Pan's Labyrinth (2006) - IMDB #94

Pan's Labyrinth//2006//120 Min.//Color//Fantasy


When I originally watched Pan's Labyrinth (this was my second watch), I had heard it was good, but that's about all I had heard. I thought that it was a kid's adventure film, because of the cover and title. I didn't know that it was subtitled (which didn't make a difference). I still thought it was a kid's adventure film until the moment that a guy gets his face bloodily smashed in by a general.

Fantastic movie. The special effects in this film are spectacular. Guillermo Del Toro is one of the premier special effects directors in the business right now. The costume design, the characters, they're all outstanding and should not be missed.

If you haven't seen this movie, do so. It's a great fantasy adventure for adults. It's touching, it's freaky, it's everything that it should be. Recommended.

9/10 (IMDB has it rated as an 8.5)

Strangers On A Train (1951) - IMDB #110

Strangers On A Train//1951//101 Min.//B&W//Suspense

My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer...

This was a nice surprise. I've seen hundreds of movies, but had never seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I figured that I would knock one out of the way before work.

Take note, 21st century directors...this is the way suspense should be handled (I knew there was a reason he was called 'The Master'). The villain, played by Robert Walker, is scary because you actually believe he's as crazy as he is cunning. A charming nutjob with 'mommy and daddy' issues (a recurring theme from Hitchcock movies, I believe)...the scene where he's tailing his 'first victim' is suspense at it's finest. The movie loses a bit of steam in the middle, but then fires right back up for the conclusion, which was great, and must have been 'big budget' at the time.

I'm definitely looking forward to more Hitchcock movies. I would recommend this to anyone looking to see suspense done 'right', as opposed to the movies we see in theaters now (Saw, Hostel, etc.). This is much scarier.

8/10 (IMDB has it rated 8.3 out of 10)

Casablanca (1942) - IMDB #11

Casablanca//1942//102 Min.//B&W//Drama



Hell hath no fury like a man scorned...

Casablanca was a nice surprise for me. I wasn't looking forward to it, mostly because I hadn't heard much about it except that it was one of the all time greats. It doesn't stack up as one of my personal all time greats, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Humphrey Bogart's character is the one that really won me over. Someone who had been hurt by a woman long ago and carried the grudge with him throughout his days. He had several lines that were very funny also, which is a change for most older movies for me. The supporting characters were sufficient, although I wasn't real impressed with Bergman's Ilsa, whose acting just didn't seem up to par with everyone else.

The ending was...expected, but the story was very well written. I would recommend this to movie lovers, if only for Bogart's performance as Rick.

7/10 (IMDB has it rated 8.8 out of 10).

Platoon (1986) - IMDB #143

Platoon//1986//120 Min.//Color//War Dinks & Cheesedicks. This is 'Nam. I have seen Platoon many, many times, so when Shaun said he wanted to knock it off of the list, I was more than eager to sit through it again. War movies are one of my favorite genres, and Platoon is near the top of the list. Everything about this movie is stellar. It deserved, and won Best Picture and Best Director at the 1986 Acadamy Awards (with competition from...Children of a Lesser God, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Mission, and A Room With a View?). It's about a war...not a war with the enemy, but the war within ourselves as human beings. We watch as a 'green' is dropped into the middle of hell on Earth, and is forced to grow up faster in one year than he had his whole life up to the point he got off of the chopper and into the bush. We see a truly scary 'villain' - one who you really believe thinks that what he's doing is just...and if that means killing every single seemingly innocent person in a small village, that's what he'll do. We see all of the other strands, trying to keep the team, and our country, together. The score is excellent. The cinematography is remarkable, even to today's standards. The story is immaculate. The dialogue is believable. The acting is fantastic. The cast is impeccable - Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Depp in an early role, and Dr. Cox from Scrubs...the list never ends. If you haven't seen Platoon yet, see it. Easily recommended. As King says, "Keep your pecker hard and your powder dry, and the world will turn." 10/10 (IMDB rates it an 8.2/10) - Kleeberg

Platoon (1986) - IMDB #143

Platoon//1986//120 Min.//Color//War

"Why are these cheese dicks shooting at me!"

Guns, check. Grenades, check. Violence, double check. This film had it all! Seriously, all sorts of things were getting blown off and killed in this 80's film about Vietnam. Stone himself a vietnam vet, seems to have plucked the violence straight from his memory bank and put it right onto film.

What a great story war can make. What a vivid images war can make. What good film good old Oliver can make. This film won best picture, and deservedly so. At no point during this flick did my eyes want to rest. The story was superb. The acting made my penis hard.

And that's all that really needs to be said about this film. Well done Platoon. Well done.

9/10 (IMDB has it rated 8.2/10)

-Shaun

Taxi Driver (1976) - IMDB #38

Taxi Driver//1976//113 Min.//Color//Drama

Are you talkin' to me, you dangling cherry scented air freshener?

I need that poster in my home theater room.

It's been a while since I've seen Taxi Driver, so I'll just give some bullet points.

* Robert DeNiro was awesome. This sucks for us now, because we know he was one of the greatest actors on the silver screen and now he's doing shitcakes like Righteous Kill (which I actually sat through), the currently filming Little Fockers, and Hide & Seek (this should have been a movie about his talent).

* Jodie Foster instantly brings down any movie that she's in - now. Back then, she was actually not a bad actress.

* Harvey Keitel is badass in...anything.

* Scorsese is one of the all time greatest directors of our time.

* I want Travis Bickle's sunglasses.

This movie is worth watching at least once, because I remember liking it - but it's not one you'll be watching on date night with your broad.

Unless your broad is a teenage prostitute.

7/10 (IMDB has it rated 8.6/10)

Taxi Driver (1976) - IMDB #38

Taxi Driver//1976//113 Min.//Color//Drama

I've never met a mohawk I didn't like

Okay, so I'm late the party. Fashionably late. Yes, I'm one of the few people in America that hasn't seen Taxi Driver. Well, as the saying goes, better late than never.

I liked this film. The acting was top notch, the story was captivating, the directing, as always with good old Scorsese, brilliant. At times the movies pace was as lethargic as a homeless man looking for work, but I get it. The pace was due to the fact Travis was a brutally lonely guy. Being lonely is lethargic.

As far as DeNiro goes, this movie really showed off his true acting talent. Who else could play a mentally ill, lonely, unsociable? A guy completely lost in anonymity. A guy who posses all of the above character flaws, yet he made this guy enjoyable to watch. Then there is Jodie Foster. It's hard to believe that she actually was a 12 year old when this movie was filmed. She really did capture the essence of her character, which at her young age really is an amazing feat. Although, I did laugh every time that she asked Travis if he wanted to 'make it' with her. I'm bringing that phrase back. Just imagine, "Hey, look at those two dogs 'making-it' over there!"

It's funny how this movie was made over 30 years ago and it still resonates today. Violence, prostitution, 'skum'. It's weird to see how a guy like Travis can seem at times so normal, and others just wildly out of his mind. Good for us, because it made for an enjoyable film. While I did enjoy this film, I wouldn't consider it one of the best films I've ever seen. It's a film I'm glad I saw, but I wouldn't watch it again. One roll in the hay is enough for me. Hey, at least I made it to the party.

7/10 (IMDB has it rated 8.6/10)

-Shaun

Hotel Rwanda (2004) - IMDB #104

Hotel Rwanda//2004//121 Min.//Color//Drama

A slapstick comedy about a five star hotel...of laughs! (Only if the slapsticks were machetes and laughs were hacked off limbs...)

I get it. Some stories need to be told, and there's a few messages to be learned here. Stand for what you believe, if no one is going to help you, you must help yourself, and if you see something that you don't think is right, you should help to try and stop it. I just don't think it's that entertaining sometimes.

Hotel Rwanda has a good cast - Don Cheadle (this generation's "Sidney Portier", as Shaun says), Joaquin Phoenix, and America's favorite drunkard mugshot poster child Nick Nolte, along with Dubaku from 24 and many other sufficient no names (Cheadle's wife in the film scored an Oscar nomination for best actress in a supporting role). All of the acting is on point and deserves the critical lauding that it received. Cheadle definitely deserved the Oscar nomination for best actor, and should have beat Jamie Foxx's 'Ray' for the award.

Overall, I thought the movie was...okay. Based on a true story, it's a mix of a depression (the movie is literally littered with innocent corpses), and an uplifting tone of hope. It won't leave you with a good feeling about the human race. I probably wouldn't watch it again, but wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fans of history, dramas, true stories, etc. It's almost like a 'modern day' Schindler's List. Something you should see at least once.

6/10 (IMBD has it rated 8.3/10)

P.S. I wonder if they edited this movie with a machete...

- Kleeberg

Up next: Dr. Strangelove.

Hotel Rwanda (2004) - IMDB #104

Hotel Rwanda//2004//121 Min.//Color//Drama

This was by no stretch of the imagination a bad movie. Though if I had to write in one word how I felt about this film it would be 'indifferent'.

