The Best Picture Reviews: Arrival & Manchester by the Sea

Yes, I’ve been absent again for a while but let’s get back to that later. It’s the Oscars week and I’m so behind. Here are my thoughts on the first two best picture nominees that I saw. And what are their chances on Sunday evening.

ARRIVAL (2016)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Written by Eric Heisserer
Starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner & Forest Whitaker

Denis Villeneuve’s last two films I liked a lot. His style is extraordinary and in Arrival it is on its full potential. Arrival is astonishing. I absolutely loved it! It will probably be at least in top-3 of my films of 2017 or if not, this will be helluva year. I think Arrival deserves every praise it gets and then some more.

First of all, Villeneuve obviously is the master here, it’s his vision that shines through. Also the screenplay is spellbinding. I was totally hooked. At some point I had grabbed the seat on front of me (in cinema) and was sitting right on the edge of my own seat without realising that I was doing that, I was so absorbed into the film. And that’s what I talk about when I say it is Villeneuve’s vision. Unbelievable. And to support that there’s beautiful production design, simple but effective.

Cinematography. Well, of course. If you’ve seen the film, you know how suitable eerie it looks. And editing obviously clearly makes the pace, perfectly. Sometimes dwelling in feeling, sometimes throwing the viewer in the middle of a mess. And again here we can see how cleverly the script is written. The film never lets you off the hook. And it makes you think. And feel. And perhaps, if you think and feel hard enough, understand. It is actually hard to write about it as it is that kind of a film you need to use all your senses and no words would do honour for it.

What still makes me angry, is that Jóhann Jóhannsson wasn’t eligible for the score because it’s stunning! He is quickly becoming one of my favourite composers if not the one. In Arrival music and sounds are so, so important. And that’s why I really feel that it should win for the sound editing at least and also for mixing.

It bums me out that Amy Adams wasn’t recognised as she is as good as ever. She’s my favourite actress and I don’t think she’s ever bad and surely she wasn’t here. But thankfully it’s been a very good year for female leads as there were too many to choose from. Adams is the player here, everyone else is just there to make the story go further. Except the aliens. They’re important. And I never complain when I see Mr. Renner on screen.

So, to sum it up. I would love to see Arrival to win for cinematography, maybe editing, both sounds and as I appreciated its simplicity, also production design. And tie with directing. I think. I still haven’t seen all the nominees (yeah, I know, so late!!!), so it’s hard to say yet plus there was one that I also loved, so…But still, perfection.

Rating: ***** (out of 5)

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2016)

Directed by Kenneth Lonergan
Written by Kenneth Lonergan
Starring Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams & Kyle Chandler

So, I saw these two films in a row and in this order. That might have affected somehow how I viewed Manchester by the Sea. I can’t really say if I’d liked it more if I hadn’t watched Arrival just before it. Or maybe I wouldn’t have liked it as much as I did because I was already in the mood to watch great movies. I don’t know but I know I did like Manchester quite a lot. It was a good cinema day.

Manchester by the Sea is nominated for six Oscars and will most probably win for the leading role for an actor as Casey Affleck is impressive. It is his show as much it is director-writer Lonergan’s. Affleck is mesmerizing. He does so little but tells so much. All those suppressed feelings are there for the viewer to see and feel. Manchester by the Sea is heartbreakingly sad story of ordinary people. People who are like anyone of us. Besides Affleck, Hedges and especially Williams have earned their nominations. That scene in the movie poster is perhaps the most moving scene in the film and it’s such a showcase for Affleck and Williams; they’re so authentic, so raw, so full of emotion. If Arrival is a story of human kind, Manchester by the Sea is a story of humans.

Besides acting, Manchester is nominated for the original screenplay, directing and the best picture. It could win for all and I wouldn’t really mind. But I think it will win for the screenplay and it definitely should. I adored it. I loved the way the story was told the way that it just began, like when meeting a new person. And then you get to know them, little by little. You start to understand why they do something, why they say something, why they like or don’t like something. Manchester is like that. At first you are like “who the f is this guy and why he is there” but then, a little by little, you start to understand and sympathize. Life is life and you just have to live it. Also, big points for the ending.

This has nothing to do with the film but she’s beautiful. From January Elle magazine.

One thing that I didn’t really like was the music, it’s too hard. It annoyed me. But otherwise, beautiful film and sad story about life that I think I will definitely see again. And I’ll be mad if Lonergan won’t win for the screenplay and Affleck for the lead actor, they are THAT good.

