February Week 2: Terminator 3: Post of the Machines

So, on Wednesday I said I have a new job! I may have been premature about that. I am hoping that my excitement will not be crushed by rejection, but I am PRETTY sure I will get the job. All the interviews and stuff didn't stop me from watching a ton of movies obviously. Sarah and I are getting back into a movie groove after a few weeks of pure television time. Have you watched Lost Girl? It is super good. Seasons 1-3 are on Netflix. Things are looking up anyway, and I intend to keep writing this time no matter the circumstances of my life. Unless, you know, someone sets off a huge EMP, burning out all the electrical devices for the untold future and bringing our world back to a new stone age. Even then, I'll just switch over to plays and carve my reviews in a tree.

Movies Seen:
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
A Woman is a Woman
Dallas Buyers Club
Paisan
Q Planes
Rabindranath Tagore
Le Cercle Rouge
Sade
Convoy
The Way, Way Back

Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2011):

What is it about Mission Impossible movies? They keep pumping them out, and none of them rise above mediocre. I am actually a big fan of the first movie, although I can’t really explain why. Number 2 and number 3, not so much. Ghost Protocol, in my opinion, has only one thing going for it over the others and that is its sense of humor. I don’t know if that’s due to the screen writers or Brad Bird’s directorial efforts. Either way, it works really well compared to the droll super-serious 2nd and 3rd movies. Action is all well and good in an action movie, but I can get that almost anywhere and in more entertaining flavors than Ghost Protocol. No, once again, if you’re going to sell me on a film, I have to like the characters. The characters are almost blank slates in this movie, but the jokes make up for that big time.

A Woman is a Woman (1961):

Here is the Netflix description for A Woman is a Woman: Striptease artist Angela (Anna Karina) is desperate to have a child, but her boyfriend, Emile (Jean-Claude Brialy), isn't as anxious. Although he cares for Angela and wants to keep their relationship going, he's not ready for that kind of responsibility. Instead, he suggests that she get together with his buddy Alfred (Jean-Paul Belmondo) -- a proposal Angela ultimately accepts, to Emile's shock and dismay. Frenchman Jean-Luc Godard directs.

I just… I have a lot of problems with that description. Basically, Sarah and I wanted to watch something French and we had been eyeballin’ this movie on our My List for a while. Jumping in feet first into a movie with almost no prior knowledge has worked out pretty well in the past, with only a few occasions where I was assaulted visually and mentally. I can’t say this movie was offensive to me, but I sure wish I had known a little more background on it before we watched it. What we got here, is a French New Wave Comedy. Which means incoherent dialogue, musical cues that abruptly start and stop, and references that are extremely timely to the world in the 60’s. Or maybe that’s not what it means, that was what was going on here though. I’ve seen a few French New Wave movies, and honestly the only one that really got to me was 1 or 2 Things I Know about Her, another Godard film. So maybe I’m just not a French New Wave guy? Back to A Woman is a Woman. Entering this movie based solely on the Netflix description was a bit of a mistake. Although the plot described does play out for the most part, the movie is not about the plot. The movie seems to be about how flighty people of a certain age and financial situation were in that time. She wants to have a baby, he doesn’t, she threatens to sleep with another person to have the baby, he challenges her to do so. In-between all that is a lot of goofiness, which was enjoyable some of the time but mostly had me scratching my head. This, I believe, is not the movies fault but my own for not researching the movie beforehand. On the other hand, you shouldn’t have to do that to enjoy a movie. It’s a flaw, it’s there, and it’s still a decent movie as a window into the movement. I just wish we had had more fun watching it.

Dallas Buyers Club (2013):

This is my guess for Best picture Oscar for the 2014 ceremony. It’s got all the Academy wants! Period piece? Check. Issue movie? Check. Strong lead performance? Check-a-roonie! Obviously Matthew McConaughey is the best part of the movie, with Jared Leto in a strong second. What we have here for reals though, is straight up Oscar bait. The movie is just edgy enough to side on the common sense issue of being, say, anti-AIDS, while touching on other more controversial bits like homosexuality and transgender stuff without giving a firmer judgment than tolerance. Insert some tragedy and some feel good scenes, boom, send me the check. What we really need, is a buddy detective TV show where McConaughey and Leto play the same characters, but sans AIDS and solving mysteries! I’m writing the spec script right now. You know what the real problem with this movie is? You put Steve Zahn in there, and you hardly use him! Steve Zahn is a national treasure. In the detective TV show, he will be the tough but fair chief, who occasionally has to go into the field to assist his crew. Oh yeah, this thing practically writes its self.

Paisan (1946):

One of the most eye opening moments for me in my cinema education was when I saw Umberto D in a film class. I had never seen anything like it before, with its long unedited shots and brilliant acting, showing simple tasks like opening all the windows in a room and through shear cinematic magic making them fascinating. I later saw The Bicycle Thief (or Bicycle Thieves, whatever) and got more of this glorious film style. Italian Neo-realism, coming into vogue towards the end of the Second World War, showing how life had become for the people of Italy. Really getting out there on the streets and using non-professional actors for starring roles, BLOWING MY MIND. Paisan is another one of these types of movies, with one problem compared to the others: English speaking actors. I don’t speak Italian in the slightest, so perhaps the Italian actors come off as crappy as the American actors (or ADR providers) do, and I’m just not aware of it. It’s totally possible. Other than the first vignette though, everything else about this movie is great. And you know what? The first one is still great despite crappy English language acting. The movie takes place during the American invasion of Italy, showing 6 different stories of tragedy, that range from unrequited love to religious tolerance to fighting against the Nazis. It is an amazing piece of cinema, and I am not fit to review it, but there it is. I can’t wait to see more.

Q Planes (1939):

This was another little British gem like Obsession, where a mystery is afoot and a humorous police officer must use his wit and will to poke his nose into everyone’s business and get to the bottom of the case! I wish there were a series of films featuring Major Hammond, working hard to annoy everyone and still get his man, or men, or lady. Q Planes (or Clouds Over Europe) is a mystery/comedy about disappearing experimental planes and the man who loved them. Wait, no, Lawrence Olivier’s character is just upset that his pals keep disappearing while taking these flights. Turns out, there’s a ship with a special beam gun that can knock out a plane’s engine from the ocean’s surface! I don’t know if they explained who the ship belonged to or how they made that weapon, but you know what it doesn’t matter. This movie was so much fun. Everyone was doing that fast 40’s style talking you hear being made fun of on occasion, and usually I find that incredibly distracting, but here it worked. The up-sped tempo kept the quips coming and the movie just flew by (like a plane… I’ll just go now). Excellent movie, found in Hulu’s Criterion collection.

Rabindranath Tagore (1961):

A nice little 60 minute docudrama about a man named Rabindranath Tagore, someone I had never heard of. He was a poet and spiritual leader a la Gandhi in India. In fact, he and Gandhi were pals! This was obviously a passion project for the director, and it doesn’t concern its self with being entertaining. It was rather entertaining to me, but I have become a bit of a history buff in my old age. The movie features many reenacted scenes, and they are just fine for that purpose. I learned a little about the man, and now I want to learn more. Job done.

Le Cercle Rouge (1970):

This movie took me 4 days to watch. FOUR. FREAKING. DAYS. I kept getting interrupted during this movie and only this movie, which is kind of amazing because there were plenty of movies I got through just fine, sans interruption. Sigh. In the end, I don’t think I got the pleasure out of the movie I should have. Le Cercle Rouge is a slooooow burner. So I got to see a man released from prison and another man escape from a train, and then I had to wait a while. Then I saw these men meet up and the police officer start to work, then I had to wait a while. You get the picture. The cinematography amazing, gorgeous, and other adjectives that mean really good. I would love to see the movie projected. And you know how much I love characters, so I am happy to say that there are 4 different dudes with motivations, backstories (all inferred masterfully), and scene stealing moments. One cop, one FORMER cop, and two thieves all heisting around. Fantastic stuff. There is a scene where one of the characters is going through the DTs, and giants insects and lizards are appearing around the room. I mention this because I need to know what kind of bugs those were, as they were TERRIFYING. I want to wax on poetic about the cinematography and the strong straight lines scene throughout the film, but I don’t have the words. I can’t help but think the director must have had the obsessive nature of Kubrick to get some of the seamless shots seen throughout the movie. I’m going to see more of the director’s work and then revisit Le Cercle Rouge later.

Sada (1998):

I can’t even… the words are not here for what I witnessed. Why haven’t more people seen this movie? Why aren’t people singing its praises from the rooftops? Sada is a movie about a real woman from Japan who strangled her lover to death and then cut of his genitals and carried them around in her bag until she was caught by the police. Wait, where are you going? No, no, come back, I’m not done yet and you aren’t done either. This movie was amazing. The story of Sada has been told many times apparently (there is a famous movie also based on her story called In the Realm of the Senses) and I imagine has reached an urban legend status in some circles. This movie starts off like Romeo and Juliet with one of the characters introducing the audience to the story, essentially tell us that before we judge we must listen. Then it switches to a rather horrifying rape sequence, which I believe was somehow supposed to be comical? I don’t know, it was comical, but the subject of rape is not. EVER. That scene set a strange bar for the movie from then on. It went through the genre of musical, art film, rom-com, sex farce, and romance, not to mention a little kung-fu tossed in. I cannot possible represent the glory of this crazy chain of genre shift with words, you have to watch it. I watched this amusing farce of a movie, fascinated by all the changes and camera movement, and acting of course, and then something I could never have expected happened. Towards the end of the movie, Sada turns into one of the most romantic films I’ve ever seen. It’s insane and wonderful. I think I have typed myself into incoherence, I’m sorry if that comes out on the page here. So FREAKING good.

Convoy (1978):

Kris Kristofferson is one of the coolest dudes to ever grace the silver screen. His mere presence in a movie is enough to get me excited for a viewing. He has a charisma that oozes off the screen, and that charisma smells like diesel. Convoy is a road/action movie, consisting of a ridiculous battle between cops and truckers. When the main cop is played by Ernest Borgnine, you know you have some something special. I can’t say this is a good movie, not even particularly exciting. What makes this special is that old Joel T standby: Character. If you were to compare the roles in this movie with any modern action movie, you would see the depth of Convoy’s characters. I can’t tell you anything about Shia LeBouf’s character in any of the Transformers movies, but I can tell you about the Rubber Duck’s ex-wife and kids, his motivations for running, his devotion to friendships made on the road, etc. That makes Convoy special, and everything else is at least entertaining for the most part. Would I watch it again? No, probably not. Am I glad I watched it? Totally.

The Way, Way Back (2013):

The Way, Way Back is an 80’s period piece coming-of-age tale, about a young man who is being pummeled with too much change, as all teenagers are at different points in their lives. What’s that? What do you mean it’s not an 80’s movie? Well, yes, I know there was an iPod and a cell phone at one point, but Pac-Man and REO Speedwagon and Station Wagons? Come on. Ok, it turns out that the movie was originally intended to be a period piece, but the budget wouldn’t allow for that, so they changed it to take place in modern times, SLIGHTLY. I don’t usually like coming-of-age movies, because Hollywood has a formula and they like to pump those suckers out, but this movie is better than those even if it does fall into some of the trappings. For the most part, unrealistic characters were left out of the movie, usually inserted for comedy relief. Of course, watch the movie and you’ll see Allison Janney and Jim Rash hamming it up, so it does not escape the troupe completely. Sam Rockwell is amazing, but he usually is. The young actors are not annoying, and that’s all I ask from young actors. The music is good, but it falls into the problem where the queuing up certain tracks is used emphasize certain scenes in the movie. Not just emphasize, but force the viewer into feeling. A particular part that annoyed me was when young Duncan first comes upon the water park, a song proclaims “Is this coincidence or connection?” UNNECCESARY. You need to win the audience over with your script, not force their emotions by pumping out the mood music. I got a lot of laughs out of the film on the whole. It’s a first time film for directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon, so I am excited for further works from them. As a last note, Steve Carell plays a total asshole in this movie, and he does a fantastic job.

I am tired. This was a pretty good week. I hope you liked what you read. If you have any movie suggestions or things you want me to talk about, please drop me a line on Twitter or Facebook, or right here on the blog. I will leave you with one finally bit. Thanks for reading!

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February Week 1: The Odd Post of Timothy Green

This was a week of pretty relaxing fair. I rewatched more movies than I have in a long time. It's not that I don't like to rewatch movies, I just have so much catching up to do! I love having that insurmountable task always bearing down on me. I can never be bored as long as movies are being made.

