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I'm the blogger, Tom Blake
I live near Seattle and am retired and watch movies on DVD and some streaming through the public library, and also via cable TV including Amazon Prime. Over the years I have seen thousands of movies and my tastes have narrowed based on my experience and personal preferences. Documentaries and foreign films continue to interest me more than the kinds of movies shown in US movie theaters.
In my college days I discovered foreign art house films and did a lot of reading about movie making. I used to fantasize about becoming a director, but never got beyond the home movie level.
I like to watch a movie and then talk about it with my viewing companions, but nowadays I watch a lot of movies alone. When my daughter Anna used to watch with me, we usually got into a discussion, so she suggested I start this blog as a vehicle for on line sharing and dialogue.
In the last couple years this blog has morphed into more of a place for me to keep a record of what I have been watching, with my personal rating and a brief summary of the movie.
In my college days I discovered foreign art house films and did a lot of reading about movie making. I used to fantasize about becoming a director, but never got beyond the home movie level.
I like to watch a movie and then talk about it with my viewing companions, but nowadays I watch a lot of movies alone. When my daughter Anna used to watch with me, we usually got into a discussion, so she suggested I start this blog as a vehicle for on line sharing and dialogue.
In the last couple years this blog has morphed into more of a place for me to keep a record of what I have been watching, with my personal rating and a brief summary of the movie.
Last night we watched Chocolat (the Juliette Binoche/Johnny Depp flavor). It was a strange experience because, although I was the only one who had ever seen it before, Seth and I have the soundtrack and are very familiar with all of the music in the film. It's a cute film that starts off a little dangerously whimsical and precious but quickly redeems itself. The characters aren't as one-dimensional as they could be and the movie is visually noteworthy (underexposed vignetted interiors, hazy exteriors lit with diffused light; sassy period costumes; a lovely shade of blue that keeps cropping up--on door panels, in cardigans). Overall, a pretty light, but happy-making experience.
ReplyDelete(I know its corny, but I couldn't keep myself from nibbling on a bar during the show--New Tree's Pleasure--yummy.)
Yesterday I watched a documentary that had aired on PBS Point of View, "What I Want My Words to Do to You",about a writing workshop for inmates of a maximum security prison for women in upstate New York. Eve Ensler conducts the workshops, encouraging the offenders to write about their lives, their crimes and their feelings.
ReplyDeleteI was quite moved by the stories of these women and how they struggle with playing the blame game and handling their own feelings of guilt and low self-esteem. Readings of the writings were given before an inmate audience by well-known actresses, but that was the weakest part of the movie. It was seeing the inmates themselves read what they wrote that had the greatest impact, followed by the look on their faces as they listened to an actress read their words.
Most of these women had murdered a man and the realization that most of them had been abused themselves gave rise to empathy for their inner conflict over blame and guilt.
I've been watching too many TV series lately, most recently the first two seasons of Californication with David Duchovny of X-Files fame. But now with this blog, I'll have to start watching a few more films (maybe even a few written ones to make me look smart).
ReplyDeleteMost recent film I've watched was the extremely high minded Role Models. OK, it's a dumb comedy in the current Judd Apatow style of pop comedy, but I liked it.
Simple storyline, two guys sentenced to community service have to become big brothers to quirky kids or risk jail time. Hijinks and personal growth ensue. It sounds pretty bad, I know, but they pulled it off well.
Bonus points for starring McLovin from Superbad fame. Apparently he looks like a younger version of me and people here tease me about it. I take it as a compliment.
TV series move so they are welcome here. I have tried to find some old sleepers, unknown to me. I have not had much luck with older non-classic comedy movies. They don't seem to hold up well for me. The gross out ones leave me cold - I guess I have finally outgrown them - but I am open to trying to rediscover that part of my youth. Is this the McLovin of whom you speak?
ReplyDeleteTis him indeed.
ReplyDeleteJan and I and friends actually went to a movie theater last week. We saw Men Who Stare at Goats. It is a dumb movie, but I laughed out loud several times. I can't recommend it, but I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteThe movie has a famous cast including George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey. I wonder what they all saw in the script that made them want to sign up.
I especially like George Clooney as a comic actor. He starred in one of my favorite movies of all times: O Brother, Where art Thou. It is loosely based on the Odyssey. I highly recommend this movie.
Now that I bring up the Odyssey, I think about another chain in this blog, the one regarding fantasy. Certainly the Odyssey is a fantasy, or is it? I recently listened to a Teaching Company course on Famous Greeks. The second lecture was on the Illiad and the third was on the Odyssey. The professor essentially said that it was immaterial whether Homer was writing history or fantasy because later Greeks thought it was history, thereby shaping their history.
I like all the actors you mentioned, though Netflix predicts I would not like the movie. Maybe one reason the actors agreed to be in the picture was for the fun of working together. Another reason is that it was easy money.