Rating: ****½

P.S. 2017 is already better movie year for me (as I’ve seen all nominees this year) than the last year was. Yay for that!

The Avengers: Age of Ultron teaser trailer

I wasn’t planning on posting anything before I have time to do some changes but I just have to! In case someone has missed this. Looks AMAZING! May cannot come soon enough!

Time to Get Excited! (Aka what was going on in Comic Con 2014)

San Diego International Comic-Con is over again and it gave us some treats again! Here are a few that I appreciated.

As a huge Marvel fan, especially The Avengers, I always, always love to see these guys:

The Hollywood Reporter has the highlights of Marvel’s part of Comic-Con.

Obviously some of the most anticipated films of this year and the next were presented in teasers or full trailers. Let’s take a look.

Katniss is going to go to a war in the next installment of Hunger Games saga:

Things are not looking good in the final part of The Hobbit either:

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron are looking fierce in Mad Max: Fury Road, out in 2015:

Other semi-interesting news were that there will be more monster movies after the success of Godzilla. I didn’t like that, so I don’t really care of those. Guardians of the Galaxy is going to get a sequel. Haven’t seen the first one yet, so not that excited. Batman vs. Superman revealed Wonder Woman and she’s hot!

The Walking Dead trailer for season five is apparently great. Not following the show due to horrible second season, I can’t tell. But I can tell that Norman Reedus was Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. 

A lot of other stuff happened too. Check out this adorable gallery of Entertainment Weekly and also a blooper reel for Game of Thrones:

Some year I will be attending!

 

American Hustle Review

American Hustle (2013)

Directed by David O. Russell

Written by Eric Warren Singer & David O. Russell

Starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence & Jeremy Renner

American Hustle was the last Best Picture nominee that I had yet to see this year’s Oscars. And I got to say, I was a little bit disappointed. I obviously had huge expectations but then again not because I know how Russell makes his films. They are not exactly these stories of great success. They are more about stories of tiny success, that kinda success that gets you through the life. But I was still a bit disappointed. I rolled (that’s what you do when you have the app) my IMDb starring back and forth between eight and seven and ended up giving eight because my parents, after seeing what were the other films that I’ve recently given seven, said: “Come on, it was much better that Little Miss Sunshine.” Guess it was.

The biggest problem in American Hustle is pace. It doesn’t flow. And it should flow especially because it is a con-movie. Con-movies should be as sleek as its characters. The characters sure were cool. Even Christian Bale with his hair-do. And belly (how that good-looking guy can look that repulsive; that’s a talent). Amy Adams did look f***able. And she and Bale were good as always. And it was so nice to see Renner in a good guy’s role for a change. Him and Cooper were good too, like everyone else. And like my mum said after the film: “That Rosalyn was my favourite, she was really good.” Yeah, Lawrence did a bit steal the show. Her character had the best lines and she delivered them. Though not in the Oscar worthy way, so let’s hope Nyong’o get the statue on Sunday (I don’t mind if J-Law gets it though, I still adore her).

It was really refreshing to see a movie with people who don’t watch movies the way I do. My parents, in this case. Another thing that my mum pointed out was that the film happened only in a few locations. If I would be a producer I would give money to Russell. He always delivers and he even though he spends big bucks to actors, his sets are always only few and inexpensive looking. And apparently he shoots his films very quickly (few weeks is what I’ve read). And I would think that these days actors are lining up to perform in his films considering his track record to get the Oscar nominations to his actors (11 nominations in three latest films; that’s A LOT). And his films are always good. Maybe not spectacular but good. So he is definitely worth of every penny that production company puts in. After watching THR’s directors roundtable, I’m a bit more in love with him, he seems very interesting.

American Hustle looks good. I loved hair-dos, make-up and especially clothes. I’d love to wear those outfits that Amy Adams’ character is sporting. If I’d had the guts. I don’t. It could win the costume Oscar but then again, The Great Gatsby looks stunning and the other nominees are not bad either. Otherwise I don’t know. I think I’ll go with Lawrence when it comes to the Best Supporting Actress but the script of AH is not good enough to beat the competition and in other categories too there are much better films. I’ll do the final predictions later tonight, we’ll see if I end up predicting American Hustle in any other category. I doubt it.

Rating: **** (out of 5)

Happy Blogoversary!

Time to celebrate!

