Brandon, your lists have been really fun to read. Mine don't even compare.
I'll get that 2006 list up soon for you to pick on.
I don't remember the first movie I ever saw in theaters. I have a bad memory for things when I was a kid. Here's some things I do remember:
Star Wars Special Edition trilogy: Exactly what you said, Brandon.
Little Giants: When my brothers and I were little, a family friend wanted to take us to the theater to see Lion King, but we had already seen it, so she took us to this instead. I just remember laughing so hard, having a blast, and quoting it incessantly in the car ride on the way home. So much fun.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy: I hadn’t read the books (at 13 I wasn’t as big into reading as I am now) and vaguely knew what they were even about. My dad took my brother Chris and me to see this. Being huge Star Wars fans, we were for some reason initially skeptical about seeing it. But we were instantly blown away, and raved about it to my eldest brother, who soon became a converted fan as well. Seeing the next installments right before Christmas the following two years are probably my most cherished theater going experiences.
28 Days Later: My 7th grade English teacher (a man I will always be indebted to because he is the first person to get me seriously interested in film) took me to see this. We had the greatest conversation on the way to the theater and then loved the movie and talked about it for hours afterward. This meant a great deal to me and still does.
Minority Report: My dad and I went to see this. We don’t have the greatest relationship, so anytime we can actually share a nice moment is pretty special. We loved the film and had a long talk about it afterward. This also meant a great deal to me.
Big Fish: I saw this with an extremely cute girl (way out of my league) and couldn’t believe she was sitting next to me the whole time. Also, the movie was great.
Grindhouse: Just a great experience.
Spacejam: Need I explain why this was so incredible? Michael Jordan, Bill Murray, and the Looney Tunes. Off the hook combination.
The Dark Knight: Midnight showing with a bunch of my friends for maybe my most anticipated movie ever. I was ecstatic. Saw it four times more.
Sin City: This was just an incredible movie to see in a theater and one that I went back and saw repeatedly as well.
Also, this is how much of a Batman dork I am. I payed nearly 20 bucks to see I am Legend in IMAX at the AMC theater on 34th street in Manhattan, just so I could see the 5 minute Dark Knight preview. Yeah, that was an awesome experience until I am Legend started.
Wish I had been alive to see in theaters: Original Star Wars trilogy, 2001: A Space Odyssey, All the David Lean epics, The Godfather, all my favorite movies haha. I realized just after I started that this list could go forever.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Worst
Brandon, I love going to the theater as well and will continue to do so no matter how unreasonably priced the tickets become. I pray that they never become obsolete in our increasingly “everything on demand” culture. Let’s definitely do a best theater experiences next. I was going to recommend that too.
Great picks. Fun to read. I’m sorry about the way I treated you during Scream 2. I didn’t know it was you behind me!
I was going to put Kazaam on my best theater going experiences haha. What an awful/awesome movie.
I don’t have really any great stories about bad experiences. Mostly, I just remember watching bad movies. I don't know how to rank these, so here they are in random order.
Year One - Caveat emptor. I should have known better. A Miserable experience that made me question whether life is really worth living.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Episode I was horrible enough, but this was a different beast entirely. I was young enough to still be excited for this. Thirty seconds in, all excitement was vanquished. Episode III was another bad movie and bad experience. I had just gotten dumped by a girl several hours before I saw it...the movie compounded my misery.
Lady in the Water: I saw this with my friend (and your friend, Brandon) Todd. He’s a great guy to watch movies with, but this was such a piece of shit.
Transformers: I stopped watching the movie after a while and just started staring off into space blankly. It was exponentially more interesting.
Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions - Don’t need to even go into why these were both such awful experiences.
X2: X-Men United - I liked the movie, but had a severe cold and struggled to prevent myself from coughing every thirty seconds. A drag for me and probably for everyone else in the theater. A similar coughing fit happened to my brother during Black Swan, and he almost had to leave the theater but was finally able to contain it. Colds and movie theaters do not mix well.
George of the Jungle - Even as a young kid, I could still identify this as garbage when I saw it. What made it worse was being in a really small, crappy theater with people talking and being obnoxious the whole time.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 - I liked the movie quite a lot, but the sound in the theater (saw it in Myrtle Beach) was INSANELY loud. I can handle loud pretty well...but this was beyond my capacity, especially for a movie.
