Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Took a bus out to explore the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple area today. 

A lot of intricate detail on the buildings 

I've noticed that a lot of young Korean couples go out wearing matching outfits. I guess it helps when one of them gets lost. When security asks what the missing person is wearing, they can point to themselves and say "this". 

I liked the look of this rock tower 

...and these candles 

Dragon-a-lope 

I went through the Fisheries Science Museum--this was the only photo I felt like posting. It's a fish made from fish hooks. 

A late lunch 

And then an afternoon showing of Bourne Legacy. This is the first movie I've seen in the theater since leaving the US six months ago. 

Katniss Everdeen

I feel very invested in which young actress will be selected to play Katniss Everdeen in the film adaptation of the Hunger Games trilogy. It's a role of a lifetime in a potentially awesome movie trilogy. In the wrong hands, played by the wrong girl, it could be a disaster. I've been campaigning hard for it to me Chloe Morentz from "Kick Ass" and "Let Me In". She's my first pick by far.

 

Chloe is the next Natalie Portman. It's a lock. She's crazy talented, smart, and has the looks to boot. She is going to be a major superstar. I have no doubt in my mind. Natalie got her start in a similar fashion; playing the role of a hit girl in a very mature movie, "Leon" (The Professional). It happens to be one of my favorite films of all time. Easily top 3.

Others have mentioned Hailee Steinfeld from True Grit. She's not a terrible choice, but I don't feel it's good fit. She's not blood thirsty enough. Tonight I found my alternate pick: Kaitlyn Dever. She's currently playing a 14 year old on the fantastic FX show Justified. She also had small parts on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Modern Family, and Party Down. Talk about resume builders...

Believe me when I say that this girl has it. She's the real deal, and I like to think I'm one of the first people to say she's going all the way. There's no chance she will be considered for such a high profile role as Katniss, but she should. Hopefully the casting director will come across my blog.

Dragon Taming

My brother Dave and I took his two oldest to see "How To Train Your Dragon" in 3D. His family was in Utah for Easter.

We pleaded with them to look at the camera for 30 seconds. They were glued to the previews. Isaac completely ignored us. Nothing could pry that kids stare from the screen. Seth pretended to look my way, but the photographic evidence shows otherwise.

Dave and I spent a lot of time trying to make Isaac keep his glasses on during the movie. I'm not sure he fully grasped the 3D concept.

Top 15 WORST Movies of the Decade

No fancy posters and stats for this post. These films aren't worth it. You can seek out more info on them when you have absolutely nothing better to do.

In order to make this list, a film not only had to be terrible, it had to make me ANGRY at having viewed it. They have no redeeming value. I want everyone involved with the production of these abominations to be severely punished. I want people who like these movies to punished.

Obviously, I had to chose from films I had the misfortune of seeing. I realize there are perhaps hundreds of other movies I could have added to this list. Hopefully I dodged a bullet by not seeing them, so please don't add comments asking me why this or that POS movie didn't make my list. If I didn't see it, it's not here.

Please DO add comments that defend any of the titles listed below...

...so I can make fun of you and your terrible taste in film.

These are in order, with #1 being the worst film of the decade.

#15 Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)

#14 The Cell (2000)

#13 A Day Without A Mexican (2004)

#12 Battlefield Earth (2000)

#11 Georgia Rule (2007)

#10 Little Nickey (2000)

#9 Speed Racer (2008)

#8 Running With Scissors (2006)

#7 The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

#6 The Brown Bunny (2004)

#5 The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (2005)

#4 The Polar Express (2004)

#3 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007)

#2 Don't Mess With The Zohan (2007)

And the WORST movie of the last decade? (and Oscar winner for Best Picture to boot)







#1 Chicago (2002)

Top 50 Films of the Decade

I don't take these lists lightly. I probably do more homework than the folks at Entertainment Weekly, AFI, and Variety combined. I've been at this for a week now, and I think I'm happy with the list I put together. I took into consideration every film I viewed and rated as an A- or better from 2000 to the present. There were many B+ movies that felt deserving, but just missed the mark. In fact, I had a list of over 100 to whittle down that were A- or better.

Putting them in order was a challenge. The top 25 are pretty solid, 26-50 are more or less in order. Many of my selections will be on most people's lists, but I have plenty of films that are likely unique to mine. I've rounded up posters from all the films to help jog your memory. 10 years is a long time. I also have included statistical data at the bottom, for those interested in that kind of thing.

Obviously, I haven't seen every film released in the last decade. As I continue to see great films, I will have to drop some movies from this list and add others. I'd love to see others top films from this decade, so if you have a list posted somewhere, please post a link in the comments. Feel free to bash or praise my picks. I love a good movie debate.

I'm starting my list at number 50 and working my way to #1 to add more suspense. The order of information is as follows: Rank, US Title, Foreign Title (if applicable), Rating, Year Released, Production Country/Countries

TOP 50 MOVIES OF THE DECADE

#50 Nurse Betty (R) (2000) US

#49 Hard Candy (R) (2005) US

#48 Red Dragon (R) (2002) US

#47 Rabbit Proof Fence (PG) (2002) Australia

#46 Oceans 11 (PG-13) (2001) US

#45 The Descent (R) (2006) UK

#44 Amores Perros (R) (2000) Mexico

#43 Sexy Beast (R) (2001) UK, Spain

#42 In Good Company (PG-13) US

#41 Memento (R) (2000) US

#40 Across The Universe (PG-13) (2007) US

#39 High Fidelity (R) (2000) US

#38 Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (Ong-bak) (R) (2003) Thailand

#37 Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain) (R) (2001) France, Germany

#36 Once (R) (2006) Ireland

#35 Lars and the Real Girl (PG-13) (2007) US

#34 Snatch (R) (2000) UK

#33 Ghost World (R) (2001) US

#32 Raising Victor Vargas (R) (2002) US

#31 The Notebook (PG-13) (2004) US

#30 The Dark Knight (PG-13) (2008) US

#29 Whale Rider (PG-13) (2003) New Zealand

#28 Dan in Real Life (PG-13) (2007) US

#27 Black Hawk Down (R) (2001) US

#26 About A Boy (PG-13) (2002) UK, US

#25 X-Men 1 & 2 (PG-13) (2000, 2003) US

#24 Stranger Than Fiction (PG-13) (2006) US

#23 Wall-E (G) (2008) US

#22 Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Le Parfum: Histoire d'un Meurtrier) (R) (2006) Germany, Spain, US, France

#21 The Station Agent (R) (2003) US

#20 Heaven (R) (2002) Germany, Italy, US, France, UK

#19 Garden State (R) (2004) US

#18 28 Days Later (R) (2002) UK

#17 Holy Smoke (R) (2000) Australia

#16 Kill Bill (R) (2003, 2004) US

#15 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (R) (2004) US

#14 Sin City (R) (2005) US

#13 Girlfight (R) (2000) US

#12 Life as a House (R) (2001) US

#11 Dancer in the Dark (R) (2000) Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, US, UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway

#10 Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (R) (2000 -- this film is cited in different places as 1999 and 2000. I'm going with the 2000 citations) US

#9 Punch-Drunk Love (R) (2002) US

#8 Unleashed (Danny The Dog) (R) (2005) UK, France

#7 Gangs of New York (R) (2002) US

#6 Gladiator (R) (2000) US, UK

#5 The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (PG-13) (2001, 2002, 2003) US, New Zealand

#4 Mongol (R) (2007) Germany, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia

#3 The Pianist (R) (2002) France, Poland, Germany, UK

#2 Requiem for a Dream (R) (2000) US

#1 City of God (Cidade de Deus) (R) (2002) Brazil

Directors with two films in my Top 50:

Ridley Scott: Gladiator & Black Hawk Down

Tom Tykwer: Heaven & Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

Paul Weitz: About a Boy (co-director) & In Good Company

Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight & Memento


Actors in multiple Top 50 films:

Elijah Wood: Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Sin City, & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Morgan Freeman: Unleashed, Nurse Betty, & The Dark Knight


Emily Watson: Punch-Drunk Love & Red Dragon


Brendan Gleeson: Gangs of New York & 28 Days Later


James Marsden: The Notebook & X-Men


Dustin Hoffman: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer & Stranger Than Fiction


Cate Blanchett: Lord of the Rings Trilogy & Heaven

Harvey Keitel: Holy Smoke & Red Dragon

Aaron Eckhart: The Dark Knight & Nurse Betty

Benicio Del Toro: Sin City & Snatch

Kate Winslet: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & Holy Smoke

Orlando Bloom: Lord of the Rings Trilogy & Black Hawk Down

Sam Shepard: Black Hawk Down & The Notebook

Ian Holm: Lord of the Rings Trilogy & Garden State

Patricia Clarkson: The Station Agent & Lars and the Real Girl

Michael Madsen: Sin City & Kill Bill

Ewan Bremner: Black Hawk Down & Snatch

Ian Mckellen: Lord of the Rings Trilogy & X-Men 1 & 2

Maggie Gyllenhaal: Stranger Than Fiction & The Dark Knight


Josh Hartnett: Sin City & Black Hawk Down


David Cross: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & Ghost World


William Fichtner: Black Hawk Down & The Dark Knight


Scarlett Johansson: Ghost World & In Good Company


Cillian Murphy: The Dark Knight & 28 Days Later


Ryan Gosling: The Notebook & Lars and the Real Girl


Brad Pitt: Snatch & Oceans 11


Ty Burrell: In Good Company & Black Hawk Down


Frankie Faison: In Good Company & Red Dragon

Countries that produced the most Top 50 films outside the US (or at least co produced)

UK: 10
France: 6
Germany: 6
Australia: 2
New Zealand: 2
Spain: 2

However, the best film of the decade came from BRAZIL!

Which years featured the best films?

2000: 12
2002: 11
2001: 7
2003: 6
2004: 5
2006: 4
2007: 4
2005: 3
2008: 2
2009: 0

Not a single film I've seen so far from this year has been Top 50 worthy. That could change with all the Oscar contending films being released this month.



Trivia:

• The only animated film to make the list: Wall-E
• The only zombie movie to make the list: 28 Days Later
• The only true horror movie to make the list: The Descent
• Two musicals made the list: Once and Across The Universe
• 36 of the Top 50 films are rated R
• Rabbit Proof Fence is the only PG rated film
• Wall-E is the only one rated G
• Only 2 of my films won the Oscar for Best Picture for the year they were released: Gladiator in 2000, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003,

If the Academy had any sense whatsoever, they would have awarded best picture as follows:

2000: Gladiator (won)
2001: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (instead of A Beautiful Mind)
2002: City of God (instead of that horrific Chicago. IDIOTS!!) It wasn't even nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
2003: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (won)
2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Not even nominated!!!! The complete downer Million Dollar Baby won.)
2005: Unleashed (Again, not nominated. The very average Crash walked away with the trophy.)
2006: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Not nominated. They decided to reward Martin Scorsese this year for The Departed instead of his much better Gangs of New York in 2002. )
2007: Mongol (No Country For Old Men won the big prize. Mongol was nominated for Best Foreign Film, but lost to The Counterfeiters, which was very good, but not as good.
2008: Wall-E (Not nominated for Best Picture, which is just stupid. Neither was The Dark Knight for that matter. The academy is retarded. Slumdog Millionaire won, which is at least a good film.)
2009: ????

See you next decade.