Ryan McNeil
Yep, it’s been a while! Even with that week off I mentioned a few days ago there’s been a lot watched over the last few weeks.
So let’s skip the foreplay, shall we, and get straight to doing the dirty deed.
Here’s the three weeks at hand…
Screenings
STILL ALICE – So stunning; so sad.
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS – Lightbox is doing a complete Michael Mann retrospective, so I’m headed to the four of his films I’ve never seen theatrically. This was a delight to start with.
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT – This might be one of the most underrated 2014 films I’ve come across.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY – On an absolutely miserable winter afternoon in Toronto, a screening of this at Lightbox was almost full to the seat.
MANHUNTER – I still haven’t stopped humming In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
GIRLHOOD – More on this in the days to come.
Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE – Way subtler than I anticipated.
YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW – On Valentines, my Italian lass and I watched some tales of Italian romance.
LUCY – Curiously I thought there would be more action in this movie. Shows what I know!
ALL THAT JAZZ – Way better than I thought it would be.
DOCTOR ZHIVAGO – I can’t believe it took me this long to see this.
SOUL KITCHEN – Not sure what I wanted to do more after this: Go to the record store, or cook dinner.
WOMAN OF THE YEAR – I refuse to believe that Kate Hepburn could screw-up breakfast. Also, this is a wonderful flick.
THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY – Track it down, you can watch it over a bowl of cereal.
THE VERDICT – Not gonna lie – I wanted this to be better.
LIFEBOAT – I wonder if I’ll ever get around to seeing ALL the Hitchcock movies?
Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Seen Before
SPIDER-MAN 2 – All of the SONY Spidey-news a few weeks ago made me long for the one film I unabashedly love.
OUT OF SIGHT – “…Oh, I see. You guys are cynical.”
LAYER CAKE – For Matineecast purposes.
BIRDMAN – Re-watched on the afternoon of Oscar night.
PAPRIKA – I need to start buying more anime – this is currently the only one on my shelf.
THE LOST WORLD – It just occurred to me that I never saw this Spielberg entry in theatres. How’d that happen?
DO THE RIGHT THING – Once upon a time I began to see this film as “dated”. Now? Not so much…
Dying to see Girlhood, really like the director after seeing Waterlilies. I’ve also had Paprika on my ‘to watch list’ for ages.
When you eventually watch PAPRIKA – when, not if – you’ll definitely get a deep “INCEPTION vibe” from it. Always cool to pull on threads of blockbusters and see what smaller films they originated from!
If you listen to the newest episode of the podcast, you get the full breadth of my love for GIRLHOOD…so I suppose I need to make WATERLILLIES a priority.
I like when you hold these over because it makes me feel like I’ve watched more movies than I have. I look at my tally and go, “Wow! Look at all those movies!” My list got padded out a little because I got sick in there for a while.
First time:
The Cape Town Affair – remake of Pickup on South Street. Ugh.
Demon City Shinjuku
Brotherhood of Blades
From the Highway
Teen Sorcery
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
Winners & Sinners
The Dentist
The Dentist 2: Brace Yourself – best sequel subtitle ever?
The Deadly Trackers
Wrath of the Sword
And I re-watched:
Total Recall
Cool when that happens ain’t it? Lordy, OSS117 has been on my Netflix list forever and a day…I really should get to it.
You had a good three weeks! BTW, Hitchcock is my next goal after Wilder. Wanna race me on that one, too?
There are certain directors’ filmographies that I feel should earn people a merit badge if they finish them…like Kurosawa. Hitchcock is definitely one of them.
That said, between Lifeboat and I Confess, I sure am finding a lot of joy in some of Hitch’s “less famous” selections! Of course, that said – I *am* afraid of the fact that I have Marnie waiting for me on the PVR.
Ahem, My kids LOVE Paprika: