Films watched in 2005

Films I've watched, in the theater, on DVD or downloaded, in 2005.
It hasn't been a good year. It lacked greats like The Village and King Arthur.
But it wasn't bad either. There have been quite a few stories inspiring my imagination and stoking my fire.

x Alone in the Dark
+ Elektra
x The Grudge
- Constantine
x Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
x White Noise
x The Jacket
- The Amityville Horror
x Cursed
* A Sound of Thunder
x The War of The Worlds
+ Batman Begins
x Sin City
x Fantastic Four
* The Island
x Skeleton Key
- The Devil's Rejects
+ Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith
* The Descent
+ A History of Violence
x The Goblet of Fire
x Revolver
x Dark Water
* Serenity

- disappointment
+ exciting
x seen
* extraordinary

X-Men 3 - Phoenix Rising

The trailer to X-Men 3 is out. They call it a teaser, but it’s so filled with information that it can safely be called a trailer. The two first X-Men movies brought the engaging comic book characters to life, and were two of the best films ever made, and this looks even better. Bryan Singer directed X-Men and X2, and when he left there was a lot of speculation on how the new director (the poor guy ending up doing it after several choices had declined) Brett Ratner would do it, but it seems like those concerns were totally unfounded. This looks absolutely fantastic.

I think the subtitle should be Phoenix Rising, because that’s what’s happening.

Even more of the old and dear people we have come to love for decades are brought to life this time, including Beast, Emma Frost, Angel, Juggernaut… and Moira McTaggart. This is the third film in the trilogy. In the first Jean Grey was still an uncertain young woman. In the second we see her grow out of her shell and into her Power. In the third we see her rise from her ashes, assertive, confident… and dangerous.

This is it, really, people, a film not to be missed, not at any cost. Only twenty-four weeks left to wait.




Discuss the upcoming X-Men 3 movie at www.imdb.com.

December Update

Update of movies I've watched so far in 2005 and an ever-growing upcoming list of promising movies for the rest of the year and beyond. The 2006 movies are now making their presence felt in earnest. So far The Fountain, X-Men 3 and Superman Returns are those I'm currently looking most forward to.

+ Elektra
- Constantine
- The Amityville Horror
A Sound of Thunder
x The War of The Worlds
+ Batman Begins
x Alone in the dark
x White Noise
x Sin City
x Cursed
Underworld: Evolution
x The Jacket
x Fantastic Four
Eternal
* The Island
x Skeleton Key
Night Watch
The Fog (2005)
- The Devil's Rejects
+ Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith
* The Descent
Revolver
The Gathering
x Dark Water
Poseidon
Chaos
V for Vendetta
Aeon flux
Spirit Trap
The Fountain
Shooting Shona
The Passing
The Kovak Box
Cry Wolf
Rise
In a Dark Place
Serenity
An American Haunting
Superman Returns
X-Men 3
The Gravedancers
Tamara
The Return
Ultraviolet


- disappointment
+ exciting
x seen
* extraordinary


Those below are television series, miniseries and ongoing I watch or want to watch (or not).


x Charmed
x Smallville
+ Five Days to Midnight (miniseries)
Wolf Lake
Category 7
x Threshold
- Invasion
- Human Trafficking
x Masters of Horror

Both Charmed and Smallville have moments/episodes/stories of greatness. I do watch and look forward to each new episode.

I just wish they were better.

The Five Days to Midnight miniseries was very good, with the suspense constantly rising/building, even though it crumbled a bit there, at the end.

Reality - Head On

I finally rewatched the movie Amityville Horror (1979) with the additional History Channel package and the Hans Holzer commentaries during the weekend. Very interesting. There are so many viewpoints represented in this case that it can make your head spin.

But I knew that.

That in itself makes it even more interesting. The material is so rich, in content and even form that a Storyteller can't help becoming mesmerized by it.

Holzer constantly attacked religion during his commentaries. He did so to a point that it is amazing that they let him. He rejected totally Satan and God and Heaven and Hell as existent and as a cause for the Amityville Horror (like I do). I don't agree with him in everything, but he had some pretty interesting ideas about existence in general, among other things "the soul as an independent entity" and "the other place/world". He sees that as a mirror of this world or vice versa. Which it is. He generalized it, uniformed it too much, though. Someone is making the decisions there, too, according to him, which is bullshit. You have to join a queue to be reborn, "put your name on a list" and so on. To him it is a "place" of "Order" and hierarchy, while it's clearly one of rampant energies and "Chaos".

But seeing this be presented publicly, in a "prime time dvd" is still great.

He is a paranormal investigator. He has seeen glimpses of the world through his work, even though his application of it is "flawed". But then again, we will all never see more than glimpses of reality, of the "truth".

But great stuff.

The film is as I remember it, a slow build up to the cataclysmic ending.

And too much influenced by The Excorist and its heavy emphasis on religion.

They do present it as truth, though. There is no doubt in their mind, as seen through the film, that this truly happened.

And that is what still makes it so good, so controversial.

I could write on and on about this (and I do).

It doesn't frighten me anymore, because Reality doesn't frighten me anymore, and this is reality, head on.

Reality drove George and Kathleen Lutz half around the world, until they learned to deal with it, somewhat.

Notable extra material on the DVD:

Amityville: The Haunting
Amityville: Horrror or Hoax

These are the documentaries from History Channel. Not much to brag about, really, way too short for one thing.
But they do provide some additional insight to those fairly unfamiliar with the vast backdrop of the Amityville Horror.

August update

Update of movies watched so far in 2005 and upcoming list of promising movies for the rest of the year and beyond.

+ Elektra
- Constantine
- The Amityville Horror
A Sound of Thunder
x The War of The Worlds
+ Batman Begins
x Alone in the dark
x White Noise
x Sin City
x Cursed
Underworld: Evolution
x The Jacket
x Fantastic Four
Eternal
The Island
Skeleton Key
Night Watch
The Fog (2005)
The Devil's Rejects
+ Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith
The Descent
Revolver
The Gathering
Dark Water
Poseidon
Chaos
V for Vendetta
Aeon flux
Spirit Trap
The Fountain
Shooting Shona


- disappointment
+ exciting
x seen
* extraordinary

Ten of ten

I've watched about 2500 films during the course of my life.

These are my ten of ten films, the Twenty-six best movies ever made.

I'll begin reviewing them shortly.

1. Prince of Darkness

2. 2010

3. Cat People

4. Highlander

5. Conan the Barbarian

6. Terminator

7. Predator

8. X2

9. The Entity

10. Brainstorm

11. Lifeforce

12. Dead Poet's Society

13. X-Men

14. Terminator: The Rise of the Machines

15. Instinct

16. Natural Born Killers

17. Mulholland Drive

18. The Village

19. King Arthur

20. The Serpent and the Rainbow

21. The Seventh Sign

22. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

23. The Thing

24. Firestarter

25. Braveheart

26. Time After Time

Deep Movies

The movies presented here have all something keeping them apart from the rest. I will cover both new and old films.
One thing good films have in common in my opinion, is that they are good stories.

Here is my selected list for 2005, of stories worth seeing. It will change as I watch each film and give my review:

+ Elektra
- Constantine
The Amityville Horror
A Sound of Thunder
The War of The Worlds
Batman Begins
x Alone in the dark
x White Noise
Sin City
Cursed
Underworld: Evolution
x The Jacket
Fantastic Four
Eternal
The Island
Skeleton Key
Night Watch
The Fog (2005)
The Devil's Rejects

- disappointment
+ exciting
x seen
* extraordinary