Top 10 Last 10 #3 of 2016

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I'll try to do a Last 10 Top 10 every 10 movies I watch in 2016. Number 3 already, so 30 movies, and it's the 30th, so I also managed so far to watch 30 movies in 30 days. Yay again.

Last time I said maybe I'm only gonna watch shit movies. Quite the opposite happened. There is no movie in this list I didn't like.

Magnolia is just a crazy good movie, same with Snowpiercer.

Before Sunset is probably my favorite romance ever.

I enjoyed all of these movies a lot. Well. you can't talk about enjoying Student Services, but it was a good movie.

For diversity I watched a documentary, too, and it was a good one in Supermensch.

1. Magnolia
2. Snowpiercer
3. Before Sunset
4. It's Kind of a Funny Story
5. Grabbers
6. The Big Short
7. Before Sunrise
8. Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
9. Student Services
10. Before Midnight

Un Chien Andalou, 1929 - ★★★½

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I feel like this movie inspired David Lynch for sure.

Before Midnight, 2013

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Watched on Saturday January 30, 2016.

Student Services, 2010 - ★★★

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Watched on Thursday January 28, 2016.

It's Kind of a Funny Story, 2010 - ★★★★

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Watched on Wednesday January 27, 2016.

Before Sunset, 2004 - ★★★★½

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I feel like this is one of the best romances I have ever seen.

Long before Boyhood, which was shot over 12 years, Linklater did the "Before Trilogy". Starting in 1995 with Before Sunrise, american Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets french girl Celine (Julie Delpy) in a train. After spending a day together in Austria, they fall in love and say goodbye with plans to meet in 6 months.

Then, 9 years later they meet again in "Before Sunset", when Jesse, now a famous author, is in Paris to present his new book recounting the events happening 9 years earlier. He doesn't have much time because he has to catch a flight back to America in a few hours. But for Celine, he takes his time.

Why I love this movie? Because it feels so real. This movie plays in real time, we just follow Hawke and Delpy around Paris, talking about how they've been, what they've done and about everything. That sounds really boring, but it is so interesting. The acting was great, maybe that is explained by their writers credit, they are probably mostly playing themselves in some small variation.

It is shot beautifully, in long shots, one time going 11 minutes without a cut. That's because this movie is about them, about their dialogue.

If you want action or hate long dialogues, this movie is nothing for you. But I really liked these characters in Before Sunrise, and now seeing them meet again just makes me happy. Much like in the first movie, this one is open ended too, it's not sure what happens after the movie fades to black. But I will find out in "Before Midnight", the final part of the trilogy.

One last thing, this movie is only 77 minutes long, so it's really a quick watch if you have some free time.

I'm rating this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars and a big like, I'm even thinking about adding it to my favorite movie-list. It really made me feel... anyway, watch it.

Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon, 2014 - ★★★½

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This was a very interesting documentary. It's about Shep Gordon, a guy that normal people don't know but every big name in the world loves him.

It's made by his close friend and fan, Mike Myers, so this is a very one sided documentary. According to this, Shep Gordon is basically a god or should be celebrated as one. Also, he has Midas touch and turns everything into gold.

But I'm alright with that. It is a very interesting story about a man I knew nothing about, it has many big stars, not only movie stars but also music legends and chefs.

I was a little annoyed by some of the scenes in the documentary, because sometimes, Myers just spliced random movie scenes in there that kind of fit the context. But at the same time, that's kind of the charme of it.

All in all, I enjoyed this documentary and even though I had some problems with it, it is a good directorial debut by Mike Myers. Also, I kind of wanna go to one of Shep Gordons parties now.

Before Sunrise, 1995

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Watched on Sunday January 24, 2016.

Magnolia, 1999 - ★★★★★

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Watched on Saturday January 23, 2016.

The Big Short, 2015

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Watched on Wednesday January 20, 2016.

Snowpiercer, 2013 - ★★★★

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Watched on Tuesday January 19, 2016.

Grabbers, 2012 - ★★★½

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I feel like this is an Alien invasion my friends and I can get behind.

In this alien invasion movie from Ireland, the extraterrestrial beings live off of water and blood. If you don't want them to drink your blood, you have to be ... drunk.

