I call this week “The concentrated dose”

The overall tally was down a bit, and the credit for that has to be handed to the blu-ray copy of GAME OF THRONES that showed up in our mailbox. It also has to be handed to the fact that three of this week’s watches involved going out with friends, which is far more fun and time consuming than watching double the amount of films at home.

Still, any week where I can tally three screenings and there’s nary a film festival in sight has to count for something. I also have to love the fact that the three films combined cost me less than twenty bucks.

In case anybody’s wondering, the post summarizing this leg of The Anime Syllabus will likely drop on Tuesday or Thursday of this week, so stay tuned. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to see a blockbuster I’d previously sworn off.

Here’s The Week at Hand…

Screenings
CASTLE IN THE SKY – A curious inclusion which I’ll explain in a few days.
WHISPER OF THE HEART – I still haven’t got “Country Road” out of my head.
PRINCESS MONONOKE – Wow. Just…wow.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN – Surprisingly, this blu-ray gave the surround sound system a solid workout.
3:10 TO YUMA – Can anybody name me a movie where Russell Crowe has more fun?
THANK YOU FOR SMOKING – I secretly wish I could speak like Nick Naylor.

Boxscore for The Year
48 First-Timers, 45 Re-Watched
18 Screenings
93 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?

26 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched Mar 10 – Mar 16)”

  1. Princess Mononoke is one of the most shocking films that I have seen in the sense that I’ve never really seen that much blood in a cartoon before (except in the case of Kill Bill o’course). But I liked it.

    Okay firsts: The Player– I really enjoyed it. It’s kind of awesome.
    Gosford Park– My favourite Altman movie yet, and I don’t think the others will be able to take this title from it. I absolutely lurved it.
    Pickpocket– Interesting idea. I loved the way the pickpockets choreographed the stealing.
    Addams Family Values– I hadn’t seen this one and had to see it after the first one. Liked it so much better, largely owing to Wednesday Addams.
    Freaks– It was very good, and quite a ballsy film to make.
    Rope– I love it when people try to commit “the perfect murder”. Would kill, figuratively, to watch it on stage.
    Saving Private Ryan– I think I loved it. I don’t know… I’m still processing it. Might write a post about it.
    Dr. No– It was fun and pleasantly laid back, but not that ahmazing. Honey Rider is a decent Bond girl name.

    Rewatched: Groundhog Day– It might as well be in the firsts list because I saw this when I was little and barely remembered any of it. Such a joy though. And Bill Murray is too brilliant for words.
    The Virgin Suicides– I’ll never truly understand this film ever. I love it though. Wish I had made it 🙁

    2. I saw your reaction to GOSFORD PARK and had to smile as its a film I remember loving dearly, but haven’t watched in a long time. Given Lindsay’s love for Downton Abbey, I should get my hands on a copy and show it to her!

      And I truly hope you do write about SAVING PRIVATE RYAN – just remember, there’s more to the film than those opening 25 minutes.

  2. I was in New York for the majority of the past week so my screenings were rather limited. However I did pick up Le Samurai, Vanishing Point, and Alfred Hitchcock A Legacy of Suspense (a compilation of 20 of his earlier “aka less successful films”) while I was there. All were blind purchases so I look forward to cracking into those DVDs in the coming weeks. Anyways, here is what I saw:

    I Know Where I’m Going – It was alright but nothing special. Not as good as The Red Shoes or Black Narcissus.
    Jackass 3.5 – It’s a Jackass film, enough said.
    The Long Goodbye – Trying to catch up on the Altman films (e.g. 3 Women, Nashville, etc.) I have missed this year. Really enjoyed the film; it was breezier than expected.

    1. One of these days I need to go on an Altman bender. I tried to convince Simon to tackle him for the next series of The Film locker, but wasn’t persuasive enough. Perhaps for some sort of future syllabus.

    2. I think Altman would make a great subject for The Film Locker, he has some truly great films as well as some truly awful ones. Which would make for some great discussion. Have you and Simon figured out who the next 12 directors will be?

      1. We have a few of them nailed down. I’d hoped we would have done a short series two for the mid-winter, but Simon’s been so swamped with work that watching has been difficult for him, let alone watching and talking.

        So series two should be a full twelve or thirteen episode run, in which case we have a few more directors to choose.

  3. Princess Mononoke, wow that takes me back. I remember watching it at TIFF 1999, meeting Miyazaki….

    Speaking of Game Of Thrones, did you check out the exhibit at the Lightbox?

  4. I also spent most of my week watching Game of Thrones. All I have to say about that is… WOW. We got hooked and tore through the first season in a matter of days. The Blu-ray is loaded with great extras, too.

    As for movies, I watched Death Race 2000 (campy fun) and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (good, understated indie).

    1. I loved JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME. I ws lucky enough to catch it last fall at TIFF and cannot wait to see how it is received upon its release.

