Ryan and Candice's 100 Movie Project

Movie #24 – Ed Wood (Ryan’s Review)

ryancandi — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:10:01 +0000

A fittingly weird movie covering the life of a very weird man. This was the only Tim Burton helmed movie I haven’t seen and being a big fan of his, definitely wanted to see it. It is very different from his other movies in that it doesn’t have the gothic/menacing feel to it that so many of his other works possess. Ed Wood was the man behind some of Hollywood’s worst films including Glen or Glenda and what is considered the worst movie ever made: Plan 9 from Outer Space. Johnny Depp plays Ed as a naive dreamer who lives in his own little world and it would be interesting to know if that’s really what the real Ed Wood was like. I wasn’t a big fan of the choice to shoot the entire film in black and white (too many dark scenes) and I’d say it was an OK film in story. Once again Candice fell asleep. She made it through maybe 1/2 the film before she conked out this time.

Ed Wood: 5/10

Movie #25 – Oldboy (Candice’s Review)

ryancandi — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:51:26 +0000

A great movie with a great twist despite the fact it’s a foreign film. We watched the first scene dubbed in English and it was terrible! I recommend turning the settings to Korean and just having English subtitles. Once we did that it was much better, and I’m not even a fan of subtitles. A couple times the cheesy 70’s porno-like music distracted me from what was going on but overall I was able to stay focused and keep up with it. In fact, I was paying attention so well, I had to explain a couple things to Ryan! This is unusual as he is typically the one who catches all the subtleties. Oh-Dae-Su is kidnapped one drunken night, and imprisoned for 15 years with no clue as to why. During his imprisonment he is gassed, hypnotized, and given sodium barbiturate at regular intervals. One day, he wakes up to find he’s free, wearing a suit, given money and a cell phone. He meets a young woman, Mi-do, who takes pity on him and his situation, and joins him in the journey to find out who his captor was and why he was imprisoned. As the story went on, I became more and more interested at how this was going to play out. The twist at the end threw me completely by surprise, and in fact, made me enjoy the movie even more because of it’s unexpectedness. This is a good example of how my boyfriend and this movie project have expanded my tastes.

Movie #25 – Oldboy (Ryan’s Review)

ryancandi — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:49:55 +0000

Well we’re now a quarter of the way through our list and boy does it feel like this is going to take forever to get through 100 movies. At our current pace we’ll finish in 2012. Ugh. Oh well. On to our 25th movie: Oldboy. It started out weird and weirder. A drunk Korean man suddenly gets kidnapped off the streets and we see glimpses into his life in captivity for 15 years. All of a sudden and without explanation he is released. What is going on? During the first 20 or so minutes Candice kept giving me those “This is stupid” looks but as the movie progressed we both got into the plot. This is a classic Korean action movie and there are some well choreographed scenes. Sometimes I thought the director got a bit too “artsy” which distracted from the tone of the movie. What really did it for me was the acting by the lead actor. He certainly roped me into caring for his plight. I won’t give up the twist ending but for once I had NO idea it was coming. And it wasn’t because it didn’t fit with the rest of the movie, but because it was so ridiculously out there. Wow. I was STUNNED. It’s been awhile since a movie did that to me (Memento I think) and I liked it, as disturbing a revelation as it may have been. This ended up being far better than I expected.

Oldboy: 8/10

Movie #24 – Ed Wood (Candice’s Review)

ryancandi — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:42:40 +0000

I was excited to see this movie, I love Johnny Depp and I have never seen Sarah Jessica Parker in any other movies aside from Sex and the City. Sigh…another disappointment… This makes 3 movies in a row that have failed to keep me interested or even keep me awake!! Yes, I did fall asleep about an hour into it. However, since I did watch the first hour, I feel I can adequately review this movie and therefore say it sucks. It was in black and white, it was weird and the plot jumped around a lot. I looked it up and this movie has gotten a lot of good reviews, but I guess I’ll always be a sucker for cheap laughs and over-the-top action shots. Only 2 bolts for this one.

Movie #23 – For Your Consideration (Candice’s Review)

ryancandi — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:13:08 +0000

Unfortunately, my review is going to be short. Here it is: It was boring, so I fell asleep. It wasn’t funny, which helped put me to sleep. That about covers it. I enjoyed my nap far more than I think I would’ve enjoyed that movie.

