smatticus's User Profile

smatticus

2/3/2012 joined Flickchart

10085 profile views

23073 rankings / 1006 movies / 1732 comments

78 days, 14 hours, 2 minutes spent watching movies

smatticus's Favorite Movies

Apollo 13 The Right Stuff Jaws The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King In the Shadow of the Moon Road to Perdition District 9 The Shawshank Redemption

smatticus's Recently Added Movies

The Last Descent Tenet Oppenheimer Alien: Covenant - Prologue: The Crossing Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

smatticus's TOTAL MOVIES RANKED BY DECADE

smatticus's Friends

johnmason johnmaso
n
ironichipster ironichi
pster
TheEgant TheEgant
ToryK ToryK
dsurprise dsurpris
e
McJeffrey McJeffre
y
kraduate kraduate
JRM JRM
FigureItOut Figure
ItOut
Cleckley Cleckley
coreyhiscocks coreyhis
cocks
Boonmee Boonmee

Comments (28)

 
Caesar

Caesar on 7/6/2012 Reply  · 

Keep an eye out for The Daily Question on Connerwood1998's profile page. He's going to post a new movie question every day. :)

1 person liked this  √ 

smatticus

smatticus on 7/15/2012 Reply  · 

Will do. Cheers.

1 person liked this  √ 

Cleckley

Cleckley on 10/28/2012 Reply  · 

Hey, man. Tnx for the request. I pop into this profile occasionally, but I'm operating under a new profile now, so if you wanna hit me up I'm at 'OneFuckTooMany'

0 people liked this  √ 

smatticus

smatticus on 11/2/2012 Reply  · 

Will do, cheers.

0 people liked this  √ 

OneFuckTooMany

OneFuckTooMany on 11/5/2012 Reply  · 

Haha. Yeah, soon I'll be know simply as 'That guy who loves that Street Fighter movie."

0 people liked this  √ 

coreyhiscocks

coreyhiscocks on 4/9/2013 Reply  · 

Thanks! If I had to recommend one, I'd say Pan's Labyrinth is the most likely to work really well for you, based on your top 10. I actually haven't seen The Right Stuff or In the Shadow of the Moon. Jaws was a recent discovery for me - I've got several overlooked classics I've been meaning to get around to - and it held up quite a bit more than expected. Not sure where it landed on the chart, though.

Love to see Fellowship of the Ring on top, too! I prefer it to the other three. Our opinions differ a bit on Platoon and Road to Perdition, but District 9 is very deserving of a high spot in my book as well.

Let me know if you've ever got any recommendations!

I'm always surprised by how diverse the community is on here. Where are you from, if you don't mind me asking?

0 people liked this  √ 

coreyhiscocks

coreyhiscocks on 4/11/2013 Reply  · 

I see you checked out Kill List and Four Lions! I'd be real interested to hear your thoughts on them. Kill List is a film I've been unable to shake since I saw it about a year ago... but at the time, I didn't think it lived up to the hype. I've been wanting to revisit it. It lingers in a way that few films, especially few horror films, have ever done.

0 people liked this  √ 

coreyhiscocks

coreyhiscocks on 4/11/2013 Reply  · 

I like Shawshank, but don't love it as much as lot of others do. Silence of the Lambs is, of course, a classic. I'm from Dallas, Texas in the US but I live and teach in Moscow. A friend of mine is wanting to go to school at Leeds sometime next year for doctoral work.

Do you like soccer/football? Got a team in the EPL?

0 people liked this  √ 

coreyhiscocks

coreyhiscocks on 4/15/2013 Reply  · 

I do follow the EPL as much as possible - big Liverpool fan, although the only EPL team I've ever seen play is Chelsea, who came to Dallas sometime in 2010 or something. Watch games when I'm back in the States, but I've not found a place to watch them online over here and I don't have a TV.

I've not been to St. Petersburg yet, but my wife and I are planning to head out there sometime this summer. Moscow is... well, it's very loud and busy and dirty. I've heard it compared to New York City, which seems to make a lot of sense. We live in one of those massive apartment blocks that looked like it came hurtling out of the sky a couple decades ago. If you've ever seen Attack the Block, it's tantamount to the complex those kids live in.

Technically, I don't each English, but I teach IN English. I teach at an international school - Old and New Testament, Christian Worldview and Pre-Algebra/Algebra I.

