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Movies: Top Ten {Tuesday}

top ten list

I am so glad the new fall season of TV has begun! We saved a few TIVOed shows for the summer (Fringe & The Office) but you can only watch Dwight talk about beets so many days in a row. So, we finally started Redbox-ing it. Which, as a rabbit trail, I hope the person who thought of that thing is a millionaire! Wouldn’t it be horrible if that idea just got included under someone’s contract and they didn’t make a dime? Because seriously, that thing is genius.

Anywhoo. I love reading movie reviews, so here are my mini-reviews of the…

TOP TEN MOVIES I WATCHED THIS SUMMER

1. Limitless

Basically, I loved this movie and want to watch it again. It’s about a guy who finds a wonder drug that opens up that infamous untapped 80% of your brain. And really, as a blogger/writer I *so* wanted that pill. The whole movie was kinda quirky and had these weird camera-things going on. I love interesting movies with smash-bang endings. This totally delivered. PLUS. Chuck from Pushing Daisies plays the ex-girlfriend. So, that makes me happy.

2. The Lincoln Lawyer

First of all, this movie stars Matthew McConaughey. So, besides being totally charming he is the ONLY actor (besides Tow Mater) that has a real Southern accent.

This movie is based on Michael Connelly’s novel of the same name. And any time a movie is based on a book, it already has about 3 bonus points. This movie is a law-thriller-mystery. And I loved it. The story got me from start to finish. I wasn’t trying to figure it out–it wasn’t too easy to figure out or too far-fetched. It was just like a perfectly written book. Hmmm. Big surprise, right?

3. Unknown

Enter charming man #2: Liam Neeson. You know he’s the voice of Aslan, right? *sigh*

I loved the whole premise of this movie. I totally don’t want to tell you what happens because it’s a great twist-and-turn thing that will keep you guessing. (Or at least it did me!) I do think they rushed the end a bit and there was a fight scene that was kinda out of place, but besides that I thought it was creative and exciting.

4. The Adjustment Bureau

I loved this movie till the end. It had some cool paranormal, supernatural stuff going on. But the ending left me flat. My husband loved it. Eh.

5. Source Code

Maybe you’ve figured out by now that we don’t watch chick flicks around our house. And it’s not my husband’s fault either. I just don’t get into them. There’s too much syrupy sweetness, too much sex and too much pretend-feminism. It gets on my nerves. My favorite kinds of movies are real historical period pieces or thrillers. And if there is some kind of twisted plot line (and even a touch of sci-fi-ish-ness), then I’m even better.

OK, back to Source Code. This is movie is exactly the kind of movie I like. I just love when you have NO IDEA what is going on for like the first 15 minutes. You are figuring out what’s going on at the same time as the main character. I want to compare it to another movie, but I’m afraid it would give away the storyline. It was so good. I loved this one!

6. I Am Number Four

I had no idea what this movie was about when my husband brought it home. But when I realized it was about teenagers I was not happy (see: Chick Flicks above). Then I discovered it was kinda Heroes-meets-Twilight and I started to dig it! It was a little comic-book-ish and a little high-school-drama. But for some reason I liked it. I’m a sucker for how-super-heroes-were-born. (Seriously, I want to see X-men:First Class!)

7. The Help

OK. This one is not out on DVD yet, but I did see it this summer. And OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS SAKES ALIVE. I don’t know how they did it, but they captured the complete gut-punch that the book brought. I actually saw it as a pre-release on my anniversary! (Yeah, Les didn’t know he would be the only guy in a theater full of girls and sitting with my sisterchicks, no less! But he loved it, too.)

The acting was just spot on. The accents, the haughtiness of Hilly, the naivete of Skeeter, the complete blindness of Elizabeth, the on-no-you-ditten of Minny and the gentle strength of Abilene. It was just so fantastic. If you aren’t going to read the book (which really, you MUST), please see the movie. And then maybe go see it again.

8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

My husband came home one night and said, “I stepped out on a limb. We’re going to take a chance with this movie.” And when the menu came up on the screen I said, “OH NO.” I cannot even begin to tell you how strange this movie was. It’s about a young 20something who falls in love with a loner girl and before he can date her, he has to battle her 7 evil exes.

Do you need to go back and read that again?

