Ryan McNeil
There were surprises this week.
There were disappointments.
There were fantastical fictions.
There were chilling realities.
There were new places to visit.
There were old favorites from the shelf.
There were a lot of screenings.
There were even more dvd’s.
There were titles I started but didn’t finish.
There were films I immediately wanted to watch again.
And there was the realization that I have officially passed last year’s tally.
A small part of me would like the tally to get to 500 by New Year’s, but I don’t have nearly the amount of time I need.
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
WINGS – The very first Best Picture winner. It was quite a treat seeing it on a big screen!
LES MISERABLES – I’m holding off on talking about this for a little while yet.
KILLING THEM SOFTLY – I’m not sure this was what I expected.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE INVISIBLE WAR – Moving topic, mundane execution.
2 DAYS IN NEW YORK – A cute little refresher watched amidst a day of weighty selections.
THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES – Amazing topic, and brilliant execution.
THE INNKEEPERS – Who knew a creepy flick would work so well on a Sunday morning?
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST – Eleven down, one to go.
JOHNNY SUEDE – Check out the podcast on Monday for thoughts on this craziness.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES – Four months later, I finally returned to Gotham…and loved what i saw there every bit as much.
THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE – Would we consider this “Lesser Coens”?
DAYS OF HEAVEN – Seeing this on a few of your Blind Spot lists for 2013 sparked me to revisit it.
Boxscore for The Year
234 First-Timers, 211 Re-Watched
119 Screenings
445 Movies in Total
I’m curious to hear what you thought of Les Miserables. I don’t care about the movie specifically, but I saw a thing on how they did the live singing and it looked really intriguing. So I’m wondering how it all plays out.
This week’s new watches were:
The Acid House
Alluda Mazaaka…!
Lurking Fear
Cube 2: Hypercube
And I re-watched:
Harold and Maude
Bad Taste – in my opinion one of the greatest debuts of all time. What I wouldn’t give for another Peter Jackson horror comedy!
Alluda Mazaaka has one of my all time favourite action sequences mainly because it is so damn ridiculous. I am sure a slew of horse got killed while making that movie.
Yeah, that opening action sequence is definitely one for the ages. I had no idea that Indian film was capable of that kind of action. A lot of the later stuff is really fun as well; I thoroughly enjoyed the film.
My LES MIS thoughts should hit the site closer to Christmas, and there might even be a special episode of The Matineecast dedicated to it.
How the hell did I compile my Blindspot list for 2013 and manage to leave off HAROLD AND MAUDE? I might have to try and get that one in before New Year’s.
I’m actually getting excited for Les Miserables, mostly because I really want to see Hugh Jackman sing.
Firsts: Casino– It was good. Didn’t feel so long. I really liked Sharone Stone in it.
Life of Pi– Magnificent to look at and the ambition is praise-worthy. However I didn’t love the story itself that much.
The Blues Brothers– This is one of those films which suffers if the viewer isn’t from a certain cultural background, or atleast has a good idea of it.
The Cabinet pf Dr. Caligari– For film studies. It was pretty cool.
La Dolce Vita– Pretty darn awesome, and beautiful to look at.
Killer Joe– Crazy shit man. I loved it. This *is* Matthew McConaughey’s year. He’s brutally brilliant in it.
You sadden me a little with the BLUES BROTHERS ambivalence…but that’s because it’s one of my all time faves. Likewise, my love comes thanks to the film being stacked with music I adore.
Oh well – you had a pretty solid week of watching on the whole, so who am I to get worked up over one entry?
I still love The Dark Knight Rises after all this time, haha. It is just too awesome. And you saw Les Miserables? Exciting!
First-timers:
Rent – My drama teacher really wanted me to watch it. It was an interesting musical.
Wild at Heart – Things just don’t get crazier than Nicolas Cage and David Lynch together.
Magic Mike – Everyone I know hates it, but I kinda liked it. That’s because I wasn’t expecting just a male stripper movie. Matthew McConaughey was on fire in this one.
Bel Ami – So boring.
The Wicker Man – LOL.
Skyfall – I don’t think we’ll get a film as beautiful as this from this year’s releases.
Love Me Tonight – A 1932 musical I’ve always wanted to see. It was adorable.
Love Crime – It was on TV so I thought I’d give it a go. It was pretty interesting but pretty dumb at the same time.
Rewatches:
The Dark Knight Rises – As I said above, I still love it. The story itself is wonderful.
Rent is an interesting topic for me, since it was the touchstone music that I grew up with. Thing is though, I think certain details of the story have aged poorly over the years and don’t play as well to first-time viewings. The music still kicks ass though.
Despite dealing with the flu this week, I did get to see a few films.
First-Timers: A trio of documentary shorts by Stanley Kubrick, Simon of the Desert, M, and later tonight, Rosemary’s Baby.
Re-Watches: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictured and Finding Nemo.
I’ve heard a lot about that Kubrick doc, but sadly have never caught up with it. M and ROSEMARY’S BABY in the same week? Talk about cinematic bliss.
