Ryan McNeil
This week, I finally caught up with IDA. This was the film that was playing up the street from me virtually all summer long, and has already been on Netflix for more than one month.
To say my viewing was overdue would be putting it mildly.
What’s more, I actually felt foolish that I had compiled this year’s “Hey Man, Nice Shot” post before I saw this film…since it handily would have warranted an inclusion. Heck, if anything, I’d probably have a hard time selecting just one image from this film. I could probably do an entire visual essay on this movie alone, but then the challenge would be not screengrabbing every shot and extolling its virtues.
Nevertheless, I do hope that someone like Alex Withrow does up a “42 Things I Love about IDA” post before too long. Likewise, I hope I’m smart enough to revisit this beautiful polish offering before too long.
Also, in amidst a three-screening-week (spoiler alert: another one is beginning today), I found myself soaking up all five of the short films nominated for Best Live Action Short.
It was interesting to see what sorts of stories Oscar voters gravitate towards, and also how varied the subject matter was. While part of me wished they’d been in more of a fanciful mood, I can say that at least four of the five are really beautiful vignettes…with one seeming like something I’ve seen a lot before.
Funny thing – Part of me wishes that short films were a bit of a bigger deal. You’d think in an age where we all spend so much time watching YouTube, that stories that are twenty minutes long would be able to gain better traction.
Any thoughts on why they’re still so niche?
Here’s the week at hand…
Screenings
JUPITER ASCENDING – I look forward to all of those “In Defense of Jupiter Ascending” posts we’ll be reading in 2020.
KINGSMEN: THE SECRET SERVICE – More on this tomorrow.
THE OSCAR SHORTS: LIVE ACTION – For the record, THE CALL is my favorite of this year’s crop.
Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
IDA – That it took me this long to see this is a massive failing on my part.
Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Seen Before
SPEED RACER – Can I make my little Suzuki jump like that?
PACIFIC RIM – After Petula brought it up on The Matineecast, I figured it was time to revist it.
GOSFORD PARK – Any guesses…
MOULIN ROUGE! – …what year…
A BEAUTIFUL MIND – …I’m Dew-ing Over next?
NOTHING annoys me more than the fact that A Beautiful Fucking Mind won the Oscar that year. Anyways, I agree about Ida being gorgeous but fuck, what a bore.
Firsts: The Voices– I liked it. It was fun.
Chariots of Fire– I thought it was excellent. I actually teared up when they won.
Ordinary People– Turns out I don’t have as many Best Film Oscar winners left to watch as I thought I did. I might finish watching all this year. I loved this one.
Bananas– So insane. Must try and finish watching all the Woody films too.
The Liability– Jack O’Connell is in this so…
Roy– Bollywood film. It was awful.
Spanking the Monkey– I really liked it, in spite of how gross I found it.
A Matter of Life and Death– February blind spot.
Rewatched: Stoker– Margaret’s fangirling over Matthew Goode got me excited. He really is great (and hot) in this.
Casablanca– Valentine’s Day tradition.
Bridget Jones’ Diary– Ditto.
Chungking Express– I’m watching it at this moment and thinking of adding it to the Valentine’s Day tradition.
A Beautiful Mind fucking sucks.
First-Timers: The Earrings of Madame de…, Senna, Contraband (1940 film), Belle, Titus, and Divergent.
Re-Watches: Moulin Rouge!, Atonement, Commando, and Natural Born Killers.
I agree that shorts should be more of a “thing.” I think distribution is the main thing standing in their way, but there’s no reason why Netflix or someone similar couldn’t start up a whole section devoted to them. I know I’d watch a bunch, because I often don’t have enough time for a feature, but I do have 20 minutes or so.
All first time:
Purple Darts
Decadent Evil 2
Snowpiercer – thought this would be better. It’s nothing like the graphic novel too. Just the same premise. Tilda Swinton was amazing, though!