Movie #23 – For Your Consideration (Ryan’s Review)

ryancandi — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:38:39 +0000

Best in Show is one of my favorite comedies and I’ve seen Christopher Guest’s other satires and enjoyed them all. This was probably his weakest yet but still had great moments and some absurd stuff that I can only assume was ad libbed by the talented actors and actresses. The plot is a mock documentary style about the filming of a little art show film called “Home for Purim”. As the film progresses three of the main actors/actresses in the film are rumoured to be up for an Oscar nomination. Hilarity ensues. As usual in these films Fred Willard gets the most fun/inane role though John Michael Higgins also steals every scene he’s in as a truly clueless publicist. Unfortunately, overall the movie was a bit dull and definitely wasn’t up to the quality of Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. I’m afraid my co-reviewer will have a rather abbreviated review as she fell asleep within the first half hour of the movie.

For Your Consdieration: 6/10

Movie #22 – Grindhouse: Planet Terror (Candice’s Review)

ryancandi — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:31:49 +0000

Of course, one would assume from the title that this movie was NOT my pick, and that assumption would be CORRECT. Ugh…where do I begin… So there’s this nerve gas that gets out in the air and turns humans into…wait for it….flesh-eating zombies!! Oh the horror!!!!! Of course, there are some people that are strangely immune to the gas, therefore they must band together to not only save themselves, but save the world! (If you haven’t noticed my sarcasm yet, keep reading.) Thankfully, those included in this group of heroes includes a stripper named Cherry Darling, her ex-boyfriend mechanic named Wray, and the local sheriff that is obsessed with the perfect BBQ recipe. In case you’re worried they don’t have a hide-out to stay in while the sheriff makes them all deputies and while they plan their attack, they do. It’s in a local restaurant called the “Bone Shack”. How fitting. I was on the edge of my seat when I thought Cherry was dead but then found out she was alive but just missing a leg… OH NO! How will she escape the zombies with only one leg? I was able to stop panicking when, thankfully, Wray came up with the plan to attach a table leg for her to hobble on, and then a machine gun leg for later on…when she’s riding on the back of a motorcycle so she can stick her leg out and shoot all the zombies trying to follow them. If you’ve ever wanted to see a guy’s testicles sag to the ground and then get melted off, this is the movie for you!! As for me, one bolt oughta do it.

Movie #22 – Grindhouse: Planet Terror (Ryan’s Review)

ryancandi — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:30:19 +0000

If I had two words to describe this movie they would be ridiculous and awesome. But the order of those two words is important. Awesomely ridiculous NOT ridiculously awesome. The movie is meant to be an homage to the “grind house” movies of the 1970’s filled with horrible acting, bad special effects, and over the top plots. Planet Terror had it all AND a girl with a machine gun for a leg. You really can’t beat that can you? Oh yes you can…..zombies. It also had two guys who star in my all-time favorite show LOST. How could I NOT like this movie? I have to admit though that at times it was just too ridiculous, however awesome it might have been and I knew while watching it that Candice was wondering how the heck she ended up dating a guy who likes this crap. Oh well, there’s no accounting for taste. One of the best bits was at the very beginning with the fake trailer for a movie named “Machete” that included Cheech Marin as a catholic priest out for revenge. Sign me up! I REALLY wanted to give this a higher score but if I do so it diminishes the true value of my scoring method. It’ll have to settle for a 7.

Grindhouse: Planet Terror: 7/10

Movie #21 – An Affair To Remember (Candice’s Review)

ryancandi — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:28:20 +0000

This is an older movie, from 1957 starring Cary Grant. I’ve thrown a few old movies (“classics”) into my list, to Ryan’s dismay (little does he know this isn’t even the oldest of my picks). I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when we read the back cover, and description sounded painfully familiar to “Before Sunrise”, which was one of my picks earlier. However, while the overall plot was the same, I felt the movie was SO much better than “Before Sunrise”. Cary Grant is, indeed, an attractive gentleman and I can see why all the ladies swooned after him back in the day. And hey – the movie had a redhead…which everybody knows is all that’s needed to make a good movie. I needed a tissue at the end and I said, “Awwww…”, so I’m giving this movie 4 bolts.

Movie #21 – An Affair To Remember (Ryan’s Review)

ryancandi — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:26:36 +0000

I love it when older folk tell me that back in their day, movies weren’t so filled with bad people doing bad things. Needing a counterpoint to such statements? I provide you “An Affair To Remember” , filmed decidedly in that classic good old year of 1957. The plot is two engaged people fall in love on a cruise, dump their fiancée’s and agree to meet up in six months at the Empire State Building . Wow what a nice couple of people. But wait! He loves his doting Italian grandmother, and his grandmother totally likes the new girl! It MUST be ok! And lets not fail to mention the ridiculous plot similarity between this movie and last romantic movies of Candice’s choosing: Before Sunrise/Before Sunset. Two people meet on a train and decide to meet up in Venice a year later. Ugh. I have to admit I do enjoy listening to Cary Grant and can totally see why girls got weak in the knees for him back in the day. He probably could have made a decent James Bond.