This is a great concept for a movie, especially set in Ireland (could be set in Germany too, if we are honest). And it's the first feature length movie Kevin Lehane wrote.

The acting is nothing special, but I think they played some pretty good drunks, especially Russel Tovey was just fun to look at.

I thought this movie managed to be scary at times, but the comedy never comes short. I didn't see any jokes that made me cringe or anything, most of the jokes actually made me laugh out loud.

The special effects were really good for the fact that this whole movie was made for just $5.000.000, I've seen far worse in way more expensive movies.

All in all, this wasn't a big blockbuster movie, nothing Oscar-worthy, but a fun ride that didn't leave me bored. Just wish I could have watched it with a group of friends and some bottles of beer. Maybe for the rewatch I'll do that. 3.5 out of 5 stars and a like.

Candyman, 1992 - ★★★★

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Watched on Sunday January 17, 2016.

Last 10 Top 10 #2 of 2016

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I'll try to do a Last 10 Top 10 every 10 movies I watch in 2016. Now we're at number 2 and I haven't given up yet. Yay for me.

This weeks list is very strong, no movie that I didn't like at all, most of them more than average.

12 Angry Men and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are perfect movies, I can't critique them.

The Experiment was almost perfect, except for the beginning.

Enter The Void was so fucked up, but it was just something I have never seen before,

Candyman would probably be lower for other people but I love horror and Candyman is a really good horror movie.

The Revenant had awesome acting by Leo and was really a good movie, but the length and the greatness of the other movies made me put it down a notch.

Safety Not Guaranteed was a great small indie flick, I really loved it.

Even though there is much hate for it, I really liked The Sacrament. It is in no way a happy movie, but it works as a horror movie for sure.

After Five In The Forest Primeval was interesting and kept me watching throughout, it was not as good as most of the other movies on this list though.

Blue Jasmine was interesting and I didn't hate it, but it just didn't hold my interest, it bored me in parts.

Still, very strong list, maybe the next 10 movies will be really shitty? We'll see.

1. 12 Angry Men
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. The Experiment
4. Enter the Void
5. Candyman
6. The Revenant
7. Safety Not Guaranteed
8. The Sacrament
9. After Five In The Forest Primeval
10. Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine, 2013

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Watched on Saturday January 16, 2016.

Horror movies missing in the "All horror movies list"

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• Madison County
• No Tell Motel
• Bela Kiss: Prologue
• Slashers
• Ankle Biters
• The Last Employee
• Boo
• You Can't Kill Stephen King
• Death Run
• Soultaker

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Enter the Void, 2009 - ★★★★★

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Watched on Friday January 15, 2016.

12 Angry Men, 1957 - ★★★★★

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Can someone edit this to fit to "Making a Murderer"? Maybe about Brandan Dassey...

The Experiment, 2001 - ★★★★½

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I have a weird "German-movie-phase" right now. Finding good movies from Germany everywhere.

This one is based on the Stanford Prison Experiment, and I think it does a good job putting said experiment on screen.

Just as a warning, the first 10 minutes are not really good. But as soon as the titular experiment begins, this movie goes from okay to great. It doesn't matter if you know about the experiment or not, you'll have a good time anyway... well, not a good time.

This is one of those movies that is really good but not for everyone. Just like the real experiment did, this movie becomes gruesome, horrible and just evil. It is not a happy movie, even though it has funny moments.

The acting was exceptional. I think I really haven't seen a better acted German movie. Everyone is great, no real weak links in the cast. Moritz Bleibtreu as the protagonist is great, but there are also awesome performances by Christian Berkel, who also shows some sweet fight moves in this movie, Oliver Stokowski as the kind of weird guy, Justus Von Dohnanyi as the main guard, Timo Dierckes as Elvis and Antoine Monot Jr.as the nice guard. They are all really surprisingly good.

After the intro, the time before the experiment, is over, this movie became the best German movie I've seen, but that beginning part and some small things make me not completely fall in love with it, so I'm rating this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars and a big like. Watch it!

The Revenant, 2015 - ★★★★½

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Watched on Tuesday January 12, 2016.

