Ryan McNeil
Guess you can tell I had a busy week when the total for the last seven days is in single digits, eh?
Indeed it was a busy one folks. There was a pub night, a podcast to record, an anniversary, and two Thanksgivings to attend. Usually, I was so zonked that I didn’t even decide to end off the night with some re-watching (as I am known to do).
Interestingly, since I’ve been putting a greater emphasis on watching first-timers through the last several months, it’s meant that much of my re-watching comes courtesy of those late night “get me to sleep” selections that usually come from my own shelf or what I settle on as I flip channels. If my re-watch isn’t one of those, it’s usually something I look at for podcasting purposes (there’s one of those this week), or because I’ve finally got my hands on a blu-ray/dvd copy (one of those this week too)
No Story of Film again this week, but I think I know how I’m about to begin my day.
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS – At a different part of the year, this would have knocked me out even more. It’s been flanked by too much awesomeness though.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE – Holy Hell!! This film is amazing, easily one of my best first-watches of the whole year.
JOE VERSUS THE VOLCANO – This was not at all what I expected.
FAMILY PLOT – Getting the feeling I don’t much care for late-career Hitchcock.
PEEPING TOM – I’ve never felt more ashamed to be a photographer.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
GANDHI – Finishing off my Best Picture Project. I’ve ranked them all thusly, feel free to disagree.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON – For podcast purposes
UP IN THE AIR – Talk about a snapshot of a particular time in America.
THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE – Wow, does the Criterion blu-ray of this ever look splendid!
First-Timers: Warm Bodies, Juan of the Dead, Toy Story of Terror, Camera, and later tonight, Prometheus.
Re-Watches: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, The Fly, A Knight’s Tale, Repo Man, and Rumble Fish.
I was happy to read that you liked PROMETHEUS. My love for that film is pretty much legend by now.
Peeping Tom is so great.
Firsts: The Grey– It’s kind of fantastic, yes?
Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones– Oh god, why did I put myself through this shit?
The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou– Watched it after listening to the Matineecast. I liked it, but it might be my least favourite Wes Anderson.
Gravity– What do I say that hasn’t already been said? I just wish that the cinema theatre screen was bigger.
Airplane!– It was fun. The manic Air Traffic Controller was awesome!
The Intouchables– Aww this film was like sunshine. Made my day brighter
Eyes Without a Face– I thought it was very beautiful and sad.
The Assassination of Jesse James– The only reason I had been delaying this was to be sure that I’m in the right state of mind watching this. But having seen it, and considering my general issue with the genre, I was going to be bored in it no matter what. Still, it was pretty good and Deakins and Affleck were spectacular.
Rewatched: Silver Linings Playbook– This film makes me happy.
This is the End– Watched it with my brother this time. He loved it.
Children of Men– Still one of the most powerful films I have ever seen.
PEEPING TOM is so icky!
I feel pretty lucky to have seen ASSASSINATION on a big screen. Besides being able to focus better than I would at home, I was able to drown in those glorious visuals. I actually haven’t revisited it since 2007, so I’m beginning to think it’s time for a rewatch.
ZISSOU will grow on you…I say this from experience. Pardon me, I’m off to listen to some Seu Jorge
Glad to see you enjoyed “The Phantom Carriage”. I caught up with it a few months back and was equally blown away. It’s also insane to me how much it clearly influenced Kubrick’s take on “The Shining”. Frames a directly lifted and the score is also similar. It’s intensely atmospheric and disconcerting, equally tragic and emotional. Felt reminiscent of “A Christmas Carol” in some ways.
Hey Zack – thanks for dropping by!
I was FLOORED when that axe scene came up and thought to myself “Holy shit! Kubrick lifted this beat-for-beat!!”. I don’t know what I expected this film to be, but the end result was so high above expectations that it’ll handily become one of my favorite ‘first-watches’ of 2013. Heck, in a way it even works well with my October Creep-Fest.
If I have my way, I’ll be watching this again on New Years Eve.
Peeping Tom is a gem of a film.
All first times:
Captain Phillips – Loved it.
Machete Kills – It is what it is.
The Devil’s Lair – Originally missed it at Hot Docs, very solid film.
Mystery Road – Really enjoyed this one.
The Battery – Awesome film.
We Are What We Are – Good but the ending will make or break it for most.
Bounty Killer – See Machete Kills comment.
Eega – This film was a whole lot of fun to watch.
Did we really need MACHETE KILLS? At what point is the joke taken too far? That’s my question.
Ah, I need to see Peeping Tom and Phantom Carriage myself. Glad you enjoyed them!
For me, all first-time:
Marc Maron: Thinky Pain
Piranha (1978)
Move PHANTOM CARRIAGE to the top of your list.
Immediately.
Not too much this week:
STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS – This was my first time seeing it. Certain scenes and choices worked out very well, and the flipping around of Khan from ally to villain was a nice touch. Still, it was also kind of a mess, and the 9/11 imagery felt hollow. Should we care as much about Kirk’s survival when Khan just murdered thousands of people?
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA – Interesting movie from Soderbergh with great performances from Douglas and Damon. The set design is probably the real winner, though.
The craziest thing about CANDELARBA for me was spotting all the supporting players. Like, how long did it take you to notice Dan Akroyd? Further, how amazing was Debbie Reynolds in this!
I recognized Akroyd but had no idea that was Debbie Reynolds until I saw the credits. We also had Paul Reiser as Damon’s lawyer and of course the great Scott Bakula. Quite a cast!