Thunderbolt's 2021 Movie Diary

18. No Country For Old Men (2007) DVD rewatch
Excellent Drama from the Coen Brothers. With no score at all through the movie, tension is purely built by plot and performance. Slow paced but emotionally gripping.

19. Groundhog Day (1993) TV rewatch
Fairly amusing Comedy from the 90s. Watched this when it was first released in cinemas but couldn’t remember too much about it.

20. The Polar Express (2004) TV first watch
This fantasy has great but weird animation. Not much plot but certainly captures the spirit of Christmas from a child’s perspective. Based on the 80s book of the same name.

21. Them! (1954) DVD rewatch
Creature feature from the atomic age. One of the first and best 50s sci-fi “big bug” movies with some astounding effects for the period.

22. Rio Bravo (1959) TV first watch
Another Howard Hawks film staring John Wayne and Dean Martin. Slightly overlong but Wayne and Martin have good on screen chemistry. Some entertaining action throughout but there are long stretches of dialogue between gun fights.

23. Seventh Son (2014) TV first watch
The only reason I gave this the time of day is because I’m a big Jeff Bridges fan. Fantasy is by far my genre of choice but that being said, I quite enjoyed this for what it was. Critically this film gets mainly negative reviews but for me Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore made this worth viewing. However it’s well down the list of Bridges best.

24. Yes Man (2008) DVD rewatch
I find that no matter which film Jim Carrey stars in, he essentially plays the same character. I did however find this one of his better comedies, ever though the idea is very similar to Liar Liar.

25. Heartbreak Ridge (1986) DVD rewatch
Certainly more memorable for its one liners than war scenes. Clint Eastwood stars as the sergeant trying to train up a platoon of undisciplined Marines. Eastwood is at his usual best.

26. Ghost Ship (2002) TV rewatch
Mediocre horror movie from the early 00s. This is the era for myself where horror started to have a downward spiral. Gone are the talented model makers in place of (bad) CGI effects. The plot is OK but the acting is fairly hit and miss with an unconvincing CGI finale. Worth a look for those who haven’t seen it but you’ll be hard pressed to be too enthralled.

27. Married to the Mob (1988) DVD rewatch
Angela de Marco is desperate to shed her past and start a new life after the death of her husband. But mafia boss Tony Russo who is obsessed with her has other ideas.
Michelle Pfeiffer, Mathew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Alec Baldwin and Mercedes Ruehl are all perfectly cast in this very entertaining comedy from Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs).
I have watched this more times than I can remember and it never tires.

28. The Boston Strangler (1968) TV first watch
The storyline was probably quite powerful for its time but pretty tame by todays standards. Quite an arty/experimental film with its split/multi-screen approach. The acting was pretty decent but the overall film just didn’t sell itself to me. I expected more of a classic from the reviews I had read.

29. Scrooged (1988) TV rewatch
Left over from my Christmas recordings, Bill Murray stars in this twist on the beloved Dickens story. An OK 80s film which has a few funny moments. I viewed this years ago but remembered nothing of it. Some good old school special effects boosted the film for me.

30. Casablanca (1942) DVD rewatch
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”
Almost a classic for me but not quite my favourite Bogart.

31. Night of the Creeps (1986) TV first watch
The trailer looked more promising. I love a B movie but this was pretty disappointing.

32. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) TV rewatch
I like the fact that visually you don’t see anything. A great psychological horror.

33. The Deep End of the Ocean (1999) TV first watch
A family struggle with the disappearance and reappearance of their son 9 years later.
An intriguing film which slowly runs out of steam at the half way point. Michelle Pfeiffer is well cast as the mother but I felt as a whole, this had a slight TV quality to it.

34. Raging Bull (1980) TV first watch
Well acted gritty drama. Strangely not one I could return to.

35. Kindergarten Cop (1990) TV rewatch
Probably the best of the Schwarzenegger 90s comedy era. After my daughter insisted on viewing this on Sunday afternoon TV, I decided to give it another look too. Have not seen this in 20 years +.

Well it’s been a good start to my challenge. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up this momentum every month but I have enjoyed most of January’s viewings. It’s been a very random month as I’ve watched many more movies from TV instead of my DVD collection. I’ve enjoyed some first ever views, a few classics, some awful trash and catching up on a few I have not seen in years. Some of these I wouldn’t normally view but it all adds to the final total. Bring on February.

35 MOVIES VIEWED

165 REMAINING

36. Rio Lobo (1970) TV first watch
Another Howard Hawks/John Wayne combo. Lots of characters to follow in this fast moving plot. Starting with an epic train robbery to an explosive finale, this was highly entertaining stuff. Rio lobo was a very loose remake of Rio Bravo and was the final film that Howard Hawks made as a director. It’s hard to believe that this bombed at the box office. I would gladly watch this again in coming months. I was never much of a John Wayne fan but this film has converted me.