After Five In The Forest Primeval, 1995 - ★★★½

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The first movie with now world famous Franka Potente.

The acting was great, 21 year old Franka Potente had a notable start into her career as 17 year old Anna. Axel Milberg, who played her father Wolfgang, also left a positive impression.

The story is one we've heard a million times. Daughter throws a party while parents are gone, parents get angry, daughter runs away, learns that being home is really the best while parents learn to appreciate their daughter.
But still, it is told in a way that has kept me interested throughout. Also we have a little girl in the big city story, because she runs away to Munich to go to a casting.

What I didn't like is the side story about Simon (awkward looking Thomas Schmauser). He is there as a deus ex machina ... and to have a reason for Annas parents to meet other parents.

All in all I enjoyed this movie. And I think I'm giving it some plus points for being from Germany, because I'm always happy when I see a good German movie, because most of them are not good. I'm rating this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars and a like. It's a fun little movie for sure.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004 - ★★★★★

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I realised afterwards I finally watched another movie of the Letterboxd Season Challenge.
Week 33 - Host Week.
I really should go on with this challenge ...

I heard so many great things about this movie, I was expecting to be disappointed by this movie, but I was not.

When you break up with someone, you sometimes wish you never met them in the first place. Well, there is a company that can make you forget specific people by erasing them from your memory in one night, and erasing all memories you had of them. So when Clementine (Kate Winslet) breaks up with Joel (Jim Carrey), she erases him from her memory and, as a follow up, he erases her.

First of all, this movie was written by Charlie Kaufman, who is just crazy. This movie is going to make you say "What????" multiple times, but it will also explain everything in the end.

The acting is great. Jim Carrey is nothing like Jim Carrey in this movie, he really plays another character this time. Kate Winslet is great as the quirky girlfriend. Really everyone is awesome to watch.

The visual effects are stunning. There is almost no CGI in this movie which makes everything look even more realistic. Most of this movie is set in a dream, so weird shit happens, and that weird shit looks great.

The story grabs you from the very beginning and doesn't let go until it's over. I was not bored for one second, there was always something interesting going on.

This movie will stay in my mind for a long time, I really loved it, and I'm rating it 5 out of 5 stars plus a big like, everyone should watch this.

The Sacrament, 2013 - ★★★½

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People hate this movie because it didn't mention anywhere that it is based on the Jonestown Massacre. I don't.

It's about a group of journalists who wanna make a news video about Eden Parish, a seemingly perfect place where people live like hippies. But they soon find out it's not as perfect as they thought.

It is not a perfect movie. It's a found footage horror movie. Sometimes you wonder how the scenes would have been filmed. But this movie is still gripping. There is one scene that really made me wanna turn it off and think about kittens for some time because it was so horrible, even without anything really happening on screen.

This movie is shot well (which of course speaks against it being found footage but I don't care) and the characters are good. The acting is solid.

I like Ti West and the rest of his crew and am interested in what else they did/will do. I'm rating this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars, it's not perfect but really good. Not enjoyable, but that's what makes a horror movie.

Safety Not Guaranteed, 2012 - ★★★★½

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Watched on Saturday January 9, 2016.

The Ape, 1940 - ★★

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Watched on Friday January 8, 2016.

Last 10 Top 10 #1 of 2016

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I'll try to do a Last 10 Top 10 every 10 movies I watch in 2016. This is my #1 of many to come.

This week is a very strong list, I loved the movies from #1 to #5 and I enjoyed Crazy. And it was letterboxd movie night, so of course there are bad movies on it, too.

1. The Goonies
2. The Spectacular Now
3. Making a Murderer
4. Starry Eyes
5. Combat Girls
6. Crazy
7. Lumpkin the Pumpkin
8. The Congress
9. The Ape
10. Night Owl

The Goonies, 1985 - ★★★★★

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I owned this movie for some time now but never felt like watching it, even though everybody loves it. Now I finally gave in aaaand ...

The Goonies is about a group of kids that go on a mission to find a treasure to save their friends from moving away. On their way they meet the Fratellis, a gangster family.

