2012 King of the Hill Finale: Round 2

Four movies have been eliminated and eight remain.  This time the winners of Round 1 are up against the movies that were fortunate enough to get a Bye the previous time around.  Can Whip It, The Avengers, Back to the Future, and War of the Worlds survive one more round of elimination, or will Brave, Hanna, The Dark Knight Rises, and Paranormal Activity 2 stop them in their tracks.

This is the second round of the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge.  For the last year, I reviewed every movie that I watched and I have pitted those films against each other to determine the best movie of 2012.  This is the finals bracket where the best of each month is squaring off to be crowned champion.  All movies were seeded based on the number of direct movies they compared with and defeated as well as when I saw them during the year.

Brave v Whip It

Brave was Pixar's release of the year and it was a powerful film bringing one very unique princess to the movies.  Brave and Whip It share a lot in common.  They are both movies about young girls on the verge of adulthood who are struggling with their mother.  The first major difference between the two films is the supernatural element.  In Whip It, Bliss runs away from home when it is discovered that she is defying her mother and going out to Rollerblade behind her mother's back.  In Brave, Merida curses her mother in her attempt to gain independence.

There are other differences between the film.  The question, however, is which of these films is the better of the two.  Whip It, despite it's story of parent/child struggles, is focused more on the aspect of the world of roller derby.  it is a broader picture and less focused on the narrative of family.  Brave is also set to target a younger audience.  This gives Brave a stronger place in my mind.  It gives a great moral lesson to children, particularly young girls, and is more accessible to the audience where as Whip It deals with a darker story and is not appropriate for all ages.

Winner:  Brave

Paranormal Activity 2 v The Avengers

So, let's be honest for a second.  Do you really expect the sequel of a supernatural horror flick to stand a chance against one of the biggest blockbusters of all time?  Marvel planned this out perfectly.  It would be a waste of your and my time to compare these two films.  Let the real comparisons begin in the quarter finals.

Winner:  The Avengers


Hanna v Back to the Future

Hanna is an amazing movie with some incredible stopping power.  Unlike most of the movies I've seen this year, Hanna uses a ton of visual tricks to help carry the story in addition to the story itself.  It is a movie that is both well written and excellently filmed.  Back to the Future is a cult classic and has aged well over the years.  The story is highly entertaining and has put a lot of effort into getting all of the details right.  Comparing the two movies is difficult because I want them both to win.  In the end, Hanna is the better movie.  While Back to the Future is flawless, Hanna carries a better story because below the surface of the film, there is an imagery of the loss of innocence.  And that depth gives it the edge it needs to advance.

Winner:  Hanna


The Dark Knight Rises v War of the Worlds

See my discussion on The Avengers above.  This was the long-planned conclusion to the Batman trilogy.  And while it is great to see a War of the Worlds movie done right, it was even better seeing a Batman series come to an end.  Otherwise, it would have been just another freaking story line reboot.  Yes, I'm looking at you DC Comics!

Winner:  The Dark Night Rises

2012 King of the Hill: Weird December

The Theme Idea Lasted Only So Long...
Somewhere on my computer, or perhaps in the ether of this universe is the unfinished post of my first attempt to write my December summary.  I had partially written the first two movies in epic battle format.  Alas, the post is gone and I'm ready to start over.  The month started out with a theme, I watched two Christmas movies.  Then, well, everything got weird.  So, this month is the final month of my 2012 King of the Hill challenge.  Starting tomorrow, I'll begin the epic show down between the top monthly contenders to determine which movie is ultimate movie of 2012.

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.

Home Alone v Rare Exports:  A Christmas Tale
Kevin (Macaulay Culkin)  is a kid who must stand up to be an unlikely hero to protect his home from burglars who would destroy Christmas.  Pietari (Onni Tommila) is a kid who must stand up to be an unlikely hero to protect his home from Santa Clause who would destroy Christmas.  And that is where the comparisons between the two movies come to an end.

Home Alone is a bit of a classic these days.  It is about a boy, Kevin, who is left behind by his family on Christmas vacation.  Kevin, thinks that this is from a wish he made and enjoys the life of living on his own.  Unfortunately for him, he discovers that there are two burglars who are trying to rob his home.  He is the last line of defense and must overcome his fears to fight back.  Despite the fact that this movie is remembered as a wacky, slapstick comedy, the battle between the burglars and Kevin doesn't even begin until the last thirty minutes of the movie.  Most of the movie is about Kevin, his family, and his adventures alone.  After having rewatched this movie from 1990, I was surprised to find how well written it was.  The movie even has a deeper moral story, which was a bit touching.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a horror flick.  From what I can tell, it is based around the folk-lore creature known as Krampus.  In this movie, a group of Americans are digging up an old burial ground looking for the body of Santa Clause.  As it happens, Santa Clause is not the nice man everyone thinks he is.    He, in fact, abducts naughty children and torments and tortures them for being such monsters.

