Frankenweenie

Soak it up gang, this will be the last one of these for a few weeks. Considering the next one will include the TIFF goings-on, it’s also a mere sliver of what’s to come.

Funny thing, as I look down this week’s list, I see a lot of happenstantial viewing. If I was a smart man, I would have followed Andrew Robinson’s lead and done some of the assigned reading for the festival. By “advanced reading”, I mean that I would have prepared for what I’m about to see at TIFF by watching previous efforts by the directors whose new films I plan to see.

Such forethought would have had me watching HUNGER, IL DIVO, GREAT EXPECTATIONS and THE THIN BLUE LINE. Does that give you a clue about what I’ll be watching? If it doesn’t, drop by Monday where I’ll give you a complete rundown.

For now, I’ll bask on one last week of normalcy before the beautiful bedlam begins.

 

Here’s The Week at Hand…

 

Screenings
BLUE JASMINE – Just as I was primed to dislike this film, I ended up diggin’ it.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE KID – August’s Blindspot
METROPOLITAN – In honour of Dan, a curious choice.
THE GREY – In honour of Brian, a worthy choice.
I WISH – In honour of Bob, an oversold choice.
LEATHERHEADS – Cute, but my least favorite Clooney-directed.
A TOWN CALLED PANIC – In honour of Scott, a hilarious choice.
THE RUNDOWN – Cute, but stupid.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
ANATOMY OF A MURDER – It’ll never not be weird to hear James Stewart talking about climaxing.
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS – I used to want Sam Rockwell to be my best friend; now I want to be him when I grow up.

The Story of Film
Chapter Eight – The watchlist is growing exponentially at this stage.
Chapter Nine – Easily the volume where I recognized the most.

 

Boxscore for The Year
181 First-Timers, 136 Re-Watched
65 Screenings
317 Movies in Total
How’s about you – seen anything good?

16 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched Aug 24 – Aug 30)”

  2. I had a good week. Funny how the week I have exams I end up watching 9 movies.

    Firsts: We are the Millers– Harmless fun.
    Madras Cafe– Pretty good.
    Prince Avalanche– Again pretty good and loved Paul Rudd.
    Mud– Loved it. Tye Sheridan is amazing!
    Amores Perros– Really really liked it but god, I could not look at a dog for the next two days.
    Borat– Really awful and awesome at the same time.
    Stories We Tell– If I am to consider this a 2013 release, I highly doubt any other film will be able to top it this year. Love is too weak a word. Shaken. Changed. Just wow.

    Rewatched:Ghost World– I had not rewatched this in ages. I love it so. Enid Coleslaw is a role model.
    Legally Blonde– Elle Woods is a role model too. Totes inspirational.

    1. You are most definitely to consider STORIES WE TELL a 2013 film. Crazy how amazing that film plays isn’t it? You almost end up forgetting it’s a documentary after a while. I dearly hope it makes the cut for Oscar’s Best Doc award this year.

  3. I look forward to Blue Jasmine, good to hear you liked it. Have fun at TIFF!

    All first time for me this week:
    Tell Me Sam
    Dragon Fist
    The Angry Guest
    Side Effects
    The Day of Reckoning
    The Water Margin

      1. I liked it. I didn’t think it was as strong as his other recent stuff like Magic Mike or Contagion, but it was definitely an interesting ride. I thought the trashier elements could’ve been handled better.

  4. This week, not a lot as I’m ready to take a week off. In First-Timers: Blue Jasmine, Casting By, The Grandmaster (the 130-minute Chinese cut), and today at the Lefont Sandy Springs, a special screening of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Spectacular Now. The only re-watch I saw this week is Life of Pi.

  5. Ready to watch Barcelona and The Last Days of Disco? Regardless of what you thought of it, I’m glad you checked out Metropolitan.

    A very light week for me:

    BLACK DYNAMITE – my August blind spots post; a fun spoof
    MISS REPRESENTATION – a convincing case that our society isn’t such a forward-thinking place

  6. Completely off-topic, but I figure just a good a place as any:

    Do any of you think Star Trek Into Darkness would have been better if you didn’t know that Roberto Orci is a 9/11 truther?

    Perhaps my reception was skewed because I knew that, but I was curious if anyone else had that reaction.

    1. Interesting question. For starters, I actually had a lot of fun with TREK, so consider this something of a biased response.

      I didn’t see the film as a 9/11 allegory, even though the closing title makes it clear. I actually remember seeing that title and thinking to myself “What the hell does that have to do with anything?”. The allegory that I took away is that of enemies aligning for a common goal, and how that often backfires (ie USA & Iraq vs Iran in the 80’s). While it was *somewhat* clumsily handled, I thought the script worked it in well enough that it sold the message…at least to me.

      As for Orci’s beliefs tempering the script, it doesn’t weigh on me anymore than Kazan naming names or Polanski being a fugitive. Knowing the backstories, it’s easy to see what’s guiding the brushstrokes. Adimittedly, it’s difficult to separate the artist from the art. Still, I believe sometimes we have to, since I think that leads to better enjoyment of the end product.

      Now that I’ve said all of that, where do you fall in?

      1. That allegory didn’t actually bother me during Star Trek, what made me enjoy the film a little less was the constant call-backs to Wrath of Khan. Little references for those in the know are fine, but perpetually recalling another film left Into Darkness feeling hollow. Which is a shame considering how well that cast gels together.

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