No more

So I have officially gotten tired of this blog. I am three movies behind (Children of Men, El Mariachi director's commentary, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) and feeling like this is more of a chore than fun.

Before Sunrise

I think Celine from this movie is my ultimate fantasy girl, smart, cute, funny, pretty, witty, independent, perfect.

I've seen this movie a whole bunch of times because I love it. I watched it last night because I had just finished the first draft of a short screenplay of which I found Before Sunrise to be a big influence. The screenplay was inspired by Antoine et Colette, a French new wave short film by Francois Truffaut, but I found that as I was writing, I kept thinking of this movie.

The Lost Weekend

Billy Wilder is amazing. Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity, Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, Stalag 17, Witness for the Prosecution, The Lost Weekend, the list goes on and on. He probably has the most impressive resume of any American film director, not counting Kubrick and Hitchcock, of course

In Cold Blood

I wanted to see this every since I saw Capote a couple years ago. And now I've seen it. And it was damn good.

A line in Ebert's review describes it best (paraphrased): "If this movie were a work of fiction, its themes would be obvious. But it is not a work of fiction."

Its interesting because the movie creates a lot of sympathy for one of the two killers, and by the end I felt sympathy for him. But he still deserved to die. Interesting how you can have two conflicting feelings about one person, maybe like the killer felt about his victims: "I thought Mr. Clutter was a very nice gentleman...I thought so right up to the time I cut his throat."

El Mariachi

What a great movie! Not amazing, but amazing for what it is. A no budget, make a movie guerilla style with my friends movie. Robert Rodriguez is a very impressive filmmaker, when he's not doing Spy Kids, that is. Actually, I shouldn't judge, because I haven't seen Spy Kids. And I have no desire to

The Ox-Bow Incident

Very short, very somber, very good. Reminded me a lot of Paths of Glory, and its always good to be associated with Kubrick. But its 12:30 am and I'm tired so I'm not going to write any more.

BTW, my soccer team won 6-0 and I played well, so I wasn't too tired after The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight

I've recently been watching amped up movies before I play soccer. Just kind of a for fun thing to get me into game mode. It worked pretty well with The Godfather and very well with Taxi Driver and There Will Be Blood.

Well, I just watched The Dark Knight and have a soccer game in 90 minutes. Hopefully, I'll play well, but I don't know, because right now I am absolutely exhausted. The Dark Knight was amazing. You know how the climax of movies is always filled with tons of energy and action and drama? Well, thats how this entire movie was. I was constantly barely able to sit down and breathing heavy and awe-struck by what I saw.

I still am having a difficult time digesting the movie. Parts of the plot were very hard to follow and it seemed like there were some minor plot holes, but I want to rewatch the movie before I make any judgements in that regard. Hell, I need to rewatch the movie just to figure how good it is, because I can't figure it out after one viewing.

Heath Ledger is absolutely amazing, far and away the most gripping, impactful part of this whole movie. Jeez, I can't get over how good he was.

Anatomy of a Murder

Courtroom dramas always seem to be gripping. There's just something about them. Unfortunately, most courtroom dramas feel the need to have surprise twist after surprise twist. But the best ones don't: Paths of Glory, Inherit the Wind, Judgement at Nuremberg, 12 Angry Men.

Add Anatomy of a Murder to that list. Simple, straight forward, and very good

Breaking the Waves

Both Scorcese and Ebert have this movie on their top 10 of the 90s, and ever since I've heard that, I wanted to see it. This also marks the first Von Trier movie I've seen.

I don't even know what to think about this movie. It was pretty unenjoyable and really just plain awful, except for the fact that it was incredible. I'll leave you to sort that out

The Adventures of Robin Hood

I don't think I would have much desire to see this if it weren't on the top 250. But it is, so I saw it. And it was great! Very entertaining. I should of known, after all, it was the same director who did Casablanca

Bonnie and Clyde

This is the thrid movie I've watched today. I feel like I have a movie watching disease or something...

Bonnie and Clyde was one of the first movies I saw on my top 250 adventure. I didn't really like it. Really, I just couldn't get over glorifying all the cop killings.