As much as I'd love to give a Finnish language movie the title, Home Alone is just a better film.  It is, if you can believe this, less campy.  The story is also stronger.  I'd still recommend catching Rare Exports:  A Christmas Tale.

Winner:  Home Alone

Whip It v Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Whip It is not a Christmas movie.  It is a movie about a high school girl who sneaks off behind her parents back and joins a Roller Derby league.  Bliss (Ellen Page) comes from a home where her father hides his football watching, her mother hides her smoking, and Bliss is expected to do pageants because her mother tells her to.  When she discovers the brutal sport of Roller Derby, she signs up and joins the team.  The movie is a phenomenal story about family, growing up, and finding who you are.

If you do not know what the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are, I feel sorry for you.  Stop, look them up, watch a few episodes.  This movie was the first live action film staring the four turtles, Splinter, and April O'Neil (Judith Hoag) as the fight the mysterious Footclan.  The film is a classic in my eyes and I actually have the entire movie, line-for-line, memorized.

Though I would love to award THIS movie to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I must recognize the fact that Whip It is a better movie on just about every front.  It has an amazing story, a wonderful cast of characters, and will most definitely survive the test of time.

Winner:  Whip It

Home Alone v Whip It
Interesting enough, both of these movies are about the power of family and the struggles that families face.  And while it is difficult to compare these two movies together, it is Whip It that has the stronger showing.  Home Alone is a comedy and while the movie is definitely a great film, you have to forgive some of the absurdity of the film.  With Whip It, you don't need to overlook the absurd and can let yourself fall into the movie.

Winner:  Whip It

2012 King of the Hill: November Part 2

Historical Linchpins
It wouldn't be me, if I wasn't late on my movie updates.  It would also help if I made these posts go live instead of letting them sit in draft format on blogger.  Oh well, it is better to be late than to not show up at all. November was a slow movie month.  I only saw one other movie this month and, with all likelihood, won't see more than two or three movies during December.  My budget is very tight and my time is very limited.  Still, I managed to keep the November theme of history as I compare a time traveling movie with a historical story of one of America's greatest presidents.

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.

Back to the Future v Lincoln

History is a fascinating subject.  Back to the Future plays with the concept of the linchpin and how one small change can result in an entire timeline changing.  Lincoln, on the other hand, is a detailed look at the historical details surrounding around one of the toughest fights from one of America's most famous and perhaps most influential presidents of the United States.

The movie is an all star cast with super star director, Stephen Spielberg.  The movie focuses not on the civil war, but the efforts of Lincoln (Daniel Day-Lewis) to pass the 13th Amendment of the Constitution through the House of Representatives.  The movie shows the great lengths that Lincoln took to pass this Amendment, not because it would end the war, but because it was the right thing to do.  Though I am no historical scholar, I can say that there are a great number of people who to this day swear that Lincoln's motivation for the 13th Amendment was to punish the Confederate states and end the war.  In Lincoln, this doubt is put to rest.  Whether or not it is historically accurate is another story entirely and not one that I am in a position to debate.

Lincoln is a refreshing look at a story of a president that is often overlooked.  Lincoln is mostly known for his leading the United States against the rebellion with the Confederate States.  He is known for his life and his death at Ford's Theater.  But the other work of his is mostly unknown.  And this makes Lincoln a nice introduction into the long list of movies of this historical era.

Is Lincoln a better movie than Back to the Future?  That's another one of those close calls that is hard to tell. Lincoln is filled with a top not cast and has phenomenal directing.  Back to the Future is twenty-seven years old and still perfect.  Lincoln has not had a chance to stand the test of time.  Lincoln could contain inaccuracies and exaggerations.  While it is a phenomenal movie it will need time before it can stand on it's own.  And even then, in twenty-seven years, I doubt that it will have the strength to stand the way Back to the Future does.

Winner:  Back to the Future

2012 King of the Hill: November Part 1

Remember Remember the 12th of November
Last night, my roommate and I sat down for a mini-marathon of Back to the Future movies.  Monday is one of the better nights on television for shows, so we were not able to get through all three movies.  We did at least manage to sit through the first two films.  This movie trilogy have always been a favorite of mine and it's time to a good old fashioned review of these two classic 80's films and determine the current King of the Hill winner for November.

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.

Back to the Future v Back to the Future II
I would love nothing more than to consider the three Back to the Future films one giant movie and end it at that.  While the second movie does end on a cliff hanger, they definitely are each their own movie and need to be treated this way.

Back to the Future was the movie that started it all.  Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) and Doctor Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) are close friends with a former relationship to each other that is not established on camera.  Doc Brown, after thirty years of work, has invented a time machine in the body of a Delorean.  While fueled, the Delorean needs to only hit 88 miles per hour before it sends the occupant in time to the designated location.

In the first movie, Marty accidentally goes back in time to the day Doc Brown comes up with his invention.  Stranded, he has to enlist the help of Doc Brown from the past timeline to return home.  The mission is relatively simple, Marty needs to drive the DeLorean into a wire at the second it is hit by lightning so that the power can be used to travel back to the future.  However, the timeline is messed up when Marty accidentally prevents his parents from falling in love.  Before he can return home, he needs to fix the timeline.

In the sequel, Marty and Doc Brown go to the future to prevent Marty's son from getting sentenced to jail which starts a ripple effect of horrific purposes.  While in the future, Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson) travels back in time to 1955 to give his younger self a sports almanac.  This almanac allows Biff to win countless fortunes by gambling in sports.  In this new dystopian future, only Doc Brown and Marty McFly remember life before Biff became a wealthy megalomaniac.  They travel back in time to 1955 to prevent Biff from using the sports almanac.

While both movies are great in their own right, there is no doubt that the first Back to the Future wins out as the better film.  The first film is filled with all kinds of small Easter eggs.  If you know where to look, you can find small timeline changes that even long-time fans of the film might have missed.  For example, I'm not sure I ever noticed before that Twin Pines Mall becomes Lone Pine Mall after Marty destroys one of the pine trees.  Back to the Future is also a treasure trove for discussions with friends.

There is also one, very damaging continuity error in the second film.  According to the very words of Doc Brown, Biff Tannen of the future should not have been able to return to the same future that Doc Brown and Marty were in.  That timeline ceased to exist the second Biff brought back the sports almanac.  So, while the second movie did make me want a hover board and a flying car, it doesn't have the epic nature of the first film.

Winner:  Back to the Future

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: Closest Battle Ever

Changeling v The War of the Worlds (+1 More)
Two very good films go head to head for the first movie showdown for the month of August.  Angelina Jolie plays a distraught mother whose son disappears and mysteriously returns.  Tom Cruise plays a distant father who must protect his children from an invasion from another planet.    One movie is based on a true story, the other is based on a classic novel.

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.

In fairy tales, a Changeling is the replacement left in the bed when fairies steal away the child.  Changeling is not a fairy tale.  It is not a story based on a true story.  It is a true story.  I'm very skeptical of movies that claim to be based on a true story, or a true story.  It didn't take me long to forget this claim.  The movie grabbed me with a very dark, disturbing story.  Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins, a single mother in 1928 LA.  One evening, while she is at work, her son disappears.  Five months go by and the police bring her a boy, claiming they have found her son, only the boy isn't her son.  I will not say anything to spoil the movie, only to say this movie continues to get incredibly dark.  What makes this movie so fascinating and powerful is that it is true.  Looking into the story behind Christine Collins, you learn that not only was the movie very true to the original story, but it played down certain aspects to make it less dark.

But was Changeling enough of a film to take down the 2005 version of War of the Worlds.  War of the Worlds is one of my all time favorite stories.  Honestly, I've given this a lot of thought and the call on this is very close.  In the end, War of the Worlds wins.  The movie is a great adaptation of the classic story with minimal changes (and then, mostly to modernize).  Changeling, while an equally great story, just doesn't have the ability to make me want to watch it a second time.

Winner:  War of the Worlds

Finally, I have watched one additional movie in August.  The third movie of the month that I caught was My Life in Ruins.  While this was a cute flick, it really didn't move me enough to really stand up anywhere close to War of the Worlds.

August Winner:  War of the Worlds

2012 King of the Hill - May Catch-Up Post

The Avengers Stands Alone

Normally, for the King of the Hill Challenge, I would compare two movies together to see how they stand up. The only problem with this is that in May, I only watched The Avengers. The movie wins, no debate here, but just declaring it a win, isn't really much of a blog post. So, I'm going to weigh in on the movie by talking about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. And there WILL be spoilers of the very ending of the film, sorry.

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.

The Good

There was a lot of Good in this movie. The story was great. The acting was excellent. The dialogue was witty and fun. The fight scenes were spectacular. It is really hard to pick out and focus on the good, because there was a lot of good to go along. It was a movie that I actually went and saw twice, in the theater, something that is rare for me to do. So yeah, it had a lot of good qualities. But, it wasn't a perfect movie either and I'll discuss that next. Just know that I liked this film.

