Christmas Moviefest 2013

Every year, I have a Christmas moviefest. It's a 24-hour extravaganza of films, music videos, trailers, and other random stuff. Usually, I do a dozen films (12 days of Christmas, etc...) but due to other commitments, I only did eight. So, I'll have to make up for it next year. 16 movies...hello psychosis! Anyway, this year's line-up was:

1. Full Metal Jacket: Not my favorite Kubrick movie (that would be A Clockwork Orange) or my favorite Vietnam War movie (that would be Apocalypse Now) FMJ is still an awesome movie. From the intense first half of the film set in the Marine Corps bootcamp at Parris Island to the brutal fighting in Hue that wraps the movie up, Kubrick created an amazing look at how men are broken down and rebuilt as soldiers...and how they try to cope with the horrors of war.
2. Pitch Perfect: I thought I'd hate this movie about a college a cappella team, but this is a surprisingly funny movie. The musical numbers don't do much for me; I saw this because a friend of mine who loves Glee insisted...and Glee is one step below having fire ants inserted into my rectum. However, the cast does a nice job with stock characters and the writer (Kay Cannon) has a pretty good - and more than a little deranged - sense of humor.
3. Byzantium: Great vampire movie. You can see my review of it here.
4. Wild at Heart: David Lynch's version of The Wizard of Oz is a favorite of mine. Intense, over-the-top, operatic performances by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, random Lynchian weirdness...just wonderful. Not everything works - some of the odd images and character ticks don't seem to mean anything - but these are minor problems.
5. Snatch: Style over substance? Sure! And Snatch has lots of style. It also has a witty script, great acting, inventive camerawork, and a great soundtrack. IF you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor; stop reading this and go watch the movie.
6. Elysium: It looks great. Other than that...you know, I'm going to do a longer review in a little bit. The design work and the effects are very cool. The rest leaves a lot to be desired.
7. Zombieland: Bill Fucking Murray. And zombies. And Emma Stone, epic-hottie. And zombies. And Woodie Harrelson as the baddest-assed undead stomper since Ash. And zombies. A great, funny movie.
8. L.A. Confidential: The plot is a little confusing the first time around. However, the cast is stellar, the film has real sun-drenched, cotton-candy noir look (if that makes sense), that works to draw you in to Fifties LA. An amazing film that deserves every accolade it has gotten.

Interspersed with these were such delights as a 1960s Pathe film about the "new" Playboy Club in London, the Muppets version of Bohemian Rhapsody, a couple of burlesque videos from the Fifties and a really sweet video about the effects of LSD...which involve talking got dogs.