The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day review

I've been trying to figure out nice ways of expressing all that I feel about this film, it's predecessor and it's fan base, and I've come to the conclusion that I can't find a really nice way of doing it. It's like talking about "Saw" or "Twilight" and their fans kind of. Okay... maybe that's a little harsh, but then again a lot of their fans can be dickish to non-saints lovers so they've got this coming.

Why are they so loyal to these cheap, imitations of good crime action films? Maybe it's the whole 'anyone could make this movie' look to it that's inspiring? Maybe not enough of their fans have seen the movies these are ripping off (sometimes blatantly ripping off) or seen any actually good movies in this genre. Maybe they've just got bad taste? Nah... many of them are Tarantino fans as well so that can't be it I guess. Hell, maybe it's just an Irish and Catholic thing. Whatever the case, because of said fans writer-director Troy Duffy has created a second and possibly soon... a third one of these pictures. Good news is that I don't think this is has smelly, reeking and pretentious of a rip off as the first one. But it still sucks a lot.

Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery return as the two hitmen/vigilantes/cursin' Irish brothers MacManus (name taken from "The Usual Suspects"). The boys along with their father, an older hitman played by Billy Connolly; a character which seems to serve very little purpose except to add another story to the movie and give a "Righteous Kill" worthy twist at the end. They all live together back in Ireland and are called back into the seedy underbelly of Boston after the murder of a priest by someone pretending to be the boys. This piece of the story and the prep in a lift from dozens of hiding persons movies as a way to draw them out of hiding. The aforementioned prep is a lame version of Karl Urban's character from 'The Bourne Supremacy'... who just happens to have done the EXACT SAME THING in that movie. But wait it's different here because this guy is Spanish or Italian but looks Spanish. Anyways this brings in fill-in-character Special Agent Bloom played by Julie Benz to replace the over acting, over characterized motor mouth gay cop Williem Dafoe played in the first film.

I liked Benz in most of her movies although she has been on a weird rift of doing corny ass accents. Here though her southern accent is as ear bleedingly bad as some of the dialogue in the movie. Furthermore Duffy does several of the same types of shots and sequences as he did with Dafoe, but with Benz smiling seductively and looking at the camera. And apparently every cop... scratch that every man is so dumb in Boston or rather in this movie's version of Boston that no one asks why the fuck she's staring off at the wall all the time and walking that way. Apparently because all the blood from their brains have shot to their dicks, but after six of these scenes you've gotta let it go. But hey... who said this was serious? It's supposed to be a fun, action movie so who needs logic? Well maybe if the action wasn't so crappy it could play that card.

Sorry, but two guys with two desert eagles sliding in slow motion, killing a room full of people with a few drip-drips of blood doesn't cut it. Not in a world where John Woo could do these scenes with ten times that amount of carnage with less money, resources and time. And he did... over two decades ago! These brothers aren't badass either, they're just supped of versions of Duffy's drinking buddies mixed with shallow interpretations of characters from 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. Shit Benz even has a line stolen from 'Manhunter'! Every action scene in this film has been done and yet still people are going ga-ga over it!

So now I come to the qusi-social commentary which begs the question of are these boys heroes or villains. My thoughts... who the fuck cares?! They both could have bit it in the first twenty minutes and I wouldn't have cared. They lifeless drones walking around trying to talk tough and walk tough in dozens of pointless, stupid and boring scenes with talking, shitty jokes that might have been funny when I was in 8th grade and piss poor shoot-outs. And I'm not someone to be easily bored. Did Harvey Keitel try to be badass in 'Bad Lieutenant'? FUCK NO! He just was. Hell even Paul Walker in 'Running Scared', he succeeded in being a badass in a world of complete and utter shitty chaos. This isn't Scorsese's Boston. There's no fear of being chopped up and feed to the poor. These gangsters are as weak as their punishers and with worst aim than the Russians in 'Rambo III'.