Films Watched:
Short Term 12
Obsession
Shakespeare in Love
The Importance of Being Earnest
In the House

Short Term 12 (2013):

There’s something special about Short Term 12, and I can only narrow it down to the way it kept defying my expectations. Not in a “what a twist!” kind of way, but something milder, more subtle. I have no experience with group homes or parents that are terrible, but I felt a connection to each protagonist in the movie as if I knew them personally. That alone is wonderful. Every turn in the story, every character development had me going “Huh. I like that they went that way.” I’m sure some people saw a bunch of the story coming, but I wasn’t really looking that hard for imperfection, just enjoying the ride on one of the most critically acclaimed movies of last year. The movie is funny and sad, heartwarming in a way that most dramedies seem firmly aimed at while this movie just coasted its way into the zone. It is 100% a good movie. I would say great, but I want a rewatch before I decide that.

Obsession (1949):

Thrillers, man. I can’t get enough of them. A good thriller is the same for me as a great standup comedy special. You sit back, you take the ride, and when it’s over you are left smiling. And thinking, of course, it has to leave you with something to ponder. Obsession (or The Hidden Room, which I think is a much better title) starts off all prim and proper, slow burning to who knows where. I don’t remember if Dial M for Murder was a play before this movie came out, but in any case these 2 productions have a lot in common. You see, murder is not about passion, not if you want it done right. No, a thinker very carefully considers all his or her options, weighs pros and cons and the like, and then only after a plan has been meticulously scrutinized and worked to the very last point may it begin to take place. Where I found the film version of Dial M for Murder rather boring, Obsession picked up after its initial confrontation scene in a direction I couldn’t predict. You take a little mad science, add a dash of Columbo, and of course a cute puppy, and we have a winner. One of my favorite little tidbits in the movie was a scene where in order to show the passage of time, the protagonist picks up a blank crossword puzzle, which fades into a completed crossword. Pretty cool. I recommend this title if you want a nice little thriller. It can be found on Hulu.

Shakespeare in Love (1998):

Back in the day when I saw this movie in the theater I didn’t know shit about movies. What I saw was a pretty period piece with witty dialogue and a slightly cheesy love story, but it could have been worse. Now I know about Oscar bait. Now I know about the actual time period and the mysterious man called Shakespeare. Now I know these actors up and down like I was each of their agents. So this time around I got to nitpick where I wanted to, and you know what? The movie isn’t that bad. You get yourself a loud enough score, some bombastic feel good moments, and a lot of costuming and scenery changes and most of the time now days, you’ve lost me, but not here. I was not entirely charmed by the dialogue, but I did find it amusing for the most part. Gwyneth Paltrow pretending to be English, Judi Dench pretending to be English, Sandra Bernhard, not in this movie. I just like typing Sandra Bernhard. And I guess Judi Dench is actually the most English woman alive, which is why they always cast her. What I’m saying is I don’t hate this movie, even if it kept coming right to the edge of my patience for what I expect from Oscar bait. I think the only reason I liked the recently review Memoirs of a Geisha better is because I had not seen it before, and I had seen this at least 4 times before. You’ve heard the phrase “Familiarity breeds contempt?” I believe that only to be true when the familiar is flawed in a way that eventually cannot be overlooked.

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002):

These are the kinds of movies that Sarah and I watch when we want to relax. Something not heavy, playful and fun, with at least an appearance by Tom Wilkinson or Rupert Everett. The Importance of Being Earnest is 100% delight. The amount of fun being had by the cast is actually reflected on the screen, with snarky, charming characters created by Oscar Wilde portrayed by what I can only assume are the ideal actors for each of their roles. Hell, even Reese Witherspoon playing British didn’t bother me. You know that’s crazy right there. Film may contain far amounts mistaken identity, fairy tale fantasies, adorable old people, and Judi Dench. Again. It’s just a good time all around. I wish Rupert Everett and Colin Firth were my friends in real life. Those dudes seem pretty cool. We could totally play Cards Against Humanity and have a roaring good time.

In the House (2012):

To call this a thriller almost feels misleading, but there is not really another way to put it. It is a thriller, because you don’t and can’t tell where the story may be going. Imagine yourself in the main character’s situation, Monsieur Germain Germain, reading a story by one of your students and becoming helpless in your desire to see where it goes. Would you make the same decisions he did, endangering your career and your reputation? Like him is you self-worth questionable and therefore a worthy sacrifice in pursuit of something special and unique. If you had a student with an undeniable talent, bursting with potential, how far would you go to encourage him or her? These are the kinds of questions I long for in a good thriller, and In The House being as superbly crafted as it is, held up to my demands even after a second viewing. It’s well paced sense of humor and mystery is kind of spectacular, and I can’t really think of a movie to compare it to. Maybe the movie Swimming Pool by the same director, Francois Ozon. Swimming Pool is sometimes too silly for my taste though, where as In the House finds its sweet spot early on, and sticks with it the entire way. I will say that after my first watch, I found the ending to be a little out of left field, but after my second I figured out that I had just missed a few pieces that all came together in the end to fit in this almost perfect, beautiful crafted feature.

Only one Criterion feature this week. I'll get back at that next week, once again assuming I'm not running around to job interviews and such. I much prefer the prospect of having money though. How was your week and what did you watch? Drop me a line on facebook or here on the blog. @jdtmovies on twitter. Thanks for reading this week! You guys are the bomb.

January Week 5: Postbusters

What a week, what a week. I told you I was going to be watching some depressing cinema, but I did not expect it to carry over into my life. I had a job opportunity go to the wayside and I admit I had too much of my hopes stacked behind it. So when it disappeared, most of those hopes had nothing holding them up. I'm doing better now. Had 2 interviews since that happened, so things are actually looking up again. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's death also hit me kind of hard. I mean, how is he going to continue making fantastic movies when he's dead? So sad. I hope everyone else's week has been going well. What about that Superbowl huh? I heard the birds beat the horses or something like that. I didn't even get to watch the movie trailers, I was too busy playing cards and eating snacks. Anywho, it's February, which means it is time to move on from the January film project. I did pretty good considering the amount of movies I had on the list, 29 out of 44 titles. Most of the titles I missed out on were from the Great Cinema collection, so those aren't going anywhere anyway. February's project is substantially smaller http://letterboxd.com/jdtmovies/list/february-2014-project-hulu-criterion-alphabet/ , so I should be able to breeze through it. If you have any movie recommendations, please drop me a line on either twitter or facebook. I would love to get some suggestions.

Films Watched:

Who's that Knocking at my Door

Roger Dodger

I've Loved You So Long

My Fair Lady

Pride & Prejudice

Brokeback Mountain

All That Jazz

Grave of the Fireflies

Who’s that Knocking at my Door (1968):

After my experience and reaction to Wolf of Wall Street, my friend Jose and I thought it would be interesting to go through the Scorsese directed library, excluding shorts and documentaries. I don’t know how often a first full length feature comes out as something a director could be proud of, but this is one of them. Who’s that Knocking at my Door wears its influences right on its sleeve, flaunting the French New Wave style around like it was a second skin. Black and white, dialogue heavy (although sometimes indecipherable, I don’t speak Goomba), out of sequence scenes, good good stuff. This was in no way a perfect movie, but it was up there, 4 out of 5, B+, that good. I am really looking forward to the rest of the journey down Scorsese lane. I hear Goodfellas is pretty good.

Roger Dodger (2002):

This movie was acquired during the fall of one of the major chains of video stores. Hollywood Video, we hardly knew thee. Roger Dodger had been touted as a fine film on Filmspotting, the best film podcast in my opinion. I figured it wouldn’t hurt as a blind buy for 3 bucks. Unfortunately I can’t say I am a fan of this movie. Campbell Scott’s character is just a gross old man pretending that he understands what women want and laying his wisdom down for Jesse Eisenberg. He’s probably the same age I am actually; maybe I’m a gross old man. This was filmed during the time where realisism meant shaky cam, and whenever the poor camera man with Parkinson’s they hired got to calm down and use a tripod I thanked the high heavens. There were some pretty cool and creative shots though. The characters would be talking to someone or listening to someone talk and suddenly we would get a close-up on their hand fiddling with a napkin, or their lips slightly curving into a smirk. I liked that, it gave the characters a touch of real that was actually sexy at times. And the movie is almost all about sex, so sexy should be a factor on occasion. Get rid of Campbell Scott’s character, you have my interest. I could watch attractive women listening to Jesse Eisenberg stumble through come-ons and genuine moments all day. One last note: Teaching a kid that smoking is cool: Not cool, never cool.

 I’ve Loved You So Long (2008):

I was very much into this French movie, which was another acquisition from the previously mentioned Hollywood Video. It was nicely paced, great dialogue and the characters were as real as I could want. Kristen Scott Thomas does a brilliant job portraying a woman rejoining society and her family after a long stint in prison. She keeps her emotion stuffed down below the surface, completely unsure of what dangers and pratfalls will befall her due to the nature of her crime and the alienation from her family. And as time in the movie progresses, you watch her begin to warm up, smile more often, and eventually have conversations like any other person would. It really is quite a remarkable transformation. Her performance is the best part of the movie. Where the movie lost me was in the 3^rd act. We know Thomas’ character was in prison for killing a child and we know her family disowned her for the most part. With the way her character evolved, I thought it would have worked perfectly well if we never found out why she did what she did. For some reason though, the makers of the movie decided that we needed to see she wasn’t just a cold hearted murderer, even though I am pretty sure anyone watching to that point would have already been firmly on her side. Someone thought, we've seen her be emotional to a point, but what we really need is a BIG confrontation and then it’ll be a twist! Ooooo. A mistake. I still quite enjoyed the movie despite that bit of failure.

My Fair Lady (1964):

One of the themes of my movie watching this week seems to have been movies featuring main characters that are unlikable assholes. Henry Higgins is a total dink. This wouldn’t be such a big deal, except at the end of the movie we are supposed to feel bad for him because Eliza has left and might never come back and he’s sad. He’s a huge dick head! Eliza should find someone else to chill with. Ok, that’s my plot complaint. Let me see what else I’ve got. I like some of the staging for the movie, but a lot of these big musicals put to screen have the problem of not mixing up the staging at all. If this had been the stage production, it would make perfect sense to feature long scenes in large rooms without a lot of movement. But the medium of film is all about motion and so many of the scenes come off as stale. Let’s examine the horse derby scene. During the opening number many of the people on scene are moving around holding their heads high and missing running into each other, showing how prim and organized high society is. The cinematographer for some reason thought that singling out 2 or 3 individuals at a time and having them move was a better idea than watching all the movements play out simultaneously, where no doubt on a stage it is choreographed down to beautiful swimming-like movements. Instead the whole scene felt awkward and stilted. I think my favorite part of the movie were the extras, who did their best to look like a bunch of free loading goobers. Fat lady laughing from the upstairs window, I salute you. I also enjoyed all the homosexual under(over?)tones throughout the film, but I’ve been told I may be seeing things that aren’t there. All I know is that if I sang a song about how women would be better if they were more like men, I’d get some cocked eyebrow looks.

Pride & Prejudice (2005):

I did not like what I saw but I got what I expected. Sarah warned me that this movie wasn't any good, but I had a little hope that it might show some merit for its existence. After all, it’s in our collection, so there must be something to like right? Unfortunately, I think attachment to the material is its only reason for its place on our shelf. The vitriolic language spewing from my mouth in the first 10 minutes of the movie would have made Ron Jeremy blush, as I found myself being rushed through one of my favorite stories, finding no nuance or poise. I can say that I enjoyed many aspects of the set design and the cinematography, but the costuming was too hip for my taste.  This was a slam bash version of Pride and Prejudice that someone in Hollywood knew they needed in order to keep their pocketbooks firmly lined with cash, and they got their cash cow didn't they? What’s that? There’s a cantankerous older British woman role? GET JUDI DENCH ON THE PHONE! I felt bad watching how bored Donald Sutherland looked. Perhaps he was directed to be an unexcitable old man, but as far as I could tell he was in it for the pay check. And since this is an early role for Ms. Keira Knightly, I will excuse her lack of nuance, but I still hold out hope that one day she will learn that leaving your mouth open is not the same thing as acting. What a showboaty piece of trash this movie was. 

Brokeback Mountain (2005):

I like sheep. You put a bunch of sheep at the beginning of your movie, chances are you have already won me over into a 3 star review. They are so cute and wooly! This film also had the raw performance power of Heath Ledger in it, and he was absolutely the star. His quiet and downtrodden cowboy had so much soul, mere words cannot do it justice. I can’t say Jake Gyllenhaal clicked the same way for me. I think he did a perfectly passable job, but his performance was in no way as transcendent as Ledger’s. Despite my praises, I still don’t think this movie had the impact on me it would have had 8 years ago when it came out. I enjoyed the scenic vistas and the quiet moments between friends, but I didn’t finish the movie feeling like I had just witnessed a masterpiece. Brokeback Mountain may just be too much of a cultural icon for me to look past right now. When I told a friend I watched it for the first time, I immediately got asked about anal sex and my opinion of the movie’s portrayal. Fact is, I didn’t think the sex was particularly graphic, and I had been told to expect feeling uncomfortable. I have seen much worse things on screen than the very short scene of love making in this movie. Misconceptions aside, this is a well-paced and well-acted movie. You can’t ask for much more.

