It’s finally here! My annual write-up listing my favorite GOOD movies, GOOD-BAD movies, and books from the previous year!
Juuuust in time for all your holiday shopping needs! (Wait, you guys do give gifts for MLK Jr. Day, right? RIGHT?)
Go check out the lists and then come right back over here so you can tell me about everything I forgot to mention!
And hey, you guys? Thanks for another great year, I mean it. I have the greatest band of readers and blog commenters in the world. I’m sorry I totally sucked at giving you Boyfriend write-ups in 2010 — I totally, TOTALLY plan to redeem myself in your eyes this year. I’ll be starting with the first Boyfriend write-up in about a week. It’s almost done, I swear!
I know! It’ll be like a MIRACLE and EVERYTHING!
megwood.wordpress.com 
January 12, 2011 at 3:33 am |
This summer, I found myself at a loss in the bookstore trying to find something to read while enjoying my hammock, when I remembered your book reviews and looked them up on my phone (I ❤ technology). I ended up with the History of Love and spent the next day sobbing in that hammock. What an amazing story! Thank you for the recommendation!
January 12, 2011 at 4:59 am |
While I have yet to see Tucker & Dale, much to my chagrin, I am surprised to see no mention of Black Dynamite in the lists. Was that 2009 perhaps?
Anyway, BD is one of the funniest letter-perfect parodies of any film genre I’ve ever seen, and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough to anyone who remembers 70s blaxploitation or grindhouse flicks. It’s eminently quotable and sends up every cliche imaginable…bad film stock, visible boom mikes, wooden acting and dialogue, badass kung-fu, and so on, et cetera. Would love to see a review of it here!
January 12, 2011 at 4:20 pm |
I haven’t seen Black Dynamite — to be honest, I’m not a big blaxploitation flick fan in the first place. But I’ll check it out!
Sandy, I’m so glad you enjoyed the book!
January 12, 2011 at 7:26 pm |
You know that most of the time, I agree with you in your assessment of movies, and also read books that you have suggested. But “Marwencol?” I looked at some of his stuff on line, and I gotta say, it really creeped me out! Intellectualiy, I can appreciate how creative his work is, and how much it has helped him, both with his dexterity, and emotional trauma. But I couldn’t help being reminded of drawings done by very disturbed children. I wonder – if he was a kid, and not an adult, would his “creativity” be viewed the same way? Or is it a whole different ballgame, because his efforts are regarded as “therapeutic”? I’m not trying to challenge you, or criticize your opinions; I really am wondering.
January 12, 2011 at 7:33 pm |
I don’t really see it as “disturbing” at all, unless you also consider filmmakers who make movies about WWII or other wars to be disturbed. What he’s making are essentially stop-action films using photographs — it’s no different from what any other filmmaker would be doing with the same subject matter. He uses the stories as a way to safely vent his own emotions of despair, anger, and unrequited love (for a friend of his), which are the result of the attack he survived and the brain damage he will have to struggle with for the rest of his life.
Also, I think most would consider his works to be ART, not some kind of sort of silly “therapeutic” thing. His photographs have been shown in art galleries (his experiences at his first show are part of the film) and he’s got a book of them out as well.
He’s a peaceful, loving, incredible, honest, open, and giving man, and I really, really hope everybody sees this film. It’s just amazing — what he’s overcome and how he’s overcome it. Absolutely amazing.
January 12, 2011 at 8:03 pm |
Okay – good points. And thanks for your response – quick, but also articulate ( as you always are), and not angry or defensive. I’m glad you understood that I was absolutely NOT attacking you! 🙂 Gee, the questions of what constitutes ART are not easily answered, are they?
January 12, 2011 at 8:20 pm |
I think if you see the film, you’ll have no more questions about whether or not his work constitutes art. I’m surprised you were so creeped out by war-type violence in the images, to be honest — aren’t you a Civil War buff who goes to reenactments and stuff? If someone was taking artistic photographs of those reenactments, would those photographs strike you as “creepy”?
