My Top 5 Recent Movies

Okay, so I was going to make a few more formal posts before I started getting to random discussions but I decided they can wait. I don't need to be so structured, which is something I struggle with, and a reason why I have trouble drawing lately. I feel like there needs to be order to things when there doesn't need to be. And with that, let me break my own mold by posting a little bit of nothing.

Counting down my top five movies I've seen within the year:


#5 The Lovely Bones


I'm surprised how many people didn't care for this movie. I've seen it twice now. The filming, the colors, is just beautiful. And while the special effects don't come from the best CG-house money can buy, I forgive it. The imagery is just beautiful. The lead actress, Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha) has the most vivid eyes. Colors are important to me, and I was so delighted by the visuals in this film. I'm one of the people who has read the book before (and liked it quite a bit), but I had no problem with their changes. I understand how things need to fit together more in a film, being that I've been learning film for four years at college. I really appreciate this movie, even though the majority of America isn't interested in looking at abstract visuals in the midst of a story. People need to be more open and accepting of different artistic visions.


#4 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince


It's no secret that I'm a huge Harry fan. I love the books, I love the movies. I'm definitely not one of the avid book fans who slams the movies (though I must admit the first one was quite awful looking back). The problem that I see with them is that they keep getting better. And you think, too bad they can't go back and make the first few better to match. That's okay! I still enjoy them all even though they are strikingly different in artistic visions. With the Potter movies, I enjoy that they keep getting better. Each one has been better than the previous, and this was is no exception. Before I saw this movie, the fifth had been my favorite, now currently this one is my favorite. (I'm afraid about the seventh one being in two parts though, hopefully it won't be as bad as that arrangement seems.) The film visuals of the Half Blood Prince are beautiful, I love the lighting. The movie is mostly incredibly low key lighting, but it works and I love it. My favorite part of this movie was teenage Tom Riddle. He may not be the same we saw in Chamber of Secrets, but this version of Tom was a smooth talking and eloquent little snake and I love watching the actor talk for what little screen time he had. Wonderful.


#3 Avatar


The only movie on this list I've only seen once in theaters. You don't need me to tell you this movie was gorgeous simply because you've probably already seen it. Stunning visuals, stunning colors, and I can't believe how much animation was put into it and how good it ended up looking. Epic, beautiful, what have you. Definitely need to get a blu-ray player to handle this monster.


#2 Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs


Seriously, the most epically gorgeous CA movie I've seen so far. The colors the color the colors the lighting the rendering. And it's damn funny. I saw it first in 2D and then in 3D, and it's the first 3D movie I've felt didn't hurt my eyes and worked really well. It didn't feel gimmicky like the others. Most people might skip animated movies when they're older, and of course I see everyone due to my major, however this is a must see for anyone with a modern sense of humor. And I was so happy to see people who I went to school with in the credits. Oh what the hell, one more pic for good measure:


The eye spec! The eye spec! And the shaders....yay.


#1 Where the Wild Things Are


This movie is wonderful. Instantly my favorite thing about this movie was the fact that they had realistic voices. They talked like normal people (instead of snarly monster voices), and they had normal names like Carol and Douglas. I loved the color palette. It's very earthen and muted and you really feel like you need to be a kid again running through the woods. It was funny and heartwarming and real. And I loved how the wild things were tie-ins to Mac's own life, he and his mixed emotions about his family created these imaginary monsters in his imagination for him to come to terms with. I am buying this on blu-ray/dvd pack as soon as it comes out.

(In fact, Harry and Cloudy were the first blu-rays I bought ever, since they came with dvds which I can watch until I can get myself a nice tv and a blu-ray player.)

I love movies. Watching something beautiful can make things better for a while. Can't wait to see Alice in Wonderland and Shutter Island.