I see a lot of movies every year. A
ton. But this year I’ve decided I don’t see enough movies, so one of my
New Year Resolutions was to simply see more. And to write about them.
See, that’s the other half of the equation: I see a ton of movies, but
I write about comparatively few of them. There are a lot of reasons,
but they mainly boil down to the fact that I feel the need to do long
form reviews, and sometimes – like in the midst of Sundance – I just
don’t have the time.
And
so was born this new blog! I aim to make an entry for every single
movie I see in 2010. Some entries may be very short, some may be
lengthy. Entries may take a couple of days to be posted. Let’s see how
long this lasts.
One
last thing: one of my main objectives this year is to rewatch more
movies. I know this sounds like a strange goal, but there are films I
haven’t seen since high school, which means it’s been almost a lifetime
since I saw them. Recently I rewatched Black Christmas for the first
time since the 1980s, and I might as well have been seeing the movie
for the first time. I’m interested in getting a look at some movies I
loved or hated twenty or even ten years ago and seeing how I feel about
them now.
Let’s begin…
#46 Punisher War Zone
2009
d. Lexi Alexander
I bought the Blu-Ray of this film months and months ago, when I first got my Blu-Ray player, and while I watched the opening shoot out at some point, I never sat through the entire thing. In fact, I had only seen the film once, in theaters.
The first time through the film had been a blast, but reaction to my positive review had been mixed – somewhat predictably. This viewing was going to be weighted by expectations, something the first viewing didn’t have, as I thought going in that this movie would be a piece of shit.
Verdict? The lulls in the film hurt more on second viewing, but the insane violence and the weird stylistic flourishes still work. I don’t think my enthusiasm for the film as a whole is as strong as it was after the first viewing, but this is still a delightful movie. Knowing that the end is anticlimactic does lend to checking out of the movie during the Loony Bin Jim/Punisher fight, though.
It’s still a pity that this is the last Punisher movie we’re getting, though. They finally got the character right. I would have liked to have seen him become black in the sequel. Hey, it happened in the comics.