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - Don’t remember the movie at all. I was 13 and spent the entirety of it making out with my then girlfriend. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, one of my best friends was with his entire family only a few rows back. We had a nice horribly awkward exchange when the lights in the house came on at the end.
Not in a theater but...Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - Saw it with my best friends and their kids at a drive-in. I couldn’t hear anything and had no idea what has happening in a movie that is already hard to follow as it is. Oh well, I slept through the ending.
Great picks. Fun to read. I’m sorry about the way I treated you during Scream 2. I didn’t know it was you behind me!
I was going to put Kazaam on my best theater going experiences haha. What an awful/awesome movie.
I don’t have really any great stories about bad experiences. Mostly, I just remember watching bad movies. I don't know how to rank these, so here they are in random order.
Year One - Caveat emptor. I should have known better. A Miserable experience that made me question whether life is really worth living.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Episode I was horrible enough, but this was a different beast entirely. I was young enough to still be excited for this. Thirty seconds in, all excitement was vanquished. Episode III was another bad movie and bad experience. I had just gotten dumped by a girl several hours before I saw it...the movie compounded my misery.
Lady in the Water: I saw this with my friend (and your friend, Brandon) Todd. He’s a great guy to watch movies with, but this was such a piece of shit.
Transformers: I stopped watching the movie after a while and just started staring off into space blankly. It was exponentially more interesting.
Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions - Don’t need to even go into why these were both such awful experiences.
X2: X-Men United - I liked the movie, but had a severe cold and struggled to prevent myself from coughing every thirty seconds. A drag for me and probably for everyone else in the theater. A similar coughing fit happened to my brother during Black Swan, and he almost had to leave the theater but was finally able to contain it. Colds and movie theaters do not mix well.
George of the Jungle - Even as a young kid, I could still identify this as garbage when I saw it. What made it worse was being in a really small, crappy theater with people talking and being obnoxious the whole time.
Kill Bill Vol. 2 - I liked the movie quite a lot, but the sound in the theater (saw it in Myrtle Beach) was INSANELY loud. I can handle loud pretty well...but this was beyond my capacity, especially for a movie.
Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - Don’t remember the movie at all. I was 13 and spent the entirety of it making out with my then girlfriend. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, one of my best friends was with his entire family only a few rows back. We had a nice horribly awkward exchange when the lights in the house came on at the end.
Not in a theater but...Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - Saw it with my best friends and their kids at a drive-in. I couldn’t hear anything and had no idea what has happening in a movie that is already hard to follow as it is. Oh well, I slept through the ending.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Top 10 worst movie theater experiences
My brother suggested this as a possible top 10 list we could do if anyone is interested. You could do worst experiences as in something happened during the movie (like a cell phone talker) or just terrible movies you saw at the theater. You don't even have to have 10, just the few worst you can think of.
For instance, one of my brother's worst movie theater experiences was while watching Pineapple Express, two cops walked up and down the aisle for a bit before picking out a guy and taking him away.
For instance, one of my brother's worst movie theater experiences was while watching Pineapple Express, two cops walked up and down the aisle for a bit before picking out a guy and taking him away.
Another rainy day #12 & 35
I haven’t watched too many movies despite my break because I’ve been too interested in reading Madame Bovary and watching the whole series of The Twilight Zone on NWI with my brother. And I thought I’d see so many movies! Oh well...here's two I did watch recently
Watched The King’s Speech. I’d say a pretty good movie for the most part, but obviously it will be hated for winning the oscars it did. I didn’t think Tom Hooper deserved his awards for the film without seeing it. Having seen it, he definitely did not deserve any award for this. A lot of the framing didn’t work for me, and the scene set-ups were pretty much perfunctory. The guy brought nothing unique or inspired to the film. How did he beat out Fincher? Because most voters for awards are suckers for anything British and feel good. Oh well, the performances are all fine in the film. Colin Firth still should have won everything for A Single Man instead, but the guy is a class act anyway. The movie is fine too, but considering the acclaim it got, it seems incredibly mediocre. But, it’s probably real cool to hate this because it won Best Picture, so I’ll stop seeming so hip and move on.
Also watched All That Jazz (1979). It’s Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical look at his difficult time editing his film Lenny and working on his stage production of Chicago. Many would call this self-indulgent and egomanical, but I think it’s great. I love self-awareness and self-criticism in art. This is a bizarre but energetic film featuring an incredible performance by Roy Schneider.
It’s a lot like 8 1/2 and even Synecdoche, NY, in terms of its cynical look at showbiz and art and its use of fantasy and preoccupation with death.
Ben - Good list of movies that work based on their source material. I like the old Alice in Wonderland too. I love Nabokov’s Lolita, but would add Kubrick’s Lolita in place of Lyne’s film which I haven’t seen. I love the Kubrick film (surprise, surprise).
I haven’t read No Country for Old Men, but I’m sure the film is a great adaptation. I liked the film version of The Road that came out the other year.
I usually dislike the movie of a book that I have read first. The few exceptions (off the top of my head) are: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Remains of the Day, Great Expectations (the David Lean version), The Motorcycle Diaries...
I didn’t read The Lord of the Rings books before I saw the movies, which may be why I love the movies so much. I generally dislike all the Harry Potter movies because I read the books first.
I read it after seeing the movie, but Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is as good as the book, even if the more auspicious ending from the book is discarded in the film.
Oddly enough, I always liked Gone With the Wind the film, then I read the book for a class, loved the book, and started to dislike the movie.
As to underrated films, Brandon...
Synecdoche, NY and The Fountain are criminally underrated. But, I’ve already sung SNY’s praises and will do so for The Fountain in my top 10 of 2006. Also, I could add Eyes Wide Shut, but it seems kind of easy considering all of Kubrick’s movies are initially underrated and then grow in stature. Eyes Wide Shut is another masterpiece by Kubrick and should be regarded as so.
We'd probably all agree that The New World was underrated by critics.
Brandon, If I go by your criteria for an underrated films list, I can’t really think of any great ones. I can only think of comedies because they are usually underrated by critics. I also think of movies I grew up with in the 90s, but those probably aren’t very good movies and the only defense I could make of them is that they have nostalgic value. Most of the other movies I thought of as underrated actually received pretty good reviews, they are just underrated by the public (but that could be so many!)
So, anyway, I could only think of a few movies that critics or institutes didn't really get behind that I like...this half list sucks. I'll try to improve upon it later.
Wet Hot American Summer: Hilarious flick about summer camp from the brilliant/insane minds behind The State. So incredibly underrated. Absurdity at its finest.
Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood: I could quote it all day. I can’t watch Boyz n’ the Hood seriously anymore because of it. Absolutely hilarious. One of the best genre spoof movies. Fantastic jokes that actually land.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion: No one has to agree with me on this, but I just have to admit that I’m a sucker for any movie that Woody actually acts in (I even liked Scoop because he was in it). This is actually a delightful movie with some great jokes and old school Woody style banter. Certainly one of his better films of the decade.
The Life Aquatic: Generally regarded as Wes Anderson’s least successful effort; it’s actually my favorite of his. I just love Bill Murray. Another fun one to quote.
The Game: It isn't Fincher's best film by a long shot, but it's a solid nightmare thriller and mystery. It's beautiful shot and constructed by Fincher (as expected). Obviously, it has gaping plot holes and you really have to suspend your disbelief to go with it. But I think it works when viewed as a nightmare. Not something that is ever possible, but something that could happen in a dream. The ending is surprising, in that if you know Fincher's films, they rarely end this way.
Sleepy Hollow: This is a pretty great slasher film, and one incredibly beautiful gothic horror film to look at. To me, it's like Bram Stoker's Dracula, in that there are things wrong with it, but it's visual style is so lush for a horror film that I totally adore it.
Perhaps this isn't underrated by critics but: 12 Monkeys. A movie I love and one of the best sci-fi films of the past few decades. I think it's underrated because I don't know enough people who have seen it and love it as much as I do (maybe I don't know enough people).
Sorry, I can't think of any good ones or ballsy ones. I suck. All the underrated lists people have created online that I saw were of movies that I don't like or movies that are actually rated pretty highly. For instance, Is The Sweet Hereafter underrated? Maybe by the general public, but critics pretty much worship that film.
Watched The King’s Speech. I’d say a pretty good movie for the most part, but obviously it will be hated for winning the oscars it did. I didn’t think Tom Hooper deserved his awards for the film without seeing it. Having seen it, he definitely did not deserve any award for this. A lot of the framing didn’t work for me, and the scene set-ups were pretty much perfunctory. The guy brought nothing unique or inspired to the film. How did he beat out Fincher? Because most voters for awards are suckers for anything British and feel good. Oh well, the performances are all fine in the film. Colin Firth still should have won everything for A Single Man instead, but the guy is a class act anyway. The movie is fine too, but considering the acclaim it got, it seems incredibly mediocre. But, it’s probably real cool to hate this because it won Best Picture, so I’ll stop seeming so hip and move on.
Also watched All That Jazz (1979). It’s Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical look at his difficult time editing his film Lenny and working on his stage production of Chicago. Many would call this self-indulgent and egomanical, but I think it’s great. I love self-awareness and self-criticism in art. This is a bizarre but energetic film featuring an incredible performance by Roy Schneider.
It’s a lot like 8 1/2 and even Synecdoche, NY, in terms of its cynical look at showbiz and art and its use of fantasy and preoccupation with death.
Ben - Good list of movies that work based on their source material. I like the old Alice in Wonderland too. I love Nabokov’s Lolita, but would add Kubrick’s Lolita in place of Lyne’s film which I haven’t seen. I love the Kubrick film (surprise, surprise).
I haven’t read No Country for Old Men, but I’m sure the film is a great adaptation. I liked the film version of The Road that came out the other year.
I usually dislike the movie of a book that I have read first. The few exceptions (off the top of my head) are: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, The Remains of the Day, Great Expectations (the David Lean version), The Motorcycle Diaries...
I didn’t read The Lord of the Rings books before I saw the movies, which may be why I love the movies so much. I generally dislike all the Harry Potter movies because I read the books first.
I read it after seeing the movie, but Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange is as good as the book, even if the more auspicious ending from the book is discarded in the film.
Oddly enough, I always liked Gone With the Wind the film, then I read the book for a class, loved the book, and started to dislike the movie.
As to underrated films, Brandon...
Synecdoche, NY and The Fountain are criminally underrated. But, I’ve already sung SNY’s praises and will do so for The Fountain in my top 10 of 2006. Also, I could add Eyes Wide Shut, but it seems kind of easy considering all of Kubrick’s movies are initially underrated and then grow in stature. Eyes Wide Shut is another masterpiece by Kubrick and should be regarded as so.
We'd probably all agree that The New World was underrated by critics.
Brandon, If I go by your criteria for an underrated films list, I can’t really think of any great ones. I can only think of comedies because they are usually underrated by critics. I also think of movies I grew up with in the 90s, but those probably aren’t very good movies and the only defense I could make of them is that they have nostalgic value. Most of the other movies I thought of as underrated actually received pretty good reviews, they are just underrated by the public (but that could be so many!)
So, anyway, I could only think of a few movies that critics or institutes didn't really get behind that I like...this half list sucks. I'll try to improve upon it later.
Wet Hot American Summer: Hilarious flick about summer camp from the brilliant/insane minds behind The State. So incredibly underrated. Absurdity at its finest.
Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood: I could quote it all day. I can’t watch Boyz n’ the Hood seriously anymore because of it. Absolutely hilarious. One of the best genre spoof movies. Fantastic jokes that actually land.
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion: No one has to agree with me on this, but I just have to admit that I’m a sucker for any movie that Woody actually acts in (I even liked Scoop because he was in it). This is actually a delightful movie with some great jokes and old school Woody style banter. Certainly one of his better films of the decade.
The Life Aquatic: Generally regarded as Wes Anderson’s least successful effort; it’s actually my favorite of his. I just love Bill Murray. Another fun one to quote.
The Game: It isn't Fincher's best film by a long shot, but it's a solid nightmare thriller and mystery. It's beautiful shot and constructed by Fincher (as expected). Obviously, it has gaping plot holes and you really have to suspend your disbelief to go with it. But I think it works when viewed as a nightmare. Not something that is ever possible, but something that could happen in a dream. The ending is surprising, in that if you know Fincher's films, they rarely end this way.
Sleepy Hollow: This is a pretty great slasher film, and one incredibly beautiful gothic horror film to look at. To me, it's like Bram Stoker's Dracula, in that there are things wrong with it, but it's visual style is so lush for a horror film that I totally adore it.
Perhaps this isn't underrated by critics but: 12 Monkeys. A movie I love and one of the best sci-fi films of the past few decades. I think it's underrated because I don't know enough people who have seen it and love it as much as I do (maybe I don't know enough people).
Sorry, I can't think of any good ones or ballsy ones. I suck. All the underrated lists people have created online that I saw were of movies that I don't like or movies that are actually rated pretty highly. For instance, Is The Sweet Hereafter underrated? Maybe by the general public, but critics pretty much worship that film.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Respondin'
I’m with you, Brandon. Abortion is a tough issue, but one that we should be able to discuss.
Openness and sincerity is the most important part of communication. We don’t need to check ourselves. Cheers to being open to discuss everything and to hating the religious right and any other dogmatic shitheads with all our blogging might! Like I said, I’m with you, brother.
Late term abortions are extremely problematic and not something I am for. I care about protecting potential humans just as I care about the women that give birth to them. We need safe options available for women up until a certain point in the pregnancy, agreed. And we don’t need hypocrites denying women the right to their bodies in the name of “life” when they don’t give a shit about any of the life that is actually around them. I know we can agree on that too.
I agree Art does reflect reality and it’s cool that we can discuss all kinds of issues in life through the vessel of art. I didn’t think you were trying to reproach me; I just didn’t want to seem disingenuous.
Talking politics is an awful task, but brother you can talk to me about them any time. I’m always interested in what you have to say.
Dude, beautiful underrated films list. I’m glad you specified your picks as post 1980. I had something similar in mind when I was thinking of the potential for a list myself. I’m going to get on my own list immediately.
Great picks. Tombstone. Hell yes. I really solid movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is awesome. It’s crazy how gritty that one is in comparison to the next two. They lightened the franchise up a bit. But, I still have love for Secret of the Ooze because I loved everything TMNT as a kid. Like most of us.
“It’s Raph. Yeah, a little too Raph.”
Catch Me if You Can is a blast. I dig that one too. It’s hard to turn away from Spielberg. He’s responsible for my and most of our childhoods.
Dumb and Dumber is actually straight up brilliant. Yeah, like many of us, a film I can quote almost entirely from memory, yet will still watch it every weekend that it is on TBS. Something else that made my childhood.
I need to see some of the movies on your list though. Like The Mask of Zorro (I think my dad is big fan of this too), Next Day Air, Ginger Snaps, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (I hear good things).
Hard to argue with any of your picks, my man. I’ll get thinking about mine.
I’m with you too, Jason. I pretty much like or enjoy most of the movies I see too. I find it hard to make lists but do it anyway because....I don’t know why. I never really feel that strongly against most movies that I see (the really bad ones are exceptions). I was telling this to Brandon a while ago. He has these great, emphatic reactions against certain films, and I usually do not. The kid in me still wants to enjoy or be impressed by almost everything.
I need to see The Orphanage. I realized that while making my list. I bet it's great.
Nice selection of Coraline. Imaginative pick, indeed. And Cube. Not a haunted house flick necessarily but haunted in its own way. Wow, I haven’t seen that in forever. Loved it when I saw it as a young lad.
Let me just say, you know a lot more about horror flicks than I do. I dig that. I’m too scared to watch Hellraiser. The VHS box gave me nightmares as a kid.
Ben, Candy is a pretty solid book, but if you love the movie then stick with the movie. I do that with certain movies I love based on books. Keep ‘em separate. If you read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, you might not like the movie. I pretty much always dislike the movie if I have read the book first; are you the same way? I can never view the movie on its own terms, for better or worse.
Openness and sincerity is the most important part of communication. We don’t need to check ourselves. Cheers to being open to discuss everything and to hating the religious right and any other dogmatic shitheads with all our blogging might! Like I said, I’m with you, brother.
Late term abortions are extremely problematic and not something I am for. I care about protecting potential humans just as I care about the women that give birth to them. We need safe options available for women up until a certain point in the pregnancy, agreed. And we don’t need hypocrites denying women the right to their bodies in the name of “life” when they don’t give a shit about any of the life that is actually around them. I know we can agree on that too.
I agree Art does reflect reality and it’s cool that we can discuss all kinds of issues in life through the vessel of art. I didn’t think you were trying to reproach me; I just didn’t want to seem disingenuous.
Talking politics is an awful task, but brother you can talk to me about them any time. I’m always interested in what you have to say.
Dude, beautiful underrated films list. I’m glad you specified your picks as post 1980. I had something similar in mind when I was thinking of the potential for a list myself. I’m going to get on my own list immediately.
