Justin Cox Presents:

Year in Movies: February

It’s time for the second installment of the Year in Movies feature here and it’s also the conclusion of the successful February Blog-O-Rama. Needless to say it’s a pretty big day around these parts. But you didn’t come here for my babbling, you want to know what movies I watched and what I thought about them. So here you go, complete with graphical star ratings thanks to a suggestion by Nick Tabick.

Traitor
This movie, about terrorism and the FBI’s task of stopping it, starts slow and stays slow for most of the movie. It’s rather predictable and offers little in the way or twists and turns. For all these reasons it’s “triller” classification on Netflix is questionable at best. All in all it’s not bad but not something I’d want to see again.
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Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Kevin Smith’s latest movie is, considering the subject matter, much more vulgar and crude then I thought it would be. Despite that, Kevin Smith tells a simple story of life-long best friends who (and if you didn’t see this coming in the trailer, well, sorry) fall in love. Of course hijinks and Smith’s trademarked f-bomb laced dialogue fill out the film.
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Angel-A
Luc Besson is famous for quirky, over the top action movies like Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element. Angela-A is almost a complete 180 from the usual Besson fare and is essentially a character piece about two people, Andre and Angela. It’s sort of a modern day spin on It’s a Wonderful Life — it’s even shot completely in black and white. The film is simple yet beautiful and uplifting. A great movie. And don’t fear the subtitles!
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Cannibal! The Musical
Trey Parker, of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park fame, created this little gem of a movie while he was a student at the University of Colorado in the mid nineties. It seems like the film was made for about $35, and you know, it might have been. It’s the re-imagining of the, oddly enough, true story of Alferd Packer, the only American ever convicted of cannibalism. The film itself, actually a musical as the title suggests, is funny, goofy and features Japanese Indians. It slows down a bit in the third act, but all in all it’s a pretty funny film — considering the subject matter.
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Major League
Since MLB Spring Training is right around the corner, it’s fitting to watch a baseball movie. Since it’s one of the best baseball movies, it’s fitting to watch Major League. The story follows the worst baseball team ever assembled, the Cleveland Indians, who try to win it all to spite their new owner — who conversely wants them to loose so she can move the team to Miami. Less then ten years after this movie came out, there was a professional baseball team in Miami that was actually better than the Indians. Maybe the owner knew what she was doing after all. Either way, it’s a great movie.
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The Transporter 2
What can you say about anything in The Transporter series? Sure, this wasn’t as good as the first one, but as far as over-the-top action goes it’s an enjoyable ride. It’s also the second Luc Besson film to make the February list.
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Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
This is the simple and rather predictable story of two people who start out pretending to be dating and end up, well, dating. Don’t worry, I didn’t spoil anything. You figure this all out about twenty-eight seconds into the film. After watching this, I’ve come to realize that Michael Cera will forever be known as George-Michael Bluth. Don’t get me wrong, the movie wasn’t bad. There were moments of halarity brought on, mostly, by Norah’s drunk friend and a quick cameo from Andy Samberg. Also Bishop Allen makes a quick cameo. I saw Bishop Allen at a show with Mates of State a few years back. They’re a great band and joined Mates of State for an awesome version of “Along for the Ride.” All of this has nothing to do with the movie, but it’s worth noting.
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