Mission: No More Unopened DVDs: 2009

Sunday, December 20, 2009

DVD For Sale Part III

DVDs For Sale Part II

Saturday, December 19, 2009

School's Out and DVDs For Sale!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Things obviously haven't gone to plan, but here are a few more reviews.

Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (1988)

I actually saw this movie in the theater when it came out; the third one as well. My dad is a big horror film fan and took me to see stuff like this all the time. This is one of my favorite Freddy movies. It uses an interesting conceit - a high school girl has a tendency to experience vivid daydreams, and soon realizes she has a connection to Krueger (Hmm. I wonder why?). She ends up beating him by using the "special dream powers" of all the other kids he has killed in the movie. Silly, yes, but its execution is very amusing. This is the only early film in the series that doesn't even try to be serious. Yes, it's a bad movie, most in the series are, but as a fan of horror films, I think this is funny and scary enough to be enjoyable.

Stripes (1981)

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Starring:

Bill Murray
Harold Ramis
John Candy
John Larroquette
Sean Young
Judge Reinhold

Made a year after the slightly better Private Benjamin, this military comedy still holds up pretty well. The story is slightly similar to the aforementioned Goldie Hawn movie. Two guys in their thirties, played by Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, have depressing lives. One guy decides that the Army is just the thing they both need, so he talks his friend into enlisting with him. Zaniness ensues.

This is probably one of the most uneven films Reitman has ever made. It starts off really well, managing to be very entertaining, until the guys make it out of boot camp half way through and are assigned their mission: guarding a top secret military vehicle/weapon - built like an RV - in Germany. Murray gets the great idea to steal it on the weekend with his friend for kicks and take a vacation in the country. While this is going on, their commander and the rest of the soldiers hunt them down, accidentally winding up in Soviet territory - enemy country back then. Murray and Ramis find out and end up saving the day, thanks to the help of the RV and their former drill sergeant. Overall, it's not as funny as the first half.

The other problem I have is that the love interest part of the story isn't that interesting. Bill Murray and a young Sean Young really don't have much chemistry.

This movie is more than worth watching, though. The first half is filled with classic, hilarious scenes. The graduation parade is my personal favorite. More than anything, this movie is a foreshadow of the next, much better Reitman/Ramis/Murray collaboration - Ghostbusters.

Star Trek (2009)

Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring:

Chris Pine as James T. Kirk
Zachary Quinto as Spock
Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime
Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Eric Bana as Nero
Simon Pegg as Montgomery Scott
Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson (Spock's mother)
Ben Cross as Sarak (Spock's father)
Tyler Perry as some admiral (wtf?)
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as the voice of the Starfleet computer

I bought this movie Tuesday and decided to watch it immediately. As was made obvious back in September, I am a huge Star Trek fan. Watching this series re-boot was exhilarating back in May. However, as much as I enjoyed it, there was something about it that I didn't particularly like. It became quite clear watching it for the second time Tuesday night.

Making the decision to cast new actors for such iconic characters was a huge risk, but it definitely paid off. The actors that played Kirk, Spock and McCoy nailed their parts. Most of the rest were good as well. The only actor I didn't really care for, surprisingly, was Simon Pegg as Scotty. There was just something off about the way he decided to play the engineer.

The main problem with this film is that the first ten minutes are absolutely breathtaking in intensity and emotion. It's all downhill from there. The only thing that saves the first half is that the movie does a great job of introducing all the characters, focusing on Spock and Kirk. The execution of this is extremely entertaining. This is aided in no small part by the fact that all of the actors seem to be have had a great time playing larger than life characters, especially Pine and Quinto. The acting is the best part of this movie.

However, there is a point in this movie, a point which completely changes the time line from the original Star Trek universe, that stands as a definitive marker for when the movie starts to sour. I am not going to say what it is because it absolutely shocked me, and should not be ruined. From the beginning, it's clear that this movie was created as a new, parallel Star Trek universe. However, I did not anticipate one of the changes.

The problem is that the second half of the movie is an action-oriented movie, unlike the first half, which is much more character-oriented. Now, Star Trek is well known for its action. Unfortunately, JJ Abrams and the two screenwriters apparently did not understand what made Star Trek so popular amongst its fans: the characters. In all the Star Trek movies, and in most of the shows, all of the major fight scenes featured sarcastic dialogue and some humorous actions and facial expressions. The second half of this film features absolutely none. Zero. I am at a loss to explain why this is. The action scenes in the first half all did to great effect. To be blunt, the second half of the movie is deadly dull, which is unforgivable because it is mostly non-stop action. This is made even worse by the fact that the villain, Nero, has a number of scenes in the second half. Eric Bana did what he could with the role, but there just wasn't much to him, making his character a bit boring.

The second half of the movie also features ridiculously sloppy writing. Terrible, terrible explanations were given to explain why things were happening or needed to happen. Terrible explanations.

Overall, despite my harsh critique of the second half, I highly recommend this movie. The first ten minutes alone make it worth it. I cried both times. And if that weren't enough, the acting, with the exception of Pegg, is a pure delight. These two things are more than enough to make up for the second half.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Guess Who's Back

This has been a very busy month. Between school, getting sick, getting sick again, and a few other things, I haven't had time to post here. Luckily, I have been keeping up with my movie schedule. I decided tonight to try and post my thoughts on a movie or two a night for the rest of the month. They probably won't be as detailed or even as interesting as I would like, but I suppose I should take what I can get.

Poltergeist (1982)

This was one of my favorite movies growing up. Watching it as an adult, I have an even greater appreciation of how well-written this movie is. Spielberg really knew how to write a good movie back then. I had originally saved this movie for the last day of the month, but after spending several days fighting the flu, I wanted something fun to watch. So, I watched sooner than anticipated.

Here's some general notes I made while watching:

I can't believe JoBeth Williams got top billing above Craig T. Nelson. Even though she was the bigger start at the time, that is such a rare thing.

I cannot believe I forgot about the broadcast signoff.

This has one of the coolest opening scenes of all time. It's weird how much I forgot. And it was so similar to my childhood. My dad always watched television at night, and inevitably when the broadcast signoff would come on, he would be asleep on the couch or recliner.

Holy crap! The parents are smoking pot! I sometimes forget how cool Steven Spielberg used to be.

Oh, the station wagon. I so don't miss you.

There is an awful, awful edit cut at about the 34 minute mark. I looked it up and apparently a bit was cut out because Craig T. Nelson said "I Hate Pizza Hut" in the scene and Pizza Hut took issue.

That small woman is so awesome.

I still believe to this day that that clown is far scarier than the creepy tree.

"This house is clean." How wrong you were, lady.

This movie rocks. It's scary, funny and generally quirky. Everything a Spielberg film used to be.

Ed Wood (1994)

Johnny Depp as Ed Wood
Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi

This was a very strange movie. As a big movie fan, I've know who Ed Wood was for a while, mainly through the notoriety of his Plan 9 From Outer Space, often given the dubious award of worst movie of all time. I suppose I should have known that a guy that would make a movie that bad would be pretty quirky.

I had no idea that Bela Lugosi and Ed Wood had such a close relationship. I am glad, if only because it led to one of the most interesting relationships I've ever seen in a movie. I always though Martin Landau won the Oscar for playing Lugosi as a charity award for much a long career. After seeing the movie, I can say that he more than deserved it. I had to kept reminding myself it was Landau, because the man on the screen looked nothing like him. This is the only time I've ever seen an actor overshadow Johnny Depp.

Landau's performance really saves this movie. I can't imagine it being good without him. The movie is a bit charming, and even sweet, but without Landau the movie would be far too lightweight.

A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All (2008)

Starring:

Stephen Colbert as himself
Elvis Costello as himself
Jon Stewart as himself
John Legend as himself
Willie Nelson as himself
Toby Keith as himself
Leslie Feist as herself
George Wendt as the Godless Killing Machine

Stephen Colbert rocks! So it stands to reason that his Christmas special does as well.

One of the best parts of this special is how closely it nails the old 70s and 80s specials. My personal favorite is the fake audience applause played after Colbert introduces each celebrity. I always thought the clapping was funny when I was a kid.

All of the singing parts are great. I love Jon Stewart's ode to Hanukkah, and Willie Nelson's voice is just as good as it has always been. But my absolute favorite is the call center angel.

The best part of watching this, though, is finding out it was better the second time around. The first time, though I did enjoy it, I found it a bit underwhelming. I suppose that going in this time with no expectations allowed me to just sit back and enjoy it for what it is.

The DVD has some great extras, too. It offers a few alternate endings, a couple of them even better the one they went with. There is also a DVD advent calendar, which was fun to go through.

Over all, this was well worth the money.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

DVD Extras

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

Angela Lansbury - Miss Price; not a rich witch
David Tomlinson - forever the dad from Mary Poppins

When I was growing up, my parents had two Disney movies on VHS tape that my sister and I used to watch over and over again: Pete's Dragon and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Not surprisingly, though they are two of the lesser known Disney films, they are my favorites. When I made my schedule for October, Bedknobs and Broomsticks was one of the movies I was most excited to watch. This is why I am so very disappointed to admit that I did not enjoy watching the movie.

And this leads me to a bit of a tangential comment. I am not that big of a fan of Ridley Scott. I have a couple of his movies, but I think he peaked with Alien. This is primarily because of his more recent style. I blame him for ushering in the era of shots that don't last for more than 3 or 4 seconds (I'm looking at you, Gladiator). I can't stand that. However, a couple of years ago, I began to respect Scott's artistic integrity. When DVDs finally replaced VHS, special features became a big deal. Movie studios realized that if they put in a ton of special features, they could put out a special edition and charge a higher price, something for which many were willing to pay. This led to the "extended edition" DVD. For some reason that I will never understand, Ridley Scott was asked to give an intro to the extended edition DVDs of Gladiator and Alien. The reason I don't understand is because he was quite explicit in stating that the extended editions were not in any way the way he envisioned his movies. He stated that the deleted scenes were cut for a reason: they hurt the movie. Ever since I saw that, my opinion of Ridley Scott has improved a great deal.

And this leads me back to Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I did not know when I bought it that the only edition of Bedknobs and Broomsticks available is the so-called uncut version. This is why the movie is such a disappointment. The newly-added music scenes are terrible, which is probably why they were cut. Did you know that the professor's introductory scene was actually supposed to be a song? Ugh. I can see that they may have been put back in because it made the story more coherent, especially the relationship between Miss Price and the Professor, but the songs themselves were bloody awful. They completely destroyed the experience of watching a movie I have adored for more than 25 years. The most insulting aspect is that, unlike most films, Disney did not even offer the choice of watching the original version.

68 Down

It's weird to realize that I can no longer say I have more than 300 unopened movies. As of yesterday, I've watched 68 movies, on top of 9 television shows/miniseries/volumes.

I did much better in October than November. The only movie I didn't watch was Boys Don't Cry, though it had nothing to do with time; I was done with everything else by yesterday morning. This has been a rough month, and I just couldn't bring myself to watch one more depressing movie this month. I've never actually seen it before, but I am well aware of what it contains. I didn't realize until halfway through that a bunch of movies were just depressing; even ones I really liked had, at best, bittersweet endings.

This month's list is more upbeat. Here we go:

Monday, November 2: Ed Wood

Tuesday, November 3: A Colbert Christmas

Wednesday, November 4: Sweeney Todd

Thursday, November 5: Mighty Joe Young (the original)

Friday, November 6: Armageddon

Saturday, November 7: Ship of Fools

Monday, November 9: Strangers on a Train

Tuesday, November 10: The American President

Wednesday, November 11: Fantasia

Thursday, November 12: Ravenous

Friday, November 13: The Right Stuff

Saturday, November 14: The Scarlet Pimpernel

Monday, November 16: Closer

Tuesday, November 17: Nightmare on Elm Street 4

Wednesday, November 18: I've Loved You So Long

Friday, November 20: Stripes

Saturday, November 21: A Face in the Crowd

Monday, November 23: Gone With the Wind

Tuesday, November 24: The Americanization of Emily

Wednesday, November 25: V for Vendetta

Thursday, November 26: Finding Neverland

Friday, November 27: Iron Man

Saturday, November 28: Imaginary Heroes:

Monday, November 30: Poltergeist

It's a fairly good list. I've got a lot more popcorn movies this month than last one. The only thing I'm not too happy about are the 3 TV DVDs I've got:

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1
Highlander Season 1
Olver's Travels

Individually, they aren't that bad, but combined, it's pretty boring fare. I've already started watching Star Trek. God, it's so cringe-worthy.

Here's hoping I can get through another month.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Good week for movies

Being in college right now is making this project just as difficult as I imagined. I have been able to keep up with the schedule, doubling up a couple of times due to nights I don't have the time to watch, but finding time to write out my thoughts is incredibly difficult. So, here I am trying to catch up again.

The NeverEnding Story (1984)

This is such a wonderful story of a boy, Bastion, who is trying to cope with losing his mother by burying himself in books. One day, he happens upon a book that is a bit different, and the rest of the movie is the book told through his eyes.

This was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and really holds a special place in my heart. Being a girl who read a lot, I could definitely relate with the main character.

I had no idea that Wolfgang Petersen directed this. He made this only a few years after Das Boot. He would not have been my first choice for a director of a kids' movie.

OMG I forgot that that's the kid from D.A.R.Y.L.! I can't believe I haven't bought that movie yet.

Holy cow! Major Dad plays the kid's dad!

This is one of the only 80s movies I can think of that doesn't annoy me with its synthesizer music. For some reason, it fits perfectly. Or maybe it's because this is a German movie, so it's just not as bad.

The first scene in Fantasia still blows me away. The set design and characters are so unique and fascinating that even as an adult I was intrigued. The Rock Eater still looks cool after all these years.

If this movie has any real weakness, it's the kid who played Atreyu, the young hero in the book. Dude can't act at all. Luckily, he isn't really asked to have that great of a range, but the scene near the beginning where his horse sinks and dies was excruciating to watch. On the other hand, the kid who played Bastion was great, which is no surprise because he did a few movies I really liked (D.A.R.Y.L.!).

After 25 years, I finally know the name the kid screams out at the end, "Moon Child". Thanks to Wikipedia. No one in my family could ever figure it out. If I hadn't looked it up, I still wouldn't know. It's a bloody crime that the DVD isn't in 5.1 sound.

Silverado (1985)

Kevin Kline: the dude who doesn't like his stuff messed with
Scott Glenn: the dude who teams up with Kevin Kline
Danny Glover: the black dude who teams up with Kevin Kline
Kevin Costner: Scott Glenn's wild young brother who teams up with Kevin Kline
Brian Dennehy: Kevin Kline's former partner who is now a corrupt sheriff
John Cleese: an English sheriff
Jeff Goldblum: creepy gambler dude

This is such a wonderful 80s western which introduced me to Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner back when it first came out. It is also one of the few movies written by the dude that wrote The Empire Strikes Back. So it comes as no surprise that there is such a funny and charming interaction between all the characters.

I love westerns, but by the time this film came out, westerns were no longer popular. I think this one did well because the writing and acting are outstanding.

All of the actors are great in this movie, but I really must single out John Cleese. I had forgotten he was in this movie, and I think it was because he gives such a different performance than his normal roles. He has quite a sharp edge in this one. He also has, in my mind, the best lines in the movie.

To my surprise, my husband had never seen this movie before. It was great fun watching the film through his eyes.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Bill Murray: a scientist, so back off
Dan Akroyd: a man with an unusual affection for the Stay Puft Marshmallow man
Harold Ramis: the dude that is always serious
Sigourney Weaver: a woman with an unusual talent for levitating off beds
Rick Moranis: the typical 80s nerd

This movie never, ever gets old. I've seen it so many times that there were several moments where I started laughing before the funny part even happened. Even after all this time, it holds up very well. My husband and I got into a discussion afterwards over whether or not a film like this could even be made today. We came to the conclusion that a filmmaker today would either want to make it more serious or more silly, which is too bad. The movie is perfect as is.

It was very strange to see how young Murray, Akroyd and Ramis look in this movie; and how very thin Akroyd and Ramis are. I can't believe the film is 25 years old. Time does fly. And I can't wait to watch the second one.

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Topol: Tevye, the papa
Norma Crane: Golda, the mama

I was forced to watch this movie several times growing up. I was usually a bit bored with it, but loved most of the music. Last week was the first time I watched the movie in more than 15 years. What a difference that time made. I actually enjoyed the story just as much as the music this time around. There were clearly a lot of things I did not understand when I was a kid, especially when it came to how Tevye kept trying to manipulate his wife. I had no idea how funny the movie is. I also knew quite a bit more this time around about the oppression of the Jews, the pogroms, in Russia during the late 19th century. This definitely helped me to understand all the dynamics.

I think it also helped to be as old as I am now to appreciate it. I don't think I truly understood the issues over how difficult it is to accept changes in custom and behavior when one reaches a certain age, and how hard one is willing to hold on to the status quo.

Clerks II (2006)

Director: Kevin Smith

Crew of slackers and misfits:

Dante
Randall
Jay
Silent Bob

Clerks was, in my mind, the movie that best explained the slacker phenomenon of the early to mid-90s. In that same vein, the sequel does a great job of illustrating what those same men and women are doing a decade later. I personally know every type of character in the film, from the dude that refuses to grow up, to the guy who is struggling with the idea that he has nothing to show for his life. Just like the first movie, this is one of those movies you either get or don't; not that this is any different from Smith's other films.

This movie shows a new side to Kevin Smith: the willingness to be sappy. It's clear fatherhood has had an effect on him. Luckily, he manages to keep the movie from going overboard. Instead, the movie is sweet and charming. Of course, as with all Kevin Smith movies, there is a ton of immature, raunchy humor and a serious display of fanboyishness. There is a hilarious argument over which is better, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. Overall, this movie is not for everyone, but I am happy to say it is for me.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Rollin' right along

Joyride (1996)
Tobey Maguire as the bored and disillusioned teenager
Wilson Cruz as the slightly less disillusioned teenager
Adam West as the dude that pimps out his daughter
Anne Hathaway as the pimped out daughter
Benecio Del Toro - smart, quirky detective or stoner detective?

Here's a tip: if you are going to go to the trouble of casting some fairly good actors in your movie, make sure the actress that plays your hit woman has better acting skills than a porn star. Dear God, she has got to be one of the worst actresses of all time. She completely ruined what could have been an interesting movie about bored teenagers who, fed up with being made to feel powerless, get in way over their heads when they steal a hit woman's car; with a dead man in the trunk. I literally spent the last half of the movie ticked off at the actress' terrible, terrible acting.

A side note: I had no idea how small Tobey Maguire is. Apparently once he became a fairly big star, directors did him a favor by using favorable angels. I checked imdb, and he's only 2 and a half inches taller than Elijah Wood. He even looked like Wood in this movie.

And I have nothing more to say about such a disappointing movie.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939)

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce asWatson

This movie is an absolute classic. I've seen a lot of Sherlock Holmes movies and television series, but in my mind, while I do not think this is the best Holmes movie, Basil Rathbone played the best Sherlock Holmes. His intensity, aloofness, and apathy to anyone but the mystery is fascinating to watch. In fact, I am surprised at how well the acting is in a movie that is seventy years old. While I do not care for Bruce's Watson, I do have to admit that he held his own with Rathbone. Overall, though, even despite the acting, I thought the story was a bit uneven. Rathbone is the only reason to watch it.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Michael Caine as Scrooge

This movie surprised me. First, for some reason I had thought I'd seen it before; turns out I hadn't. Second, it is much better than I thought it would be. I had a wonderful time watching this movie. None of the songs are that good, and I found it disturbing watching Michael Caine performing sappy kids' songs with muppets, but overall, this movie is incredibly charming. Even on an adult level this movie was a pleasure to watch, not to mention very funny. Definitely better than Muppet Treasure Island.

Phenomenon (1996)

John Travolta
Robert Duvall
Kyra Sedgwick
Forest Whitaker

This movie was much better the first time I saw it in the theater more than a decade ago than it was last week. John Travolta plays a man of below-average intelligence who experiences some type of strange phenomenon that causes more parts of his brain to activate than the average human. The only part I found interesting is the way certain people start treating him because he becomes more intelligent than them. In the beginning of the movie he plays chess with the doctor, played by Robert Duvall, and he is no match for the doctor. The night the phenomenon occurs, he easily beats him. It was interesting to see that, for a moment, the doctor was upset. It wasn't due to the usual annoyance a sore loser displays; he was upset to have been beaten by someone he considered of inferior intelligence.

There was the usual story of people becoming scared of him, blah blah, etc. It annoyed me that for someone so intelligent and more understanding of human behavior, Travolta's character didn't understand why. The acting was actually pretty good; it was the script I found lacking. The writer clearly had no concept of how someone so highly intelligent would behave, act or understand people. The movie tried to show that raising the man's intelligence did little more than raise his confidence, yet it didn't ring true. Overall, this feel good movie felt pretty shallow.

Are you a Mexican or Mexican't?

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
Shot, chopped, scored, written and directed by Robert Rodriguez

Antonio Bandera as El Mariachi
Johnny Depp as the crazy CIA dude
Salma Hayek as Mariachi's love interest and all-round kickass chick who's regrettably dead and only seen in flashbacks

Interesting bit characters actors:
Mickey Rourke and chihuahua
Willem Dafoe
Cheech Marin
Danny Trejo as the crazy Mexican dude that is in all Robert Rodriguez movies

Right off the bat, this movie gets total geek honors for actually including a Clash of the Titans lunchbox. That is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a movie.

This movie is the third of a trilogy, following El Mariachi and Desperado, about a hitman, El Mariachi, who is famous for killing people while playing guitar. This plays out on the biggest canvas. Crazy CIA dude, Johnny Depp, wants to hire the best hitman in Mexico to assassinate a Mexican general. He is led to the mariachi, who is already pissed off at the general for killing his love interest. Let the games begin.

I love Robert Rodriguez' movies. The Spy Kids movies, From Dusk Till Dawn, the mariachi movies, and Planet Terror are all great fun. All of his movies are imbued with a sense of humor that appeals to me, especially the corniness. He's also interested in style more than reality, and physics. Thus, all of his movies feature characters that are capable of doing super human acts. Once Upon a Time in Mexico is the same. There is nothing on the level of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon choreography, but there are a few wire stunts that are tons of fun.

Johnny Depp is the highlight of this film. He goes through a ton of identities and costumes, often complete with different accents. The Marlon Brando voice he uses while pretending to be a padre is hilarious. He and Robert Rodriguez are perfect for each other. Depp is very good at making the crazy stuff he does very funny. Much of the humor comes just from the various t-shirts Depp wears through the film. At one point he shows up wearing a CIA t-shirt. After a few minutes the camera dips low enough that you can see the letters actually stand for Culinary Institute of Art. It's stuff like that that makes me love this movie.

I originally saw this in the theater when this movie came, and I was curious to see if I would enjoy it just as much this time, mainly because I remembered much of the entertainment coming from the surprises. I am happy to say that the movie was just as enjoyable this time around. Definitely a keeper.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

It's just not his style

McQ (1974)

John Wayne as John Wayne

As I've already posted, I love John Wayne. I really do. A lot. But I really don't like this movie. At all. The first problem is that, as I've also already covered, John Wayne had a short acting range. He was clearly uncomfortable in this movie. There are entire scenes where he keeps fidgeting and shuffling his feet a bit. And worst of all, he's not Dirty Harry. Thankfully, Wayne didn't even try to be like Clint, but the role clearly called for it. In the end, the actor and character didn't really fit that well.

Now, having gotten the acting out of the way, let me get to the main reason I don't like the movie: it's DEPRESSING. Every single person McQ thought may have been a friendly acquaintance in his life turns out to be against him in some way or another. Even his wife leaves him. By the end, I wasn't even that satisfied that he had "gotten the bad guys" because his life ended up becoming so miserable. Unlike Dirty Harry, who really was a lone wolf and never seemed too friendly with anyone, McQ is written as a friendly if abrupt guy. The entire point of the movie is that he is trying to track out down the people responsible for the death of one of his friends; and apparently the only one who was a decent guy. The only good part about how utterly depressing everything was is that John Wayne's best acting came during the scenes in which he felt most betrayed. At this late stage of his life, Wayne was an expert at playing sad men, the most obvious proof being True Grit and especially The Shootist, which was, in my opinion, his greatest performance.

Overall, another movie I'm shipping off to my dad for Christmas.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

If I only had a brain...

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

Wow. The restoration Warner Brothers did for the DVD of this movie is just remarkable. This movie looks gorgeous.

I had forgotten how many iconic lines are in this movie. There were also a ton of great lines that aren't famous but should be.

I like the Scarecrow even more today than when I was a kid. The actor who played him was extremely charming, and he had many of the best lines.

While I've been going through these DVDs, I haven't had the time to really take a look at most of the special features. I think I will try and look through the ones for this DVD later, though. Angela Lansbury, who I adore, does the voice-over for a lot of them. That's incentive enough for me.

Judy Garland had one of the best voices I've ever had the pleasure to hear. She was only 17 when this movie came out, but she sang like she was aged beyond her years.

There are a lot more songs in this movie than I remembered, though the ones I had forgotten about are perhaps best forgotten.

Overall, despite its age and inherent corniness, I found The Wizard of Oz to be a wonderful, charming movie; I had a great time watching it.

On an interesting side note, this film was made in 1939. For film buffs, that year holds a vaunted place in film history. Besides Judy Garland's movie, Gone With the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Stagecoach, and Goodbye, Mr. Chips all came out that year. Vivien Leigh, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo and Mickey Rooney were just some of the many great actors nominated for Oscars that year. Sadly, The Wizard of Oz was completely shut out of even the Oscar nominations, with the exception of best film and best special effects; it won neither. Ironically, though the guy who directed The Wizard of Oz, Irving Fleming, did not win anything for directing that movie, he did win an Oscar that year for directing another movie: Gone With the Wind.

1939 must have been a great year to go to the movies.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The French Are Taking Over, Part Deux

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le pacts des loups - 2001)

When I made my comments about French movies, I completely forgot about this kickass action movie. This is one of the best action movies to come out in the last decade. There is an actor in this movie, Mark Dacascos, who did an America action movie with DMX that I went to see, knowing it would be terrible, just because he was in it and I wanted to see his martial arts scenes. And you know what? It was worth it. He's just that good.

I love good action movies. I am a sucker for ones that feature slow-motion, Matrix-like special effects. The fight scenes in this movie are a blast to watch, especially since it's obvious that Brotherhood of the Wolf's director is well aware how awesome the action scenes are in this movie, both in pure fighting talent, and in cinematography. He clearly enjoyed making these scenes as much as I enjoyed watching them.

Set in France around the time the royalty were being taking to the guillotine, this movie features a mysterious, vicious monster that has been killing people indiscriminately. All who see it describe it as a giant wolf-like creature. A massive hunt is organized to track it and kill it. Hunters come from all around the countryside to join in. Also along for the ride is a naturalist (who shows surprising skill with weapons) who wants to document the forensic evidence. He is accompanied by his Iroquois sidekick, a man you so don't want to mess with; he provides the best fight scenes in the movie.

This movie has a lot more going for it than just the top notch fight scenes, which is why it is so good.For one, it is an absolutely beautiful movie, and not just because it contains some of the most kickass fight scenes ever. The cinematography is gorgeous, the colors are vivid, and the countryside looks breathtaking. It's also a funny movie, full of bawdy humor. The French do not portray whore houses as seedy and icky like Americans do. The plot is more interesting than I expected as well, which is a good thing since there aren't too many fight scenes. The only real problem with this movie is that it has a few slow parts. The first half is much more lighthearted than the second half, and the transition to that is not handled well.

Overall, if you're looking for a cool movie with great fight scenes, you can't go wrong with this.

The French movies are taking over the world

The Triplets of Belleville (2003)

I don't know what has changed in France, but I do know that for the past decade, they have been making the most interesting movies. I'm not just talking about the artsy-fartsy, Truffaut-like stuff for which they are deservedly famous, either. Even their modern thrillers are better than American thrillers. If you don't believe me, go check out the movie Tell No One (Ne le dis a personne). I had no idea the French could make good suspenseful action movies. The Triplets of Belleville shows that not even the animated world is safe from French domination.

The first time I saw this movie, I fell in love with it immediately. Watching it Thursday, it was clear to me that my love has only grown stronger. The film is just so adorable and cute, in a strange and quirky way. Set in France,The movie starts off with a woman who is desperately trying to find something that her sad grandson will take an interest in. His parents are dead, seemingly due to World War II. She finally finds its in bike riding, likely steered in that direction when she notices his only connection to his dead parents is a picture of them on a bicycle. His love for it develops into a freaky obsession, wanting even at that very young age to be the best bicyclist in the world. She is right behind him every step of the way, pushing him in his grueling training every single day, willingly giving up her whole life to help him achieve his dream. The more I watch this movie, the more I wonder if part of her isn't perhaps, in some way, pushing this obsession on him. Either way, it is clear that in the entire world, he cares only about three things: his grandmother, his dog, and riding bicycles, not necessarily in that order. When he is an adult, she is still there pushing him every step of the way when he enters the Tour de France. But, disaster strikes when he is kidnapped by dangerous henchmen who force him and two others into a deadly, and extremely weird, gambling scheme. With his dog along for the ride, the grandmother sets off on a long search to rescue him.

This all sounds fairly straightforward, but this one of the most surreal movies I have ever seen. First off, there is just so much character to the movie. Every single character, including the dog, is fully developed, with interesting and sometimes hilarious quirks. One of my favorites is the dog, who is completely obsessed with barking at any train that goes by a window he is near through the entire film. He also has wonderful dreams where he is floating on an ocean being waited on by his owner.

My absolute favorite characters, though, are the Triplets of Belleville, three singers who start off the movie performing in a small musical hall during the 1930s; Fred Astaire even makes an appearance in the only professional performance in the film. I cannot convey how wonderful and thrilling the song they sing is. It has stuck with me all these years. After their performance, they disappear from the movie until the desperate grandmother searching for her grandson runs into them on a street corner. She starts using her son's bicycle wheel, which she carries with her, as a musical instrument, and they pop up singing that wonderful title song. They help her in her journey to rescue the kidnapped bicyclist. There are no words to describe how completely strange they are, in an absolutely delightful way. I love them. Their method of finding food is one of the funniest moments in film history I have ever seen.

Above all else, though, this movie is about a devoted grandmother who will do absolutely anything to get her grandson back. It permeates the film, and is so profoundly sweet. Even before I saw the end note where the filmmaker dedicates the film to his mother, it was plain that this was an ode to mothers everywhere who will do anything to make their sons happy and keep them safe no matter the cost. The movie is completely surreal, especially in how the characters' bodies defy logic, not to mention the theory of gravity, but I accepted it so easily because the message was so heartfelt.

I must also add that the most surprising part of this movie is that I didn't notice the first time that there is very little dialogue; no more than ten or so lines, and most of it is from radio news broadcasts. The characters are so expressive that it is clear what they are thinking, even the dog. Plus, the music was so wonderful that it felt like it was all the dialogue that was needed.

I recommend this movie to absolutely everyone, though I think it will appeal to adults much more to children.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Then...

September saw me take a bit of a fall of my own making. I realized two weeks into the month that, unlike my September schedule, I had not actually scheduled a film a day in August; it was more like 5 a week. Being the stubborn person I am, I tried to get through it anyway. Well, I couldn't. I finished the month with 7 to go, which is about the same rate I had kept in August. I had originally thought about trying to add the 7 to the 25 I'm scheduled to watch this month, but I would just be making the same mistake. So, they will go back into the mix to be picked another month.

So, this is my first real setback. At least I know my limits.

Now...it's on to October.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Holy Cow, Batman!

Comic Book: The Movie 2004
Mark Hamill
Kevin Smith
Stan Lee
Bruce Campbell

When I sat down to watch Comic Book: The Movie, I honestly thought I was just watching a documentary. All the actors on the cover, guys involved in the comic book world, were billed over their own names, and it seemed to take place at a convention.

Boy was I wrong. Sort of. This is not a documentary. It's a mockumentary. Mark Hamill is in it, but he doesn't play himself. It's about a huge comic book nerd, Donald Swan, who becomes famous as a comic book nerd via his online fanzine, and ends up being invited to be a technical adviser for a movie being filmed based on an old 1940s comic called "Commander Courage." The studio gives him a camera crew to make a documentary of his adventure to California, including his all expenses paid stay at the San Diego Comic-Con. Unfortunately, for the movie studio, Donald doesn't like the changes the studio has made to the original comic book in making the film, "Codename: Courage," and he sort of fumbles his way around, trying to make the changes he thinks are necessary.

So, since this movie was such a surprise within the first two minutes, I decided that this post will be something I haven't done since the beginning: I'm just going to highlight my mental running commentary that occurred while watching this film.

**I paused the DVD so I could type this: OMG Peter David is in this movie. I nearly hyperventilated seeing him. I cannot believe I have a DVD with Peter David in it. Sadly, I doubt anyone reading this even knows who he is. Peter David is a writer of both fictional novels and comic books. I used to read Star Trek: The Next Generation books when I was a teenager, and he wrote my favorite ones. He has a web site at peterdavid.net, which I highly recommend. He's a funny, funny guy. Oddly enough, I actually met him at the San Diego Comic-Con held a year after this movie was made, and even had my picture taken with him. He's the most normal person I've ever encountered during my rare and brief encounters into the comic book world.

Donald, concerning how he was going to approach watching the movie being filmed: "So I resolved to keep an open mind and try to stop hating it so much." So true.

This is so great. 3 middle aged guys sitting in a comic book store arguing over whether or not Spider Man's web should shoot out of his butt since that is from where spiders actually shoot their webs. I have witnessed very similar arguments.

That's total BS. I know of no comic book fan that loved Pearl Harbor. I know of no nerd whatsoever that loved that movie.

Woah. Hugh Hefner talking about comics.

lol Mark Hamill incorporates Kevin Smith's giant spider story from Evening With Kevin Smith.

Remember, kids, Kevin Smith says to rip your comic books in half when you're done reading them.

Ricky, the camera guy, does a great impression of the voice of each Beatle. His John Lennon was especially good.

As someone who actually went to Comic-Con, I can say the floor of the convention is ten times more packed than what the movie shows. And I cannot imagine it possible that anyone could walk around the floor and just bump into an awesome guy like Ray Harryhausen. Guys like that would be mobbed by fans on the floor. I want to watch Seven Voyages of Sinbad now.

omgomgomg Joe Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5.

There is this bit where an agent sees Ron Perlman at the Comic-Con, who's promoting the Hellboy film, and tries to offer him a role for the Codename:Courage movie, and Perlman points to the creator of Hellboy standing a few feet away from him and says, "That's Mike Mignola." I am embarrassed to admit that I did that very same thing the next year when my husband and I were there. Seth Green is a huge comic book fan and helped a friend to create a new comic book. They introduced the first issue on the floor. My husband and I got in line to get a signed copy. Well, Seth Green was there and I turned into a total fangirl about Robot Chicken, ignoring the guy who actually wrote the comic book sitting right next to him. Watching this scene in the movie made it doubly embarrassing.

Oh wow! If I had never been to the Comic-Con I would never have been able to recognize the dude that played Chewbacca! How appropriate that he would be the only guy in the movie that would make any reference to the fact that Mark Hamill is playing the character, asking, "Is he somebody famous?"

Matt Groening! Oh, how I love The Simpsons.

"Giant. Mechanical. Spider." Man, Kevin Smith's story about how when he was asked to give a try on the Superman script the producer told him he needed a giant spider in it will live on forever in the comic book world. Even funnier, J.J. Abrams is in this, probably because at the time Abrams was trying to write the script for the new Superman movie, before it finally moved on to Bryan Singer.

I can't believe Mark Hamill was able to get Jonathan Winters and Sid Caesar to do this thing. I am going to treasure this DVD forever.

And we get to the end, where Mark Hamill, as Donald, tells the fans to not buy in to the movie, even though it has the comic book name, because the movie studio doesn't give a crap about being true to the comic book or any of the values it upheld; the movie studio only wants our wallets. It's a plea for the studios to stop making bad movies and plastering the name of a comic book on as a title.

It also deals with something that I am not sure I can get behind. One of the things a lot of the middle aged comic book fans keep trying to say is that movies like The Fantastic Four are great because those old comic books were more lighthearted. They say that the movies that are "edgier," a word that is sneered at in this mockumentary, aren't really comic books. For them, true comic books are more wholesome and fun. A lot of these people tend to be Marvel fans rather than DC ones. DC practically built dark and edgy when they started Batman. Perhaps it is just my age, but I like the darker, moodier comic book movies. Of course, I also like the first Spiderman movie. I just think there's room for everything except a bad script.

Overall, if you aren't familiar with the comic book world (cartoons, movies and comic books), guys like Bruce Campbell and Kevin Smith, this thing will probably bore you to tears. I, on the other hand, have a surface familiarity with everything, and I had a heck of a time playing Spot the Cameo. I think anyone who is really into comic books are cartoons would really love this DVD.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

October Fest

I am particularly happy with the movies I randomly picked this month. This looks to be the best month so far.

Oct 1: The Triplets of Belleville
Oct. 2: McQ
Oct 3: Brotherhood of the Wolf

Oct 5: The Wizard of Oz
Oct 6: Joyride
Oct 7: True Crime
Oct 8: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone)
Oct 9: Phenomenon
Oct 10: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Oct 12: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Oct 13: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Oct 14: Silverado
Oct 15: Bewitched
Oct 16: Ghostbusters
Oct 17: They Died With Their Boots On

Oct 19: Fiddler on the Roof
Oct 20: Clerks II
Oct 21: Boys Don't Cry

Oct 23: The Neverending Story
Oct 24: Stage Fright

Oct 26: Peeping Tom
Oct 27: Little Caesar
Oct 28: Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Oct 30: House of 1000 Corpses
Oct 31: The Attic Expeditions

In honor of Halloween, I thought it apropos to end the month with horror movies.

As for TV, I have:

Thundercats (HOO!), Vol. 1
The Office, Series 1 (BBC)
CSI Season 7

I am really looking forward to October.

Well, I tried

I've had to stop watching Hercules. I really liked this show when I was in my late teens, early twenties. Now, I think it's just awful. I really did try, but enough is enough. This is going to be the first thing I've given up on. Even though I have sat through some movies I think are pretty bad in the past six or so weeks, they were individual movies. Watching episode after episode of something so bad seems like a waste, not to mention stupid.

So, that leaves CSI: Miami, which I'm watching right now. I decided to take a day off from doing homework today, so I've had quite a bit of time. I plan on making my October schedule in an hour or so. Should be fun.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Screwballing Around

Libeled Lady (1936)

William Powell
Myrna Loy
Jean Harlow
Spencer Tracy

William Powell and Myrna Loy are a wonderful pair, legendary for their performances in The Thin Man series. They had a tremendous amount of chemistry. Jean Harlow was famous (especially as a sex symbol) in her own right, and I bet a ton of people even today have heard the name Spencer Tracy. The one thing that surprises me about this cast is that even though Tracy did some comedies with Katherine Hepburn (the love of his life), I have never thought of him as a traditional screwball comedy actor. He was all right in this one, though.

As with all screwball comedies, the plot is silly. On the day he is to be married, an editor of a newspaper (Spencer Tracy) finds out that his paper has committed libel. He drops everything, including his long-suffering fiancee (Jean Harlow), to try and fix things. It seems that the paper accused the daughter (Myrna Loy) of a very wealthy man of stealing another woman's husband, which later turned out to be untrue. She is so angry, in a detached sort of way, that she decides to sue for 5 million dollars (in 1936!). Desperate, the editor hires a "heel" (William Powell) to try and seduce the woman, making the lie seem true. Of course, to make the scandal work, Powell has to actually be married, so Spencer comes up with the crazy idea of Harlow (his own fiancee) marrying him temporarily, just until this whole thing is over.

Of course, along the way, Powell falls in love with the rich heiress. At the same time, Powell treats Harlow, who is desperate for affection she isn't getting from her former fiance (who still calls himself her fiance), with a faux type of affection, which Harlow likes a great deal. This leads to Spencer becoming jealous, which Harlow intended all along.

You get all that?

It doesn't really matter because the plot isn't the point. The real entertainment comes from watching the characters try to deal with the various individual misunderstandings and sticky situations. The best part, though, is Myrna Loy. William Powell just seems to light up in every scene he shares with her, and her sarcastic voice is a character in its own right. Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow did have a sort of chemistry, but it wasn't as sublime as what Powell and Loy were always able to show.

I really want to watch The Thin Man right now.

On a side note, I had wanted to watch The Agony and the Ecstasy tonight, but I got home an hour later than I expected so I am going to have to reschedule again. I was originally supposed to watch it and Mean Creek but the Heston/Harrison movie is nearly two and a half hours long. So, I switched it with Libeled Lady, which is just over 90 minutes. This way, I will at least get some decent sleep tonight. The movie I'm scheduled to watch tomorrow night isn't too long, so I will, hopefully, finally, be able to watch Rex Harrison and Charlton Heston go at each other, so to speak.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Hail to the Chief

This month has been crazy busy. I was sick for a few days, had a bout of insomnia, and have just now regulated my sleeping. On top of all that, I've been busy with school and watching depressing after depressing Cubs game. I am so ridiculously behind on the reviews, but I am only 2 movies behind schedule. The weird thing is that I'm moving right along with the TV DVDs. I'm already done with Looney Tunes, almost done with CSI and a third of the way through Hercules.

So, I have some catching up to do.

First up, Shadowlands, the true story of how C.S. Lewis went from an old, arrogant, and comfortable bachelor to a man in love with a divorced American poet, but only admitting it after she is diagnosed with cancer. I love, love this movie. There is much to admire about it on an intellectual level, but the real draw for me is that it is one of the few chick flicks I can stand. Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger are absolutely wonderful together, and the rest of the cast complements them well. This is also the first movie I really cried while watching, but it wasn't because I found it so romantic (I do). I was a teenager when I saw this for the first time, and the idea that true joy and pain are tied together seemed quite profound at the time; it still does today. On another note, the direction and cinematography are fantastic. Sir Richard Attenborough directed this the same year he was in Jurassic Park. It's too bad that he hasn't done much since.