This movie is so much fun. I felt like a kid (which, to be honest, I feel a lot, but not like this). I have a feeling this is the best kids-adventure story ever made.

The acting is great. We have performances by a very young Josh Brolin, an even younger Sean Astin and Corey Feldman and some more actors that I don't really know. They are all doing a good job, every single one of them.

This is an 80s movie, which of course means no CGI, which I love. There is so much stuff happening and it's all happening for real.

The Goonies is not a visual masterpiece. Nothing that will be taught in film school. But it's probably one of the most fun films ever. It's almost 2 hours long, but it doesn't feel that way, when it's over you wish it wasn't.

I had a lot of fun and I'm rating this movie 5 out of 5 stars. I really wanna watch it again already. Watch it.

Starry Eyes, 2014 - ★★★★

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Watched on Wednesday January 6, 2016.

Crazy, 2000

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Watched on Tuesday January 5, 2016.

Night Owl, 1993 - ★★

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Watched at the Letterboxd Movie Night

Weird movie ... how does this connect to the MCU? Why didn't they call the avengers?
Well, at least the villain was kind of interesting.

Lumpkin the Pumpkin, 1993 - ★★

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Watched at the Letterboxd Movie Night
First that pumpkin wanted Halloween to be in the bright day, then he doesn't like scaring people and then he ruins all their costumes. What an asshole...

My IMDb Watchlist

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just because I'm crazy

• Scarface
• Scarface
• An American Werewolf in London
• Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
• The Artist
• Barry Lyndon
• Batman
• Ben-Hur
• Big
• The Haunting

...plus 1763 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Combat Girls, 2011 - ★★★★½

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Every time I think that German cinema sucks and that most movies are bad, I find movies like this, that make me love this country.

In short, the plot is about a Neo-Nazi girl from Germany, Marisa (Alina Levshin, who slowly learns that maybe her believes aren't that good when she gets to know a refugee.

This movie doesn't hold back and in some parts is hard to watch because the characters are violent and brutal, but also no one really interferes when the clique starts beating up immigrants in a train for example.

Even though you don't side with her believes at all you start to like Marisa slowly. The acting by all people is great, Alina Levshin is great and so is Jella Haase, who plays a 15 year old girl being indoctrinated into the group.

The story is really interesting, and really well made. I really don't have much bad things to say about it and I can only recommend it. I'm rating it 4.5 out of 5 stars and giving it a like.

The Congress, 2013 - ★★½

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I like when movies do something that is new, that is different. But this was just a little too weird for me.

Robin Wright (Robin Wright) isn't the most popular actress anymore. Because of that and because she is deemed unreliable, the head of Miramount makes her an offer to let them scan her completely with all her emotions so that they can make movies with her likeliness without needing her. After some thinking she accepts. Then, 20 years later, she goes into an animated world and becomes a toon...

When I heard about this idea I liked it. There is so much you could do about that. I wish they had focused more on the digital version of her/what happened, could be done with that. Instead they go into a completely crazy way that doesn't even have to do that much with the beginning of the movie.

The animation style was good, it wasn't a clean Disney look, it was all a bit rough, but that made the charme. Also I really enjoyed what they did with the animated world. You basically can do whatever you want and where is that done better than in animation?

But this whole story was really a bit too crazy, honestly I didn't get most of what happened once she got there. Once because it was really fucked up, but also because to be honest I didn't care enough about the movie/the story to actually pay enough attention (which was needed to get this). I just caught myself checking my phone, going to reddit or reading about the movie I've watched before this on IMDb.

So while the concept is great, the animation is good looking and it is something I have never seen before it didn't keep me interested enough and was just too crazy. So I'm only rating this 2.5 out of 5 stars, I didn't hate it but also didn't love it.

The Spectacular Now, 2013 - ★★★★

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Such a gripping movie. I started watching it and for some reason couldn't look away.

This coming of age story is about Sutter (Miles Teller), a boy in high school. He lives in the now, seizes every day but doesn't think too much about the future. Also he drinks. A lot.
He meets Aimee (Shailene Woodley), who is kind of a wallflower. She is smart, loves manga and is very shy.