I really do love dramas. I don't hide the fact that they are my favorite genre of movie. The story of this drama was a good one. One that I think definitely needed to be told. It shows what people can do to each other in the name of an ideology.

The feeling though that I got from this movie, was that although the story was an effective one, the only reason that it made it into the top 250 was the fact that the events of the movie are so important to so many people. The fact that this was a true story tugs at the heart a bit more. But alas, in the end, when I consider a movie to be top 250, I take in more to account than just the subject matter.

The acting was great. Don Cheadle is one of my favorite actors. The guy is great to watch and has extreme talent. The other cast of characters were also very believable and I think this movie nailed them. It's just that with the good story, and the good acting, something just didn't completely win me over with this movie. There was nothing special as to the cinematography, and I'd say the direction of the film was average. To me, a film that makes it into the top 250 of all time must have much more than just a great story and great acting, it must be complete. I cant put my finger on it but this movie was missing something. That missing something does not make this a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, it makes it a film that is not worthy of the top 250.

Overall though, I would recommend this movie to people like me who have that soft spot in their hearts for dramas. Although this is not a particularly uplifting film, it's not one that you're going to hate.

6/10 (IMDB ranks it 8.3/10)

-Shaun

The Graduate (1967) - IMDB #157

The Graduate//1967//105 Min.//Color//Drama

K-mart doesn't suck, this movie does

The Graduate was one of those movies that made the short list of films that I have seen and Kleeberg hadn't. I warned him going into this movie that I felt it was over rated. I didn't fill him in on the fact that this was one of the biggest snoozefest flicks I've ever seen.

This movie I remember. And that's not a good thing. My memory is horrible, and the fact that I remembered this movie, should tell you that it impacted me in some sort of way that other films hadn't. It sure did. The pace was slow. The plot was not believable. The acting was okay at best. Just all around not what I had expected.

I really did try to give this movie a chance. I had heard nothing but good things about it and I did a 'blind buy', purchasing this movie with my hard earned cash without seeing it first. I wish I saved the 10 bucks and just went outside to watch grass grow for two hours.

The only redeeming quality about this movie was the great Simon & Garfunkel tracks. I sure do love me some Simon & Garfunk. This is the only reason that this movie gets a rating of:

1/10 (IMDB has it rated 8.2/10)

Do not ever watch this movie.

-Shaun

The Graduate (1967) - IMDB #157

The Graduate//1967//105 Min.//Color//Drama

Ms. Robinson...you're trying to seduce me, you ugly broad!

I warn you this...I may piss off a lot of 'film elitists' with this review.

For me, The Graduate lands in exclusive company. I put it up there with The Sweetest Thing, The Happening, A Guy Thing, and any Joel Schumaker movie besides The Lost Boys. I put it with the worst movies that I have ever seen.

Never before have I met an on screen character that annoyed me and aggravated me like Dustin Hoffman's Ben. He's like Napoleon Dynamite without the comedy. He's like an early, unfunny version of Michael Cera. And here's a comment that will gain some groans - I think if they made a remake with Michael Cera, it might actually be watchable. He goes from a lazy, mopey whiner to an unlikable co-dependent, no personality punk to a creepy fucking stalker. He must have graduated with a major in being a douchebag and a minor in being a lazy douchebag. The girl isn't much better. One date (one date that didn't go well at all) and all of a sudden they're in love! How very believable.

"Hey, I fucked your mom."
"That's okay. I might marry you. Maybe."

By the end of the movie, I was rooting against Ben more than I've ever rooted against a character before, although I knew that being an old movie, it would end up with 'the good guy' winning.

I wouldn't ever watch this movie again. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone. I wish I didn't waste an hour and a half of my life on it, and I only did so because I had to because of this IMDB 250 goal. I have no idea how this movie 'launched Dustin Hoffman's career'. I really don't. His range in this movie was from wooden board to a piece of shit sitting in a dirty park toilet.

There are two redeeming qualities of this movie. One, Dustin Hoffman's Alfa Romero, and Simon & Garfunkel's soundtrack (although I could have done without hearing the song about spices over and over and over and over and over and over and over and o...)

0/10 (IMBD has it rated 8.2/10)

Fuck this movie.

- Kleeberg

Up next: Hotel Rwanda.

Sin City (2005) - IMDB #98

Sin City//2005//124 Min.//B&W//Action

Posters don't get much sexier than the Sin City ads...

This is more like an addendum to Shaun's post, as I've seen Sin City numerous times (and I was pretty surprised that he hadn't). I think that Sin City was entertaining and important to cinema, because Robert Rodriguez had done many things on camera that just simply weren't possible up to this point. I remember my reaction when he said he was going to film the entire thing against a green screen (Sky Captain, anyone?). To this day, it still hasn't been replicated (although Frank Miller did try, and supposedly bombed with 'The Spirit'...I have not yet watched the panned flick).