It’s been a year since I posted my first post. Surprisingly it was about the Oscars. I’ve had posted a few more within the same topic since then. Hoping that you won’t get sick of the subject. At least the Oscars are bringing more visitors to my site because there’s never been more traffic than on the day they announced the nominees. And right now the most read posts daily are the ones that are about the Oscars. I don’t mind! I love writing about them.

I’ve got a little over hundred followers for my blog and then of course everyone following me on Twitter.  It’s kinda funny that it shows both. But pleasant, of course. And I don’t think one should pay too much attention to stats (although, I got to admit, I still do check them regularly) because the best things in writing a blog and living in the blog world are of course the fellow bloggers. So thanks to all of you who have visited here and especially thanks to all  of you who are writing these splendid blogs I love to read and comment! Here are some of my very favourites, check them out!

Cinema Parrot Disco
Movies & Music Café
Silver Screen Serenade
Where the Wild Things Are
The Sporadic Chronicles of Beginner Blogger
The Verbal Spew Review
Rambling Film
Literary Vittles
Ten Stars or Less
Screenkicker
Dan the Man’s Movie Reviews
Keith & the Movies
Tranquil Dreams
Flixchatter

That Leo pic has actually nothing to do with those blogs but I love it and I can post anything today because it’s my blogoversary. And my review of The Wolf of Wall Street is the most commented post I’ve ever written. And this cheery one is the most liked post. Oh, and if I forgot to mention someone on the list, please, feel free to come and shout at me, my memory is not the best one.

It’s been quite good blogging year. Inside and outside of the blogging. Like I mentioned I’ve gotten to read great blogs, seen great TV series and watched a bunch of very good movies and then written about them. Which is good. I also have had quite an eventful year in real life too. I got into school, I’m finally following my dream; my most viewed post of all time is “If You Can Dream It, You Can Do It” (quote by Walt Disney). I am now studying International Business and basically minoring in Media Studies. I’ve found out I’m quite good at Scriptwriting, I just need to get my English more natural, and Stats which was quite a surprise. I tried to find a summer job in England but didn’t, so I’m staying here, doing bartending but attending to summer uni to study either Stats or German, depending on summer courses. So it will not be total waste of time. And then next year this time I’ll be applying to exchange to abroad. To United Kingdom, to be precise. And at the moment the plan is to stay there after that half of a year. Hopefully I’ll find internship placement on some bigger production company, on the distribution side preferably. Here’s one that seem quite like the one that I have in mind, if you’re interested.

I also traveled to few places during this year. I went to London and Dublin, saw amazing musical of Wicked, go see it if you at all like musicals and celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin. After quitting my horrible job, I went to Prague for a short holiday and had a great time. That great that the photos from there are not so good… But I love the city and will definitely go back there. During the summer I visited to Lapland for the first time and participated as a volunteer to Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä. That was amazing! I also took part to Helsinki International Film Festival and will take a part to Tampere International Film Festival in three weeks, as a volunteer like always. It’ll be interesting. I should do a post about Tampere altogether, this is a nice place to live. Anyway, I also visited to Copenhagen that probably was my favourite trip of the last year, the city is so relaxing and easy to go around. And I loved Danish food! During the autumn holiday I went to visit my friends in Spain (read how no one should travel) and then came back via Paris. I still haven’t edited all the pictures from that trip but I will post them as soon as I have! Here’s one from Paris:

So, not a bad year at all. I’ve had my sorrows but mainly I’ve had quite a good time! At the moment I’m doing a business plan (school project) for a photography studio, another hobby of mine and marketing research for actual customer that happens to be privately owned cinema here in Tampere. School can be fun! Blog-wise, I will continue writing about the Oscars (next week!!!!), The Best of the Best lists and anything movie-related. I try to keep you guys updated how I’m doing with my lists and dreams because that seems to interest the most of the visitors here. Meanwhile, enjoy the show below, they are the most searched people who bring readers to Fairytale Pictures:

The Best of the Best – Future Husbands

Ok, even that heading made me laugh. But yeah, because nice looking fellas with something extra are nice things to exist, here we go. I’ll introduce my Top-10 plus of those male actors who have at some point of my life made their ways to my daydreams and of whom I know way too much when thinking of that I’ve never met them. Let’s open the doors:

Sorry, had to start with that one. But even though I admire Mr. Mortensen A LOT, it’s Aragorn who made me all tingling. And like always with my Best of the Best lists, I have to mention few out of actual Top-10.

