The Prestige

So, I watched the Prestige about a year ago, and though it was a great movie, and gave it a 10. Recently I rewatched it, and now I start to question my top 10 movies, as I hadn't considered the Prestige for a spot. When I rework my top movies, I'll post about it.
So I might as well review this amazing piece of cinema directed by the great Christopher Nolan (I'll also do a post on directors eventually) starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and the beautiful Scarlett Johansson. And no matter what bad you can say about Christian Bale, that he is a jerk and that he has the worst Batman voice, but he is an amazing actor. Hugh Jackman I don't really have much of an opinion about. And Miss Johansson is gorgeous.

But considering what an amazing end it has, I don't want to spoil it in the slightest, so. So I guess this article will go unread, because Aris, that lazy bum has yet to watch it =D.

So ya, it's a great movie, everybody watch it asap, and from this point onward

Though I won't outright say anything, because people might not notice this giant sign. But I'll talk about themes in the movie, which if noticed too much, might lead to figuring out the ending earlier, and that's no fun.

So this movie is amazing. It has many ideas that it presents in the movie, and has tiny parallels that mirror those big questions. So the obvious question, is how far would one go to, well in the movies case be the greatest magician, but more broadly, be great? Both lead actors go through many trials and sacrifices for their art.
There is also the issue of pride. Obviously the desire for greatness, but also, does one want to be the man in the box, or the man in the prestige, the one who gets the applause? How important is getting that glory?
My favorite aspect that is touched by this movie, that seems to bother other critics most, is the use of the sci-fi element. They seem, however to miss the message. The movie is showing that true magic is real, in the sciences. Being a scientist myself, that is a heart-warming thought. And a famous quote is used and altered by various characters: man's reach exceeds his grasp.

Then of course there are the twists and turns at the end. That I personally didn't expect at all (well the main one). It's a great twist in and of itself. But going through the movie a second time, knowing the ending, it is great to see allusions to the end, that seem obvious now. Just like when Bale's character explained one of his tricks, the other comments, how it's so obvious now. And the repeating of the lines from the beginning at the end: "Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking."
Because it is so much greater not knowing, that you don't pay attention to the small details, would you look carefully it would lose some of its value. It still was a great watch the second time, even though I wasn't surprised by the end.

End of spoilers, I guess
Overall opinion. It is a well directed, well acted drama/thriller about to ambitious magicians battling it out full of sacrifice. Though there may be some aspects towards the end that throw people off, I believe they just missed the point as to why it was put in, and the story as a whole is very, very good. The run time is just over two hours, so it is a good length.
Somehow this masterpiece by Nolan is underrated, having 8.4 on imdb, but only a 75% on rottentomatoes , mostly due to dumb critics like Cole Smithey...ok, he didn't review that movie, but, you should check his reviews out (he is one of 4 who ruined Toy Story 3's 100% on rt, and one of 10 that didn't like Memento or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind btw), just to laugh at how stupid that man is. Don't read his reviews to any movie you haven't seen, since he basically summarizes the entire plot, which constitutes to the core of his review. But read say, Scott Pilgrim, Kick-Ass or ESotSM and see what a fool he is.

uuhhhh...so ya 10/10.

Movie ratings

So being the lonely, antisocial soul that I am, I have watched a lot of movies recently. But before I get to telling the internet how I feel about them, maybe a little elaboration of my movie rating tendencies.
So as of 22/10/10 (yes, the day is before the month. The US systems are always illogical, this makes more sense- it goes from smallest to largest) my movie rating history is as follows:
 
499 movies rated

10 - 56
9  - 64
8 - 96
7 - 82
6 - 73
5 - 50
4 - 40
3 - 18
2 - 16
1 - 2
0 - 2

Now for statistics!
Mean: 6.8
Median: 7

So one thing that pops out, that the most commonly given rating is 8, and the mean and median are quite high. It may seem that I am pretty lenient critic, but the thing is, I choose which movies I watch. I don't watch something like The Last Airbender, or My Soul To Take, recent horrible movies (unless I stumble upon them). Sometimes however I choose a movie based on an actor/actress staring in it, and then it turns out it isn't all that good.
So aaanyways, lets give examples of each rating.