So I'll end this nicely. I feel like I've gotten about as much spite and hell fire out of my lungs and mind as I can. I want to give fans of these film the same treatment I give fans of 'Saw'. Obviously you have an interest in these sort of characters and movies. That's great and wonderful and such, BUT you need to see the light... by seeing some stuff that doesn't suck and isn't wasting your time... I know right now you don't believe me and you think I'm full of shit, but I assure you I know what I'm talking about. There's millions of great, badass, action films that have everything you need and more, but you've gotta get outside and find them first. Never seen old school Scorsese? This is as good a time as any. Missed out on 'Natural Born Killers' or 'The Long Kiss Goodnight'? See em'. Ever heard of 'The King of New York' or either version of 'Bad Lieutenant'? No? Get on Netflix pronto.

"The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" * out of ****

MY FAVORITE FILMS FROM 2000 TO 2009 vol. 2 (89 to 80)

89. "Big Fish"
I've never been ga-ga over Tim Burton and he's definitely a filmmaker I grew up watching... and I'm a sucker for my own nostalgia. However in his entire career I'd say he has three to four perfect or near perfect films. "Big Fish" for me is one of them and has the strange effect of working best while watching it. When I think about the film I never feel that it's as great as I feel when watching it. Ewan McGreggor provides one of his best performances and Burton recaptures much of the magic he had in his younger days. It's a beautiful, funny and original film that deserved more acclaim then it got.

88. "Monster House"
I remember seeing this after a horrible day at work. I walked down to the theater and on a whim bought a ticket to this. I'd seen a billion trailers and heard a billion great things about it, but still even it's producers being as high quality as Spielberg and Zemeckis, I still wasn't looking for much. Damn was I wrong. Some how, some way "Monster House" wasn't just some run of the mill kids flick, but instead an almost Sam Raimi-sque horror-comedy for kids. The motion capture was a bit herky-jerky at times, but the animation was wonderful and I love, love, LOVE this entire final act when it almost seems like we're not watching CGI, but full on puppets moving. Also the designs of the ever changing monster house are stupendous.

87. "Transformers"
Gotta give the devil his due. I'm not a Bay-hater oddly enough. Sure he's not much for enhanced character development and yes he tends to play into stereotypes a lot (although he's not alone in that), but the man knows spectacle and sometimes (like in the case of "Bad Boys", "The Rock" and "The Island") he can get it down well enough for it to not be (at best) a guilty pleasure action film like the others. With "Transformers' however I felt he made a good blend of himself mixed with what a general audience of youngsters and older people would want to see in a sci-fi action flick. The film blew up the careers of Shia LaBeouf and of course Megan Fox. Aside from them he managed to turn a toy franchise and mediocre cartoon series, into a full blown entertaining ride with bits of badassness tossed into the mix.

86. "Grindhouse"
Such a sad event. I wish that the more people had experienced this in theaters, the way it was meant to be. I wish people could have seen ALL the fake trailers and little ads connecting Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" and Tarantino's "Death Proof". But more did discover the two films on DVD and I guess got the idea. Happily enough the dynamic duo's homages to B thru D quality movies of the 70's and 80's have become a cult success and it's style has caught on a bit more than I thought it would so it's not all bad. Plus in April we'll get a new installment co-directed by Robert Rodriguez... "Machete".

85. "Pineapple Express"
Definitely a film that has gotten only stronger with time and it's because of how clever it really is. Seth Rogen and James Franco are a comedy match made in heaven, something Judd Apatow has known for years. However I've gotta say that Danny McBride and Craig Robinson make me laugh a bit more. In any case to have weed film morph into an action flick the way it did while still being funny was no easy task and yet it accomplishes it better than 95% of buddy action, comedies.

84. "The Weatherman"*
One reason why no matter how many half-assed adventure movies that don't work Nicolas Cage does I still like him, is because he'll still turn and do a movie like this (like Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Walken). In 2005 actually had two terrific films, one was this and the other was "Lord of War", a black comedy about war lords. I chose this one because his performance and the overall him have stuck with me longer. Directed by Gore Verbinski ('The Ring' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' 1-3), it's a very funny dramedy about a Chicago weatherman and the dysfunctions of his relationship with his ex-wife, her new husband, he successful father played by Michael Caine and his two kids; plus his attempts to get a nation wide weatherman job and get them all liking and respecting him again. What I've come to love about the film (aside from the photography, the subtle humor and Hans Zimmer's wonderfully original score) is just how true of a film it is. Everything in it is based in our world and can and would probably unfold as it did. Rather than make a wholly depressing movie about someones several attempts to achieve a far-fetched dream, it merely shows these things and life as humorous, somewhat sad, but not completely unrewarding.