The Bad

There isn't too much that was bad about this film. My first time watching the film, I actually had little complaints. The second time I watched it, I wasn't as entertained. Most of what made this movie good was either the action sequences, or this witty, humorous moments that aren't quite as good the second time around. Also, the selective ignorance was a bit more apparent on the second watching.

The biggest example I have of this is in the initial appearance of Loki. Loki appears through the Tesseract with this epic helmet and spear. Orders are shouted for him to put down the spear. Loki begins attacking. Loki pins Hawkeye against a wall and speaks his first line. Hawkeye reacts, but not in the way I would expect. If an alien appeared in front of me, began attacking anyone and then spoke to me, I'd be surprised that he spoke English. Yet, we find that that the idea that the Hulk could have a consciousness is unfathomable.  The movie picks and chooses what it wishes to gloss over.  There are other examples, but for me, this was the most obvious.

The Ugly

The Avengers is a movie about a team of super heroes. There is one scene, however, that really upsets me. On the flying aircraft carrier, the ship is attacked and Black Widow and Bruce Banner fall to another level. Bruce begins to change into The Hulk and the reaction of Black Widow is one of complete horror. This reaction was unsettling and it didn't get better at any point in time during the second watching of the movie.

The movie at no point in time holds back the threats. There are a lot of deaths. An entire base is destroyed in the opening. There is a threat of the world being invaded by aliens that seem to be willing to kill everything. Yet, despite all of this, one character demonstrates true horror. Black Widow, the only female Avenger. Not Tony Stark when he's piloting the nuclear missile to what he believes will be his death. Not Thor when he is trapped in a cage plunging to what Loki ponders might cause his death. Not Captain America, broken and battered as the aliens overwhelm the streets. Not, Hawkeye when he reaches his last couple of arrows. Only Black Widow experiences that fear. And I find it completely and totally unnecessary. Instead of her fighting for her freedom, as a determined hero, she is caught with panic. And, when she escapes, she goes fetal for a time. And that just really damaged the movie for me in a bad way.

Winner: The Avengers (duh)

The Extended Break

I took a break from blogging.  For a while now, I felt that my blog posts were short, forced, and lacking useful content.  I not only want to be a published author, I want to make myself a resource for the writing world.  For this reason, it is important that I focus on making my blogs meaningful and thought provoking.

I hadn't forgotten about this blog.  I'm only two behind my King of the Hill movie challenge.  After catching Hunger Games, I basically stopped watching movies.  A friend was able to convince me to finally sit down and watch Titanic and I'll be doing an in depth discussion of that movie later.  I also recently watched A Little Princess.  But, beyond this, I needed time off.  It also doesn't help that my grandmother passed away and I got a promotion at work.

Breaks are important, even in writing.  One of the best times to take a break is after completing a novel.  My good friend, fellow SWAG member, and author of Uncross Your Heart, Taryn Elliott, had to remind me of this rule.  I finished writing the first draft of Extrication last week.  During the writing process, something happened with Scrivener and I lost an entire chapter.  While I promised not to go back immediately into the story, I felt like I hadn't completed the novel without that lost chapter.  I attempted to redo the chapter and got a harsh reminder why you need to step away.

Stories are a journey.  You have a character who starts at Point A and travels down the path of the story until they reach the end of the story at Point Z.  With writing, you get into the head of a character and put him through this journey.  If you are doing things right, the problem should be obvious.  After finishing a novel, you are in the head of a character at Point Z.  A Point Z character is not going to be the same person as the one a Point A or even a Point W.  Character growth leads you with a completely different person.

This was what happened when I tried to fill that missing chapter.  Peter Smith, in my head, is a Point Z character.  For me to go back and write this scene, I need to wait, let the character have some time off and go back to the story after that break.  When I return, I'll have to start from Point A and work my way through to the missing chapter.  Then, with the proper character in my mind, I can write the scene.

Just so that we are clear, I'm not talking about plot.  I know exactly what happens in the chapter that I lost.  After all, I wrote it once before.  The issue is that I need to be in the character's state of mind.  That's not that easy of a shift to make.  So, for now, I'm focusing on other things while I wait for another week to pass when I'll try this again.  After all, Tara Elliot said that the minimum time limit is two weeks. I'll trust her judgement; she writes good shit.

Go buy her book.

The Hunger Games Midnight Showing

This isn't going to be a standard King of the Hill post. This is a post on the midnight showing of The Hunger Games, a movie I've been waiting for a long time to watch. In preparation for this, I decided I'd do a costume for the first time on a midnight showing. If you are familiar with The Hunger Games at all, you know that costume selection varies from the drab to the outlandish. I decided to go with an outlandish look and dressed as a resident of Capital District.

