RobBernard.com

My top and bottom movies of 2012

Rbernard80 — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:49:41 +0000

Top 16:

Silver Linings Playbook

The Cabin in the Woods

Marvel’s The Avengers

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Looper

Django Unchained

Argo

Life of Pi

Moonrise Kingdom

Skyfall

Ted

Searching for Sugar Man

Zero Dark Thirty

Wreck-It Ralph

Flight

Bottom 10:

Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Huntsman

The Grey

The Dictator

The Amazing Spider-Man

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Act of Valor

The Five-Year Engagement

Dark Shadows

John Carter

The 2012 Movies I’ve Seen

Rbernard80 — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:14:22 +0000

I’ve been negligent in my year end movie wrap up. So here is every 2012 movie I saw before the Oscars.

20-Jan	Haywire
27-Jan	The Grey
3-Feb	Chronicle
24-Feb	Act of Valor
9-Mar	John Carter
	Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
16-Mar	21 Jump Street
23-Mar	The Deep Blue Sea
	The Hunger Games
30-Mar	Mirror Mirror
13-Apr	The Cabin in the Woods
27-Apr	The Five-Year Engagement
	The Pirates! Band of Misfits
4-May	Marvel’s The Avengers
11-May	Dark Shadows
16-May	The Dictator
25-May	Men in Black 3
	Moonrise Kingdom
30-May	5 Broken Cameras
1-Jun	Snow White and the Huntsman
8-Jun	Prometheus
22-Jun	Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
	Brave
	The Invisible War
	Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
27-Jun	Beasts of the Southern Wild
29-Jun	Ted
3-Jul	The Amazing Spider-Man
20-Jul	The Dark Knight Rises
27-Jul	The Watch
	Searching for Sugar Man
3-Aug	Total Recall
17-Aug	ParaNorman
	Robot & Frank
14-Sep	The Master
21-Sep	Dredd
	How to Survive a Plague
	The Perks of Being a Wallflower
	Trouble with the Curve
28-Sep	Looper
5-Oct	Frankenweenie
12-Oct	Argo
	Seven Psychopaths
19-Oct	The Sessions
26-Oct	Cloud Atlas
2-Nov	Flight
	Wreck-It Ralph
8-Nov	Skyfall
9-Nov	Lincoln
16-Nov	Anna Karenina
	Silver Linings Playbook
21-Nov	Life of Pi
23-Nov	Hitchcock
14-Dec	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
19-Dec	Amour
	Zero Dark Thirty
21-Dec	The Impossible
	Jack Reacher
	This is 40
25-Dec	Django Unchained
	Les Miserables

That’s a total of 61

My top and bottom movies of 2010

robbernard — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:34:16 +0000

It’s Oscar time once again, so that means it’s time for my yearly best and worst of list for the previous year.

The Best of 2010:

1. Black Swan

2. Inception

3. The Social Network

4. The King’s Speech

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

6. Inside Job

7. True Grit

8. Tron: Legacy

9. Toy Story 3

10. Easy A

11. Shutter Island

The Worst of 2010:

1. Repo Men

2. The Illusionist

3. Piranha 3D

4. GasLand

5. Clash of the Titans

6. The Expendables

7. Cop Out

8. Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

9. Knight and Day

10. The Wolf Man

The 2010 Movies I’ve Seen

robbernard — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 15:03:20 +0000

Oscar time again so time to wrap up my 2010 movie viewing now that most of the movies I need to see have made their way to Ohio. (I’m looking at you “The Tempest” and 3/5 of the Best Foreign Language Film nominees…) Still hoping to squeeze in “Waste Land” before Oscar night.
By release date:

