

Skyfall review

James bond may be my favorite movie series of all time. The first one I saw was "The spy who loved me" (which to be honest isn't very good). But I remember seeing the villain's henchman "Jaws" and thought he was awesome. After that I saw more and more of the series. In 2006 a reboot to the series entitled "Casino Royale" was released, and it brought Bond into the 21'st century with a new gritty style. In 2008 "Quantum of Solace" came out, and it was a huge disappointment (in its defense, it had some pretty big shoes to fill). And now after four long years we get the 23'rd installment in the 007 franchise "Skyfall," and it is better than I ever could have imagined. Skyfall is directed my Sam Mendez and in it Daniel Craig returns to his role as James Bond and gives, quiet possibly, the best performance of his career. While James Bond is known as an unstoppable badass who never gives up and who you can never break, starts to show his age. Years of heavy drinking and partying all night has taken a its toll on the super spy. And one of the most interesting aspects of the movie is seeing Bond pull himself out the hole he dug. When the movie was announced people had one question, who would play the Bond villain. Some people were worried since the last two movies did not have a defining bad guy like the classics. When Javier Bardem (most noted for his role in No Country for Old Men, which he received best supporting actor for) was announced as the film's antagonist, everyone's fears where put to rest. Bardem gives a masterful performance as the psychopathic Raoul Silva, a cyber terrorist and ex MI6 agent. One of the complaints Casino Royale revived was that it didn't have the classic charm of the older movies, it didn't feel like a Bond movie. Skyfall manages to combine the elements of the new gritty movies with the whit and charm of the older ones. Even opening visuals and theme song (performed by Adele) has a classic feel. Through out Skyfall references are made about the older Bond movies, and anyone who has seen the older films will get a real kick out of it. Everything about this film is spectacular from the acting, to the soundtrack, to the cinematography, and superbly written dialog.  Skyfall isn't just a great bond movie it is a great movie in general, and is a film every one should see. 5/5