we're so much better when we wing it

Three wins, and a new category of bad!

Sunny (1941) - "The beautiful Anna Neagle stars as a circus performer who falls in love with a rich car dealer's son, against her family's wishes. Features some spirited dance numbers with Ray Bolger."
source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I wanted to see something happy
IMDB: 5.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: N/A%  (this is accurate - there are too few ratings to display an aggregate)
my IMDB: 6/10

MPAA rating: Not rated [passed]

directed by: Herbert Wilcox

my notes: silly but entertaining
Academy Award nominee: Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture
overall:  recommended

Reindeer Games (2000) - "After being imprisoned for six years on a grand theft auto charge, Rudy Duncan is days away from release as is his cellmate Nick who is is serving a two year sentence on a separate charge. Nick has a number of pictures from a romantic correspondence with a woman named Ashley he has never met but is waiting for his release. Rudy is looking forward to returning to his family and having a fresh cup of hot chocolate. Nick is killed defending Rudy during a prison riot. When Rudy Is released the next day from prison he recognizes Ashley waiting outside the prison for Nick and Rudy takes his place and pretends to be Nick. Nick had spoken of his previous employment in security with an Indian casino and Rudy finds himself involved with Ashley's criminal gun runner brother Gabriel. Rudy is violently coerced to cooperate with a Christmas Eve casino robbery scheme that Gabriel and his gang have been planning with Nick's casino knowledge as the key. Things don't go as planned with a number of plot twists and double crosses."

source: I borrowed the DVD
I watched it because: I've always wanted to see it and finally got around to it
IMDB: 5.8/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 25% Audience: 27%
my IMDB: 1/10 - DNF

notable quote: "Naw-uh, fuck that. Nick doesn't do anything until Nick gets something for Nick. I want some hot chocolate. You want to hear about some Indian casino, I want to see some goddamn hot chocolate! And a piece of pecan fucking pie!"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: John Frankenheimer

my notes: godawful, vile, revolting, and stupid

    And for reference, Charlize Theron's notes: "That was a bad, bad, bad movie...."
overall: not recommended

Die Hard (1988) - "NYPD cop John McClane goes on a Christmas vacation to visit his wife Holly in Los Angeles where she works for the Nakatomi Corporation. While they are at the Nakatomi headquarters for a Christmas party, a group of robbers led by Hans Gruber take control of the building and hold everyone hostage, with the exception of John, while they plan to perform a lucrative heist. Unable to escape and with no immediate police response, John is forced to take matters into his own hands."
source: I own the film series on DVD
I watched it because: it's a Christmas movie!
IMDB: 8.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 94% Audience: 94%
my IMDB: 8/10

AFI: 100 Years ... 100 Thrills (2001) #39

    100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains (2003) Villain #46 Hans Gruber

notable quote: "Pearl Harbor didn't work out, so we got you with tape decks."

MPAA rating: R

directed by: John McTiernan

my notes: I've finally realized that I love this movie. It is over the top, vulgar, violent, funny, and oddly sweet. Watching it makes me happy.

Academy Award nominee:
• Best Sound

• Best Film Editing

• Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing

• Best Effects, Visual Effects

Last reviewed here
overall: recommended

Pain & Gain (2013) - "Based on the true story of Daniel Lugo, a Miami bodybuilder who wants to live the American dream. He would like to have the money that other people have. So he enlists the help of fellow bodybuilder Adrian Doorbal and ex-convict, Christian bodybuilder Paul Doyle. Their kidnapping and extortion scheme goes terribly wrong since they have muscles for brains and they're left to haphazardly try to hold onto the elusive American dream."
source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I wanted to have something mindless playing while completing a task
IMDB: 6.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 50% Audience: 47%
my IMDB: 7/10

notable quote: "'We go through with this, nobody gets hurt right?'

    'No, man! We snatch him, we grab him, he signs a few signature, we give him a protein shake! He don't even know what happened! I watched a lot of movies—I know what I'm doing!'"

MPAA rating: R

directed by: Michael Bay

my notes: this must have been a blast to make, channeling all the masculine stereotypes at once. A highlight for me is Dwayne Johnson in the passenger seat of a 1988 Fiero.

previously reviewed here
overall: recommended

[the title quotation is from Pain & Gain]