Catching Up - August and September movies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.