      I haven’t started digging into all of the extras on thise blu-rays, but I must ask – why is HBO so bloody hellbent on selling their TV series in those gigantic boxes? What is this, 2002?

    2. Ha! Yeah, seriously, it’s a whole freakin’ ordeal just to get to the discs. What are there, three cases to open??

    3. Well there’s that, but even just the thickness of it. Most TV shows on blu ray have scaled themselves down to thinner-spined boxes that don’t take up so much shelf space.

      Besides the fact that I wonder if *that* many BD’s were needed for the show (aren’t they supposed to be higher capacity?), HBO insists on the old-style packaging that folds and folds and folds.

    1. “What are you still doing here? Didn;t you hear me say ‘horse cock’?”

      I’m overdue for a rewatch of IN THE LOOP…probably overdue to buy myself a copy for that matter.

      Ahhh – BULL DURHAM! I think with baseball season coming that will be finding its way on to my TV screen in short order!

  6. 3:10 to Yuma is one of those rare cases where the remake far exceeds the original. The original isn’t bad, but it’s not as much fun.

    New to me:
    Birdemic – Shock and Terror: There’s a 99.5% chance this is the most incompetent film ever made. There is a .5% chance it’s the most brilliant meta-humor since Andy Kaufman.
    Through a Glass Darkly: Oh, Ingmar, you stoic Swede!
    Hard Candy: Disturbing on every level
    Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade: An odd little documentary. I saw a couple of shots of my old boss in a few scenes.

    Rewatches
    Fitzcarraldo: I love this movie for reasons I can’t really express in words.
    Stand By Me: So good. Such a great film to end my class with.
    Bravehart: As I get older, I buy this one less and less.
    The Grifters: Underrated and sadly forgotten in the last 20 years.
    A Nightmare on Elm Street: It’s instructive to remember why Wes Craven is one of my favorite directors.

    1. BRAVEHEART was on TV last week (for all I know, you and I were watching the same AMC broadcast), and I found myself thinking about how it has aged too. Right around the time I was seriously getting into film, that movie was a heavy hitter, and probably a top ten title for me.

      As I age, I’m picking more and more flaws in the film and wondering what the hell I was thinking.

      I think it’s time I sit down for a proper re-watch and write about it fully.

  7. I’ve had the most productive watching week this past week in a long while.

    The Artist – The few minor issues I had with the film could never outweigh the overall quality of the film. I’d be quite pleased to call it the modern spiritual successor to Singin’ In the Rain. Something I don’t think it’s shy about trying to be.

    Horrible Bosses – Pretty good. Lots of good stupid humor moments compounded on top of lots of “oh hey, that was a joke” moments.

    Castaway on the Moon – Easily one of the best Romantic Dramadies I’ve seen in year. Great absurdest humor blended with two melancholic characters you can’t help but cheer and feel for despite the unrealistic situations they find themselves in. If you haven’t seen this one, definitely move it to the top of your Netflix instant queue.

    1. Holy Shit! Helms Lives!!!

      Glad to know all of your little hangups towards THE ARTIST haven’t sullied you on the film completely. I think it will really grow in people’s opinions as the debate over what it is and what it isn’t starts to lull.

      Don’t be a stranger, eh?

  8. OK, I’ll admit it – I saw 21 Jump Street AND totally dug it. Couldn’t stop laughing. Normally I would sign off a movie like that as some dumb teen guy movie, but I’m glad I didn’t – especially given its high ratings by critics too. Channing Tatum was hilarious next to the already funny Jonah Hill.

    Also, I saw The Break Up for the first time and thought it was decent. Ran a little too long for my taste, but it had a hint of realism that I enjoyed. Two very different movies. It was a fun weekend for movies overall.

    1. I’m curious about JUMP STREET, but might have missed my window. Time will tell.

      I remember not liking THE BREAK-UP very much, mostly because it was sold as a comedy and I didn’t find it all that funny. You know how if two of your friends are fighting you feel an urge to get up and leave the room? That was me with THE BREAK-UP.

      Strangely though, I didn’t feel that way with BLUE VALENTINE which was also about a couple breaking up…perhaps because at least it gave me glimpses of the couple’s young, passionate start to offset their depressing end.

  9. Big week for me. Which is nice because I had really been watching nothing for a few weeks.

    (Unseen)
    Friends with Kids
    127 Hours
    Coraline
    Meek’s Cutoff
    Die Hard 2

    (Re-watches)
    Green Lantern
    Groundhog’s Day
    Hanna
    Superbad

    1. CORALINE, 127 HOURS and MEEK’S CUTOFF in the same week? That’s cinematic bliss right there!

      (Can’t remember if you’ve been following me that long, but 127 was my favorite film of its year)

      1. I recall reading a glowing review of it, but alas, the film never graced a theatre local to me and I couldn’t watch the film with my girlfriend. So I just got around to it on Spring Break.

        I really enjoyed Meek’s Cutoff, but part of me wishes that the ending was not as abrupt as it was.

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