It was sort of Napolean Dynamite meets The Batman TV show. It was probably one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen. But (*whisper*) I kinda liked it! (see: “how superheroes are born” above)

9. The Eagle

Ah, finally! A real period piece! This one is set in 120 AD and it’s basically just the slightly overused story of a boy trying to redeem his father’s name. The character development was a little off (I ended up liking the sidekick better than the main character). But I enjoyed the movie because it’s based on fact (you know I like a movie when I have to get online as soon as it’s done to check facts and history!) It was based on a true event in Rome when an entire legion of Roman Soldiers were lost after entering Britain. The only thing recovered was a gold eagle used as their standard.

What was so cool about the movie is that it DID NOT LOOK LIKE LORD OF THE RINGS. There was not one bit of CGI. That means there was REAL scenery and REAL fighting and REAL mud and water and tromping through the forest. You know how all war/battle movies just look alike? Like 40 billion waves of troops advancing on one another and fighting like crazy? This was more…realistic. (I oughtta know, right? Because I’ve been in a centuries old battle before.)Anyway, I can’t describe why that was such a breath of fresh air, but it was.

10. Have you seen any good movies lately?

Disclaimer: Just because I recommend these movies doesn’t mean you will like them. Or that they are godly. I am the queen of fast-forwarding when there are things I am uncomfortable watching. If you’d like to see real reviews especially ones that detail things you don’t want to see like language, sex and violence see my favorite movie review sites.

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Link up your Top Ten list and join in the Top Ten {Tuesday} fun! All you have to do is WRITE a top ten list, PASTE it  below, LINK back to me in your post & then start LOVIN’ on the rest of the participants with facebook likes, stumbles, comments, pins and tweets (#toptentues)! For better and more succinct guidelines & a cute little button, see my Top Ten {Tuesday} page!

Comments

  2. The Eagle was great! And it should have a bonus 3 points for being after a book! 🙂 We recently discovered Rosemary Sutcliff, and she easily made the list of our favorite authors! Great link up, I may join! Our family watches movies.. That’s what we do together.. The Eagle will be part of our home movie library someday! We haven’t dared to watch Scott Pilgrim.. Yet. Lol!

  3. I haven’t seen ANY of these. Seriously. I just saw the Social Network last weekend, once I had kids it was all over. We even have Netflix or Quickster or whatever it’s called today. Lame. I know… this is a good list, it makes me want to be more ambitious in my movie watching 🙂

    • We used to be movie watching fiends. Then we got into TV (24 and Lost did it to us, I think) and sort tapered off on movies. This summer, tho’ we watched one almost every other night! My husband loves the Redbox! 🙂

  4. Thanks for the good ideas! The only one of these I’ve seen is Scott Pilgrim, which we thought was definitely strange but a lot of fun. The vegan jokes were my very favorite 🙂

    The Help is definitely on my list for fall, and I consider The Lincoln Lawyer every time I’m at redbox!

  5. Well I’ve only seen The Help (of course it WONderful)! And Lincoln Lawyer – really loved that a lot too!! You guys should see Moneyball if you get a chance (just came out). Pep & I both really liked it. A good bit of humor, storyline, and based on a real story too.

  6. I’ve only seen “The Help” – which I agree is one of the BEST movies ever. If it doesn’t win awards, then the world is completely bonkers.

    Thanks for the recommendations. We might have to snag some of these on upcoming date nights. Trying to do them cheap you know.

  7. I really like both Source Code and Unknown. One movie I really enjoyed — though it was certainly a bit unorthodox, but not as strange as Scott Pilgrim — was The Beaver with Mel Gibson and Jodi Foster.

  8. 🙁 I’m trying to enter but it tells me my link is already added but I don’t see it on the list. http://www.ourgoodwinjourney.com/2011/09/10-things-i-love-about-natural-house.html ideas?

    We don’t watch a lot of movies around here. I’m a chick flick girl (Pride and Prejudice) and so very few come out that are good to watch. My husband loves these kinds of movies, sci-fi… but it isn’t often that we get one. We do both like historical ones, like the Patriot, so when they come out with a good one, we try to watch it.

  9. dangit… i wish i would have had this list before my trip to germany… i debated watching the lincoln lawyer on my flight, but ended up passing it up. i guess i’ll have to rent it now. loved limitless… and i’m holding out on the help until i can manage to carve out some time to read the book…

  10. I haven’t seen any of those yet either, though almost all of them are totally our type of movie to watch. My husband pretty much refuses to watch any kind of chick flick & for the most part, I agree, since they usually are too full of sex and empty love, but every once and a while I wish he would cave and watch something sappy with me. 🙂 But we both love mystery/thriller/sci-fi/fantasy type movies and usually watch every kind of super-hero one out there. We’ve been trying to cut back on media lately, which probably explains why we haven’t seen any of these, but it’s a good list to consider the next time we make a trip to the video store. 🙂

  11. Loved Limitless. And my husband and I did watch it twice. Unknown was crazy, in a good way. Sorta like Taken. Crazy but good.

    I watched the Green Hornet and it was pretty good. Mindless entertainment. Saw it with my brother, and totally a good brother-sister movie fit.

    • Ooooh. Taken. That one stuck with me–in a scary kinda way! And you know what, I just remembered we saw the Green Hornet, too. Yes, mindless! 🙂

  12. I really want to comment on each of these. Clearly I am craving chat time with Amanda! 🙂

    I loved Limitless, Lincoln Lawyer, Source Code and Adjustment Bureau (except the end, yes)!! When I wrote about them on my blog, lots of people disagreed, though. Oh, and I also loved Scott Pilgrim even though it’s weird. Maybe a little bit BECAUSE it was weird. (And nerdy. I’m a sucker for the nerdy.)

    I can’t WAIT to see The Help, and I’ve had my eye on Unknown for a while so I’m glad to know it’s good. And…embarrassing confession…I kinda, sorta want to see The Eagle for the main actor, not the storyline. I know. Don’t judge me.

  14. I’ve seen them all but 5 and 8. Heard mixed reviews on Source Code… and pretty sure Scott Pilgrim will not happen {lol}.

    Most recent movie I’ve seen is Something Borrowed. I {heart} chic flicks!!!!

  16. I appreciate a good list of movie recommendations. I’ll have to check the ratings — as I usually can’t handle the R ones. Limitless is already at the top of my Netflix queue and I finished reading The Help recently, so I’ll see that when it comes out. Haven’t heard of most of the others. Although I did rent Scott Pilgrim and gave up on it after about 10 min. Just too weird. Speaking of Matthew, we recently saw and loved We Are Marshall. That’s like how many movies I see in a year, btw. I’m glad TV is back — it’s hard for us to get a full movie in.

  17. I loooved limitless and a few others you mention were on my list to see too, yet summer has gotten in the way. As a couple, DH and I enjoy action movies. Thanks for reminding me!

  19. I’m embarrassed to say that not only have I not seen any of these movies, but I think I’ve only even heard of two of them!! Do I live under a rock?! Guess this means I need to get out more! Ha!
    Linking up for the very first time…brand new blog!

  21. Yes! Saw Source Code and it is great. I just finished reading The Help yesterday and cannot wait to see the movie!!

    Going to have to get my movie watching on!
    thanks

  22. of those, i saw limitless, which was alright and lincoln lawyer, which i LOVED. finally matthew mcconaughey is doing some good movies!

  23. Sad but true – I don’t think I even SAW ten movies this summer, never mind have a top ten!

    I’m looking forward to when I am over in Atlanta next month to maybe seeing a sneak preview of some of the US shows we get here – we are always a wee bit behind!

  24. We ended up at Scott Pilgrim by accident sort of. We were going to a free screening for Vampires S*ck and it filled up just as we were at the front of the line. So our dh and our friends said wanna give it a try. And we all loved it! I really like Michael Cera anyways from Arrested Development. The Help was awesome. Other than that we have seen every blockbuster movie this summer cause it was dh’s goal. 🙂 We saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes which was actually awesome!

  25. Limitless WAS amazing! I loved it so much, I bought the DVD when it was on sale at Target! Source Code was SO, SO good – I completely agree with you. I saw all of your movies except for the last two – I guess we have similar tastes. I keep track of the movies I watch (I know, it’s weird) – these are the ones I’ve seen this year that I recommend:
    The A-Team
    True Grit
    RED
    The King’s Speech
    Thor
    Morning Glory (I was expecting a chick-flick and it’s really not – I was pleasantly surprised.)
    Super 8
    X-Men Origins
    Captain America.

    I am going to add The Eagle to my Netflix cue right now!

  26. Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.

  27. This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose.

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