83. "Watchmen"
The filmed, unfilmable graphic novel. I've come to realize that in certain groups (i.e. the ones that read the book) there is a divide on the film and it's based on how well you liked the book. If you loved the book, then you'll probably say you were disappointed in the film, although it kept dangerously close to the source material. If you're like me however then you might think a bit differently. The book is terrific and a classic for a reason. However it's not flawless and neither is the movie, but it's important. I'd rather have had Snyder be himself and create a film as a filmmaker and fan, than to have had just anybody come on, read the book and then shoot whatever they feel like works. There is stunning images and great, gritty moments throughout the film, but it's more a character drama then anything. Something fans have seemed to notice and have helped raise the films cult status. Jackie Earle Harley's Rorschach has become an even more beloved character than he was, Silk Spectre II (well... and the original Silk Spectre... I mean c'mon Carla Gugino is hot too) have been more oggeled over than before and the Comedian's satirical attitude to the world has reached a much boarder audience than ever before.

82. "Harry Potter" (series)
You can't discuss the past ten years in film or literature without bringing up Harry Potter. Those books have helped divine a generation in ways that shit like 'Twilight' will never do (God willing) and cinema wise, set the bar for children's fantasy adventure. Now this is a blanket pick spanning six films and if you know me then you know that I'm not crazy about all six. Personally the best ones to me are three and four. I love them because they feel like complete, original and engrossing packages. The first two haven't aged particularly well, but their magic and creative spark is definitely there. As for the last two... well... they're just not 'wow' inducing. Perhaps you'll get a cool scene once in a while, but I feel like the Yates films look terrific and dark and brooding, but add nothing emotionally, dramatically or thematically. They feel more like slightly altered readings of the books set to dark photographs. I'm not impressed in the slightest bit by the new trailer, but I do hope this two part finale saves the franchise from mediocrity.

81. "Catch Me If You Can"
Truly a great tale told in great ways. Steven Spielberg is a master of tone and mood; that's probably why I like him so much. "Catch Me If You Can" works so well because it's a real life cat and mouse story that draws you in more and more with each scene. This one of the films that brought Leonardo DiCaprio back to the foreground in films and it was great work. Equally fun to watch was Tom Hanks as the FBI agent on his trail. Going back you'll also see one of Christopher Walken's best roles and two fantastic extended cameos by Jennifer Garner and Amy Adams. Also if you haven't read the book, you really need to.

80. "Jarhead"
I love Sam Mendes films. The man is a true artist to the core and "Jarhead" is one of his unsung masterworks. Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Saarsgard provide amazing performances that were award worthy, but overlooked. "Jarhead", like most non-flag waving war films was met with tons of controversy; mainly because of the unfavorable war in the middle east we were in, but also because of it's dark sided few of the soldiers who get wrapped too tight and made too paranoid. However a lot of times we must look at the ticking-time bombs we turn human beings into in the military. We should question certain methods and figure out what is the best way to handle these men and women. The film nor the book offer any answers, but simply tell the story and with great detail and images. Also I can't forget how true and enduring Jamie Foxx is in the film.

* film pictured at the top of post

Disney's A Christmas Carol review

Perhaps the biggest surprise to me this fall was this. I've always been lukewarm when it came to Robert Zemeckis' animated pictures. The man has done some fantastic things technically and most of the 3D and motion capture effects that are used in film, tv and video games came from him and his studio. However "The Polar Express" was a bit dull and dry and the characters were too much polished zombie for me. "Beowulf" was a letdown. Partially because I expected something more and partially because the 3D wasn't that strong. So I didn't walk into expecting much. And even with that, I still think this is his best animated feature to date and a perfect 3D film.

