50x2: Conclusion

Let me first start this by saying - I suck.

After such a seamless first 50 list that took no time at all, I took forever watching these second set of 50 films. Now, of course there were some reasons behind why it took so long, but not why it took this long.

The first post on this second list was made on August 11, 2011. The final post on this list was posted this morning. That is an entire year to sit down and watch 50 movies then post about what I thought. That is insane.

My main conclusion for why this took so long is basically laziness on my part. I watched a ton of these movies without sitting down to write the review. And then I found myself playing catch up, and the catch up took too long. Which basically made me stop watching the films until I did catch up.

Not this time. I am promising to watch a film and write a review as soon as possible after finishing it. My main reason for doing these lists is to get myself to watch films that I should be watching, but for some reason continue to put off.

Some of the films are exactly what I think they are going to be, and some of them surprise - and this works in both ways. Some films I watched surprised me that I liked them so much, while others surprised me that I just didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.

Anyway, to wrap up the 50 films list, volume two - here are my 10 favorite characters from the movies I watched and the top 10 films. Enjoy! 50 list, volume three coming soon.

Top 10 Characters 

10) Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen)

Mortensen stars as Tom Stall in A History of Violence. Stall is a local diner operator with a wife and two kids. One evening he takes out a few diner thieves and becomes an over night hero. But, he gets discovered on television and it turns out Stall is not who he says he is.

9) Irwin 'Fletch' Fletcher (Chevy Chase)

Almost everyone knows this film, but for some reason I never actually sat down to watch the movie. Chase stars as the titular Fletch, a columnist for a newspaper, who gets caught up in a bit of an issue with a man who wants Fletch to kill him.

8) Sir James Matthew Barie (Johnny Depp)

Depp stars as Barie, the man behind the magical Peter Pan, in Finding Neverland. This film shows Barie befriending a family and some children as he pens his most memorable book.

7) Aron Ralston (James Franco)

The first of two characters on this list that pretty much spend the entire film on the screen alone. Franco stars as Alston in 127 Hours, a film based on a true story where a mountain hiker falls down in between a pair of rocks and gets caught for days.

6) Floyd (Brad Pitt)

Pitt, who plays a bit of a stoner named Floyd in True Romance, doesn't have much screen time at all, but his presence is definitely felt. His character is pretty hilarious and he mistakenly tells the bad guys where to go to setup the final showdown.

5) Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)

Like so many others I have sort of developed a non-sexual man crush on Gordon-Levitt. This man can act, and I have loved so many of his films of late. Here he stars as Tom Hansen in (500) Days of Summer, a man that falls in love but with a woman that doesn't seem to have the ability to love in return.

4) Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds)

I will make the confession that I didn't think Reynolds had the ability to carry a film alone - I hardly felt Tom Hanks could do it. But, I was wrong. Reynolds plays Conroy in Buried, a film where he gets buried alive with only a few things available to him to help him get rescued.

3) Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale)

I could have picked a lot of characters from this film. Bale gets most of the credit in The Fighter as the struggling Eklund, but Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams were just as good in this film. But, I think Bale played most against cast so he gets the edge for me.

2) Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling)

This is sort of where I come to the realization that Gosling is going to be a talented actor for a very long time. He stars as Lars in Lars and the Real Girl, a man that had a difficult upbringing and has the inability to connect with others - so he bonds with a sex doll instead.

1) Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson)

Woody Harrelson just has this ability to stand out, at least to me. In a film a bit outside my comfort zone that I really loved - Harrelson had a lot to do with it. He was so badass and hilarious in this film. He just loves killing zombies, but all he really wants is a Twinkie.

Top 10 Films

10) Point Break

9) City of God

8) All the President's Men

7) The Town

6) Zombieland

5) (500) Days of Summer

4) Buried

3) The Fighter

2) Mystic River

1) Lars and the Real Girl

37/50x2: Lars and the Real Girl

I never understood how Ryan Gosling became such a great actor. In fact, I just did a quick look at his resume and I had seen a grand total of two of his films before before watching this one - Remember the Titans and Murder by Numbers. Believe me, I want to check out a handful of the others, but have not been able to yet.

So, with only those two films as my guide - and he was pretty good in both, just not megastar - I was really confused on where all the fuss was coming from. Then I watched Lars and the Real Girl.

Gosling stars as Lars Lindstrom, a man who is unable to interact with others very well and is pretty much socially awkward. He lives in a converted garage on his parents land that his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and his wife Karin (Emily Mortimer) now live in after the death of his father.

Despite constant tries to help with Lars' issues, Karin is turned down at almost every opportunity - and on the rare occasion that he may accept an invite for dinner, Lars is out of there as quickly as he can. He is a regular at a local church and has a job, where a co-worker Margo (Kelli Garner) has an obvious crush on him. But, he runs from any real interaction with anyone.

One day a co-worker shows Lars a website for lifelike dolls. And, for some reason Lars orders one and names her Bianca. He introduces her to his brother and sister-in-law as a friend. He talks to her as though she is real - concerned about his health Gus and Karin talk to Dagmar (Patricia Clarkson) the family physician. They convince Lars to take Bianca in for a check-up, and while she 'rests' he talks to Dagmar.

Though it is obviously odd, because the town loves Lars so much they accept Bianca as one of their own. And soon Lars says she is his girlfriend - and Bianca actually begins to have a social life. Thanks to this, Lars also begins to interact more with the people in his town.

I will not spoil this movie for anyone. It was just amazing to watch and I loved every minute of it. There is a reason revealed in the film about why Lars has become the way he is and it truly makes sense. Though the doll is creepy, because it actually does look pretty darn real - Lars never uses it for its intended purpose. It is merely there as first a friend, then a girlfriend - and he treats it with respect.

Gosling was incredible in this role and I am now beginning to see just what all of the fuss is about. I realize that around the same time he was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Half Nelson. He has become a talented actor and I can't wait to start digging into some of his other work.

The other actors were also great. I have only seen Garner in a few things, but I really like what she brings to the table. In some of the things Mortimer has been in she has sometimes annoyed me, but I liked her in this role. And, Schneider - I don't know I just really consider him a poor-man's John Krasinski. I think his role on Parks and Rec had a lot to do with that image - as he was probably brought in as the 'Jim' character. I just kept picturing Krasinski as the character here, and as good as Schneider was I felt Krasinski could have been better.

A touching and well written story. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you check it out.

Grade: