The Viewing Room

Catching Up - August and September movies

2007-10-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Godfather III - boy, this still sucks.

Catch Me If You Can - I enjoy this every time

The Fountain - hmmm. Just couldn't get into this.

Pan's Labyrinth - just as wonderful on second viewing.

A Friend Like Harry - a Henri Lopez double feature for us - a great movie.

Bad Education - I did not like this when we first saw it. This time, I did. Not sure what's changed.

Dead Tired - Another old favorite with Michel LeBlanc and Carole Bouquet.

Zodiac - well done for the genre, dragged on at the end, though.

Betty Blue - didn't remember this one that well, quite disturbing, really.

Hot Fuzz - a police parody with some really funny bits

Distant - can't remember this one!

Chasing Amy - hadn't seen it in years.

Ronin - always a good rerun

Love Serenade - a funny one from the 90s

The Mexican - well done, holds up well

The Phantom Menace - Well, we tried this trilogy again. Goodness, it is a really bad movie.

Stargate - hadn't seen this in years - entertaining enough

Kiss the Girls - another blast from the past, pretty good creepy serial killer movie

Secret Life of Words - very interesting, understated story of a Bosnian war refugee who takes a nursing position on an isolated oil rig

Star Wars Episode II - ouch.

Mr. Saturday Night - Billy Crystal vehicle, some laughs, some melodrama

Hudsucker Proxy -- And I'll stake my Pulitzer!

The Lives of Others -- Very interesting portrayal of life in East Berlin in the Cold War.

Blades of Glory - laughed a lot during this one. Some of the commentary during the skating events is just priceless.

Ikiru - early Kurosawa film about a bureaucrat whose actions leave everyone wondering after his sudden death

Emma - one of my all time favorites

July movies

2007-08-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

Die Hard - the original is still the best, even with the dated 80s stuff

My Super Ex-Girlfriend - a really funny performance by Uma Thurman

Casino Royale - I like Daniel Craig. I have some quibbles with how they did this one, but I enjoyed watching it again.

Blood Work - Eastwood directed and stars in this adapation of a Michael Connelly novel. Read the book.

Curse of the Golden Flowers - not my favorite, but beautiful to watch

Lady in the Water - liked this one better on second viewing

Clerks II - this is one of the funniest movies ever. Be sure to watch the DVD extras. Man.

Aeon Flux - this is one of those movies where I say thank god for netflix. Wow. Really bad.

Curb Your Enthusiasm/second season - Laughed. So. Hard.

Friends with Money - second time seeing this Nicole Holofcener piece; maybe liked it better this time

The Missing - well done western with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones

Children of Men - enjoyed this one again

Crash - I think I may have liked this one less on second viewing. Good work from Cheadle, though.

Children of Heaven - Iranian film about a boy who loses his sister's shoes on the way home from the repair shop. A charming story with sweet kids.

My Cousin Vinny - hadn't seen this in years, really hilarious

Little Children - hmmm. Not sure about this. I have liked many of Perrotta's novels and loved Election, but this one was maybe too dark for a movie treatment. The ending is heart-wrenching on one hand, and extremely annoying on the other. I should read the book.

Analyze This - comedy with Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist who becomes entangled with mobster Robert DeNiro. Funnier than I remembered.

The Final Cut - rather boring sci fi with Robin Williams; involves memory chips implanted in our brains as infants and the use of the material for memorial services

Thin Red Line - World War II movie, pretty bleak

Curb Your Enthusiasm/third season - Hilarious!

The Godfather, Parts I and II - hadn't seen these in years. Makes all the mafia movies of the past couple decades seem really derivative. (The Sopranos are exempt, as the frequent winking references to the Godfather movies lets them say things like "Bada Bing" with no penalty.)

June movies

2007-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Bright Future - another offbeat Japanese film

Batman Forever - campy, that's about all I can say!

The Meaning of Life - I've seen this so many times but it always cracks me up. I love the Pythons.

Radio Days - one of my favorite Woody Allens

Solaris - one of our favorite science fiction movies, holds up well. Some things seemed clearer this time, even. We'll see what I think next viewing.

Curse of the Jade Scorpion - an enjoyable recent Woody Allen

Decalogue - we're not through these yet. Mondo depressing. This is the 10 episode series that Kieslowski made for tv in Poland. Each episode deals with one (or more) of the ten commandments.

Ocean's Eleven - instead of taking a chance on Thirteen, we stayed home and watched our DVD of Eleven. Great fun.

Manhattan Murder Mystery - another Woody, another one of my favorites

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - campy, but fun. Very stylish visuals.

Out of Sight - the best film adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel, hands down. I love this movie.

Bobby - hmmm. This was too melodramatic and too choppy for me.

Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi - the first one is such fun, and how is it possible that it's been 30 years?!?! I still like Empire a lot and I still think Jedi is the weakest. Had fun watching again, though.

Breach - Suspenseful tale of a young FBI agent tasked with helping to take down our most notorious spy. Really complex and well done.

The Good German - what was this? I just couldn't get into this. Tobey Maguire as the junior thug just seemed laughable and I couldn't recover. Cate Blanchett was marvelous, of course, but this just didn't work for me.

Wedding Crashers - this is so funny. I can't believe how hard I laugh every time I see this.

Wire in the Blood - a British TV series adaptation of Val McDermid's Hill/Jordan novels. We watched the two-part episode that covered The Mermaids Singing.

Letters from Iwo Jima - a sad complement to Flags of Our Fathers. A testament to Eastwood's directing abilities.

The Bone Collector - always a good re-run

The Matador - so underrated, this is one of the best comedies of the decade

Inside Man - one of the best bank robbery/heist flicks ever. I love Clive Owen, and Denzel Washington does a great job here.

Volver - enjoyed this even more than the first time, perhaps. One of the best Almodovar films, in my book.

2001: A Space Odyssey - this puts me to sleep every time

Curb Your Enthusiasm - oh, man. These are hilarious. May have to buy these.

Coffee and Cigarettes - always a joy to see Bill Murray drink coffee straight from the pot. The Meg and Jack segment is great, and of course, Cate Blanchett playing herself and her cousin, is phenomenal.

Live Free or Die Hard - well, at least we went for the matinee! Not terrible, but overdone at times. The first one was just so good - jeez, just realized that was at least 20 years ago too. Man. Plus, we got home and found out about the terrorist attack in Glasgow, which made having just watched a silly movie about terrorists seem even less enjoyable. Ah, well.

May viewing

2007-06-01T09:40:00.000-07:00

The Beat that My Heart Skipped – French film about a young man who is embarked on a life of petty crime when he sees his old piano teacher and considers a different path. His mother was a famous pianist who killed herself when he was young and he let his own talents slide. An interesting portrait, unsettling.

Last King of Scotland – strong performance from Forrest Whitaker. Not as violent as it could have been, which makes it all the more shocking when it gets really extremely violent at the end.

Keeping Mum – British comedy about a housekeeper with a murderous past who comes to live with a new family.

Fast Food Nation – I admire the effort made in trying to create a fictional frame for this adaptation, but …. It skipped around so much you didn’t get to know the characters well enough, and most of the storylines had no closure. When Slacker come out I thought Linklater was so cool. I loved Waking Life. I love the Sunset/Sunrise movies. Richard, please come back.

Firefly – hadn’t watched the series in awhile. Some of the funniest damned lines ever.

Alien – hadn’t seen this in a long time. We watched the director’s cut/anniversary edition. It remains one of the scariest space monster movies ever. Too bad the sequels all sucked so bad.

Marie Antoinette – second time for this, had a very different reaction this time. Not sure what to say.

Strangers on a Train – one of the great Hitchcocks

The Life Aquatic – I like this movie, but Tennenbaums is just so much better. We also watched the extras on this – some interesting stuff on there.

The Dead Girl – I liked this, if you can say that you like a movie about serial murder. The movie is told from several points of view. First up is the portrait of a young woman who discovers a body in a field near her house. This is a disturbing vignette of an emotionally disturbed young woman, her abusive mother, and her new boyfriend. Next is the sister of a girl who was kidnapped and has been missing for 15 years. Her mother will not give up the search, and it has affected her life in major ways. She works in a morgue (perhaps a bit much) and becomes convinced that a Jane Doe is her dead sister. Turns out she’s wrong. The middle segment follows the wife of the man who is doing the killings. Next is the dead girl’s mother, who comes down from Washington State to Los Angeles find out what happened to her daughter, who left home at 16. The final segment follows the dead girl herself, offering an eerie glimpse into the last day of her life.

Kinky Boots – a cute British comedy about a young man who takes a big chance in order to save his family’s struggling shoe factory. Chiewetel Olafor does a great job as drag queen Lola.

Serenity – had to watch this after finishing all the episodes. I don’t think I’ll ever get over Whedon killing off Book and Wash. Damn. He really needs to make a prequel about Book. Joss, are you listening?

The Hoax - saw this over at the K. Not too compelling. When I realized I was most fascinated by the early 1970s style Coke and Tab cans and CutRite wax paper box, I realized this movie wasn't doing it for me.

Last Life in the Universe - odd Japanese film about a young Japanese man living in Thailand who befriends the sister of a girl who dies in a car accident that he witnesses as he is contemplating jumping off the bridge near the roadway. Yeah.

Ten Items or Less - I loved this quirky little movie about a semi-washed up actor, played by Morgan Freeman, who hangs out at a grocery store in the barrio to research his upcoming role as a store manager. He befriends sassy cashier Scarlet, played by Paz Vega, and they spend the rest of the day together, as he helps her rescue her car from her philandering violent husband, helps her get some new clothes and makeup for her job interview at an office, coaches her for the interview, etc. Lots of humor and a bittersweet ending.

Stranger than Fiction - liked this as much as the first time. Will Ferrell is in so many dumb movies, but this one, like Melinda & Melinda, shows that he has some real skill.

Catching up - April movies

2007-06-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

Laura – not as suspenseful as I recall

Blood Diamond – extremely violent, more than expected, Leo DiCaprio is a fine actor

The Good Shepherd – could not get into this, wanted to like it, great cast, but blah plot

Lord of the Rings Extended – Had fun analyzing what was added, watching all the extras, took us awhile

March movies

2007-04-04T05:16:00.000-07:00

Notes on a Scandal and Pan's Labyrinth, got to see both in Portland while there for a library consortium meeting and a few days of downtime. Notes features excellent work by Judi Dench and one of my favorites, Cate Blanchett. It is a creepy movie, though, and the themes are disturbing.

Pan's Labyrinth is a work of art, a beautifully told story of a young girl living through the last days of the Spanish Civil War. It is haunting.

Dial M for Murder - was in the mood to revisit some Hitchcock

The Departed - I may have liked this even better on second viewing. And I just love the Dropkick Murphys' version of "Going Down to Boston."

La Dolce Vita - An interesting portrait of a shallow man

Spinal Tap - After watching the recent one, For Your Consideration, just had to see the one that started it all. This is absolutely hilarious, and holds up well. The extra scenes on the DVD are worth watching.

Amistad - hadn't seen this in years; a really good movie

Borat - Outrageous, I laughed a lot, yet felt let down.

The Tenant - boring, weird, Polanksi

The Hotel New Hampshire - hadn't seen this one in years either; pretty 80s - the more recent adaptations of the more recent Irving novels have been much better. Need to re-watch Garp, though.

The Wedding Banquet - Ang Lee's funny and bittersweet portrait of a gay Asian-American man who, in order to please his parents who don't know about his long relationship with an American man, marries one of his tenants who needs a green card.

Hollywoodland - Really enjoyed this again. Ben Affleck can act. His increasingly sad portrayal of George Reeve is some really good work. Adrien Brody is also effective as a down on his luck detective who gets involved in the case.

Merchant of Venice - the Pacino version. It's well done, but just not my favorite Shakespeare work.

Suspicion - Another Hitchcock, but not the one I thought it was.

Unbreakable - perhaps the best of M Night Shyamalan's work. Definitely the best comic book related movie ever.

Fool for Love - Robert Altman directed this adaptation of a Sam Shepherd play. Depressing.

Shadow of a Doubt - another Hitchcock, creepy and weird.

Lord of the Rings - we've been on a bit of a, um, kick with the trilogy here recently. Shawn watched it while I was away at a library consortium meeting in Kansas City, then I said I wanted to watch them, too, so we did. And then a few days later, we watched them again. So now we're going to re-read the books and then watch the extended versions that we just ordered. OK, that's probably revealing too much!

February movies

2007-03-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

In addition, we spent a good deal of time this month with Monty Python, having finally bought the 16 Ton Megaset. Watching those episodes as they originally were aired has been great fun.

This Movie Is Not Yet Rated - an interesting documentary about the MPAA

Sherrybaby - see post below

Children of Men - see post below

Silence of the Lambs - always a great late Friday night rerun

The Others - one of my favorite ghost stories

Sweet and Lowdown - one of Woody's best; great performances from Sean Penn and Samantha Morton

Serpico - very 70s, but held up fairly well.

United 93 - finally got my courage up to watch this. It was really well done, very poignant of course, but also realistic. I will never forget that morning and this film does a great job of capturing the horror without any melodrama

Celebrity - another Woody rerun; the ending is hilarious

Signs - one of the best alien movies ever

Raiders of the Lost Ark - hadn't seen this in years, what a trip!

Little Miss Sunshine - loved it as much as the first time I saw it

Career Girls - one of my favorite Mike Leigh films, interesting study of two women who meet up again 8 years after college

The Science of Sleep - a real tour de force, very entertaining

Shakespeare in Love - perfect choice for Valentine's Day

Basic Instinct - cheesola!

Batman - hadn't seen this in a long time; I think I like Christopher Doyle's vision better

The Musketeer - entertaining swashbuckler

The Queen - really enjoyed this, an interesting portrait of a woman and an institution

Temple of Doom - stinker!

Nadine - Kim Basinger caper flick, cute

Broadway Danny Rose - one of our least favorite Woodys

Babel - mixed feelings - found it harder to identify with these characters, perhaps because there were more of them to follow, less detail given - worth seeing

For Your Consideration - the Charlie Rose parody is priceless, but as with their other films, I always find myself comparing to Spinal Tap and finding them falling short.

The Quest for Redemption

2007-02-05T19:07:00.000-08:00

Saw two new movies this past weekend – Sherrybaby via Netflix and The Children of Men at a Saturday matinee.

Sherrybaby stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a woman who has just been released from prison, has kicked her heroin habit and wants to reunite with her daughter. Her brother and sister-in-law have been raising the girl and are not quite ready to just hand her over to Sherry. This is a really depressing movie. Sherry never hesitates to offer her body as payment for what she wants (e.g., she wants to get a job working with children, the placement officer needs a little encouragement) and she has trouble understanding why her sister-in-law might be attached to the little girl. We also learn about her troubled past (let me just say it involves a creepy, creepy daddy).

In the end, Sherry has some hard choices to make and she goes down the path toward several bad decisions. She steers back from the worst one, though, toward a better decision (no right and wrong in this one) and redeems herself pretty well, considering.

The Children of Men is based on PD James’ dystopian novel. Set in 2027, women across the world have lost the ability to have children. The youngest people alive are 18 years old. Most of the planet has been obliterated by nukes or has sunk into other unmentionable conditions. England is the last civilized place on the planet. Clive Owen plays an alcoholic bureaucrat waiting for the world to end. His ex-wife, leader of a radical activist group, contacts him out of the blue. He decides to help her and ends up in the fight of his life, in the fight of everyone’s life: bringing a young pregnant woman to safety.

Although he is not exactly enthusiastic at first, he is drawn deeper into the chaos, seems to suddenly not be drinking any more, and, with memories of his dead son firmly in mind, fiercely protects the young woman to the end. Another successful shot at redemption.

Maybe that’s all anyone ever wants.

January movies

2007-02-05T19:02:00.000-08:00

Deconstructing Harry – kicked off the New Year with one of my favorite Woody Allens

Titanic – seemed much sappier this time

The Spanish Prisoner – Mamet’s puzzle of a thriller, hadn't seen this one in awhile

Mission Impossible III – yawn.

Factotum – how can a movie be so depressing? Oh yeah, it’s based on Bukowski. Good performances, though, from Matt Dillon, one of our most underrated actors, and Lily Taylor, one of our most ignored actors

Flirting with Disaster – still as hilarious as the first time I saw this. One of my all time favorites.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – another favorite, so sad and so amusing

Brokeback Mountain - enjoyed seeing this again, still heartbreaking

Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill – an interesting documentary, hadn’t seen this when it went around the theatres.

Cold Mountain - enjoyed seeing this one again too

All the King’s Men – hmmm. A lot of wasted talent here.

Bullets Over Broadway – another one of my favorite Woodys. John Cusack does a great job in the typical Woody role.

Three Times – AO Scott had this on his top ten for 2006. I fell asleep. It was interesting, but if you’re going to tell a story with very little dialogue, you’ve got to come through more on the other aspects.

La Strada – had never seen this. I really don’t get what the big deal is with Italian cinema :-)

Curse of the Golden Flower and Volver – see posting below

Monty Python and the Holy Grail – how is it that I laugh my ass off every time I see this? We just finally gave in and ordered the complete Flying Circus set!

Look Both Ways – Australian melodrama about a woman obsessed with death and a man who has just gotten a cancer diagnosis

Swingers – Jon Favreau is a genius.

Prairie Home Companion – how sad to watch this again, now that Altman is gone. Hard to believe there won’t be any more.

This month we also watched a lot of Seinfeld and Frasier episodes from Netflix. Funny stuff.

Catching flicks in the big city

2007-01-22T22:09:00.000-08:00

Went to Seattle for ALA Midwinter. Since it didn't involve plane fare, Shawn came with. We caught two movies that probably won't come to Pullman-Moscow unless the K gets a grubby print right before DVD release ... Curse of the Golden Flower and Volver.

Golden Flower was OK, very beautiful to look at, stunning visually, but the plot was a bit weak, and it just is not as good as Hero or House of Flying Daggers.

Volver. This is Almodovar's best film since Todo sobre mi madre. (I liked Hable con ella but it wasn't as good as madre or Live Flesh or Flor de mi secreto, all masterpieces. And after Hable came Bad Education. Eesh, that was terrible. I remember being so mad about not getting to see it in the cinema, and having to wait for the DVD, and then being so disappointed.) Penelope Cruz is just luminous in this picture. Carmen Maura is playful. The characters are wonderful, the plot is funny and poignant, and he adds a touch of suspense for good measure. Even though she is apparently only lip-synching (the credits name Estrella Morente), the scene where Cruz sings the LePera/Gardel tango called "Volver" is just heart-wrenching. I can't wait for the DVD release so I can see this again!

December movies

2007-01-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

Million Dollar Baby - still incredibly sad and moving

A Time to Kill - old movie based on a Grisham novel, OK not great

Scoop - recent Woody Allen, a funny one

Rashida - interesting film about a young woman and her mother tryng to escape the violence in Algeria

The Pelican Brief - another Grisham adaptation, one of my favorites

Six Degrees of Separation - hadn't seen this in years, holds up very well. Still a thought-provoking, funny/sad movie (funny/sad a la chaos/control :-)

The Interpreter - second viewing of this, felt more ambivalent about it this time

Groundhog Day - another one we hadn't seen in years, actually very funny

Batman Begins - second viewing of this, wasn't as enthralled as when I saw it for the first time

Ultra Violet - excellent campy fun

My Wife Maurice - funny French movie about mistaken identities and the meaning of love

She's the One - Edward Burns, Jennifer Aniston, 90s. Promptly listed for sale at half.com :-)

X2000 - a compilation of shorts by Francois Ozon, some very amusing, some rather odd

Schindler's List - hadn't seen this in a long while, holds up well. Ralph Fiennes is such a good bad guy here.

Vertigo - a good Hitchcock

Infernal Affairs - the Hong Kong movie that The Departed was based on. I will have to respectfully disagree with my friend Ryan that this was superior to the Scorsese film.

Girl with a Pearl Earring - another rerun, interesting and well-acted

The Age of Innocence - did Edith Wharton ever have any fun? Another wonderful story, but so depressing.

Eat Drink Man Woman - hadn't seen this one in a long time either, held up well

Artificial Intelligence - a lot of revisiting this month. Still don't know whether I like this one or not.

Superman Returns - yawn.

About a Boy - I have a soft spot for these kinds of romantic comedies. I usually like books better than the movie adaptations, but this one and High Fidelity, are imo, better than the books.

We also watched some Seinfeld and Frasier episodes on DVD.

We headed for the Oregon coast on December 23 and had access to cable TV, including the infamous Spike network which again was running Bond movies. In addition to bits and pieces of several Bond movies, we also saw The Sound of Music and Miracle on 34th Street. When Shawn's mom was there with us, we also watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy. We also caught parts of two cute romantic comedies that we'd never seen before, Never Been Kissed and Adam & Emma. The latter was pretty entertaining.

Back at home:

Hero - I never liked martial arts films until Crouching Tiger. This is a really good movie beyond the choreographic fighting.

12 Monkeys - starting to show a little wear, but still enjoyed it

Hanover Street - hadn't seen this in years....think of me when you drink tea, LOL!

Wonder Boys - one of my all time favorite movies, and another that I like better than the novel on which it is based

Afterglow - hadn't seen this for a long time either, an interesting portrait of 4 people dealing with marriage, infidelity, the desire for a child, the loss of a child.

Everyone Says I Love You - one of my favorite Woody Allens, just a real hoot!

November viewing

2006-12-01T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ghostbusters - blast from the past - some funny stuff at the beginning, but gets way too silly.

Mini's First Time - recommended by Roeper a few weeks ago, can't figure out why. This story (temptress who double crosses lover in murder plot) has been done so much better so many times. The fact that our main character here is a 17 year old who schemes to kill her mother with her stepdad, who she screws for the first time as part of her work as a call girl, is just way too much.

Fallen Angels - continuing with our Wong Kar Wai trend, this one falls short in many ways

Goodfellas - have seen this movie so many times, always enjoy it

The Break Up - kind of annoying Vince Vaughan/Jennifer Aniston vehicle, not funny enough, some very mean spirited scenes

A Single Girl - French film, minimalist style, about a day in the life of a young woman who is pregnant and is starting yet another menial job

Stranger Than Fiction - loved, loved, loved this. Excellent performances from all the cast members, good dialogue, very amusing premise. Maggie Gyllenhaal deserves a special nod for her "Get bent, tax man" line. I loved Dustin Hoffman's literature professor who devises a questionnaire for Will Ferrell designed to figure out which novel he is in.

The Prestige - interesting, twisty plot, but just missing something for me.

Chungking Express - the first Wong Kar Wai I ever saw and still one of my favorites

Serenity - we recently also re-watched all the Firefly episodes, so had to go ahead and watch this again.

Blue in the Face - hadn't seen this in years, the sort of sequel to Smoke, which remains one of my all time favorite movies

Sea of Love - this one is getting a bit dated, but still a good thriller

Casino Royale - I was very outraged for Pierce Brosnan when they canned him, but I am sold on Daniel Craig as 007. This was a really good one. Some people are complaining about the limited gadgetry and lack of Q, but they need to get over it. This is the best Bond movie in years, dare I say, decades.

House of Flying Daggers - saw the preview for the new Zhang Yimou coming out in December, watched this one in anticipation

A Very Long Engagement - a tragic, beautiful film about WWI and the impact it has on a young woman, who is searching for the truth of what happened to her fiance.

Elizabeth - Cate Blanchett rocks. This dark, suspenseful telling of Elizabeth's rise to power holds up after many viewings.

Duck Season - a quirky little film, shot in B&W, about two young teenagers home alone, the pizza delivery man and the neighbor girl.

The Talented Mr Ripley - beautifully shot, of course, it is a Minghella, and creepily acted by Matt Damon

Possession - Neal La Bute's take on the A.S. Byatt novel, with Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckland as literary scholars on the trail of a mystery surrounding two 19th century poets.

Stripes - another old Bill Murray, this one was still pretty funny too

Chicago - another rerun, an old favorite, great musical numbers

Long Kiss Goodnight - fun thriller with Geena Davis as an amnesiac assassin

Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolution - the first one is so good, and these are so, well...

The Fugitive - held up pretty well, hadn't seen it in eons

The Wedding Singer - one of my favorite silly romantic comedies, Adam Sandler just cracks me up.

The Client - another one we hadn't seen in eons, Susan Sarandon as the lawyer helping a young Brad Renfro, who witnessed a mob-related event

Zero Effect - Ben Stiller and Bill Pullman shine in this noir satire

Mask of Zorro - good fun

Don't Tell - an Italian melodrama about a woman who suddenly recalls past sexual abuse from her childhood

CSA: Confederate States of America - well done mockumentary about the US after the South wins the War of Northern Aggression. Shot as a faux British documentary, the content of the program is broken up by commercials for horribly racist products. At the end, there is some info about which products were really on the market back in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

October movies

2006-10-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

Palindromes – we had not seen this yet and I think I could have lived without this one. Welcome to the Dollhouse was so brilliant, but his subsequent films have just been too depressing and odd.

North by Northwest – one of my favorite Hitchcocks

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – a lot of potential here, but missed the mark. Robert Downey Jr plays a thief who blunders into auditions for a movie and is swept into Hollywood. He is drawn into a mystery involving an old friend and tries to solve the case. Val Kilmer plays a PI who works as a consultant for the movies and he serves as the sidekick, helping Downey with the case.

The Notorious Bettie Page – interesting biopic, but was left feeling that we could have known more, had more context for her life

Friends with Money – recent Nicole Holofcener, not as good as Lovely and Amazing, for example. An ensemble cast portrays four friends from school, now in their late 30s, all in various states of crisis

Akeelah and the Bee – wonderful movie about a young girl from South Central who is drawn into competing in spelling bees. A bit melodramatic at moments, but overall a fun film.

The Departed – Recent work from Scorsese, excellent as usual, strong performance from DiCaprio, lots of violence and Scorsese touches

The Matrix – always enjoy this one

The Royal Tenenbaums – my favorite Wes Anderson

Pitch Black – excellent sci-fi with Vin Diesel and Radha Mitchell

Chronicles of Riddick – Diesel reprises his role and has more adventures, very different in style than the first

Mr and Mrs Smith - just as much fun as when we saw it in the theatre

House of Mirth – well acted but so depressing!

The Hurricane - had never seen this, thought it was quite good, although I was disappointed when I did some research into the story afterwards and learned that there was some evidence against him and that there was no single police officer out to get him

Mortelle Randonee - the French film on which Eye of the Beholder was based. Watching did not help with figuring out what Eye of the Beholder was really trying to accomplish...

Art School Confidential - recent film based on Daniel Clowes' work, directed by same guy who did Ghost World. This was OK, not great, not as engaging as I had imagined it would be

Thank You for Smoking - excellent film about a tobacco lobbyist with a messy personal life

Flags of our Fathers - really well done film, a poignant story and some really brutal battle scenes

The White Countess - Merchant & Ivory film with Ralph Fiennes as a blind diplomat who becomes involved with a Russian emigree in 1937 China, slow paced but well done

On a Clear Day - charming story of a man who is downsized and decides to swim the English Channel

The Company - held up well, Altman film about a ballet company

Sex and Lucia -- Julio Medem film about a writer and the woman who loves him, circular narrative, no certainty of what is real or what is a dream or what is the guy's novel.

Marie Antoinette - Roeper and AO Scott split thumbs on this one. I did not find it as indulgent as Roeper felt. It was lacking somehow, but was worth seeing

Guess Who - funny remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Ashton Kutcher as the white boyfriend and Bernie Mac as the outraged father. Better than I expected, definitely worth a Netflix

Therese - stark portrait of the life of a young woman who becomes a Carmelite nun

Bottle Rocket - early Wes Anderson, Owen and Luke look so young! Held up better than I expected, hadn't seen it in years.

Days of Being Wild - 1991 Wong Kar-Wai film, set in 1960, tells of a young man and his troubled relationships with his mother and girlfriends

September movies

2006-10-31T20:08:00.000-08:00

Dazed and Confused – couldn't remember if we'd seen it, after sitting through it were dazed by the inanity and confused about why we didn't turn it off

A Few Good Men – always worth watching, excellent screenplay

The Illusionist – very interesting story, twisty plot, nicely done period details. Norton is an interesting actor and does this role effectively.

Game 6 – slow paced but interesting story of a playwright facing various crises in his life. The whole movie takes place on the day of game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Yes, that game 6.

Wedding Crashers – Owen and Vince are just hilarious. The commentary track on this one is worth listening to.
Serenity – sigh. Why did the show get cancelled? Why does Joss kill off who he does in this one? Why can't there be another movie right now?

Up and Down – Czech film – a dark comedy about a woman who desperately wants to have a baby.

Rumor Has It – pretty average. The plot hook was potentially interesting, but not well executed.

Hollywoodland – Very well done. Brody's character was interesting, but Affleck really showed some depth here in his portrayal of George Reeves.

Little Fish – very depressing but engrossing tale of a recovered heroin addict who constantly deals with the trappings of the old life. Cate Blanchett is an excellent actor and makes this worth a view.

The Devil Wears Prada – just OK. I'm not into fashion enough to care about the satire. If it really was a satire.

L'Enfant – recent film from the Dardenne brothers, a heartbreaking tale of a young couple and their baby

Primal Fear – an oldie but goodie

Mrs Henderson Presents – interesting story but this drug on a bit

Wordplay – excellent documentary about Will Shortz and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament

Children of the Century – deadly dull film about George Sand

Inside Man – one of my favorite bank robbery movies of all time

5 x 2 – recent Ozon film, uses the reverse narrative technique. Film opens with a couple signing the divorce papers, and then moves backward in time.

Tsotsi – well done film about a young man who goes down a path of violence and crime

Total Recall – another oldie but goodie

The Black Dahlia – this didn't work for me.

Russian Dolls – a sequel to L'Auberge Espanol, not great, but entertaining enough

Sous le sable – an Ozon from a few years back, haunting tale of a woman who cannot accept her husband's suicide

My Mother, My Father, My Sister, My Brother – comedy about a woman (Victoria Abril) with three children who all have different fathers and what happens when she, the kids, and the three men are all on vacation at the same resort

Bon Voyage – set during WWII, this is an odd blend of campy and sad.

Melinda and Melinda – a rerun of course - I like this one but the framing device seems a bit forced for me. One of Woody's best recent ones, though.

August viewing

2006-09-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Lots of good movies this month. We also watched some Buffy episodes and the SNL Best of Commercial Parodies disc. The SNL suffered from too much Will Ferrell. He was the host and there was a running gag/framing device that was dumb. Too many of the commercials had him in it. We also saw some new ones, from more recent years (we quit watching during the Ferrell/Oteri/Shannon years). Only three of the original cast ones made it on (You Know, Bass-o-matic, Little Chocolate Donuts) and only one from the Murphy/Piscopo years (Buh-Wheat Sings). The ad copy claims that Schmitt Gay is included but it wasn't! So, while we had a lot of laughs, there are some good ones missing.

The Producers -- even funnier than expected.

A Good Woman -- based on Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan. Scarlett Johannson does an okay job. Helen Hunt is a little flat -- Julianne Moore would have been better in that role.

Clerks II - see post below.

Murderball -- a very interesting documentary about quad and paraplegics who play wheelchair rugby. Very poignant and dramatic.

Miami Vice -- well, you know, I watched the show every Friday night in the 1980s. This was much more interesting than the show ever was, darker, moodier, and no pastels! OK plot, some good action sequences and fun scenes in Havana.

Scoop -- latest Woody Allen. Enjoyable. I just can't help but long for the late 1980s and early to mid 1990s, when he did his best work.

Water -- a very sad movie about the practices regarding widows in earlier times in India. Set at the time Gandhi is rising in prominence, this tells the story of several young women who are forced to live in isolation as widows.

House of D -- better than I expected. The framing device was weak, but the heart of the story, which is a flashback to 1975, is well told, funny and poignant.

The Night Listener -- interesting psychological study, based on a true story. Robin Williams has some acting chops.

Little Miss Sunshine -- if this doesn't win the Oscar for best original screenplay, there is no justice in the world. A hilarious movie about a dysfunctional family.

Snakes on a Plane -- we just had to go see this, OK? Very campy, and lots of gross-out moments with the snakes killing people, but Samuel L. Jackson does a great job in this satire of airplane disaster movies.

Lord of the Rings -- we finished the month with the trilogy, one video per evening. It was fun to watch them in fairly close proximity, rather than waiting a year in between chapters.

Clerks II

2006-08-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

This was so much better than I expected (and I really liked the first one). I liked Chasing Amy a lot, too, although haven't watched it in years, but Dogma was really disappointing. Silent Bob and Jay Strike Back was, well, beyond disappointing. Clerks II, however, was quite wonderful, with a mix of humor and pathos that really worked. I loved the Lord of the Rings vs Star Wars showdown, and I will never, ever be able to watch Silence of the Lambs in quite the same way thanks to Jay. A real coup for Kevin Smith!

July viewing

2006-08-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Had a bit of a heatwave here during July, which sent us to the cinema a few extra times.

Prairie Home Companion - a fun time, with some of the characters taking on different roles. If you don't like Altman movies, don't worry, this one isn't too meandering.

Just Like Heaven - cute romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, predictable but some funny scenes.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 - Depp didn't seem to have quite as many one-liners this time out, but it was entertaining

16 Blocks - a suspense/action film that didn't quite work. Not bad, not great.

Winter Passing - a sad movie about a young woman (Zooey Deschanel) who returns home to reconcile with her father (Ed Harris); some humor, particularly with the Will Ferrell character, but not as funny as the previews had looked. Worth a look.

Syriana - finally got this. Long, convoluted, yes. Interesting, yes. Did I like it? Not sure.

Happily Ever After - a funny French comedy about relationships

You, Me and Dupree - Owen Wilson cracks a lot of jokes in this comedy about his slacker character crashing with newlywed buddy Matt Dillon and his bride, played by Kate Hudson. Michael Douglas is hilarious as Kate's overbearing father, who is also Matt's boss.

The Matador - Pierce Brosnan turns in an impressive performance as a hitman in crisis. Greg Kinnear does a great job as the businessman who is befriended by Brosnan. Brosnan has some great one liners.

Shopgirl - Hmmm. This probably would have worked better if Steve Martin had not starred in it, too. Too much Steve in this one. Claire Danes is excellent, but the story meanders a bit, and again, too much Steve.

Lady in the Water - first let me say I'm a huge fan of his movies. This one was more challenging than the others, although it certainly wasn't lacking in suspense and scary monsters. The plot is dense with links to a folktale, it's quietly shot, and it demands your attention.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend - this was hilarious. Uma rocks. Predictable ending, but some great comedy and funny special effects here.

A Scanner Darkly - not what I expected. Linklater's vision worked so well in Waking Life, but was distracting here. What really failed here was that Linklater did not create a world around PKD's text. Consider the richness of Minority Report's visual world. That was totally missing here.

Hoodwinked - a hilarious take on Little Red Riding Hood, with a mystery twist. The police investigate the events, a suave toad inspector trumps the chief of police, the big bad wolf is really an investigative journalist, and even Granny has a secret life!

June movies

2006-07-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hide and Seek - This sucked!

Watched some Buffy episodes on DVD. I loved the movie, but never got into the tv show. After getting hooked on Firefly, gave these a chance. Pretty funny stuff.

Blind Date - crazy 80s movie

Best of Youth - why did this make so many critics' top 10 of 2005 lists? Way too long, way too soap opera, and although they kept setting up lots of possible intrigue and suspense, there just wasn't much.

Transamerica - glad I finally saw it. Felicity Huffman deserved the oscar.

LA Confidential - hadn't seen it in awhile, don't own it for some reason, so Netflixed it. Enjoyable, well done.

Adaptation - one of the funniest movies ever made. Charlie Kaufman is a total hoot.

The Family Stone - somewhat funny story of a dysfunctional Christmas.

May movies

2006-07-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

Tristan & Isolde - average.

Breakfast on Pluto - lovely and sad.

Bee Season - liked the book a lot, but this wasn't too badly done

Munich - more interesting, less preachy than I imagined. Complex and interesting in a way I did not expect.

The New World - very beautiful to look at.

Amelie - one of my all time favorites

Last Holiday - better than expected. I really like Latifah.

An Unfinished Life - I really liked this story of people with a bad past coming together for a renewed future. JLo can't really act, but Morgan Freeman and Robert Redford keep things moving. The young girl was a real natural, too.

O Brother Where Art Thou - another all time favorite

Jarhead - more interesting than I thought it would be

Reruns: The Aviator, Boogie Nights, Barcelona, Eve's Bayou.

April movies

2006-07-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Memoirs of a Geisha - slept through it.

The Squid and the Whale - well done portrait of a dysfunctional family.

Derailed - what a dog of a movie. Even Clive Owen couldn't save this one.

Cache - recent Michael Haneke with Auteuil and Binoche. Very intriguing but the sudden violence toward the end is beyond shocking. Like Code Inconnu, you're never exactly sure what the hell is going on.

Good Night and Good Luck - better than I expected, enjoyed it a lot.

Match Point - had a lot to say at the time, but for now I'll leave it at this: Crimes and Misdemeanors remains Woody Allen's masterpiece. He should not have tried to replow that ground, not with this weak plot and those two weak actors.

Prime - hilarious! This is the one where Uma Thurman is in love with the younger man who turns out to be the son of her therapist. A sad ending when I was hoping for a happy one.

Manhattan - don't even know how many times I've seen this. The intro is classic. Hemingway's closing lines get me every time.

Rewatched Firefly episodes. Can't say enough about how much I love that darned show.

March movies

2006-07-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

Cripes, didn't realize I hadn't posted since the Oscars. Oh well.

March 2006 -

Proof - I liked this one, a twisty plot, although I hated to see Hope Davis having to play such a shrew.

Flightplan - Better than expected. Very suspenseful.

Ultra Violet - some of us really wanted to go to a movie and there really wasn't much playing. We had fun saying "Blood Chinois" for a weeks after. And wouldn't it be cool to change your hair color, clothing color, everything with just a touch of a button? Yeah, OK, moving on.

Bubble - Disappointing.

A History of Violence - I liked it, those stories of people turning out to be someone else are always interesting on a certain level.

Walk the Line - wow, much better than I thought it would be.

The Ice Harvest - I love John Cusack, I wanted to love this movie, but it bugged me.

Where the Truth Lies - most recent Atom Egoyan, an interesting story of a Lewis & Martin type duo and their sordid past. Complex.

Lord of War - an interesting portrait of a gun smuggler. Nic Cage is pretty versatile.

The Inside Man - Superb! An excellent caper with lots of suspense and unexpected twists. Spike Lee is the man. Oh, and I can't forget the obligatory Clive Owen is hot comment :-)

Love Song for Bobby Long - I liked this even more this time. It's sentimental but I love it.

The Weatherman - a well done portrait of a dysfunctional family. Another solid Nic Cage performance.

Elizabethtown - Cameron Crowe is a bit too self-indulgent. I liked parts of this, but it went on a bit long, although the end was the best -- I'm a sucker for such romantic plot twists.

Reruns - 2046, Happy Times, Broken Flowers, The Crying Game, Speed, In the Cut, Bread and Tulips, Personal Velocity, Eros.

Oscar Predictions

2006-02-24T19:19:00.000-08:00

I still can't decide whether 2005 was a weak year or not. Granted, we did not have an Eastwood film, but we had some decent fare. My picks for the Oscars:

Best Actor: I have a huge soft spot for Philip Seymour Hoffman, and because I live in a small market I haven't seen Capote yet, but ... Heath Ledger knocked my socks off in Brokeback, so I'm betting Ledger will get it, and I think he'll deserve it, but if Hoffman wins, I'll be tickled pink.

Best Supporting Actor: When I was 14 or so, I thought Matt Dillon was the best thing ever. It was a real thrill for me for his performance in Crash to be so outstanding. A lot of the pundits are predicting Paul Giamatti will get it as a make-up call for not even being nominated for Sideways, but I hope the Academy is not that shallow.

Leading Actress - couldn't really care about this one this year. The action is in Supporting Actress.

Supporting Actress - just saw Junebug last week. Amy Adams did a bang-up job. I am a big fan of Catherine Keener, though. I wouldn't have said this a week ago, but we just watched Constant Gardener again a few days ago, and I'm going to say the Oscar goes to Rachel Weisz.

Animated Feature - has to be Wallace and Grommit. Grommit knits, I have to love them.

Best Director - Ang Lee, hands down.

Original Screenplay - I'd cast my ballot for Crash.

Adapted Screenplay - toss up for me between Constant Gardener and Brokeback Mountain.

Best Picture - If Crash beats Brokeback, I'll be happy, but anything else will be a miscarriage of justice.

Gotta say that I'm rooting for Best Song to go to "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp." Are they going to have those artistic performances of best song nominees again this year? Hmmmm.

January 2006

2006-02-24T19:11:00.000-08:00

Twelve Monkeys - a classic
Fun with Dick and Jane - rather funny, we thought
Serenity - Watching all the Firefly episodes and this movie within 4-5 days was just great, but now that it's over, what am I supposed to do?
The Jacket - unusual psychological thriller/drama
Dot the i - odd film about betrayal and revenge
Heights - interesting ensemble piece with Glenn Close as an aging actress whose daughter is going through a crisis
Frogs for Snakes - one of our favorites. After all, who wouldn't kill to play Teach?
Straight No Chaser - the beautiful mad Monk
Days of Being Wild
House of Flying Daggers - always a treat
Me and You and Everyone We Know - definitely offbeat
Dune
Closer - depressing but really good
The Big Empty – wow, what did Favreau owe the director/writer of this one? Yikes.
Life of Brian
Scent of a Woman – hoo hah. This one holds up pretty well.
Brokeback Mountain – Wow. This one broke my heart.
Remember Me, My Love - Italian film about a family falling apart, but brought back together by a tragic accident
Hustle and Flow – man, you wouldn't think a movie about a lowlife pimp and drug dealer in Memphis would be interesting, but wow. This story is about dreams, and the setting makes it particularly effective.
Zhou Yu's Train - recommended for Wong Kar-Wai fans. Too slow for my taste, at least the day we watched it.

Just for the record...August-December 2005

2006-02-24T18:45:00.000-08:00

OK, so keeping up my blog didn't work so well. I've been busy, what can I say. I have kept up my old-fashioned paper list, so all is not lost.

Viewed in August:
Traffic – rerun, still a good one.
Casino – glad we Netflixed this instead of buying, rather disappointing.
The Last Shot - don't even remember this one
Man on the Train – rerun, always enjoy Leconte
Flirting with Disaster – always hilarious
My Son the Fanatic – interesting still
Emma – glorious
Unsung Heroes
In My Country – Juliette Binoche as a South African journalist who joins forces with an American, played by Samuel L Jackson, set during the Truth & Reconciliation trials
Bride and Prejudice – Austen meets Bollywood, funny but went on a bit too long
The Island – Not as good as it should have been
Hostage - average
Open Hearts - interesting, Dogma film, depressing
Family Guy Volume 1 – Oh my gawd. We didn't have cable when we lived in New Bedford, Mass, and my Rho Dyeland co-workers weren't talking about this one! What a freakin' stitch. Just hearing them say their hometown name kills me (Quahog!)
Code Inconnu – a really complex film, even more enjoyable this time
Alexander – what a waste of time
The Ballad of Jack and Rose – offbeat film with Daniel Day-Lewis playing a man raising his daughter
The Upside of Anger – very effective comedy-drama with Joan Allen and Kevin Costner
Bitter Harvest

Viewed in September
Kinsey – Interesting.
The Big Lebowski – perennial favorite at our house.
Round Midnight - beautiful sad
Mad Dog and Glory
The Ladykillers - rather annoying, really
Chaos
A Very Long Engagement - an excellent film, even after several viewings
Desperately Seeking Susan – corny 80s fun
Smoke – this one always gets me
Bringing Up Baby – fun classic
Broken Flowers – Ah, why is Jim Jarmusch so underappreciated.
Finding Neverland – better than expected
Mondovino – mondo boring - I like to drink my wine without knowing *that* much about it, I guess
A Couch in New York – cute culture clash comedy with William Hurt and Juliette Binoche
Abouna – excellent film
The Final Cut

Viewed in October
Mighty Aphrodite – Woody Allen, comfort food for us
Birth – odd.
Hook - Isn't Netflix great?
3 Iron – very odd, dreamy Korean film
The Holy Girl
The Name of the Rose
Saving Private Ryan – had never seen this. Not so bad.
Manhattan Murder Mystery
We Don't Live Here Anymore
The Royal Tenenbaums - Wes Anderson's best
Sky Captain
The Magdalene Sisters – depressing
The Sea Inside – depressing
The Sixth Sense – still chilling

Viewed in November
Fever Pitch – the remake with Drew Barrymore and the Sox, cute.
The Assassination of Richard Nixon – very offbeat, good performance by Penn, just a little weird
Catch Me If You Can
Un couer en hiver - still heartbreaking
The Legend of Zorro - so we were desperate to go to the movies....
The Wizard of Oz
8 Women
Pieces of April - so well done
No Direction Home – fascinating look at Bob Dylan
Henry Fool
Kontroll – odd, almost unwatchable
Solaris - one of my favorites
Kolya - holds up well.
Wild Things - had never seen it, wow, how trashy!
Crimes and Misdemeanors – still the best Woody Allen in my opinion
House of Yes
The Girl on the Bridge
Tadpole – another wonderful Thanksgiving movie
Far From Heaven
Hannah and Her Sisters

Viewed in December
Apres Vous
The Interpreter - better than I expected, but why didn't they just use Kiswahili and not go to the lengths of making up a language?
Cronicas - Leguiziamo shows his range, a very creepy, interesting look at journalists tracking a serial killer story
My Summer of Love
Bewitched - could have been so much better!
The Dinner Game - hilarious!
King Kong - not so bad, really.
P.S. - yawn, and annoying!
Firefly - OK, again, we didn't have cable during the brief moment this was on. After hearing recommendations from a hugely divergent array of people, we gave it a shot, and we watched the whole damn box set within days. I loved Buffy the movie, never got into Buffy the series, but OK, I can now say, I'm a Joss Whedon fan for sure.
Fargo - a good one for a winter night
The Ref – my favorite Christmas movie
The Life Aquatic - not as good as Tenenbaums, but he's really good.
Bridget Jones' Diary
El Palo
Happenstance

Viewed in July

2005-07-31T21:38:00.000-07:00

Lady Jane - Helena Bonham Carter - looking like a 12 year old - in the story of one of Henry VIII's daughters

Ghost World - I think I liked this better this time; an interesting tale of a pair (or trio) of misfits trying to find their way

War of the Worlds - don't enjoy Tom Cruise (even before the Katie thing, even before the Mimi thing!), but this was entertaining enough. The tripods were pretty scary!

Max - story of the German Jewish art dealer who befriends Hitler; John Cusack in a different role

Sideways - I love this movie so much. I think it held up quite well on second viewing.

Only You - one of my favorite romantic comedies. Marisa Tomei is so funny in this.

The Aviator - I think I may have liked this even more on second viewing. Million Dollar Baby and Eastwood still deserved both Oscars, though.

The Village - when is this guy going to have a new movie? This one was scary even though I knew what was happening.

Antonia’s Line - excellent film about several generations of women

Cold Mountain - enjoyed this on re-viewing

Final Analysis - a cheesy classic

Killing Zoe - one of Eric Stoltz' odd ones. Very violent, not much plot, and one of the creepiest sex scenes ever (he and Julie Delpy are going at it with the TV on, which is playing Nosferatu)

Barton Fink - have seen this one many times, but still enjoyable. The Coen Brothers are something.

Respiro - very beautiful film visually, a tale of a woman who doesn't quite fit in with her village

Belle Epoque - amuses me every time I see it

March of the Penguins - what a great film! Penguins are so cool. It's hard to believe what they go through.

Les destinees sentimentales - Olivier Assayas epic about a man who gives up his ministry to take the helm of his family's ceramics company in Limoges; good but went on too long, and rushed through too many scenes. Of course, it ran three hours as is, but still...

Quills - rerun, seemed more poignant this time

Miss Congeniality 2 - cheesy fun, Bullock can be very funny

She Hate Me- why is Spike Lee so underappreciated?

Constantine - I love Keanu, I like graphic novels, I was intrigued by the plot, but I fell asleep.

Viewed in June

2005-07-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

A Love Song for Bobby Long - I liked this a lot. Travolta is such a good actor, and Scarlett Johanssen shows some emotion here. A tragically sad story of finding your family.

Venus Beauty Institute - a not very good French film about a woman who works in a cosmetic store

The Merchant of Venice - hoo hah! Pacino chases this down trying to kill it; an interesting version of what is usually played as a comedy

Viva Maria - what a hoot! Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau as show girls/ bandits in the Mexican frontier; quite humorous

Gladiator - well, we'd never seen it. I could have lived without having done. Joaquin Phoenix played the evil character well, but the cgi violence was beyond disgusting and gratituitous

Dogfight - hadn't seen this one in a long while. Lili Taylor looked so young, and River, ah, man, what a waste.

Unforgiven - don't usually care for westerns, but this one is so good. Eastwood tells such a damned good story.

After seeing the Revenge of the Sith - ugh! The dialogue! Ugh! The same old light sabers! - we decided we wanted to watch the originals. Luckily friends of ours have the box set from the mid-90s, so we watched all three. In a
row! Star Wars; The Empire Strikes Back; Return of the Jedi

Titanic - hated the hype at the time, but this is actually a pretty good movie

Roger Dodger - Campbell Scott as a rude pig whose young nephew unexpectedly shows up for a visit

The Bride Wore Black - Jeanne Moreau has some business to attend to!

Mr and Mrs Smith - what a treat! This was a lot of fun.

Cinderella Man - too sappy, and they made Max Baer into an evil dude. Shame on you, Ron Howard!

Batman Begins - ah, I loved it. And I hope he really does keep going and redoes the Joker movie.

National Treasure - enjoyable caper with Nic Cage

The Day the Earth Stood Still - great 50s B movie!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind - hadn't seen this in years! I remember not really liking it when it came out (in my defense, I was nine years old) but really enjoyed it this time.

Viewed in May

2005-07-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

Confidentially Yours - an old favorite and always enjoyable

Ladder 49 - better than I thought, some melodrama, but some humor and good characters

Down by Law - hadn't seen this in a long time, even the early Jarmusch are good

Bad Education - finally got to see it and was slightly disappointed. But when you compare everything he does to, say, All About My Mother, it's hard to surpass that every time.

Stage Beauty - OK but nothing to get too excited about

Don't Move - went to Seattle for a work related meeting and took some extra time - this was Penelope Cruz' most amazing role yet, as a skanky troubled woman who has an affair with a creepy guy. Not the feel good hit of the summer by any means.

Look at Me - latest Agnes Jaoui, a wonderful movie about a young woman and her relationship with her father and step-mother, and about her musical ambitions

Indiscreet - an oldie but goodie

In Good Company - Whenever I see Ashton Kutchner in anything, I always think Kelso! Not so with Topher Grace. I think he'll be something. This is the one where Grace is Dennis Quaid's new boss, athough 25 years his junior, and falls in love with Quaid's daughter.

Cosi - not as good as the premise,which is patients at an institution (all the quirky kinds of mental illness) put on a production of Cosi Fan Tutti

Die Mommie Die! - oh, everyone should see this! A campy send up of soap opera type movies, this one features possible murder, hateful children, a creep who seduces mom, daughter *and* son, intrigue, hidden identity, etc. Just a hilarious piece of camp. Mom is played by a man in drag, which just adds to the fun.

Coffee and Cigarettes - The Blanchett & Blanchett scene is just heartbreaking.

Coupling Vol 1 - hadn't seen this, friends loaned us the DVDs. The first few minutes of the first one were a little slow, but then we were laughing so hard.

House of Flying Daggers - enjoyable even as a re-run

Crash - wow. Don Cheadle gets another Oscar nomination or I eat my shoe. I am always enamored of the interlinking stories approach, and this one did not disappoint. The opening scene is amazing, and it doesn't stop.

Head in the Clouds - Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz as friends during World War II. Avoided melodrama, was quite good.

Motorcycle Diaries - didn't hold my attention, although I do like Gael Garcia Bernal.

All the Real Girls - a low budget indie that we really tried to like but just couldn't get into

Un air de famille - an earlier Agnes Jaoui about a downtrodden man and one long evening with his brother and sister-in-law, sister, and mother. You think your family is bad? Watch this and you'll probably feel better.

Amores perros - another rerun that holds up; it's that interlinking stories thing again

Nenette et Boni - another rerun, how many times have we watched this?

Viewed in April

2005-07-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

Desk Set– always a fun one, especially for a librarian like me

Sin City – ultra violent, but well done, really captured Frank Miller’s work

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow – re-run but enjoyed it again – love the final scene with the camera

King Arthur – hadn’t seen this one in the theatre, not too awful, an interesting take on Arthur’s identity, and well, you know, Clive Owen

2046 – Wow. Recent Wong-Kar Wai, picks up after In the Mood for Love, one of my all time favorites. This one is denser and more difficult to follow, with some circularity or repetition of time and motifs.

Raging Bull – missed the beginning, so still have never seen it all the way through. Fascinating piece of work, though.

Strayed – hmmm, didn’t finish

Melinda & Melinda – see post below

Eros – see post below

Seventh Heaven – see post below

Code 46 – a science fiction/dystopia piece of dreary with Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton, could have been so interesting, was so lacking

Being Julia – didn’t know quite what to expect, was quite good. Annette Bening was really good in this. The revenge scene at the end is priceless.

Kansas City – one of Altman’s better works, although quite dark, not a happy ending to be sure

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – only the second time we’ve seen this, unusual given how much we loved it. The second time was different – it will never quite be like the first time, when you don’t know what’s going on yet. Knowing the deal, though, allowed me to pick up more of the nuances – was able to pay more attention because I wasn’t speculating wildly about the plot

The Incredibles – not as incredible as I’d been led to believe, but enjoyable.

Vera Drake – dreary, dreary, and lacking something important that just never materializes.

Strange Days – wow, how 90s. Didn’t remember it being so bad. As Shawn said, well, it’s an artifact. Of what, I’m not sure. Our copy is for sale – cheap! bargain! - at half.com if you’re curious or masochistic…

A Very Long Engagement – aaaah. What a treat to finally see this wonderful film. An engaging story with good characters, Audrey Tautou is just so good, and Jeanot gives us a very sensitive yet brutal portrayal of what has always struck me as one of the stupidest, most wasteful wars ever (World War I).

Spanglish – I really liked this, even with all its flaws and even with Adam Sandler once again playing the downtrodden guy. At least it’s an adult, responsible downtrodden version this time out. There’s that moment where he confronts Tea Leoni about the affair and she’s prevaricating like mad and he just insists that she answer the question with a simple yes or no. Finally, she blurts out yes, and he looks truly stunned. “Really?” he asks in the most plaintive voice. That scene seemed so real. Among others that were not all that realistic, that one stood out.

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – what a fun one. Ebert & Roeper trashed it (yes, the same Roeper who recently gave thumbs up to House of Wax, for god’s sake, said this was just too British. What a snob.) but it’s great fun.

Key Largo – a golden oldie, with Bacall looking so young and Bogie so dapper

Betty Blue – a disturbing tale of a couple who vie for the I’m the Most Screwed Up Person in This Relationship Award

Love and Death – vintage Woody, quite hilarious, a good way to end the month (wheat, wheat, wheat, and so very appropriate as the Palouse begins its season of wheat)

Minneapolis International Film Festival

2005-04-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

Went to Minneapolis for the ACRL conference. We were quite happy to realize we had landed right in the middle of the Minneapolis International Film Festival. First night there, we didn’t know this yet, and we headed out to one of Minneapolis’ two Landmark theatres (sigh) to see Melinda and Melinda. I liked it a lot, thought it was one of the best Woody Allen movies of recent times, but the framing device in this one bugged me.

While there, we saw the promotional materials for the festival and were able to catch two of the festival films while we were in town. There were lots more we wanted to see but we’d either already missed them or they were slated for after our departure.

We saw Eros, which we really liked. I loved the Wong Kar Wai segment, even though it was certainly similar to some of his other works. I also thought the Steven Soderbergh piece was amusing. I didn’t think the Michaelangelo Antonioni piece was great, although I didn’t hate it like most critics seemed to. I didn’t get the myth angle, although the case made by my husband sold me on the interpretation (see his entry on Eros at his blog).

We also saw Seventh Heaven, which is an older film made by Benoit Jacquot. We didn’t realize it wasn’t a new one, but we’d never seen it. Jacquot was actually there, as he was the featured director of the festival. He introduced the film by saying he’d made 7 or 8 since then and he couldn’t really remember it clearly. He told an amusing, rambling anecdote about the lead actors marrying after making the movie, although they had since divorced. At the end, many people were waiting in their seats, apparently expecting him to comment or something. One of the organizers ran down the aisle to announce that Jacquot had already left to go back to his hotel to go to sleep (the showing began at 9:40, so maybe he was justified). This became even funnier when my husband mentioned he himself had been sleeping during most of the movie. It was not the most compelling of films. Very subtle. Too subtle, perhaps.

