I swear gang – it feels like I haven’t gone to the cinema in a year! It’s only the second week of the five so far this year that I’ve stayed home, but for my routine that feels like a century.
Oh well – some goodness seems to be returning next week, so the drought should end soon.
Meanwhile, I got sick at the end of this week, and if you know me, you know that being home sick means being huddled under blankets while my blu-ray player gets a workout. I didn’t quite rack the tally up yesterday, though that mostly came from two of the titles I chose being two-hours-plus…so there was only time to soak up so many.
On the bright side, there were a lot of first timers this week. It’s turning into a trend for this year!
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
GASLIGHT - How could any man do such things to the stunning Ingrid Bergman?
IKIRU - This year’s Blindspot Series got off to a roaring beginning.
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS - Were this ever to be remade, they could lace in some serious Game of Thrones-esue violence and nudity.
THE LOST WEEKEND - I’m never drinking again
THE 39 STEPS - Strangely, this wasn’t my favorite. I’ll have to come back to it sometime.
GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT - This, on the other hand, is revolutionary.
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - So. Many. Parades.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
THE AVENGERS - I finally capped off re-watching the whole series.
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - I’m beginning to think this is underrated.
THE COMMITMENTS - We wanted to introduce our friend Sasha to some Dublin Soul.
WHAT WOMEN WANT - Ever leave a movie on the TV with the intention of falling asleep watching it? That was this. Two hours later though…
Boxscore for The Year
23 First-Timers, 19 Re-Watched
5 Screenings
42 Movies in Total
17 comments
Steven Flores says:
Feb 2, 2013
First-Timers: Wrath of the Titans (ugh…), Margaret, F for Fake, The Raid: Redemption, Paperman (Disney short… totally awesome), Wet Hot American Summmer, and later tonight, The Paperboy.
Re-Watches: It Could Happen to You and Mannequin.
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
Every week, yet another person reminds me that I’m still behind on MARGARET.
*sigh*
How’d you like PAPERBOY?
Will says:
Feb 2, 2013
Hahaha, wow, that list of first-timers is a thick list of classics. Sorry you didn’t care for 39 Steps. I never saw it during my huge Hitchcock years, but I saw it a few years back and loved it.
As for me–
First time:
Perfect
Battle Royale II: Requiem – Heed the warnings. This is just awful.
About Last Night…
And I re-watched:
Purple Rain
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I didn’t care for THE 39 STEPS, just that it wasn’t what I was expecting. I do intend to revisit it sometime down the line.
Helen says:
Feb 2, 2013
I’ve had more free time than usual when I’m in trial and made it out last night to WARM BODIES, which I just adored. I had to ask two teenage girls sitting together in the row ahead of me to step texting. More amusing than anything else (usually it’s just irritating) because it came very soon after a funny visual joke at the expense of the contemporary preoccupation with our mobile devices.
I really enjoy THE 39 STEPS. It’s not far behind my favorite Hitchcock THE LADY VANISHES. I do enjoy his British period!
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
My review for WARM BODIES is up if you’d like some reading material! And yeah, that visual tip about how connected we all used to be did give me a laugh too – as did a lot of the musical queue’s
(I swear, for the music, I was the only person in the theatre who knew the songs)
CS says:
Feb 2, 2013
Add me to the list of fans for 39 Steps. Not a revolutionary Hitchcock film per say but solid nonetheless.
First Time:
Life of Pi – Enjoyed it. Thought the visuals were fantastic.
Magic Mike – Interesting film that falls apart towards the end.
Death Race 2000 – Pure cult bliss. I had a lot of fun watching this film.
Suspiria – Blind Spot film.
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
“Not the barbed wire! Anything but the barbed wire!!”
I need to revisit MAGIC MIKE. I thought it was great for a laugh for sure.
SJHoneywell says:
Feb 3, 2013
See, I told you Gentlemen’s Agreement was surprisingly good. By the way, you’ve caught up to me.
New to me:
Hombre: I hate the ending.
The Reckless Moment: Worth it only for James Mason
Pickpocket: I really, really like Bresson!
The Front Page: His Girl Friday is the same film done so much better.
Rewatches:
Wordplay: Fun and really entertaining.
Being There: I don’t like it as much as I should.
The Sting: This, though, is damn-near perfect.
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
I’ve caught up to you…for the year on the whole? You can blame the Friday spent home sick for that. As it turns out, the weekend that followed didn’t contain a whole lot of film-watching (though it did nudge me back into a theatre).
I can’t remember Steve: are you on Letterboxd?
PICKPOCKET was one of my very very very favorite first-time watches of 2012…I even got to see it at a screening no less! Did you end up writing a post about it?
SJHoneywell says:
Feb 6, 2013
Yes–caught up to my year-so-far total. I had a large edge on you initially due to a couple of slow weeks at work. I’ve been reduced to 5-7/week lately because of work pressures.
I’m not on Letterboxd at the moment, although I have gotten an invite. I just don’t have time at the moment to really sit down and play with it.
In a short week, I tend to review everything I watch. I put up something from everything above except Wordplay last week. I put up a full review 5-7 days/week pretty regularly.
Omar says:
Feb 3, 2013
Firsts:
Wreck-It Ralph – Decent animation and storyline but way too kids’ oriented for my liking.
Lola Versus – Mostly a waste of time.
ReWatches:
Finding Forrester – Holds up very nicely.
What a horrible month for movies. Can anyone point me to some under-appreciated/overlooked films from 2012?
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
2012 underrated:
GIRL WALK // ALL DAY (available to view for free on their website)
THE IMPOSTER
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER
KILLER JOE
DETROPIA
TAKE THIS WALTZ
Nikhat says:
Feb 3, 2013
I have to properly give up movies till my exams get over
Still, v. slow week on account of Noel Fielding-mania.
Firsts: Dhobi Ghat or Mumbai Diaries- Soo good. I’ve never seen such a grounded Indian film.
The Master- Finally! I liked it a lot. Gorgeous to look at, great performances and what a score!
Rewatched: Cloud Atlas- I think it is a great film.
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
School is more important than movies.
We were talking about THE MASTER when a bunch of us here in Toronto did our year-end wrap, and one or two of us said how much we were drawn into it on first watch, but were left baffled by it when the curtain came down.
I capital-L-loved it, and can’t wait for that blu-ray to be released here at month’s end so I can revisit it for a third time.
Dan Heaton says:
Feb 4, 2013
I think my issue with The 39 Steps was that I’d heard so many raves about it. I rope it in with his mid-level movies and think the fact that the lead guy is pretty bland doesn’t help.
New viewings:
The Hobbit – Saw this because my brother-in-law is a huge fan of the series, and it was okay. There were some great sequences, but I found some of it to be a bit tedious. I wonder if I’m spoiled by the first LOTR series and expected too much.
Idlewild – I’m checking out a few recent musicals for my next marathon, and I was curious about this one after enjoying the soundtrack. There were some good musical numbers, but the story wasn’t great.
Re-watches:
Last Year at Marienbad – Watched this for the Movie of the Month LAMBcast, which we recorded yesterday. It’s a stunning movie in one sense and covers some intriguing themes, but it’s also sort of maddening.
Ryan McNeil says:
Feb 5, 2013
I never did get to revisit THE HOBBIT – especially disappointing since I wanted to weigh in on the HFR debate.