The Pile Continues. Pt 2.

(A fancy diagonal "blog" shot just for Jessamabob.)


MY FAVORITE IDIOSYNCRASIES:

Watching the work of any given filmmaker is bound to bring up similarities in style and substance; one can only hope this doesn’t become redundant. I don’t know if it is out of search for a world more fun than my own at the moment, but I have been especially drawn to Wes Anderson’s movies over the past few weeks. My only experience prior to this week was “The Royal Tenenbaums” when it first came out in theaters. Everyone seems to point out how well Anderson creates the world of his movies whenever they review them. The style is perfectly suited to the characters idiosyncrasies and I love that you feel all of the characters in the different movies exist in the same quirky world. He may be trying too hard at times to be off the wall but more often than not it works. On top of this, he has incredible choice in music and it never seems superfluous. Each detail of his movies adds to the whole, from the flashbacks of character development to the props lining the back of a scene. If you go chronologically through his movies they become less believable but rarely less enjoyable. Still, all three of these are highly recommended.

“Rushmore”- Considered his breakthrough movie and still the best thing Jason Schwartzman has ever done. Except “Marie Antoinette,” of course.

“The Royal Tenenbaums”- My first and still favorite of his films with incredible performances across the board. The scene between Angelica Huston and Gene Hackman on the street when he informs her he is dying is one of my favorites in all of his movies.

“The Life Aquatic”- Another good performance by Bill Murray and a completely transformed Cate Blanchett in an entertaining but flawed movie.

ATTACK OF THE ROMANTIC COMEDY:

Who doesn’t have a soft spot for a good old romantic comedy? Never is there a better time than when you are sick and in the mood for some canned peppiness and sentimentality. Some of the movies I have covered before could fall into this category but here are the rest that don’t fit neatly into any of my other boxes.

“Forces of Nature”- I don’t know what it is about Sandra Bullock but something about her is just so likeable to me that even in this dull movie about fate I am wrapped up in her grip. Ben Affleck seems to show some sign of a personality here and almost makes you forget that he made movies such as “Jersey Girl” and “Gigli.” One could argue that “Forces of Nature” belongs in that very category. Whatever happened to Steve Zahn?

“My Best Friends Wedding”- Cameron Diaz is in this movie and doesn’t make me want to feed my testicles to a dog (eww, sorry.) Congratulations Cameron! Yet another in my list of movies that sucked me in between channel surfing.

RANDOMS:

“Mean Girls”- It was very tempting to put this on the list of classics but something didn’t’ seem right placing it next to “The Godfather.” However, after watching it twice in the past week it is clearer than ever to me what a gem this is. Maybe we should all start a candle light vigil mourning the death of Lindsay Lohan’s career? This movie propelled her forward but then it’s as if the road just disappeared and she floated into the abyss, filled with lots and lots of paparazzi.

(Where did you go?!)

“The Descent”- Imagine Gollum, but blind and eating your face and you get “The Descent,” a bizarre thriller about a group of risk seeking girls who climb into a cave and get picked off by a superhuman race of creatures. Some parts are a bit spooky, but the whole concept of creatures ripping people’s bodies apart like rats eating garbage on the street was a little much for me.

“The History Boys”- Before I defected to Netflix I was actually trekking it to my local Blockbuster (yes they still exist) and was happy to find this sitting on the shelf. The play was on Broadway last season but I never got the chance to see it and this made me regret that even more. From what I have read it is a very faithful adaptation (including the same writer, director and cast) of the stage production and it was pleasant throughout. The thing that bothered me most was the sexual storyline that I found startling (intended I’m sure) and unnecessary. It seemed like it would be enough to make a point of the main teacher (Richard Griffiths) being an unconventional teacher whose input was every bit as valuable as one whose teaching could be quantified in the conventional sense. To add this forced sexuality on top of it took the story somewhere I didn’t necessarily want to see it go. Still, it was not enough to take away from a very good movie.

“Trust the Man”- Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhal, Billy Crudup and David Duchovony star in this predictable and bland romantic comedy about relationships gone awry in New York City. One redeeming factor was seeing New York and all of the locations around my neighborhood that I have been unable to frequent recently.

“Children of Men”- Could this movie be any better? Sure there are moments where you have to suspend believe but it is still the most shockingly relevant movie of the past few years. The fact that it takes place 20 years in the future only makes it that much more exciting. Clive Owen was robbed of an Oscar, as was this movie.

