Well that was a week.

A lot on the go and a lot of crummy moods affected my watching habits. As you can see, it resulted in me pulling one or two all-time favorites down off the shelf.

I also got to the theatre twice, which is a little bit surprising given that we’re truly feasting on scraps these days. I’ve been lucky to catch movies earlier and later than many of my fellow enthusiasts, which has really gone a long way to fill in the gaps between quality programming.

As you might have expected, this will be the last one of these for a while. Next weekend I’ll be knee-deep in TIFF, so the watchlist won’t be going up until the festival ends. However that one will contain all of my festival activities and the movies I watched during the gaps between shows (and there are some!)

Here’s what was on tap…

Screenings
BEGINNERS – I was quite happy that I was finally able to catch up with it.
MONEYBALL – It wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. Full review will go up in a few weeks.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
THE PUSHER – Interesting. I’ve rented the whole trilogy, so part of me thinks my impression of it will swell as I watch the other films.

Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Watched Before
8 MILE – Were Anthony Mackie and Michael Shannon always in this??
GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK – Still my call for the best film of the 00’s.
RUSHMORE – “Oh, are they?”
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS – Never noticed before that the three singers were named Chiffon, Crystal, and Ronette. Little touches like that make me happy.
ALMOST FAMOUS – The director’s cut – UNTITLED – in case you were curious.
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS – I offered a friend who didn’t want to watch this $20 to sit through it. He got through 40 minutes or so and handed me my $20 back.

Boxscore for The Year
161 First-Timers, 120 Re-Watched
281 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?

28 Replies to “Days of The Week (Films Watched 8/27 – 9/2)”

  1. I found that The Pusher trilogy really takes off with the second and third film. I thought the first on was just okay, though I did like the “oh crap what do I do now” ending.

    This week was rather tame for me:

    New:
    Stakeland – Really enjoyed this film more than I had anticipated.
    Ichi the Killer – wow, I do not even know where to start on this one.
    Street Fighter: The Legend of Chung-Li – Chris Klein’s career really fell off after American Pie.
    You Me and Everyone We Know – Felt like a lighter Hal Hartley film…need to think about this one a bit more.

    Re-watch:
    iRobot – Oddly enough I never tire of the film.
    League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Still sucks.
    Persepolis – Runs a little longer than I remembered.
    Private School – Was shocked by how much of the film my wife remembered. We had one of those “I did not know you loved this cheesy film too” moments while watching it. I assume a copy is on Lindsay’s side of the shelf? If not, it should be!

    1. Guess I’ll get my chance to test the theory when I pop in Pusher 2 later on today.
      Lindsay actually doesn’t have PRIVATE SCHOOL, though she knows it and loves it. That will forever be burned in my brain as the movie that made me discover that they would air films with nudity uncensored on CITY-TV.

  2. This week: In a Lonely Place for the Nicholas Ray blogathon which I liked. La Bete Humaine by Jean Renoir which I really liked a lot. The Times of Harvey Milk by Rob Epstein which I think should be a requirement for kids to see in high school as a piece of American history. Louie Bluie by Terry Zwigoff which is this very entertaining doc about Howard Armstrong. Just now, Megamind which I thought was really good.

    That’s pretty much it other than some of Wayne’s World and Paris, Texas, the latter of which looks great on high-definition TV. It’s still my favorite Wim Wenders film.

    1. I’m still yet to catch up with HARVEY MILK, though it’s been on the to-watch list forever and a day. I was recently reading a book where it came up a lot though…wish I could remember what it was…

  3. Another off week. I saw The English Patient (seriously that won the Oscar over Fargo?), Tree of Life (boggled about this one) and Schindler’s List (even better than I remember). I was going to see The Pianist now, but I seem to have misplaced my Dvd. FML.

    1. English Patient hasn’t aged terribly well, though I will say it plays a bit better in a theatre where that desert just dwarfs the audience. Find that copy of The Pianist – I re-watched it for the Roman Polanski episode of The Film Locker and was floored at how amazingly it has held up.

      It’s pretty much a writing/acting/directing clinic.

  4. (RI Movies)
    She’s the One
    A Life Less Ordinary
    Very Bad Things
    Charlie’s Angels
    The Sweetest Thing
    Gangs of New York
    My Sister’s Keeper
    The Box

    (2011 Catch-Up)
    Priest

    (Theater Screening)
    Fright Night

    Only 10. A bit off from last week, but my boss was back in town.

    And a friend who doesn’t want to sit down to Inglourious Basterds is no friend of mine.

    1. Golly, I wonder who this week’s RI could be? He started watching The Basterds, but Mike Myers pissed him off and he bailed out.

      And while I tell much of the world to “watch it again”, if he couldn’t finish watching it even though I paid him to do it, he ain’t gonna finish it the second time around.

  5. I frown upon people who don’t want to watch Inglourious Basterds.

    I must say that my film-watching was a bit off last week. The new movies I’ve watched are: A Clockwork Orange, Solomon Kane, Just Go with It and Melancholia. I rewatched Shutter Island and Black Swan. I do expect film-watching to go up this week though, since there’s a crapload of movies coming out on DVD!

    1. That is one rather eclectic mix there dude! What’d you think of Clockwork? I was excited to hear there’s going to be a week where they’ll be playing it at The Lightbox here in town.

        3. No judgement here – better you sift through his work when you’re good & ready instead of forcing it back because you think “you should”. For what it’s worth, here’s the order I’d take ’em in…

          SPARTACUS
          EYES WIDE SHUT (widely considered the runt of the litter)
          THE SHINING
          THE KILLING (If you watch the Criterion dvd, follow it with KILLER’S KISS, which is a bonus feature on the disc)
          BARRY LYNDON
          LOLITA
          PATHS OF GLORY
          DR. STRANGELOVE
          FULL METAL JACKET
          2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

          If you get through ’em all and still want a bit more, finish it off with A.I. – which was a collaboration with Spielberg.

      1. i loved the opening (obviously) but then it got a bit gratuitous i suppose, maybe self indulgent, it’s hard to say though. it was a long time ago now. i kept wanting to turn it off but didn’t. perhaps i just didn’t care about this group of nazi hunters?

        i remember thinking that it felt a little too QT, like the decade he spent wanting to make the film was time spent going back to the script again and again. kinda like what Lucas is doing with Star Wars at the moment actually. and maybe he shouldn’t have polished it so much

        1. Perhaps, but I am still impressed with the scene construction…specifically moments like the scene between Shoshanna and Landa in the Parisian cafe.

          Give it another go sometime.

  7. I wish we had left this in on Some Cast it Hot, but when Alex told me that “Untitled” was the original title for Almost Famous, I just said: “That’s really pretentious.” But that would have given away the trivia.

    I love that Inglorious Basterds anecdote! Also just noticed the “Made in Canada” note at the bottom of the new site. Looks great!

    1. I’m nothing if not overly proud of my country. Glad you dig it because I was wondering if including it might be a bit much.

      Alex probably already explained this, but Crowe wanted to go with ‘Untitled’ the way albums like the first Ramones record and fourth Zeppelin album are untitled. For what it’s worth, the ‘Untitled’ cut has so many moments I really love.

  9. I’m still amazed how you guys watch so many flicks – admiration.

    Seven Day In Utopia
    Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
    Shades of Ray
    Red State
    and
    American Graffiti

    1. A movie a night, plus a few more on the weekend – ain’t that crazy a habit. Wait’ll you see the tally when TIFF ends.

      PS – Just found out that doc by the director of HOOP DREAMS will be playing Toronto later this fall, so look for a post on that.

  11. Yeah I have to agree with Sam, people put up such massive lists every week I wonder whether I should quit pretending I’m a movie buff! TBF I’m a poor student and really lazy and just finished working 56 hour weeks so..

    I missed that you’re such a big Good Night and Good Luck fan, I should revisit that!

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