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

[Chi girl in Chi town....]

Hey Matt,

We finally agree on the same movies; amazing. I loved "mean girls" too but can't bring myself to by it or download it. I also like Clive Owen so I'll be putting that movie and some others in my Blockbuster (Bb) online queue.

BTW, Bb suposedly supersedes Netflicks now b/c you can return your movies to your local store for any movie or game. I'm on the 3 movie at a time plan, and I always return/exchange my movies at the local store so I get twice as many movies for the $$; it's only 5 blocks away. I love it.

[The Skeptical Arab Co.]

I need to watch Children of Men again because I did not feel the same way after watching it. I'm always all for the political wake up call in films when it's done right but I was sort of eh about it. Maybe I had high expectations because I love Cuaron, I don't know. I'll just have to trust you Matt and put it in my queue for another shot.