(Saving the world one chiseled jaw at a time.)

The couch has yet to contour form to my body but judging from this expanding list that could be moments away. If I never return to the blog, you know that I have disappeared into the couch. The joy of a Netflix queue is that it can go on forever so as long as I can make it to the mailbox I am in good shape to continue my classic (and not so classic) movie education.

Comments

[Rob]

That DVD collection(in the first picture)is inspiring.... And are they alphabetized? that's dedication.

On a side note, what do you think of Dreamgirls? I saw the DVD today while picking up Buble's new album, but I never saw it in the theaters or on Broadway.

[M]

Hey rob thanks for the compliment on the DVD collection. It was an addiction that I fortunately (for my bank account) cut back on. There are some TRULY embarassing movies in there that I have no idea why I own. yes they are alphabatized which my friends give me shit for all the time...before they go through them and have a nice way to find the way they want :-)

As for Dreamgirls, I really was quite disappointed in it. You can see my review here. I snuck in a second time after seeing Children of Men and left half way through I enjoyed it even less. Maybe third time's the charm. it's coming on my netflix queue soon. Great music, some good performances, but overall just too montage-y and the fact that it's not established as a musical early enough put a bad taste in my mouth.

[Jennifer]

history boys (the movie) was much better than the play. the play was much more sexual and less fun, and the ending was different in the movie than the original play. essentially, in the play, everyone gay dies or becomes disabled, and the manipulative straight guys cheat their way to the top.

the whole idea with the molestation thing was to show that Hector was "imperfect", but come on...it was just too big of a flaw to overlook, no matter how good of a teacher he was.

My favorite history boy is jamie parker! (aka "Scripps", the piano player)

[Rob]

Read the review. Unfortunately/fortunately I got the DVD for as a birthday gift, so I guess I'll get to experience it anyways. As for DVD addictions, I understand, Targets $10 section killed me. Well, that and the amount of stuff I watch. One DVD I noticed you don't have is Adventures in Babysitting, so I guess that's my recommendation for your queue. It's an 80's flick from Chris Columbus starring a very young Anthony Rapp, along with Elizabeth Shue and Penelope Ann Miller. It's my favorite movie after Princess Bride.

[M]

I LOVE adventure in babysitting. Right up there for me with goonies and princess bride as far as 80's movies. I hear they are making a Disney remake with that Raven Symone girl. Help us all.

[Oberon]

We watched CHILDREN OF MEN over the weekend...very disturbing. The scenes of human beings kept in cages, and the squalor and violence of the deportation camps were really upsetting. Clive Owen is perfect as the everyday bloke who gets caught up in things beyond his control and comprehension. Five stars!

[Rob]

Heh, sweet. Sounds like we got similar movie tastes, so I'll shut up now, since you've probably already seen everything I have. As for Dreamgirls, I want my two hours back....
No, it wasn't that bad, the songs were great and the actors did a good job, but I was bored even before they were out of that singing competition. Chicago had me hooked within two seconds, by comparison. Last time I checked, musicals should grab me by the collar,get to 80 miles an hour, and then do all the slow intro stuff if the first song hasn't already.

[M]

Phillip! SOOOOO glad to hear you enjoyed Children of Men so much. It really was my favorite movie of 2006 and even better on a second viewing.

Rob I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't even enjoyable watching it at home. I agree it really was just a mess. Surprisingly my parents LOVED it. I usually use them as my barometer for all things good but couldn't help thinking they saw a totally different movie than I did with that one! :-)

I think I need an Adventures in Babysitting fix ASAP! NETFLIX!

[Oberon]

Matt, I remember you mentioned in a recent entry that you were doing some on-line reading about World War II. You might want to watch DOWNFALL, the story of Hitler's last days. It is so realistic that it seems like a documentary; and you would swear that it's really Hitler you are watching, not the actor Bruno Ganz.

I saw this in the theatre a couple years ago and was floored by it. We just got it from Netflix because I want Wei to see it.

Couple other random suggestions: CONFUSION OF GENDER, ANTONIA & JANE, PORTRAIT OF A LADY (incredible performance from Barbara Hershey).

[Rob]

Hmmm, what else....seen the Buffy movie? And anything by Hayao Miyazaki is amazing. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are my favorites.

Drat, now that you've mention Goonies, I've got to find it in my mess of DVDs and watch it.