January 12, 2011 at 8:30 pm |
Also, the quality of the photographs is stunning — he has no training in photography, and yet his technique is incredible — lighting, angles, composition, etc. But the real art in his work, in my opinion, are the scenes he stages themselves. Every little detail is intricately designed by hand and put into place. It’s meticulous work. And it’s definitely not something I’d be capable of doing even a fraction as well as Hogancamp can. Before the assault, he was an artist who worked in pencil/pen/ink — he can’t draw anymore because his hands aren’t steady enough (part of the brain damage), but he definitely kept his eye for lines and colors and composition and etc.
January 13, 2011 at 6:41 pm |
PLEASE, could someone else COMMENT on this Blog? I surely didn’t mean to “hijack” it; I LOVE to read other people’s comments, as well as everything Meg has to say. I AM opinionated, and I admit, I do enjoy sharing them ( at the drop of a hat!), but that DOESN’T mean I HAVE to be right!
To tell the truth, I WAS surprised at my reaction to what I saw on line. Perhaps what seemed wrong to me was just that the dolls being used were not ORIGINALLY meant for that purpose. But that might be hypocritical of me, too!
January 13, 2011 at 7:37 pm |
I don’t have much to say most of the time. Films I enjoyed last year:
Confucius
Easy A
Little Big Soldier
Machete
Mega Piranha
SIr Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (aka “The Asylum does steampunk Sherlock with a clockwork floozie” – OK, I just love the phrase “clockwork floozie”)
Stonehenge Apocalypse
(As several of these titles make clear, I’m not claiming they were any good…)
January 14, 2011 at 5:50 am |
So…anything good coming up this year? I see four, count ’em, FOUR superhero movies alone being released this year.
The X-Men one has potential – I like the idea of it being set in the early 60’s, Silver Age-style. Mutant Mad Men perhaps?
Fright Night, Footloose, Conan the Barbarian and The Three Musketeers all get remakes, there’ll be a fourth Mission:Impossible and there’ll even be a live-action Smurfs in 3-D.
Talk about a year for us Gen-X kids, huh?
January 16, 2011 at 1:00 am |
Aw. Couldn’t you have made room for two animated flicks? Toy Story 3 was really excellent and one of the most affecting of the trilogy IMHO. 🙂
I do not know how I missed your review of Inception. Glad you liked it. It was definitely one of my favourite films last year as well, and I agree particularly with your comments about Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Any chance he’ll be a future boyfriend? If not, I’ll take him…… 😉
January 16, 2011 at 1:36 am |
I agree completely about TS3. It was so, so great. But Fox just really hit me in a different way. If you haven’t seen that, pick it up for sure!
J G-L is definitely going to be a Boyfriend soon! If you’ll let me borrow him temporarily?
January 17, 2011 at 12:58 am |
I will see Fox somehow. Keep hearing good things about it. Borrow J G-L whenever you like. 😀 That’s one of the benefits of having celeb boyfriends, so easy to share them! Looking forward to his write-up!.
February 28, 2012 at 2:51 am |
What about the Three Musketeers? I really enjoyed that in 2011 – I enjoy movies which are so ridiculous they are laughable, and the actors obviously had a ball with this one. Plus – Luke Evans. Boyfriend material my friend, boyfriend material!
February 28, 2012 at 3:07 am |
Cate! I SO wanted to see that and totally missed it and then forgot all about it! Thanks for the reminder! I loved the Oliver Platt version of that story too — so cheesy and great!
Luke Evans I do not know. I better find out!
November 28, 2012 at 1:30 am |
Help! I didn’t see a better place to say this and it’s URGENT. The boyfriend search engine on Boyfriend of the Week isn’t working and I have to find out everything ever known about Arnold Vosloo or I might just splode. Help me, Meg’s Boyfriend of the Week. You’re my only hope. Well, not really, but YKWIM. You *understand*.
November 28, 2012 at 5:49 pm |
Uh oh! I’ll take a look at the search engine today! BUT, I haven’t made Arnold Vosloo a BotW! HOW CRAZY IS THAT?! I better remedy that in 2013 (when the Boyfriend write-ups will be returning after a year-long hiatus so I could do some other writing that I never actually ended up doing, tra la!).
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