Frankenweenie

As I mentioned yesterday, much of this past week has been about breaking out the collection of baseball DVD’s. As I’ve watched them, and revelled in their quotable glory (“There’s no crying in baseball!”, “Strikeouts are boring, and besides that they’re fascist”), I’ve realized that there are decidedly fewer truly great baseball movies out there than I once thought.

I know some people swear by the more kid-oriented ones like THE SANDLOT, and ROOKIE OF THE YEAR…and under the right circumstances, I can find myself watching a few minutes of them. I’d never call them all that “great” though. They’re aimed at amusing kids, but have very little to say over and above that.

Then there’s my dislike for MONEYBALL, which I think has been well documented around these parts.

In other news, I finished my Best Picture Project this week thanks to going on something of a bender last weekend. I have promised a few people that I will rewatch ALL ABOUT EVE and GANDHI before settling on a final ranking. I will say this though – anybody who believes that films like THE ARTIST, or THE KING’S SPEECH, or SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE are “among the worst films to win Best Picture” haven’t seen some of the truly unwatchable selections that have taken the top prize.

 

Here’s The Week at Hand…

 

Screenings
GINGER & ROSA – I’ll have more to say about this tomorrow, and hopefully even more to say on Matineecast 82.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
CAVALCADE – So bad a Best Picture, it never made the jump from VHS to DVD
ALL THE KING’S MEN (1949) – This, on the other hand, is marvellous  The Penn-starring remake never shoulda happened.
MRS. MINIVER – Such a beautiful bummer of a film.
YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU – Frank Capra at his best
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS – This month’s Blindspot. Give my post a read, then give the film a watch.
SUGAR – It’s been on my to-see list forever. I felt like an idiot for not watching it sooner.
BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY – Only on my to-see list forever. Here I felt like less of an idiot.
61* – I shoulda watched this with my dad, Roger Maris was his favorite.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
THE NATURAL – Don’t tell Kurt Halfyard
BULL DURHAM – Probably the best-written baseball movie ever.
FEVER PITCH (2005) – Oh to remember a time when being a Sox fan came with frustrations.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN – Was David Strathairn always in this?

 

Boxscore for The Year
62 First-Timers, 58 Re-Watched
17 Screenings
120 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?

11 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched Mar 23 – Mar 29)”

  1. No Eight Men Out? That’s my favorite baseball movie. Glad you caught up with 61*, which is also great too. I’m glad you caught up with Sugar.

    My viewings were pretty light this week, but both were excellent:

    The Fall – This was for my Blind Spots post this month. Such a stunning visual movie.

    This Is Not a Film – It’s still hard to believe what was involved in even getting this movie to exist.

    1. I’m still hoping to get around to EIGHT MEN OUT, but I don’t own a copy (where I own almost all the others). That said, I *do* love the film – talk about a stellar cast!

      I still haven’t watched THE FALL. One of these days, I’ll have to get Sasha James over here to show it to me.

  2. How do you feel about For Love of the Game? I haven’t seen it since it came out, but I felt that the baseball scenes in that one truly captured the tension and feeling of watching an actual game.

    First time:
    Skyfall
    Argo
    The Shadow Whip
    The Comeback
    Phantom Town
    Lincoln

    Re-watched:
    Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow

    1. Never been much of a fan of FOR LOVE OF THE GAME, which admittedly I haven’t seen in over ten years. For my money, the backstory in that didn’t feel all that compelling.

      Where did you come down on SKYFALL?

  3. Mostly screenings.

    Screenings:
    Hedwig and the Angry Inch – See blindspot post (though I will comment that Cineplex just played the film off a standard def DVD – still looked decent)
    Mr Viral – Closing film of the Canadian Film Fest and my least favourite of the bunch.
    Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows – Still excellent all these years later
    From Up on Poppy Hill – More “real world” than other Ghibli films, but I liked it
    John Dies at the End – Understood the film better the second time around.
    Constantine – That wraps up the Keanu Reeves series for me.

    Blu-Ray First Time:
    Annie Hall – OK film, though the non-chronological format confused me a bit.

  4. First-Timers: Rock of Ages (yikes), How to Survive a Plague, Stoker, three Andrea Arnold Shorts in Milk, Dog, and Wasp, Sansho the Bailiff, Holy Smoke!, and later tonight, Lore.

    Re-Watches: Trainspotting, Edward Scissorhands, and In the Cut.

  5. Super slow week due to mother-in-laws surprise party and the wife and child being sick (of which I am now catching).

    First Time:

    Our Children – Screener. If you see one film at Cinefranco this month make it this one. The lead actress won a best actress award at Cannes last year for this film and it was well deserved. Great film.

    Armed Hands – Cinefranco Screener. Would have worked better as a television series.

    Re-watch:

    Little Miss Sunshine – Still an enjoyable way to pass the time.

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