What was I saying about the NBA Finals slowing down my film-watching? That sure turned into a load of bollocks, didn’t it? Nine in a week, and that comes with most of Saturday’s free time being eaten up writing a review and editing a podcast.

What’s more, things don’t seem to be slowing up this week (I have three screenings scheduled).

But speaking of watching plans, I’ve settled on mapping out a short blog-a-thon again this summer. I’m not going to reveal the details quite yet, but I will say that I’m planning it to be a  mirror of something I’ve already done on this site. I should have more news for ya on Tuesday or Thursday this week; Be sure to check in.

I’m not gonna lie to ya: I sorta like the symmetry that’s happening right now between my first-time viewings and my rewatches. If I wanted to get really OCD, I could try to end out the year with that sort of balance. But I’m not that bad…yet.

Here’s The Week at Hand…

Screenings
SNOW WHITE & THE HUNTSMAN – I dare everyone to go rewatch Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and reconsider their position now.
LOLA VERSUS – Greta Gerwig needs a breakout project badly.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS – Not bad, but feels like it folds under its self-awareness.
FROM THE SKY DOWN – A long piece about this U2 doc is forthcoming. You’ve been warned.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS – I watch this and immediately want to write.
THE WACKNESS – I watch this and immediately want to listen to Biggie.
RATATOUILLE – I watch this and immediately want to cook
WALL-E – I watch this and immediately want to hug everyone.
UP – I watch this and am reminded of its flaws.

Boxscore for The Year
104 First-Timers, 104 Re-Watched
48 Screenings
208 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?

28 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched June 9 – June 15)”

  1. Such a useless week for me.

    Firsts: Prometheus– Talked about this enough on this blog 😛 Liked it. Flawed. I still want a robotic Fassy.

    Rewatched: Fight Club– How does this film even exist? It’s too awesome to be just a film. Most favourite ever.
    Amelie– So this is the first time I saw it on DVD and good lord, this has nudity?! :O The first 10 times I saw this, it was on tv and the friggin’ censorship boards have fooled me well. I love it still.

  2. I am hoping the Thunder will beat the Heat, but I fear LeBron will get his ring…

    Anyway

    First time:

    Cosmopolis: Really disappointing. The characters TALK alot, I wish they stop talking so I have some time to reflect things, but alas…

    Moonrise Kingdom: Is Wes Anderson a genre now?

    Prometheus: I enjoyed the various spoiler chatter almost as much as the film itself.

    Lola Versus: Almost walked out of the free screening in 15 minutes, indie cliche at its worst.

    Safety Not Guaranteed: Good indie romcom. Duplass is growing on me…

    Re-Watch:

    Alien: I know. It’s a cliche to watch Alien after Prometheus…

    Annie Hall: Cause it’s an Annie Hall sort of day. Still my favorite Woody movie.

    1. Well it seems as though I liked LOLA more than you, which gives me a sliver of hope for COSMOPOLIS (which I’m planning to see tomorrow).

      I think Wes Anderson is in fact a genre unto himself now…look at a film like SUBMARINE, and what it immediately evoked. Does that mean you weren’t fussed about MOONRISE KINGDOM?

    2. I actually like Moonrise Kingdom a lot. I think it works better than his previous work; it actually has a plot and character development instead of just the usual Anderson quirks. I still rank this behind Rushmore, I like this about the same as The Fantastic Mr Fox.

      Looking forward to hearing about your feelings on Cosmopolis.

    3. I think I liked DARJEELING a bit more, but Anderson’s movies almost always grow on me with multiple watches…so odds are any detachment I felt with this film will fill in over time.

      Boy am I ever still processing COSMOPOLIS.

  3. Prometheus – I enjoyed it but there were too many silly things that occurred for me to truly love it. Want to see it again though.

    The Lady Vanishes – Hitchcock! Really liked this film. The story is all over the place but it worked for this film.”

    p.s. I am hoping Lebron takes it this year.

    1. You’ll love PROMETHEUS when you inevitably watch it again.
      And despite the 2 – 1 series lead, my money is still squarely bet against LeBron.

  4. Not a lot of first-timers this week due to visiting relatives. This is what I saw… Fear X, Goldfinger, Another Earth, and earlier today, Moonrise Kingdom (review coming later today).

    Re-watches: Days of Thunder, Master & Commander: Far Side of the World, Morvern Callar, and I also went to a screening of Cinema Paradiso this morning. I love that film.

    1. Days of Thunder??? Wow, talk about flashbacks. Simpson/Bruckheimer rock & roll filmmaking at its cheesiest. That was something of a favorite of mine when I was a kid, and a big fan of Tom Cruise. I much have seen it a few dozen times, and now can’t remember the last time I watched it. What made you queue that up?

      And one of these days, I will remember to finally track down ANOTHER EARTH.

  5. Yeah, Friends with Benefits did fold under it’s self-awareness. My friends and I got a good laugh out of it, though.

    First timers:
    Breathless – Oh gosh, this movie was so beautiful to watch.
    30 Minutes or Less – Was okay, but instead of being “funny hahaha” it was just “funny ha”, if you get where I’m coming from.
    The Vow – I actually really liked this movie. I know, I’m no longer a proper movie-lover.
    The Ides of March – Really enjoyed this film, too. Ryan Gosling’s best performance from last year, IMO.
    Vivre sa Vie – Another beautiful Godard film. This one was devastating.
    Raging Bull – One heck of a film. I can’t say I loved it as much as everyone else seems to but the direction was flawless.
    Au Hasard Balthazar – Really sad. The donkey was awesome.

    Rewatches:
    Moneyball – Liked it a lot more the second time.

