August Summary

August Summary

08/10 - Le samouraï (The Godson)
07/10 - Three Days of the Condor
09/10 - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
07/10 - Schindler's List
05/10 - Planes, Trains & Automobiles
07/10 - The Hurt Locker
10/10 - The Matrix
03/10 - Kingdom of the Spiders
09/10 - Grindhouse
09/10 - Inglourious Basterds
07/10 - Adventureland
07/10 - Jackie Brown
07/10 - 10 Things I Hate About You
08/10 - GoldenEye
09/10 - Roman Holiday
09/10 - L.A. Confidential
01/10 - Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus
06/10 - The Usual Suspects

The rating links to my review and comments while the title itself links to the IMDb page for the movie.

Quick Facts:
Movies seen in August: 18
Time spent watching movies in August: 2268 minutes (37 hours, 48 minutes)

Best Movie Seen (Overall):
The Matrix
The Matrix completely wowed me again. I was amazed at how such a frequently imitated movie seemed so fresh ten years later. The action was top-notch and the "philosophy" never intruded on this action.
Runner-up: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
[The Matrix and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were repeated viewings.]
[Note: These two films will not be included in the next two rankings.]

Best Movie Seen (First Viewing):
L.A. Confidential
I was floored by this movie. I was expecting something else I think and this movie had one of the best plots combined with one of the best blends of characters I've seen in quite some time. I loved nearly every minute of this film.
Runner-up: Inglourious Basterds

Best Movie Seen (Repeated Viewing):
Grindhouse
I might be in the minority when I say this but I absolutely loved Grindhouse. Planet Terror is a fantastic thrill ride and Death Proof is great at paying homage to classic sexploitation movies. While Rodriguez and Tarantino go different ways in how they honor classic bad movies, the overall experiment is a success in my book.
Runner-up: GoldenEye

Worst Film Seen:
Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus
This isn't even worth debating. I would give this movie a 0/10 if I could but IMDb won't go that low and I'm keeping the same rating for everything. It was atrocious and I hated it.
Runner-up: Kingdom of the Spiders

Most Surprising Film Seen:
Inglourious Basterds
I was pumped up to see this movie but there was no way I could've anticipated this. This movie simply blew me out of the water with how great it was. It had a great blend of action and non-action and a pretty cool story. And to top it all off, we're treated to great characters.
Runner-up: L.A. Confidential

Most Disappointing Film Seen:
Schindler's List
I came in expecting an amazing movie and left seeing a film with which I wasn't that impressed. Lots of aspects of the film were great but the whole thing just didn't sit right with me. I felt like the movie wanted you to appreciate it more than it deserved and I just didn't agree it deserved this praise.
Runner-up: The Usual Suspects

Most Enjoyable Film Seen:
The Matrix
I'll admit that I really like mindless action movies. However, The Matrix is more than that. It has the action scenes of a mindless action movie but throws together a pretty cool story and creates a very memorable universe. The whole thing was a joy to watch almost as much as it was when I first saw it back in 1999.
Runner-up: Inglourious Basterds

The Film More People Need to See:
Adventureland
This movie was really cool and I've recommended it to quite a few people since I saw it. I was most impressed with how good the acting was by a very young cast. The characters were fleshed out and each had a unique personality and everything just worked very well together.
Runner-up: Le samouraï (The Godson)

Best Scene Seen:
Roman Holiday - the final scene
This scene will probably be forever remembered for how chilling it was. Modern Hollywood clichés left me expecting something completely different, but the movie took the realistic approach and it was surreal.
Runner-up: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - the bicycle scene

Well, there we have it for August. I watched quite a few good movies, with only two falling below the 5/10 average mark. I also added a new category there with "Best Scene Seen" which I think will be a fun category to think back on each month. School is picking up now, so I don't know how many movies I'll be able to see this month, but hopefully September will be just as great as this one was.