Next, Cinderella, the black white televised musical starring Julie Andrews. Wow. What an absolute bore. The guy that played the prince was particularly awful. The saving grace of the entire thing is Ms. Andrews. Her performance is sparkling and her voice is a joy to hear. This aired years before she got her start in movies, and even this early it is clear she's going to be a star. I can't believe the people that made My Fair Lady gave the role of Eliza Doolittle to Audrey Hepburn because they weren't comfortable with someone who had never been in movies. At least she got the last word at the Oscars the next year.

A little over a week ago, my husband and I watched In the Valley of Elah. I hadn't scheduled the movie on a day he could watch it, but I had coincidentally switched the order. I am glad things worked out the way they did. He and I were both in the Army, and it was nice to watch it with someone who understood it the way I did. As you may have guessed, this movie focuses on the Army. In particular, it's based on a true story of a soldier who ended up dead under mysterious circumstances shortly after getting back from Iraq. Starring Tommy Lee Jones (love him), Susan Sarandon and Charlize Theron, this was an interesting movie. Primarily, it's a murder mystery. Jones plays the father of the dead soldier, a military vet himself. He does everything he can to find out what happened to his son. He's also a dick, which ends up helping him get to the bottom of what happened. Underneath the main story lurks an examination of what the war in Iraq is doing to our soldiers. Spoiler alert: it isn't pretty. Overall, the movie has some interesting things to say, but I found it a bit unsatisfying. On the other hand, there is nothing satisfying about the real story, so this is to be expected. Oh, and though Sarandon is not in it much, she is particularly memorable.

Tonight, my husband and I watched My Fellow Americans. A hilarious movie about two ex-presidents who loathe each other yet wind up helping each other when they get caught up in a dangerous conspiracy and hunted across the country by the NSA. My husband and I repeat some of the lines in this all the time, yet I had forgotten how truly funny this movie is. This is one of the funniest movies made in the past couple of decades. It's a shame it's not mentioned more. James Garner and Jack Lemon are wonderful (when are they not?) and have wonderful chemistry, but the script is just as good. A minor rant: the DVD was full screen. I had no idea, and I'm angry because I know, at least when I bought it, it was the only version available.

There are a few movies I own only because I love one of the actors in them so very much. January Man is one such movie. I don't even want to summarize the plot. Look it up on imdb if you're interested. The fact is, it's mediocre at best, despite a pretty good cast. And yet, Alan Rickman is in it, playing a role very different from what we normally see him play in American movies. So, I bought it. *sigh* At least he's good in it; as always.

Well, that's it for tonight. I still have 5 reviews yet to do, along with the 2 movies I plan on watching tomorrow, Mean Creek and The Agony and the Ecstasy (was supposed to watch this last week). We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Now is the winter of our discontent...

Richard III (1955)

Richard III: Sir Laurence Olivier
King Edward IV: Sir Cedric Hardwicke
George, Duke of Clarence: Sir John Gielguld

Directed and Produced by: Sir Laurence Olivier

Sir Laurence Olivier is almost universally acknowledged as one of the greatest actors of modern times. I have seen him in numerous roles, and they have always made a strong impression (though not always a good one). The words "Is it safe" from Marathon Man still send shivers down my spine. To watch Richard III is to watch a master give a course on acting.

This film is little more than a deliberately staged play, only moving to location shooting in the climactic battle. This may not be to everyone's taste. Still, Olivier makes the film worth watching at least once. His face is a bit hard to recognize at first due to the gigantic prosthetic nose he wears, but the first time I saw his eyes, his sly look, I knew it was him. Besides the exaggerated nose, his body is also costumed in such a way to accurately reflect Richard's physical deformities; hunched back, deformed left hand, and uneven legs. Sir Laurence wears them well.

I've always thought Richard III to be the most monstrous character Shakespeare ever wrote; it is said that this was deliberate since Richard III did murder the ancestors of the Queen for whom Shakespeare wrote. Oliver does a great job of playing such a monster. I enjoyed his effective us of shadows throughout the film to reflect many of the evil deeds committed.

Despite this darkness, Sir Laurence does an excellent job of conveying the character's sarcastic view of his actions and life in general. His choice to have Richard address the audience directly rather than use a voice-over was a correct one. The careless, dismissive manner with which he describes his dastardly, evil deeds is very humorous. I found myself laughing at several points, something I never did when reading the play. There is nothing subtle about Richard III - he's just plain evil. Yet I was never once bored by anything Richard did. Much of this credit goes to Sir Laurence.

The main disappointing aspect of the movie is that, though the cast features one of the greatest groups of actors of all time, most of the amazing talent is wasted. I am not sure if it is due to bad direction or if Olivier is just so overwhelming that everyone else pails, but Gielgud really disappointed me. He had one decent monologue, but he was ridiculously boring. Ralph Richard, who played Lord Buckingham, was the only one who was able to stand his ground against the director/actor.

Overall, I found this movie to be an excellent adaptation of the play, if a bit boring in parts. I also thought the bit thrown in from Henry IV, which allowed Richard to talk about how he so easily killed people, was a stroke of genius. Still, I found the staging to be a bit too deliberate for my taste, and the sound of the voices was jarring from time to time, whenever an actor had to raise his or her voice over something that made a lot of noise.

A few other things:

I had no idea Sir John Gielgud had red hair. He even resembles Danny Kaye a bit. I found myself admiring his hair at a few points. Like a lot of people my age, I had only seen him in Arthur, made when he was quite old. A part of me believes he won that Oscar because Hollywood realized it was probably one of the only chances they would get to give one to such a great actor; one who mainly stuck to the stage.

It is such a shame that so many of the great stage actors did not start doing movies until later in their careers, and many chose bad ones.

Sir Laurence was famous for being able to accurately affect any accent. Listening to him in this film, I almost forgot that his regular voice did not resemble the traditional Shakespearean English.

The first monologue of the film is staged so well, I think it qualifies as one of the greatest in film history. My eyes were riveted to the screen the entire time. And I am not sure, but I don't remember a single cut. I think Olivier did most if not all of it in one take. Amazing.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Where have all the good guys gone?

Seven Samurai (1954)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa

This is perhaps the most famous foreign films of all time in America. As the title suggests, it follows seven samurai (one who only wishes he were so) who decide to defend a village against a band of pillagers. A simple plot that Kurosawa managed to tell over the span of 3 and a half hours. I have never had a problem with long movies purely because they are long. I watched Sergio Leone's movie a few weeks ago that was just as long, and I loved it. This film was a different story, and for one reason.

I have a confession to make, one that feels like a crime among fans of classic films: I don't really care for Akira Kurosawa's films. I know he's supposed to be a genius, one of the greatest directors of all time, but I find his movies tedious, and a bit boring. I do not deny his skills purely as a director. His use of a camera to tell a story was remarkable. What I don't like is how he seemed to think that movie audiences are morons, something that will turn me off a movie faster than anything else. Films that take the point of view that a point can only be made by slamming it into the viewer's mind over and over again bore me. I will admit that I am not sure whether this style of using a sledgehammer to drive a point home was unique to him or was just a characteristic of Japanese film-making of that era. I watched the 1964 horror film Onibaba several months back, and it was even worse.