Overall, this looked like a very strong festival. May have to go back sometime for it. Made me also very nostalgic for the French Film Festival held at the Cable Car Theatre in Providence each year. Much happier out here in the west, but I do miss having access to a large number of international films.

Movies in March

2005-04-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Garden State – a lot of potential here, a little too much of the director/writer’s personality in this, but an interesting story.

Gorgeous– as the friend who loaned it to us described it, a romantic comedy disguised as a Jackie Chan action film; started slow, got better, but it was hard to buy Chan as the romantic interest. Tony Leung does quite a number as the flamboyant gay character; a very different portrayal of a gay man than his role in say,
Happy Together.

Hotel Rwanda – an important film which brought back memories for us, as we were acquainted with a woman from Rwanda at graduate school at the time of the genocide. For me, I can never forget the night the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour accidentally showed live footage of a beheading; Lehrer was as shaken as the viewers. Don Cheadle proves his versatility in playing a more serious role, portraying a gentle man who wants to save people, be they Hutu or Tutsi.

Die Another Day – a Bond we hadn’t seen before, all the cheesiness of the Bond films is here, although Brosnan does quite a good job as 007.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – holds up pretty well; interesting performances from Cusack and Spacey.

Anchorman – funny in parts but ruined by the bathroom humor and a stupid ending.

Sweet and Lowdown – one of our favorite Woody Allen films; what a performance from Samantha Morton.

Four Weddings and a Funeral – another re-run, holds up well, parts of it are just hysterical. Not a big Mr Bean fan, but Rowan Atkinson as the nervous novice performing the wedding continues to be a comic highlight.

The Cooler – Alec Baldwin does the creepy role quite well. Maybe liked this better the first time I saw it.

Chronicles of Riddick – enjoyable sci-fi. Pitch Black is a fave.

Angels in America – went on a bit long for me and got a little too politically preachy, but overall, quite good. Pacino as Roy Cohn – wow. Meryl Streep’s multiple roles were also quite astounding. The interplay between Streep as the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg and Cohn could have made the whole movie. Jeffrey Wright deserves so much more recognition than he gets. He also plays multiple roles with great dexterity.

Hollywood Ending – ah, Woody. This one was so much better than the few before it, but I’m left pining for the earlier works.

Immortal Beloved – hadn’t seen this in years, even better than I remembered. An excellent performance and a heartbreaking story.

Sweet and LowdownAlice et Martin – I liked this better this time, but still will never be one of my favorites.

Napoleon Dynamite – what a quirky film. Painfully brutal treatment of the characters, spent the movie alternately laughing and cringing. Loved the dance scene, though.

She Hate Me – the critics hated this one, but they missed the boat. This movie is hysterical.

Igby Goes Down – What a portrait of a dysfunctional family.

The Forgotten - Glad we didn’t see this one in the theatre. Cheesy! Hard not to laugh at the Monty Python-esque removal of people by the bad guys.

Place Vendome – Catherine Denueve plays an alcoholic who gets her life together after her husband dies and she discovers his secrets.

The Matrix – I love this movie. I continue to argue that it is a complete film and that the sequels were a travesty.

Diabolique – We know this one so well we can quote the dialogue along the way. One of my favorite noir thrillers.

Ray – glad to see this finally. I think Jamie Foxx just may have deserved his Oscar. The musical performances were kick-ass.

Silence of the Lambs – remains one of the creepiest movies ever made. The suspense of the door knocking scene in the final sequence gets me every time.

Alfie – ironically, this Netflix selection arrived the same day that the Boondocks cartoon mentioned the movie. When asked if they should buy the film, a character responds “only if it comes with a refund and an apology” or something to that effect. Well, we watched it anyway, and since we didn’t specifically pay for it, we’ll pass on the refund, but we’re still waiting for the apology.

Wizards – had trouble keeping my attention up during this one; very odd Ralph Bakshi sci fi feature where a future world is threatened by neo-Nazis.

Facing Windows – an interesting story of an unhappy woman who, along with a neighbor, ends up taking care of an older man with amnesia.

Oscars

2005-02-28T20:47:00.000-08:00

Ah, the guilty pleasure of watching the Oscars. And what a treat it is to live on the west coast. For the past few years, the Oscars end and it's around 9pm out here.

All the ones I cared about got awards this year. I was very concerned that Best Director and Best Picture would get split between The Aviator/Scorsese and Million Dollar Baby/Eastwood. Scorsese has been screwed soooo many times (I mean, really, Kevin Costner for Dances with Wolves!!!) but The Aviator was not the strongest picture this year. I was so glad when Barbara Streisand announced it. Million Dollar Baby is just a phenomenal film.

I was also rooting for Sideways and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to win their respective screenplay awards. Sideways was such a wonderful movie, although it would be hard to compete for Best Picture. And Eternal Sunshine not even getting a nod, jeez! I loved Charlie Kaufman's neurotic little acceptance speech.

I thought Chris Rock was pretty damned funny. Was Sean Penn really mad at him? Over cracks about Jude Law?? A very odd moment. But not as odd as them giving awards from the back 40 out on the floor or having all those people crowded on stage to hear the winner, as if they were finalists at the Miss American pageant. Loved Rock's crack about giving out the awards in the parking lot next year!

My biggest beef with the Oscars continues to be the need to have each of the song nominations sung in their entirety. And how odd last night, to have Beyonce "interpret" so many of them in a style not quite like the original. Counting Crows were OK, but I'm so sick of that song. Seeing Antonio Banderas sing was great fun. I had to laugh today though at how many stupid reporters and critics said that Jorge Drexel "sang his acceptance speech." Hel-lo! or, excuse me, Ho-la! He sang the first two stanzas of the freakin song, he didn't give an acceptance speech, except to say "Gracias" after singing.

I did enjoy one article that mentioned that for all the hoopla worrying about what Rock would say, it was the pre-show crew that was ridiculous. I missed Chris Connelly's rude comment to Orlando Bloom, but did hear that other guy ask at the after party of Morgan Freeman whether he thought his Oscar was for Million Dollar Baby or a make-up for all his other work. !!!! Morgan, cool as ever, said something along the lines of he hoped it was for MDB and that when they were ready to give him an Oscar for his complete body of work, that would be fine.

At least no one thanked his/her dogwalker, car washer, florist, etc.

February viewings

2005-02-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

In addition to Million Dollar Baby (see below), we also saw several on the big screen this month:

The Aviator, good but not that good

Sideways, excellent!

Hero, got to see it again on the big screen at our arthouse cinema

House of Flying Daggers, finally got to see it on the big screen at our arthouse cinema

Ocean's Twelve, finally saw it at the second-run house

Netflixes and reruns from our library included:

The Hudsucker Proxy, what fun. "And I'll stake my Pulitzer!"

Shawshank Redemption, first time seeing it for me. Wow. Can't believe it lost to Gump that year!

Ronin, always enjoyable. Love the self-surgery scene. Not.

Spartan, a recent Mamet, kind of odd, but good.

Henry and June, hadn't seen it in years.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - I really really like Clive Owen but he couldn't save this one.

Shanghai Triad - liked this one better this time

Cutthroat Island - a fun little romp

John Q - pretty average.

Maria Full of Grace - a good movie, but I didn't gush over it the way some critics did

Cellular - this sucked. Big time. We laughed so hard, at the parts that weren't supposed to be funny. I hope Macy got a nice fat paycheck, especially for the "It's a day spa, you fuck" line.

Todo sobre mi madre - Have watched this so many times, and it's still so wonderful. Just love Almodovar. La mala educacion, totally snubbed at the Oscars this year. !Que lastima!

Million Dollar Baby

2005-02-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

Saw this today in the theatre. Haven't heard so much snuffling and nose blowing and clearing of throats in a theatre since I don't remember when. I personally haven't cried so much in a movie theatre since seeing Love, Actually, but admitting that might give you the wrong idea about this film. There is nothing sappy or melodramatic about Million Dollar Baby. The characters are intriguing, and brutally honest and real, and the dialogue is too. The style is also very important; the use of light and shadow complements the settings and the scenarios in very interesting ways.

But it doesn't take too long before this film starts breaking your heart in little ways, and then it just keeps doing it, serving up these understated, aching scenes, and then the third act of the film just devastates you. I can't say much specific without spoiling it. One final note: I hate boxing, and if you do too, just go see this anyway. You can close your eyes during the boxing scenes. I could tell from Ebert's review that something major happens, and so I avoided any other reviews. Now that I've seen it, I went and checked to see what some of my fave reviewers had to say. James Berardinelli (http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/movies/m/million_dollar.html) notes that excellent films are ones you have to recover from. I agree with him that this is definitely one of those.

January viewings

2005-02-05T21:15:00.000-08:00

Viewed in January

Started off the New Year with some old favorites, The Wonder Boys, Monty Python’s Holy Grail and Everyone Says I Love You.

From Netflix:
His Girl Friday, which is an interesting mix of witty repartee and tangled love affairs, with a serious look at the death penalty and journalism.

Collateral, which was better than expected. Tom Cruise did a good job as the creepy killer.

Kitchen Stories, a slow-paced Scandinavian film set in the 1950s.

The Big Sleep. The DVD wasn’t labeled, we ended up watching the original cut of the film. One of the extra features highlighted the differences between the original and the version later released, which is the one we remembered seeing (and the one we would have seen if we had put the DVD in on its other unlabelled side). The original cut was much better, in our opinions.

Nashville – Robert Altman, 1975. Had never seen this. It was a great satire of country music, the South, politics, the Bicentennial. Really quite brutal when you reflect on it. The country songs done during the film are a hoot. Had to really laugh as the credits rolled and saw that most of the made-up songs were written by the actors, including Keith Carradine, Karen Black, etc.

The Door in the Floor – this is the adaptation of the first third of John Irving’s A Widow for a Year. Sad tale of a couple dealing with the aftermath of the deaths of their sons. Jeff Bridges behaves badly in brilliant fashion. Interesting feature on the DVD with Irving discussing book to movie adaptations.

Reruns: 8 Women, such a treat. The Wings of the Dove, a beautifully filmed depressing period piece. Can’t stand to read Henry James; am glad someone was able to make it into a movie.

Finally got to the theatre to see Closer. Excellent film but very depressing. Also saw The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, which we adored. I will say that The Royal Tennenbaums remains my favorite Wes Anderson film, but Life Aquatic has a lot to recommend it.

Second half of December viewings

2005-01-01T08:34:00.000-08:00

Veronica Guerin – What a testament to Cate Blanchett’s acting that anyone sat through this.

Mona Lisa Smile – A melodrama that doesn’t quite tell the whole story.

Blue – I see something new every time I watch; one of my favorites of all time, and probably my favorite of the trilogy

The Ref – A Christmas classic :-)

Miracle on 34th Street (original version) – Hadn’t seen this in years, like a whole lotta years, and I found it much more charming that I recall it being. Maybe it’s really a movie for adults?

James Bond Marathon – We were staying at the Ocean Rogue Inn in Rockaway Beach for Christmas, and their cable TV system included Spike TV, which was running a Bond marathon. Saw some of the good old Connery ones, saw part of a really bad one (Diamonds Are Forever,) missed the Moore ones, but saw one of the Pierce Brosnan ones. Hadn’t seen one of the Pierce ones yet. I thought he did a great job. Can’t believe they’ve decided he’s too old for the role. Jeez. I saw an article online where the actress playing Moneypenny says she won’t come back, because she doesn’t want to play the role against a much younger man.

The Killer Shrews – Whoa! A total B movie from 1969. Cheezy, to say the least. The killer shrews looked like mechanical dogs with long rope tails added on. And fake scary teeth. I won’t even go into the dialogue. Oh, this was so gloriously bad.

Fog of War - Can’t believe it took us this long to see this film. I was amazed. McNamara is quite the character, at turns brilliant, egotistical, brazen, contrite. Errol Morris really captured the conflicted nature of this guy. It was also fascinating to see the way war was treated like a business. All those charts, graphs, statistics …that they’ve been kept all these years … it’s a wonder McNamara didn’t just sit down one afternoon and invent some sort of powerpoint software for himself.

Heaven – A Tom Twyker direction of a Kieslowski screenplay that just didn’t quite work. Cate Blanchett does some incredible work, of course. She’s really something else.

Before Sunset – the long awaited sequel to Before Sunrise. Ethan Hawke’s character has written a novel based on their one night and Julie Delpy’s character shows up to his book signing in Paris. They rekindle their relationship while, yes, walking around Paris before his flight. Does he get to the airport?

13 Conversations About One Thing – it is a total crime that Jill Sprecher has so few movies available. One of the best films ever. The ending just breaks your heart.

White – I like this one but am always disturbed in the end because his revenge turns so cruel. I’m not sure the fate he manufacturers for her really fits her crime of passion, or dispassion.

And now it’s New Year’s Day Time moves so fast. Here’s to 2005!

Mid-December viewings

2004-12-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

We just haven't gotten to the theater lately, but there are a ton we want to see, Ocean's Twelve, Closer, Sideways to name a few. Saw Wes Anderson on Charlie Rose the other night. His new movie looks excellent. Bill Murray stars. The title is The Life Aquatic. And there's also the new Zhang Yimou coming out soon.

Speaking of Wes Anderson, today we watched The Royal Tenenbaums for the umpteenth time. It holds up quite well. It's a masterpiece.

Also seen since last posting:

View From the Top - a few laughs but very very silly

The Saddest Music in the World - one of the oddest films we've seen in awhile, a long while

Dangerous Liaisons - another old favorite

and probably some others I can't even remember. Should keep better track!

Some recent viewings

2004-12-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

Recently, we watched A Home at the End of the World, based on a Michael Cunningham novel. Had some humor and didn't get too melodramatic. Also ended before anyone got really ill. These movies about the 70s can just make you so sad - you can shout at the screen, "Hey, stop sleeping with all these men you don't know!" but it does no good. Colin Farrell does a pretty good job here, as does Robin Wright Penn.

Van Helsing. Way campy!

Finally saw The Quiet American. The voiceovers grated on the nerves. I wonder if the novel offered better character development. I was left wanting something more, although Caine's performance was quite strong.

Watched The Hours again. One of my favorites.

Ebert & Roeper's show tonight had some great selections...the new Clint Eastwood, Closer, Ocean's Twelve and The Aviator, which I hadn't been too thrilled with based on the previews. But it is a Scorsese, and tonight we saw clips of Cate Blanchett in her role as Katharine Hepburn. Wow!

Always lots to see, and so many that don't even make it to the Palouse. Gael Garcia Bernal was on Charlie Rose Friday night, too brief a segment, but he was very interesting. The Motorcycle Diaries is here, but La mala education isn't, no surprise!

Don't waste your time!

2004-11-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

Even though I couldn't finish the book and the reviews were rather unkind, we decided to go see Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason yesterday. Ouch! Another addition to the crap unnecessary sequel list. Colin Firth plays Darcy much too sour this time out, and there's just not enough (or maybe it's too much?) of Hugh Grant doing the naughty, saucy Daniel Cleaver bit to make it worth the price of admission. Trust the reviewers on this one, kids, and wait for video if you loved the first one.

Where has the month gone?

2004-11-28T10:28:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's almost December. Had a work-related trip the week before Thanksgiving, flew back, flew out to see the parents the next day. Didn't see any movies the whole time! Catching part of Stepmom in the hotel room in Palm Springs doesn't count, trust me. So yesterday we watched two movies, one a repeat, one almost a repeat. 101 Reyjavik is an entertaining little film. I liked it better this time, Shawn actually liked it a bit less. The cheezy version of "Lola" used as background music whenever Victoria Abril's character comes on screen is a scream.

The other one was Gosford Park. Now, we are pretty strong Altman fans. So why the delay? The first time we rented this movie we ended up having a heatwave. This was in southeastern Massachusetts where almost no one had air conditioning. We had fled the apartment and gone off to Boston or Providence to see movies but when we came home, it was still 90 degrees. The video was due the next day (thank god for netflix, no more stupid due dates at Blockbuster) and so we turned it on. Shawn fell asleep pretty quick, and I couldn't sleep but was pretty annoyed. Well, imagine beginning Gosford Park around midnight when you're exhausted and it's still 90 degrees outside and you have no air conditioning. This time we enjoyed it. We originally switched to DVDs to get widescreen versions of things, particularly foreign films, but are beginning to watch the special features. The deleted scenes section on this DVD offers particularly interesting insights into the mind of Altman. His most used line was a deadpan "This scene wasn't necessary." The film editor was with him on the commentary track and at one point remarked something along the lines of "Yeah, we wouldn't want it to turn into a plot thing." LOL.

I am anxious to buy the Seinfeld DVDs. There's a gift box at amazon - the DVDs have extra features, but it comes with a salt & pepper set as seen in the diner - so am still trying to decide whether to buy the plain vanilla ones or go for the features n kitsch box set.

Seen in October

2004-11-13T13:58:00.000-08:00

We love our Netflix. In October we saw:

Saved! - very funny but fell apart toward the end, lapsing into mainstream teen drama

The Butterfly Effect - interesting and entertaining, but it's so hard to not think of him as Kelso!

THX 1138 - weirder than we remembered

Under the Tuscan Sun - entertaining, nice scenery

Man on Fire - a rather gritty, disturbing tale, ran a bit long

Don't Tempt Me - Victoria Abril as an angel and Penelope Cruz as a emissary from hell, sent to earth to vie for the soul of a boxer; totally unique and lots of fun

The Weight of Water - a ponderous adaptation of the Anita Shreve novel; mostly just felt sad about Katrin Cartlidge being dead

And at the theatre, we saw I Heart Huckabees, which was a brilliant satire. A lot of mixed reviews had us feeling unsure of whether we wanted to see it. The New York Times review clinched it for us - if you're not sure, check out that review to make your decision.

Why this blog?

2004-11-12T23:45:00.000-08:00

Why this blog? To get me back in the habit of recording all the movies we see. I used to keep track but got lazy. The reason I began doing it was that in late 1999, we decided to make lists of the best movies of the 1990s. About 3 years later, I'd finally finished. Shawn never finished his. I wanted to make it easy for the next decade.

To get started....we watched Chicago last night for the umpteenth time. Will have to get a replacement DVD soon, as our VHS copy glitches out a bit during one of the best numbers, "We Both Reached for the Gun."

The Viewing Room

Catching Up - August and September movies

July movies

June movies

May viewing

Catching up - April movies

March movies

February movies

The Quest for Redemption

January movies

Catching flicks in the big city

December movies

November viewing

October movies

September movies

August viewing

Clerks II

July viewing

June movies

May movies

April movies

March movies

Oscar Predictions

January 2006

Just for the record...August-December 2005

Viewed in July

Viewed in June

Viewed in May

Viewed in April

Minneapolis International Film Festival

Movies in March

Oscars

February viewings

Million Dollar Baby

January viewings

Second half of December viewings

Mid-December viewings

Some recent viewings

Don't waste your time!

Where has the month gone?

Recently Viewed Chez Nous

Seen in October

Why this blog?