I tried to consider my whole life. Like many have loved Jared Leto in My So Called Life or Jonathan Taylor Thomas of Home Improvement but those were kinda no ones to me. I did like Keanu Reeves but that was more because he was this rocker dude in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. It looks like I’ve been a fan of musicians more than fan of actors. And I wanted to keep this strictly in acting zone. Although one actor/musician I have to mention now is Justin Timberlake whom I’m actually listening right now to set the mood right for writing this post. But I got into him through his music, so I guess he doesn’t count.

Luke Perry from Beverly Hills 90210 was the first one that I remember from telly. Bad boys. Though I can’t remember if he was like that in real life, so maybe that was too more about the character… And on film, I loved Rob Lowe in St. Elmo’s Fire; who doesn’t love a bad boy with saxophone? And I did watch all the other movies of his after seeing that film (come to think of it, I was quite a fan of Emilio Estevez too after seeing Young Guns II; that one I watched because Bon Jovi was my ultimate favourite band back then). And now because that reminded of me about that, I want to post this video of Blaze of Glory by Jon Bon Jovi who made the soundtrack to that film. I watched that movie like three times a week at one point when I was 11 or 12… Oooh (now I’m all misty eyed here):

I liked Kiefer Sutherland too. I remember being pissed because Julia Roberts dumped him. Lol. Back to the list I did collect before starting to write.

Skeet Ulrich in Scream was hothothot. Apparently I’ve always had have a thing to serial killers… And when they cast Elijah Wood as Frodo I was over the moon, he was the cutest thing. Still is (I’m not sure if he ages at all?). Daniel Radcliffe is also one of those guitar playing actors I like a little bit more. Though he’s really young. Christian Bale is always hot and quite scary too. I’m not sure I’d like to meet him in real world. Ryan Gosling. Michael Fassbender (I’m sure he’ll get to my top-10 at some point). And I’ve always liked Jeremy Irons (especially after seeing version of Lolita where he plays Humbert Humbert) but he’s my dad’s age, so… Another older man that I like is Alan Rickman. Of course. Who doesn’t like him? I so understand this assistant of his character’s in Love Actually.

I’ve never getting to actual Top-10 but I can’t leave these three without mention. First, James Franco, he would be number 11. I loved and totally admired him before he ruined the Oscars the other year. Shame on him! I still admire him though. Plus he’s weird, I’m still following him in Twitter and Facebook. I don’t get how he has time for everything he’s doing… And then the two who every other woman interested in film loves at the moment; Tom Hiddleston and Mr. I’m the sexiest in the world Benedict Cumberbatch. Because of their talent, I’ve already decided to move to England instead of Canada that I was planning before, they just make so much better films and television in UK. And they’re both charismatic, well-educated men who care about what is happening around them. Kind of gives me hope of  someday maybe finding a man with brains, ambition, style and sense of humour.Thanks for that to those guys.

10) EDWARD FURLONG

Terminator 2. I loved (still do) Guns n’ Roses, so of course I needed to see T2. It was also really hyped film back then (James Cameron was the man already 23 years ago) and it had made Edward Furlong a heart throb of the moment. Unfortunately only for a moment as the following picture shows. That’s sad.

9) ORLANDO BLOOM

Unfortunately he’s not very good actor (just my opinion) but he did have the looks. Though I just watched some footage of making of Hobbit 2 and he doesn’t seem that brainy either… But if you’ve ever seen him or his wax figure, you know that he’s suitably proportioned (that sounded really horrible, sorry). Plus very nice to look at.

8) NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU

“Jaime Lannister” is the newest edition to my “future husbands”. Although he seems to be happily married and for some weird reason that is the line where my daydreaming goes. But because of him, I already went to Copenhagen to check if the men in there are that good-looking. They are.

7) JOSHUA JACKSON

It’s a bit hard to decide if this is due to character of Pacey Witter in Dawson’s Creek (who was also in my list of best TV characters) or Joshua himself. But I did read a lot about him back in the years of Dawson’s Creek. And he did end up catching this hottie Diana Krüger.

And I have still Fringe to watch. Bet he’s good in that too, there’s something boyishly charismatic about him. At least he hasn’t really changed in these years since Pacey.

6) JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS

He has been my dirty dreams no. 1 for so long. I don’t even remember where it all began. Maybe Match Point? Or Bend It Like Beckham? I can’t remember. But I like men to take their ladies. Properly.

5) ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

I first liked him in Only You. That’s 20 years ago. That man just gets better. Have you seen this:

4) MILO VENTIMIGLIA

I fell in love with him when he played Jess in Gilmore Girls (my favourite show of all time). And then he was in Heroes! That was so great surprise. I’ve even watched Cursed because of him. And they make these weird videos with his friends… He seems way too healthy for me but who cares, lovely guy! And looks still good.

3) JEREMY RENNER

It was so hard to decide between Jeremy and the number two. But because number two, well, is better actor I chose him (horrible). All men in top four are really dear to me. I’ve loved them either A LOT or for A LONG time. I got into Renner-wagon sometime between Hurt Locker and The Avengers I guess… I did love him in S.W.A.T. already but only realised that it’s the same guy about two years ago. In real life I had way too young guys in my life and then suddenly there’s this manly street fighter kinda guy with hot bod, musical talents and this slightly bad guy attitude. Mmmm…. Yep. He was my favourite for a loooooong time.

2) LEONARDO DICAPRIO

I was 17 when Titanic came out. You can guess the rest. I’ve seen most of his films. And he’s still hot. And he only tweets about important stuff like environment. Plus he was really funny in The Wolf of Wall Street (review still coming up). Give him the Oscar already!

1) JAKE GYLLENHAAL

From Donnie Darko to Prisoners. He’s always good. He seems smart, he has gone to Columbia (I even have this dream of meeting him there by accident; that’s my dream school too), Maggie Gyllenhaal is his sister, he has those amazing eyes and Prince of Persia body. He seems a bit arrogant but very very funny at the same time. He might not have this English charm but something there is that made me say in the screening of Prisoners: “Oh, how I missed you.”

Who do you dream of? For more men of my liking, check my Pinterest. 

50/50 Challenge of 2013

We’re already two weeks in new year, so I’ve better wrap this up. Obviously I didn’t achieve any of the goals I set to myself when it comes to this challenge. I was suppose to watch 200 movies, didn’t. I did watch 126 movies, so it’s not THAT bad but then again, it is. I call myself a film fanatic but this does not look like it. Anyhoo, here’s the list of my favourites of 2013.

I didn’t watch all Jeremy Renner films either and I surely didn’t watch the Godfathers… So hurray… And of course I didn’t read 50 books. Obviously. But I did better than 2012. Back then I read only seven books, now at least I read three more. (Yeah, I know, pathetic.) Anyways, I will be trying again and you can see here how I’m doing. I linked all the reviews I made of the books or movies to the ones that I actually reviewed.

Tomorrow back to the Oscar predictions.

BOOKS:

1. Clare, Cassandra: City of Bones (2007) ****
2. Jalo, Merja: Vaellusratsastus (1996) **½
3. Seppänen, Janne & Väliverronen, Esa: Mediayhteiskunta (2013) ****½
4. Clare, Cassandra: City of Glass (2008) ***
5. Fitzgerald, Scott F.: The Great Gatsby (1925) **
6. Clare, Cassandra: City of Ash (2008) **
7. Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone (1997) ****½
8. Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets (1998) ****
9. Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter & the Prisoners of Azkaban (1999) *****
10. Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire (2000) ****½

FILMS:

WEEK 1:
1. Killer Joe (2012) ****
2. On the Road (2012) **½
3. American Pie 2 (2001) ***
4. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) ***½

WEEK 2:
5. Kovasikajuttu (2012)  ****
6. Desert Flower (2009) **½
7. Miesten Vuoro (2010) *****
8. Anna Karenina (2012) ****
9. Vanity Fair (2004) **½
10. Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 (2009) **
11. Ted (2012) ***
12. Because I Said So (2007) *½

WEEK 3:
13. Twilight (2008) ***
14. Life of Pi (2012) ***½
15. Django Unchained (2012) ***½
16. Star Trek (2008) ****
17. Match Point (2005) ***

WEEK 4:
18. To Rome With Love (2012) **
19. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) ****

WEEK 5:
20. Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ****½
21. Lincoln (2012) ****
22. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) ****
23. We Are Marshall (2006) **½

WEEK 6:
24. Kohta 18 (2012) ****
25. Jaws 2 (1978) **
26. Bachelorette (2012) *½
27. Moonrise Kingdom (2012) ****½
28. Cloverfield (2008) **

WEEK 7:
29. The Master (2012) ***½
30. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) *** (major)

