Frankenweenie

About a week back, I saw something on Twitter that gave me pause.

Someone I don’t feel like calling out declared “I hate to admit it, but I’m beginning to agree that 2013 has been a terrible year for movies”.

If I’m a betting man, I’d wager that this person is talking about how many of the blockbusters’ plots have only been serviceable, while not exactly revolutionary. The tentpole pictures seem (to some) to be doing just enough to justify their budgets and marketing, and (to some) fail to be delivering on lofty expectations.

I disagree with this on several levels.

For starters, as I’ve mentioned on this site many times, I believe that nothing sinks a film faster than dashed expectations…and that expectations have nothing to do with what happens on the screen. That’s on the viewer.

Regardless, I believe that a person finding nothing but “terrible movies” says more about the viewing habits of the viewer than it does the movies. This year, for instance, I’ve been wowed by lower-boil titles like MUD, BEFORE MIDNIGHT, STOKER, and UPSTREAM COLOR to name a few. Looking down that list, you’ll notice that most of the titles I mentioned didn’t exactly get the widest release.

I believe that’s the trick: when you find your tastes changing, look for what best suits your taste, even if it means holding back until blu-ray and on-demand. If not, then you’re only judging a year by a crop of films that have been designed to appeal to the widest possible audience…and not the films that have been designed to challenge and enlighten.

It would be like saying the food of New York City isn’t all that good after eating only in TGI Friday’s and Burger King.

No, Virginia, 2013 hasn’t been a terrible year for movies…you just need to look a bit harder for the good stuff.

 

Here’s The Week at Hand…

 

Screenings
THE SPECTACULAR NOW – One of the best coming-of-age stories I’ve seen in a long while.
THE WORLD’S END – Edgar Wriht sticks the landing.
DRUG WAR – Can’t go wrong with Johnnie To

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING – For podcasting purposes.
COMING TO AMERICA – I really have no good excuse for never having seen this before.
48 HRS. – It strangely turned into an Eddie Murphy sot of week.
CITIZEN RUTH –When NEBRASKA missed being programmed at TIFF, I drowned my sorrows.
MILDRED PIERCE – Now that’s a movie.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
BOTTLE ROCKET – Anytime I watch a Wes Anderson film, it gets tricky not to cave and watch them all.
HEATHERS – Eskimo.

 

Boxscore for The Year
173 First-Timers, 134 Re-Watched
64 Screenings
306 Movies in Total
How’s about you – seen anything good?

18 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched Aug 17 – Aug 23)”

  1. I agree that every year offers up lots of great movies, both from our shores and from around the world! If it’s a terrible year, dig deeper, there’s always something good out there if you’re looking for it. Not to mention all the films from years past just waiting to be discovered! I just read a story about Murphy’s Law and how humans like to focus on the negativity around them. It takes a conscious effort to change this, but it’s one that pays good dividends.

    For me this week…
    First time:
    Street of No Return
    The Boxer from Shantung

    And I re-watched:
    The Terminator
    The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

    1. “Dig deeper”

      Amen brother.

      Know what else? Back in the day, much of what’s available now would never see the light of day beyond the festival circuit.

    2. Yes, the availability of movies these days is astounding. It’s great, but at the same time I also nostalgically miss the ’80s & ’90s when I was at the mercy of the stock at the library or video store.

      1. Hahaha, yeah! I grew up with all kinds of things we taped off of broadcast TV. I never saw the first couple minutes of Empire Strikes Back for years. When I got a Super Nintendo my first game was Super Empire Strikes Back and I used to let the game’s replicated movie intro play up to the point where our recording of the movie kicked in. Good times!

  2. I have been disappointed in this year so far but that’s mostly because my expectations have been so high and nothing has really hit the mark. I’m actually trying to reduce my expectations for things like The World’s End, and films like The Spectacular Now and Fruitvale Station which cinephiles have been raving about because Upstream Colour and even Before Midnight at some level have not worked for me. And even things I liked, I have kind of forgotten about them, so that’s not good. Plus for people like me, it ends up being about release dates. There’s so much I want to see and haven’t seen and the more I hear about a film, the more excited I get, and then when it doesn’t match up, that sucks.

    I’ve got exams so these are just a list of things I saw in the past couple of weeks-
    In the Loop– Had to see Malcolm Tucker in action. Pretty darn awesome.
    The Paperboy– Not half-bad.
    Chennai Express– Bollywood excrement.
    The Heat– Really funny.
    Byzantium– Some gorgeous visuals and interesting ideas. I liked it.
    40 Year Old Virgin– I liked it.
    The Conjuring– Scary and actually very good.
    Sharkboy and Lavagirl– Yes, yes, I know. I was sick of studying History of Literature and needed a distraction. Bad idea.
    Now You See Me– Fun but also incredibly stupid. I really want Eisenberg and Ruffalo to come in a proper movie together though.

    1. I’ve suffered from expectations in the past, but after a while I thought about how that was more on me than it was on the film. I decided that no matter how much it appealed to my own tastes (MAN OF STEEL) or interests (MONEYBALL), that I should just sit down, hope to enjoy myself, and take what comes.

      You’re right Nik, it’s wickedly hard – especially with the internet buzz machine humming as loudly as it does, and with everybody getting to see things at different times. But a little bit of patience goes a long way!

      PS – I’m still shaking my head at the craziness of THE PAPERBOY…in particular Nicole Kidman’s nuttiness within it.

  3. I couldn’t agree more. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the majority of people who “hate” a movie feel that way because of missed expectations. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone say they “finally” saw a movie that had been hyped up to them by everyone, and didn’t like it. They had built their expectations up so high that there was no way for the film to meet them.

    Of course, sometimes movies just suck.

    I like to try to empower people to see those little movies, the ones that the commercials may not TELL you to see, the ones that the magazines might not write about: the movies that have made the greatest impact on me are often ones that never get wide releases.

    Great movies I’ve seen this year (so far) include:

    Mud
    The Way Way Back
    Before Midnight
    Hit & Run
    West of Memphis

    And the best are yet to come, I’m sure!

    1. Like Nik said, it can be hard to shut out all of that noise after a while. That said, I think people need to be able to make their own minds up. Box office doesn’t dictate wants good, nor does the internet, nor do The Oscars.

      For me, the hope has always been to get value for my time and money, and perhaps some new ideas. I also hope the film doesn’t suck.

      I wans’t that big on HIT & RUN, but all of the others are choice selections.

      Thanks for dropping by!

  4. In First-Timers: Melinda & Melinda, Whatever Works, To Rome with Love and later tonight, Eros.

    Re-Watches: Match Point, Private Benjamin, Cassandra’s Dream, and Tango & Cash.

  5. The trend to categorize a year by its blockbusters or even its Oscar winners is usually lazy. It’s fine to bemoan the lack of superb big-budget films, but I’m not sure that’s accurate this year either. Either way, I’m with you on this one.

    It was a pretty light week for me (all new viewings):

    Neil Young Journeys – This is a pretty standard concert film with footage of Young going to his hometown, but it worked for me. It helped that the music was great.

    Mirrormask – This Henson production has been on my list for a long time, and its creativity is amazing. The story leaves a little to be desired, but I enjoyed it overall.

    Poetic Justice – This is the last of my marathon through second films from notable directors. It’s not a terrible movie but is a step down from Boyz N the Hood. I’ve heard a lot about Janet Jackson’s bad acting, but she’s okay. The writing is the issue and very inconsistent. Tupac does have a really strong screen presence.

    1. I’ve known people who won’t pass judgement on a year until late spring of the year to follow. Only then do they get to see the indies, foreigns, and festival darlings that really give a year its complexity.

      Don’t get me wrong – sometimes the studios can come up big. Heck, last year we got great studio productions like Skyfall and Argo. But I believe it always only tells part of the story.

      Mirrormask – nifty visuals, pity about the plot.

    1. See, now you’re just taunting me…I had Papillon recorded on my PVR but went and swapped it out for a newer model, losing all I’d recorded but never watched.

    2. Sorry to hear that, it took me forever to get ahold of myself. I’m glad to finally be able to cross it off my list. Now the next one to go is Gone with the Wind (a little ashamed I’ve been writing about movies this long and never seen it).

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