Fourthy Watches Movies A-Z (Fun Challenge)

[Marty McFourth]

This will be structured like my Halloween thread last year if you followed that. I'll post the film, synopsis and a small section with my thoughts.

Only this time around, I won't be posting everyday. So just however long it takes me to get through the movies. So I'll be taking my time with it.

I will be watching a film with a title from each letter of the alphabet.

A - American Pie (14th January, 2024)
B - Bruce Almighty (15th January, 2024)
C - Cast Away (20th January, 2024)
D - Donnie Darko (24th January, 2024)
E - Edge of Darkness (28th January, 2024)
F - Friday (2nd February, 2024)
G - Goodfellas (4th February, 2024)
H - Her (9th February, 2024)
I - Stephen King's IT (21st February, 2024)
J - Jurassic Park (26th February, 2024)
K - Knowing (26th April, 2024)
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 1999
Synopsis: In a bid to end their misfortune with women, four friends, Jim, Oz, Finch and Kevin, try every trick in the book to ensure that they lose their virginity before prom night.

This is a film I watched when I was quite young growing up, so I really felt like I grew up with these characters and it has made American Pie have a hugely special place in my heart. It's one I can always stick on at anytime and have a great time with it. In a way, it is like being with some old friends from your past. I know so many of the pieces of dialogue and scenes and yet it still manages to make me laugh every single time. The cast are perfect and so are the characters that were chosen for them.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 2003
Synopsis: Bruce, a TV reporter, is dissatisfied with his life despite his professional popularity and the love of his girlfriend. He denigrates God, who then gives Bruce divine powers to run the world.

Great fun film that has always held up well on further rewatches. This is a role I'd consider to be one of Jim Carrey's best, although he had plenty of notable ones in the 90's and 2000's. I have found this to be one to stick with me the longest alongside Dumb and Dumber and Truman Show. Morgan Freeman is also great as God, especially with how powerful his voice is. He was perfectly casted. The scenes when Bruce gets the powers and starts to mess around is wildly entertaining. I also like the later scenes when it gets a bit more serious of a film, more than you might expect. It's got a great balance between the funny moments and the more emotional scenes. Definitely a highlight of early 2000's comedies for me, and one I would highly recommend to people.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 2000
Synopsis: Chuck Noland wakes up on a deserted island after his plane crash-lands into the Pacific. Now, he must harness every skill he knows to survive the mental and physical agony of living alone.

Such a fantastic survival movie. It really does a terrific job capturing the loneliness and isolation of that situation extremely well. Only Tom Hanks could get me to tear up over a volleyball. You just connect with his character so much in this and feel his pain. It really makes you will him on and the character development is superb from start to finish. One of his Top 3 performances for me, it'sabsolutely flawless in every facet. Such an emotional journey, I really like the open ended nature of the ending too. It leaves you thinking and wondering what's next in this story. I always liked that.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 2001
Synopsis: Donnie Darko, an awkward teenager, befriends Frank, a figure in a bunny costume only he can see, who informs Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds.

Donnie Darko is one of those films that ages like a fine wine. It only seems to get better and better with more time that passes. The first time you watch it, it's a special experience. You just find yourself totally captivated by it and the world that it creates. The further rewatches are even more enjoyable. It's one of those you appreciate something more about with each viewing. So masterfully shot with an incredible atmosphere and surreal story and vibe that really sticks with you. This is the film that really got me in to Jake Gyllenhaal, and he's one of my favourite actors now.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 2010
Synopsis: When homicide detective Craven starts investigating the death of his daughter, he uncovers her secret life. In the process, he also discovers a large cover-up of corporate and government corruption.

This was a fun thriller. One I don't recall seeing before, surprisingly. I liked the atmosphere of it, it starts off very dark even from the opening scenes. I always appreciate when a movie hooks you right from the get go and makes you interested to see where the story goes right away. It had a good feel to it. The story was great, much better than I was expecting it to be. There was a lot of pieces to the puzzle. Good characters and performances.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 1995
Synopsis: It's Friday, and Craig and Smokey must come up with $200 they owe a local bully or there won't be a Saturday.