All That Jazz (1979):

I know what you’re thinking. The movie is called All That Jazz right? How good could it be? Holy guacamole this movie is something else. Roy Scheider is quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite actors, and this film firmly cements him in the top 10. Playing a man overworking, oversexing, literally working himself towards a heart attack; the chaos of his life manages to seem all over the place crazy while also having a psychotic order maintained only by his desire to maintain being something, somewhere, someone. The review for this movie could just read sex sex sex sex sex sex sex, as that really does seem to be the central theme to Scheider’s character, through dancing and talking and just, being. The movie contains so much raw energy and you watch as it is forced through the grinder, producing an over the top spectacle which is efficiently and seemingly effortlessly translated to pure, delightful cinema. I can already tell this is a movie I am going to be adding to my Movies Watched 10+ Times list eventually. I hate to use some many buzzy tag line sentences, but the experience really was overwhelming.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988):

The fact of the matter with this review is, I’ve been struggling to put my feelings about this movie into words. And I can’t. It is heartbreak incarnate. It is one of the saddest films I have ever seen, and on a week like I had, it was twice as potent as it should have been. As a Studio Ghibli film I can’t say I was particularly blown away by the animation, but the storyline more than makes up for that. Sad sad sad.

I know, I know. That last review is a bit of a cop-out. You go watch that movie and try to be pithy about it. I am off to movie watching land now, know as the living room. I'll see you all in a few days. Thank you so much for reading.

January Week 4: The Post and the Furious (me)

I hate January. Every January I get sick, and not just, like, I get the flu once. I get sick OVER AND OVER AND OVER. So far this January, I've been sick 3 times. Getting over my 2nd cold right now. So I spent a lot of time resting this week, because I might be getting a job interview pretty soon (fingers crossed). I watched some good stuff though. I'm looking forward to next month already, where I'll be exploring some Criterion titles in the pursuit of film knowledge. It's good to be the king.

Movies Watched:
Rocky
Silent Movie
Memoirs of a Geisha
Elmer Gantry

Rocky (1976):

What could I possibly say about Rocky that hasn’t been said before? Nothing. I will instead take this time to relay my experience this watching. I watched it with 3 other people (that’s Sarah, Aaron, and Kempo for those in the know), 2 of which had never seen the movie before. After we finished watching it, both remarked that the movie had not played out how they expected. Our society is inundated with certain spoilers, the famous “ADRIAN!” scene from the end of this movie and running up the stairs to “Gonna fly now!” being a couple of them. The fact of the matter is that even though this movie’s climax is a huge boxing match, Rocky can hardly be called a “sports” movie. Sylvester Stallone crafted an amazing character study filled with laughs and tension, wrapped around the premise of a simple man with low expectations for life suddenly being thrust into a limelight he had no reason to ever expect. It’s funny, Apollo Creed thought he was doing some shmoe a favor by giving him a “shot” at his title, never considering the possible upheaval to that man’s life. Rocky could at first be simply painted as the tough guy with a heart of gold, a cliché in today’s age, but as we follow him through the movie we see the depths of his character, and it is just an amazing feat of cinema. This movie is a masterpiece in my opinion and this time I felt slightly embarrassed by the stairs scene where he is jumping around in triumph, but that’s my hang up. It really is flawless film making.

 Kempo (http://www.etsy.com/shop/KimchiCutie) said that this movie is one of the best love stories brought to screen, and I totally agree. Can you guys just get over your preconceptions about the movie and watch it already if you haven’t?

Silent Movie (1976):

This was the last Mel Brooks movie unwatched in my collection, and I am sorry to say it was not a high note. The movie is fine, but I predicted almost every joke that was going to happen. That makes for a pretty boring watch. I enjoyed the celebrity cameos, but they pretty much spent the currency for that gag on their first celeb. I mean, Burt Reynolds, c’mon! There’s not really much to say about it unfortunately. I used to love Mel Brooks but after this personally assigned endeavor, I’m left feeling like my film education has corrupted a small piece of my sense of humor. Wow, that’s depressing.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005):

How much did this movie cost to make? According to Wikipedia, 85 million smackaroos. Yeah, it’s all up there on the screen. Beautiful actors and actresses, fantastic costume and set designs, amazing score. It really was a delight to the senses to watch. Substance wise though? Not much there. The story was predictable through and through, which is the norm for crowd pleasers like this. I really can’t complain though, it was a very enjoyable watch. I really liked the geisha training montage, because how else are you going to become geisha #1 without a training montage? No chasing a chicken around though, minus points for that. And it’s kind of creepy that the Chairman had been pining for the little girl from the bridge all these years, but it’s not like they’re related. The moral of the movie is eventually life always turns out the way you want, as long as you endure long enough. Amen!

Elmer Gantry (1960):

Man, that Burt Lancaster. He was something alright. Watching him parade around in Elmer Gantry, grinning wide and sweating so much it practically falls off the screen is something to behold. Lancaster is what holds the movie together. The story of a scoundrel who becomes a revivalist preacher with unclear motives is an interesting subject, but everything surrounding that in the movie doesn’t hold up too well. Jeans Simmons as Sister Sharon Falconer starts off as an interesting character, but eventually gets side lined by Lancaster, which I can’t complain about. The Audrey Hepburn style of acting has never appealed to me, and Simmons spends the movie putting on an accent and saying things that are supposed to inappropriate for a preacher, therefore shocking. The act goes cold fast. Thank the Lord for Lancaster. The movie runs almost 2 and a half hours but manages to be entertaining almost all the way through. The ending is pretty whackaboo, and in my opinion is a pretty big left turn from the rest of the plot. I cannot praise Lancaster’s performance enough. This movie was part of a 2 film collection DVD that I own along with The Birdman of Alcatraz, which I very much enjoyed as well.

Next week I will finish off the project, very far away from my goal. I don't really mind, those movies aren't going anywhere. Look forward to some depressing movie reviews, as I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch Grave of the Fireflies and Brokeback Mountain next week. Thanks for reading!

January Week 3: Post Fiction

Still trucking through January, I continue on my January project (http://letterboxd.com/jdtmovies/list/january-2014-project-movies-i-own-and-have/) in a vain attempt to complete a task that most men have said impossible. At this point guys... yeah, I don't see me finishing the task. But, you never know. Perhaps I will lock my self in a small room with a tv, dvd player and my remaining collection. Anyone have a small room for rent?

Movies Seen:
Her
Jungle Book
The Last Time I Saw Paris
Fahrenheit 9/11
Call of the Wild
Of Human Bondage
Rumble in the Bronx
To Be or Not to Be
Nacho Libre
History of the World Part 1

Her (2013):

Fantastic movie. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I could leave it at that but I guess I should expound a little on what I think. The depths of emotion portrayed in this movie are magnificent. I said in a previous review that in order to reach an audience with a relationship story, the characters must seem real and the relationship must have familiarity to it. The way Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johanssen develop romantically is absolutely touching and instantly familiar. I can only imagine the amount of takes each of their scenes must have taken because each bit of dialogue leaves the actor’s mouths  sounding completely authentic. It’s a cool movie on top of the gooey deliciousness of the characters, somehow being completely futuristic and unalienating at the same time. This movie touched me emotionally the same way that Blue is the Warmest Color did without any over the top scenes. It contained the joy and sorrow of a Charlie Kaufman script and I could not ask for more. I should say Charlie Kaufman was not involved in the script to my knowledge, it was all Spike Jones, but it had definite hints of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Jungle Book (1942):

Part of the January film project, this is another feature in my Great Cinema collection (I previously called it the great film collection. I was mistaken and too lazy to walk the 3 feet to the actual DVD case to verify the name). Practically a children’s movie compared to some of the other films I have watched in the collection, this movie was like a breath of fresh air for me. The rich Technicolor scenes were absolutely enchanting, and you could tell the tried very hard to keep the color meter set to 10 in every set piece. Jungles filled with wild animals, villages full of working people all wearing different colored turbans for some reason, treasure vaults glittering so enticingly that I reached toward the screen, opening myself to a vicious claw attack from our kitten Pascal. The story was simple and extremely familiar, not because of the animated Disney film but because of a movie I remember seeing a few times starring Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110213/?ref_=nv_sr_2). I really enjoyed seeing all the different animals onscreen including many funny animal reaction shots. The studio had no problem putting actors next to live tigers and bears, but all of the reptiles were animatronic for some reason (animatronic is being generous, there was someone off screen pressing a button so a tongue would shoot out of the snake’s mouth).

The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954):

From the Great Cinema collection we have The Last Time I Saw Paris starring Elizabeth Taylor, Val Johnson, Donna Reed, Eva Gabor, and Roger Moore! That gets you fired up to watch this movie right? Well unfortunately, the whole thing was quite a slog to get through. I believe this is one of the “films” that was made to air on television, so they had to make sure there were at least 2 hours of story there. Val Johnson plays a failed writer/journalist with a goofy haircut that falls for Donna Reed. No wait, he falls for Elizabeth Taylor. But Donna Reed likes him. But Taylor decides she’d rather be with him. This sets up a weird non-conflict that occasionally bears its ugly head in the form of Donna Reed being extremely cold toward Johnson. I mean, they both get married, they both have long lives, but for reasons that are entirely Elizabeth Taylor’s fault (Reed and Taylor are sisters, and when Johnson attempts to woo Reed, Taylor fails to deliver a phone message and YOU KNOW WHAT ITS ALL A MESS) Reed can’t help but give our hero the stink eye every time she is forced to interact with him. See, relationship movies work when people can relate to the relationship presented on screen, and I cannot relate to old Hollywood dialogue and repartee presented here. It’s giving me a headache trying to go through the movie’s crazy dumb plot again just for the review. Too long, not very interesting.

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004):

This DVD belongs to Sarah, so it became part of the January project. I have avoided watching it because frankly I don’t like Michael Moore. I like what he does to a certain extent, I like how he is not afraid to state his opinion, but sometimes his methods are too in your face rude for me. I can’t say I very much enjoyed Fahrenheit 9/11, although it has once and for all taught me how to spell Fahrenheit, which is nice. The first half of the movie is devoted to showing how the second term of Bush’s presidency was filled with a lot of WTF moments, followed by the attacks on September 11^th. Then we see some WTF moments in the aftermath, all of which seem very odd but make perfect sense from a money-making standpoint and are pretty much what I expect now days from the rich. Once the 2^nd half of the film moves on to the Iraq war, which everyone at this point knows was a bunch of terrible bullshit (right?), the movie gets slightly interesting. Scenes of tragedy and ignorance are presented in a shocking fashion at first, but after the 3^rd or 4^th shocking moment the film lost its impact for me. I think the key to this documentary’s success was the freshness of its content at the time, but at this point it’s all old news.

Call of the Wild (1972):

You know how you get my attention? Use a theremin in your soundtrack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin). I didn’t know what that instrument was until a little while ago when Sarah blew my world apart by telling me it was not in fact a saw, but this thing called a theremin that uses an electronic wand to change the note’s frequency. And yes, that was the most impressive thing about the movie. I like me some Charlton Heston, especially when he is chewing the scenery, but it was a mistake to have him in this movie because everyone else was absolute shite by comparison. They picked up a bunch of “actors” at Home Depot, drove them to Canada and said, now it’s the gold rush! Go hog wild! I will note that the main dog Buck was also quite good, but I hear he got heavy into drugs with the money he got from appearing in the film. I enjoyed Buck’s soliloquy on the follies of man. Or perhaps that was a fever dream I was having. I’m pretty sure this was another movie made for TV, so it gets a pass for that because those things used to put me to sleep back in the day, and this lived up to that standard.

Of Human Bondage (1934): Pretty big spoiler at the end of this review, but the movie is from 1934 so sue me. You can watch it right now on Netflix Instant or YouTube for free.

Initial impression: this movie is sexist and despicable.

That is one of my notes about this movie, written in the first 10 minutes wherein we see several males talk about how they’d like to “get to know” some women and we see a waitress being sexually harassed and enjoying it. Hell of an introduction for Bette Davis. Her character is a ditzy, manipulative woman who is made into the villain because she is herself, manipulated by men. BUT NO, she is the bad guy here folks. She uses our hero who is a tragically handicapped young man with a bright future ahead of him! His handicap by the way is a club foot, which is a thing I guess? And his future only becomes bright after he fails as an artist! It’s not sexy Mildred’s (Bette Davis) fault that our goofus hero is a sucker. He’s a sucker surrounded by morons and other suckers and he keeps slipping in and out of a fantasy life where Mildred is exactly the woman he wants and he is exactly the man he wants to be. BUT HE IS OF NO FAULT. Oh, but don’t worry, she dies in the end so all is well. I will say this for the movie, I’ve been watching a bunch of pretty boring stuff recently and Of Human Bondage was never boring, just infuriatingly sexist.

Rumble in the Bronx (1995):

You know that dream of the 90’s? The one assumed to be alive in Portland? Well it’s also right here in my DVD copy of Rumble in the Bronx! Where else can you go to get fabulous fashion, multicultural gangs, poppy music, and guys with ponytails and mullets? This movie was pretty fun for 2 reasons. 1: It’s a Jackie Chan movie and any movie with Jackie Chan usually has him bouncing around and beating up dudes so you can’t help but love him. 2: Every other part of this movie is so bad it’s good. Not just the 90isms, but the overdubbed dialogue and convoluted plot make this movie amusing throughout its runtime.  Just thinking back to any part without Jackie Chan is making me cringe and smile simultaneously.

To Be or Not to Be (1983):

Wow. I was not expecting to love this movie, but there it is. In fact, I had no idea what to expect. I got this movie as a Christmas gift one year in the Mel Brooks collection. Among the parody movies were 2 other films I hadn’t heard of before. The Twelve Chairs was not very funny and not very memorable in my opinion. This movie is practically a masterpiece. It’s a dramedy (heavy on the comedy) movie about two stage performers and their company working in Poland in 1939. The combination of Jewish humor and the invasion of the Nazis made an amazingly touching and delightful tale. Yes, I can’t believe I just wrote that but it’s true. Mel Brooks and his late great wife Anne Bancroft take what should have been an extremely awkward premise and make a fantastic movie. When I’m really excited about a movie like this, I have a hard time reviewing it. All I can say is if you haven’t seen this movie, please give it a watch.

Nacho Libre (2006):

Nacho Libre is a Jack Black movie, therefore I was not excited to see it. I don’t mind Jack Black’s antics in general, but I cannot help but cringe when a comedian sings. This goes for any comedian with the exception of Flight of the Conchords, who I think of as musicians anyway. I ended up very much enjoying Nacho Libre and I think that might come down to Jared Hess’ directing more than anything. I like Napoleon Dynamite a lot and this proved to be more of the same. Some of the cinematography is pretty fantastic, not just in the wrestling matches but during the town scenes.  They went a long way toward making a back lot somewhere feel like a little Mexican village. The comedy comes down to fart jokes and animal sound effects, which unfortunately is right in my wheel house. One of my wheel houses that is, I seem to have many. I thought the story was well paced with just the right amount of wrestling thrown in.

History of the World Part 1 (1981):

Uh oh. I really wanted to love this movie. And I tried to love it, I did. Perhaps I am too mature for Mel Brooks straight comedies now. It makes me afraid to go back and watch Spaceballs or Blazing Saddles. Don’t get me wrong, the movie did make me laugh on occasion. The rest of the time it was only slightly amusing. I like watching Mel Brooks and his pals ham it up but it doesn’t seem to be as funny as it used to be. Sigh, I hate that. Ok, favorite parts:

-The cave man marriage part

-Most of the Gregory Hines bits, except the giant blunt part

-The part where Moses parted the river at the Universal studios back lot while being help up

-The 3^rd time Brooks said “It’s good to be the king”

-Some of the Spanish Inquisition bit

Yeah, that about covers it. Compared to To Be or Not to Be this just wasn’t very good




Am I trying to break open my mind by filling it full of movies all in an expedited manner? No, I am just playing catch up for the first 25 years of my life. I have decided on what my February project will be, which can be found here if you're interested: http://letterboxd.com/jdtmovies/list/february-2014-project-hulu-criterion-alphabet/
Give it a perusal and hey! Watch along why don't you? Thanks for reading doods.

January Week 2: The Post Dude Always Blogs Twice.

Sunday Sunday Sunday! Monster Truck weekend! Get your shoes autographed by Willie "The Snake Tamer" Smith! Big Foot will jump 3000 BUSES WHILE UNDER WATER!!!

Now that we've all had our fun, let's get to some reviews.

Movies Seen:
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Wolf of Wall Street
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
Last Days
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Where the Buffalo Roam
The Ninth Gate
Beautiful Creatures

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013):

I went to see this movie for a second time in the theater, which for me is a very rare event. I can probably count the times that has happened in my adult life on one hand. Inside Llewyn Davis was something special the first time I watched it, but the second time felt positively transcendent. Complimenting a Coen brother’s movie is like spitting in the ocean and I don’t feel very comfortable writing about recent movies anyway, so I will just say that everything about the film is fantastic. The score, the cinematography, the costume design, the score, the dialogue, with cats, and the score, all amazing. Just go see it.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013):

As I said in my review of Inside Llewyn Davis, I don’t feel comfortable reviewing current movies. Right now, 2000 legitimate critics have reviews for The Wolf of Wall Street, and I cannot hold a candle to them, nor do I really want to. Here are my opinions on Wolf: The movie was fun for the most part, which made the 3 hours enjoyable, but I definitely think it could have been cut down some. After the 3rd or 4^th time Leo DiCaprio gives a speech to rally his fellow traders I think we all got the picture; he’s good at firing people up, good at the sale. Charisma for days, yo. There is something to say about the way women are portrayed in the movie, but I’m not the one to say it. I’m pretty sure the intention of the film was to be extremely shallow, so technically it’s a success in that portrayal. I really preferred American Hustle to Wolf, and it seems like that is the typical divide amongst movie nerds.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993):

Part of the January film project, Lord I wish I had never bought this movie. Once again, this was purchased because of my love for the Film Sack podcast. At the time of purchase, I was not the kind of person who would watch a horror movie unless forced to. I have lightened up since then, and now appreciate them on a comedic level more than anything. Jason Goes to Hell is without a doubt, the BEST Friday the 13^th movie I have ever seen. It is also the only one. There is a line in the movie that refers to a mango sized shit, and that works as an apt description of the film. The movie held my attention the entire time, but I think this is due to my being a horror movie novice. I kept expecting something interesting to happen, and I guess that makes it suspenseful? No no no. The movie was boring, plain and simple. The most interesting person in the movie was the foul mouth diner owner, and that is really about the best I can say about it. But hey, perhaps if I watch the unrated version I’ll have a different song to sing! Too bad I’m never going to find out.