It's violent, it's sexy, it's got a great story, and the visuals are simply amazing. Definitely worthy of being in the top 100. I could watch this movie over and over again and never get bored.

9/10 (IMBD has it rated 8.4/10)

- Kleeberg

Note: As you can see, we went what seems like a bit out of order from what we said was next on the list from the High Noon post. However, those are movies that we have both not yet seen. We are encouraged to knock out movies that the other guy has seen on our own time (hence Raging Bull and Sin City).

Still up next: Hotel Rwanda, Seven Samurai, & Dr. Strangelove. We post what's up next simply so that if you want to watch along with us, we can schedule a day.

Sin City (2005) - IMDB #98

Sin City//2005//124 Min.//B&W//Action

Raging Bull (1980) - IMDB #72

Raging Bull//1980//129 Min.//B&W//Drama

High Noon (1952) - IMDB #120

High Noon//1952//85 Min.//B&W

High Noon (1952) - IMDB #120

Let it be know that I'm a big Western fan. I've never met a western that didn't put a tingle in my pants. I just love them. That is until the clock struck 12 and High Noon was broadcast on my television.

The 250 Rundown...an introduction.

When you think of film historians and the great, well known movie reviewers, many names may come to mind. Leonard Maltin...Roger Ebert...Gene Siskel. Surely, Kleeberg wouldn't be near the top of that list. In fact, I may be by the bottom. As it is, I'm just a guy who happens to love watching, writing, and critiquing movies. I would consider myself more of a 'Joe Six Pack' of movie watching - I'll get into a deep emotional movie once in a while, but when I go to a movie, I generally want to see two things - lots of kick-ass action, or a big laugh comedy.  I'm not much for the sentimentals, and I'm not into the classics.  Needless to say, this will be a challenge...

The List - What I've Seen

This is the list that will be updated as I see and rate movies.



MOVIES I HAVE SEEN (rating in parenthesis)
The Shawshank Redemption (1)The Godfather (2)The Godfather: Part II (3)Pulp Fiction (4)The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (5)Schindlers List (7)The Dark Knight (8)Fight Club (12)Inception (13)The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (15)Goodfellas (16)Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (17)City of God (18)Casablanca (19)The Matrix (20)Raiders of the Lost Ark (23)The Silence of the Lambs (24)The Usual Suspects (25)Se7en (26)Forrest Gump (28)Leon The Professional (31)Memento (33)American History X (36)Terminator 2: Judgement Day (38)Saving Private Ryan (40)American Beauty (41)Toy Story 3 (42)Alien (43)Taxi Driver (45)The Shining (48)The Pianist (51)The Departed (53)Aliens (58)Life is Beautiful (61)Back to the Future (63)Requiem for a Dream (65)Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (66)Reservoir Dogs (67)The Prestige (70)The Green Mile (71)LA Confidential (73)Gladiator (77)Once Upon a Time in America (78)Monty Python and the Holy Grail (79)Full Metal Jacket (81)Raging Bull (86)Braveheart (88)Oldboy (90)Pan's Labyrinth (94)Unforgiven (96)The Sting (97)Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (100)Inglorious Basterds (101)The Lion King (103)Die Hard (104)On the Waterfront (105)Up (106)Gran Torino (112)Batman Begins (115)Snatch (119)Heat (120)Fargo (121)Sin City (124)Toy Story (127)The Big Lebowski (129)Hotel Rwanda (131)No Country For Old Men (132)Black Swan (134)The Sixth Sense (139)Scarface (141)Strangers on a Train (142)Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (144)Annie Hall (145)High Noon (147)Platoon (149)Trainspotting (151)Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (154)Donnie Darko (155)The Thing (161)Million Dollar Baby (162)Casino (163)Slumdog Millionaire (164)There Will Be Blood (165)Finding Nemo (171)The Terminator (175)V For Vendetta (177)The Graduate (178)Stand By Me (179)Good Will Hunting (180)Twelve Monkeys (181)Dog Day Afternoon (182)The Bourne Ultimatum (184)District 9 (187)The Wrestler (200)The Exorcist (208)Rocky (215)The Truman Show (221)Infernal Affairs (222)A Beautiful Mind (223)Ip Man (227)Mystic River (230)Let the Right One In (231)Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (235)Magnolia (237)Big Fish (238)Beauty and the Beast (239)The Incredibles (241)Monsters Inc. (243)Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (244)In Bruges (247)Shutter Island (248)