My outfit isn't as outlandish as some of the people from the Capital District. Effie, for example, pushes it to the extreme. I wore a custom fit rest vest, homemade jabot, black pants, boots, and hair pulled back in a ponytail with a ribbon tied into a bow. It gave me a nice, stuffy look that I did my best to play up for the photos.

We arrived very early for the showing. Specifically, we showed up at 8:00 PM for the 12:01 AM showing. There were people there dressed up, most of them from our party and all of them teenagers. In fact, it should be noted that almost everyone at the movie was a teenager. I had a couple of kids approach me and ask about my costume. I explained why I was wearing my outfit and what it was for. Most of the fans of the movie didn't see it until later. Our movie line was inside the theater. We stood in line until about 9:30, when they kindly let us go into our screen.

Waiting was both entertaining and very difficult. It was two-and-a-half hours of listening to teenagers talk, scream out the time left until the movie in fifteen minute increments. Someone else in the theater, one of the many teenagers, approached me and complimented my outfit. The final, and most surreal compliment came after I returned from the restrooms. One of the kids in near the backroom shouted out, “Hey, I want you to know your costume is cool!” He started to clap his hands and it resulted in everyone clapping. Yes, I got an applause for my outfit. Crazy teenagers.

There was a brief moment of panic in the theater when the project didn't run properly, it pushed back our screen time a few minutes, but then it was time for the movie to begin... I should probably put up my disclaimer here, but you know it by now. Blah, blah, blah, every movie for the year. Blah, blah, blah brackets at the end of the year. Let's get the damn comparison going!

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes v. The Hunger Games

This is your last chance to avoid spoilers. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled. I'm strictly reviewing this based on the movie, not the book. The movie didn't vary too much from the book except for a few very notable exceptions. The biggest difference was the riot at District 11 which doesn't happen until Catching Fire. But, again, this isn't about the adaptation.

If you aren't familiar with the movie, The Hunger Games is a movie about Katniss Everdeen from District 12. Every year, the Capital District holds a contest to “honor” the history of Panem's survival. One boy and one girl from each district is selected by lottery or volunteer status to participate in a death match. 24 children enter and only one leaves. Katniss volunteers when her sister is selected at random to participate. Her partner is the local baker's son, Peeta.

Katniss and Peeta struggle with the fact that they both can't leave the game and, at the same time, struggle with the fact that District 12 doesn't have careers. Careers are children from District 1 and District 2 that spend their days at special schools for fighting. About 45 minutes of the movie leads to the point of them entering the game and then, the movie erupts in shaky cam violence. Yes, shaky cam. I can't stand that crap. I have read that the shaky cam was a method to keep the violence of the movie down enough to maintain a PG13 rating, which is unfortunate. Shaky cam makes me nauseous and detracts harshly from the movie for me. This is part of the reason I hated Transformers and never returned to catch future Borne movies.

Stepping away from the camera techniques, the movie was phenomenal. It spent most of the time focusing on Katniss and, occasionally, moving away to the control room for the games or the broadcaster, where it explained a bit of what was going on. The technique was a great way to cover knowledge that Katniss might have thought about internally, but couldn't speak aloud due to a lack of available character to interact with.

There was really little to complain about in the end with this flick. I felt most of the characters were well portrayed and developed adequately. I do think the casting for the characters were too old, especially for the part of Gail. That guy looked like a mini-giant in a pack of rabid teenagers. He didn't convince me he was a kid for a second.

Summary:

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a nice, entertaining flick, but it doesn't stand up to the might of Katniss Everdeen when armed with a bow.

Winner:

The Hunger Games

Director: Gary Ross

Writer: Gary Ross based on the novel by Suzanne Collins

Katniss: Jennifer Lawrence

Peeta: Josh Hutchenson

Gail: Liam Hemsworth

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes v. Puss in Boots

After a series of older movies, it is time to move back to modern flicks. This time, I return with an animation from Dreamworks and the Shrek spin-off movie, Puss in Boots. It should be noted that the winner of this match is going to face Hunger Games next. I'll be catching a midnight showing of that and I don't foresee me catching another movie before then.

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.

Challenger: Puss in Boots

Director: Chris Miller

Writers: Charles Perrault and William Davies

Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, and Zack Galifianakis

Puss in Boots, is the story of Puss (voiced by Antonio Banderas) from the Shrek series and his adventure to recover the legendary fabled magic beans. This movie focuses on the back story to Puss from his earliest days including his upbringing by means of a flashback. In the story, Puss has finally managed to locate the magic beans, something he and his childhood friend, Humpty Dumpty (voiced by Zack Galifianakis), have been questing for before fate separated them.

Puss in Boots is entertaining, but is not noteworthy. The plot is dry and fairly predictable. Puss is betrayed, must fend for himself, and eventually wins over the misguided Kitty Softpaws (voiced by Salma Hayek) to the side of good. This obvious plot doesn't make this a bad movie, in fact, I enjoyed it emensely. It just doesn't make it particularly noteworthy. The Shrek formula was already used and brought everything new to the table long before Puss in Boots. The high energy of the three main stars and the clever writing make it a movie you should watch, but not a movie to knock down Marilyn Monroe.

Winner: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Clueless vs. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes


I'm playing catch-up right now as I cover grounds for a practical marathon of movies last week.  For now, I'm pitting the movies one at a time against each other.  This time, I'll be putting the 1990's comedy, Clueless, against the 1950's comedy, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  Can classic Marilyn Monroe fair against Alicia Silverstone for the top movie of the month?  Let's find out.

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.

Challenger:  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Director:  Howard Harks

Writer:  Charles Lederer

Staring:  Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe, and Charles Coburn

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is a movie about a seemingly ditzy burlesque dancer, Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and her close friend Dorothy (Jane Russell) on their cruise across the Atlantic to France.  Lorelei, is engaged to be married, but has a fondness for playing around with gentlemen with money.  Dorothy has been assigned to keep an eye on her friend.  At the same time, Lorelei's father has hired a private investigator to keep tabs on Lorelei.

The first thing about this story that catches my interest is that despite being almost 60 years old, the story isn't something I recall being rehashed into the ground by future movies.  The plot, is still fairly formulaic, but nothing that detracts from the story.  The characters of Lorelei and Dorothy have a bit of depth to them, though I found the love interests, nothing more than stereo types with a lack of any significant depth.

Summary:
This is honestly a tough call.  On the level of plot, the two movies are equally entertaining and developed.  When it comes to characters, Clueless wins out in the end.  But Gentlemen Prefer Blondes is almost 60 years old and has aged very well.  This brings the two movies to a near dead even position.  There is one final thing that Gentlemen Prefer Blondes offers:  music.  The movie has several musical pieces including the famous piece, Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend.  This allows the movie to just squeak on by.

Winner:  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Clueless v. Super Troopers

I've already watched three movies for the month of March.  One of the movies is exempt from the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge (I'll post on this later).  For the start of the month, I'm going to pit the first two movies watched against each other.  I'll be comparing the comedy Clueless to the comedy Super Troopers.  Despite both being comedies, these were very different films and only one can walk away the winner.

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.

First Challenger:  Clueless

Writer/Director:  Amy Heckerling

Starting:  Alicia Silverstone, Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy

Clueless is a school-aged romantic tragedy involving Cher (Alicia Silverstone), a Clueless valley girl with an endless wardrobe and her attempt to argue her way out of bad grades all the while working on her pet project of turning new girl Tai (Brittany Murphy) into a popular pretty girl.  Cher runs into a bunch of trouble and is frequently bailed out by her father's ex-step-son Josh (Paul Rudd).

There is something about Clueless that makes it different from the normal lot of movies.  When I tried to nail down the story in a brief summary, I realized what that is.  Clueless isn't a typical movie.  Most movies establish a premise early on and build off of that premise as the movie progresses.  In Clueless, the movie is character driven.  You start with one plot, a superficial attempt of Cher to improve her grades that evolves into a story about her developing a character with substance.  This is a unique break from the dramatic structure and, in my opinion is what has made this movie age well even if the technology of the movie has not.

Second Challenger:  Super Troopers

Director:  Jay Chandrasekhar

Writer:  Broken Lizard

Staring:  Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, and André Vippolis

Super Troopers is a silly film about a group of Highway Patrolmen about to lose funding as part of budget cuts to the Vermont State budget.  The group of goofy cops are trying to prove their worth despite the interference and rivalry with the local police force.  The movie is as much about these goofy cops and their crazy antics as it is about their attempt to save their budgets.

What you have with Super Troopers, is a group of characters with a strange bit of chemistry going through a loose plot while having lots of crazy one, extremely funny scenes that have little to no contribution to the main plot.  These scenes are, without a doubt, entertaining and well worth the watch.  For example, everyone should know how to play the meow game, that's just downright hilarious.

Final Verdict:
Clueless is a movie that a character's development.  Super Troopers is a selection of hilarious scenes and events strung together around a central plot.  Both are entertaining, but only Clueless has the substance that makes it the winner of the 2012 King of the Hill Challenge

Winner:  Clueless

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Drive v Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
This isn't a 1v1v1.  This is two movies going head to head, one of which has "vs." in the title.  One movie is a dark action flick that bested a classic.  The other is a dark comedy that both makes fun of and pays homage to common horror tropes.  However, only one of these movies can survive the 2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge.