Start from the top:

10- So this obviously is for near perfect movies (there is almost always some flaw)

Simply the best

 

Some non-Hollywood movies:

Also, a bunch of animated features, almost all of  Pixar.

There are only a few comedies on this list: many are entertaining, but since most try to appeal to many, some jokes are dumb, and of course there isn't much plot. But anyways, here are some comedies that are just awesome.

Would also like to shout out to some lesser known greats:

So bad it's hilarious:

 

Rating number nine- I don't really want to give out 10s that much so a bunch that don't make it to that great level get a nine.

Though this slot is also reserve as an honorary position for some nostalgic movies or "bad" movies that I enjoy.

So the most common rating is 8. I found this surprising as well. It seems that this is full of great movies that had something missing, or wasn't able to make it over the hump to the glory of an 9 or 10. It also seems to be full of comedies. Most of the good ones fall into this rating, with the exception of the few excellent ones that are scored higher.

So with seven, we get into the category of "good" movies. Movies that are entertaining, but not much else (or in the case of dramas, don't have enough...well...drama) Or great movies with flaws, like being too slow (Deer Hunter, Deliverance, and others),

Movies that get a six are alright...sorta meh

So, I guess I would draw the line of a positive score at 6 or 7, below that ain't so good. For ratings 4 and below, it is kinda hard to decide exactly how bad a given movie is. I'll give some specific explanations for some.

The 5s:

A good movie, a solid 7....for the first three quarters. But the ending was so terrible, it was despicable, disgusting, disappointing....ugh, I don't even want to talk about it

Yes, Goodfellas, one of the greatest gangster movies of all time. That may be true, but it seems that I don't get why people like this genre. From The Godfather to Miller's Crossing, I don't like them. I have no sympathy for the double-crossing murdering lairs. When someone gets killed, all I feel is some sense of joy, that "good, one less jerk in the world".

In all rights, a bad movie. A sub-par slasher/thriller feature some young people on vacation. BUT it does get a few points for featuring sexy, sexy....sexy Olivia Wilde....ok, where was I?

The 4s:

A true enigma: Which did I start hating first: Russell Crowe or this movie? hmmm....

It's tough to adapt the 2nd greatest novel ever written to the big screen. It's a shame that it will be compared to such a great book

Looked awesome in 3D...but that's it, not enough to carry this mundane, cliche flick

The 3s:

I used to think it was alright, but then I stopped being stupid and realized that Martin Lawrence is one of the least funniest people and a complete asshole

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Well.....It.....Fuck this movie

The 2s:

The fall of Uma....'tis a shame.

Yes, I have seen this...I have actually seen all three. Don't judge me, I don't have to explain anything to the likes of you! But ya, it was as bad as they say, though the the other two aren't as bad.

I was promised so bad it's good, but I got so bad it's terrible. Curse you Gamespot's The Hotspot crew!!!

The 1s, well the two of them:

Watched in preperation of the other, more recent Street Fighter movie. Well this was just....terrible. I couldn't even finish, which is quite rare for me

I don't remember watching it to be honest, but I rated it on RT and IMDB, so I must have. I guess my mind just blocked the horrible trauma that I must have gone through.

And the zeros, the worst of the worst:

Well there was this cute looking girl in Good Burger (see 7) and I checked what else she's been in, and this was basically it. She was there for like 5 min. But ya, this movie is worthless.

It came on tv one time. It was like a car accident- I couldn't look away. There is a fine line between so bad it's good and so bad it's terrible, and it managed to crash into the latter crevice

I tried to provide a varied selection of films for each rating, and some more obscure ones that you should probably see. Hope this is helpful for any future movie reviews and ratings.