What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #21
Fellini, Leary and Stewart...
On top of everything below I recently received the Mel Brooks Collection on Blu-ray and watched a pair of Brooks's films I hadn't seen yet (Twelve Chairs and Silent Movie). The set contains seven more films, all on Blu-ray as well as six all-new featurettes exclusive to Blu-ray (such as, Silent Movie has a trivia track as well as a new 24-minute featurette focusing on silent films and how they inspired the movie). Also included are Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History of the World – Part I, To Be or Not To Be, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I will have a full review of the complete set as soon as I can and hopefully before it's released this Tuesday. Stay tuned for that, but for now let's have a look at what else I watched and then hear from you!
| Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: The day before seeing Nine I made a point to revisit the Fellini film it was adapted from and it was interesting to see the differences and especially the similarities. Fellini's 8 1/2 was damn near an instant favorite of mine when I first watched it almost two years ago. Before writing this up I took a look at my Netflix history and saw I first watched this film in March of 2008, I received it for Christmas that year and cannot wait until Criterion releases it next month on Blu-ray. Hopefully it means more people will find this great film and will come to love it as much as I do. |
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| It's a Wonderful Life (1946) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: There isn't really much that needs to be said about this film as damn near everyone has seen it before. As it turns out this was only my second time watching it and last Christmas was the first time. I know… Can you believe it? And, like most people, I agree it's a holiday must watch and I may even give it another spin before the holiday season comes to an end. |
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There you have it. Now share your weekly recaps and weigh in with any thoughts you may have on the films I saw. And remember to connect with my Netflix queue by clicking here, I have already added several titles from those that have already linked up.
I haven't seen It's a Wonderful Life… then again I'm not American and can be forgiven a bit, I hope.
The Brothers Bloom – absolutely loved the first hour and was already willing to place it in my Top 10 of the year at that point, but when the movie turned complete 180 two thirds in and became so dark and cynical with absolutely no reason, I almost wanted to punch Rian Johnson in the face. I mean, WTF? Why was there a need to turn a brilliant, old-fashioned, awesomely acted, very funny and lighthearted crime comedy into a goddamn serious drama? You know, because of the fantastic first hour I can't even call the whole movie bad, and at the same time it is the most disappointing experience I've had all year. Two thirds of a masterpiece and one third of shit. Can't even grade it as a whole.
Sunshine Cleaning – it may not be Little Miss or Juno, but it was a very fine movie, if a little too typical and "Sundance-y". The acting was great from everyone, it was funny, serious and touching when it needed to, the story and dialogue were very good, and the directing absolutely confident. Overall, it was no masterpiece, of course, but just an excellent little dramedy and I really enjoyed it.
Went to see The Men Who Stare at Goats and it was worse than I expected. I'm a fan of McGregor and was disappointed that he was so dull in it, and the storyline, pacing and the whole tone were uneven at times. Still, it was really funny throughout (having characters around McGregor constantly mention Jedi was priceless, and there was a lot of great black humor), and Clooney, Bridges and Spacey totally stole the show. So in the end, I was entertained and satisfied, just not as satisfied as I hoped I would be.
Also, I'm really afraid I won't be able to take Stephen Lang seriously when I see Avatar, because of his character here. Damn.
I love 8 1/2, and I can't wait to see Nine.
12/6-12/12:
The Big Lebowski (rewatch) – A+
Haven't been watching movies this week because I've been watching a ton of TV shows. Lost Season 5 arrived this week and I watched all of that, then I rewatched It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 2 (and part of Season 3), and now I've started rewatching The Wire which I just got the series boxset for (I'm on episode 3 of season 2 now).
Still got plenty to watch from Black Friday, but I want to watch all this TV first.
This weekend I watched:
Dial M For Murder – first time I'd seen it. For some reason I was under the impression that it was lower tier Hitchcock (maybe I was just going by his own opinion of it – pretty sure he wasn't a fan) and didn't really know anything about it other than the fact that it starred Milland and Kelly.
Pieces of April – I only watched it to see Patricia Clarkson's Oscar-nominated performance. What a dull film full of horrible, horrible characters. An unpleasant experience all round. The only character I cared about was the turkey, hoping it found a good oven in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
City Lights – the first Chaplin film I've watched. Excellent stuff, although I did think it dragged a bit at the beginning with the millionaire.
Get Shorty – first time I'd watched it since… gee, 1997 or so? Such a great film.
I also watched four episodes of Mad Men Season 1.
Last few weeks a friend and I had been watching Deadwood, which he had never seen. Finished it last week. Still amazing even after seeing the whole series 3 or 4 times. Decided I was still in a Western mood, so thats all I watched all week(with the exception of some season 5 of Lost)
Open Range -I know Im in the minority here, but I do believe this is my all time favorite western. The cinematography is fantastic, the acting is great across the board (especially Duvall and Michael Jeter's supporting role…hes just awesome.). The movie also has what I feel is one of the best, most realistic gunfights in the genre (aside from the "fanning" scene).
Other than that, I also watched Wyatt Earp, Tombstone(a bit redundant, I know), good, although not great Blu Ray of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter.
Think Ill be watching the Proposition tomorrow as a precursor to seeing the Road Monday(which Ill be driving over an hour to see).
I watched La dolce vita Friday night, maybe for the tenth time. It´s basically a series of incidents, not much of a story but told in a very bold way. Fellini could have filmed the phonebook and made it interesting. This movie is cold and calculated movie most of the time. Fellini isn´t much for emotion. Watching this movie you fully understand origin of the word papparazzi! But still to this day my all time favorite Fellini movie is Amarcord.
Walk the Line ~ Great biopic on the life and times of musician Johnny Cash. A shame he didn't live to see it. 4.5/5
Invictus ~ A little sluggish at the beginning, but it picks up almost immediately. 4/5
It's a Wonderful Life ~ Definitely a movie everyone needs to see for the holidays. 5/5
I still haven't seen it's a Wonderful Life yet. Hopefully it is something I do in the coming weeks. I have also been meaning to revisit 8 1/2 sometime soon, but I need to get my copy back from a friend of mine. Here's my list… I've had a lot of free time due to having finals early this week, and nothing to do afterward:
MODERN TIMES – 8/10… Not my favorite Chaplin movie, but still really good.
BIG BULLY – 4/10… Simply not funny. Comedies that don't make me laugh are a pet peeve of mine.
BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY – 7/10… Pretty clever and funny, a little different than the typical rom-com.
EVERYBODY'S FINE – 7/10… Much different and more sad than I expected. Good performances, lagged a bit toward the end.
INVICTUS – 8/10… Nothing earth shattering, but good story telling. This year's Frost/Nixon. My only real complaint is that the crowd looked like something from Madden, very blurry and clearly done in post.
AN EDUCATION – 8/10… Barring a few missteps taken in the third act, it could have been a masterpiece. Mulligan and Molina were fantastic.
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER – 9/10… Dark and amazing movie. Mitchum was masterful in this, very creepy. See this if you haven't!
BLACK DYNAMITE – 7/10… Loved how it stayed true all the way through, and it was pretty funny. The plot was completely incoherent, but I guess that was the point.
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME – 9/10… I'm a huge Mark Ruffalo fan, so I might be a bit biased in saying the Academy screwed him on this. Either way, he is great in it (so is Linney, as usual). Rory Culkin also turns in one of the better child performances I have seen. I'm a sucker for a good indie drama like this.
LOST IN TRANSLATION – 8/10… Whatever it lacked in narrative, it made up for in style. The performances are good, and the writing is clever and honest.
BRUNO – 6/10… More of the same from Cohen. I laughed a few times, but it was mostly a brainless endeavor.
I also re-watched PUBLIC ENEMIES (7/10), FULL METAL JACKET (10/10, my favorite war movie of all time), and AIRHEADS (6/10). All in all, a pretty good week.
Motorcycle Diaries – B
Observe and Report – D-
Sideways – B
I saw Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and The Road. I enjoyed them both very much.
Sorry, when I watched 8 1/2 a couple months ago, I really, really didn't like it. I'm thinking it'll be a lot better in a musical format as "Nine." Also, Rob Marshall will surely be a better editor than Fellini. Has anyone noticed how the Italian filmmakers of the 60's and early 70's are just horrid editors? I mean, I love Pier Paolo Pasolini, and I think his Life Trilogy ("The Decameron," "Canterbury Tales," "Arabian Nights") are great, entertaining films, but their editing was decidedly less than. That is, the editing didn't do much to move the story along, and edits from one scene to another were especially bad. The same held true for Pasolini's "Gospel According to St. Matthew" and Fellini's "8 1/2." The only Pasolini film I've seen in which I've really liked the editing is "Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom," which is his soul-crushing masterpiece.
This week, I saw (out of ****):
Naked (dir. Mike Leigh)–**1/2. Good scenes in it, and great acting, but the overall mood was a real downer, and the story was too derivative to support such a mood.
To Kill a Mockingbird (rewatch)–****. If I could be half the father Atticus was, I would die happy. Oh, and Gregory Peck is A+ amazing. Peter O'Toole gave an Oscar winning performance in "Lawrence of Arabia," and I really loved him, but he lost the Oscar to Gregory Peck for this movie. And that's exactly how it should have been. It is worth Peter O'Toole never getting his much-deserved Oscar, just so long as Gregory Peck got it now. I cry every time I watch this movie.
Do the Right Thing–****. Great film. It's hard to pull off that 1-day narrative without making it seem like just a slice of life, but Spike Lee did it here. This was much more than just a slice of life out of these characters.
9 1/2 Weeks–***1/2. Weak narrative structure? Yeah. Somewhat pointless "everyday life" scenes? Sort of. But they pale in comparison to the pluses of this movie. That is, the relationship between Basinger and Rourke. Wow! What a compelling relationship, and what sizzle! If you're the kind of person who thinks films should be made like they were in the 60's when the foreign filmmakers suddenly became introduced in America, then you will hate this film. But if you like all sorts of film experiences, here's one you won't forget. Because that's what it is as its best: a unique, unforgettable experience.
8 1/2 is a great insanity. The best parts of the movie are the women. When Carla still talks about loving her husband while she's with Guido, when Saraghina opens her mouth and we think, "Oh, she's not that nasty in real life."
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 7. I tried to like this movie several times but I just can't.
It Happened One Night – 7. I did like the motel scenes, though, especially the ones
Mr Deeds Goes to Town – 10. I just really have the hots for Gary Cooper.
You Can't Take It With You – 9. Very surreal and theatrical.
Night of The Iguana – 8. Although, yes, Ava Gardner had her best performance in this movie.
A Single Man – 8. I did like the way the other characters' encounters with George. There's just a few things missing in the film.
8 1/2 is pure brilliance.
I haven't really watched anything this weekend, although I bought five dvds yesterday at a closing blockbuster (Beaufort, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Chop Shop, and A Christmas Tale), and I'm going to Fry's today, which means even more DVDs.
I did watch Amadeus, which gets a solid 8.5/10. Maybe a 9.
Skills Like This- 8/10
Elf- 10/10 (Complete guilty pleasure)
So I saw a few good ones…
Green Street Hooligans – B +
Star Trek (rewatch) – B +
This Film Is Not Yet Rated – B
While yes, This Film Is Not Yet Rated got a "B", it is still a termendously important movie for any movie fan in America. Be forewarned, it says "Not Rated" but it did get an NC-17 rating (which is ironic in its own right).
Some decent films this week:
Southland Tales (Rewatch) – 7/10
The Box – 7/10
Sunshine Cleaning – 7/10
The Boxer – 7/10
In The Name Of The Father – 8/10
Fight Club (Rewatch) – 10/10 – The Blu-ray transfer of this is excellent, like it was filmed yesterday.
Moon – 8/10
Edge of Darkness (Mini-Series) – 6/10 – Although some of the actors were impressive, I have a feeling I will enjoy Mel Gibson's film a lot more. Not a patch on the mini-series version of State of Play in my opinion.
Glad you gave "The Ref" another shot as it is one of my favorite holiday comedies. Classic deadpan from all involved. A very underrated Kevin Spacey performance.
Defiance – pretty much what I expected. Was pretty good, but nothing special.
Waltz With Bashir – Very good, but kind of lost interest towards the end
Spread – Wow is Asthon Kutcher a horrible actor. The movie was okay at best, but I enjoyed the ending.
Youth In Revolt – It was nice to see Michael Cera not playing Michael Cera the entire time (although he was still Michael Cera for a good amount of it). It was pretty funny, I enjoyed it.
Public Enemies – I went in with pretty low expectations because I had heard so much about how the cinematography style didn't fit and how it was shot in digital. To be honest the only time that it being shot in digital stood out was the exteriors of when he was getting out of the plane. I actually enjoyed the film, there was definitely some slow parts, but when it was good it was good. I definitely enjoyed the opening scene.
I didn't watch a lot, busy with final exams and papers and all that nonsense, but here they are…
Invictus (B)
Alien (A-)