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.

Challenger:  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

Director: Eli Tucker

Writers: Eli Tucker and Eli Jurgenson

Starring: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, and Katrina Bowden

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a difficult movie to box in and explain.  The movie is about two red necks on vacation.  The movie is about a group of kids out partying.  The movie is about the ridiculous tropes of horror flicks.  The movie is all of these things rolled into one.  Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are just trying to have a nice relaxing time in the woods when a group of kids mistake them as killers.  This mistake comes from when Dale rescues Alison (Katrina Bowden) from drowning.  The kids think they have killed Alison and everything goes downhill fast.

The movie pays homage to several movies.  Honestly, I couldn't tell you half of them; I'm not a big horror fan.  The cliches addressed in the movie are what make it for me.  It covers everything from creepy cops, to red neck stereo types, to evil pit bulls.  Honestly, there wasn't a cliche I could think of that the movie didn't tackle.  I'd say more, but to go too far into what I loved about the movie would require spoiling it.  I encourage you to watch the movie if you don't mind blood and gore.

Summary:
Drive is a unique story with an unnamed character.  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a compilation of dozens of stories and cliches, but told in a way to make fun of them all, and yet still pay homage to the very movies it is mocking.  Honestly, it should be a hard call, but it isn't.  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil tackles something I hate, cliches.

Winner:  Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Hanna v Red Tails v Haywire

My wife and I went out to catch two movies on Saturday night. We had a great time, even if it means I have to do a three-way movie battle for Top Movie of January. It's getting dangerously close to the end of the month. Future challengers are growing less likely to appear.

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.

First Challenger: Red Tails

Director:  Anthony Hemmingway

Writer:  John Ridley

Starring:  Cuba Gooding Jr, Gerald McRaney, David Oyelowo

George Lucas brings to the screen the story of the Tuskegee airmen from World War 2.  The story of the Tuskegee airmen is about an all black flying squadron and the racial tensions they faced. Historically speaking, the Tuskegee airmen were originally denied flight into dangerous missions because of the perception that blacks weren't smart enough or talented enough to handle air combat. Because of this, the Tuskegee airmen sat at an airbase with shoddy planes and did training exercises and simple patrols to pass the time. When they were finally called out into the war, they were one of the best fighters to be found.

Overall, the movie was very entertaining. It did a good job of carrying over the story of the Tuskegee airmen to the silver screen. The action sequences were a great balance of excitement and bloody realism. The plot of the movie was strong and carried it well. As a movie, however, it fell far short of what was needed to top the reigning champion, Hanna. Red Tails is predictable. I don't know if the characters were based on real people, but they felt like typical war story archetypes. You have your “reckless one” character, a “drink to make it through the war” character, and even the “young and trying to prove himself” character. The dialogue also drove me crazy during some of the scenes. There were actual times during the movie that I thought I was looking at a rough draft of the script.  It is also important to note that the movie did a poor job putting it across that it was as much the experience of the pilots as it was their style of defending bombers that made them heroes of the war.  The way this movie was written, it seems like the white pilots needed only to stick with the bombers to make sure they made it through on the flight.  In reality, the Tuskegee pilots put their skills to shame.

On a side-note, I do plan on addressing the Red Tails more closely to address it from the standpoint of a writer. It just won't be this post.

Winner: Hanna

Second Challenger: Haywire

Director: Steven Sodenbergh

Writer:  Lem Dobbs

Starring:  Gina Carano, Ewan McGreggor, Michael Fassbender

Can a female protagonist action flick take down another female protagonist action flick? That's the question I was asking myself going into Haywire. Haywire is the story of Mallory Kane, a private contractor secret agent style, ex-Marine. The movie opens mid-story before it jumps back to the past and fills in some of the questions of the opening script.

For a spy flick, I was extremely impressed. All spy movies need fancy technology. This movie was no exception. Instead of getting the super strange and uniquely applicable technology of James Bond, you get straight up fancy devices that seem plausible in the real world. Speaking of plausible, the fight sequences were most definitely closer to what you'd expect in the real life. Unfortunately, the fights tended to look similar to each other. There is only so many places you can hit, throw, or choke someone before it becomes repetitive.

And then there is the chase scene. I'm not going to spoil it, you have to see this sequence. It involves off road driving and a great deal of it is done with a car in reverse. Even if you don't see the movie, you have to look this scene up. As a writer and a member of the audience I was very impressed. Another element of the movie that impressed me was the character of Mallory Cane. She is a strong, female protagonist who succeeds at what she does because of who she is. And dammit, if she doesn't have some endurance. WOW.

In the end, Haywire falls short of Hanna. It only missed the mark by a short bit. The plot of Haywire was both simple and convoluted. It utilizes “In medias res”, a technique that I can't stand. The movie opens at a scene, jumps back to the beginning of the story and eventually gets to the opening scene and moves past it. I found it difficult to keep up with the plot and the characters. When, at the ending, you learn what was going on, it was hard for me to follow what the ultimate plan was. Also, while the story is about Mallory, it doesn't have the same journey that Hanna undertakes. Overall, I liked the journey of Hanna more than the journey of Mallory.

Haywire is a “must see”, but it isn't Hanna.

Winner: Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Director: John Hughes

Writer: John Hughes

Staring: John Candy, Steve Martin

On a whim, I was flipping through the channels of the television and noticed that Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was coming on. I put the movie on and watched it again for the first time in over a decade. The movie has, surprisingly, aged well. Neal (Steve Martin) is trying to get home to Chicago and fate keeps him stuck with Del (John Candy) on the worst cross country adventure ever. The journey has them taking just above every form of transportation known to man.

The only movie I expect to be worse with cliches than a comedy flick, is a romantic comedy. Much to my surprise, this movie did a very good job of hiding them. Neal can't stand Del and slowly warms up to him. This cliche plays out across the entire movie. This is a useful trick to blending a cliche into the background. If you stretch it out and make it subtle enough, it isn't as offensive on the eyes. Another cliche that is a little less obvious is fate throwing every possible obstacle in their path. This was over played and became a heavy annoyance. The car really didn't have to catch on fire, did it?

I miss these style of comedies. Most comedies these days seem to involve the absurd circumstances or bathroom humor. Even Bridesmaids, a movie I adore, had a rather eye raising scene involving food poisoning. Unfortunately, John Candy, John Hughes (Director), and so many other wonderful minds and talents from the 1980's are dead. I can only hope for a resurgence of the humor style.

Summary:

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a well-written movie and great comedy. However, it has nothing on the imagery, action, and character development, and visuals of Hanna.

Winner: Hanna

2012 King of the Hill Movie Challenge

During 2012, I'll be pitting the movies I watch against each other to determine the top movies of the year. Each month, I will compare every movie I watch to the defending champion. The top movie at the end of the month will be that month's pick of that month. At the end of the year, I'll be comparing the twelve movies together to determine my movie of the year.

So far, I've seen exactly one movie for the year. Hanna was a movie I wanted desperately to see in theaters but never got a chance to until now.

Hanna

Director: Joe Wright

Writers: Seth Lochhead and David Farr

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett, and Eric Bana

This movie sets a very, very high bar for January. I loved just about everything that this movie had to offer. The story follows a young girl, Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) who has been raised by her father, Erik (Eric Bana) in the arctic tundra of Finland. Convinced that she is ready, Hanna is intentionally captured by CIA special forces so that she can get close to Marissa (Cate Blanchett) and assassinate her.

The movie is a hard movie to categorize. I can't truly call it an action flick, but it isn't drama either. It's refreshing to have a movie that defies categories. Notably, the movie has strong character development in Hanna, something I rarely see in the action genre. Another aspect of the movie that makes it impossible to call it an action flick is its use of imagery. The imagery is subtle, enough to hint upon your subconscious. The movie opens with Finland and a world of pure white and it is a significant amount of time before more than one or two colors become common place on the screen. This color shift is, clearly the imagery of Hanna's state of innocence. Additionally, the movie makes multiple references to fairy tales. At one particularly important scene, Hanna is confronted by Marissa who has just stepped out from the jaws of a wolf at an amusement park.

None of the above is to say that the movie is perfect. There are issues with this film. In Morocco, Hanna is on her own for the first time. She finds herself quickly overwhelmed by the many sounds in her room. The television, which had been on a piece of music seconds before is suddenly making war noises. The phone happens to ring at that moment. There are gunshots in the street. It was forced far too much and pulled me out of the story. Another issue with the movie, and this is a minor complain, is the languages presented in the film. The movie has five languages used in the film I could identify. The characters all speak English. German comes up in a few scenes. Arabic is used for one of the Morocco scenes. Italian and Spanish are both used once. Five languages, and they couldn't bother to use the native language for the country of the opening scene, Finland.

For those of you reading this who do not know me yet, I happen to love Finland. I was looking forward to watching a movie that might have a few scenes of characters speaking in a foreign language I know. This was disappointing.

Summary:

With no movies to compare this to yet, Hanna is the top dog. Woe be to the next few movies that try and knock this movie off of the hill.