Movies I've Watched This Year

Key Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, and Amara Miller.

Run Time: 115 minutes.

Summary: A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.

Date Watched: January 26th, 2012

Likes: Very touching. George Clooney is George Clooneying throughout the movie but is so charismatic you care for him. His kids act like real kids.

Dislikes: An abundance of Hawaii. Felt like I was watching more of a travel ad than a movie.

Key Cast: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Run Time: 133 minutes.

Summary: The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Date Watched: January 25th, 2012

Likes: Brad Pitt was great, letting you feel his frustration. A good baseball movie that made you feel for the characters without caring about the game.

Dislikes: Confusing at times (the draft) if you don't understand baseball. The moral of the story (spoilers) had to do with him succeeding by changing the game but you only know he changed the game by an addendum at the end.

Key Cast: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, and Clancy Brown.

Run Time: 119 minutes.

Summary: A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way.

Date Watched: January 20th, 2012

Likes: Daniel Craig is a boss and knows how to play one. Very stoic and reminiscent of Clint Eastwood. I liked the boy playing Emmett. Formulaic but fun.

Dislikes: "Too many cooks in the kitchen." Obvious plot that didn't pay off. Olivia Wilde's character served no purpose. Nothing was explained. Most of the actors, aside from Craig, phoned it in. Harrison Ford wasn't a convincing bad guy and you didn't care if he redeemed himself.

Key Cast: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, and Jennifer Morrison.

Run Time: 140 minutes.

Summary: The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament -- a path that puts the fighter on a collision corner with his older brother.

Date Watched: January 14th, 2012

Likes: Very emotional. A successor to Rocky. Not knowing MMA didn't deter from the movie. A great performance by Nick Nolte. Tom Hardy is a jackass. An emotional tug of war that doesn't tell you who to root for.

Dislikes: Perhaps a bit too much shaky cam to add emotion to dramatic scenes.

Key Cast: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones, Luke Treadaway, and Nick Frost.

Run Time: 88 minutes.

Summary: A teen gang in South London defend their block from an alien invasion.

Date Watched: January 10th, 2012

Likes: Very fun. Lots of great effects on a shoestring budget. Bloody and violent. Nick Frost.

Dislikes: Silly instances that didn't need to be in the movie. Rude characters you can't understand. A drug dealer caricature.

Key Cast: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Laurence Fishburne.

Run Time: 106 minutes.

Summary: A thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak.

Date Watched: January 10th, 2012

Likes: Gwyneth Paltrow seizures. Very disturbing and plausible. Beautifully shot.

Dislikes: Not enough Kate Winslet. No real direction for the plot. Confusing storylines.

Key Cast: Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Daniel Brocklebank, Laurence Fox, and Keira Knightley.

Run Time: 102 minutes.

Summary: Four teenagers at a British private school secretly uncover and explore the depths of a sealed underground hole created decades ago as a possible bomb shelter.

Date Watched: January 2nd, 2012

Likes: Thora Birch has a great body. Laurence Fox plays a good villain/sympathetic character. Keira Knightley topless. Keeps you guessing.

Dislikes: Thora Birch not topless. Birch can't do a British accent and why she tried is beyond me. Sloppy writing. Felt like a made-for-TV movie.

Key Cast: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Gregg Henry, and Michael Rooker.

Run Time: 96 minutes.

Summary: After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt, a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills.

Date Watched: January 6th, 2012

Likes: I was surprised this wasn't a Troma movie with all the gore and demented characters. John Waters would be proud. Ellen Page is a star and at her most fucked up. Very dark.

Dislikes: Kevin Bacon and Liv Tyler should be above doing these types of movies. Liv was in LOTR!

Key Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anjelica Huston.

Run Time: 100 minutes.

Summary: Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.

Date Watched: January 4th, 2012

Likes: Pretty funny but serious on the subject matter. Seth Rogen wasn't annoying and felt like he really cared for his friend. Anna Kendrick is goddamn adorable and a horrible doctor. Loved the ending.

Dislikes: Not enough Anna Kendrick.