First off the graphics and animation are superb. Dozens and dozens of shots look more real and animated and the 3D is far stronger than any of the 3D films I've seen yet. Second is that Zemeckis also wrote the screenplay. He's a talented director, but he's an extremely talented writer. Here he doesn't make this a kiddie Scrooge. No... instead he takes his version into a darkness. A darkness and doom that Scrooge is supposed to feel throughout all three haunting, not just the final one. Jim Carrey also plays Scrooge much more dramatically then comically. In fact you could count the funny moments on one hand. His face is used for all the characters he plays, but finding like his voice they're all transformed in certain ways. Zemeckis keeps him wizzing through the world camera approach, but it's the quiet and still moments that work best. Hell there are even times he aims to be scary and jar the audience a little bit.

The only two problems I have are mild, but they exist. The final haunting and the added chase scene goes on a bit too long and messes with the perfect pacing it had. The film isn't particularly long, but that really stretched it out. And the second... well... it's the film itself in a way. There was such an amazing job done on this film... I mean for my money it's one of the best animated film of the year, far better than "Up". But if only that tech could've gone into a story when haven't heard and seen a billion times. I'm pretty sure this and "Dracula" are the most remade stories in history, however this is one that we see a new version of every year just about. It's nit picky, but I wish instead this could've gone into a fresh new Zemeckis story. However... for it to be a Scrooge story it is fantastic and near perfect. And at least now we can look forward to Zemeckis keeping his promise and bringing us a new "Roger Rabbit" film. Now that's exciting.

"Disney's A Christmas Carol" *** 1/2 out of ****

Ninja Assassin review

I'm not one of those people who've jumped on the meem band wagon about zombies or ninjas or any of that crap. Generally I love kung-fu genre pictures and most of the ones we get now in American are either rather mediocre Asian ones of DVD or more kid friendly ones in theaters. But enter a rag tag film making force... James McTeigue (director of "V for Vendetta" and second unit director of 'The Matrix" trilogy and "Speed Racer"), legendary producer Joel Silver along with the Wachowski brothers and co-writer J. Michael Straczynski; writer of "Changeling". Their plan, to make an A-movie out of a B-movie premise. Said premise is that ninja still exist and have been operating and carrying out assassinations for centuries. Now two Europol agents are getting too close and one rogue ninja seeks to protect them and kill his former master.

That's about as B-movie as it gets and no this never becomes an A-movie sadly enough. However it does accomplish being a very fun and entertaining B-movie that belongs on a list of modern grindhouse films. Korean pop star and co-star of "Speed Racer" Rain plays Raizo, the rogue ninja that disobeyed his clan and is trying to track them down to finish them all off. Naomie Harris ('Miami Vice' and '28 Days Later') plays Mika, the agent Raizo is protecting because as crazy as she sounds, she has indeed figured out what's going on. And what is going on? Well the film's got holes. Lots of holes. So they do their damnedest to film them up with blood... a lot of blood.

Personally I've never been big on CGI blood. Scorsese and Fincher are two of the few that have used it well in their recent films, but in major action fair it doesn't look as well as it should. So congratulations McTeigue and company for actually making it work. The need for it in some films makes sense. By doing it with computers you're able to save set up and clean up time and take as many shots as you need. It saves times, man power and money For "Ninja Assassin" however I imagine the clean up would've been the biggest issue. There's more blood squirting here than in "Kill Bill" and if a take when wrong, it seems like it would take hours and hours to get it all clean up for the second take. A lot attention is put into th CGI blood, so it looks good. Not amazing, but good. What really aids however is the pick-up scenes with real blood soaked into the hands of the killer and splashed across the walls.

There are multiple sequences of highly kinetic action set pieces that are over the top and ridiculous, but so joyfully created that you can't help but enjoy the ride. Ever seen ninjas fight an army of well armed soldiers? No? Well now's your chance! I've noticed that a lot of the over the top films of 2009 have gone either unnoticed or simply unloved. Something I find sad. People in the news world and magazine world bitch and moan about getting these kinds of films; then they complain that they're stupid. So others get made that have the action take a back seat to characters and story. Where realism over takes myth, so they say it's disappointing and boring. And the worst part is that the public is starting to listen to that. They'll talk smack about a film like 'Crank: High Voltage' because it didn't make a ton of money (however it did do well), but despite how terrible a film "New Moon" is they'll never lay into it too hard because it's made a boat load of cash. Perhaps it's just me, but I don't want crazy idea, genre pictures to die in favor of softer, tween age re imaginings of those ideas.

"Ninja Assassin" *** out of ****

The Men Who Stare At Goats & Planet 51 mini reviews

"The Men Who Stare At Goats" *** out of ****

A prime example of just an overall great story. I've never read, but I have heard of the book and the bizarre stated to be true story of the Army's push for a new type of solider. In the past things like Remote Viewing research has been released by the government, so it is indeed possible that this story is fact. George Clooney plays yet another great character, Lynn who is one of the best psychic soldiers to have existed and Ewan McGregor plays the reporter in the middle east searching for a story and finding Lynn. The two men's exploits are funny, but sometimes go on a bit too long and a lot of times their material is upstaged by the flashbacks ofthe 70's with Jeff Bridges Kevin Spacey and Clooney's characters. This was the directorial debut of actor/writer/producer Grant Henslov ("Good Night, and Good Luck") and it's a good jumping point. I will say there is one scene that is perhaps one of the funniest things I've seen all year, but it's not one that you would expect. Probably why it was so funny.

"Planet 51" ** out of ****

This is an example of a harmless kids film that had it been properly done could've been great, but instead takes all the easy roads and fails. Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long, Gary Oldman and Jessica Biel voice the characters in the 50's, B-movie, science fiction styled film. About ten minutes into the movie I came to the conclusion that this was from the same makers of "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius", a animated film I actually hated (and still kinda do). "Planet 51" isn't that bad, but it's flat and simple minded. Kids might like it, but parents are likely to be bored with it.

Armored review

I feel like there's a cut of "Armored" that really nails it. I mean hits the exact right notes. The film isn't bad, it's just too much of a mixed bag to fully like. Here's my case... director Nimrod Antal (who recently a nice new job directing "Predators" for Robert Rodriguez and FOX) has a great eye for styles and and even better ability of how to use them without making an exploitation flick. "Armored" is 90's caper film, with the darkened style of 70's John Carpenter action. I say 90's caper because now almost all caper films are formed off of the "Ocean's 11" format so they attempt to be as super cool. In the 90's you had things like this. Little action, lots of talk and often sequences that were good, but then were followed by one's that weren't balanced.

Screen Gems' child Columbus Short ("Quarantine" and "This Christmas") is the green lead as Ty Hackett, a former Iraq solider that came home after his parent death. He now takes care of his troubled teenage brother and works at the same security job as his father. Matt Dillon is Mike, Ty's godfather and co-worker. Mike is shady, but in his own way means well. He cares about Ty, but he has other plans... like the robbery. The rest of the team is equally filled out with 90's era badasses. Which for me was geekily cool, not unlike the three heads of the police squad in "Planet Terror". Laurence Fishburne is the crude and ill-mannered Baines, Jean 'The Professional' Reno is Quinn, Skeet Ulrich is almost unrecognizable as the grungy Dobbs and yeah for fun why not had Fred Ward as their chief. The crew dynamic is good and their conversations, though slanted towards a certain mindset, do serve the picture well.

Here's where I do start to wonder things though. As the robbery begins it seemed that certain pieces weren't edited right. Like it had been cut up too much and was making some bits tough to follow. Other times you get the drift, but some characters action might take them from zero to sixty in a second without much mid time for us to notice. And then the music. Of all the composer I'm shocked to learn that John Murphy, someone whose music I've always gone ga-ga over, made this over roasted hollywood generalized junk. And I say this because there's times where the music fucks the scene up. The MUSIC for crying out loud! But hey I'm not a hard person to please. Thus the mixed bag situation... there is some good.

Antal likes to leave characters roaming and show us that. Show us some downtime or leave a scene going a little longer. At times this makes for great suspense. In fact there is a really well done scene involved Skeet Ulrich trying to help Short's character by getting some engine parts for him. Also the little action in the film is pretty damn good. I enjoyed the lumbering armored truck chase and I have to say the ending crash was pretty nice looking. Also there are some surprisingly R-rated gun shots in the film as well. Which leads me to wonder did the films rating get bumped down when it got moved from a summer release to a winter release. Along with that is this brisk 88 minute film the actual whole product or simply something before we get an unrated director's cut? I actually hope so. I hope so because this is the kind of picture that I call a popcorn film and I wish I could say this one really is, but it's not fluid enough. And it's not quite fun enough.

I love this crew. Fishburne is an asshole, Quinn is the quiet, smart man and Dillon is the head badass. If there's nothing else going on, they just point the camera at him and you get the great concern looks from him. It's formulaic at times, but not gimmicky and it adds up. In fact I'm surprised I've liked it as much as I have, but really there needs to be a longer cut that would make the film work and some different music.

"Armored" ** 1/2 out of ****

MY FAVORITE FILMS FROM 2000 TO 2009 vol. 1 (100 to 90)

This is the complete and "final" list I will make. Sadly this is one of those things where the longer you wait and see things, the more revisions and edits you make and in the end you're not convinced that the list is what you truly feel. This has been my first REAL decade of movie watching where I truly looking for style, substance and all that other jazz in film and got to experience some great, great things. There will be ten posts for this done throughout december and split between reviews (I've got one for "The Men Who Stare At Goats" coming up soon). By the way the 'rough cut' list I posted a few weeks ago... is pretty chopped up so I'll probably take it down soon. Any ways... enjoy the list(s)!

100. "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"
This is the first of many team Apatow flicks on the list. Really this is such a brilliant spoof film and a brilliant music picture rolled into one. A big thing that helped me add this to the list was re-watching the director's cut, which I love far more than the theatrical version. It's fully re-cut and uses more jokes, that flow better and involve a lot more character interaction. John C. Reilly has done tons and tons and TONS of amazing character roles, but somehow or another for me I think Dewey Cox will remain a staple because of just how outlandish and yet firmly grounded in the farce he is in the film. And I just can't express how great Jenna Fischer of "The Office" does as well. She' knows how to play sexy and stupid funny without going too over the top or too long to destroy the humor. Oh and less we forget the millions of supporting roles from Frankie Muniz to Jack White to... well Jack Black.

99. "Training Day"
The film in which Denzel Washington won his second Oscar, but first Best Actor Oscar. Director Antoine Fuqua knows grit. The man simply has the eye for it and this is a gritty as shit crime drama. Not to be outdone Ethan Hawke also reminds us that, hey I can act too; and plays a role that could have easily become prime second banana to Denzel, but instead takes the film into full rogue ghetto badass territory in the final act. Oh yeah and Dr. Dre was in it too. That's just a nice bonus though.

98. "One Hour Photo"
Prime example of Robin Williams' acting talent. This film is unnerving to no end. I mean really... take one look at Williams with bleach blond hair, standing with a plastic smile behind the counter of the impossibly white store he works in and tell me the man doesn't strike you as a ticking time bomb. And yet there is so much restraint in this film. The final act could go in a thousand different, much darker directions and yet it doesn't. Whether it's a flaw or not is debatable, but regardless the final decision of what happens is bizarre and endless interesting.

97. "Body of Lies"
I've learned that most Ridley Scott films need a few viewings to really take in. Some don't. Some are instantly awesome and entertaining and you've got the point so you're done. However the some of the best ones ask to you see and re-see things and catch a whole other world. "Body of Lies" came out last October, I reviewed it and liked it but not much more than that. Recently I gave it probably... my third watch and this time I felt like I got it. The film is complex... I mean complex to where you'd need a scorecard to figure out who's working for who and what their real motives are. And yet that is the nature of spying. The world of a modern spy is dirty and complicated and often unfair. Leonardo DiCaprio's Agent Ferris character is so hard boiled and tired of being ignored and screwed over by his boss Hoffman (Russell Crowe) that it's no wonder he leaves the way he does in the end. On a side note Mark Strong plays an excellent middle easterner.