When I watched it, I new nothing about the time it was made, about New Hollywood, the violence and counter culture movement. So I knew I should see this movie again now that I am more knowledge in the essence of the movie.

With all this in mind, the movie is great. Granted, I don't think the cinematography was too good (the editing was fantastic however), and some of the acting was atrocious (Fae Dunnaway was brilliant however), but the new ideas that this movie brought to Hollywood are amazing. The violence (this was the first movie ever to show the shot from the gun and the guy getting shot without cutting, I also heard its the first use of squibs, both are very big deals), the bad guy protagonists, the seemingly lack of a moral sensor, the way the movie pretty much spat on that old Hay's production code. The influence of this movie alone makes it great, even if in some aspects, I don't think it is technically up to par.

Waco: The Rules of Engagement

Yes, I watch documentaries too.

Waco is a documentary I've been wanting to see for a long time, so when I saw it at the local community college library, I knew I had to see it.

I never really knew much about Waco, other than that something bad happened with a cult and the US govt law enforcement. Now I have a pretty clear idea, at least as much as can be known. Its pretty bad. But the movie was very good.

Its very difficult to make good political documentaries, because they always seem to become one sided and biased. Yes documentaries are arguing a point, but that doesn't mean the other point should be ignored, (cough, Michael Moore, The Corporation, cough). Waco does a pretty good job of this, and is a very good documentary.

However, it doesn't vault into my top 3, which I view as heads and shoulders above all the other documentaries I've seen (granted I haven't seen very many). My top 3 are Murderball, Touching the Void, and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. Enron is the only political one, but it was done so well that I didn't see much of a bias (not that there is too much of a differing opinion on that issue).

Yes, I've omitted all of Moore's movies. And I've seen them all. While Moore is an amazing filmmaker, his documentaries are so biased that all they do is preach to the converted and alienate the rest. And who is that helping? (Roger and Me did rise above this, because the movie was about him trying to find the person who could give the other side of the story. Therefore, that is his best documentary)

Hannah and Her Sisters

I first saw Annie Hall. It was very funny, buy Woody Allen was so annoying and I had a hard time getting over it. Then I saw Match Point because it got great reviews and my roommates were having a get together at our house that I did not want to be at. It was amazing, but not funny in the slightest.

That was my Woody Allen experience until recently. I had to see Manhattan, since it was a top 250 movie. And it was very good. But then I saw Crimes and Misdemeanors - amazing. Well, I just saw Hannah and Her Sisters, very similar to Crimes and Misdemeanors and just as amazing. No one captures the life and love and beauty of everyday life better than Woody Allen.

Not only that, but Hannah and Her Sisters marks only the second movie (the other being Antione and Colette) where right after watching it, I had an inspiration for a movie of my own. Hopefully, I'll get to make it!

I can't wait to see his new movie. Early reviews say its his best yet.

Dodsworth

Dodsworth is William Wyler's highest rated movie on IMDb. It is considered a classic and is not on the top 250 only because it doesn't have enough votes. I am a big fan of all the previous William Wyler movies I've seen (Roman Holiday, The Best Years of Our Lives, Ben Hur), especially Roman Holiday, which is an utterly wonderful movie.

I did not like Dodsworth very much. Technically, it is very good. But what was its point? It was obviously trying to preach the correct moral values to live by, but I couldn't even tell what those values were. The movie is a shining example of the classic Hollywood Hay's code crap (married couples sleeping in separate beds is normal?, seeking permission from your parents to marry the person you love?), yet also had some ideas very liberal for the time, specifically divorce. Dodsworth is a gung-ho I love America type, yet all the women in his life, choose Europe over America. The movie embraced and rejected social norms at the same time (not wanting to conform to society and grow old and be grandparents while also be constantly worrying about what other people think about you, or vice versa). Really, what was this movie about? What was it trying to say? Beats me.

Oh, and I must say again, thank you His Girl Friday for introducing overlapping dialog to Hollywood!

Heathers

Eighties comedies is one genre I'm missing out on. I've see The Breakfast Club (ugh) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (amazing), but thats it. Still need to see 16 Candles and Fast Times at Ridgemont High and so much more.

