Justin at the Movies

#11

// May 29th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // 100 movies

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Last years rank: 10

↓1 position

Charlie Kaufman is one of the most brilliant minds in the business, and definitely the most original, and this movie is his finest achievement. Jim Carrey plays Joel, a man who falls in love with the free spirited Clementine, played by the wonderful Kate Winslet. When things get rocky and the two split up Clem decides to have Joel erased from her memory by Lacuna Inc., a business that specializes in it. When Joel hears about this, he decides to have her erased from his memory. As Joel is going through the process he sees all the memories that he has with her and decides that he no longer wants to go through with the process. The only problem is that he is unconscious and has to find a way to stop it.
This is the most original and beautiful love story I have ever seen. There aren’t many people that can imagine a story like the great Charlie Kaufman, but they found a director in Michel Gondry that envisioned it perfectly. These two combined to make one of the greatest movies of the decade, or of any decade. The movie is anchored by its originality and masterful performances by both Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Another movie that must be seen to be believed, and everybody should see it. Brilliant. #11. Enjoy.

#12

// May 27th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // 100 movies

Amelie

Last years rank: 20

↑8 Positions

One day Amelie discovers a “hidden treasure” in her apartment that belongs to a former tenant. After she returns it to him and see’s how happy it makes him she decides to make it her mission to make other people happy. This movie will make you feel good for weeks after you watch it. It is so enjoyable and entertaining and absolutely should not be rated ‘R.’ I think there is some sort of rule that every foreign movie has to be rated ‘R.’ This movie will make you feel so good it should be a life requirement that every single person in the world should have to watch it. This movie is mind blowing. There aren’t words to express it. And Audrey Tautou is breathtaking and charming like she always is. I absolutely love this clip, I don’t care if the audio sucks. #12. Enjoy.

#13

// May 27th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // 100 movies

Requiem For A Dream

Last years rank: 21

↑8 positions

This movie is one of the most misunderstood  movies that one is likely to find. People tend to think of this movie as a drug movie, when it is in fact an anti-drug movie. This movie  follows a couple and their friend, played by Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly and Marlon Wayans, and their adventure through the drug world. All three are drug addicts that will do just about anything to score some of their drugs of choice, crack and heroine. Although this movie shows a whole lot of drug use it also shows how they will do anything, and I mean anything, to score drugs. It shows how it destroys lives, friendships, and relationships. This movie doesn’t just target hardcore drugs either, it also shows how the abuse of prescription drugs can be just as fatal. Jared Leto’s mom, played by Ellen Burtsyn, is victim to a scam and thinks that she is going to end up on a tv show. When she doesn’t fit into her old red dress she starts taking all kinds of “prescription” drugs to help her lose weight. All four of these people lose everything to their drug habit, and in horrible fashion.

This is one of the grittiest movies I have ever watched, but it is so moving and so effective with it’s message without obviously shoving it down your throat. This movie also has the second greatest soundtrack of all time and it contains the one of the greatest songs ever composed for a movie. It is a classical piece and I chose a video that is accompanied by it. Listen to it. It’s absolutely brilliant. It is so intense and awesome, crank it up as well, because that is the way the song is definitely meant to be listened to. This movie proves that Marlon Wayans can act if he really wants to and Ellen Burstyn gives the performance of a lifetime.  This is easily one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. Hey I just realized on my list that is two Darren Aronofsky movies in a row (he also made the wrestler.) #13. Enjoy.

#14

// May 25th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // 100 movies

The Wrestler

Last years rank: N/A

I have previously written about this movie many times so I am not going to sit and reiterate all the same points. This movie is amazing and Mickey Rourke gave the best performance of last year hands down. #14. Enjoy, this clip again.

#15

// May 24th, 2009 // No Comments » // 100 movies

21 Grams

Last years rank: 11

↓4 positions

21 grams tells the story of three people whose lives intersect because of one fatal accident. This is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. It is so intense, and raw. There almost aren’t words to describe it. Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro all give award-worthy performances. This is the second film on my list from filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, the first being Amores Perros. This movie is perfectly executed in every respect. Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro were both nominated for their performances and there was talk of nominating Sean Penn as well, but he was already going to win for his performance in Mystic River, so they nominated some other unworthy candidate for Best Supporting Actor. This movie will stand the test of time, I guarantee that. This film is an absolute masterpiece. #15. Enjoy.

