Movie Update VI

As expected, Spring Break was a good time for movie watching. I saw quite a few movies off my list as well as a few that weren’t. Here’s my quasi-review of the ones from my list (which is down to 33 movies, in case you were keeping score). WARNING: this will be a long post. I was going to cut it in half like my last update, but figured this would be more like the movies themselves, long, could probably stand some more editing, but hopefully worthwhile in the end. Also, I feel it worth mentioning that I usually write these thought on the movies, a few days after watching the movies and usually right before bed. I hope this explains why there are more typing/grammar/other errors in these posts than the already numerous ones in my usual posts.

No Country for Old Men (#34) – Another somewhat dark movie. However, I did think this was an outstanding movie. The story was simple and relatively short. The Coens didn’t waste time with needless setup and let the characters develop through the context of the story and not with a lot of needless background. The performances by Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin were all excellent. The movie is probably not for the squeamish, but I highly recommend it. I think the film is rightfully in the top 100, but 34 might be pushing it.

The Seventh Seal (#79) – Hmmmm… When you think artsy films (and I do mean ‘film’ as opposed to ‘movie’ here) you should think of this one. I don’t think this one is for the masses, and it’s probably not for me either. I told a friend I’d seen it and he asked how it was. I thought for a while before saying “the central plot of the movie is a knight playing chess with death, if you can take a movie in which a knight plays chess with death, check it out.” I can’t think of any better way to say it. I will certainly revisit this movie, er… I mean film.

City Lights (#88) – A Chaplin film, and my first one at that. I really wish I could experience a film like this in a theater. I’d always heard old-time-movie buffs talk about the genius of Chaplin, but I never understood it. Now I do. This is a great film that is probably underrated. Because IMDB bases its rankings on user votes, it appears that a bias has developed for more recent movies. I’m not faulting the rankings, they are what they are, a bunch of internet movie junkies rating and talking about movies. However, I don’t think it will be long before this one falls off the top 100, and that would be a damn shame. Anyhow, as for the movie, it’s good and funny. It mixes slapstick with social commentary and even throws in some romance. It really is easy to see Chaplin’s talent in this one. Highly recommended for anyone really interested in great films.

Touch of Evil (#87) – Orsen Wells and Charlton Heston, what more can I say? I enjoyed this one, and it seemed (to an amateur like me, at least) to be ahead of its time. I don’t know how intentional this was, or if I only see it now with the benefit of a half-century of history between it’s filming and my watching, but this dealt with some pretty heavy issues, namely racism. I tend to lean toward the unintentional side since Moses played a Mexican prosecutor. I do have to say that it was Well’s performance that dominated the movie. A good movie, recommended.

Spirited Away (#56) – I believe this is the only animated movie on my list, but I know this is the first anime movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a fantasy story complete with spirits, monsters, transformations, and alternative universes. In order to avoid the odd feeling a old guy like me would feel watching a Disney (distributed) movie alone, I recruited a six-year-old to watch it with me. I’m glad I did, I needed her to explain more than a couple parts of the movie to me. I thought this was an extremely complex movie to be a children’s movie. Hell, I’m certain I missed out on more than a few details. However it was fun pausing it and talking with the six-year-old about things we might have missed. If you like animated movies, you’ll probably dig this one.

Psycho (#21) – When I was a kid, my parents took me to Disney World. I remember seeing Space Mountain and dragging my Dad to stand in line with me to ride it. We must have waited a couple of hours to get to the front of the line. Then it happened – I chickened out. I was too afraid and I wussed out. Dad was furious and said he didn’t wait in that line for nothing, so he rode it alone. When he got off, he said I should have rode, it wasn’t that bad. He told me it was a ride like riding Spaceship Earth, with the cars moving at constant speed and fans and wind tunnels giving the illusion of it being scary. I never lived that down. Fast-forward to about 12 years later, I go back to Disney World, this time minus my parents. I had to beat Space Mountain. I got in line thinking I had nothing to fear from what my Dad had told me (plus I’d gotten over my fear of roller coasters). If you’ve ever ridden Space Mountain, you know how this ends. Anyhow, I kept thinking of this incident after seeing Psycho. For so many years, I thought this was really a horror film. Anyhow, this is a classic and probably deserves to be seen my almost everyone. That said, this is not my favorite Hitchcock film. As I’ve said earlier, I really enjoyed Rebecca and I think I’d even put Vertigo over this one, although all are very different movies.

The Sting (#93) – A decent movie about a couple of con men. The story had me going and the twists were good enough to keep me wondering. However, I think the problem with this one, and it’s the problem with most movies like it, is that everything just fell into place too well. Personally, I wouldn’t have this film in my top 100 or even my top 250. I was very surprised to see this win Best Picture, then again so did Titanic.

Paths of Glory (#44) – Yet another Kubrick film. Almost all commentary I’ve seen on this one bills it as an “anti-war” movie. I disagree. I think this movie is much more a film about human nature and personal ambition more than it is an indictment on war. It was certainly a movie I didn’t expect. While the movie it short (89 min), it flew by and was over before I knew it. Anyhow the movie is about a criminal lawyer-turned colonel in the French Army during WWI. He is given an impossible task for his troops to compete and when they fail, is troops are tried for cowardice. He requests to defend them at their court marshal. I thought this was another great movie. And I recommend it.

The Prestige (#89) – A movie about two competing magicians but more about obsession. A very good movie, but very complex. I think I need to see this one at least one more time in order to get my head around it all. The story itself isn’t that complicated, it’s basically a story about jealousy and obsession, but catching the details of the story can be difficult. It doesn’t help that the story doesn’t always flow chronologically. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the story was non-linear (when I think non-linear, I think Pulp Fiction) but more like linear with some hiccups. Anyhow, this is a great drama. I do recommend this one.

Full Metal Jacket (#92) – Yet another Kubrick, this one about Vietnam. A good movie with a lot of powerful images. Really enjoyed how He started out with new Marines going through basic training and followed a few through their journey through their tour. Although this was about an era that was before my time and I have no first hand experience, the film seemed very authentic to me. This movie has quite a bit of gore, but if you are a fan of all the war movies on this list, I’m sure you’ll like this one.