#18: American Beauty

American Beauty--as far as dramas go--is the closest to perfect I've ever seen. The brilliance comes in the subtlety, as with a lot of Kevin Spacey films. Honestly, I have nothing bad to say about this movie. I'm sure it could have been improved in various ways, but I certainly am not in any position to say what or where.

The writing in American Beauty, both in script and plot, is brilliant. As a literature nerd and a (very amateur) writer, I couldn't watch this movie without laughing to myself at the perfect imagery the script provides and the mood it sets for the accompanying visuals. Along with the script, the soundtrack of American Beauty is subtle but right on. Unless I was listening for it, I barely knew it was there. It was simply another element of the mood I was feeling.

I'll spare you a plot summary, but only because I want every person reading this post to watch American Beauty and find out for themselves. Nearly perfect.

Overall Rating: 9.8 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs


This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Hands down. I can't get enough of this movie. To be honest, if I haven't mentioned it yet, this is why Kevin Spacey is one of my all-time favorite actors. It's probably a top-five performance. Everything about actor Kevin Spacey (Lester Burnham) in this movie is just fantastic, not to mention how hysterical he is. I think almost every time he spoke I pretty much laughed. This movie is greatness. American Beauty is one of the first movies where I noticed how great the soundtrack was and how well the music went with each scene. The script is unbelievable and the directing is genius. Alan Ball and Sam Mendes tag team to make one of the greatest films ever made. Thora Birch, Annette Bening, Wes Bentley, Mena Suvari and Chris Cooper collaborate to make an unbelievable supporting cast.


I think one of the best underlying aspects of the film are its symbols. Alan Ball uses the color red throughout the movie to represent characters, moods and settings. In the first scene, we see the bright red door, with a white house with a white picket fence and blue shutters. We see, Carolyn Burnham (Actress Annette Bening,) Lester Burnham's wife, cutting her red roses from her garden. Throughout the film, Kevin Spacey's sexual fantasies are represented with the color red using red rose petals. Kevin Spacey's remote control car that he hit the foot of his wife with was a red car. In an important scene with Chris Cooper's character, in the background is a bright red automobile. This theme continues throughout the movie all the way to its end.

To sum everything up, this movie is one of my absolute favorites. Honestly, nothing bad at all about it. I'd be very surprised if anyone disagreed with me. In my opinion best movie we've seen together so far.

Overall Rating: 9.8 / 10

- Josh Berg

#17: Hannibal

Hannibal is actually one of the most sadistic and fiendish movies I've ever seen. Anthony Hopkins is purely genius in Hannibal; if you've seen Silence of the Lambs, I wont have to tell you that you can expect nothing less than spectacular. Julianne Moore is brilliant as well, while Ray Liotta plays a fellow agent. Surprisingly, Liotta is really funny.

Getting back to the movie, director Ridley Scott helped continue the great tradition of Silence of the Lambs. I think the only other films so malicious and inhuman and so well done are the Saw series. Hannibal may not be as great as Silence of the Lambs, but this is a great follow up and is definitely worth seeing if you've seen the first, shortly after, watching Red Dragon will also continue this gruesome tradition of sadistic killing. Hannibal is just one of those movies you kind of have to see.

Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10

- Josh Berg

Watching Hannibal, I had only ever seen Silence of the Lambs before, so Red Dragon and the other parts of the series are unknown to me. Anthony Hopkins, as Josh said, nails the role. Other than that, I thought the plot was somewhat weak and there was no "holy !@#$" moment in the movie for me.

Hannibal leans on gag-factor to survive, which just doesn't cut it for greatness in by book. Unless you're going to throw a character into a pit of needles or force them to cut off their own leg (as in Saw), that doesn't cut it. So despite a great performance by Hopkins and good work by all of the other actors involved, I didn't love this movie, and it definitely wasn't as good as Silence of the Lambs. It's very possible that--as it fits into the series of Hannibal Lecter movies--this movie is brilliant in ways that I simply didn't notice. This wouldn't be a fault of the movie, but me as the viewer.

Whatever the case, I'm not a huge fan of Hannibal, but it wasn't terrible either.

Overall Rating: 7.2 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#16: The Aura

I honestly don't know how we came to seeing this film, I guess it was because I randomly owned this Sundance Film Festival DVD. Ricardo Darin, the lead actor, plays a taxidermist who manages to go with a friend on a hunting trip, which goes wrong.

Throughout the movie, I was saying to Taylor that this movie reminded me of a foreign mix of The Town (#10) and the movie Armored (#12) that we saw. If you haven't realized yet from the poster, The Aura is a foreign film. It does have sub-titles and you will have to read pretty closely because it goes by quickly. I thought this movie was a little odd; it was very scattered to me. I just thought Ricardo's role of being a taxidermist is a somewhat tedious and completely irrelevant.

I did not fall in love with this movie, at times I started to get bored and almost fall asleep. This film was disappointing because I've been sitting staring at the DVD cover waiting to see this movie thinking it would actually be pretty good, but not so much. The ending was atrocious, wait let me rephrase that, THERE WAS NO ENDING! I looked at Taylor when the movie ended and said "Wait did the movie really just end?" I guess that's how the director, Fabian Bielinsky, had intended the film to be. Although, I do want to give this movie some credit for having a potentially good idea, but it didn't pan out the way I would've liked. Honestly, I would most likely pass on it if I had another chance.

Overall Rating: 6.0 / 10

- Josh Berg

The Aura was an extremely unique movie. I don't know if I've ever seen anything even remotely like it. It's an Argentinian film about a taxidermist whose hunting trip takes some unexpected turns. He finds himself in the middle of a network of organized criminals, and the allure of crime keeps him from running away.

The oddness comes in the blatantly unsatisfying ending. Maybe there were more layers of the film that I wasn't tapped into, but it seemed a very strange and lacking ending. I wouldn't say I hated the movie overall--it definitely had a feeling of realness and confusion to it--but I feel like despite  everything, nothing really happened.

I don't regret watching The Aura, but I don't think I'll watch it again either. It's definitely one only to watch if you like subtitles and foreign indie films. If Transformers is your favorite movie in the whole wide world, stay far far away from The Aura.

Overall Rating: 6.7 / 10

-Taylor Dobbs

#15: Cashback

We came to a consensus at midnight last night that we both wanted to watch a comedy, but there's wasn't much that we wanted to see. We were considering Slap Shot, a hockey comedy made in 1977, so I guess I felt it was a little dated and we needed to be more current and watch something completely different, so we decided to go with the movie Cashback.

Personally, I really enjoyed the movie, while to me it resembled three movies in one: Click, 500 Days of Summer and The Machinist. Sean Biggerstaff, who plays Ben Willis, the lead role, reminds me of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 500 Days of Summer. Throughout the movie, a theme of time manipulation reminded me of Click, and Ben Willis has insomnia, reminding me of Christian Bale's character in The Machinist. The writer and director Sean Ellis did a great job making this film, from the shots to the screenwriting to the whole performance in general. It felt completely different from anything I've ever seen and it was definitely worth seeing. It's a little vulgar but also extremely funny at times. For me, definitely worth the 100 minutes.

Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10

- Josh Berg

I re-shelved Cashback more times than I can remember when I was working at the local movie store in high school. Every time, I looked at the cover and rolled my eyes. "Another movie claiming to be 'artsy' that's just an excuse to get girls naked in strange places," I'd think. A worthy cause perhaps, but it's never produced a good film. Cashback surprised me. While there was a fair amount of nudity, the movie genuinely wasn't about degrading women.

Being a comedy, I expected there to be a fair bit of tasteless, sexist humor in Cashback. But while the movie definitely had a theme of sexuality, it stayed classy with its humor.

I really liked Cashback. The direction was amazing and the humor was spot-on. It was serious enough to get me caring about the characters and funny enough to keep me watching. It was a British comedy with British humor, a type some Americans don't have a taste for (I'm not being a worldly snob here, just telling you that if you don't like British humor, this movie probably isn't for you), but I thought it was hilarious and adorably genuine at the same time.

I recommend Cashback, despite the strange cover art.

Overall Rating: 8.7 / 10

-Taylor Dobbs

#14: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

I walked into this movie expecting something similar to the first - a decent flick. I walked out impressed.

I've liked Shia LaBoeuf since Even Stevens, but here he did a better job than I would have expected with a high-powered Wall Street type. I most recently remember him from Transformers, where he plays a nervous, nerdy high-schooler. Coming out of that to play a tough-talking, motorcycle-driving stock broker was a big transition, to say the least. This is the first LaBoeuf character I've ever seen that is dealing with real adult issues. Money, parental issues, love, and the rest of the wonderful grabbag of responsibilities that come with being an adult change the game for his character, but he didn't disappoint.

I thought the movie was a great, modern counterpart to Wall Street. While it doesn't abandon the plot elements or characters from the first movie, it doesn't get stuck on them either. The grim realities of the modern market play a big role in this sequel, and it doesn't paint a pretty picture of the role banks played in the crisis.

Michael Douglas' return as Gordon Gecko was perfectly played, in my opinion. To say any more might hurt your experience with it, but my advice is this: Go see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

Overall Rating: 7.9 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs



When I saw the preview for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, I thought it looked amazing. Shortly after seeing it, not so much. To be brutally honest, not one of my favorites this year. I was really upset after I saw this movie. I agree with Taylor; I think Shia LeBouf is amazing at what he does, and Michael Douglas is always going to be great playing Gordon Gekko. The acting doesn't necessarily make the movie great though. I thought it was very similar to the original Wall Street, just updated and somewhat tedious at times throughout the film. I guess it was worth seeing for me, but if I was to recommend a movie out this year, it would most definitely not be this one. If you love the stock market and work on Wall Street, then you'll enjoy it. But like I said, definitely not my favorite. I thought it could have been way more exciting than it was. If you see this and you didn't see the first, you really won't miss much. Only small details will travel a longer way for those who did see the original starring Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas. All in all, slightly disappointed but glad to have seen it.

Overall Rating: 7.5 / 10

- Josh Berg

#13: Shooter

Marky Mark Wahlberg plays a widely known marksmen, able to hunt down and snipe people from miles away. Definitely one of his top movies; he also knows how to produce very well. Some of his other films have not been so good though; when I saw The Other Guys this summer, it made me think he was an absolute joke. Will Farrell stepped up and saved that movie.  The Departed was great but The Happening was horrendous, the movie in general but the acting too.  Okay, but getting back to Shooter, the movie actually had a very creative idea for a film. I really liked the concept and the performances by all the actors and I thought Antoine Fuqua did a really good job of directing this film - all the scenes and shots from the film are right on target and so clear. The in-depth details of the movie are great as well. I don't want to ruin it but I thought this movie was definitely worth seeing if you like action and shooting films.

Overall Rating: 8.3 / 10

- Josh Berg

Shooter was one of those movies, for me, that I loved when it came out, and didn't put much thought into afterwards. A co-worker of mine at the video rental store said the mark of a good movie is one that you keep thinking about after you see it. I think that - sadly - Shooter falls short of being a classic for this reason.

Besides taking some liberties with physics and plausibility (as any action movie does, and I don't hold against them), the Shooter went just a little bit too far with its scope, in my opinion. It's hard to say much at all without giving it away, but to make this movie a classic it would have to hold the "could this really happen?" quality that movies like The Bourne Identity or Babel. That's not to say Shooter isn't a ton of fun and definitely worth a watch, but it's not to be placed on the same shelf as The Matrix and the like.

Overall Rating: 7.1 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#12: Armored

Armored was a cookie-cutter action flick. Every turn was predictable and the characters had about as much depth as a rain gutter. I'll admit it was sort of fun to watch, but not really worth the 80 minutes I spent watching it. It was good in that it seemed to know what it was. There weren't any twists that you could tell the director meant to be mind-blowing and weren't, which was good, but it wasn't so fun to watch. Predictable for sure, and watching it right after The Town made it feel like a kiddie pool after a day at the ocean.

I'd only really recommend this movie if you just got your wisdom teeth out and you're stuck in bed for three days and the only other option is watching a spider build its web. Otherwise, go see The Town unless your taste in movies has taken the same turn as Lawrence Fishburne's acting career (he co-starred).

Overall Rating: 6.2 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

Armored was a very predictable so-called "robbery" film. It was definitely not a top-notch movie and certainly not worth seeing in theaters. Towards the end of the Armored, the film will keep you on the edge of your seat, don't get me wrong. It's just another one of those attempts to make a decent movie that's been done before. It reminded me a little of the movie Heat in one scene, but definitely not nearly as good. Lawrence Fishburne is nothing more than average and Matt Dillon obviously plays the antagonist, as he does in almost all of his movies. I just wouldn't recommend seeing this movie, if you want, go for it, but it's not a preference of mine. 

Overall Rating: 6.0 / 10 

- Josh Berg

#11: Wall Street

Wall Street is just one of those classics. For those who've seen the preview for Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, you're probably in for a treat because it looks amazing. Getting back to the first Wall Street, Charlie Sheen plays the young gun who tries to make it in the business world. Michael Douglas is pure genius playing the role of Gordon Gecko. The movie is a little dated but it doesn't take away as much from the movie as you might expect of a movie made in 1987. The Sheen family is well represented in Wall Street, as Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox and Martin Sheen plays the father of Charlie's character. Wall Street had an intriguing plot, but it seemed like the universal standing of the film could have been even better.

We look forward to seeing what Shia LeBeouf brings to the table as he stars in the new Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps alongside Michael Douglas, returning as Gordon Gecko.

Overall Rating: 7.7 / 10

- Josh Berg

Wall Street is one of those classics I just hadn't gotten around to seeing. It very much reminded me of the newer Al Pacino flick Two For the Money, but the fact that it was Wall Street instead of sports betting made all the stakes much higher in Wall Street.

I have to say, the title "Wall Street" didn't have me expecting much. Watching a movie about stock trading didn't seem like it could go anywhere exciting, but I was impressed. A young Charlie Sheen did a great mix of a scared what-on-earth-am-I-doing new guy and the overconfident rookie. Michael Douglas, as usual, nailed the role.

I was a little disappointed with the ending, as the audience loses touch with Douglas' character to follow Sheen's, but overall I liked the movie and look forward to seeing the sequel.

Overall Rating: 7.6 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#10: The Town

We finally got to see The Town. It took five of us to finally get up and go on a Tuesday night. Not many people would really care, but I think us living in Boston this year made the movie that much better, at least for me. Ben Affleck did an amazing job, directing, acting and co-writing this movie. Jeremy Renner was great as always as he picks up right where he left off with The Hurt Locker. I think we came to a consensus that we all really enjoyed The Town. Surprisingly, I thought the movie was actually really funny at parts, maybe it's just the characters and their accents but I did happen to laugh out loud at a couple scenes. The Town was just a well-thought out and well-scripted movie. Completely worth seeing. If you get the chance to see it before it leaves theaters I highly recommend it. The previews looked great too, so expect to see lots more good movies this winter.

Overall Rating: 8.6 / 10

- Josh Berg

The Town. I can't mention this movie without reiterating Josh's comment about how cool it was to watch it in Boston. Though we could have predicted them, the "We were just there!" moments made the movie so cool. But that wasn't the only reason I got a kick out of the movie. The first half to two thirds of the movie seemed a little bit flat; a slightly predictable and more than slightly tired plot theme seemed to be the movie's only lifeline, so I wasn't extremely enthused (except, of course, for the neatness of the Boston feel).

The last part of The Town - as everything breaks and we see our hero/director/co-writer's character's situation get interesting - more than makes up for the first half, which (despite my initial impression) didn't serve as much as the main course but as an appetizer of character development. It was a fun ride, for sure. Predictable at times? Yes. Full of cliches? No, but it had its moments.

As a Boston movie blog, it would be a sin to review The Town without at least mentioning the quality of the accents. I don't know if that's really how Ben Affleck talks or what, but he seems to have a very complex and unpredictable algorithm as to which "r" sounds he's going to skip ("Get in the cah.") and which he will articulate with startling strength ("Is that clear?"). As for the rest, they varied from actor to actor, but nobody seemed like a stiff or a try-hard. Not terrible. (Note: I am not from Boston and don't hang out around Southie, but my understanding is that Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting or The Departed has the most accurate Boston accent in Hollywood.)


I recommend this movie. It's not Boondock Saints, but it's a gritty, well-done crime thriller with some of the better character development I've seen in such a movie.

Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10

#9: The Machinist

The Machinist is a strange film. Christian Bale, a big name in movies with big guns and big budgets, takes on a different role here. After losing what looks like more than 50 pounds for the part, Bale is barely recognizable. But this movie shows that he doesn't need a Batsuit to hold an audience. The Machinist is slow and subtle, but not half bad in its execution. It's very neat to go back through this movie (this was my second time seeing it) and pick up on the little pieces that the director (Brad Anderson) slipped in to make it all more real.

It didn't blow my mind like Inception or The Matrix when I saw them, but The Machinist is a solid, makes-you-think thriller that I'd definitely recommend to anyone who likes dark movies with good acting.

Overall Rating: 7.8 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

Christian Bale is so completely different from any role he has ever played. He does not look like himself whatsoever. If you saw The Dark Knight, Bale is a totally new character. The Machinist was a mind game. I'm all about the psychological thrillers. I loved Inception, Shutter Island, Fight Club and other insane and complex films. This was a little less complex but it still had a great premise, and it's not going to be so easy to understand. The Machinist in general was very riveting and a solid film. It was actually a fun film to watch once it got underway. I'm glad to have watched this movie because it was on my "to see" list. I thought Christian Bale was exceptional for playing such a different role, which - compared against American Psycho - really showed how complete his acting ability is. Good performance overall.

Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10

- Josh Berg

#8: Session 9

Hm. Weak sauce, in my opinion.

Session 9 is one of those movies that seems like the writer got a single good idea and then wrote an entire movie around it. In essence, the final five minutes had me going "oh, neat," but the 85 minutes leading up to it were boring enough that it really wasn't worth the wait. I guess the only thing I really credit this movie with is a somewhat original idea. Since it came out, a few (much, much better) movies have come out based on a similar premise, so it's possible that the movie was way more mind-blowing when it first came out. Whatever the case, I don't recommend this movie. Frankly, it's not worth any more of your time of mine. You win some and you lose some, but if you spend 90 minutes of your life watching Session 9, you've lost some.

Overall Rating: 3.8 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

Session 9 was definitely not my kind of movie. I'll start off with the acting; I don't know how many C.S.I Miami fans there are but I also liked that show except for David Caruso and his horribly corny lines. As a supporting actor in Session 9, Caruso didn't win me over. I don't particularly like the directing and I thought most of the film was pretty boring. I almost started to fall asleep because it was so slow (although that's partially because we started the movie after midnight). The acting was so off and it really wasn't what I had been expecting, although I hadn't expected much from this movie to begin with. Session 9 had a decent plot, but everything else just went downhill from there. To be truly honest, you shouldn't see this movie. It's an absolute waste of your time if you do. You'll laugh because you could probably put a better movie together with ten friends and no training. I simply did not enjoy watching this movie. No offense to the director and actors, but definitely not my preference whatsoever. To me, Session 9 movie was an utter fail.

Overall Rating: 3.6 / 10

- Josh Berg

#7: Zombieland

It's a rare comedy that I enjoy enough to watch more than once. Usually, the jokes are tired or the plot is unoriginal. Zombieland definitely isn't the first movie to depict a zombie apocalypse, but the approach was relatively unique. Shaun of the Dead took comedy to the zombie world years ago, but other than that, the niche genre is relatively unexplored (ignoring those zombie movies that attempt a serious, grim view with comical failure).

Woody Harrelson, an actor I've never enjoyed much, took this movie by storm. His role was the perfect addition to Jesse Eisenberg's timid, admittedly wussy character. If this movie had - at any point - tried to take itself seriously, the whole thing would have been lost. The key to Zombieland's success, in my eyes, is that it was always fun. There's never a point in the film where you'd get strange looks if you laughed out loud in a theater, and that makes the whole thing one fun ride.

(Disclaimer: I love zombie movies. Even the crappy cheesy ones are fun. Something about running around a wasteland creatively killing zombies is just awesome to me. If you aren't a zombie flick fiend, read Josh's review for a more objective take.)

Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10

-Taylor Dobbs

The title might turn people away from this movie. Well, at least it did for me in the beginning. I thought it would be another stupid and unbearable movie to see on DVD. After hearing so many people come to me and say "Have you seen Zombieland?" I'd respond with a "No..." I think every person I spoke to said something along the lines of "You need to go see it, it's actually so funny." Well, here I am and I saw it for you. Honestly, Zombieland was really good. I thought it would have a crap plot and horrible acting as most zombie movies have. This one was different; Jesse Eisenberg was hysterical. He puts no effort into being absolutely hilarious, reminding me of another favorite actor of mine, Vince Vaughn. Alongside him, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin tag team to create a posse of funny characters, meeting up along the way with Bill Murray. The premise of the movie wasn't exactly the greatest but the acting really put this movie together and made it very enjoyable for us to watch. It was definitely one of the funnier movies I've seen within the last year or so. I actually do recommend seeing this movie, especially if you like comedies. All in all, a good performance.

Overall Rating: 8.6 / 10

- Josh Berg

#6: Freedom Writers

Freedom Writers is possibly my favorite English/Writing/School movie. It's one of the most inspiring films I've seen. Listen, I'm not going to say the directing is the greatest but the idea of Freedom Writers is brilliant. Even better, it's based on a true story. The first time I saw Freedom Writers, it pretty much brought tears to my eyes because it was unlike any other film and it was just a fun film to follow. The characters really give this movie a whole new way of looking at life. Hilary Swank is unbelievable as usual; this one probably one of my favorite movies of hers. Million Dollar Baby is also at the top of that list, but this was just a movie where she seemed so in touch with the characters, genuinely emotional and comedic at the same time. I thought this movie had tons of potential, although it didn't get much hype after release in theaters. Overall, an amazingly inspiring movie so my suggestion is most definitely go see it.

Taylor is a Journalism major, so watching him see the movie was great. I got the feeling he might like it even more than me. And again, a purely uplifting and inspiring film.

Overall rating: 8.4 / 10

- Josh Berg

In a word: Amazing. In another: Inspiring.

Freedom Writers doesn't have tricky chronology or the direction of an industry prodigy, but it has a hard, subtle, mood. Hilary Swank enters as an underprepared, unexperienced teacher who has only hope on her side. From there, the movie takes a series of predictable turns. Predictability hasn't been a theme in our movies so far, but this one nearly defines it.

Despite its predictability and near-Disney levels of cheese, I really liked Freedom Writers. I'm a sucker for an inspirational story, and one about the power of teaching, and one about the power of writing. So this movie drilled through all of my soft spots and forced me to feel fear, joy, and sadness right on cue. If you hate predictability and don't get suckered by inspirational, lovable characters doing inspirational and lovable things, dont watch this movie. If you do, watch it and love it.

Overall Rating: 7.9 / 10

 - Taylor Dobbs

#5: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Just to let you all know, we decided to go with a foreign film to throw into this 365 mix. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a crime-filled and action packed Swedish film. I'll start off by saying, I did happen to enjoy this film. In the beginning, I wasn't really drawn in because it was a little slow, but as the movie ran, I started to get into it way more. I think the whole concept of the film is really intellectual and fascinating. It's very well thought out and unlike most mystery films. This Swedish film is worth seeing if you have the time. This film is very dark and some may find it disturbing at times but that doesn't make it a movie not worth seeing. It's a foreign film, so it does have subtitles but I don't think that takes away as much as you might expect from the movie. The film, to me, was worth seeing, though I think it would get mixed reviews all around.

Overall Rating: 8.0 / 10

- Josh Berg

Of the films we've seen so far in the 365 project, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is by far the hardest. I don't mean that in the sense that it was hard to understand or I found myself having trouble focusing on it, but it's hard. I've seen this movie from start to finish once, but when we watched this time, I left during parts of it. It has a lot of intense scenes in it and I'm not sure it's for everyone. It's a film that confronts some difficult issues and doesn't do so apologetically.

Despite its darkness, I love this movie. The phrase that comes to mind when I think of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is "the best way out is through." I think that if I stopped watching the movie halfway through, I would not choose to resume it. It's so incredibly depressing and painful to watch, but there is a sense of satisfaction and contentment I get at the end, even though many of the most difficult issues in the movie aren't resolved favorably (if at all).

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is possibly my favorite foreign film of all time (though I haven't seen many) and if you can stand to see a movie with subtitles, watch this (I've also heard wonderful things about the book, by the same title). You'll feel it.

Overall Rating: 8.8 / 10


- Taylor Dobbs

#4: Before The Devil Knows You're Dead

My list is getting shorter for my top ten actors, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman makes this list (along with 21 Grams' (#3) lead actor Sean Penn). There's so much to say about Hoffman; his role in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is purely genius. Not to mention Ethan Hawke - to be honest, I think this might be one of his best movies. I thought the entire movie was riveting from start to finish. I really enjoyed the layout of the film. Even though I thought the film was depressing for each individual character, I couldn't really turn my head and stop watching at any point. This is yet another must see... at least go see it for the acting of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke. Terrific acting, great idea and overall, a well-done movie.

Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10

- Josh Berg

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is one of those movies that I picked up at the movie store over and over again and never felt totally driven to watch it. As I watched it, I realized how much more depth the movie had than was written on the back of the box (this is always the case, but with this movie, the back of the box wasn't enough to make me even watch it) and I found it almost hard to follow at times. As Josh said, this movie is made by great acting. Hoffman is a prodigy. The man can pay almost any role with the perfect amount of subtlety and grittiness.

This was the forth movie in a row that we've watched that had a progression that was not chronological. In this context, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was not as well-executed as the other movies we've talked about so far (Memento, Babel, and 21 Grams), but it did well enough to keep me with the plot.

I can't place what it is about this movie that leaves me feeling slightly unsatisfied, but I do. It could be the matter-of-factness of the ending that was so powerful and understated. It's not a movie I would expect to feel good about at the end, but it left me more unsettled than I feel it should have. Again, I'm not sure why. We could argue whether that's evidence of good filmmaking or bad filmmaking, but I'll leave it at this: I recommend this Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. I'm not sure why, but it seems like a movie people should see. My apologies for the lack of articulation - it's a rare movie that leaves me without words, if that says anything.

Overall Rating: 8.4 / 10


- Taylor Dobbs

#3: 21 Grams

Image: Salon.com

Wow.

Let's just say Sean Penn is a top 10 actor in my book and 21 Grams is refreshingly unpredictable with the directing! The way Penn pulls off his role in 21 Grams is truly remarkable. This movie is so intriguing from start to finish and may be one of the more depressing movies I've seen. But don't get me wrong, I thought it was very clever and and touching. 21 Grams' director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and writer, Guillermo Arriaga go on to collaborate with their other sophisticated film, Babel (#2). The difference is that 21 Grams may actually make you feel more pain for the families in this movie. All in all, 21 Grams is another must see, and if you like Sean Penn, you can't miss this one.

Overall Rating: 8.4 / 10

- Josh Berg

This was my first time seeing 21 Grams. I expected something similar in tone and composition to Babel, but beyond that, I had no idea what it was about before we watched it. As it turns out, I still wouldn't know what it was about until the end, when the significance of the phrase "21 Grams" is explained. Just like Babel, this movie doesn't make it abundantly clear what its message is. But with the genius writing of Guillermo Arriaga, I knew it was there somewhere.

My only complaint with the movie is that it was slightly harder to follow than Babel as everything played out. This was mostly remedied in the end when everything was expertly tied together.

This one I'll leave to you to figure out, but I will say it was very similar to Babel, and if you liked that film, you'll love this one. The cold, depressing hopelessness that the movie portrays is excellent and - unlike Babel - the film lacks any sort of music in the vast majority of scenes. The end effect is an experience that feels more real and harsh than Babel, and much closer to home. Watch it, love it.

Overall Rating: 8.1 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs

#2: Babel

Watch this movie. If you don't get it immediately, you're in good company.

I first saw Babel a few years ago when it first came out on DVD. It is the third installment in the set of three similar but seemingly unrelated movies (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, and Babel) by the writer/director team of Guillermo Arriaga and Alejandro González Iñárritu. I watched the whole thing through in my dark bedroom on a Monday night. As the credits rolled, I cried. Unlike other movies, Babel didn't make me cry because of the death of a beloved character or the loss of love. Babel made me cry because it depicted a world that felt so real (not altogether surprising, since it was choc-full of acting talent and the men in the chairs knew their stuff) that so amazingly sad. As it follows its three (somewhat) convergent story lines, each loses its hope and joy. As a viewer, I clung desperately to all of the havens of innocence and happiness in these stories. As the movie unfolds more and more, Arriaga pries all of these bright points of hope away.


My reaction to the movie immediately after watching was that it was pointless, having no concrete point of climax and no single plot element that was the problem to be overcome in the movie. As I sat there crying, the credits ended and the DVD menu came up. When the word "Babel" came up prominently on my screen, I thought about it as it applied to the movie. The apparent disconnect between the three storylines throughout the movie doesn't lend itself to any single title (as James and The Giant Peach did, for example), but as I thought about "Babel," I realized that perhaps the movie wasn't about those characters in those exact places doing those things, but about miscommunication in today's world of mass communications. It seems it should be so easy for any given two people to connect and converse but, for reasons presented in the movie, it's not. Virtually of the tragedies depicted in the film, large or small, are caused by the inability to people and groups to communicate. The powerlessness and frustration I feel as I watch this movie are minuscule in comparison to what's going on in the real world, but I suppose that's the point.


Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10


-Taylor Dobbs


Babel  is a new one I've seen. It's a great movie that really gets to you deep down. In parts of the movie, I said to myself, "Wow, I can't believe something like that can actually happen." Throughout the movie, there were a few different timelines that really kept me interested in each individual's life and experiences. Brad Pitt is just as brilliant in Babel as he is in all of his movies. This movie really expresses the greater details in other people's lives. Throughout the movie, I felt for each character and found myself feeling saddened, but inspired at other moments. If you like movies with a good time line and a sense of togetherness with characters, this is another you have to see. Great screenwriting and amazing directing.

Overall Rating: 8.3 / 10

- Josh Berg

#1: Memento

Memento is a top-notch, backwards thrill-riding hit movie. Guy Pearce takes his acting skills to a whole new level of creativity and brilliance. On the other hand, Christopher Nolan shows his clear and sheer proficiency from start to finish in the film. The acting is phenomenal, the directing is fantastic, the idea and plot of the movie is purely fascinating and it is a hands down must see. I promise you won't regret it and if you love movies that make you think, here's another that should be at the top of your list.

Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10

-Josh Berg

This is a classic. You already know this, most likely, but that doesn't make it a movie worth skipping over in Beantown's 365.

I've seen this move twice now and the magic really hasn't faded. As a premise, this movie could have gone all sorts of ways, but the ingenious writing by Christopher Nolan and the deeply layered writing make it impossible to fully grasp. In the same way Inception bent our minds this summer, Memento takes the filmmakers' rulebook and turns it on its head. It's hard to say much about the filmmaking strategy without taking the fun out of it for the viewer, but I will say that if you appreciated the cleverness of Inception, this one won't disappoint. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's a must-see, especially if you've ever enjoyed anything by Christopher Nolan.

Overall Rating: 8.3 / 10

-Taylor Dobbs

The Beginning

I'm Taylor Dobbs, a journalism student at Northeastern University with a love for the movies. Josh and I were randomly assigned as roommates in the fall semester of 2010. We quickly figured out that movies were a shared passion of ours. In the first few weeks of school, we watched so many movies together that the idea hatched to try to watch 365 movies in a year. Good movies, bad movies, old movies, new movies. Whatever it is, we want to see it. Obviously, we're trying to lean towards good movies - what we consider to be good, anyways. Between us, we've already got hundreds of movies under our belts, but we'd both like to expand that number. As a general rule, we will try to watch movies that at least one of us has never seen before. The occasional film (read: favorites of both of ours) will be one that we've both seen. Enjoy.

I'm Josh Berg, same as Taylor, I am also a die hard movie goer. I figured that this idea could lead to other people getting out and watching these movies. Whether it's a comedy, drama, thriller, horror, action, mystery, romance, documentary or whatever else that you love, we will give you our best and most honest opinions of all the movies. All in all, we love movies and this is a new beginning to an old tradition. Thank you and hopefully we can make this a fun ride for everyone. Oh yeah and by the way "Rule Number 9: If this is your first night at Beantown's 365, you have to read."