Seattle was showing a free public outdoor screening of Heathers, so I went with some friends to see it. I was not expecting it at all. A dark comedy? But it was funny and pretty good, not great. I think it was the inspiration for Mean Girls.

La Dolce Vita again

I said I was going to watch La Dolce Vita again and I did. and I have much more appreciation for it because I actually have some background on it and know what it is about.

That being said, it is still a very difficult movie to get into. Mostly because it is not told in the standard three act storytelling structure. Instead, it is a collection of scenes that when put together, form a theme and a message but not really a story.

The individual scenes are great though, especially the party at the end. And the beach scene, when the entire movie comes together, is very powerful.

I probably need to come back to this movie again in a couple years. Why are Fellini movies so much work? sigh...

City of God

I had seen this movie before, but because it is one of the top 15 movies ever made and I've only seen it once, I watched it again.

The version I had (a burned copy from my friend) didnt have subtitles, so I watched the movie in Brazilian and didn't understand a word. But the movie was still amazing. Great camerawork and cinematography, interesting characters, and even though I couldn't understand them, I still generally knew what they were saying (because I've seen the movie before and from tone of voice)

Because the film is such a visual treat, it worked watching it this way. But it would have been better with subtitles. While it was interesting, I don't recommend watching a foreign film without subtitles the first time you watch it. However, I do recommend it for subsequent viewing, but only if the movie is a visual treat like this one.

Anyways, City of God is amazing, best movie of the 2000s (yes better than There Will Be Blood).

To Be or Not to Be

Absolutely hilarious. I was probably annoying my neighbors with how loud I was laughing. Hitler's never been funnier.

Its also very interesting to compare the dialog in this movie to His Girl Friday. Overlapping dialog is a good thing...

Another movie off the list!

All the President's Men

Another New Hollywood movie. I think I'm beginning to see what my favorite movie age was.

This movie was great. I didn't know much about Watergate before hand, but thanks to this movie and Wikipedia, I've done some half assed research and know some stuff.

And this was one of the remaining movies on my list! One down, 19 or so to go

The Taking of Pellham One Two Three

I hadn't even heard of this movie until about a week or two ago. My buddy Ravin Pierre recommended it to me. There are several reasons to see it: its got that 1970s Hollywood nostalgia, its highly rated, its where Tarantino got the Mr. color idea that he used in Reservoir Dogs, its got an awesome title (flows right off the tongue) and its being remade by Tony Scott.

The movie was very good. Nothing special, no strong theme or moving character development, just simple good old-fashioned entertainment

Raging Bull

Saw it five years ago, remembered it as being great, but didn't remember just how great it is. Wow

McCabe and Mrs. Miller

I saw McCabe and Mrs. Miller about a week ago, but I rewatched it with the director and producers commentary. Commentaries are great, you get a whole new appreciation for the movie. Things that you don't notice but make the movie great (all movies work on a subconscious level) are pointed out and its wonderful.

McCabe and Mrs. Miller was great. Especially the snowstorm at the end, beautiful

La Dolce Vita

Last movie watched: La Dolce Vita. I was pretty apprehensive about this, since its three hours of Fellini, but La Strada was absolutely wonderful, so I was ready to give this one a try (plus it is a classic).

Well, my reasons for being apprehensive were confirmed. It was long and wandering and I didn't enjoy it too much. However, I wasn't in the best mood when I watched it and I've heard you need to see it more than once to appreciate it. And I read about it online, so now I know more about the movie. I'll probably watch it again in a week or two.

I was also disappointed to find that this movie was not one of the 20 I have left to see from my 250 list. I could have sworn it was on there (it is on the list now, but I could have sworn it was on the list when I started five years ago)

Tha Maltese Falcon

So, after seeing Chinatown, it was time to see the complete antithesis, the definitive Bogart film noir detective story, The Maltese Falcon, directed by John Huston. This was one of the first movies I saw in my top 250 endeavor, and I remembered it as being very good, but I couldn't remember anything else about it. Well, as I watched it, some stuff came back to me, and it was very good.

