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

18/50x2: Zombieland

This was one of the few films on my list I was apprehensive about watching. I have stated many times my lack of joy for gore-type horror films, but I had heard so many great things about this, including how hilarious it was, and that the gore was somewhat tame. So, I gave it a shot.

And, I am glad I did.

"Columbus" (Jesse Eisenberg) is a college student and one of the few unaffected humans still living in Zombieland, which is what Columbus has affectionately called the planet now. Apparently, a bad strain of mad cow disease has changed most humans into cannibalistic zombies, and Columbus is one of the few fighting to stay human.

He lives his life by a series of rules, like always checking in the back seat, to ensure his survival. He is currently trying to make it back to Columbus, Ohio to see if his parents are still alive or if they have been affected by this as well.

Along the way he runs into "Tallahassee" (Woody Harrelson), who actually seems to enjoy living in this new world. His goal throughout the entire film is to find a Twinkie - and loves killing zombies.

While searching a grocery store for Twinkies, the two stumble across "Wichita" (Emma Stone) and her sister "Little Rock" (Abigail Breslin). The sisters appear to be harmless, but it turns out they are con artists and manage to steal the guys' weapons and their car.

Now with no car, the guys manage to find an abandoned Hummer loaded with weapons. Instead of pressing on, Tallahassee sets his mind toward revenge and looks to ambush the two ladies. Yet again the girls outsmart them and take their new car - but Tallahassee is able to wrestle the gun away from Little Rock and a truce is negotiated as the quartet decides to move forward.

Wichita and Little Rock plan to head to 'Pacific Playland' an amusement park that they state is free of zombies. The four arrive and this is where the films climax takes part, and it was glorious.

As I said, these are not usually my cup of tea. But, it actually was. I really enjoyed it and the zombie/gore factor wasn't that bad either.

Harrelson really continues to impress me as an actor. I am glad he is finally back and making solid movies. Eisenberg also impresses here, and I feel the Michael Cera comparisons should probably stop as he has clearly past Cera. Let's be honest, all four of these actors are amazing - really liked Breslin and Stone as well.

This has also opened my eyes a bit and will allow me to watch some films a little out of my comfort zone that may be just a bit gorrier than I expect.

Grade: