‘Tis the season for Holiday films. Though I don’t celebrate Christmas in any religious sense, I do love the Holidays sans all the bullsh*t that comes with feeling obligated to spend time with and money on people you don’t like. I can go on a tirade about it here, but I won’t. Rather, I’d like to share some Holiday cheer with a list of my favorite Holiday films. Continue reading
There are some movies I am truly embarrassed to say I absolutely love and would and can watch, again and again. Guilt pleasure films are the best. Staying home on a week night, friday or saturday night to watch something as cheesy as My Girl because you actually want to is not something you can confess to just anyone. But hey. You’re reading this blog because you love film, so I am amongst friends. If not, stifle your laughter until you finish reading the entire post…at least.
Here are some of my favorite, embarrassing films: Continue reading
I love biographical films of famous people and real events. One of my favorites ever is Coal Miner’s Daughter starring Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn. I also love reading biographies though, more often than not films take artistic license where biographies are much closer to fact. With that said, reading a biography on a person you admire can be daunting if she or he turns out to be a horrible person. At least in film, you can convince yourself that because it’s only “based on a true story”, if your idle is shown in a bad light, you can chalk it up to artistic license and skewed perspective. Either way, there’s something fascinating about dramatic depictions of real life people. It gives you a peek into a “real” life, and can give you solace if you see someone famous (or not so famous) go through the same stuff you’ve gone through and it also just humanizes “stars” as people and nothing more. Besides, the best drama is always the non-fictitious kind.
So, here are some of my favorite “based on a true story” films; or “biopics”: Continue reading
So I’ve been on a winning streak. The last handful of films I’ve seen in the past couple of months have been quite good. Perhaps 2 (Michal Clayton and Elizabeth) out of all of them were not what I would have liked but they were well done. Perhaps by writing this article I will jinx my streak, but whatever. I’ll risk it. I think I’ll be ok since the next film I’m planning to see this weekend is American Gangster. There are a couple of other films like The Golden Compass that I’m looking forward to seeing once released. There are also a couple of other films like The Assassination of Jesse James, Darjeeling Limited, Lust Caution and Eastern Promises that I have yet to see and are out in the theaters now. So many films. So little time! Continue reading
In the past month I was reminded why I just love, love, love movies and why I want a career in the film industry (behind the scenes) some time in the future. I saw 4 mainstream films (Live Free or Die Hard, Ocean’s Thirteen, Hairspray and Bourne Ultimatum) in the past 6 weeks and 3 out of 4 of them I loved. The other (Ocean’s 13) simply sucked. That’s saying something since mainstream films these days can be so bloody awful. I got to thinking why I love movies because I felt reawakened to my appreciation for how film can make me feel. Die Hard, Bourne and Hairspray were all great, fun and substance-filled (quel supris!!) films that made me want to watch them again as soon as I left the theaters. It’s rare that a mainstream film can conjur such a feeling in me. So, what is it about movies in general I love?
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There’s an old movie theater, The Grand Lake Theater that shows current releases. Sometimes blockbusters and sometimes independent film. Grand Lake Theater’s been around since 1926. It was originally a Vaudeville Show and Silent Movie House. But some time in 1928 The Grand Lake Theater became part of the Fox Theater chain and became a movie house. Though the marquis and the architecture is true to form of 1920s movie houses, they don’t charge 1920s prices. Not that they should, but it would be nice to occasionally experience a bad film and shrug it off ’cause you only paid a buck or two or at least got something free or cheap from the concession stand. Enter “Free Popcorn Wednesdays this Spring” at The Grand Lake Theater. This was put on the marquee a few weeks ago and I got to thinking what it would take to experience that good old theater experience. You know, an exciting film that dares to actually be, I don’t know, good enough not to want to torch the place after spending $9 for a ticket to a film that you could have shat out of your arse for free. I got to thinking, it’s a shame that beautiful theaters can so often go to waste on such ugly films. I got to thinking, about those few, oh so very few times I watched a film in that theater or even a very nice modern theater and had a truly exceptional filmgoing experience. I got to thinking, what makes a filmgoing experience exceptional and what can make one horrible?
**Here’s what I think makes a great film experience feel like an unexpected but unbelievably welcomed orgasm:
I watched 300 last weekend (see review) and got to thinking about Troy, and how one frame of 300 was better than all frames in Troy. I mean, you couldn’t make a worse period film if you shat one out of your arse. But, I did like the idea of the film. I like the story of Troy, Paris and Achilles. So I got to thinking, I wish, and hope some better director comes up with a better version of Troy, or Paris or Achilles. I got to thinking then about some other films I would love to see remade perhaps because it was bad, and perhaps because I’m curious about what a modern adaptation might look like.
Here are some remakes or better adaptations I would love to see:
Looking ahead it seems like 2007 will be another ho-hum year for film with the occasional, possibly refreshing film worthy of anticipation. I remember waiting almost a year and half for Brokeback Mountain to come out when I first learned of the film at imdb.com a couple of years back. Just after watching X-Men back in 2000, I remember already looking forward to seeing the next installment. I love anticipating the release of a film. It’s exciting to look forward to a cinematic event. But it’s just as disheartening when the anticipation proves unfruitful. Yet, it’s a risk even watching a film you haven’t had much time to anticipate. Anyway, there seems to be a few films I can reasonably look forward to seeing this year. Some I’ve known of for a while and others I’ve just learned about.
In no particular order, here are a few films I look forward to watching this year (2007):