Kill List is quite the little oddity. Although I really dug the final act and thought the sound mixing was unparalleled, it did leave me wanting more. The first weird scene in the bathroom made me really uneasy and the tunnel scenes with the cult members were just so scary. The cult angle is, for whatever reason, always gonna creep me out. Ultimately, though, I remember it not because it scared me but because I just didn't know what to do with it.

As for movies that really shook me... The Shining, The Descent, Session 9, Jacob's Ladder, Them, Insidious, [REC] and The Ring have all made the trip back to the bedroom seem longer than it really was. I consider Eyes Wide Shut to be just about the scariest film I've ever seen, but for reasons completely different from the rest of those.

Argo was fantastic. It's been some time since I've been glued to a film the way I was glued to it. I'm a huge fan of Gone Baby Gone and I think Affleck was one of those guys who just took a pounding before he got into directing. It's good to see someone come back from the kinda criticism he caught. The guy seems like he's really enjoying what he does and he seems thankful for it. I've gotta respect that. It helps that I think he's a great director, haha!

0 people liked this  √ 

coreyhiscocks

coreyhiscocks on 4/15/2013 Reply  · 

Can't believe I wrote that whole novel and then forgot this...

The other reason I really liked Argo is that I think it nailed the opening riot scene, the tension that comes with working in a place where you don't always feel safe and where if something went wrong, you wouldn't really know what to do or where to go. I'm not comparing Russia to Iran, but it's got its share of scares.

0 people liked this  √ 

robmoviefilms13

robmoviefilms13 on 4/29/2013 Reply  · 

Would you say that The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 are companion films or two sides of the same coin? Sort of how The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty are.

0 people liked this  √ 

TC2012

TC2012 on 5/15/2013 Reply  · 

Hey I'm kinda new to this site but I was just browsing random people's charts and noticed that you have Platoon at #4. I also notice that you've recently ranked Born on the Fourth of July. I wanted to ask how would you compare the two films with them both being films by Oliver Stone?

0 people liked this  √ 

TheEgant

TheEgant on 5/15/2013 Reply  · 

I should definitely preface the fact that I just can't seem to get into any kind of anime. I was also bored to tears by Cowboy Bebop. And to be honest...most Mizyaki movies don't strike a cord with me either. Hard to explain I must admit. Couldn't name anything specific about Akira I didn't like...on paper, it sounds like a movie I'd thoroughly enjoy, but it just didn't work for me. Any suggestions on where I should start? Out of all Japanese anime/animation I've seen...probably the only one I think really grabbed me was Grave of the Fireflies.

0 people liked this  √ 

Reelz

Reelz on 5/25/2013 Reply  · 

Waht a story, Smatticus. Aha ha ha.

If you want to see it in full, I got you covered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnmX8ghp9N4

1 person liked this  √ 

Reelz

Reelz on 5/25/2013 Reply  · 

Now let's eat, HHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?

0 people liked this  √ 

TC2012

TC2012 on 5/29/2013 Reply  · 

Thanks for the input on Platoon and BOTFOJ! It really made look at Platoon differently. I see you have American Beauty at #20. Yours is the only chart I've seen besides mine with it in the top 20, I'm sure there are many others out there but I was just wondering what was your immediate opinion of the film once you had finished it?

0 people liked this  √ 

TC2012

TC2012 on 5/30/2013 Reply  · 

I know what you mean about Sam Mendes I love the variety of the films that he does and how he doesn't just stick to one genre like quite a few people do. Besides that American Beauty in my opinion is the only film in my opinion besides Forrest Gump that I can call perfection. Although I know there are many out there that would say Forrest Gump shouldn't have gotten as much hype as it has.

0 people liked this  √ 

MysticSpoon

MysticSpoon on 6/16/2013 Reply  · 

Ha, thanks for that :p . To be honest, it has been a while since I've seen Game of Thrones. I stopped at the third episode of season 2 and more or less lost interest. But I do want to watch the rest of it, though. I'll probably return to it soon.

Movies I'm looking forward to this summer? Definitely Kick-Ass 2 (no surprise there). I don't think it will be as good as the original, but who knows. The guy they chose to direct it worries me the most. His previous films got mediocre to pretty bad reviews. But Matthew Vaughn, the director of the first Kick-Ass, chose him personally, and he also helped to write the script. And most of the behind the scenes crew who worked on the first Kick-Ass is back for the sequel, so that tells me that they don't want this to be a cheap and awful sequel (*cough* Die Hard 5 *cough*). I'm cautiously optimistic, but even if it gets mixed reviews, I will definitely see it.
I'm also very interested in Pacific Rim. I loved Pan's Labyrinth and both Hellboy movies, so hopefully this is another entertaining gem from Guillermo del Toro. It looks awesome. Cheesy, but awesome.

