Burn After Reading: 2008 Coen Brothers dark comedy with George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, etc. Meh. I'm more partial to their dramas, as I’ve likely said before. Pitt pretty much saved me from disliking it entirely. I know. I’m just as surprised as you are.
The Panic in Needle Park: 1971 Jerry Schatzberg drama with Al Pacino & Kitty Winn. The movie is about this fairly naïve girl who falls for a heroin addict. You can guess where it goes from there. Oh, the allure of ill-behaved men. I found Winn’s character entirely unsympathetic, but Pacino pretty much nails it. Without giving too much away, she ends up doing something he’s not on board with and the scene where he realizes it is flawless. No words, just his facial expression. Amazing. Raul Julia makes a brief appearance, and I heart and miss him. But overall, I wasn’t thrilled with it.
This Is England: 2006 British drama by Shane Meadows, with Thomas Turgoose, Joe Gilgun, Vicky McClure, and Stephen Graham. This is such an amazing movie. I’ll be giving it a more thorough write-up in the near future. But you should probably add it to your Netflix queue right now.
V for Vendetta: 2006 thriller (I guess?) by James McTeigue, starring Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, and Stephen Rea. Future dystopia, you get used to Portman’s really bad English accent, over the top but entertaining. My biggest issue with this is that they talk about all the civil rights violations that this futuristic government has put in place, but the only issues we hear about in depth deal with gay rights. Not that it isn’t important, I just would have liked more variety. Perhaps it’s because it was written by the Wachowski brothers? And Larry Wachowski may or may not now be Lana Wachowski? Dunno. Whatever, it was fine.
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story: 2009 documentary about Richard and Robert Sherman, the Academy Award-winning Disney songwriting geniuses. I am such a sap for kids movies of the 1960s and ‘70s. The Sherman brothers wrote the music for Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bednobs and Broomsticks, I could go on and on. Basically every song I ever loved as a child. I still get goose bumps every time I hear “Feed the Birds.” For serious.
Not only are their lives interesting outside of their careers (Robert was a WWII vet who participated in the liberation of Dachau); it’s also fascinating how two such opposite personalities were able to work together to write some of the most beloved songs of all time (with perhaps the exception of “It’s A Small World,” am I right?). Their sons directed the movie, and they interviewed Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, John Williams, Leonard Maltin, and John Landis (who adds a touch of much-needed snark). Excellent movie.
Bridesmaids: 2011 comedy by Paul Feig and Judd Apatow, starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and Melissa McCarthy. I’m not really into GROSS humor, so there were moments that got to be a bit much for me. But overall I thought it was hilarious. As a skittish flier, I very much related to the airplane scene. Kristen Wiig was subdued in the best possible way, and Melissa McCarthy totally stole the whole thing. I recommend.
Gonzo: The Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: 2008 documentary by Alex Gibney. “He never paid his rent, broke up my marriage, and taught my kids how to smoke dope.”
Jimmy Carter! Pat Buchanan! George McGovern! Damn, they really pulled out all the stops. I must admit I had no exposure to Thompson except through the movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I always thought Depp laid it on a little thick, but turns out he had it dead on. I liked it. He was a weird, talented guy. I’ll probably read one of his books now.
Wings of Desire: 1987 German romantic fantasy by Wim Wenders. Think City of Angels if City of Angels wasn’t absolute shite. It grew on me very slowly. I didn’t start liking it until the last 20 minutes or so, and even then it took me like a week to figure out if I really, actually liked it or not. Chronological train of thought while watching:
- THIS is why people make fun of art house movies. Any minute now I’ll see a clown flipping a pancake while Diane Simmons cries in the background.
- Booooriiiiiing.
- Oh hey, Peter Falk! Weird.
- That’s nice.
- That’s nice.
- That’s too bad.
- Wow, walking through the Berlin Wall! When was this movie made? Was the wall down in ’87? Shit, I should know this. When did Hasselhoff sing on the Wall? That was like ’89, so . . .
- I could totally do that with my hair [pause movie to retrieve teasing comb from bathroom closet].
- Oh hey, Nick Cave! Weird.
- Awwwwwwwwwwwwww.
- Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
- OK, I liked it.
Red: 2010 action-comedy with Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, Morgan Freeman, Brian Cox, basically everyone awesome. Retired CIA agents are being hunted down by shadowy government peeps. I really liked this. It was funny and cute and I liked everyone who was in it and the actions scenes were absurd in a good way. And hot damn, could Brian Cox BE any more spectacular?
What Would Jesus Buy: 2007 documentary directed by Rob VanAlkemade and produced by Morgan Spurlock. It took me a good 10 minutes before I figured out what the hell was going on, so let me save you the trouble: this dude has a performance-based protest group called The Church of Stop Shopping and they go around the country encouraging people to buy goods responsibly and within their means. It was pretty good. I gotta admire the balls on a guy who would walk into a Disney store yelling that Mickey Mouse is the Antichrist. My favorite of his many catchphrases: “Are you people, or are you sheeple?” Heh heh.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye: 2008 documentary about the life of Tammy Faye Bakker, narrated by RuPaul. There were so many things I didn’t know about Tammy Faye! She was the first evangelical to publicly reach out to the gay community during the AIDS epidemic in the ‘80s, waaaaaaay before any other person in that gaggle of TV personalities. She had 40 albums! She was super into puppets! Honestly, you could just read her Wikipedia page and get all of this information. I wouldn’t call it a must-see.
8 ½: 1963 Fellini. This movie stressed me out, because he’s so stressed out. Is this seriously what making a movie is like? Count me out, thanks. I don’t think I could hack it. The fantasy scene with all the women is just outstanding. Yes, it’s very good.
3:10 to Yuma: 2007 remake of the classic western, directed by James Mangold and starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Father and son duo aid in taking a fugitive to jail whilst being hunted by the fugitive's gang. I was surprised by how much I dug this. Crowe isn’t obnoxious, Bale does a pretty decent job. Good plot, good pace. And then there’s Ben Foster! Whom I love and will sing the praises of forever more. Do you remember Flash Forward? Great show. He was in it.
No comments:
Post a Comment