Go figure.
Just last week I mentioned how my watching was going to slow way the hell down. Seven days later, here I am logging another double-digit week. By the time December is over, I will have logged more than 31 films for the month…something in me thinks that ain’t right.
I mean, it’s Christmastime, right? Shouldn’t I be so busy seeing friends and family…buying presents for people and wrapping them up all pretty? This many in a month feels like a late-spring habit, not a winter solstice habit. Anyone out there know the name of a good shrink?
At the very least, I can say that I’m enjoying my addiction. This week brought upon two of the most memorable screenings I’ve had all year, along with a dvd so beautiful that it made my eyes hurt. Forget the shrink, does anyone know the name of a good optometrist?
Anyone want to take bets on what the final number will be when I tally up on 1/31?
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
ZARDOZ - Such. Lunacy!! Our entire row was a mix of belly-laughs and bewilderment.
SCROOGE - Caught it with my parents. I never anticipated seeing this on a big screen, so many thanks to TIFF.
SILVER ININGS PLAYBOOK - Know what folks? It holds up.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
PROMISED LAND - Part of me thinks this will pass by unnoticed, and part of me thinks that’s a shame.
WAR PHOTOGRAPHER - On loan from a good friend. Quite moving, though distracting as one sees how much the aesthetic of docs has changed.
LA DOLCE VITA - This month’s blind spot, and study material for Christmas with my Italian in-laws.
SAMSARA - Seeing imagery like this makes me think I should never be allowed to pick up a camera.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
A HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - Can’t say I was as crazy about this one the second time around.
KING KONG - This however – marvellous. Tell me I’m wrong, I dare ya.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING - I turn my back on the remote for one minute, and this happens.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE - Watched it yet?
Boxscore for The Year
247 First-Timers, 227 Re-Watched
123 Screenings
475 Movies in Total
23 comments
Sean Kelly says:
Dec 22, 2012
I’ve been busy as well.
Screenings:
Phantasm – It seems Don Coscarelli has always made weird, darkly humorous horror films
Searching for Sugar Man – Excellent music doc. I almost want to buy the soundtrack.
Children of Men – Glad I finally got to see this
Zardoz – I think I was the one doing the belly laughs
Jack Reacher – An enjoyable action/thriller
Scrooge – Alastair Sim is an excellent Scrooge (so much so, I realized Jim Carrey copied him).
This is 40 – Did Judd Apatow truly think making a family drama, about coping with middle age, disguised as a comedy was a good idea?
Netflix/TMN First Time:
Bad Santa – I personally think the film would’ve been funnier if Bill Murray was still in the lead role (he dropped out to do Lost in Translation).
Crazy Stupid Love – Better than your average rom-com, but still a bit cliched.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
Some TV station had BAD SANTA playing on a loop last night. Led me to realize that Thornton has a trashiness the role needs that Murray doesn’t have.
CS says:
Dec 22, 2012
First time:
The Queen of Versailles – Great doc that made me want to slap the husband by the end.
The Hobbit – It was alright but I walked away rather indifferent to it.
The Expendables 2 – Somehow it managed to be worse than the first one.
Killer Joe – Glorious trash! I really liked this film.
Savages – Plays decent enough if you watch it a few hours after Killer Joe.
Once a Time Upon the West – Was going to be on the 2013 Blind Spot list but realized that Netflix Canada had it.
Rashomon – This month’s Blind Spot film. Hopefully I will actually post my thoughts on time. I still haven’t written about last month’s Blind Spot (La Dolce Vita) film yet. LOL
Snow White and the Huntsman – Surprisingly dull considering the cast and visual flare.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
As I said to you in the bar – I love KILLER JOE, but doesn’t it seem like the dvd should leave a grease stain behind if you leave it sitting on the table?
Nikhat says:
Dec 22, 2012
Kind of a sad little week on account of seminars, exams and making big, fat 3rd blog birthday posts. Also I don’t like King Kong or It’s a Wonderful Life. Love While You Were Sleeping though.
Firsts: The Hobbit- Ugh curse 48 fps! Freeman fangirl forever.
Frankenweenie- Adorbs. Weird Girl is my new favourite Tim Burton creation.
The Bridge on River Kwai- Was surprised at how entertaining it was.
2012- ‘Cuz duh.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
What is it you don’t like about IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE?
Nikhat says:
Dec 23, 2012
The basic premise. I think I have a fear of being emotionally manipulated into choosing a kind of life by a wingless angel.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 28, 2012
Allow me to persuade you.
Steven Flores says:
Dec 22, 2012
I only saw parts of Zardoz, bloody hell!!!!
This is what I saw this week.