96. "Pirates of the Caribbean" (trilogy)
Here's one for the pop crowd. Here's an entire franchise that has re-launched adventure films for years because it proved that pirate movies could sell. And that's because Jerry Bruckheimer and Disney are very smart. Johnny Depp was re-born to a new audience and a character that was easily entertaining was born. And the best part was that no one thought it would be even a fraction of as popular as it became so it was kind of a sleeper success. But I'll say it, I like em'. They're not perfect by any means, but they're fun escapism that tires and succeeds most of the time. It's epic adventure in B-movie style and I can respect that.

95. "300"
Turned Zack Snyder from the guy who remade "Dawn of the Dead" (which I also liked) into the new God of action. Okay 'God' is a bit strong, but the meatheads of the world grabbed this film by the balls and placed it on a golden altar. And as much as I hate that, that's happened I do still love the film. It's original and brooding with qusi-gay undertones due to all the dudeness all hangin' out, but hey... that was a different time. Snyder helped redefine and reuse slow motion camera techniques and the special effects crew and technical crews did wonders. "300" is just one of those uber popular films that for years to come will be mentioned for it's style and action and hopefully it's artistry.

94. "The Devil's Rejects"
As is stands this was Rob Zombie's cinematic peak. I hate "House of 1000 Corpses" and had no plans to watch the sequel, until this strange flow of good word of mouth kept coming in so I gave it a shot. "The Devil's Rejects" is a truly down and dirty 70's movie. Zombie directed those scenes at times like a voyeur and at times like Billy Badass blowing the shit out of everything on screen. He made the Firefly family actually interesting to be around and gave them one hell of a send off.

93. "Shaun of the Dead"
Edgar Wright's second best film of the 2000's. The man knows comedy and his teaming with producer Nira Park and actor/ writers Simon Pegg and Nick Frost just fits like a glove. The only streak I have against "Shaun..." is that is seemed to open the flood gates to a million and one different comedies that involved zombies. The difference was most of those either didn't know how to manage horror and comedy or didn't care. Luckily Wright and team DO know and DO care and even know how to deliver some great homages to other films without making it too obvious or distracting. You'll see this gang again on my list.

92. "Cast Away"
Tom Hanks is great actor and for my money you can't beat him in "Cast Away" without a fight. He loss a ton of weight and for a two and a half hour movie talked to a volleyball. And made us give a damn... no easy feet. Beyond that it was Robert Zemeckis' last live action film to date and his best since his Oscar winning "Forrest Gump". The technical aspect and scouting for this picture is perfect and there are a ton of magnificent images that stick out every time I watch it.

91. "Blood Diamond"
Here's a conflicting piece. Director Edward Zwick is one of the best people to direct dramas with action. This is because he gets some killer performances from actors by letting them take chances and have some fun and because he is a top notch action director. The conflict occurs during some scenes of stunning violence that are unpleasant and yet shot in such an exhilarating fashion. Dicaprio's accent is still a point of question. Mainly why was it needed, but it goes back to that taking chances and having fun. Personality I don't care about a flimsy voice or something if the character is good. I've actually met people with hardcore accents that I often think they're faking, but who am I to question them. His Archer character is badass and badass in the way that Dicaprio can play em'. But it is Djimon Hounsou who sticks out the most and provides a stellar performance as an African native who finds one of the blood diamonds after beging enslaved and having his son taken from him and put into the brainwashing camps. This was a huge dramatic and emotional action picture with one bang up final act. This is how these pictures should be made.

90. Return to "The Matrix" (Reloaded and Revolutions)
My personal wildcard. I hold the two sequels higher than the original for these reasons; 1: because the true nature of this series becomes known, 2: because less people accept them so I feel better and better about liking them, 3: conceptual designs and ideas about religion that are about as cyber punk as it gets and 4:... I really dug visuals this time around. I'm sorry, but I'm sucker for certain things of the science fiction world. Mainly I'm a sucker for trying something different and for some reason ones that are seen publicly as failures, I tend to like. I'm not sure if it's out of some want to go against the grain, but I feel like I'm just attracted to it's ideas more because they're different and those type of things in the past are usually shunned needlessly. The Wachowski brothers furthermore seem to know what they have, understand the flaws and love it anyway. Love it enough to have a DVD commentary for critics that hated the movies added to the trilogy box set collection. Now that's a love of ones work coupled with an understanding of differing opinions that I aspire to reach.