Last Days (2005):

What was this movie about? I know what it was about, because everyone knows it is supposed to resemble Kurt Cobain’s last days on Earth. But seriously, what was this movie about? All the characters meander around for an hour and a half, mumbling and not making much sense. Is it about loneliness? Is it about sexuality? Is it about how life never gives anyone a moment of real peace? Is it about the yellow pages or Mormonism? The movie has some cool sound design, and some excellent nature shots, but is otherwise an exercise in blahhhhhh. Which might be the point, I guess? When music becomes mainstream, there is nothing left but blah right? Deep, man.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988):

Another movie I expected to hate, this comes from my spending spree on Film Sack related DVDs. Like all other red-blooded American adults around my age, I already have a fear of clowns thanks to Stephen King and John Wayne Gacy, so how was I supposed to know I was missing out on this smart little indie horror comedy? I don’t want to sell the movie too hard because I think, once again, my lowered expectations played a factor in my enjoyment. All the practical effects hold up, the acting is goofy but not over the top, and it is a short 90 minutes in length. It fits in perfectly with movies like Gremlins or Critters, horror that’s not too scary and is entertaining as all hell. I was going to put up the trailer so you could see some of the fantastic effects, but it gives WAY too much of the movie away. I advise you to take a break and watch the movie; you’ll either love it or hate me for telling you to watch it, so win-win right?

The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952):

This movie is part of a compilation of films I got for Christmas one year called Great Movies. 15 public domain movies ranging from big studio productions to TV movies, all on 2 DVDs! I have not watched a single one until now, so they are all a part of the January film project. The Snows of Kilimanjaro is based on an Ernest Hemmingway short story, and you can tell straight away by how the characters talk. They speak of life with a poetry that is unrealistic but wonderful to hear out loud. Other than the dialogue and some stock Africa footage, there is almost nothing remarkable about this movie. I like me some Gregory Peck, and while watching this I was running a fever so I began imitating him for myself and the cats enjoyment. Unfortunately my Gregory Peck is pretty close to my Sean Connery so it sometimes slipped out in a strange amalgamation where I was telling Catherine Zeta Jones that it was a sin to kill a mocking bird while stealing valuable works of art. Anywho, Peck does his thing, standing and looking pretty while the ladies of the film swoon around him. The movie was 2 hours long, and you could tell the studio tried very hard to flesh out more story just to get their money’s worth. The ending is the worst part, because even though I have never read the story I could tell that someone in Hollywood that the audience would revolt if the main character died. I’m glad I watched it because it serves as some more padding on my movie experience card (no, that’s not a real thing I’m just a crazy person), but I cannot recommend the movie.

Where the Buffalo Roam (1980):

Part of the January project, this DVD was acquired recently on one of my very rare trips to Los Angeles with Sarah and Jose in tow. We ventured to an insane mystical place called Records, where I found myself surround by music lovers, of which I have very little to offer. On the bright side, the back of the place had a large amount of discount DVDs, and amongst the dregs I found a copy of a movie I had only recently discovered the existence of. Where the Buffalo Roam  starring Bill Murray, where he plays Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. I remember hearing about the movie originally and feeling like a little part of the universe made a little more sense. Of course Bill Murray played Hunter S Thompson at some point! I love Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas so natural I was excited to get my hands on this movie. And that is when I placed it on a shelf and thought guiltily about it on occasion. I had built up an idea about the movie in my head and I knew there was no way the film could live up to my expectations. Well, because of the project that I chose for this month my excuse had become spent. I watched it, and you know what? It was pretty good! It is like a much tamer version of Fear and Loathing, which I understand is a much exaggerated version of Thompson life anyway. In the beginning I had trouble separating Bill Murray from the character, but eventual I saw past the imitation, or rather he eventual stop only imitating, and from there it was smooth sailing. I recommend the movie if you already love Thompson. As for Bill Murray lovers, this might be a pass. Murray has much funnier fair where he is allowed to be himself.

The Ninth Gate (1999):

I don’t know what it was about this movie, but I really liked it. This was a rewatch for me. I don’t remember who I saw it in the theater with, but I think we both originally left underwhelmed, especially by the ambiguous ending. This time I came in with the knowledge that most of Roman Polanski’s more popular movies must be watched with a sense of humor at the ready. Call me crazy, but the movie reminded me of an adventure game. For those not familiar, the kind of adventure game I mean is usually referred to as a point-and-click game, wherein the player instructs the game character to do different actions by clicking an action (look, use, talk, etc) then clicking an item to do said action to the item (use lamp, talk to stranger, look at painting, etc). This takes you through a story with a lot of character development, puzzles, and many locations. It is my favorite type of game. The movie consisted of Johnny Depp being charming and smarmy (a la Gabriel Knight), talking to this person, which leads to that person, which leads to traveling here to find that, all while playing it rather amusingly. I had a lot of fun with the movie, my only complaint being that it felt a little too long, but that is also a complaint I have with some adventure games. I really enjoyed watching Frank Langella chew up some scenery too. Great rewatch, I intend to watch it again many more times.

Beautiful Creatures (2013):

A teen romance fantasy affair with almost no originality. It makes up for that somewhat with good actors like Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson and some very cool scenes where magic is thrown about (SPOILER: They’re a bunch of witches, or casters). It has some very bad pop music, which I guess is to be expected for these kind of movie, otherwise it is harmless. I don’t have much to say about it. After the family dinner scene, it all went down hill.

Interesting coincident this watching session, both Last Days and Where the Buffalo Roam briefly feature the song Home on the Range. One was sung by Michael Pitt, the other by Neil Young, I'll let you guys which was better. I hope this entry was as funtastic to read as it was to write! Probably not. I'm off to see Her now. Have a good week everybody!

Slight update

I attempted today to watch my copy of Jaws 3, only to discover that the disc was extremely scratched and warped, making it unwatchable in a completely different way than I thought was likely to be the case. So, now it is in the garbage where it might have winded up anyway. Gonna have to move on to Jason Goes to Hell and Last Days. Am I better off? Only time will tell.