2010 Round Up!

Crap! I'm late posting this list. So I'm making this the first official post of 2011. I've seen a lot of films this year, compared to previous years, yet I still managed to miss the big one: The Social Network. I also haven't seen Black Swan yet, damnit!

Movies I've seen (in chronological order):
Valentine's Day, Alice In Wonderland, Kick-Ass, The Crazies, Hot Tub Time Machine, Shutter Island, Cop Out, Clash of the Titans, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, She's Out of My League, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Centurion, Toy Story 3, Vampires Suck, Tooth Fairy, The Expendables, Grown Ups, Piranha 3D, Iron Man 2, Unthinkable, Predators, Machete, A Nightmare on Elm Street, How to Train Your Dragon, Monsters, Despicable Me, Resident Evil: Afterlife, When In Rome, Scott Pilgrim vs the World, The Other Guys, Inception, The A-Team, Shrek Forever After, Red, The Reef, Skyline, Jonah Hex, The Town, Easy A, Dear John, Buried and Saw 3D.

Movies I wanted to see, but didn't get around to seeing (in alphabetical order):
127 Hours, The Back-Up Plan, Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Devil, Eat Pray Love, The Experiment, Frozen, Going the Distance, Gulliver's Travels, The Kids Are All Right, The Killer Inside Me, Killers, Knight and Day, Leap Year, Letters to Juliet, Life as We Know It, The Losers, Love & Other Drugs, Repo Men, The Romantics, Shelter, The Social Network, Somewhere and Tucker and Dale vs Evil.

My Five Favorite Films of the Year (notice how I say favorite and not best):
1) Toy Story 3
Unlike last year, I didn't have a clear favorite this year, but looking back at everything I've seen, I have the most fondness for Toy Story 3. It's not a perfect film, but I did enjoy and love it a lot.
2) Scott Pilgrim vs the World
Along with Piranha 3D, my most anticipated movie of 2010. Edgar Wright managed to deliver an energetic, fun and original film, which is quite the accomplishment these days. I'm just sad it hasn't appeared on a lot of critics' best of the year lists.
3) Piranha 3D
What I loved about this film is that it doesn't take itself seriously. It's a fun summer flick with a nice ensemble cast.
4) Kick-Ass
I'm sure this will end up as boyfriend's #1 pick of 2010. Kick-Ass was way more brutal and realistic than I expected it to be. I guess for me, this was the biggest surprise of the year.
5) Machete
It's Danny Trejo kicking ass. 'Nuff said.

My Least Favorite Movies of the Year:
1) Vampires Suck
No, I didn't pay any money to see this flick. It's awful. Why Ken Jeong and Arielle Kebbel are in this, I have no idea. Friedberg and Seltzer, please just stop.
2) The Reef
Yeah, I'll just go watch Open Water again.
3) Clash of the Titans
It just wasn't very good, was it? I'm having a hard time remembering what I disliked about it. I think the CGI bothered me.
4) Monsters
I can totally appreciate and respect what Gareth Edwards did here. I just wasn't feeling it. It didn't keep my interest.
5) A Nightmare on Elm Street
A very unnecessary remake. Visually, it was pretty good, but the rest of it was quite a mess. I had quite a problem with Katie Cassidy, a capable actress, being set up as the lead and then getting Rooney Mara instead. Plus, Robert Englund is Freddy. Period.

Ten Favorite Performances of the Year (in alphabetical order):
1) Channing Tatum (Dear John)
2) Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass)
3) Danny Trejo (Machete)
4) Emma Stone (Easy A)
5) Jay Baruchel (while nothing stands out, he had a solid year with She's Out of My League, The Sorcerer's Apprentice and How to Train Your Dragon)
6) Jerry O'Connell (Piranha 3D)
7) Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim vs the World)
8) Michael Sheen (Unthinkable)
9) Ryan Reynolds (Buried)
10) Whitney Able (Monsters)

Movies I'm Looking Forward to in 2011:
30 Minutes of Less; And Soon the Darkness; Bad Teacher; Battle: Los Angeles; The Cabin in the Woods; Captain America: The First Avenger; Ceremony; The Change-Up; Contagion; Country Strong; Crazy Stupid Love; The Darkest Hour; The Devil's Double; Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules; The Dilemma; Drive; Drive Angry 3D; Dylan Dog: Dead of Night; The Eagle; Every Day; Everything Must Go; The Factory; The Fields; Final Destination 5; Flypaper; Friends with Benefits; Friends with Kids; Fright Night; From Prada to Nada; Goon; The Green Hornet; Green Lantern; Hall Pass; The Hangover: Part Two; Hanna; The Help; Here; I Am Number Four; Jeff Who Lives at Home; The Other Woman; Red State; The Ward.

