I really have nothing to say here, so instead of taking 10 minutes trying to think of something, here's a video of a honey badger being crazy.
The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009): The second movie of the Millennium trilogy. A step down from the first movie, but not a giant step down, as the IMDb score would seem to indicate. I think people expected a plot as intricate as the one in the first movie and came away disappointed. There's more of a focus on Lisbeth Salander in this movie, which made me happy since she's far and away the most interesting character in the series. The movie delves into her backstory in such a way that makes the final half-hour or so very suspenseful.
Easy Rider (1969): It's a movie that is very much of its time, which is interesting in some ways and limiting in others. I spent a lot of my time watching the movie thinking about how certain scenes were supposed to play at the time versus how they play now. For example, the two main bikers visit a hippie commune, where the hippies are reverent toward nature and whatnot, but it plays kind of pathetically in a way because everyone there seems so impotent. (Not in a sexual way, haha; impotent in that what they do is small and meaningless.) I'm not familiar enough with the era to know whether that sort of thing is deliberate, though I suspect it is. Regardless of all that, Easy Rider is still a good movie to watch because, unlike a lot of movies that are distinctly of their time, it doesn't feel that dated. (Unlike, say, Reality Bites from the early 1990s, which is horrifically dated.)
Little Caesar (1931): The breakout role for Edward G. Robinson, who became one of the biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s despite being incredibly fugly. You know what they say: You see someone that ugly in a movie, you know he or she is a great actor. I think every fake movie gangster accent originates from Little Caesar -- the accent, the vocal tics, everything! They're all here! The movie itself so solid but basic: The rise and fall of a criminal to show how Crime Does Not Pay. (There's a very blatant bit of symbolism illustrating that point in the final scene.)
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009): Final movie in the Millennium trilogy, and another with mixed reviews compared to the first movie. Again, I think people expected something different than what they got, and reacted accordingly. The plot in the first movie may have been intricate, but a lot of it was bullshit, too -- much of what made it good has survived into the other two movies (i.e. the characters). They're thrillers where the suspense comes from how the characters conduct themselves rather than plot machinations. Anyway, this is a solid ending to the trilogy, and I especially liked the ending -- while it may seem anticlimactic, it's undeniably true to Lisbeth Salander's character.
Band of Outsiders (1964): This is basically Jean-Luc Godard telling a straightforward story in a strange, detached sort of way. I'm not totally sure how I feel about the movie; the overall feeling is interesting, and there are definitely parts I like (the acting is good, there are scenes of strong intensity, and there are some scenes that made me laugh a lot), but there are some affectations that I didn't care for (there's a narrator who comes along every so often to announce what the characters are thinking and feeling, and it just makes me go :|). But I'd say I enjoyed the movie more than I did not, since there's a lot of amusing irreverence in it. Interesting note: There's a dancing scene in this that is a direct inspiration for the dancing sequence in Pulp Fiction.
On the queue for this week: Mardock Scramble: The First Compression (2010), The Three Faces of Eve (1957)
Total Movies: 132 (Blazing Saddles, The Descent, Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, The Night of the Hunter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st, Dawn of the Dead, Black Swan, Clue, Scarface, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, True Grit, Perfect Blue, The Quick and the Dead, High Sierra, Shutter Island, A Serious Man, Kite, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Broken Blade 3, Kite Liberator, Machete, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Heathers, The Prince of Tennis: The Two Samurai, The First Game, Notes on a Scandal, The American, King of Thorn), The Expendables, Sword of the Stranger, The Hangover, Welcome to the Space Show, Broken Blade 4, The Social Network, End of Evangelion, Neo Tokyo, Red, Dreamcatcher, Jason X, Wag the Dog, The Naked Gun, Dirty Work, 8mm, The Wicker Man (2006), Blood: The Last Vampire, Winter's Bone, The Road, Heartcatch Precure! Hana no To de Fashion Show ... Desu ka?!, Broadcast News, Bulletproof, Dead Leaves, Dirty Dancing, Hot Tub Time Machine, Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows, Cloverfield, Best in Show, Play Misty for Me, Paprika, The Cat Returns, Welcome to the Dollhouse, 12 Monkeys, The Killer, Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, The Third Man, The King's Speech, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, The Abyss, The Fighter, Mega Piranha, Dumb and Dumber, The Rebirth of Buddha, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The Town, Willow, Akira, Morning Glory, The Verdict, I Love You Phillip Morris, Phantasm II, American Splendor, Broken Blade 5, Tangled, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Rock, Wanted, Green Zone, Despicable Me, Waiting for Guffman, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, X-Men: First Class, X-Men, Hereafter, X2, Zatoichi, All About Eve, The Thing, Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight, City of God, Das Boot, Some Like it Hot, Downfall, X-Men: The Last Stand, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Winnie the Pooh, Bullitt, Hard Eight, Memories of Matsuko, Double Indemnity, Freaks, Break Blade 6, Key Largo, The Grand Illusion, The Seven Year Itch, Hermes: Winds of Love, To Catch a Thief, An American in Paris, Ninotchka, Interstella 5555, Hobo with a Shotgun, Dog Day Afternoon, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steamboy, Little Norse Prince Valiant, Redline, Beat the Devil, Casablanca, The Girl Who Played with Fire, Easy Rider, Little Caesar, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Band of Outsiders)
