New-to-Me Movies Watched in October

Due to a crossing the Atlantic forth and back last month, this list is a bit longer than usual. (^_^)

1. Taxi Driver (1976)
2. White House Down (2013)
3. Blancanieves / Snow White (Spain, 2012)
4. Tteu-Geoun Ann-Yeong / Rockin On Heaven’s Door (South Korea, 2013)
5. Duck Soup (1933)
6. Now You See Me (2013)
7. Stoker (2013)
8. The Monster Squad (1987)
9. The Conjuring (2013)
10. Insidious (2010)

REVIEWS (behind the cut):

1. Taxi Driver (1976)
This movie about a taxi driver seeing the world collapsing into ruin and slowly loosing his cool is fascinating and compelling to watch. I can see why this was/is so popular. De Niro gives a fantastic performance and you can actually believe he’s losing it little by little and becoming more dangerous. The pacing is also spot on. Great movie.

2. White House Down (2013)
While John Tate (a capitol policeman, who wants to join the secret service) is touring the White House with his daughter, the White House is invaded. His daughter is kidnapped and he finds himself protecting the president. This is an entertaining, straightforward action movie with lots of explosions, (silly) action, and lots of one-liner humor. Not a great movie, but fun.

3. Blancanieves / Snow White (Spain, 2012)
This retelling of Snow White set in 1920s Spain and is shot in silent film format. The black and white filming and the silent format created a natural eeriness to the story. It was interesting, too, how there was not really any “magic” to the story, and yet, it was still very much a fairytale. I really loved the matador aspects to the story, which worked well. This was a fascinating retelling, one I really enjoyed, even if the ending was rather strange.

4. Tteu-Geoun Ann-Yeong / Rockin On Heaven’s Door (South Korea, 2013)
A young pop star gets in a bar brawl and is sentenced to community service at a hospice. While there, he learns some of the patients have started up a small band. In the hopes of earning money to keep the hospice open, the band decides to enter a contest and the pop star grudgingly agrees to help them. It’s funny and sweet and terribly, terribly sad. I should know better than to watch these kinds of movies on airplanes. If you’re a sucker for sentimentality (like I am), then this movie knows how to milk you for every tear it can get. I must have been the worst person to sit next to as I sat there sniffling and sighing watching this movie.

5. Duck Soup (1933)
The Marx Bros. are apparently not my cup o’ tea. There’s not much of a story here, just a series of strung together skits with a very loose thread of a plot.As individual gags, they were fine, but I didn’t laugh much.

6. Now You See Me (2013)
Four magicians come together to pull off the greatest magic trick/bank heist in history. This movie was entertaining enough, I suppose and it was fun to see how everything came together. I’d say the biggest flaw is the entire lack of characterization of the four main magicians who drive the story. The cops chasing them have some development, but not those four. The result was that while they did very cool things, I didn’t much care about them or what happened to them.

7. Stoker (2013)
After India’s father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her mother. India becomes fascinated by him, but begins to suspect he is something other than what he seems. Stoker has beautiful cinematography and great performances. The entire tone is unsettling. The story is a bit strange, but this was both fascinating and disturbing on many levels. I kind of loved it, even though I’m not sure I should.

8. The Monster Squad (1987)
Not technically new to me, since I saw it as a kid. But it’s been so long, it was like watching it for the first time. The story centers on a group of kids, obsessed with horror comics, have created their own monster squad to battle evil. Little do they know, Dracula and the other classic monsters are real and are coming to town to find a secret amulet that will allow evil to rule the world. A great, cheesy Halloween movies (on the level of Hocus Pocus), which is silly, funny, and not too scary for those not into horror movies.

9. The Conjuring (2013)
Ed and Lorraine Warren are paranormal investigators (who were apparently real people), who worked to help a family terrorized by an evil spirit in their home. Excellent pacing combined with a subtle use of tension and jump scares makes for a frightening movie, all the more so because the idea that this is based on “real” events (proven by photos of the Warrens and the family they helped) adds a level believability. Things get less subtle toward the end, but ultimately a very well put together horror movie with some genuine scares.

10. Insidious (2010)
When their son falls suddenly ill, a family begins experiencing paranormal activity in their home. Meh. I wasn’t that into it, though maybe I would have liked it more in the theaters where I wouldn’t have been as easily distracted. Still parts of it just seemed silly and I don’t know what I think of the ending. I’m still curious about part II, though, and will probably watch it.