My Favorite Movies

I seriously only have one thing to say about Guillermo del Toro: brilliant. The imagery is some of the best i have ever had the opportunity to see and never have I been sucked into the lives of characters like was in this movie. Seriously one of the best films I have ever seen.

To be quite honest, I am stunned and a little outraged that Julianne Moore was not nominated for an Academy Award for this role. The performance that she delivers is one of my all time favorite performances from an actress. She played the role (based on an actual woman) with such charm that I am amazed she was overlooked. Nonetheless, her performance was spectacular and the story, (one of a wife and mother of ten) while sad and frustrating, at times left me smiling from ear to ear. Evelyn Ryan was a remarkable woman with a remarkable story, and Julianne Moore brought the story to life. It was brilliant.

I have seen a lot of movies and this is by far one of the most original and gritty stories I have seen. Ed Norton is unstoppable and proves that he deserves a spot on the list of best actors working today. And, as much as it pains me to admit, Edward Furlong was great as well. It may not be a film for the faint of heart, but definitely one that everyone should see before they die. The truth that this film tells is a dose of truth that everyone needs.

I really don't even know where to begin. The film is amazing from beginning to end, and EVERY performance is remarkable. The daughters are great, the father is great, Djimon Hounsou is stellar and in my opinion, Samantha Morton can do no wrong. The story is sad, but everything about it had me wanting them to survive and just live their lives. After a tragedy in Ireland, a man, his wife, and their two daughters move to New York City in hopes of starting their lives over. The father tries to pursue his acting career while the mother gets a job in a diner across from their apartment building. Some of the film is shot through the lens of the eldest daughter's video camera; she narrates the film as well. We feel the pain this family has endured and we stay with them as they discover how to live and love In America.

There is something about a 'coming of age movie' that can get to be irritating after a while; nothing about Dangerous Lives of Alter Boys is annoying. Emile Hirsch and Kieran Culkin are a great team of Catholic schoolboys, trying to grow up and learn what life is all about. Jena Malone is fantastic as Hirsch's disturbed love interest, and Jodi Foster does it again as an evil nun out to get the boys (or so they perceive). Mixed between actual film and comic book-like sequences, The Dangerous Live of Alter Boys is a superb (yet unconventional) look at growing up and learning that not everything is as easy as one prayer away.

The epitome of the teen movie. There really isn't much to say. It's just a fun film about getting to know not only other people, but also yourself.

This movie just makes me laugh every time I watch it. Drew Barrymore is hilarious and, like the Breakfast Club, it is about getting to know yourself. It's funny and sweet, but says a lot.

Yeah, I agree with a lot of the posts: it is definitely a guilty pleasure. The characters are ferocious and even though they are the wealthy socialites, you can't help but love to hate them. And besides, Bitter Symphony by the Verve- need I say more?

There is something about the south that lures me in and keeps me hooked for ages. Scarlett Johanson, John Travolta, and Gabriel Macht fall into their roles somewhat effortlessly, and carry this unique film until the very end. When Pursy's estranged mother dies, she returns to Louisiana for the funeral, and finds two men inhabiting her mother's house. Travolta plays Bobby Long, a once-college professor and longtime friend of Purcy's mother. Gabriel Macht plays Lawson, Bobby's protege. Pursy tries to claim the house from the two men, which turns into a living arrangement none of them are quite happy with. Acting as a fourth main character is Louisiana and all of the culture it brings. The music in this film is perhaps some of the best I have heard, and I constantly listen to the soundtrack. They all hold their own in this film, and it will remain one of my favorites.

One of the better dark comedies I have seen in a while. I was never really a fan of Robert Downey Jr., but this movie turned me into a believer. Val Kilmer was hilarious and give it up for fellow Iowan Michelle Monaghan! She was great and this movie is pure fun from beginning to end. The writing is great and the performances are dead on.

Pure fun. Takes me back to the days when I would watch movies with my dad, and this (and the sequels) always seemed to be the ones we would watch.

On par with the 1st. Keeps up (and at times) shows up the 1st.

Not quite as good as the others, but with the gang all here, what's to hate?!

There is something to be said about the performance that Phillip Seymour Hoffman delivers in this film. Not only was it believable, but I believe it will go down in history as one of the best. Most people know the story of In Cold Blood, but Capote brings a great new perspective, one from the man who actually wrote the book. The story is captivating and the acting is superb (from all). The movie hits all the right notes at all the right times. I love that Hoffman isn't Brad Pitt and really only has his raw talent to work from. He is really one of the best actors to grace the screen.

There will always be a place in my heart for this unconventional high school film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt dominates this film, and proves that he is one young actor that knows what the hell he is doing. The plot is easy enough, but mixed with the cool noir style and characters that will stop at nothing to uncover secrets (and some that will stop at nothing to keep them) this film is definitely a (for lack of better words) fierce twist on the genre.

Charlize Theron delivers one of the most powerful performances of the decade as Aileen Wuornos, a hooker who is looking for a better life for herself. Along the way, she meets young Selby (Christina Ricci) and the two start a dangerous relationship that is one for the history books. The depth that Theron reaches as Wuornos is chilling, taking us on a journey of revenge for anyone that has ever been taken advantage of, which soon turns in to a killing spree that satisfies no one's needs. I find Ricci to be a tad annoying in this film, but it by no means takes away from what a powerhouse this film is.

Sometimes cinematography does everything for me. In this case, it doesn't play second nature to the story but is almost integrated as another character. The danger that these boys live and create everyday is nothing less than terrifying, and communicates the REAL terror WE can only see in the movies...

Meryl Streep never ceases to amaze me. I am not a fan of sweeping romances, but something about this film hits all the right notes with me. Streep is nothing less than an unstoppable force as Karen Blixen, a woman who moves to Africa to farm with a man she marries. The marriage is not one based on actual love but comfortability and gain; enter Robert Redford. The relationship between Streep and Redford is true love, and I never believed in the love that movies such as this one portray, UNTIL I saw this one. Besides that relationship, the one between Meryl and the tribe that inhabits her land is touching. This movie spoke for a lot of things, and I was listening the entire time.

I generally do not care about familial matters, but Kramer vs. Kramer had me caring the entire way through. In the beginning, you side with Streep, who plays a lost, neglected (once successful, mind you) housewife, married to the work-obsessed Hoffman. As the story unfolds, however, you find yourself on the exact opposite side, as you see the relationship with Hoffman and his son grow. Hoffman won the Oscar for best actor for his work in this film, and the award was rightfully given.

I am not sure what it is about this movie, but I am a sucker for a story about women standing up to men that have kept them down. Amy Brenneman gives a strong performance as a woman who has left it all behind and discovers a place with women just like herself. However, I think that more than anything, the setting is what does it for me.

I am actually watching this movie as I write this, and it just reaffirms everything I ever liked in this HBO miniseries. Ed Harris plays a man who lives in the town in which he grew up, working at the diner that he has worked at since high school, which is owned by the wealthiest family in town (who also own everything else.) He loves his teenage daughter, who is pushing him to buy a book store in what I believe is Nova Scotia. The entire film has a way of speaking to an audience that knows what it is like to want better things in one's life and in the lives of the ones they love, but only being able to see it through a glass ceiling. The story goes between flashbacks with Harris' mother (Robin Wright Penn) and a wealthy man (played by my favorite actor, Phillip Seymour Hoffman) she and young Harris meet on a trip to the shore . The entire thing is beautiful and sad, between the hopes of achieving more and the reality that it might never ever happen.

As I have said in some of my other reviews, I am a sucker for stories that take place in the south, and Eve's Bayou is one of those stories. Seeing as there is not much I can say about this movie without giving away any big secrets, I will just say that the cast is fantastic, the story is unique and riveting, and the setting is nothing less than perfect. Jurnee Smollett is fascinating as Eve, giving one of the best performances I have seen from an actress of her age (at the time).

While this movie is not amazing, it's still pretty good. Agnes Bruckner is great as a young girl living with her alcoholic father in a trailer park. She is joined by one of my favorite young actresses, Kelli Garner, who plays the best friend with the dream of stardom, but held back by disease.

In my opinion, one of the best adaptations of a Stephen King story. The story, through all of the random adventure and conversation between characters, it is something that anyone has ever grown up can relate to.

I don't think I have ever watched a movie more than this one. While the take on Minnesota living and talking may be a little exaggerated, that is kinda what makes the movie so funny. The actors are all dead on in their delivery, and really just have fun with it. This movie is filled with great one liners, ones I will quote (and find funny) for years.

Kevin Spacey is one of the best screen actors of our time, and this movie proves it. Though the message has been communicated through several different films, it is delivered in a far superior manner in American Beauty. Not only does it speak to a nation wrought with divorce and taboo, it has a satire and sexiness about it that makes it original. Definitely one of my favorites. And wtf, any movie with Alison Janney is fine by me.

This is one of my favorite techniques used in moving making today: seemingly unrelated people are connected by one event: the death of a young woman (Brittany Murphy). The story is connected through scenes involving different people that in someway, were connected to this woman. The cast is fantastic and the performances were some of the best of the year. Brittany Murphy is one of the most understated actresses of the time, but if she keeps making films like this one, that will all change. Mary Beth Hurt gives an amazing performance, as does the wonderful Toni Collette.

For anyone out there that views this as just porn passing as art, you are sorely mistaken. The story has depths that I have not seen in very many films, and although the sex is dominate throughout the film, there is a reason for it. Never is there a sex scene that does not have something to do with the emotional state of the characters. Michael Pitt is amazing and and Eva Green and Louis Garrel are perfect as the twins. Definitely one of my favorite movies of all time.

Zach Braff made me cream my pants after I watched this movie. Well, I think Natalie Portman and the f***ing amazing soundtrack had something to do with it. The story is one we have seen, but Braff puts such an emphasis on the characters and their journey to self discovery, that it stands out among any other movie with the same theme. Definitely one of my top 10.

I have a personal attachment to this movie that will stay close to me for years. The story is simple enough: a man's daughter goes missing, which sparks a reunion between the man and two of his childhood friends; the reunion is not one of fond reminiscing. The story then takes us into the darkest corners of their lives, ones in which they never wanted to revisit. Tim Robbins is heartbreaking and Sean Penn gives a performance that will live on forever. Truly one of the best directed and brilliantly acted movies I have ever seen.

Who knew that a Desperate Housewife had it in her? Felicity Huffman was nothing less than intriguing in this film about discovering what it is to love one's self. This movie is funny, charming, and thought-provoking from beginning to end, and Huffman was a well deserved Oscar Nominee. And we can't forget Kevin Zegers, a confused young man trying to figure everything out.

There is some place in my heart that wants this to be my favorite film of all time, and it just might be. The setting, for one, just makes me smile. There is something about Ireland that has an effect on me, one that leaves me wanting to pack my bags and book a flight. The actors are not actually actors, but rather musicians- it makes no difference. The performances are great and push the movie forward. But the juggernaut of the film is obviously the music. Never have I been moved by the music in the film like I was in this movie. It is the sound I love to listen to, and I do, over and over and over again. It is a brilliant story about pursuing your dreams, and the remarkable, effortless relationships you can gain on the way. My hat goes off to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and anyone that had anything to do with this film; it is a truly remarkable accomplishment.

I started reading this book and I loved it as much as the film. The characters are ones we have all met in life, and though you may have an initial opinion of them, this film proves that there is more to the reputation you receive living in a small town. While I am constantly annoyed with the female population salivating over Johnny Depp, I have to give the man credit, he is a damn fine actor. And as for Leo- forget about it. He was truly great. A great film and story about family and the struggles in life.

Christopher Guest has to be one of the best creative-comedic minds working in the business today. While his last film, For Your Consideration, was not up to par with his others, Best In Show will always be one of his best films. Again, Guest uses his mocumentary style in this hilarious look at dog-shows and the contestants (and their dogs). The cast is made up of Guest-favorites, and they all bring their A-Game as dog owners entering their special pooches in a renowned dog show. Parker Posey has to be one of my favorite returning cast members, but that is not to say that the rest of the cast isn't downright brilliant.