End of Year Review (Movie Style)

This year I decided to do things a little different that I normally do. Instead of numbering the best and worst of films, I just decided to list ALL the movies that I've seen and give a one or two  sentence summary as to why I loved or hated them, or tried hard to forget them. I know that everyone sees the movie has a different opinion, and those opinions are widely varied. So just keep in mind that this list is based on my opinions for whatever they're worth. (There is a list of movies at the end of this that I have not seen and want to. And a list of movies that I will NEVER watch.)  Please feel free to leave your comments about my reviews . . . and leave your own objections and agreements as well. If there is a movie that you don't see listed, please feel free to suggest it. 

The Best

Cabin in the Woods – Broke most minds, and stereotypes. After waiting almost two years, I will definitely say it was worth the wait.

Avengers - The best superhero movie to come out in the last few years. My favorite character was of course, the Hulk. Puny God.

Magic Mike - Minus the last 15 minutes, Channing Tatum. Half naked. Need I say more?

Hunger Games -Minus the motion cameras, one of the best adaptations of the novel to come out, perhaps ever.

Savages – Very dark, but brilliant movie.

The Dark Knight Rises - Definitely one of the years best, even with the raspy voice.

Step Up 4 - At least it grew in morals as the franchise grew.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green – Very inventive and cute movie.

The Perks of being a Wallflower - Had some great lines and overall a great story. Perhaps a new classic.

Won't Back Down - Every movie that has a strong teacher and a “power to the people” message should be this lucky.

Pitch Perfect -One of the best musicals of the year, perhaps of the last few years.

Twilight:Breaking Dawn 2 -Definitely the best Twilight movie, perhaps the only movie to be better than its book.

The Hobbit - Very beautiful scenery, incredibly long. But interesting plot line.

Brave – Strong female characters. A mother's worst nightmare, but her Father's greatest hope.

The Woman In Black -This movie got nine screams, but I hated the ending.

Rock of Ages - While I'm not the biggest fan of 80s music, it had great plot lines and was very comical in a lot of places.

The Worst

Extremely Close and Incredible Loud - This movie started off depressing and quickly spiraled into place that I don't want to ever go again.

One For the Money - I honestly don't remember this movie, other than paying for it.

Abraham Lincoln:Vampire Hunter - Another movie that I was very excited to see, but was very, very bored with.

Joyful Noise - This movie should have been spectacular, however, the reason it is on the Worst list are three words: Dolly Parton's face.

Chronicle - This story reminded me of Paranormal Activity without the scares. And again crappy ending.

Good Deeds - Tyler Perry always has such amazing potential, as did this movie until it decided it was going to become a dramatic comedy.

A Thousand Words - Again another movie with so much potential, and then it died.

Dark Shadows - This one was dead from the beginning. And should be buried deeply somewhere and forgotten.

MIB 3 - Granted I'm not the biggest fan of this particular franchise, but I still think that they could have made this one less predictable and more entertaining.

Snow White and the Huntsman – Except the few times we saw C. Theron's character use magic, was there anything even slightly interesting about this movie? For me, NO.

Ted - This felt like a really long episode of Family Guy, but much,much worse. This was one of the two movies I ended up walking out of.

The Amazing Spider-man - This had the pleasure of being the second movie I walked out of. The dialogue was written by William Shatner and the plot… I don't think there was a writer.

Medea's Witness Protection - I love me some Medea but this movie left me. It just left me.

Paranorman - Another movie with so much potential that was completely predictable, without humor, and no reason to watch it again. Ever.

The Apparation - I sat through this movie for 78 minutes waiting for something to happen. Then it did: the credits rolled.

Wrath of the Titans - This movie angered me more than any other movie of this year. Imagine if someone decided to go into your mythology and kill off half of your gods. I hated this movie so much.

American Reunion - I blocked this movie out completely. Julie had to force me to remember that I had seen it.  

These are movies I haven't seen, but I want to . . . Keep the Lights On, The Raven, What to Expect . . ., Hope Springs, Sparkle, The Possession, The Words, Looper, Sinister, Paranormal Activity 4, Rise of the Guardians, Silver Linings, This is 40, Cloud Atlas, Hitchcock, The Guardian, and Les Miserables

These are movies I am open to watching, but I'm not paying for . . . The Vow, This Means War, 21 Jump Street, Lucky One, Moonrise Kingdom, Total Recall, The Campaign, House at the End of the Street, Frankenweenie, Lincoln, Taken 2, Life of Pi, Here Comes the Boom, Alex Cross

These are movies I will NEVER watch, unless tied to a chair and forced (Clockwork Orange Style) . . . Underworld 4, Ghost Rider 2, Mirror Mirror, Three Stooges, Battleship, Prometheus, That's My Boy, The Expendables 2, Hit and Run, Premium Rush, Resident Evil 5, Judge Dredd, Trouble with the Curve, The Man with Iron Fists, Wreck It Ralph, Django Unchained, The Guilt Trip, Anna Karenina, Skyfall 

Do the Hop, Get FREE Stuff, and Learn About First Loves!

This is my first entry for the TRR GLBT Madness Hop! This hop will last four days, from the 27th to the 30th. Please join us in supporting all the blogs that are included! As for Just Write and SO Gay, today we are focusing on our First Loves of Book! And just for commenting on this blog, you could recieve a copy of my first story, which has never been published! Exercising His Options is a story of a closed minded man named Enver Mann who takes a journey that blows his mind, and opens up his options.This story is so hot you will not want to read it in public. And you can WIN YOUR FREE COPY before the masses get it!  ***CLICK ON THE LINK AT THE END OF ARTICLE TO GO TO THE NEXT BLOG INCLUDED IN THIS HOP***

 

       So today, on my blog I thought I would talk about first loves. Not in humans, because that would take a novel (hey, cool idea, huh?). i want to talk about first loves in books. Two years ago, I didn't know that there was a M/M catergory. I was searching quite desparately in all the books I was reading to find GLBT characters, trying to read between the lines and see if Ron was really in love with Harry (the Dumbledore secret, WHAT?) and hoping and praying Jacob was really in love with any of his pack rather than Bella (I think that would have made the story more interesting), and so forth. I was almost hard up enough to start digging through Fan Fic to find the kind of stuff that I really wanted to read.         

     And then a friend suggested I attend GRL Gay Rom Lit, and at first, I blew it off thinking I didn't need another convention to add to my roster. I was already going to 6 or 7 a year. However, I went to their website and read about it. I was hooked. I registered within a week, but I could see one small problem: of the hundred and seventy-ish authors that were attending, I was familar with one or two of the names. And I mean, familar as in I had seen, but never read. So, I did what any rational bibliophile would do: I made a list of ALL the authors and started stalking them.

     I wore out Facebook, GoodReads, and google search finding every story that this group had published. I would describe this experience as a step toward Heaven. Finding so many authors that wrote what I wanted to read, OMG many times over. And we won't even talk about how much money went into this venture.  I am still exploring many of these authors a year later. And I've added tons of authors to my list. But one name stands out above and beyond all the others. Because it was my first love. Now I have loved many authors since then, but one's first love always holds a special place.  Any one who knows me knows this is the first author I recommend to any one looking to explore this genre. That author, whom I adore above all others, is J P Barnaby. 

      I began my exploration of Barnaby's Little Boy Lost series with Enlightened, the first of the six book series. This book started with "My name is Brian Patrick McAllister, and I am going to hell." And caught me immediately. I grew up in the south, Tennessee, so I understood being condemned by the church. But reading Brian's story, he gave me hope. Not because his story is so unlike mine, but because his story was exactly mine. Finding love, and having that love become your salvation. Now, I don't want to spoil these books for anyone who hasn't read them, but they take the reader on a journey unlike anything I've read before or since. The plots may be somewhat predictable, but the emotions are not. They are the most realistic fiction I've ever read.  Now keep in mind with your first love, you don't notice the imperfections you just see the overall arc of the relationship.  And this describes my relationship with this book.

     Unlike most books where I have felt sympathy for the character, this book and all the others that follow it I felt with the characters. (Spoiler) When Jamie is "gay bashed" in the second book, his road to recovery is realistic and heartfelt and inspirational to me. He fights and falls down with such truth that following his journey is better than watching an edisode of Queer as Folk or Noah's Ark. I loved the characters in these books, not for their strengths but for their obvious humanity. As the third book and Brian's journey continues, the audience gets to see a big city from a small town's point of view. Even through fear of the unknown, we get to see the search for true love prevail and meet new characters that are fleshed out and idealistic but grounded.

     Whether the reader has never read M/M before, or has read tons, this series will open up a newness to the genre that is much needed. I have given copies of these books to my wife to read as well. Because in my humble opinion one hasn't read M/M done well until they have read these books. Thank you to J P Barnaby and the Little Boy Lost series for setting an incredible standard of impecible fiction.  And for being my first love. I will always remember you.