First-Timers: The Three Musketeers (2011 film version), Coming Home, Delicatessen, Chopper, The Claim, Ordinary People, and later tonight, Bound for Glory.
Re-Watches: The Running Man, Namath, and Green Lantern.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
You *must* watch all of ZARDOZ!! Every ten minutes there’s a new moment of batshit insanity!
Peter says:
Dec 22, 2012
I wish I was in town for Zardoz. Damn.
First time:
AMOUR – It’s very good. The first Haneke film I can get along with.
ANNA KARENINA – Very conflicted on this one.
HYDE PARK ON HUDSON – Skip it.
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN – Great story, good songs, too bad the director didn’t do more with the material. Still very enjoyable.
KNUCKLEBALL! – In honor of R.A Dickey becoming a Jay…
THIS IS 40 – A very funny but self indulgent unfocused mess.
Rewatch:
MAGIC MIKE – Not as strong the second time around, but Dallas is a fantastic character. I would rather see him as the main character of the movie.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
Pity you missed ZARDOZ…can’t see it getting screened again anytime soon. How were you conflicted on ANNA KARENINA?
Will says:
Dec 22, 2012
It’s been rather slow for me lately.
First time:
Double Dragon – Pretty bad. But not without a fun jet ski vs. powerboat scene.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Amazing. I loved it completely and I don’t understand the negativity thrown at the movie. It everything I could have wanted in a Hobbit movie, and I’m stoked for the sequels.
Fist of the North Star – One of the most fun anime I’ve ever seen.
And I re-watched:
Story of Ricky – Absolutely one of the greatest gore movies of all time. Holds up even better than I remember.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
I was alright with HOBBIT, if slightly let down. I imagine as we get further along in this new trilogy I will like them more.
Helen says:
Dec 22, 2012
SCROOGE but the Albert Finney version. Don’t get me wrong, the Alastair Sim version is my favorite movie Carol, but it’s good to mix it up some years. Watched the Patrick Stewart version a couple of weeks ago (for the first time) and enjoyed it also.
THE HOBBIT was entertaining but their straining so visibly to connect it to LOTR has me worried about the next movies. No reservations about Martin Freeman though, he’s a terrific Bilbo.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 23, 2012
Can’t say I’ve ever seen the Finney Christmas Carol or the Stewart one. The George C. Scott version was on this week and I caught a few minutes of it.
Where do you come down on the mo-cap version starring Jim Carrey?
Helen says:
Dec 24, 2012
There are so many reasons to dislike it: the miniaturized Scrooge theme-park chase, the multi-character casting (most notably Oldman as Bob and Tim, Wright Penn as Fan and Belle), the overall creepiness of the character designs, the general lack of Christmas spirit….
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 28, 2012
Good points. No check marks in the positive column for its direction – how it allows us to move through London in ways we couldn’t if it was live action? – and likewise for how it plays up the old fashioned Christmas association with ghost stories?
Skills says:
Dec 23, 2012
Very, very slow week, sometimes you just got to read.
Amour – Lovely, cold setting. But I can’t help thinking about Riva and JLT when they were young – so bloody beautiful. And, espicially JLT who even in his 50s was so mesmerising in Three Colours: Red, he had this completely blinding magnetism about him. I did see a hint of in the moment before he strangles Riva, and he’s holding her hand and telling her a story of his childhood. Other than that, loved the view of the windows outside and the way the outside world kept on moving. However, I do think a score could have involved me more emotionally, considering that the protoganists were piano teachers.
Christmas in Conneticut – Barbara Stanwyck, need I say more?
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 28, 2012
AMOUR is just so beautifully bleak, isn’t it? I’ve talked to a few people who didn’t care for it, perhaps because it stands as too stone-cold of a reminder. For me though, it embodies a type of love we don’t see on screen often enough…and one they don’t really tell you about in the brochure.
Confession: I haven’t seen Three Colours. Guess I have homework to do, eh?
Skills says:
Dec 28, 2012
Yes. Immediately. Three Colours: Red really changed my whole perspective on cinema and colour and love. However, Blue is also tremendous to look at and contains a marvelously indifferent performance by Juliet Binoche. On the otherhand, White kind of paled in comparison mostly because it tried to incorporate this tragi-comic element and as a result faltered.
Try going in that order and please write a review as I’d love to get another opinion on it.
Oh, and also watch out for Trintignant’s performance, its oddly compelling, primarily because he plays a misanthrope but you see his humanity and bitterness and restraint, and suddenly your on his side.
Colin Biggs says:
Dec 25, 2012
Didn’t want to say it, but The Hobbit felt like a chore to sit through.
Ryan McNeil says:
Dec 28, 2012
You’ll get no argument out of me! Jackson might have set the bar for himself a little too high.