Hey, I Like You! What's Your Latest Project? #1

I'm very much an actor-focused movie watcher. Throw an actor I like in a movie and I will watch it. It also works the other way around. I'm not likely to watch a movie if I don't know (or like) any of the castmembers.

Take Julie Benz for example. I've been a fan of Miss Benz since her Buffy and Angel days. I think she's terrific. Because of her I've watched Inventing the Abbotts, As Good as It Gets (I don't think it's that great, sorry), Jawbreaker, Satan's School for Girls, Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth, Rambo and Saw V. I've also watched Julie on the following shows: Payne, Roswell, Taken (mini-series), Supernatural (she was amazing) and of course, Dexter (also amazing). If Julie is attached to a project, my interest is piqued.

In contrast, I've never been excited to hear about Brad Pitt or Christian Bale's latest projects nor will I go out of my way to watch them. They're too famous and they're in movies all the time. It's the less famous actors that I don't get to see too often that excite me.

So welcome to Did I Miss 60B's newest category 'Hey, I Like You! What's Your Latest Project?' where I'll take a look at the upcoming projects of actors that I like that aren't super duper famous.

Arlen Escarpeta and Nicholas D'Agosto
Bloody Disgusting reports that both Arlen Escarpeta (Friday the 13th) and Nicholas D'Agosto (Fired Up) have been cast in Final Destination 5. It surprised me that New Line was actually able to cast decent actors in the fifth installment of the popular franchise. Except for Krista Allen (What About Brian), I didn't know any of the actors in The Final Destination.
I've liked Arlen since I saw his guest appearance on Cold Case. I think he's a talented actor and believe me, you have to be good if you want your name to stick in my head after seeing you in one episode of a crime show. I was also hoping he wouldn't die in the Friday the 13th remake as he was one of the few likeable actors walking around. Nicholas D'Agosto impressed me with his performance in Fired Up. He could've been just another dumb jock in another dumb comedy, but that wasn't the case. I think he has Justin Long-ish potential.

Chad Donella
I like Chad Donella. Too bad most people don't know who he is. Chad was in the original Final Destination and he died horribly in the bathroom. Yes, remember him? He's a talented guy and I like seeing him pop up in movies and TV shows. I was watching Lost and I was more excited about seeing Chad for 5 seconds than about the rest of episode. Chad will return to the big screen soon, for the first time in ages, and he will probably be dying horribly again, but this time in Saw 3D.

2009 Round Up!

It's the end of the year so it's time to look back at the movies I've seen this year and pick favorites. I haven't seen a lot of movies this year so it's tough picking.

Movies I saw in the theater (in chronological order):
Friday the 13th; Confessions of a Shopaholic; Wolverine; 17 Again; Star Trek; The Hangover; The Proposal; G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; Inglourious Basterds; The Final Destination; Up

Movies I saw on DVD (in alphabetical order):
Bride Wars; The Last House on the Left; My Bloody Valentine 3D; New In Town; Obsessed; Taken

Movies I wanted to see, but didn't get around to seeing (in alphabetical order):
(500) Days of Summer; 2012; Adoration; Adventureland; All About Steve; Amelia; Away We Go; The Box; Brothers; Carriers; Couples Retreat; Drag Me To Hell; Fanboys; Fired Up!; The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; The Haunting in Connecticut; He's Just Not That Into You; I Love You, Beth Cooper; I Love You, Man; Jennifer's Body; Julie & Julia; Knowing; Land of the Lost; The Lovely Bones; My Sister's Keeper; New York, I Love You; Night at the Museum 2; Observe and Report; Pandorum; A Perfect Getaway; Post Grad; Precious; Push; Race to Witch Mountain; Sorority Row; The Stepfather; Sunshine Cleaning; The Time Traveler's Wife; Transformers 2; The Ugly Truth; Where the Wild Things Are; Whip It; Whiteout; Zombieland

My Five Favorite Films of the Year (notice how I say favorite and not best):
1) Inglourious Basterds
2) Star Trek
3) Up
4) Confessions of a Shopaholic
5) G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

My Least Favorite Movies of the Year:
1) Bride Wars
2) The Final Destination
3) New In Town
4) My Bloody Valentine 3D
5) Wolverine

Ten Favorite Performances of the Year (in alphabetical order):
1) Ali Larter (Obsessed)
2) Bradley Cooper (The Hangover)
3) Chris Pine (Star Trek)
4) Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
5) Daniel Brühl (Inglourious Basterds)
6) Isla Fisher (Confessions of a Shopaholic)
7) Mélanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds)
8) Oscar Nuñez (The Proposal)
9) Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal)
10) Sienna Miller (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra)

Movies I'm Looking Forward to in 2010:
The A-Team; And Soon the Darkness; The Back-Up Plan; Black Swan; Blue Valentine; Case 39; Chloe; Clash of the Titans; Cop Out; The Crazies; Date Night; Dear John; Don McKay; Eat, Pray, Love; The Expendables; The Experiment; Frozen; Going the Distance; The Good Guy; Gulliver's Travels; Holy Rollers; The Joneses; The Kids Are All Right; The Killer Inside Me; Killers; Knight and Day; Leap Year; Letters to Juliet; Life As We Know It; The Losers; Love & Other Impossible Pursuits; Machete; Piranha 3D; Red Dawn; Repo Men; The Resident; The Romantics; The Roommate; Scott Pilgrim vs. the World; Shelter; She's Out of My League; Shutter Island; Somewhere; The Tooth Fairy; Toy Story 3; Tucker and Dale vs Evil; Valentine's Day;

Soon..

I should blog, but I don't have time! AARGH! I have been thinking about doing some Best Of the Decade lists, articles etc. of course mainly focused on Young Hollywood. But it will have to wait a little bit longer while I settle into my new job.

A little rant

Ohw gosh, I haven't posted here in ages. And for days I've been wanting to blog about why Doug (Aaron Stanford) from The Hills Have Eyes is one of my favorite movie characters and share my appreciation for the remake. And that I can't sit through the commentary because Aja's accent makes me giggle. But that will have to wait, because I'm tired, hayfeverish and unable to be witty and/or coherent right now.

I will say this: I feel old. I read the gossip sites and the movie sites and lately I feel I'm only reading about Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, and the Twilight stars. I'm actually trying to think of more teen stars, but I'm drawing a blank (I think that's a good thing). And what pains me the most is that I used to love Young Hollywood. My generation had talented young stars with critical acclaim. And when I'm talking about my generation, you know when I was a teen, I'm just talking about 10 years ago.

Check it: 1999 was the year of American Beauty. Thora Birch and Wes Bentley gave wonderful performances (whatever happened to them, seriously?). Kirsten Dunst was great in The Devil's Arithmetic and The Virgin Suicides, but was also effortlessly funny in Dick. Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were on the rise thanks to the still great 10 Things I Hate About You. Elijah Wood and Christina Ricci were well on their way making their transition from child star to adult roles since their memorable performances in 1997's The Ice Storm. Reese Witherspoon impressed with Election, while the cast of American Pie was a breath of fresh air.

1999 was a great year for young talent. 2009 not so much. Yes, Kristen Stewart is in Twilight and she's a great young actress. But how does Vanessa Hudgens compare to any of the actresses mentioned in the paragraph above? To be honest, I don't know much about the current teen stars. I want to keep it that way. But it kinda makes me sad for the current generation that that's what they have to look up to. People were always making fun of the now defunct WB network and its stars, but really, was it that bad?

Ahhh see, incoherent rambling. Sorry about that! I'm off to watch House on Haunted Hill. The remake one. And at one point I will make a post about remakes. You know, as soon as I figure out where I stand when it comes to those things..

2008 Round Up!

It's the end of the year again! And what a sad year for movies it was. I'm having trouble making a top 5 favorite films, cause I've seen so much crap and average movies this year. I'm almost crying. Almost really. Some movies had so much potential..

Movies I saw in the theater (in chronological order):
Cloverfield; The Mist (a 2007 movie so I won't include it any further); 27 Dresses; Untraceable; Made of Honor; Sex & The City; Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Mamma Mia!; The Dark Knight; Get Smart; The Accidental Husband; Mirrors; and Eagle Eye.

Movie I saw on DVD (in alphabetical order):
Definitely, Maybe; Meet the Spartans; My Sassy Girl; Pathology; and The Strangers.

Movies I wanted to see, but didn't get around to seeing (in alphabetical order):
The Air I Breathe; All the Boys Love Mandy Lane; Be Kind, Rewind; Choke; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Drillbit Taylor; Four Christmases; Funny Games; The Happening; Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay; The House Bunny; How to Lose Friends & Alienate People; Leatherheads; The Life Before Her Eyes; Marley & Me; Midnight Meat Train; The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor; Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist; Over her Dead Body; Passengers; The Pineapple Express; Quarantine; Role Models; The Ruins; Saw V; The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2; Sleepwalking; Speed Racer; Tropic Thunder; Wanted; What Happens in Vegas.

My five favorite films of the year (notice how I say favorite and not best):
1) Cloverfield (All round great monster movie.)
2) Mamma Mia! (Fantastic cast in a highly enjoyable movie.)
3) My Sassy Girl (A touching story plus a relatable performance by Jesse Bradford.)
4) 27 Dresses (Katherine Heigl shines and carries this cute romantic comedy.)
5) The Strangers (A truly scary movie.)

My five least favorite movies of the year:
1) Meet the Spartans (No, just, no.. )
2) Untraceable (Wasted potential.)
3) Mirrors (More wasted potential.)
4) Pathology (Even more wasted potential.)
5) Sex & the City (This movie just angers me for ruining certain characters.)

Ten favorite performances of the year (in alphabetical order):
1) Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!)
2) Christine Baranski (Mamma Mia!)
3) David Eigenberg (Sex & the City)
4) Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
5) Isla Fisher (Definitely, Maybe)
6) Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
7) Jesse Bradford (My Sassy Girl)
8) Katherine Heigl (27 Dresses)
9) Michael Stahl-David (Cloverfield)
10) Russell Brand (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)

My top 5 movies I'm looking forward to in 2009:
1) Inglourious Basterds
2) Friday the 13th
3) Confessions of a Shopaholic
4) Obsessed
5) Wolverine

I had trouble picking out five movies. Besides Inglourious Basterds and Friday the 13th, I don't have a strong preference.

Other movies I'm looking forward to in 2009:
17 Again; 500 Days of Summer; 2012; Adoration; Adventureland; All About Steve; Away We Go; The Box; Bride Wars; Fanboys; Fired Up!; G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra; Ghosts of Girlfriends Past; He's Just Not That Into You; I Love You, Beth Cooper; Jennifer's Body; Knowing; Land of the Lost; The Lovely Bones; My Bloody Valentine 3-D; My Sister's Keeper; New York, I Love You; The Post Grad Surivial Guide; She's Out of My League; Star Trek; The Stepfather; Sunshine Cleaning; The Time Traveler's Wife; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen; The Ugly Truth; When in Rome; Whiteout; The Wolfman; Zombieland.

Some of these movies were on my upcoming list last year as well. Hmmm! Anyways, I thought I was disppointed with 2007's movies, but they're all looking like friggin' masterpieces compared to what 2008 has brought us. Note that I haven't seen the big award contenders, so I can't judge properly. Bring on 2009!

2007 Round Up!

It's the end of the year, meaning it's time to look back and make lists!

Movies I saw in the theater (in chronological order):
Music & Lyrics, Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Death Proof, Transformers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, I Could Never Be Your Woman, Live Free or Die Hard, Planet Terror, Disturbia, Hairspray, Knocked Up, Halloween, Resident Evil: Extinction, Enchanted, and I Am Legend.

A movie ticket is 8,75 euros x 16 movies = 140 euros in total! Err.. I don't really think most of these were worth all that money.. maybe some of my money.

Five favorite movies of the year (notice how I say favorite and not best, and putting them in order is almost impossible):
1) Knocked Up
2) Planet Terror
3) Live Free or Die Hard
4) Enchanted
5) Transformers

Five least favorite movies of the year (I'm not saying these are bad per se, I just didn't really enjoy them):
1) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
3) Hairspray
4) Halloween
5) Death Proof

Ten favorite performances of the year (in alphabetical order):
1) Amy Adams (Enchanted)
2) James Marsden (Enchanted)
3) Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard)
4) Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up)
5) Paul Rudd (I Could Never Be Your Woman)
6) Rose McGowan (Planet Terror)
7) Saoirse Ronan (I Could Never Be Your Woman)
8) Seth Rogen (Knocked Up)
9) Shia LaBeouf (Disturbia, Transformers)
10) Will Smith (I Am Legend)

Movies I wanted to see, but didn't get around to seeing (in alphabetical order):
2 Days in Paris, Across the Universe, Atonement, The Darjeeling Limited, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Gone Baby Gone, Good Luck Chuck, Into the Wild, The Jane Austen Book Club, Juno, Lars and the Real Girl, License to Wed, Live!, The Mist, My Blueberry Nights, The Nanny Diaries, Paris, Je t'aime, P.S. I Love You, Ratatouille, Saw 4, Southland Tales, Sunshine, Superbad, Waitress, Zodiac

Top Five movies I'm looking forward to in 2008:
1) Cloverfield
2) He's Just Not That Into You
3) Fanboys
4) How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
5) Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

It was tough compiling the list of the top 5 movies that I'm looking forward to, because besides Cloverfield, nothing is really juming out at me.

Other movies I'm looking forward to in 2008:
27 Dresses; Adventureland; The Air I Breathe; All About Steve; All the Boys Love Mandy Lane; Be Kind, Rewind; The Box; Choke; Confessions of a Shopaholic; Drillbit Taylor; Definitely, Maybe; Eagle Eye; Forgetting Sarah Marshall; Four Christmases; Funny Games; The Happening; I Know What Boys Like; Leatherheads; The Life Before her Eyes; Made of Honor; Mamma Mia!; Midnight Meat Train; The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor; My Sassy Girl; Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist; Over Her Dead Body; Passengers; The Pineapple Express; Quarantine; The Ruins; Saw V; Sex & The City, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2; The Six Wives of Henry Lefay; Sleepwalking; Speed Racer; The Strangers; Sunshine Cleaning; The Time Traveler's Wife; Tropic Thunder; What Happens in Vegas

And that pretty much concludes my round up of 2007! Overall, I think it was an pretty okay year for movies. Some were really disappointing (like PotC: At World's End) and some were really surprising (like Disturbia). As is painfully obvious, I haven't seen any of the big award contenders so I really can't judge properly about the movies this year. I hope 2008 will be a great year, but at the moment I'm not expecting too much.

Welcome to Did I Miss 60B?!

Well, here it finally is.. my little entertainment blog Did I Miss 60B?! Almost named 'Hello Hannah' after being brain-washed by a certain October Road commercial, but that url was taken. I'm glad, cause I actually really like the name Did I Miss 60B?!. It's a line from one of my favorite movies Elizabethtown. That movie is love.. but I'll dedicate a post to it some other time.

What to expect? Movie reviews.. however, most likely not of recent movies. Living in Europe is awesome, but it takes a while before certain movies get here. Though I did see I Could Never Be Your Woman a long time ago, and it's not even out yet in the US of A. Not that you're missing out on much. Sorry, Paul Rudd (You're awesome, though!). I just like ranting about something I've recently seen, or some of my all time favorites. I also like ranting in general.. about Hollywood, my fave actors, TV shows etc. etc. I mean, don't get me started on the 'Christian Bale is John Connor' rumors. You're a great actor, Chris, but you cannot be Batman AND John Connor. Mind: BLOWN! Nick Stahl is John Connor! Ugh.. I'm going to bed.