(Just the beginning....)
Some of my earliest memories are sitting in my parent’s bed in California watching classic movie musicals. “West Side Story,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “On The Town,” you name it and if it was out on VHS it was in my head. Ann Margaret would tap dance her way into my heart at an early age but it seemed musical classics were a stronger part of my cinema vocabulary than regular classics.
Over the past few years, I always return home for about a month of the year and promise myself I will finally get around to watching all of the movies I’ve been eager to for years. Friends or laziness quickly take over and nothing gets accomplished in my movie education. Isn’t it amazing how laborious watching a movie can feel at times? The past few weeks have made me aware of what a giant blob time is. EBV looks likely to overtake a 12th of my year, so I figured now was as good a time as any to devour some classic (and not so classic cinema.)
People have always raved to me about Netflix, and from their devoted descriptions it has always sounded more like a cult than a friendly video service. Little did I know, it’s both! David came over after my diagnosis and helped me join the addiction, I mean service, and start setting up my queue. What began as a handful of movies rapidly multiplied to a list longer than the number of times Gonzales said “I can’t recall” in the recent Senate hearings. Unlike the Senate Judiciary Committee, my mess looks a lot more fun than theirs. How did it all begin?
In an effort to blog about something, I will try to keep this brief (note to everyone, this ends up being anything but brief) as I know it might not be that entertaining.
THE CLASSICS:
One of the toughest parts about classics is the pop culture familiarity that comes with them. Most any movie buff you turn to will tell you “The Godfather” series is the best ever made as they gasp for air when recalling it. Once someone has almost gone into a coma just explaining something, it’s hard not to go in with exceptionally high expectations. So many films have become fodder for jokes that you feel like you have seen them before you put them in your DVD player. Regardless of that, I decided to finally journey to the known unknown.
“The Godfather Part 2”- I think my parents will finally accept me as their own son now that I have watched this movie. For years they have tried to sit me down with them to watch it but “Pocahontas” always seemed more accessible. Even though it took me a while to get through this epic, it was truly great and one of the best crime films ever made. The performances of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro are incredible, at a time before they were giant cartoons of themselves.
“The Graduate”- This has always been one of my favorite classics even though it is comically dated. As the shots zoom in and out with Simon and Garfunkel echoing in the background, you are taken back to the 60’s (I should know, I was there.) Dustin Hoffman is hilarious in this and even though the cinematography is dated, I love it from the first shot to the last; even at 7am when I couldn’t sleep.
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s”- Perhaps you have to grow up with Audrey Hepburn to really love her but something about this movie left me a little cold. I was constantly distracted by how skinny she was and the Mikey Rooney’s politically incorrect character was a little strange. That being said, the fashion was great and she really is quite the movie star. I think I would prefer Capote’s version.
“West Side Story”- After a month of doing “Romeo and Juliet” I was anxious to look at this again. A few of my friends came over and we watched the dance sequences and proceeded to get chills. The rhythms that Jerome Robbins creates with his movement are beyond definition. From the opening scene to the dance at the gym, to “Cool” it is all just perfect in every way. Will there ever be Broadway choreography like this again? Highly improbable.

“Pulp Fiction”- There are several movies that I own but still hadn’t watched and this was at the top of that list. Quentin Tarentino’s movies are sometimes overly stylized for my taste but this one has a truly incredible script. One of my biggest pet peeves in art is ending something the way it began, but there is no denying the power of this movie by coming full circle. All of the actors were great and even in the horrific events I found myself shocked and laughing in equal measure.
CURRENT CRAP:
The more movies I’ve watched, the more aware I am of how much money is wasted on stupendously bad filmmaking. I am every bit as guilty of supporting these terrible movies as the next person, but often by the end of the movie I feel tricked into watching it. An enticing movie star can lure you in before you realize your brain has been chewed by a dog for the last hour and a half. Case in point….
“Just Like Heaven”- The danger of having movie channels is best summed up by movies like this one starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Her allure hasn’t ever taken a hold of me and I still find it somewhat laughable that she won an Oscar (then again, so did Halle Berry.) I can almost imagine the pitch meeting for this disaster. “Reese needs a new movie to follow up her turn as June Carter! Well, we’ve already done ghosts and pottery, we’ve already done ghosts getting busted, and we’ve already done ghosts haunting people. Maybe we can spice it up by just putting her in a coma and letting her spirit fall in love with someone she didn’t even know in real life! It will keep the costume budget for Reese rather low and let people realize how pretty she is even half dead!” Please return the hour and a half you stole from me in a sealed envelope.
“The Holiday”- Even more than Reese Witherspoon, Cameron Diaz makes me more prone to chiseling out my eyeballs than almost any other actress. Wait, maybe that is the wrong idea, I think I’d rather never hear her than never see her. Although in this overly long romantic comedy her “physical” comedy might make the no eyeball thing useful. The only redeeming factors are Kate Winslet and the increasingly handsome Jude Law. Between the eyes and the accent, I could sit and watch him pick his nose as long as he said “hello.”

(It is not hard to be considered a "physical" comedian when you are standing next to Jude Law.)
To be continued...