Movie #196: Trainspotting

Movie #: 196
Movie Title: Trainspotting
Year Released: 1996

Director: Danny Boyle
Notable Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle

Short Description: Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #72
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 7/25/2013

What I Liked: I thought Ewan McGregor was good and though his character really didn’t put in a ton of effort into getting out of the world of drug addiction like the movie description suggests, the movie did a decent job showing his attempt. The only hardcore consequence of drug addiction that the movie had involved the baby one of the supporting characters and thankfully the scene wasn’t sugarcoated, which would have taken away some seriously important substance from the story.

What I Disliked: For the first half of the movie I just didn’t care about what was going on. I think a good portion of that had to do with the actors being Scottish had having thick accents that made them hard to understand at times. The other half may be that I kept comparing the story and how it was told to Requiem for a Dream, which may not be fair if I’m trying to judge each movie individually, but considering that was the previous movie I watched, I couldn’t help myself. Supporting characters kept bouncing in and out of the movie and without much development for them, they were forgettable and I had little connection with them.

Grade: 2 out of 5 (Fair)
Rationale: The second of back to back drug related movies (out of 251 movies, what are the odds?), I found it to be less entertaining than Requiem for a Dream and the heavy accents really hurt it.

Movie #197: Requiem for a Dream

Movie #: 197
Movie Title: Requiem for a Dream
Year Released: 2000

Director: Darren Aronofsky
Notable Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans

Short Description: The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island individuals are shattered when their addictions become stronger. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #73
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 7/24/2013

What I Liked: The movie did not shy away from portraying the potential dangers of drug addiction and it avoided being cheesy by wrapping up with a non-happy ending. In the acting was very well done from all, especially Ellen Burstyn.

What I Disliked: Having now seen two movies from Darren Aronofsky (the other being Black Swan), I really don’t think I care for his style of movie making. I understand it was important that he show the struggles of the characters and their fight with addiction, but some scenes, primarily with Ellen Burstyn’s character and her psychosis, felt too bizarre.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
Rationale: Slightly disappointed that a movie I had been looking forward to presented a compelling story in a weird way at times.

Movie #198: Apollo 13

Movie #: 198
Movie Title: Apollo 13
Year Released: 1995

Director: Ron Howard
Notable Cast: Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan, Chris Ellis

Short Description: Three astronauts must devise a strategy to return to Earth safely after their spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage. (IMDB.com)

Rank on the Top 100 Lists

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #74
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A

Date Watched: 7/23/2013

What I Liked: I swear, if I didn’t know I was watching a movie, I may have thought that this was actual footage from the space shuttle and NASA. Having not been alive in 1970 I can’t vouch for its historical accuracy, but as far as I’m aware this is a spot on account of the Apollo 13 mission. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, and Gary Sinise were so into their roles that they had me believing they were real astronauts and Ed Harris displayed total command of his scenes as the head of Mission Control. Even after having seen this movie countless times, when the astronauts finally come out of radio silence during splash down and Mission Control erupts with cheers, I can’t help but get a little emotional along with Ed Harris’ character.

What I Disliked: While no movie is perfect, I struggle to find something I didn’t like about Apollo 13. If I had to choose something, even if it is a bit picky, it might be that the first half an hour was a little too slow paced. Obviously this movie has a ton of story to it that needs to be setup so I don’t really view the pace as a fault of writing but as a necessary evil of developing characters and situations.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
Rationale: Apollo 13 has always been one of my favorite movies and it’s a shame that six of the seven top 100 lists I used to make my 251 list failed to realize how great it is as well.

Movie #199: Ratatouille

Movie #: 199
Movie Title: Ratatouille
Year Released: 2007

Director: Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava
Notable Cast: Patton Oswalt, Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, Ian Holm, Peter O’Toole, Janeane Garofalo

Short Description: With dreams of becoming a chef, a culinary genius in the form of a rat, makes and unusual alliance with a young kitchen worker at a famed restaurant. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: #74
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 7/21/2013

What I Liked: Most (if not all) Disney movies have some sort of lesson to be learned and Ratatouille is no different. Remy was reminded throughout the movie that you can do whatever you want if you put your heart into it and one can rise above their status and condition to make a better life for themselves. Disney’s decision in 1995 to team with Pixar and move to CGI animation was brilliant. Given the fast paced action in sequences such as Remy’s fall through the sewers and his attempted escape from the kitchen, I’d wager that Ratatouille would have been impossible to make with standard hand-drawn animation and I don’t know if I would’ve wanted to see that.