Besides that, there's nothing I MUST see. But there are a few films I'll probably rent when they come out on Blu-Ray, but if the reviews are (really) good I'll probably see them:
- R.I.P.D. Looks exactly like Men in Black, but hey, it has JEFF FRICKIN' BRIDGES. That alone has me interested.
- Elysium. You know how much I really don't like District 9, so I'm interested how I'll feel about this one. Not exactly looking forward to seeing it, even if the reviews are good, but I'll definitely rent it.
- Monsters University. I watched Monsters Inc. a lot as a kid, so I'm kinda interested.

What are you looking forward to? Do you think this year has been disappointing so far?

0 people liked this  √ 

MysticSpoon

MysticSpoon on 6/16/2013 Reply  · 

There's nothing wrong with praising a movie I don't like :p . District 9 had indeed a lot of apartheid symbolism; Elysium seems to have a lot of symbolism revolving the growing differences between the rich and the poor. I does indeed look like it's going to be more ham-fisted this time around.

I think the use of GLaDOS' voice is cute. I was a bit confused the first time I heard it, but I kinda like it now. I really hope they don't overuse it though. I love the Portal games, but I don't want to be constantly reminded of them. I don't want GLaDOS' voice to pop up every time the robots do a special move or punch something. I don't think they will re-use the twist from Portal, I think it's indeed a silly marketing ploy. I don't really mind it though, unless they overuse the shit out of it, like I said earlier. (By the way, I'm pretty sure this is the inspiration for Pacific Rim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kd642Ix5ks) (And also, did you know there are plans for a Half Life and / or Portal film?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PemzTsRmt4Q)

I'm actually surprised with the fairly positive reviews World War Z has received so far. It had an incredibly troubled production, with massive re-shoots, disputes between Brad Pitt and Marc Forster, an incomplete script and an incoherent ending. And according to fans of the book, the movie looks way too different from the book, to the point where they're not even remotely similar. And I don't think the movie looks good either; Brad Pitt seems bored and the CGI looks terrible. And oh, the film is reminding me of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'll let you figure that one out ;) .

I've seen even fewer films than you so far; I've only seen Gangster Squad (which I liked, but it was "hollow" as hell), Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 (Meh. Better than part 1, but not very good in my opinion) and...Scary Movie 5. I wanted to see Oblivion that day. I could've seen Iron Man 3 that day. Nope, my cousin wanted to see Scary Movie 5 that day. Sigh. That day.
But anyway, 2013 does seem somewhat disappointing so far. I can only point to a few films this year that got mostly positive reviews, but even those films got quite some criticism as well. For example, a lot of people complained about the ending of the new Star Trek and a lot of people didn't like how they treated the villain in Iron Man 3. Hopefully the second half of this year will be much better.

0 people liked this  √ 

PiccoloKing

PiccoloKing on 9/28/2013 Reply  · 

Hey, good to know you've warmed up to Se7en. Also a pleasure to see Akira so high on your list. Any other anime films you'd recommend? Loved Paprika and Perfect Blue as well.

0 people liked this  √ 

djones16

djones16 on 2/15/2014 Reply  · 

nice top ten good to see one fo my fav sci fi movies district nine as number nine in your list

1 person liked this  √ 

smatticus

smatticus on 8/27/2014 Reply  · 

Ok, writing this for my benefit more than anything, but films I need to see in order to re-evaluate my opinion (basically films which I didn't like upon first viewing*, or haven't seen in ages enough to remember, but everyone else seemed to like them):

Godzilla (2014)*
Dredd (2012)*
Looper (2012)*
Red Eye (2005)*
Closer (2004)
Harry Potters 1,2, 5 and 6 (2001, 02, 07, 09)*
Braveheart (with a MASSIVE pinch of salt) (1995)*
The Thin Red Line (1998)
War of the Worlds (2005)*
The Italian Job (2003)*
The Host (2006)*
Oliver! (1968)
Collateral (2004)
Vanilla Sky (2001)*
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
King Kong (1933)
Jumanji (1995)
Spirited Away (though considering that I recently watched Princess Mononoke and felt just as stale and bored as I did with SA, I doubt it will change much) (2001)*
Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut ideally) (2005)
Fargo (1996)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
No Country for Old Men (2007)*
Mission Impossible III (2006)*
Mars Attacks! (1996)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (again, with a MASSIVE pinch of salt) (2010)*
Point Break (1991)
Open Water (2003)*
Grease (1978)
Forrest Gump (1994)*
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
The Fifth Element (1997)*
Brokeback Mountain (2005)*
Three Kings (1999)
Mary Poppins (1964)
28 Weeks Later (2007)*
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Blood Diamond (2006)*
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)*
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Mongol (2007)
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Face/Off (1997)
Blade (1998)
Goodbye Lenin! (2003)
Up (2009)
300 (2007)*
The Exorcist (1973)
In The Loop (2009)
Taxi Driver (1976)*
Eastern Promises (2007)*
Men in Black (1997)

This list is current as of August 2014, subject to change.

0 people liked this  √ 

JC13

JC13 on 10/4/2014 Reply  · 

Hey man! I did indeed hate Alien³ at one point. That was when I had only seen the theatrical cut. There is an extended version known as the Assembly Cut that is infinitely better. It is a lot closer to Fincher's vision of the film and it fixes many of the film's problems. It still has its flaws and still can't touch Alien or Aliens, but it's damn good. If you haven't seen this version I highly recommend it.

Ha Ha I remember our little argument! :)

Are you planning to see Gone Girl? I saw it last night and it surpassed my high expectations.

1 person liked this  √ 

MysticSpoon

MysticSpoon on 2/2/2015 Reply  · 

Hey man, how's it going? I just wanted to say that a lot of the Flickchart (used-to-be-)regulars (me, Caesar, Boonmee, Reelz, JC13, coreyhiscocks, shane24, etc.) are hanging out at Letterboxd.com . I enjoy reading your stuff and it kind of surprises me you haven't made an account over there yet; it's basically Goodreads for films, it's a fantastic site to review films and discuss them with others. It has a great community. Flickchart has grown stale for me in the last couple of months (also because seemingly the staff is currently only interested in promoting the blog through Facebook, instead of actually fixing and improving the site), so I'm not as often on here as I used to be, and my use of it will decline if nothing drastically gets changed.

Check Letterboxd out. If you don't want to or if you don't like the site, then you don't, but I think you'll enjoy using it (it's an addiction for me, at least). :)

1 person liked this  √ 

Nils98

Nils98 on 10/2/2016 Reply  · 

I hope you won't mind me saying this, but I find you to be one of the best flickcharters here. Someone who argues as well as presents their opinion, while backing them up. I like that. Nice to see people who don't just pass along which film they are choosing, but who also have something to say.

0 people liked this  √ 

smatticus

smatticus on 10/25/2016 Reply  · 

Awwww thanks, how kind of you. I must say I haven't been using it much in a while, in part because I haven't been watching too many films for a while (on a fairly time-intensive training course at the moment). I admit I do tend to gabble a bit with my opinions but I also like to use this site to give mini-reviews as well, hence why they tend to be a bit wordy. But thanks for the compliment!

Now, just need to make a fake second account whereby all the Marvel movies are the best movies ever and anything DC comics/Christopher Nolan-related automatically loses every match up with the most exaggeratedly vitriolic comments possible! Then there will be balance in the realm of Flickchart, if you know what I mean! XD

0 people liked this  √ 

Nils98

Nils98 on 11/3/2016 Reply  · 

I haven't really been watching too many either the past few months, though it certainly is not due to an intense training course, I'll tell you that.

I do know what you mean, but believe me, those already exist. I won't be pointing fingers or calling names, but there are some who ("genuinely", no doubt) might think that, maybe, well, Marvel has made the top 50 best films of all time. That's as much as I can really say without them knowing. Though if you don't hear from me in awhile, then assume I've gone into hiding in some tropical nation under a false pseudonym.

1 person liked this  √ 

johnmason

johnmason on 6/30/2018 Reply  · 

I just watched The Right Stuff. I liked it (I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of humor), but found it a bit too long. It felt a bit episodic and unfocused. Anyway, I approve of you having Apollo 13 (my #7) ahead of your #2. :)

0 people liked this  √