My complaints aside, there is much about this film to be admired. One of the highlights is the acting, and leading the way is Takashi Shimura, a legend in Japanese film history. As far as I am concerned, he is the real draw of this movie. One of the main reasons the film is so long is that the entire first hour is used solely for the establishment of all the characters. I found most of the samurai to be fascinating, though there were two that seemed fairly interchangeable; I had a tough time telling them apart. Shimura plays the leader of the samurai, and he shines in every scene. He emotes a quiet dignity, even through his moments of shame and doubt, which I found a joy to watch. An amusing side note - he bears a slight resemblance to Yul Brynner (though much smaller), who played the same character in the American remake, The Magnificent Seven. My husband and I realized this at nearly the exact same moment.

There is a fair amount of action in this movie, the last hour is mostly dedicated to the siege of the village, and here is where Kurosawa's skills really shine. For a film made in the 1950s the siege is remarkably intense, and the movie seemed to fly by in the last 45 minutes. The editing of the last hour is noticeably different from the rest of the movie, adding to the increase in pacing, and the camera is far less static, which leads to a lot of excitement in how everything plays out. I can't wait to find out if his film Hidden Fortress is the same.

The way the story unfolds, as I already mentioned, is tedious in its execution due to the script's complete lack of subtlety. But, I did appreciate that the film maker made the decision to have the characters fully realized; there are very few two-dimensional people in this movie. Proving my preconceptions of a 1950s movie wrong, this movie isn't really about good guys and bad guys. In fact, the movie barely gives any time to the pillagers; there is more than enough personal conflict among the so-called good guys. Though I expected the outcome of the ending, it was still interesting experiencing the tone of a film that does not go for a typical happy ending. This made the payoff all the more interesting. So, even though the point of the story was so very obvious within the first 90 minutes, watching the execution of it through interesting characters play out over the 120 past that was bearable. Overall, I am glad I saw this movie. It features some of the best direction I've ever seen, and anyone who loves movies should definitely see it. But I never want to see it again.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

He can call me flower if he wants to

Bambi (1942)

Less than two months after I started working at Suncoast, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released on DVD for the first time. I never got around to buying it. Several months later, my boss gave me a copy for free. I watched it with my husband later, and the main thing I remember was how surprising it was that a movie that old still looked quite well. I was reminded of this when he and I sat down to watch Bambi last week.

I cannot stress enough how amazing the animation of the first and last minute of the film is. It is about as close to CGI I've ever seen old school animation reach, and this was made nearly 70 years ago! The multi-camera technique was used to great effect. In fact, I am now of the opinion that this is one of the most beautiful films Disney ever produced.

Bambi is one of those few Disney movies parents think twice about before they show it to their children. I've never met an adult who didn't know why. I watched this film several times when I was a kid, and I remember well the first time I saw it. I couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, and I remember feeling surprised and a general sense of sadness that Bambi's mother was killed. Watching this movie as an adult, knowing what was coming, was a vastly different experience , so much so that I now wonder if adults have stronger feelings about the movie than children.

First off, I was halfway to tears by the time the doe was born. Seeing how cute he looked while knowing what was going to happen to him was gut-wrenching. I was almost hyper-aware of how the animation took a darker tone when the story became more serious, and danger lurked. But the worst part came after Bambi's mother was shot. Hearing Bambi shout "Mother!" is one of the most haunting sounds I've ever heard in a film. All in all, this movie was a lot harder for me to handle as an adult than it was as a child.

And then I made the mistake of checking to see how different the movie was from the book on which it was based. Oh. My. God. The film was all sunshine and rainbows compared to the book. At least Disney allowed for a mildly happy ending. The book's ending is positively miserable. That certainly put things into perspective.

This is the first time I watched this movie since I was about 18. My respect for it has skyrocketed.

Friday, September 11, 2009

The first three

I'm running late tonight, so I am only going to post on the first three movies I watched this month. Too bad, really, since these were three of the weakest I've seen so far. I'll catch up with the rest this weekend. I can't wait to talk about the movie I just watched: Blackboard Jungle.

Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason - whoever made this movie either didn't understand why the first movie worked or didn't care. The first movie was a cute piece of fluff featuring a single woman who occasionally got into some embarrassing situations, but made up for it with her charm. Oh, and it had Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. I like the first Bridget Jones' movie, though I have noticed that it does not hold up well to repeated viewing. This second one is nothing short of a travesty. For some reason, whoever wrote this script decided it would be a good idea to take all of Jones' worst qualities and exacerbate them. The result is just appalling. Instead of being cute, Bridget Jones is just an annoying idiot who I would never want to meet. After the first 20 minutes, I was cringing at the fact that the movie kept moving from one embarrassing moment to the next. After 30 minutes, I couldn't recall why I even liked Bridget Jones. By the time Bridget was tripping on 'shrooms, I was trying to come up with a story of my own where Mark Darcy would leave Bridget and run away with me instead. This is no exaggeration. I decided to get this movie, for free, just because I like Colin Firth, but even he doesn't make this movie worth it. Heck, for most of the movie, Mark Darcy is a complete jerk. I don't care that I spent no real money on this DVD, I paid too much.

The Man in the White Suit - This was an interesting comedy starring Alec Guiness. It was one of a series of black and white Ealing comedies released in the 1940s and 1950s; The Ladykillers was another one. The movie is about a naive young scientist who invents a suit that will never get dirty and never wear out. Sounds great doesn't it? Try telling that to the textiles companies and union workers. The film is, as they say, "very British." Half way in, my husband asked me if it was supposed to be a comedy. The story moved slowly, and I didn't really laugh that much. And yet, it was a lot of fun. The satirical and ironic aspects of the plot are funny, and Alec Guiness is fantastic. The real strength to this film is its execution, and this is why even though I didn't actually laugh that much, I did find it to be funny. The choreography of all the actors in every scene is absolutely brilliant, and the editor did a great job of splicing in the reaction shots at just the right moment. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the Alec Guiness Ealing movies. It's such a treat to be able to watch someone like Sir Alec in an old British comedy.

Oh, and one of the guys in this movie actually played Alfred in Tim Burton's Batman. That was pretty cool.

The Journey of Natty Gann - I have loved this movie since I first saw it more than two decades ago. Set during the Great Depression, it's about a girl who travels from Chicago to Seattle to find her father after he was forced to leave her behind to find a job. Along the way, she picks up a wolf (ok, a dog that's supposed to look like a wolf) and a very young John Cusack. It's a fairly dark movie considering it's a Disney flick from the 1980s. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted to watch the movie so I could pretend to be Natty Gann, traveling across the country on my own, having strange, scary and wonderful adventures. After watching as an adult, I can honestly say it is barely all right (husband laughed through much of it), but I have a suspicion that kids would like it. My one real disappointment is that the movie is only available in Full Screen. Ugh. My abhorrence for that film aspect ratio aside, one of the true pleasures of this movie is its cinematography; the scenery is just gorgeous. Pan and scan really takes something away from this movie.

That's all for now. I've got class in six hours.