Welcome to the 3rd installment of my 365 Movie Challenge! Quick question, how many of you repeatedly watched that Margot Robbie gif from the last post?
So, after two months of the challenge, 59 days, I completed just 37 movies. Some simple math showed that I was still 22 movies behind, but with a full month ahead of me, I was determined to end this month caught up. Well, I would like to say that not only did I erase that deficit, but I am currently sitting ahead of schedule. That should be a good thing, get a few days to relax….not exactly. I have grown so accustomed to spending my afternoons finding a new movie to watch that it is difficult to watch regular TV. When I did pick something else to do, like going to lunch with my girlfriend or watching the NCAA March Madness Tournament, it just felt off… maybe I became addicted to movies?
Do any of you really care? Do I care if you care?…
Ok, so anyway I ended the month watching a total of 55 movies, just under 2 movies a day. They ranged from Comedy to Documentaries to even Horror, my least favorite genre. One Documentary about the Boston Marathon Bombing was particularly powerful. If you haven’t watched it, you can find it on HBO and it is called Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing, for sure check it out. Towards the end of the month, I even went on a Kate Beckinsale binge that started with the Total Recall (2013) and included her kicking ass in the Underworld movies. I can’t believe she is 43 and easily finds a place in my Top 3 hottest actresses. Anyway, before I go any further off the rails, let’s get to the winners and losers of March.
March’s Winners and Losers
Best Movie of March: Logan
Runner-up: The Revenant
Worst Movie of March: Don Jon
Runner-up: Burn After Reading
Pretty much watching that many movies in one month made picking a most/least favorite movie very difficult. Movies like Life of Pi make you wish you were that talented of a storyteller, which I am far from, as shown by these posts. Swiss Army Man was like nothing I have ever seen or will probably ever see again with its unique usage of Harry Potter’s farting abilities. Even movies I didn’t expect much of, like Power Rangers, which I wrote a review on, managed to strike that nostalgia chord and bring back those childhood memories. What I am trying to say, is that I could have gone any number of ways. However, The Revenant deserves some mention. Leo finally got his Oscar for his performance and rightfully so. He gave everything to this film, which had tons of stories about the harsh filming conditions. The story was wonderfully adapted from the book and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu even used my favorite filming technique, which was the long take. He used it several times throughout the movie. The bear attack and opening battle with the Native Americans were my favorite scenes, both shot with a long continuous take. Shocked it took so long for me to finally watch it, but glad it didn’t disappoint. My favorite movie I have watched up to this point was March’s winner, Logan. The final chapter of the Wolverine story was hands down the best. Hugh Jackman played Wolverine for the past 17 years and went out on top. They gave the violent character the R-rated movie he always deserved thanks, in part, to the huge success of the R-rated Deadpool. Logan, one of the few remaining mutants in the world, seemed to learn what it would have been like to have a family after he goes on the run with Professor X and Laura aka X-23, which was something Professor Xavier always thought he needed. The movie had a heart unlike many comic book movies and even left you with a bright future potentially involving X-23.
While I did watch enough bad movies to make the choices slightly more difficult, I knew by the time I finished watching these two movies that they were gonna be in the running for Worst of March. Burn After Reading was directed by the Coen Brothers and was about two fitness instructors who thought they found secret CIA documents. They didn’t find secret CIA documents, but they continued attempting to get money to return the “valuable” information. I found this movie insufferable, mainly because of the main character Linda Litzke. I already know this may not be a popular pick, but I couldn’t wait for this movie to end. Seeing Brad Pitt’s doofy face get shot was fun, but that’s about it for this movie. My choice for Worst Movie of March went to Don Jon and the star/director Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Levitt played a guy who had trouble keeping relationships due to his unrealistic expectations from watching porn. Even with Scarlett Johansson as a girlfriend he struggled to have a meaningful relationship. He did however find something meaningful in Julianne Moore’s character. I just couldn’t get behind this movie, I felt it was unfinished like there was more story to tell. While Don Jon learned how to not objectify his life, he left me expecting more laughter from a comedy. Kudos to Levitt for directing a movie and making ScarJo his girlfriend though.
Well, this month has been crazy, I watched way too many movies for my own health and I now think I need help for my new obsession. Comedies continue to dominate the “Worst” list and the Coen brothers have officially made both lists with No Country for Old Men (Best) and Burn After Reading (Worst). Now I am going to relax for a few days before getting back to it… until next time.
Way Too Beautiful Reviews 