you can observe a lot by just watching

Many of you have read my movie reviews and come upon a film that I had not previously seen, and thought to yourself, "You hadn't seen THAT before?" This set of movies should answer some of the likely follow-up questions. "Why don't you automatically watch blockbusters that everyone else seems to like?" "Why don't you trust the professional reviewers?" "Why do you have such unrelentingly strange taste in films?"

Unbroken (2014) - "After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I do not read the box-back descriptions of these, you know? So I had no idea what this was about. The version that I watched was in a box that looked like that at right, so I thought this was a movie about running. Ha!
IMDB: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 51% Audience: 70%
story: 3.5/5--based on a true story
visuals: 3/5
acting: 3/5--standouts: Domhnall Gleeson (Phil) and Alex Russell ("older Pete")
intangibles: 1/5--this is quite a pretentious little movie masquerading as an Important Film. Along the same vein as 1917 (reviewed here), just because a movie tells a story - even an important one, historically speaking - does not make that story cinematic. See, e.g., The Master, reviewed here. Angelina Jolie directed this well; I hope that the next film of hers that I see is worth seeing.
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Cinematography
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Sound Editing
overall: 2.625/5

The Social Network (2010) - "As Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea, and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it got a lot of nominations, so surely that must equate to high-quality filmmaking and a great viewer experience, right?! No, seriously, I had hopes that it might turn out all right.
IMDB: 7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 96% Audience: 86%
story: 2/5--pampered dickheads treating each other badly and getting revoltingly rich in the process. OH YAY
visuals: 2.5/5--unmemorable
acting: 2/5
intangibles: 1/5--this movie leaves me filled with loathing for everything surrounding FB, social media, and Zuckerberg and his emotionally crippled cronies
Academy Award winner:
• Best Writing, adapted screenplay
• Best Film Editing
• Best Music, original score
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture
• Best Director
• Best Actor--Jesse Eisenberg (capable of two facial expressions! Constipated or goofy. He's a Will Ferrell mini-me.)
• Best Cinematography
• Best Sound Mixing
overall: 1.875/5--there is only one character in this film with any redeeming qualities whatsoever: Erica Albright, "the girl that got away," played by Rooney Mara. She spoke the two lines of dialog that stick with me, with which I can relate:

"Dating you is like dating a StairMaster!"

"You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole."

The Cannonball Run (1981) - "A wide variety of eccentric competitors participate in a wild and illegal cross-country road race. However, the eccentric entrants will do anything to win the road race, including low-down, dirty tricks."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I had seen it before - maybe when it first came out? Though it seems pretty racy for my parents to have gone for that when I was that young.
IMDB: 6.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 30% Audience: 61%
story: 1.5/5
visuals: 2/5--TV movie level visuals. When I see things like this and think back on Hud (reviewed here), there is absolutely no comparison in the visuals.
acting: 2/5--no acting here, just silliness
intangibles: 2.5/5--the cast is filled with famous names, there are some decent bits, and if you like car chases and broads as scenery, this will appeal
overall: 2/5

Sully (2016) - "The story of Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents.
I watched it because: I knew the story, but it had been a while since the movie came out. I remember seeing something about it on Letterman, too.
IMDB: 7.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 85% Audience: 84%
story: 4/5--it's the story behind the story
visuals: 4.5/5--Clint Eastwood directed, and his vision is extraordinary
acting: 4/5--standout: Aaron Eckhart as copilot Jeff Skiles
intangibles: 4/5--it is a film about trusting yourself, not overthinking or second-guessing
Academy Award nominee: Best Sound Editing
overall: 4.125/5--I have not traveled by air much in recent years, but I love someone who does so very frequently. This film shook me very deeply, in much the same way as I was upset by Patriots Day (reviewed here). I will not forget this one.

The Grandmaster (2013) - "The story of martial-arts master Ip Man, the man who trained Bruce Lee."
Source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: it must have been a preview on another movie that I watched? It has been in my Amazon cart for a while, and I ordered it once it hit my threshold price level.
IMDB: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 78% Audience: 58%
story: 3/5
visuals: 5/5--outstanding. Beautiful and haunting, with terrific fight scenes and the imagery that one would anticipate from an Oscar-nominated martial arts film.
acting: 2.5/5--standout: Tony Chiu-Wai Leung (Ip Man)
intangibles: 2.5/5--I am not a fan of Ziyi Zhang, whose work is overwrought and too stylized for my taste. I prefer standard (?) fight scenes and realism. The "romance" of this movie is distracting from what I perceived to be the point, which is Ip Man's development and promotion of Wing Chun.
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Cinematography
• Best Costume Design
overall: 3.25/5

Skyline (2010) - "Strange lights descend on the city of Los Angeles, drawing people outside like moths to a flame where an extraterrestrial force threatens to swallow the entire human population off the face of the Earth."
Source: I own the DVD as part of a box set of "Post-Apocalyptic Action Films"
I watched it because: I f'd up my knee in a recent workout and am easing back into training, and wanted something nice and short to watch
IMDB: 4.4/10
Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 16% Audience: 18%
story: .5/5
visuals: 1/5
acting: 1/5
intangibles: 1.5/5--the part where the lead guy was punching the alien in the "belly" and ripped out its "brain" ... priceless
overall: 1/5--far worse than the sound and feeling of the bursitis in my knee

[the title quotation is from Yogi Berra]