January, 8	Leap Year
January, 15	The Book of Eli
January, 22	Legion
January, 29	When in Rome
February, 5	From Paris With Love
February, 12	Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
February, 12	The Wolf Man
February, 19	The Ghost Writer
February, 19	Shutter Island
February, 26	Cop Out
March, 5	The Secret of Kells
March, 5	Alice in Wonderland
March, 19	Repo Men
March, 19	The Runaways
March, 26	How to Train Your Dragon
March, 26	Hot Tub Time Machine
April, 2	Clash of the Titans
April, 9	Date Night
April, 16	Exit Through the Gift Shop
April, 16	Kick-Ass
May, 7	Babies
May, 7	Iron Man 2
May, 21	Shrek Forever After
May, 28	Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
May, 28	Micmacs
June, 4	Get Him to the Greek
June, 11	The A-Team
June, 11	Winter’s Bone
June, 18	Toy Story 3
June, 18	I am Love
June, 23	Knight and Day
June, 25	Dogtooth
June, 25	Restrepo
July, 9	The Kids Are All Right
July, 9	Winnebago Man
July, 9	Despicable Me
July, 14	The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
July, 16	Inception
July, 23	Salt
July, 30	Dinner for Schmucks
August, 6	The Other Guys
August, 13	Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
August, 13	The Expendables
August, 13	Animal Kingdom
August, 20	Piranha 3D
September, 1	The American
September, 15	GasLand
September, 17	The Town
September, 17	Easy A
September, 24	Waiting for Superman
September, 24	Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
October, 1	The Social Network
October, 8	Inside Job
October, 15	Hereafter
October, 15	Red
November, 5	Megamind
November, 5	127 Hours
November, 5	Due Date
November, 12	Unstoppable
November, 19	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I
November, 24	Love and Other Drugs
November, 24	Tangled
November, 26	The King’s Speech
December, 3	Black Swan
December, 10	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
December, 10	The Fighter
December, 10	The Tourist
December, 17	Tron: Legacy
December, 17	Rabbit Hole
December, 22	True Grit
December, 22	Country Strong
December, 25	The Illusionist
December, 29	Biutiful
December, 29	Blue Valentine
December, 29	Another Year
December, 31	Barney’s Version

That’s 76, a new high.

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004

My 2011 Oscar Checklist

robbernard — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:09:04 +0000

“X” marks the movies I’ve seen.
Best picture
X – “Black Swan”
X – “The Fighter”
X – “Inception”
X – “The Kids Are All Right”
X – “The King’s Speech”
X – “127 Hours”
X – “The Social Network”
X – “Toy Story 3″
X – “True Grit”
X – “Winter’s Bone”
Actor
X – Javier Bardem, “Biutiful”
X – Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”
X – Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
X – Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
X – James Franco, “127 Hours”
Actress
X – Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
X – Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole”
X – Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”
X – Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
X – Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine”
Supporting actor
X – Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
X – John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”
X – Jeremy Renner, “The Town”
X – Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”
X – Geoffrey Rush, “The King’s Speech”
Supporting actress
X – Amy Adams, “The Fighter”
X – Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”
X – Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
X – Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”
X – Jacki Weaver, “Animal Kingdom”
Director
X – Darren Aronofsky, “Black Swan”
X – David O. Russell, “The Fighter”
X – Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech”
X – David Fincher, “The Social Network”
X – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “True Grit”
Animated feature
X – “How to Train Your Dragon”
X – “The Illusionist”
X – “Toy Story 3″
Adapted screenplay
X – “127 Hours”
X – “The Social Network”
X – “Toy Story 3″
X – “True Grit”
X – “Winter’s Bone”
Original screenplay
X – “Another Year”
X – “The Fighter”
X – “Inception”
X – “The Kids Are All Right”
X – “The King’s Speech”
Foreign-language film
X – “Biutiful”
X – “Dogtooth”
   – “In a Better world”
   – “Incendies”
   – “Outside the Law”
Art direction
X – “Alice in Wonderland”
X – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I”
X – “Inception”
X – “The King’s Speech”
X – “True Grit”
Cinematography
X – “Black Swan”
X – “Inception”
X – “The King’s Speech”
X – “The Social Network”
X – “True Grit”
Costume design
X – “Alice in Wonderland”
X – “I Am Love”
X – “The King’s Speech”
   – “The Tempest”
X – “True Grit”
Documentary feature
X – “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
X – “Gasland”
X – “Inside Job”
X – “Restrepo”
   – “Waste Land”
Documentary short
X – “Killing in the Name”
X – “Poster Girl”
X – “Strangers No More”
X – “Sun Come Up”
X – “The Warriors of Qiugang”
Film editing
X – “Black Swan”
X – “The Fighter”
X – “The King’s Speech”
X – “127 Hours”
X – “The Social Network”
Makeup
X – “Barney’s Version”
X – “The Way Back”
X – “The Wolfman”
Sound mixing
X – “Inception”
X – “The King’s Speech”
X – “Salt”
X – “The Social Network”
X – “True Grit”
Original score
X – “How to Train Your Dragon”
X – “Inception”
X – “The King’s Speech”
X – “127 Hours”
X – “The Social Network”
Visual effects
X – “Alice in Wonderland”
X – “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″
X – “Hereafter”
X – “Inception”
X – “Iron Man 2″
Original song
X – “Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
X – “I See the Light” from “Tangled”
X – “If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
X – “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″
Sound editing
X – “Inception”
X – “Toy Story 3″
X – “Tron: Legacy”
X – “True Grit”
X – “Unstoppable”
Animated short film
X – “Day & Night”
X – “The Gruffalo”
X – “Let’s Pollute”
X – “The Lost Thing”
X – “Madagascar, carnet de voyage” (“Madagascar, a Journey Diary”)
Live action short film
X – “The Confession”
X – “The Crush”
X – “God of Love”
X – “Na Wewe”
X – “Wish 143″
–1/26: Whoops, realized I had seen “Day & Night”.
–1/26: Added “Dogtooth” and “The Way Back”
–1/27: Added “Unstoppable” and “Gasland”
–1/29: Added “Blue Valentine” and “Hereafter”
–1/31: Added “Country Strong”
–2/3: Added “Animal Kingdom” and “The Wolfman”
–2/4: Added “Inside Job” and “I am Love”
–2/6: Added “Biutiful”, “Rabbit Hole”, and “Another Year”
–2/13: Added “The Illusionist”, “Killing in the Name”, “Poster Girl”, “Strangers No More”, “Sun Come Up”, “The Warriors of Qiugang”, “The Gruffalo”, “Let’s Pollute”, “The Lost Thing”, “Madagascar, carnet de voyage”, “The Confession”, “The Crush”, “God of Love”, “Na Wewe”, “Wish 143″
–2/21: Added “Barney’s Version”

I really can’t say enough about how good Heavy Rain is

robbernard — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:05:18 +0000

It’s incredible how immersive the game is and how such an simple control scheme manages to just draw you in. You’re constantly on guard for what the next choice is going to be, and at times it becomes clear that they simply intend for you to fail. Just like the characters you’re playing there are simply some things you can’t do. You miss 3 buttons in a row and something bad happens and you realize that seems like exactly what was supposed to happen.
I shot and killed a man today, and I find that it’s really sticking with me. I find myself going back over the scenario and trying to figure out what I could have done differently to avoid that. Maybe if I’d just intervened a little earlier… I don’t know. But the thing is, I never consciously made the choice to shoot him, but at the same time I didn’t do it accidentally. I tried to talk him down, but it just came to a point where, with how he was talking, I felt certain that he was about to shoot my partner and instinct took over, I pulled the trigger. And I immediately thought “Holy crap, I just shot him…” It wasn’t conscious, and it’s not as if I accidentally bumped the button, at that moment I was just so immersed in the game that I instinctively knew that at that moment I had to do that. And I find that amazing, and I’m left wondering what that instinctive choice means for the rest of the game…

Best and Worst of the ’00s

robbernard — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:00:24 +0000

And now that I have 2009 out of the way I can finally get around to my best and worst of the decade list…

The Best of the ’00s:

1. Amelie

2. Once

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

4. Vanilla Sky

5. Mulholland Drive

6. Brother, Where Art Thou

7. Spirited Away

8. The Departed

9. WALL-E

10. The Dark Knight

11. Moulin Rouge

12. Love Actually

13. Garden State

14. Up in the Air

15. Lost in Translation

16. Thank You For Smoking

17. In America

18. Spider-Man 2

19. V for Vendetta

20. Punch-Drunk Love

21. Juno

22. Artificial Intelligence: AI

23. Memento

24. There Will Be Blood

25. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

26. Saved!

27. The Incredibles

28. 300

29. Across the Universe

30. Watchmen

31. Super Troopers

32. Keeping the Faith

33. (500) Days of Summer

34. American Pie 2

35. Minority Report

36. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

37. Brothers

38. Up

39. Ratatouille

40. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

41. Meet the Robinsons

42. The Dreamers

43. Donnie Darko

44. The Mummy Returns

45. Children of Men

46. Hot Fuzz

47. Stranger Than Fiction

48. The Whole Nine Yards

49. The Boondock Saints

The Worst of the ’00s:

1. Envy

2. Little Nicky

3. Bedazzled

4. Shallow Hal

5. The Happening

6. 28 Weeks Later

7. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

8. The Final Destination

9. Million Dollar Baby

10. John Q

11. Pulse

12. Little Black Book

13. Southland Tales

14. Smiley Face

15. The Ex

16. Bewitched

17. Nacho Libre

18. Date Movie

19. The Fast and the Furious

20. Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny

21. Grandma’s Boy

22. Harold & Kumar, Escape from Guantanamo Bay

23. The Phantom of the Opera

24. Scotland, PA

25. Hot Rod

My top and bottom movies of 2009

robbernard — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:53:00 +0000

It’s Oscar time once again, so that means it’s time for my yearly best and worst of list for the previous year.

The Best of 2009:

1. Up in the Air

2. Brothers

3. Watchmen

4. Crazy Heart

5. The Young Victoria

6. A Single Man

7. Moon

8. The Hurt Locker

9. A Serious Man

10. Up

11. An Education

12. The White Ribbon

13. Paranormal Activity

14. (500) Days of Summer

15. Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire)

16. Inglourious Basterds

17. The Hangover

18. Paris 36

19. Sherlock Holmes

20. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

The Worst of 2009:

1. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

2. The Final Destination

3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

4. Drag Me To Hell

5. Fanboys

6. Race to Witch Mountain

7. Coraline

8. Bride Wars

9. 9

10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The 2009 Movies I’ve Seen

robbernard — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:42:07 +0000

Once again it’s time for the annual list of movies from the previous year which I’ve seen, timed with the Oscars to give me a chance to see the films that take some time to make their way to Ohio.

January, 9	Bride Wars
January, 16	Paul Blart: Mall Cop
January, 23	Inkheart
January, 30	Taken
February, 6	He’s Just Not That Into You
February, 6	Fanboys
February, 6	Coraline
February, 13	The International
March, 6	Watchmen
March, 13	Sunshine Cleaning
March, 13	Race to Witch Mountain
March, 20	Duplicity
March, 20	Knowing
March, 20	I Love You, Man
April, 3	Paris 36
April, 3	Adventureland
April, 10	Observe and Report
April, 17	State of Play
May, 1	X-Men Origins: Wolverine
May, 8	Star Trek
May, 15	Angels & Demons
May, 21	Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins
May, 29	Up
May, 29	Drag Me To Hell
June, 5	The Hangover
June, 5	Away We Go
June, 12	The Taking of Pelham 123
June, 12	Food, Inc.
June, 12	Moon
June, 19	The Proposal
June, 24	Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
June, 26	The Hurt Locker
July, 1	Public Enemies
July, 15	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
July, 17	(500) Days of Summer
July, 24	In the Loop
July, 31	Funny People
July, 31	The Cove
August, 7	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
August, 7	Julie & Julia
August, 14	District 9
August, 21	Inglourious Basterds
August, 28	The Final Destination
September, 9	9
September, 18	The Informant
September, 18	Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
September, 22	Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death
September, 25	Paranormal Activity
September, 25	Surrogates
September, 25	Coco Before Chanel
October, 2	A Serious Man
October, 2	The Invention of Lying
October, 9	Couples Retreat
October, 9	An Education
October, 16	Where the Wild Things Are
November, 6	The Men Who Stare at Goats
November, 6	Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire)
November, 13	The Fantastic Mr. Fox
November, 13	The Messenger
November, 20	The Blind Side
November, 25	Me and Orson Welles
November, 25	The Princess and the Frog
December, 4	Up in the Air
December, 4	Brothers
December, 11	Invictus
December, 11	The Lovely Bones
December, 11	A Single Man
December, 16	Crazy Heart
December, 18	Nine
December, 18	The Young Victoria
December, 18	Avatar
December, 25	It’s Complicated
December, 25	Sherlock Holmes
December, 25	The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
December, 30	The White Ribbon

That’s 75, the most since I’ve started keeping track.

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

My 2010 Oscar Checklist

robbernard — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:18:31 +0000

“X” marks the movies I’ve seen.
Best picture
X – “Avatar”
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
X – “Up in the Air”
X – “Inglourious Basterds”
X – “Up”
X – “The Blind Side”
X – “District 9″
X – “An Education”
X – “A Serious Man”
Actor
X – George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
X – Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
X – Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
X – Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
X – Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Actress
X – Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
X – Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
X – Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
X – Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
X – Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Supporting actor
X – Matt Damon, “Invictus”
X – Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
X – Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
X – Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
X – Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Supporting actress
X – Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
X – Mo’Nique, “Precious”
X – Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
X – Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
X – Maggie Gyllenhaal, “Crazy Heart”
Director
X – Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
X – Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
X – James Cameron, “Avatar”
X – Lee Daniels, “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
X – Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Animated feature
X – “Up”
X – “Coraline”
X – “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
X – “The Princess and the Frog”
X – “The Secret of Kells”
Animated Short
X – “French Roast”
X – “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
X – “The Lady and the Reaper”
X – “Logorama”
X – “A Matter of Loaf and Death”
Live Action Short
   – “The Door”
   – “Instead of Abracadabra”
   – “Kavi”
   – “Miracle Fish”
   – “The New Tenants”
Original screenplay
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Inglourious Basterds”
X – “The Messenger”
X – “A Serious Man”
X – “Up”
Adapted screenplay
X – “District 9″
X – “An Education”
X – “In the Loop”
X – “Precious”
X – “Up in the Air”
Best foreign-language film
   – “Ajami”
   – “El Secreto de Sus Ojos”
   – “The Milk of Sorrow”
   – “Un Prophete”
X – “The White Ribbon”
Best film editing
X – “Avatar”
X – “District 9″
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Inglourious Basterds”
X – “Precious”
Best documentary feature
   – “Burma VJ”
X – “The Cove”
X – “Food, Inc.”
   – “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
   – “Which Way Home”
Best documentary short
X – “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
   – “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
   – “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
   – “Music by Prudence”
   – “Rabbit à la Berlin”
Art direction
X – “Avatar”
X – “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”
X – “Nine”
X – “Sherlock Holmes”
X – “The Young Victoria
Cinematography
X – “Avatar”
X – “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Inglourious Basterds”
X – “The White Ribbon”
Costume
X – “Bright Star”
X – “Coco before Chanel”
X – “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
X – “Nine”
X – “The Young Victoria”
Original Score
X – “Avatar”
X – “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Sherlock Holmes”
X – “Up”
Original Song
X – “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
X – “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
X – “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″
X – “Take It All” from “Nine”
X – “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”
Sound Editing
X – “Avatar”
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Inglourious Basterds”
X – “Star Trek”
X – “Up”
Sound Mixing
X – “Avatar”
X – “The Hurt Locker”
X – “Inglourious Basterds”
X – “Star Trek”
X – “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
Visual Effects
X – “Avatar”
X – “District 9″
X – “Star Trek”
Makeup
X – “Il Divo”
X – “Star Trek”
X – “The Young Victoria
–2/5/2010: Added “Paris 36″
–2/5/2010: Added “I’ll Divo”
–2/11/2010: Added “Logorama”
–2/11/2010: Added “French Roast”
–2/11/2010: Added “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
–2/11/2010: Added “The Lady and the Reaper”
–2/11/2010: Added “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
–2/19/2010: Added “A Matter of Loaf and Death”
–2/19/2010: Added “Bright Star”
–2/19/2010: Added “Food, Inc.”
–2/21/2010: Added “A Single Man”
–2/24/2010: Added “Crazy Heart”
–2/24/2010: Added “Coco before Chanel”
–2/25/2010: Added “The Secret of Kells”
–2/27/2010: Added “The Lovely Bones”
–2/27/2010: Added “The Cove”
–2/28/2010: Added “The Last Station”
–3/4/2010: Added “The White Ribbon”