Ryan McNeil
This week is called “The TIFF Hangover”. After main-lining such a large quantity of movies in one short stretch, a drop-off in pace is both inevitable and welcome (I’ve noticed many of my festival brothers and sisters in arms detoxing this week as well).
My time away from movies was pretty good actually. Along with being able to truly enjoy one of the best nights of baseball I’ve ever witnessed, it also gave me a chance to catch up on some TV, dive into a book I was looking forward to, and of course catch up on some sleep.
Of course, given that last weekend was marred by a pretty nasty cold, there was the requisite reach for the heavy film. Any guesses on what I went for?
Here’s what was on tap…
Screenings
RED STATE – Touring the film for almost a year made it tough to approach this without expectation.
50/50 – It was tough to lay off this one at TIFF, but nice to only have to wait two weeks to catch up.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
ED WOOD – “Let’s hear you call Boris Karloff a cocksucker”
THE SHINING – Yup, my day home sick from the office was spent in The Overlook hotel
THE PRESTIGE – In the Nolan spectrum, I fear this is underrated
LOST IN TRANSLATION – Steven Flores suggested I give it a watch on blu-ray. Great suggestion Steve!
Boxscore for The Year
192 First-Timers, 131 Re-Watched
323 Movies in Total
How’s about you – seen anything good?
Aw, thanks for the mention man. The films I saw this past week were Jean Renoir’s The River, Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs as well as Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage again. It was Rush-Hashannah day on VH1 Classics, how can anyone turn that down?
It’s Rush!
Rush Hashannah?? That’s friggin’ brilliant. Though at the risk of being stripped of my free health care, I’ve never been the world’s biggest Rush fan.
This past week, I watched:
La Chienne (The Bitch)–Excellent. Recommended without reservation.
Boudu Sauve des Eaux (Boudu Saved from Drowning)–As much as I liked Jean Renoir’s La Chienne, I was disappointed in this one.
Roman Holiday–Lovely, lovely Audrey Hepburn.
The Jazz Singer–Important historically, but not a great film. The blackface is far less racially charged than you might think.
Paisan–Not great acting, but great filmmaking.
Lat den Ratte Komme In (Let the Right One In)–Loved it. Happy to see vampire dangerous again.
Fatal Attraction–Holds up surprisingly well, despite the ’80s hair.
For what it’s worth, I have real issues with The Prestige. I think if anything that it’s overrated.
OK, I’ll bite – what’s your issue with THE PRESTIGE?
I’m curious as well. The Prestige is my favorite of Nolan’s films.
I simply don’t buy the relationships, but this delves deeply into spoiler territory. Suffice to say that I don’t believe that anyone who truly loved someone would act in the way the Christian Bale character does. That particular part of the resolution is far more complicated than necessary. It was made complicated for the sake of its own complexity at the detriment of the story and verisimilitude. In short, I think the resolution is pretty ridiculous if you spend a minute thinking about it.
I realize I’m pretty alone on this. I don’t typically provide links to my own site, but in this case, it might be warranted: http://1001plus.blogspot.com/2010/07/magic-is-cool.html
I had a good week finally!
First timers- Punch-Drunk Love (tied at second place for my favourite P.T. Anderson film, and first for Adam Sandler films, duh!), Melancholia (nice to look at, but depressing as hell), Barton Fink (the first Coen Brothers film I can say I truly loved), Antichrist (scarred me for life, thanks a lot Von Trier!), Heat (love!!), Bicycle Thieves (beautiful and real and so touching), and finally Green Lantern (it was the in-flight movie okay! Ugh, Peter Sarsgaard should sue them for not only giving him a triple chin, but a triple forehead as well).
Rewatched stuff- Miss Congeniality (it’s funny, honestly), V for Vendetta (still so very epic).
Some VERY good stuff in this list – talk about a great week of watching! Your Coen Bros. comment leaves me curious though, have you seen NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and/or MILLER’S CROSSING?
Nope, neither of them. I’ve seen parts of No Country for Old Men, but not completely. I’ve seen stuff like Fargo and Big Lebowski, but I like the performances much more than the films. I mean I’m still not as in love with the Coen Brothers as everyone else.
For quite some time now, I’ve believed that The Coens, Kubrick and Malick are an acquired taste, so you won’t hear me crying “Blasphemy!” anytime soon.
When you have a chance though, do give NO COUNTRY a proper watch and likewise MILLER. Both are far less quirky than much of the rest of their body of work, thus more accessible.
Nice list Ryan …
Animal House
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Whitney Cummings: Money Shot (no, not porn)
Footloose (the new one)
Killer Elite (the new one)
50/50
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back!
The Best? 50/50
The Middle – Animal House
The Worst – Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back!
Have a good Sunday man.
Of all of Smith’s films, how’d you end up reaching for STRIKE BACK?
I’ve seen ….
Clerks 1 & 2
Red State
Chasing Amy
Jersey Girl
Cop Out
Strike Back!
The big ones that I’m missing is DOGMA & MALLRATS
Those any good?
You bet they are. For me, DOGMA is one of his very best. Get on it.
“Touring the film for almost a year made it tough to approach this without expectation.”
Does this mean you didn’t like RED STATE? ‘Cause if so, it’s not a problem of expectations. It’s just an awful film. Someone that clueless with a camera shouldn’t be trying to ape the Coen brothers. Between this and COP OUT my fandom for Smith has been shot, even if I still hold tightly to CHASING AMY and CLERKS II.
My list:
Dumbo
Lola (1960)- my first Demy
Safety Last!- Chaplin and Keaton are the gods but Lloyd deserves more respect. His gags were less technical but in many cases even funnier.
Snake Eyes
Twentieth Century
The Roaring Twenties
Gold Diggers of 1933
Sweet Jesus, what made you reach for SNAKE EYES?
Lost in Translation on Blu-Ray…I think I need that one in my life.
Anyway, for this week:
Freaks (the 1932 movie)
The Help
Hanna
Insidious
Winnie the Pooh
All Good Things
And I rewatched:
Paul
Sucker Punch (crap movie night with friends…glad to know two more people who couldn’t make sense out of it)
Your Highness (same crap movie night)
I really do need to get my mitts on a copy of HANNA sometime soon. I did not expect to like that film half as much as I ended up liking it, and just by typing these meagre thoughts on the film, I already can hear that Chemical Brothers score worming its way back into my ear…