Great picks. Tombstone. Hell yes. I really solid movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is awesome. It’s crazy how gritty that one is in comparison to the next two. They lightened the franchise up a bit. But, I still have love for Secret of the Ooze because I loved everything TMNT as a kid. Like most of us.
“It’s Raph. Yeah, a little too Raph.”
Catch Me if You Can is a blast. I dig that one too. It’s hard to turn away from Spielberg. He’s responsible for my and most of our childhoods.
Dumb and Dumber is actually straight up brilliant. Yeah, like many of us, a film I can quote almost entirely from memory, yet will still watch it every weekend that it is on TBS. Something else that made my childhood.
I need to see some of the movies on your list though. Like The Mask of Zorro (I think my dad is big fan of this too), Next Day Air, Ginger Snaps, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (I hear good things).
Hard to argue with any of your picks, my man. I’ll get thinking about mine.
I’m with you too, Jason. I pretty much like or enjoy most of the movies I see too. I find it hard to make lists but do it anyway because....I don’t know why. I never really feel that strongly against most movies that I see (the really bad ones are exceptions). I was telling this to Brandon a while ago. He has these great, emphatic reactions against certain films, and I usually do not. The kid in me still wants to enjoy or be impressed by almost everything.
I need to see The Orphanage. I realized that while making my list. I bet it's great.
Nice selection of Coraline. Imaginative pick, indeed. And Cube. Not a haunted house flick necessarily but haunted in its own way. Wow, I haven’t seen that in forever. Loved it when I saw it as a young lad.
Let me just say, you know a lot more about horror flicks than I do. I dig that. I’m too scared to watch Hellraiser. The VHS box gave me nightmares as a kid.
Ben, Candy is a pretty solid book, but if you love the movie then stick with the movie. I do that with certain movies I love based on books. Keep ‘em separate. If you read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, you might not like the movie. I pretty much always dislike the movie if I have read the book first; are you the same way? I can never view the movie on its own terms, for better or worse.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Oh seven
Lisa, welcome back! Hope you had a nice vacation.
Glad you have a lot of love for Laura Linney too. I still need to see her show dealing with cancer (though, I agree, a tough issue to deal with). She’s awesome in everything. You Can Count on Me is one of my favorite movies, and she is astonishing in it. It’s amazing how realistic she is in everything. So impressive.
Thanks for supplying your own haunted house list. I haven’t seen House on Haunted Hill in a long time and don’t really remember it. I should see it again. I saw 1408 and had similar reaction to you and Brandon, though was disappointed that it wasn’t scarier. You should definitely see The Changeling for this upcoming Halloween. Great picks though.
Sorry about writing the wrong title and swindling you, Brandon. I realized that I previously had 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days at number 5 on my top 10 list. That’s how I got confused. Shameful.
There Will Be Blood is extremely risky. I agree. It just goes wild and is completely unfettered. It all builds towards that operatic ending that is just certifiably weird and ballsy and ends being brilliant. I did know that the shooting the fire sequence was in real time. Amazing, right? Sooo much risk involved, but so much talent involved to make sure it happened perfectly. It’s funny that the smoke from that fire traveled into the shooting location of No Country for Old Men. Two brilliant films connected by fire and smoke.
I completely agree with everything you said about No Country for Old Men. Perfection indeed.
Yes, my favorite killing scene in Zodiac is the one in broad daylight as well. It’s very disturbing for all the reasons you gave. It’s so natural...scary natural. There’s nothing cinematic about it to remove you from it. It’s just there, plain as day, and absolutely frightening.
I can understand wanting something creepier for the ending of Sunshine. I was hoping for something a bit more mysterious and frightening myself. But I wasn’t that disappointed because everything else was so impressive that I didn’t care.
Haunted spaceship film. Hell yes. Shit would be awesome.
Sorry about my glib response about pro-lifers. My Bill Hicks anti-pro-lifer side kicked in. I agree with you that it’s important for each side to imagine what the other is thinking. That is how you can come together. I’ll reserve all my hatred for the religious right for a different blog.
I don’t think you are arguing this, but I just want to make this clear. Just because you are pro-choice doesn’t mean you are somehow anti-life. I think that is where 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days falls. It cares about life, but obviously expresses the need to have a safe option for abortion available. I haven’t seen Lake of Fire, but have seen some of the clips with Chomsky discussing the issue and I’m with him all the way. Surprising, right?