Its interesting to compare Bogart (Maltese Falcon) and Nicholson (Chinatown). Both are equally smart, capable, strong, intimidating, suave, etc, and yet Bogart solves everything and has justice served, while Nicholson can't do anything. Thats 1941 vs 1974, classic vs new Hollywood.

Chinatown

Man, Chinatown was even better than I remember it. A definitive New Hollywood film. Very interesting to compare that move to the Bogart film noirs that came out 30 or so years before.

Polanski is an amazing director, but he's not yet on my list because I've only seen three of his movies (Chinatown, Rosemary's Baby, and The Pianist). So I guess I gotta go see a fourth, probably Repulsion, but there are a lot to choose from. Great more distractions from finishing off that top 250

WALL-E

My first movie entry is WALL-E, which I saw in theaters yesterday. A PIXAR film (the people who can do no wrong, except for Cars) directed by Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo), it vaulted into IMDb's top 10 on its second day of release. So I had to see it. Plus I've been looking forward to it all year.

My brief review goes like this: (by the way, there will be no spoilers in any of my reviews)

WALL-E was very good, but not great. Who would have thought you could play tribute to Stanley Kubrick (2001) and Charlie Chaplin (City Lights) at the same time? But it seems PIXAR can do anything. However, the movie was not PIXAR's best (which is The Incredibles), but not its worst (Cars), falling somewhere in between Monsters Inc and Toy Story. The first thirty minutes was absolutely brilliant, some of the best filmmaking in movie history. When they board the spaceship it got a little silly, but still remained very good. It was the ending that bothered me. Not that the ending was bad, because it wasn't. But the movie had a chance have one of the most powerful endings of all time, to make WALL-E one of the best movies of all time. But it didn't; it took the easy way out. (I can't tell you what they did, because that would be a spoiler).

Anyways, still highly recommended, just disappointed by the ending (which wasn't even bad, it just could have been so much more powerful).

Okay, thats all for my first movie blog. Now I'm gonna go watch Chinatown!

IMDb top 250

Five years ago, I had the idea to see every movie on the IMDb top 250. Unfortunately, I didn't even think of blogging about the experience, which would have been fun. But I'll blog about my movie watching experience from here on.

When I started five years ago, I had seen about 40 movies on the list. I have now seen 230 of them (from the 2003 list).

I haven't seen them all yet because I've been distracted by all the other great movies that aren't on the top 250 (like the entire French New Wave). Also recently, I've been going back and watching some of the movies I saw at the beginning of my adventure, since I am much more knowledgeable in film history and criticism and production that I have a whole new appreciation for the movies. Recently, I've rewatched The Godfather I and II, Paths of Glory, A Clockwork Orange, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Taxi Driver, The Battleship Potemkin and more. I've also been trying to watch director's commentaries, but only of movies I've already seen. I've seen commentaries for Fail Safe, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, Boogie Nights, The Manchurian Candidate, and others.

Now you guys can see what I've been up to and why I've become all antisocial. To illustrate further, I currently have 11! movies checked out from the library (three week rentals for free, can't beat that). They are: Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Chinatown, All About Eve, All Quiet on the Western Front, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Persona, Key Largo, La Dolce Vita, and The Maltese Falcon.

I also have kept track of all my favorite movies in an Excel spreadsheet (yes I am a nerd). Sorted top 10 by year and by decade. Also by director, although directors don't get included until I've seen at least four of their movies.

Anyways, the movies from the top 250 I have left to see are:

Dogville (2003)

Mononoke-hime (1997)

Ladri di biciclette (1948)

Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938)

Charade (1963)

Festen (1998)

Night at the Opera, A (1935)

All the President's Men (1976)

Trois couleurs: Rouge (1994)

To Be or Not to Be (1942)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Hotaru no haka (1988)

Lion in Winter, The (1968)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Die xue shuang xiong (1989)

Being There (1979)

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Henry V (1989)

Enfants du paradis, Les (1945)

X-Men 2 (2003)

If you've seen any of these, props to you. Not many people have seen movies I haven't seen but want to. Also, if you have The Bicycle Thief, let me borrow it. I've been trying to find it for a year now (although I do know the Scarecrow has three copies)

So join me on my movie watching adventure!