    1. Pardon me – aren’t you a Lammy winner?

      I got funny looks for how much I liked THE IDES OF MARCH, but I’m still quite smitten with it. Good to see I’m not completely nuts. As for BREATHLESS, it’s been a bit a glaring gap in my film literacy. Looking forward to finally catching up with it at a screening next month.

      PS – If you liked the filmmaking at hand in BALTHAZAR, I highly recommend PICKPOCKET which was also directed by Bresson.

  6. It was a very busy week for me.

    Screenings:
    Rules of Attraction – Worth it for Europe trip montage (of which apparently a feature-length version exists)
    Beneath – A low budget horror film directed by my friend. He had a private screening of it and I was nice enough to write about it afterwards.
    Cosmopolis – My favourite film so far this year. Not everyone will agree.
    Windfall – You will rethink your opinion of wind power after this film.
    The Terminator – Another one off the list (will draft my blindspot post shortly)

    DVD/Blu-Ray Rewatches
    Moon – Still my favourite sci-fi film of the last decade
    A Dangerous Method – I still like it, but I feel it should be something more with Cronenberg’s name on it.

    1. I can think of few films in the last few years that left me as let-down as A DANGEROUS METHOD. I’m such a big fan of Cronenberg’s three previous films, that seeing it unfold with something of a dulled edge really left me in a grumpy mood.

      I’m hopeful for COSMOPOLIS, but have had my expectations tempered.

  7. Are you in training for “Brave” with all those Pixar viewings? “Ratatouille” vies with “Toy Story 2” as my favorite.

    Really slow viewing week for me. I did watch “Thor” again. I remembered it as funny but didn’t remember just how funny it is.

    1. I am getting myself primed for BRAVE with all of the Pixar rewatches. I finished my regiment yesterday with another look at TOY STORY 3 (we don’t own CARS 2, so that’s the end of the line). As someone who loves to cook, I count myself a huge fan of RATATOUILLE myself.

      Hey, you might like to add your two cents for the next Matineecast: My feedback question was besides the CARS films, what’s your least favorite Pixar film, and why?

    2. There’s a cool article in today’s WSJ about the animation in “Brave” (no spoilers, assuming you’ve seen the trailer): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303836404577472942036042750.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

      Always ready to add my two cents! I’ve avoided both Cars so they were out of the running for me anyway. My least favorite Pixar is “WALL-E”. Wall-E him(it?)self is a cutie and the first, earthbound part of his movie is wonderful. But when he leaves earth the adventure turns repetitive, while the simplistic ecological message is hammered home with a tiresome insistence.

  8. This doesn’t include a few episodes of The Larry Sanders Show. I had forgotten how funny that show was.

    New to me:
    Out of Africa: Predictable but pretty.
    Vinyl: The most incompetent thing I have ever witnessed.
    Song at Midnight: Desperately in need of restoration like few other films.
    The Spider’s Stratagem: Complex but worth seeing.
    Grand Hotel: Better than I could have hoped.
    The Lady from Shanghai: Welles can’t pull off an accent. That makes me sad.

    Rewatches:
    Pulp Fiction: Still Tarantino’s best.
    American Grindhouse: My history lesson for the week.
    Mystery Science Theater 3000: Monster A Go-Go: The short at the start never fails to make me laugh

  9. Amazing week, especially regarding re-watches. Midnight in Paris was my favorite movie of 2011 and Ratatouille is one of my favorites ever. You can’t go wrong with the beautiful trifecta of Ratatouille, Wall-E and Up. Three in a row!

  10. Oooh you rewatched some of the Pixar stuff before BRAVE? I should do that too. I’ve also been meaning to rewatch Midnight in Paris, such a delightful movie.

    1. Depending on how quickly you’re going to head out and see BRAVE, you still have time. At least thumb through some of your favorites.

      I’ve already moved on to the Christopher Nolan retrospective in honour of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

      What’d you watch last week Ruth?

  11. Here is my week of movie watching

    Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown – I am trying to catch up on Almodóvar movies having already seen (and LOVED) Talk to Her and The Skin I Live In. Any recommendations?

    Horrible Bosses – Rewatch. Still pretty funny

    Captain America: The First Avenger – Found that I liked this less on multiple viewings. Still a very good, classic movie.

    Monsters vs. Aliens – My son made the movie pick for the evening. Very enjoyable fun movie. I continue to laugh out loud at the first contact scene involving the President.

    Pickpocket – I have been wanting to catch up with this one since Filmspotting did their Bresson marathon. Being a huge Natalie Portman it was wonderful to see her in a movie 22 years before she was born.

    Chronicle – I was hoping to like this more than I did.

    The Grey – I liked it, but surprised at how uneven the pacing was.

    His Girl Friday – One of my all time favorites. Hilarious dialog that is delivered at a machine gun pace.

    1. Sorry it took me a day or two to get back to you Chris, and in case I haven’t said so already: Welcome to The Matinee.

      I’m a big lover of Almodovar’s work, so you’ve come to the right guy. Check out ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, TIE ME UP TIE ME DOWN, VOLVER, and BAD EDUCATION in that order. They are all wonderful…but for me TALK TO HER will always be his best.

      Around the time that Filmspotting did that marathon, I realized our local cinematheque (The Lightbox) was doing a Bresson retrospective of their own! I actually got to catch PICKPOCKET on a big screen – I can die happy now. It was preceeded by a showing of A MAN ESCAPED, which I also dearly loved. I’m gonna have to track down dvd copies of both.

      Speaking of The Lightbox, I’m very much looking forward to catching HIS GIRL FRIDAY when they show it next month (for free no less!)

      1. Thanks for the Almodovar recommendations. I’ve got ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER at the top of my Netflix queue.

        I really wish Milwaukee had a theater like the Lightbox, that would regularly show classics like His Girl Friday and the like.

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