Ryan McNeil
Is it sick that as I sat down to start putting this post together, I thought to myself “it’s gonna be a short list this week” and yet here I am to tally up nine films in seven days? I could have sworn I “didn’t watch much this week”, and still I go ahead and damned near log in double-digits. Hell, were I to count the films I put on as background noise, I’d easily climb up over a dozen.
The reason why I thought I’d be logging a low number this week is because last weekend – the part of my week where I easily do the most amount of watching – I dedicated the better part of a day to soaking up episodes of the Fargo TV series from FX.
Lordy is that ever a show!
As a big fan of the movie, it’s been fun to spot all of the references to the film in the course of the episodes. All the while, it’s been a blast to let the original story play out and stare slack-jawed as the show runners capture their twisted tale with a great deal of panache. When I think about Malvo’s assault on the syndicate building, I find myself trying to decide whether it’s the best scene I watched on television this year…or if that honour goes to True Detective’s drug house raid.
Still – the show is so darned handsome, well-acted, and well-crafted that I have to tip my hat. What could have easily been a derivative, watered-down, rip-off turned out to be something that understood what makes a great adaptation. I’m a little bit saddened that I won’t get to spend anymore time with Colin Hanks, Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Oliver Platt and Allison Tolman in these roles…but will certainly sit-up and pay attention the next time they decide to do more TV.
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
BOYHOOD – Something tells me I’ll be talking about this one at the end of the year.
SNOWPIERCER – This one, on the other hand, I’ll be talking about first thing tomorrow morning
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE APOSTLE – Somehow I was expecting more from this. Still pretty intense.
THE TRIAL – Not sure I “got it”, but wow is this ever cool.
SLACKER – For podcasting purposes.
THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL – I could die happy watching baseball docs the rest of my life.
CAN’T BUY ME LOVE – I feel the urge to do that crazy dance now.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Seen Before
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – With every lacklustre comic book movie that drops, this movie looks better and better.
LENNY – Seen it?
Yaay I loved Fargo too! I definitely loved the shootout in this more. Also the time jump was like amazing. Can’t decide whose performance I loved more- Freeman or Thornton… although Bob Odenkirk’s speech in the last episode was the best acting in the whole show. I really hope it wins Emmys.
I’ve watched a few movies over the last week but I can’t remember anything thanks to exams. Definitely loved Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Calvary.
Any other year, I’d say that it would be bound for Emmys – but considering how stellar a year it’s been for television, I fear it will come up empty-handed. I’ve heard rumours that the producers want to give other Coen films this sort of treatment. The mind boggles at what might be coming our way.
I’m beginning to wonder if Calvary just missed Toronto altogether, or if it came-and-went while I wasn’t paying attention.
Hmm, you’ve made me interested in the Fargo TV show. I don’t really know anything about it, but it sounds worth watching, and I’m a huge fan of the movie.
I actually saw more than one movie this week!
First-time all:
Margin for Error (1943)
The Legend of Hercules – It’s so bad and dumb, but I was still largely entertained. It was pretty much exactly as I expected it to be.
Where the show went so right was in the decision not to be a straight-lift of the film. The thrust of the story is there – and there are a ton of callbacks – but in many ways it feels like a parallel narrative to the ballad of Marge Gunderson.
Give it three or four episodes, you won’t regret it.
I’ve seen a whole lot of nothing, though instead of catching up with a new TV show, I’ve gone back and been watching the old 90’s Flash TV series to gear up for the reboot this fall. It’s very 90’s, but in many ways better than I expected it to be.
Tell me that show is every bit as bad as I remember it being…
First time seeing Can’t Buy Me Love? That is one silly (and sort of endearing movie).
I’ve finally watched enough to make this comment worth doing and hope to keep it this way going forward:
FRUITVALE STATION: I liked the overall tone of the movie and approach, but there was some very obvious foreshadowing. Good acting, though.
THE RAID: Finally watched this and enjoyed the action, especially the two-on-one battle at the end.
ENEMY: That ending is something else.
LIFE ITSELF: Did not disappoint; how could it?
CHEF: I found this pretty charming, especially for a rare night out with my wife.
Jesus, dude – that’s one amazing week worth of watching! For what it’s worth, I think THE RAID would make a perfect double-feature with SNOWPIERCER (which is now on demand, by the by).
And all of that wrapped around a week where your saturday and Sunday were lost to a drive up to Chicago. Sir Heaton, wherever do you find the time?
Finding time is always a challenge. I was due for a week like this after several with just one viewing. It helps to have a lot that I’ve missed from the past few years. I’m planning on watching SNOWPIERCER on demand within the next week or so. It’s at the top of my list for sure.
I do hope you’re going to talk about Snowpiercer at the end of the year as well!
What did I watch this week… hum, well I finished season 4 of Supernatural – still such a cool show – as well as season 1 of Penny Dreadful – a bit of a slow ending, but still one of the better new shows. Also watched Stories We Tell last night and was absolutely mesmerized!
And then I watched 30 Days of Night, Mystery Alaska and Alone in the Wilderness for the Alaskathon, which were okay to good.
Yaaay Stories We Tell <3 <3
So not to shamelessly plug or anything, but I remember being pretty proud of my review for Stories We Tell…
http://www.thematinee.ca/storieswetell/
I didn’t see much as I was recovering from post-World Cup fatigue yet I managed to recover and saw the following:
First-Timers: The King of Marvin Gardens, The Last Picture Show, and later tonight, Little Big Man.
Re-Watches: Fun with Dick & Jane and Heaven’s Gate.
Somebody was working their way through the BBS box!
Now that I’ve finished college fr good I dedicated some of my free time to watching some movies.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial – I’ve never seen this in its entirety. I know, it’s embarrassing. It was alright, but wasn’t blown away.
Shadow of a Doubt – A lot of vampire references. It was pretty good. Stoker is how this film would’ve been made today. Also, Teresa Wright looked very beautiful in this.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Liked the film but hated the 3D which destroyed my enjoyment of it. I don’t think it helped at all.
Pennies from Heaven – Strange little musical with a tragic story.
Mr Peabody and Sherman – Fun little film.
The Ice Storm – The best I’ve seen this month so far.
Finding Vivian Maier – Very interesting story, couldn’t have been a boring film. Give it a try.
Considering how much time I spent studying photography growing up, it is an absolute tragedy that I haven’t seen FINDING VIVIAN MAIER yet.
Or if it isn’t a tragedy, it is certainly a travesty.
Thanks for the reminder!
First time:
A Millions Ways to Die in the West – Crap. Nothing else needs to be said.
Need for Speed – Delivered what I expected.
Locke – This one was a very pleasant surprise.
Edge of Tomorrow – Date night with the wife. We both really enjoyed this film.
Non-Stop – Again, delivered what I expected.
Children of a Lesser God – This was painful to sit through.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Love the direction this series/reboot has taken.
A Room with a View – Enjoyable way to pass the time.
Re-watched:
Platoon – Holds up extremely well.
Fat Kid Rules the World – A small film that still hits the right beats for me.
Good running into you today – as I said, it feels like it’s been too long!
I could have sworn I missed the boat on seeing Locke in this town. Is it starting to make the rounds on the rep scene, is it playing somewhere I didn’t think of, or did you track it down out there in suburbia?
It was good seeing you as well. I’ll be at the pub this month so we can have a proper catch up there.
As for Locke, it was playing at a second-run theatre in for a week here in suburia. The theatre is a dive but it is only a five minute drive down the street. Plus, it usually gets films a few weeks before they hit DVD. Which means that you will not have to wait too long to see Locke. In fact, it might even play better in a home setting.