2012 King of the Hill: September End

A Big Long... Showdown
50/50 has taken down three movies so far, but can it take down another six movies?  September has been a busy month.  I've been through a major life change and a lot more movies than usual.  These movies include all three Austin Power movies, rewatching a movie with one of my favorite actresses, and rewatching a classic sci-fi flick.  Each of these movies has to be reviewed as I am about to enter the last quarter of the year.

For those who do not know, the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge is my system for determining the best movie of year that I saw. One movie from each month will be selected and, at the end of the year, I will do a tournament style showdown where they will take each other on until the final movie has been selected. Bracket placement will be determined by the number of movies the monthly movie faced and won.

Crazy, Stupid, Love
Cal (Steve Carell) is a middle aged man at dinner with his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), declares that she wants a divorce.  Cal mopes around in a bar until a player, Jacob (Ryan Gosling), takes him under his wing to teach him how to pick up women.  The story is a comedy about love and the many forms it takes and the things people will do to find love, keep, and prove their love.  The movie is hilarious with several twists that was able to keep my surprised and entertained until the very end.  Crazy, Stupid, Love explores the different aspects of love just as 50/50 explores different aspects of cancer.  Though I loved 50/50, the enjoyment for Crazy, Stupid, Love was greater and I have to award this movie the winner.

Winner:  Crazy, Stupid, Love

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Mike Myers plays both the protagonist and antagonist in this film that makes fun of the classic James Bond franchise.  The movie is ripe full of comedy, foul humor, slapstick anecdotes and low budget/horrible filming. I remember seeing this movie before and finding the film hilarious.  Unfortunately, the first Austin Powers film has not aged very well.  In the end, I found that most of the shine that made the first film of the trilogy great had lost its original appeal.  The movie was a refreshing walking down nostalgia road, but little more.

Winner:  Crazy, Stupid, Love

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Mike Myers is back in this movie playing three different characters.  The differences from the first to the second movie is immediately obvious as it contains better effects, better filming, and a better story.  Most of the classic Austin Power jokes I recalled actually come from the second film in the trilogy.  Scott Evil (Seth Green) has a better role.  Mini-Me and Fat Bastard make their appearance, and the funniest sketch of all makes it's appearance.  Unlike the first movie, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me has aged well and was delightfully entertaining.  It doesn't have the same style of humor of Crazy, Stupid, Love, but it's the only genre parody film to date that I can watch and be genuinely entertained.  Plus, some of the gags of this movie are still used in new movies today, making it well worth the praise.

Winner:  Austin Powers:  The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers:  Goldmember
Mike Myers is back once again.  This time, he is playing not one, not two, not even three, but four different parts in this film.  Just like the absurdity of the Mike Myers playing four characters in the movie, the movie plot is back to being completely absurd.  The movie recycles a lot of the same jokes from the previous movie and, while done well, compared to the second movie it isn't as entertaining.  Additionally, while I appreciate the humor and skill of Mike Myers, having him play nearly half of the cast is really annoying and detracts seriously from the quality of the film.  In the end, I find myself unable to rate Austin Powers: Goldmember higher than its predecessor.

Winner:  Austin Powers:  The Spy Who Shagged Me

Super
Super is a dark comedy about Frank Darrbo (Rainn Wilson) and his quest to get back his wife, Sarah (Liv Taylor).  After his wife is taken in and under the influence of a local drug lord (Kevin Bacon), Frank takes on the person The Crimson Bolt as he fights crime and stop the evil in the local city.  He is soon joined by a new sidekick, Boltie (Ellen Page).  The movie is very dark and extremely violent.  It raises some very interesting points regarding justice and one's contribution to society.  The movie is one of my favorites and has Ellen Page, a personal favorite.

Winner:  Super

Logan's Run
Logan's Run stars Logan 5 (Michael York), a sandman, whose job is to track down runners and terminate them for not going to Carrousel for a chance at renewal.  Logan is given a special assignment that cuts short three years of his life, forcing him to run in order to find out how runners are escaping.  Along the way he meets Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter).  The movie is classic sci-fi film released in 1976.  For a movie 36 years old, it has aged well.  Despite aging well, the movie's outdated special effects have left Logan's Run with a campy feel to it.  Though I very much love the movie Logan's Run, I find Super is a better film overall.

September's Winner:  Super

2012 King of the Hill: September Part 1

A King of the Hill 4 Movie Face-Off
It is time for another movie post as I clear out the queue of movies I've watched for the month.  This blog post is going to be a showdown the first four movies of the month, run mini-tournament style.  I'll do the next round in the next couple of days offering another for movies to go against this entry's winner.  But for today, we'll see the movies 50/50, Jumping the Broom, Nim's Island, and Premium Rush face off.

For those who do not know, the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge is my system for determining the best movie of year that I saw. One movie from each month will be selected and, at the end of the year, I will do a tournament style showdown where they will take each other on until the final movie has been selected. Bracket placement will be determined by the number of movies the monthly movie faced and won.

50/50 v Jumping the Broom
50/50 is the story of Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his dealing with cancer.  Adam's cancer is particularly nasty and has a 50/50 survival rate.  The movie details his life from just before discovering the illness up until the cancer situation is resolved.  I've intentionally worded this to avoid spoiling the outcome, as it adds to the tension of the movie.  In the movie, we get to see the many, many faces of cancer.  You see how it impacts both Adam and the friends and family around him.

Jumping the Broom is the story of Sabrina (Paula Patton) and Jason (Laz Alonso), two love birds from very different worlds and their adventure into marriage.  I both liked and disliked aspects of this movie.  First off, the movie is a mostly black cast.  This is intended as the very title references the culture tradition of when blacks were unable to marry and performed unions by jumping over a broom.  Adding to this is intention is the single white character serving the "token white girl" of the film.  The story, while good, is filled with a great deal of tropes and cliches.  I personally felt that the character of Jason was able to get off easy for his inexcusable behaviors.

Winner:  Though I would recommend both movies, 50/50 is the clear winner.

Nim's Island v Premium Rush
Nim's Island is a sort of three-in-one story that covers the adventures of Nim (Abigail Breslin), her father (Gerald Butler), and author Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster).  Nim is a girl who lives with her father on an island that is kept secret from the world in order to preserve it.  After a storm leaves her father stranded and unable to return home, Nim contacts Alexandra Rover.  The author hasn't left her home in years and decides to leave to help Nim.  The adventure is a whimsical story filled with talking animals, silly antics, and a lot of creative imagination.  It is a cute film and I had little to complain about.

Premium Rush is an adrenaline packed film about bicycle courier, Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), trying to survive as a crooked police officer is hot on his trail to stop a package from being delivered.  The movie is action packed, filled with some intense chase scenes.    The movie has a very diverse cast which definitely added to the film.  The story is simple and straight forward.  In most films, this would detract from the picture, but for Premium Rush, it works well.  The only real complaint I have with the movie are the "predictions" Wilee has with upcoming dangerous intersections.  One particular scene had each prediction more absurd than the last.  Outside of this detail, there are no real complaints to be found.

Winner:  Nim's Island wins.  Again, I would recommend both movies.

Nim's Island v 50/50
This is a very hard choice.  One is a very serious look into cancer, the other is a lighter film that addresses the different forms of courage.  In the end, I'd have to give 50/50 the pick.

Winner:  50/50