WEEK 8:
31. Easy A (2010) ****
32. Brave (2012) ***
33. Amour (2012) ****½
34. Les Misérables (2012) ***½
35. Argo (2012) ****½

WEEK 9:
36. Dahmer (2002) *** (major)

WEEK 10:
37. Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) ****

WEEK 11:
38. Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) **½

WEEK 12:
39. Side Effects (2013) ***½

WEEK 13:
40. The Bucket List (2007) **½

WEEK 14:
41. Wimbledon (2004) ***
42. The Mummy (1999) **½

WEEK 15:
43.She’s All That (1999) *½
44. Warm Bodies (2013) ****
45. What Happens in Vegas (2008) ***½
46. The Adjustment Bureau (2011) *½
47. Pitch Perfect (2012) ****

WEEK 17:
48. Iron Man 3 (2013) ****

WEEK 18:
49. No Strings Attached (2011) ***

WEEK 19:
50. I Give It a Year (2013) **½
51. The Place Beyond the Pines (2012) ***½

WEEK 22:
52. Demolition Man (1993) **
53. My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) **½
54. Letters to Juliet (2010) ***
55. Titanic (1997) ***** (1997)
56. Assassination of a High School President (2008) ***½
57. Up in the Air (2009) ****½

WEEK 23:
58. Leap Year (2010) **½

WEEK 24:
59. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) **
60. Grease (1978) ***½
61. The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972) *½
62. Bella Addormentata (2012) ***
63. Occident (2002) **½

WEEK 25:
64. Man of Steel (2013) **

WEEK 27:
65. Beautiful Creatures (2013) *½
66. The Five-Year Engagament (2012) **
67. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1996) **

WEEK 28:
68. Shaun of the Dead (2004) ***
69. Witness (1985) ***
70. The Duchess (2008) ***

WEEK 29:
71. The Bling Ring (2013) ***
72. Before Sunrise (1995) ***
73. Before Sunset (2004) ****½

WEEK 30:
74. Chalet Girl (2012) **½

WEEK 31:
75. Bridesmaids (2011) ****

WEEK 32:
76. Now You See Me (2013) ***½
77. World War Z (2013) ****
78. The Great Gatsby (2013) ***

WEEK 35:
79. Kumáre (2011) ***½
80. The Tourist (2010) *

WEEK 37:
81. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013) **½
(second time this year: Silver Linings Playbook (2012) ****)

WEEK 38:
82. Rush (2013) ****½
83. Lawless (2012) ***

WEEK 39:
84. Una Pistola en Kada Mano (2012) **½
85. Simon Killer (2012) *½
86. Nebraska (2013) ****½
87. Food Inc. (2008) ***½

WEEK 40:
88. About Time (2013) ***

WEEK 41:
89. Prisoners (2013) ****

WEEK 42:
90. Gravity (2013) ****½

WEEK 43:
91. Se7en (1995) ****½
92. Freaky Friday (2003) ****
93. Blue Jasmine (2013) ***½

WEEK 44:
94. Thor: the Dark World (2013) ****
95. Sorority Wars (2009) **
96. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) ***

WEEK 45:
97. Get Him to Greek (2010) *½

WEEK 46:
98. Chelovek s kino-apparatom (1929) ***
99. Hunger Games (2012) ****
100. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) ****
101. This Is 40 (2012) **½
102. Friends with Benefits (2011) ***½
103. 17 Again (2009) ***
104. Captain Phillips (2013) ***½

WEEK 47:
105. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) ****½
106. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) ***

WEEK 47:

107. Tamara Drewe (2010) ***
108. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) **½

WEEK 48:
109. The Hangover (2009) **½
110. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ***½

WEEK 49:
111. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) ****½
112. Pulp Fiction (1994) **½

WEEK 50:
113. Once (2006) ***
114. Before Midnight (2013) ***½

WEEK 51:
115. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) ***½
116. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009) ****
117. The Oranges (2011) ***

WEEK 52
118. Finding John Christmas (2003) *½
119. Love Actually (2003) *****
120. The Change-Up (2011) ***
121. Ruby Sparks (2012) ****
122. Straw Dogs (2011) *
123. Margin Call (2011) ****
124. Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope (2011) ***½
125. Casablanca (1942) ****½
126. Dredd (2011) **
127. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ****

WEEK 1
128. Frozen (2013) ****½ (I saw this before the year changed.)

You can also track my movie lists in IMDb. And books at Goodreads if you’ve signed in there.