It’s been a few weeks, what with me taking last weekend away from this space and all. My watching habits haven’t slowed at all, though I feel like for two weeks’ worth of consumption, I should be telling you about at least one or two more screenings.

Again this week, I’m happy to be listing more first-timers than re-watches, and it’s hard for me to explain why. Perhaps because it feels like I’m becoming more well-watched when I take things in for the first time, as opposed to rewatching where I feel more like a couch potato. It’s almost enough to make one consider a geeky goal like “watch 300 new titles in 2013” or something.

Perhaps that will be next years mission. We’ll see.

Then there are the rewatches which were mostly chosen to prime myself up for this week’s blockbuster, and to distract me while I ventured to the American midwest on my own. Of course, inevitably, there’s also one or two “I was bored so I put on…” in there too. I’m only human, right?

 

Here’s The Week at Hand…

 

Screenings
TAKE THIS WALTZ – This one has stuck with me ever since the lights came up.
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM – Caught this at The Lightbox. Wow!
ROBOCOP – My midnight screening at The Music Box. A great time with some truly great people.
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD – This week I plan to finally review this.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – Seen it yet?

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
ROCK N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL – One of my favorites from the Sweet Pain series.
AMERICAN MOVIE – I feel dumb for not having seen this years ago.
BYE BYE BIRDIE – Confession: I never knew it was a musical.
THE JAZZ SINGER – I really wanted to like this more.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
INCEPTION – Anyone else’s dvd of this play very “loudquietloud”?
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF – I had this on one of my nights in Chicago, it seemed apropos
DISTRICT 9 – Watched while travelling – this has held up spectacularly.
THE DARK KNIGHT – I’d wager we all watched this last week.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE – A random watch before bed.
HAIRSPRAY (2007) – I think this musical might actually be underrated.
STANDING IN THE SHADOWS OF MOTOWN – I still haven’t got “Heatwave” out of my head.

Boxscore for The Year
127 First-Timers, 121 Re-Watched
62 Screenings
248 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?

24 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched July 7 – July 20)”

  1. Lol gearing up to watch The Dark Knight next. Tomorrow is the big day 😀

    First: Bol Bachchan– Huge reason why I worry about Bollywood nowadays. People are being fed garbage, honestly.
    Dumbo– Depressing as shit.
    Mulan– So funny! Possibly my favourite Disney princess film, along with The Princess and the Frog
    Ferarri Ki Sawaari– Huge reason why I still keep faith in Bollywood. So sweet, though a tad too long. Took my grandpa to watch it and it was the first time he set foot in a cinema hall in about 25 years 🙂
    Lady and the Tramp– Not really a dog person so didn’t care about it a lot.
    Pocahontas– I actually really liked it. She is the prettiest Disney princess.
    The New World– I did like it, but god this one felt tedious. Malick filmography over- yaay!
    Grave of the Fireflies– So sad and beautiful.
    Hercules– This was fun. Love the muses.
    The Jungle Book– I love Baloo!
    Kahaani– A Bollywood film set in my hometown, which is surprisingly rare. Vidya Balan is the future of Indian cinema.
    101 Dalmatians– “Cruella De Vil” is stuck in my head.
    My Neighbour Totoro– It was cute. The little girl did annoy me a bit though.
    Perfect Blue– I liked it. Couldn’t find the Requiem for a Dream reference.
    Despicable Me– It was really sweet. Not perfect, but enjoyable.

    Rewatched: The Prestige– Wanted to give it a second chance. I do dislike it less now, but still. Not my fav.

    1. Looking forward to reading your take on RISES – and everyone’s really now that my post and podcast about the movie are complete.

      It gives me a huge smile to see all of those classic animated films being watched for the first time. The storybook versions of many of those Disney tales were my bedtime stories growing up, so they are near and dear to my heart. I still haven’t tracked down PERFECT BLUE, but now that all of my assigned watching is over, perhaps I’ll make that a mission for this week or next.

  2. First time:

    Lockout – Started strong but falters by the end

    The Grey – Not what I was expecting at all, really enjoyed it.

    Chronicle – Solid film but would have been much better without the found footage style technique.

    Shame – McQueen does it again. Fassbender should be in every McQueen film moving foward such a great pairing.

    Carnage – Meh. It was decent but the dialogue was nowhere near as captivating as it should have been. Much of the conflict and revelations felt forced instead of natural.

    God Bless America – Solid premise but gets caught up in its on rhetoric by the end. Still worth a watch.

    Fat Kid Rules the World – Surprised by how much I liked the film. A charming teen drama. Who knew Matthew Lillard could direct?

    The 39 Steps – Hitchcock! This film was great. Definitely one of is top tier films.

    Topaz – Hitchcock! Though not the most gripping cold war spy film, Topaz is another reminder of the fact that Hithcock covered so many genres and topics. We tend to associate him with only his thrillers.

    Breathless – My Blind Spot film of the month.

    The Dark Knight Rises – Loved it. Once again Nolan did not disappoint.

    Re-watch:

    The Dark Knight – Still a great crime film in my opinion

    1. …did I end up missing that showing of BREATHLESS at Lightbox? It’s a blind spot movie for me in a whole other capacity, so I actually didn’t list it with my twelve since I figured I’d be watching it on its own accord. If I missed catching it on a big screen, I’ll be a bit grumpy with myself.

      Glad to see you like SHAME which seems to be getting less and less divisive by the day.