The acting was awesome, Teller and Woodley had a great chemistry.

I really enjoyed this, Miles Teller is really a likable asshole. His teacher is like, the best teacher ever. Wish I had teachers like him.
And his Boss played by Bob Odenkirk is the best boss, too. All in all this movie had many likable characters.

The story was interesting and I really liked it. It's really just about these two characters and it feels real, about real high school kids, not the Disney versions.

All in all I really enjoyed this movie and can't say much bad about it. I rate it 4 out of 5 stars and a like.

Making a Murderer, 2015 - ★★★★½

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This is such a good documentary. As someone interested in laws, this was very interesting to me.
It is shot beautifully. And it is put in a really interesting way. In old Netflix fashion I almost binged that show, watching 3 episodes in a row today, because even though this was a documentary about something that really happened, it was very exciting and gripping and I just couldn't stop watching.

Not only does it show how law in America works and how it can go wrong, but also how people in America live in towns, because this is not the movie version of a small town in the USA. These are real people in a real town, not rich, not people in New York or Washington, but small town people.

I really liked this very much and I'm telling everyone to watch this, not just people interest in documentaries, I feel you can even watch this as a normal entertainment show.

I'm rating this miniseries 4.5 out of 5 stars and a big like.

Freddy vs. Jason, 2003 - ★★★★

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I've seen this movie years ago, when I first started getting into horror movies and watching them with a big group of friends. And I remembered it as one of the best movies there is. So, since I recently bought it on DVD I thought it's time to rewatch it and it should be a fitting end to my 2015 movie watches.

Sadly it wasn't as good as I remembered.

If you can't guess what this movie is about from the title, this movie is about Freddy Krueger, your friendly neighborhood ghostly serial killer who once was able to kill teenagers in their sleep. But by now, everyone forgot about him and without fear of him, he has no power (which was set up in the very first Nightmare movie, but was never used to this extend). So he decides to wake up Jason Vorhees, the big silent type who every now and then slices people in Camp Crystal Lake (or Manhatten) with his machete. Jason slept because he couldn't die I think. Jason went to Elm Street and started killing kids, which made them think of Freddy, who then wanted to start killing too. But Jason comes first, so then they start fighting.

I didn't really enjoy the beginning of the movie. The acting wasn't really that good mostly (other than Robert Englund of course). But the kills were awesome. I just loved it. One girl is dreaming and Freddy is doing his shtick and then when he is about to kill her, she dies and her blood splatters on him because Jason killed her in real life. That is such a good idea.

If you liked any of the Freddy movies or any of the Jason movies, you have to watch it. It is actually one of the best movies in both series, if not the best. It's not a cinematic masterpiece, but it is a great enjoyable watch. In the beginning I said it wasn't as good as I expected and I stand by that, but the second half is, to me, a 5 star movie, while the beginning is a 3 star movie maybe. So I will rate this movie 4 out of 5 stars and a like.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown, 1976 - ★★½

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This movie is about the Phantom Killer, a serial killer in a small town in America in the forties murdering people once a month and then disappearing, and about a police crew trying to catch him. It is based on a true story of the moonshine murders that happened in the forties in Texarkana.

I watched the remake of The Town That Dreaded Sundown in cinema and while watching I really wanted to see the original. If you didn't know, the remake is actually more of a sequel you could say, it's set in 2014 I think and this movie is playing in drive in theaters every year. So they decided to actually repeat this movie while every now and then splicing it up with scenes from the original.

And to be honest, both are pretty similar, but in my opinion, the remake was even better. Maybe a part of me is judging it like that because of course the remake is much more polished, but all in all it's pretty much the same movie. I had nothing sticking out to me in this movie, nothing that gripped me and I think I actually took a break during the movie to do other stuff.
That being said, the movie is totally watchable. The story is interesting. The kills are pretty well done. The acting could be better but whatever.

Still, my view is tainted by having seen the remake first and I just couldn't appreciate it as much as I would have liked to.
Also, I would have enjoyed the trombone kill much more if he actually made sounds with the trombone instead of just stabbing her with the knife around the trombone.

All in all, to me this was a pretty average movie, so I'm giving it the average rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars.