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June, 2010 Archive
A One Way Street: Foreign Films in America
30, Jun 2010
American movies dominate box offices around the world. Is it because these films are better than those produced by other nations? Hardly. It falls in tune with the dominant role our entertainment culture takes in other fields (music, television, etc.). It is not as if the masses of the USA don’t enjoy foreign made films, such as the Harry Potter & James Bond series, Shakespeare in Love, The Third Man, Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones’s Diary (noticing a Hugh Grant pattern here?), Porky’s, and Crocodile Dundee. All of these films grossed at least 100 million USD (adjusted for inflation). The only problem, is these are all English language films and many have ties to Hollywood production companies.
by Dan
This a humongous week of releases. The quantity of new DVDs and Streaming Netflix movies to watch is absolutely staggering. Netflix specifically, which keeps on pumping out solid movies for unlimited streaming. Some highlights this week from Netflix include: Zombieland, Sleepless in Seattle, Black Dynamite (my 3rd favorite film from 2009), and my personal #3 favorite movie of all-time, No Way Out.
New Releases:
Hot Tub Time Machine – (DVD and Blu-ray)
Flickchart Ranking: #4396
Times Ranked: 2728
% Times Won: 65.17%
Times Top 20′d: 2
I saw this in theaters and absolutely loved it. Once our heroes commented on how “tight” the first girls they see are when they make it back to the 80′s (exactly as I was in my head just a split second earlier), I knew I was going to enjoy the ride.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – (DVD and Blu-ray)
Flickchart Ranking: #5776
Times Ranked: 1851
% Times Won: 44.24%
Times Top 20′d: 3
Greek Mythology for the Harry Potter crowd.
The Crazies – (DVD and Blu-ray)
Flickchart Ranking: #4523
Times Ranked: 2575
% Times Won: 59.22%
Times Top 20′d: 3
Very surprised to see this ranking so well, might have to give it a shot now…
Creation – (DVD)
Flickchart Ranking: #9265
Times Ranked: 88
% Times Won: 59.61%
Times Top 20′d: 0
Charles Darwin Biopic. Critical reviews have made it out to be pretty dull but Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly certainly are a watchable duo.
The White Ribbon – (DVD and Blu-ray)
Flickchart Ranking: #4350
Times Ranked: 1513
% Times Won: 76.96%
Times Top 20′d: 5
Director Michael Haneke of Caché and Funny Games fame directs this fantastic Foreign Language Oscar Nominee.
- In: New Releases
- Tags: Andy Lau, Black Dynamite, Burt Lancaster, Caché, Carol Reed, Creation, Everlasting Moments, Funny Games, Harry Potter, Hot Tub Time Machine, Jennifer Connelly, Jet Li, Michael Haneke, Netflix, Netflix Instant Watch, New York Confidential, Night Train to Munich, No Way Out, Paul Bettany, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, predator, Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, Rex Harrison, ronald reagan, Sleepless in Seattle, Sounder, The Crazies, The Leopard, The Third Man, The Warlords, The White Ribbon, Uncle Sam, Zombieland
Sometimes I need to break the strain of a Crohn’s flare with a comedy. Sometimes I need something poignant to cut through the swath of mental stagnation. Every now and again, though, I just want a movie to take me somewhere else. I want to go somewhere I could actually be, but am not likely to actually go there for one reason or another. There are numerous movies that fit the bill, but I’d like to discuss a few favorites of mine from the last decade or so that I think really speak to the concept of a movie’s environment being the appeal.
New in Theaters: June 25, 2010
25, Jun 2010by Dan
Wednesday, June 23rd:
Knight and Day (Wide Release) – Trailer
I am oddly intrigued by this film. The trailers are such a weird mix of boring cliches and infectious Tom Cruise swagger that it’s got to be worth a watch somewhere down the road. Plus the director, James Mangold, seems to have good taste in what to helm; so I find it hard to believe he would captain a sinking ship.
Friday, June 25th:
Grown Ups (Wide Release) – Trailer
I envy the leads in this movie so much. They get paid millions upon millions of dollars to goof around with their buddies all day.
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In the User Showcase post The Flickchart Self, the author contrasts the uncomplicated innocence behind the process of choosing our favorite movies as children with the stifling complexities such a decision involves as an adult. The post got me to thinking about where exactly my movie tastes began, how they evolved, and what really is behind each of my Flickchart matchup decisions. Do I use a complicated process based on all kinds of external influences that have corrupted my innocence, or am I still drawing from a simple and untainted place somewhere in my mind that unpretentiously just likes or dislikes stuff? I intend to explore the evolution of my movie tastes from their genesis to the present and figure out just how much of what I like today is rooted in my carefree and unselfconscious days of youth.
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- In: User Showcase