What I Disliked: I get that Ratatouille was created in America for a largely American audience and you risk turning off your fan base by making something foreign, but come on Disney, stop playing safe. How can you base a movie in Paris, France and not give your characters at least a French accent? I maybe counted one that did, which is pathetic. I’m not asking for full out foreign language with subtitles; rather, not Americanizing characters in other countries would be nice.

Grade: 3 out of 5 (Good)
Rationale: While probably unfair to Ratatouille, it was hard not comparing it to other Disney/Pixar giants like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and WALL-E and seeing it fall short of their greatness.

Movie #200: The Bourne Identity

Movie #: 200
Movie Title: The Bourne Identity
Year Released: 2002

Director: Doug Liman
Notable Cast: Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, Brian Cox, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Julia Styles

Short Description: A man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to elude assassins and recover from amnesia. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #98
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: #78
FlickChart.com: N/A



Date Watched: 7/20/2013

What I Liked: Matt Damon was perfect for the role of Jason Bourne and the supporting cast, specifically Franka Potente, did an excellent job. There was plenty of action to keep one entertained and a well thought out story to fill in the holes and help us understand Bourne's past at the same time he's trying to figure himself out and regain his memory.

What I Disliked: Other than the bullet wounds he received before he'd fished out of the water, considering all of fights Bourne partakes in after that, you never see him get hurt. I get that Jason Bourne is a badass killing machine and is capable of shutting out pain, but come on, the dude jumps down six floors near the end of the movie and gets up without even having the wind knocked out of him. And the fight where his advisory is wielding a knife? Bourne doesn't even get scratched. While he may be super human, that's too inhuman.

Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)
Rationale: The Bourne Identity would have been a terrific standalone movie, but instead is a fun start to a trilogy centered on Jason Bourne.

Overall Best to Worst: #201-251

Overall Best to Worst of #201-251

This list is my overall best to worst of every movie I’ve seen so far on my list of 251. I fully expect this list to get harder to compile every time I finish a set of 25 movies and need to incorporate those, but it’ll be fun to see how I rank all 251 movies when I’m done. Without further ado, here it goes.

Movie #	Movie Title	My Grade
218	Gran Torino	4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
212	Argo	4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
249	Star Trek	4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)
233	Sophie's Choice	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
205	Cinema Paradiso	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
215	Groundhog Day	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
235	Persona	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
248	Cinderella Man	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
207	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
223	Training Day	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
238	Ocean's Eleven	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
209	Iron Man	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
250	The Sting	4 out of 5 (Excellent)
202	In the Heat of the Night	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
226	Rain Man	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
213	The Great Escape	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
240	A Fistful of Dollars	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
232	When Harry Met Sally	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
208	The Thin Red Line	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
244	The Untouchables	3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
229	Catch Me If You Can	3 out of 5 (Good)
206	Rosemary's Baby	3 out of 5 (Good)
227	Magnolia	3 out of 5 (Good)
246	Shaun of the Dead	3 out of 5 (Good)
210	The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp	3 out of 5 (Good)
251	Ben-Hur	3 out of 5 (Good)
216	Airplane!	3 out of 5 (Good)
224	Bringing Up Baby	3 out of 5 (Good)
225	Kill Bill: Volume 1	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
201	A Matter of Life and Death	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
211	Wild Strawberries	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
242	The Last Picture Show	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
231	Swing Time	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
214	Brazil	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
222	The King of Comedy	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
237	The French Connection	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
234	The Big Sleep	2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
204	All the President's Men	2 out of 5 (Fair)
221	Carrie	2 out of 5 (Fair)
228	The Conversation	2 out of 5 (Fair)
241	Grease	2 out of 5 (Fair)
247	Yankee Doodle Dandy	1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
217	Easy Rider	1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
236	Spirit of the Beehive	1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
243	Do the Right Thing	1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
203	Manhattan	1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
239	Princess Mononoke	1 out of 5 (Poor)
245	Shadow of a Doubt	1 out of 5 (Poor)
220	Blue Velvet	1 out of 5 (Poor)
230	Metropolis	1 out of 5 (Poor)
219	A Night at the Opera	1 out of 5 (Poor)