#16

// May 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // 100 movies

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Last years rank: 12

↓4 positions

It’s Lord of the Rings, enough said. #16. Enjoy.

#17

// May 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // 100 movies

Say Anything

Last years rank: 14

↓3 positions

Out of all the great 80′s movies, and there certainly are many, this one is by far the best. John Cusack is such a stud it’s almost impossible to watch one of his 80′s romantic comedies and not think that they are all awesome and hilarious. The dude if funny, that’s all there is to it really. This movie is about John Cusack falling in love and getting heart broken and mending it, just like they all are but this one is executed so much more effectively. This movie contains three of my favorite quotes of all time, they are as follows; 1- “The rain on my car is a baptism, the new me, Ice Man, Power Lloyd, my assault on the world begins now.” 2-  “I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.” 3- “I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.”#17. Enjoy.

#18

// May 22nd, 2009 // 8 Comments » // 100 movies

Fight Club

Last years rank: 23

↑5 positions

I am jack’s smirking revenge. This is one of those rare movies that is actually loved by people who first loved the book. There is almost nobody I would rather trust with my material than David Fincher. The guy is a brilliant filmmaker. This movie has so many layers it is nearly impossible to explain. It’s full of things that you either get or you don’t. And I am definitely not trying to be condescending about it, I would never claim to fully understand everything about this movie and I think that’s the beauty of it. I am jack’s raging bile duct. Every single time you watch this movie there is something new that you can take from it. Both Brad Pitt and Edward Norton give amazing performances. Both of these two prove once again that they can do so many different things. While many actors tend to play similar characters, Edward Norton is always somebody else. He has never been Edward Norton onscreen and has never played any of his characters the same. That’s why he is so good. Case and point, Norton refuses to smoke for movies because he doesn’t smoke in real life, but decided to smoke for this movie because he thought it was very important to the character. Plus he is a highly intelligent man who graduated from Harvard. Anyway, when you watch somebody like George Clooney he always acts the same exact way. It doesn’t matter if he is supposed to be a fisherman or a lawyer or a prisoner. But Edward Norton will take a character and give them different mannerisms and ways of speaking and even different postures. He is one of the most talented actors in the business. Strong language warning for the clip. #18. Enjoy

#19

// May 21st, 2009 // 1 Comment » // 100 movies

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Last years rank: 15

↓4 positions

Do I really need to say anything about this movie? We have all seen it, and we all love it. I think that’s probably good enough. I can’t believe this movie was already eight years ago. Craziness. #19. Enjoy.

#20

// May 19th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // 100 movies

Good Will Hunting

Last years rank: 18

↓2 positions

No matter how much credit this movie ever gets it will never be enough. This movie is perfectly executed on so many levels it blows my mind. It’s hilarious, smart, maddening, touching, and deeply moving in all the above emotions. Robin Williams finally won his oscar for his role in this movie, but quite frankly that isn’t enough. His performance in this movie is one of my all time favorites and his character is also one of my all time favorites. I am glad the academy finally got over whatever they have against him and gave him his much deserved award. He is one of the funniest men alive and also one of the very best dramatic actors out there. Seriously. There are very few people that can deliver a scene like the one I am about to show you and make you feel every word of it. The pain you can see in his eyes is almost unbearable. The guy is amazing and deserves his credit. However, Ben Affleck certainly received too much credit for this movie. His acting in it is very sub par and Matt Damon was nice enough to give him co-screen writing credit when it was Mr. Damon himself that wrote the movie for his college thesis. Granted it was probably re-written multiple times it has been documented that Matt Damon wrote almost the entire thing himself. Sorry Affleck, you still suck. And one of the most brilliant things is that the music and soundtrack is by Elliott Smith, who everybody knows is my all time favorite musician. He was also nominated for best original song for Miss Misery and should have won hands down, that song is just brilliant. So to the right is the clip for the movie, and if you can watch this clip and not be moved than I worry for you. There is an “F” word at the 3:30 mark so you can stop it right before there if you so desire. And below I am going to include Elliott Smith’s music video for Miss Misery. I didn’t want to use the live performance of his at the oscars because they added strings to make it “less gloomy” and it ruins the feel of the song. Freaking jerks. But the video, it’s quite amazing really. I wish he were still alive being the greatest songwriter of all time. So, #20. Enjoy. Twice.