I looked up Offside (I’m ashamed that I hadn’t even heard of it) after seeing it on your list. I’m very interested in seeing it now. I’m enormous soccer fan, and the whole idea behind it sounds very powerful indeed. I’ll check it out for sure.
Superbad is consistently hilarious. I agree. And I agree about what you said about Death Proof. It is bat-shit and does go all out. I liked it for those reasons but disliked it for dragging a bit. I should see it again though. Maybe I’d like it more now.
I haven’t seen Hold That Ghost...thanks for spoiling the ending haha. Kidding. I need to catch more Abbott and Costello pictures.
We will probably disagree more about 2006. Oh well, the honeymoon can’t last forever...
Oh, and I agree John. Cagney is awesome. Can’t imagine anyone not digging him.
I saw The Bank Dick a while back and thought it was fun. That’s my only Fields exposure.
Glad you have a lot of love for Laura Linney too. I still need to see her show dealing with cancer (though, I agree, a tough issue to deal with). She’s awesome in everything. You Can Count on Me is one of my favorite movies, and she is astonishing in it. It’s amazing how realistic she is in everything. So impressive.
Thanks for supplying your own haunted house list. I haven’t seen House on Haunted Hill in a long time and don’t really remember it. I should see it again. I saw 1408 and had similar reaction to you and Brandon, though was disappointed that it wasn’t scarier. You should definitely see The Changeling for this upcoming Halloween. Great picks though.
Sorry about writing the wrong title and swindling you, Brandon. I realized that I previously had 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days at number 5 on my top 10 list. That’s how I got confused. Shameful.
There Will Be Blood is extremely risky. I agree. It just goes wild and is completely unfettered. It all builds towards that operatic ending that is just certifiably weird and ballsy and ends being brilliant. I did know that the shooting the fire sequence was in real time. Amazing, right? Sooo much risk involved, but so much talent involved to make sure it happened perfectly. It’s funny that the smoke from that fire traveled into the shooting location of No Country for Old Men. Two brilliant films connected by fire and smoke.
I completely agree with everything you said about No Country for Old Men. Perfection indeed.
Yes, my favorite killing scene in Zodiac is the one in broad daylight as well. It’s very disturbing for all the reasons you gave. It’s so natural...scary natural. There’s nothing cinematic about it to remove you from it. It’s just there, plain as day, and absolutely frightening.
I can understand wanting something creepier for the ending of Sunshine. I was hoping for something a bit more mysterious and frightening myself. But I wasn’t that disappointed because everything else was so impressive that I didn’t care.
Haunted spaceship film. Hell yes. Shit would be awesome.
Sorry about my glib response about pro-lifers. My Bill Hicks anti-pro-lifer side kicked in. I agree with you that it’s important for each side to imagine what the other is thinking. That is how you can come together. I’ll reserve all my hatred for the religious right for a different blog.
I don’t think you are arguing this, but I just want to make this clear. Just because you are pro-choice doesn’t mean you are somehow anti-life. I think that is where 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days falls. It cares about life, but obviously expresses the need to have a safe option for abortion available. I haven’t seen Lake of Fire, but have seen some of the clips with Chomsky discussing the issue and I’m with him all the way. Surprising, right?
I looked up Offside (I’m ashamed that I hadn’t even heard of it) after seeing it on your list. I’m very interested in seeing it now. I’m enormous soccer fan, and the whole idea behind it sounds very powerful indeed. I’ll check it out for sure.
Superbad is consistently hilarious. I agree. And I agree about what you said about Death Proof. It is bat-shit and does go all out. I liked it for those reasons but disliked it for dragging a bit. I should see it again though. Maybe I’d like it more now.
I haven’t seen Hold That Ghost...thanks for spoiling the ending haha. Kidding. I need to catch more Abbott and Costello pictures.
We will probably disagree more about 2006. Oh well, the honeymoon can’t last forever...
Oh, and I agree John. Cagney is awesome. Can’t imagine anyone not digging him.
I saw The Bank Dick a while back and thought it was fun. That’s my only Fields exposure.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
4 months not 5
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days
I was writing 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days. Sorry. Don't know why I was doing that. I just changed it in my posts.
I was writing 5 months, 3 weeks, 2 days. Sorry. Don't know why I was doing that. I just changed it in my posts.
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