    2. I do not think Breathless has hit the Lightbox yet, though I do believe it is schedule to play there at some point this year. I just ended up borrowing the film from the library.

    1. The Underneath!! I’ll take ‘Films I haven’t thought about in a dozen years” for $800, Alex. Early Soderbergh trying to find his voice as a director…what did you think?

  4. My Christopher Nolan marathon hit a wall after Memento (really wanted to rewatch Insomnia). At least I rewatched the Batman films in time.

    Screenings:
    Seeking a Friend for the End of the World – Shame not many people got to see this film.
    Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview – He was the smart one.
    Detention – Crazy comedy
    V/H/S – Made me sick, but good
    Shorts That Are Not Pants – I enjoyed the collection
    Shinsedai Cinema Fest – Managed to see six films
    Beasts of the Southern Wild – Quite good for the most part
    The Dark Knight Rises – Who hasn’t seen this?

    DVD/Blu-Ray Rewatch:
    Insidious – I like the film, but I always doze off when I watch it
    Caddyshack – Let us see a comedy with an anamatronic gopher in this day and age
    Batman Begins and The Dark Knight – Guess why I rewatched these

    1. Quite the variety. I’m hoping to put together my BEASTS review for this week now that all of my podcasting commitments and Nolan content is done. I seldom write about a film so long after watching it, so hopefully it reads well.

      I was bummed that I was out of town for this instalment of Shorts.

  5. I’m curious as to which version of Hairspray you watched. Anyway…

    New to me:
    Children of the Damned: What it loses in intensity from the original, it makes up with…nothing.
    Letter from an Unknown Woman: Sappy. The sort of sighing romance that makes me roll my eyes.
    Seconds: Fantastic. I can’t stress enough just how freaking cool this film is.
    Attack the Block: Film for podcast
    The Big Heat: Another great one. It’s gritty and tough and kind of heartless, but tremendous.
    Carmen Jones: You have Dorothy Dandridge and Henry Belafonte, and you dub their singing voices? Criminal.
    The Rapture: Interesting up until the really stupid ending.
    The Thin Red Line: Beautiful, but I see why some dislike it.
    Grand Illusion: Tremendous. A sad view of a lost era.
    Pepe le Moko: Sadly forgettable.
    Southland Tales: Film for podcast.
    David Cross: Let America Laugh: Disappointing, especially given how much I like Cross’s work.

    Rewatches:
    Village of the Damned: Film for podcast
    The Maltese Falcon: Every time I watch it, I like it more.
    LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring: Still great.
    LOTR: The Two Towers: Yep, still great.
    Delicatessen: Film for podcast
    Monty Python and the Holy Grail: I love it, but it’s impossible to talk about without quoting it.
    The Big Lebowski: Another film too easy to quote

    1. I should have marked that, and will go back and edit when I have a sec – it was the 2007 musical version, which I *am* a fan of.

      “Yep, still great” – Thanks for that, gave me a great smile.

      THE THIN RED LINE always catches people off-guard because nobody sits down to watch a war film expecting to listen to a poem. When I first saw it upon theatrical release, I really didn’t like it. But as I’ve come back to it more and more over the years, it has become a favorite I hold dear…and a film I am always visually impressed by.

  6. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD just opened here and currently tops my to-see list.

    Two good silent movie showings last weekend, PANDORA’S BOX at the Music Box and Fairbanks’ ROBIN HOOD home again in Indianapolis. The ROBIN HOOD screening was really wonderful, it was part of an annual early music festival and the accompaniment was Medieval and Renaissance songs on period instruments. It was at a concert hall so on DVD on a smallish drop down screen, but the quality of the music more than made up for it not being at a proper movie theater.

    1. It’s really something – definitely get out and see it.

      Glad to hear that showing of PANDORA’S BOX was worth the drive! As for the ROBIN HOOD showing, that sounds very very cool. I could handle the video presentation being a little less spectacular when there’s a live accompaniment. In some ways that was what I got earlier this year when I saw THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT live projected from a dvd, but with a Wurlitzer Organ backing it up.

  7. RE: Inception- noticed this loud-quiet-loud last night. Was watching the blu-ray in the living room for the umpteenth time without any sound issues, and switched to DVD to watch it in another room sans blu-ray player and it was a constant battle with the volume controls, especially towards the end of the film. It was the first time I ever watched the DVD copy. I just assumed it was me on an older TV.

    1. Yup – for me it was the dvd too, although I think I get it with the blu-ray as well. Part of me thinks I have the wrong audio selection when I start watching it, but I can’t seem to find any menu option to change it.

  8. Looking forward to your Beasts of the Southern Wild review, Ryan. Seems like you saw a lot of good stuff over the last couple weeks.

    I had a bit of a movie marathon over the weekend. No Dark Knight Rises, unfortunately, but I did see a lot of great films. My two rewatches — Lost in Translation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — both held up remarkably well. I was reminded just how much I love Lost in Translation, especially.

    1. I’ve actually been struggling to piece together my BEASTS review. I caught up with it while in your fair city, so I certainly wasn’t writing about it right away. That was probably a good thing since the more I think back on it, the more I come up with things to say.

      It might actually go up tomorrow, so check in.

    2. If there are other notable films ahead of it, I wouldn’t bother. Broadcast News is pretty much a rom-com with Albert Brooks instead of a second, hunky lead.

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