No love for The Invisible War? I rather enjoyed that one. As for the Innkeepers, that film works T any time of day.
First:
Cloud Atlas – Surprised by how much I loved this film.
The Lovers on the Bridge – After Holy Motors I decided to start looking into more of Leos Carax/Denis Lavant’s films. This was pretty good, Lavant and Juliette Binoche are great in it. Though I have now seen Lavant’s “member” in two films in a row. Sensing a theme with Carax and Lavant. LOL
La Dolce Vita – November’s Blind Spot that I will hopefully get around to taking about at some point in December.
Beast of the Southern Wild – Not what I was expecting at all. I enjoyed it, the wife…not so much.
Re-watch:
Die Hard with a Vengeance – Still better than both Die Hard 2 and Live Free or Die Hard
Die Another Day – Yep this film is still pretty awful. Brosnan is easily the worst of the Bonds in my opinion.
I liked THE INVISIBLE WAR. The women featured in it were fascinating, and the issue is an important one that needs to be brought to light. Unfortunately, the look of it leaves something to be desired. It needed a bit more visual polish to underline its argument.
I’ve had BEASTS sitting on my TV stand waiting to be rewatched for weeks now…I really must drop it into the player sometime soon.
LA DOLCE VITA is my final blind spot for 2012. Wanna take bets on whether or not I remember to watch it in time?
Trying to play catch up to do the best of 2012 list. One more month to go.
First timer
Rust And Bone: Was expecting one thing based on buzz but got another. Pretty delighted actually, no one is talking about Schoenaerts. He is really good.
Life Of Pi: One of the best used of 3D I have seen. Still has issues with the execution of the ending.
The Invisible War: Like you, I wasn’t crazy about the execution, but the story is quite infuriating and unbelievable.
Killing Them Softly: Feels like I am being beaten by someone with a hammer to nail a point, repeatedly.
Once Upon A Time In Anatonia: A police procedural in the purest sense. Require a lot of patience.
I liked a lot of things about RUST AND BONE, but it felt as though it pulled a punch or two. Of course that was back on day two of TIFF, so my memory of it might not be fully fleshed out. Perhaps a revisit will serve me well.
What were you expecting with Killing Them Softly? From how you worded that I get the feeling you didn’t care for it.
Did you have walk-outs at your showing?
No walk out’s during SOFTLY, but my audience did seem a tad antsy.
hmm…
My week involved:
Shadows (1959)
The Imposter
Killer Joe
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Side by Side
Ruby Sparks
Life of Pi
Rewatched
Skyfall
Hot Fuzz
Manhattan
The Prestige
Insomnia
………
if I had to pick a best of the week I’d say The Imposter
worst would be Side by Side (interesting doc, just not as good a movie as the rest of the films I saw)
I’ve decided I’ll join the blindspot cult for next year… so look out for the announcement
You didn’t like SIDE BY SIDE? That surprises me quite a bit!
Please tell me that there is a TUMP coming our way discussing KILLER JOE. If there isn’t, then please consider this a request Mr. DJ.
Nothing would make me happier than hearing the three of you discuss this dirty dirty movie.
I do discuss it on the upcoming ep… and we kind of get into it, but Damion hadn’t seen it yet.
Quite more compared to last week.
Screenings:
Goldeneye – Best Brosnan Bond
Silver Linings Playbook – I liked this, but…
Life of Pi – A very spiritual film (not too crazy about 3D though)
Tomorrow Never Dies – Probably the first time I saw this without falling asleep during the second half
Man with the Golden Gun – Christopher Lee makes this film worth it
Killing Them Softly – This is one I’ll probably not rewatch
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Less gory than the title suggests, but still quite intense (with some dark macabre humour in the final act).
First Time:
Tootsie – Very sitcomish
The Dark Crystal – It’s dark alright (and weird)
Rewatch:
Dark Shadows – I’m in the minority that like the film.
Feels like it was a big week of viewing all around! Massacre always struck me as more disturbing than violent.
First Timers
ANNA KARENINA – Surprised by how much I loved it!
KILLING THEM SOFTLY – Surprised by how much I loathed it!
THE STING – I really need to watch more old school Newman and Redford.
Rewatch
BATTLESHIP – Because… I don’t know.
ALIENS – Because it’s still brilliant!
TED – Still hilarious.
LOOPER – Tied for best of 2012 with CLOUD ATLAS in my book.
AGHGHGH! HOW HAVE YOU SEEN LES MIS!!! WERE THAT I IN YOUR SHOES!!
Sorry man – I really wasn’t trying to brag. I’ll be interested in hearing what you think of it when it drops. How the deuce did you get suckered into watching BATTLESHIP…once, let alone twice?
Eh. Every so often all I want to do is sit back, nurse a mason jar of Jim Bean and watch a piece of shit! Given how much and how hard I actually have to think during the school week, it’s nice to watch something completely brainless.
Also, I think the score of that movie is actually pretty good! But it’s still probably the worst movie I’ve seen this year.
You’ll be hearing lots about LES MIS when it comes out. I have spent my entire weekend, apart from the trips to the theater, watching the new clips that just got released on endless repeat!