Ryan McNeil
Where was I?
Back before I’d launched this site…before I was continually distracted with Twitter…before I was trying to choose twenty-something festival selections from a list of 300+…
Oh, that’s right – I was writing a film blog! As if it wasn’t bad enough that most of my cinema-going experiences were put on hold in August, here I was launching my site with a hard break in rhythem. Part of my writing routine was taking a moment every Saturday night to recap what’s had my attention and catch up with what’s had your attention. What do you say we get back to that? Two weeks’ worth – which took me past 150 new watches for the year – coming up.
Here’s what was on tap…
Screenings
CRAZY STUPID LOVE – Pretty sure my adoration for it has become legend by now.
TERRI – I’m seeing a lot of films lately that I’m having trouble dissecting. Call this “Exhibit A”
RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES – Had fun with it…..in an illogical sort of way.
FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)– Silliness in abundance. Might have even liked it more than the original.
CONTAGION – Gotta love sneak peeks. Check in tomorrow for my review.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
YES MAN – For a long time I’ve been “Carrey”d out. This film changed my mind somewhat.
EULOGY – Strip DEATH AT A FUNERAL of all its charm and you get this movie. The remake of DEATH AT A FUNERAL.
THE BROTHERS BLOOM – I tend not to buy blu-rays I’ve never seen, but once in a while I make an exception. After watching this film, I’m happy I broke my rule.
FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) – It has charm, but it hasn’t aged all that well.
Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN – I’ve begun mining the Shelf of Doom for its hidden treasures. This was one such gem.
SURF’S UP – If you haven’t seen this underrated bit of animation, you’re missing out.
PERSEPOLIS – I bought this back in January, that it took me this long to watch it is criminal.
ANCHORMAN – “Time to musk up…”
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS – Guess who found a cheap Criterion copy?
AMERICAN SPLENDOR – Watching this reminded me that I do need to dig into the AS comics someday.
BOWFINGER – One of the very best movies about making movies.
Boxscore for The Year
158 First-Timers, 114 Re-Watched
272 Movies in Total
How’s about you – seen anything good?
As you know I do the movies I’ve watched this past week on my Monday Corner so I won’t be a spoil sport, however tomorrow’s (Sunday) blog post is dedicated entirely to the work of a director whom I finally got around to seeing his 3rd major work – I say major because not everything he’s done is feature length – today and loved it. Oh, and he’s an anime director. I know it’s your favorite genre so I thought I’d share :P.
Also I finally got around to seeing A Place in the Sun. I’ve had this movie from Netflix for 2 months (people wanting to watch it with me and not being around to do so) tempting me and so finally getting to see it was nice. Oh, and it lives up to the hype quite well.
Looking forward to hearing all the gory details on Monday. By the by, you’ll be proud to know that one if my 24 TIFF selections has been earmarked for an animee film.
I had a slightly busy week, for me:
(For Reel Insight)
1. A.I.
2. Alfie
3. I Love You, I Love You Not
4. Enemy at the Gates
5. Final Cut
6. eXistenZ
7. Sleuth
8. Gattaca (rewatch)
Started Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow but the disk quit 30 minutes in.
Theater Release
8. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2011 DVD Catch-up
9. Limitless
10. Arthur
11. The Conspirator
12. The Lincoln Lawyer
13. Rango
15. Red Riding Hood
Rewatches for Funsies
16. Source Code
17. Star Trek (’09)
Outside of those last two, I probably enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Lincoln Lawyer the most.
Your 1.5x pace of watching DVDs sure got a workout, eh? Anything of that lengthy list stick out for you
I can’t watch movies at 1.5 anymore. The program I had on my computer crapped out on me. These were all watched in real time. Boss was outta the office this week. And to answer your question, check that last sentence.
oh wow, thats epic viewing, did you do anything else this week, like sleep?
Didn’t you know? Rachel’s a machine.
I did most of it at work. My boss was outta town:)
My kinda week! And part of me is happy to hear that you’re forced to watch ’em all in real time again
I actually haven’t been able to do that since April or so, and I only did it with what I presumed would be really shitty movies I was forcing myself to watch for RI.
I didn’t know there was a program to watch movies at 1.5x speed, that’s fucked up!
(Welcome to The New Matinee)
I’ve teased Rachel about the high speed viewing before. To me it’s blasphemy, but she has a really good reason for doing it.
By the way would love to see your thoughts on Brother’s Bloom put into writing if you can find a wee bit of spare time. If not, maybe a comment on my review of the film about a year or so back?
Ah! A request, I’ll see what I can do…
I saw Fright Night too…thinking about checking out the original sometime soon. Um finally saw all of Dazed and Confused- I dunno why but I was expecting someone to die at the end…but it was fun. I saw Mary and Max (interesting, depressing), Quiz Show (pretty Ralph Fiennes!), Duck Soup on my b’day (I need to get a Groucho mask) and I saw The Hours again ‘cuz I was in the mood.
(Welcome to The Matinee!)
Two of my all-time faves in there Nik: QUIZ SHOW and DAZED & CONFUSED. As you now know, there aren’t any deaths, there’s nothing but great music, quotable lines, and iconic performances.
How do you guys find all this time? It’s amazing to me – 16 films in a week: with a job, wife, etc …
Let’s see I watched
Colombianna
Our Idiot Brother
Brick
The Babysitters
Though, not very accurate considering I’ll be watching a film, maybe two and at least one tomorrow.
Still, not sure about a 10+ week with school.
As mentioned, Rachel was taking time at work. As for me, my sixteen titles came over two weeks, not one. I’ve seen exactly eight per in each of the last two weeks.
my weekly post is also on a monday but im at a disappointing 6 films watched and unlikely to have any viewing energy today. disappointing in number but also quality this week. a noirathon double feature was the highlight, biggest disappointment = I AM LOVE.
you may be the first person i’ve spoken to who liked BROTHERS BLOOM. i guess i should join univarn in asking about that. i too had my affection for Carey reignited by the surprisingly good YES MAN.
What’s not to like?
I sort of hate the fact that Persepolis hasn’t endured as well as I’d have hope. Sure, Oscar doesn’t mean as much as I pretend it does – but I really wish it HAD won the statue – it’s a really innovative film, I think.
I agree, but there was no way it was going to gain the traction it needed. Very few of those “Third Entries” do (read: PERSEPOLIS, L’ILLUSIONISTE, SURF’S UP, etc)