This is one of those movies like Clerks where I can just sit and vibe to it. It's got a good story with some serious moments towards the end but it feels very chill overall. There's a lot of nostalgia attached to it for me. It's one of my most replayed movies. I watch it multiple times a year, if not more. Especially a lot of the scenes over and over again which still make me laugh. It's always a good pick for some background noise. I know pretty much every line in it, so the fact it still makes me laugh so much is just a sign of how good of a comedy it really is. Cube and Tucker have some incredible chemistry in this, I wish we could have seen them do one last Friday film together. It was rumored for a while but nothing ever came of it. The sequels are decent but are missing a lot of the charm of this, although I do think Next Friday is worth watching at least once. It has some funny moments. It's just mssing Tucker's energy.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 1990
Synopsis: The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.

Goodfellas is one of those films I immediately think of when people ask me what I consider to be a perfect film. It's just a masterclass really in every department. The direction by Martin Scorsese is flawless, the way the story is told couldn't have been done any better. The performances are some of the best I have ever seen, especially by Joe Pesci who practically steals every scene he's in. It's just incredibly memorable with so many fantastic quotes and scenes that are consistently fun to rewatch but are so impactful the first time. This is definitely the film i would credit for getting me heavily in to Mob movies, as I couldn't stop watching them and trying to find 'The next Goodfellas' afterwards.
​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 2013
Synopsis: Theodore Twombly, an introverted writer, buys an Artificial Intelligence system to help him write. However, when he finds out about the AI's ability to learn and adapt, he falls in love with it.

Her is one of those films that I watched and I could not stop thinking about it for literally days afterwards. It really moved me a lot in ways I hadn't really felt or experienced from a film before and made me think about a lot of things in life and our future in particular. It only continues to get more impactful and accurate as the years pass by and technology continues to advance. It's such a beautifully told story and really captures a lot of emotions extremely well, especially the feelings of loneliness and love. Joaquin Phoenix is phenomenal, one of his best performances he has given and I could easily settle on it as my personal favourite from him. Scarlett Johansson has a soothing voice that goes absolutely perfect for this role.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 1990
Synopsis: In 1960, seven preteen outcasts fight an evil demon that poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.

This aged a lot better than I was expecting. Was thinking it would be a lot cheesier but it's well acted and it doesn't feel overdone for the most part. The younger cast especially are great. It's a lot more atmospheric than I remembered, I really enjoy the mood of this a lot and especially a lot of the rainy scenes at the beginning. As much as I enjoyed Bill Skarsgård's performance as Pennywise in the Remakes, Tim Curry has a massive soft spot for me. His look, mannersisms and voice were all so incredibly on point and creepy. The scene where he pops out to Georgie and drags him in to the sewers is easily one of the best and most disturbing scenes in this film, it's so unnerving. One of those scenes that has stuck me with throughout all these years. I wouldn't even really consider myself afraid of Clowns but IT was one of the first that got under my skin. Glad I watched this again, it was great and I liked the story and character development. The special effects are pretty good for when it released, too. I love that the characters get a ton of development, which is a benefit of it being a mini-series.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

Released: 1993
Synopsis: An industrialist invites some experts to visit his theme park of cloned dinosaurs. After a power failure, the creatures run loose, putting everyone's lives, including his grandchildren's, in danger.

Jurassic Park is one of those films where the amount of positive things I could list about it is just endless really. It just does everything right. Infinitely rewatchable and always holds up extremely well in the visuals department, the special effects are incredible. The characters are awesome with some great perofrmances, my favourite actor from it being Jeff Goldblum who's just effortlessly cool and such a charismatic guy. The writing, story and pacing is just excellent. It does such a great job building up the suspense. As a kid growing up watching this for the first time it was atonishing to see these dinosaurs be brought to life on the screen. They felt so real and lifelike and with the sound design it felt like you were actually there.​

 

[Marty McFourth]

First update to this since the end of February and hoping to continue to make more progress on this challenge,

Released: 2009
Synopsis: When John learns about the time capsule containing cryptic messages about the coming apocalypse that mentions the dates of disasters, he sets out to prevent the horrific events from unfolding.

I'm a fan of disaster films and have always had a soft spot for them. This is one of my personal favourites. I love the Sci-fi aspects. The first time I watched it the premise really pulled me in and kept me intrigued until the end. It really does a lot of interesting things and has so many good elements to it, it's also far darker than a lot of other films I have seen in this genre. The special effects are really good and hold up pretty well. The ending is one of those that divides people, but I really liked it because it surprised me and it has remained in my memory for this long. I'd certainly recommend this if you're a fan of these type of films or enjoy Nicolas Cage as puts in pretty good performance.​