It’s no secret I was feeling like death warmed over this week. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I felt this sick for this long. As I sit here this morning, I think the worst is over and I’m finally on the mend, but give me a few hours and we’ll know for sure.
I only say that (for the sixth time this week – and I do apologize for that), because if you’ve been around this site for a little while, you’ll know what sickness does to my viewing habits.
That’s right folks – it sends ‘em through the fuckin’ roof. Buckle up.
Here’s The Week at Hand…
Screenings
PITCH PERFECT - A lot of people needled me for not liking it, but next to nobody read my review and argued any points I made.
ARGO - Loved it, but have had SO much trouble writing its review. Hopefully tomorrow.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
SIDE BY SIDE - REALLY interesting doc about the films we watch. Track it down on-demand.
9.79* - A bit of a letdown. Glad I didn’t burn a TIFF ticket on it.
THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL - Goofy and creepy all at once. Loved it!
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION - The arrival of a book I ordered on Wilder got me back on my mission to go through his works. This one felt “less Wilder” than most, but was still stellar.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
CASABLANCA - Apropos that I watched it this week; “As Time Goes By” was our wedding song.
IN BRUGES - I swear the more I watch this, the funnier it gets.
THE BIG LEBOWSKI - Funny story here: I put it on one night as I went to bed, hoping to fall asleep watching it. Two hours later when I was still awake and saw the credits start to roll I though “Ah, fuck!”
CASINO ROYALE - All that SKYFALL talk got me in a 007 mood.
CAPOTE - Remember what happened with LEBOWSKI? It happened again here.
COLLATERAL – (Geez I watched a lot of movies starting with “C”) This one was mentioned for a while in SIDE BY SIDE and I realized that it had been ages since I watched it. It still slays.
PICKPOCKET - You must see this.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS - Get your hands on the blu-ray of this, and immediately go to the original ending on the director’s cut that was changed for its theatrical run. It’s epic.
MOONRISE KINGDOM - What kind of bird are you?
WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT - Remember what happened with Lebowski? This completed the trifecta.
Boxscore for The Year
203 First-Timers, 189 Re-Watched
110 Screenings
392 Movies in Total
16 comments
Nikhat says:
Oct 20, 2012
Gah when I fall sick, I end up watching TLC. A lot. Maybe I should follow your example. Side By Side is something I will hopefully watch this week. It sounds pretty cool. Funny thing about Casino Royale- my complete lack of poker knowledge makes this a very frustrating film to watch. And I still like it loads.
Firsts: Safety Not Guaranteed- This was sweet. I liked the concept and the people involved a lot.
Little Shop of Horrors- Hi5! I don’t know what cut I watched though. It was still pretty funny.
Revolutionary Road- I really loved it. Great story. Excellent performances.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall- This *was* funny. I liked it.
Shortbus- So that was explicit. Very.
Ruby Sparks- We finally have a new #1 film of 2012. WHOOP WHOOP! Even the Avengers are no match for my romcom-loving soul. Paul Dano is my husband.
Malcolm X- Even for all my personal qualms with the film, it was a mighty good one. Denzel Washington was ahmazing.
Ryan McNeil says:
Oct 20, 2012
I vote when you feel sick, you give the TLC a break and just start rotating the dvd’s. I kno some people who watch the soft and comforting films; I lean towards the heavier stuf (because I want to see stories of people worse of than myself)
As for Little Shop, the way to know which cut you saw can be figured out pretty easily: Did Seymour and Audrey live?
Nick says:
Oct 20, 2012
You thought 9.79 was a letdown? Really? I liked it a lot. There was actually info in there I didn’t know but more than that I liked how it just let all interested parties talk for themselves. So many docs about controversial topics want to force your hand one way or another but this one, I thought, avoided doing that and all the varying contradictions of what everyone was saying really illuminated the complexity of the event and the topic.
Ryan McNeil says:
Oct 20, 2012
Content-wise, it’s great – especially for pointing out things like the fact that an American team member was in the room when Ben was getting tested (how the shit was THAT allowed?), and that during the time in question, Carl Lewis was sporting braces on his teeth, and underlining what that could mean.
Visually though, it was a bit boring as primarily in-studio talking heads. THAT was where I wanted a little more – in the film’s look.
Nick says:
Oct 21, 2012
Touche. That’s a completely legitimate point. That does seem to be a symptom of many docs.
SJHoneywell says:
Oct 20, 2012
I’ve decided to take some small amount of credit for a couple of your films this week. I mean, I’ve watched Witness for the Prosecution and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in the last few weeks. Also, I think for the first time we watched one in common.
Anyway,
New to Me
Wuthering Heights (1939): Heathcliffe is a stone-cold pimp, but I still didn’t love this.
Pinky: Surprisingly forward thinking, but with criminal whitewashing of the main character.
Le Havre: Aki Kaurismaki’s actors are incapable of smiling.
Yi Yi: I never warmed up to it. I always felt like an observer.
Bay of Blood/Twitch of the Death Nerve: The grandfather of the slasher film. There’s lots of blood and WAY too much plot.
Romper Stomper: American History X meets A Clockwork Orange.
Lucia: An interesting idea more than an interesting film.
Rewatches:
The House on Haunted Hill: Cheesey joy!
The House on Haunted Hill, Rifftrax version: The best point of the commentary is that everyone in this film aside from Vincent Price is pretty stupid.
Ryan McNeil says:
Oct 20, 2012
Well then *I* will take credit for *you* watching WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Are you like me – hoping now to track down Andrea Arnold’s recent remake?
SJHoneywell says:
Oct 21, 2012
Actually, not so much. I don’t love the Victorians, and I don’t love the story that much.
Sean Kelly says:
Oct 20, 2012
Here we go.
Screenings:
Taken 2 – Didn’t have the same charm as the first, but still watchable
Seven Psychopaths – Very much enjoyed this film
Story of Film – Continuing…
Toronto After Dark:
Grabbers – A fun Irish creature film
American Mary – Not really my thing
Crave – My favourite so far
Inbred – Ugh
First Time:
Grave Encounters – Watched in preparation for the sequel at TAD
Rewatches:
Prometheus – Still like it
The Rite – Anthony Hopkins hams it up big time in this one
Sean Kelly says:
Oct 20, 2012
Also, I recommend checking out the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill if only for Geoffrey Rush’s “Vincent Price, by way of John Waters” performance. The DVD has an interesting documentary comparing the two (the biggest change being over stylized imagery and blood and gore).
Ryan McNeil says:
Oct 20, 2012
There wasn’t enough money in the world for me to take the bait on TAKEN 2…
Steven Flores says:
Oct 20, 2012
First Timers: Seven Psychopaths, Looper, Vampyr, The Thing (1982 film), Repulsion, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Cat People (1982 film), and Quantum of Solace.
Re-Watches: Bio-Dome (certainly doesn’t hold up, I don’t know why I thought it was a good movie when it first came on TV so many years ago), Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Reagan, and Sixteen Candles.
Ryan McNeil says:
Oct 20, 2012
Have you ever seen the original CAT PEOPLE? The b&w film?
Steven Flores says:
Oct 21, 2012
Yeah, I saw it I think around last year. I think that version is better than the Schraeder version though they’re both really different films.
There’s another first-timer I want to add that I saw last night which is the Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 documentary which I think is a must-see for Bond fans.
CS says:
Oct 21, 2012
Capote has been sitting on my PVR for a few weeks now, had a craving to watch it again as I had not seen it since TIFF.
Firsts:
Kill List – While the last act is great, I did not see why everyone was going crazy for this film. May need to watch it again.
Grabbers – Fun Irish comedy in the vein of Tremors
Crave – Though I had serious issues with the last thirty minutes, I rather enjoyed the film otherwise.
Rewatch:
Mission Impossible 3: There are far less “awesome Philip Seymour Hoffman” moments than I remembered. I still enjoy the film but it only helps to reiterate how good M14 really is.
CS says:
Oct 21, 2012
Oops, I meant to say MI4