ReplyDeleteI also really like "O Brother", but did not know of the Odyssey connection, probably because the Odyssey is still Greek to me. I don't really know what it is about. I liked the movie because of the bluegrass songs and the fun and simplistic characters confronting serious issues and getting clobbered by them, while still maintaining that plucky American spirit.
The history tales that get the greatest circulation are written by those in power. Those out of power who care enough to investigate for themselves, conclude much of the prevailing accounts are fantasy. Most people don't care enough to investigate, so they accept the power holder version, perhaps with a grain of salt here and there.
How do you like the movie theater experience? My friend Joe goes to matinees about once a week and says he has to sit in the back row, because he finds people sitting behind him are often rude and inconsiderate. I guess this is like letting tailgaters pass you - better to be behind them than to have them on your tail. I have not been to a theater for several years, and I don't miss the experience.
We watched The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Jan picked it out from Netflix because she thought I would like it. She was right. I liked it right up to the ending, a twist ending, and, like most twist endings, I didn't like it because I thought it violated the sense and mood of the rest of the movie.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the movie, I read what some critics had to say about it. A couple of them agreed with me, but another liked the ending because he saw it as a metaphor for the holocaust.
While watching the movie I thought of Forbidden Games that you and I saw decades ago, Tom. Both movies are about the Nazi terror and both are about the innocence of the young characters. The innocence of Bruno in the Striped Pyjamas was derided by one critic as faux-naivete, and he also mocked the British accents of the German father and mother.
I don't know if I agree that most twist endings violate the sense and mood of what came ahead, but I don't watch that many movies with twist endings. Or at least I don't think I do, but that may depend on your definition of a twist. I think a twist is something more convoluted that just an unexpected ending. Sometimes I think too much about where a movie is headed, but that is my nature - I do the same with life. Sometimes watching a movie with Susan I find myself announcing my thoughts on what is going to happen, almost as if to prove my savvy. I just asked her if she thinks I predict movie developments to excess and if she finds it annoying, and she answered no to both.
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was watching a movie that obviously was going to have a twisted ending completely in character with what had been playing out, and I was so proud of my cleverness in guessing it, that I paused the movie for a few minutes until Susan came home and then gave her a quick plot run down topped with my delicious ending. I then hit play, finished the movie and was totally deflated that not only had I guessed wrong, but the movie just ended flat, without any twist, totally out of character with all the mysterious plot elements that had transpired.
I liked the Pajamas movie, and especially the ending, which to me was the culmination of what the movie was about. Youth and innocence are the chief victims of war. I gave Forbidden Games five stars, which I did not lower after watching it again a couple years ago (but before the February 2006 beginning date of my ratings list posted on this blog). The movie begins with war playing a major role, but then moves to the area of youngsters trying to comprehend adult rituals in general and those involving death in particular. It helped that the guitar theme was so evocative and that little Brigitte Fossey was so totally lovable.
Movies about children can mix reality and fantasy comfortably, since that is how childhood works. Since we all children once, we can relate to the childish viewpoint, while sometimes seeing the irony that the adults can often be more childish than the kids.
The subject of accents in movies deserves a posting of its own, so I have put it on my list for the future.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that this posting should be kept current and anyone following this blog should be encouraged to contribute. How else will I know what movies to see?
My question sort of answers another posting you had that is also dormant. It was something like "How do you decide what movies to watch". My answer to that is simple. I either watch movies my wife wants me to watch or I get ideas from other people I respect. Hence this blog would be a good source.
On Christmas day Jan and I went to the movies. I found out later that we were part of a record setting one day attendance at movie theaters. I believe it. We arrived 30 minutes early for a showing of Sherlock Holmes. It was sold out! I was quite surprised. We bought tickets for the next showing, went home, had a glass of wine, and returned to the theater 30 minutes before the showing. We entered a line that was quite long, but, happily we did not have to wait long before it began moving. We had to take seats in the third row which pleased me but irritated Jan.
The movie began after the seemingly never-ending previews of upcoming movies. I hate all those previews, but Jan loves them.
Finally the movie began and almost immediatley I was turned off. I love the Sherlock Holmes stories and the thoughtful understated dramatizations of the stories on PBS. But this movie is a parody of the Sherlock Holmes tradition, a parody that I did not enjoy. As I watched the movie, I felt I was watching a Batman and Robin movie: great special effects that were not special; characters with no real personality; a dissipated Sherlock accurately depicted, but an unbelievable depiction of Sherlock as a martial artist with great strength and stamina.
Well, Jan loved the movie, but I came away with the feeling that the audience was let down, the movie did not meet expectations.
In the middle of the movie, we heard a strange noise nearby. After some thought and looking around, I discovered it was the person next to me snoring. I wanted to give him a hug for his perceptive analysis of this movie.
The day after Christmas we took our grandson to see Avatar, an example of a grandather trying to find something in common with his grandson as this movie was pure science fiction, a genre I have never liked. Of course Grandma was was excited about the entire prospect: spending quality time with her grandson and watching a movie she was sure to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWhen we arrived at the theater we discovered the advertised time in the newspaper was wrong. And Jacob noted that this theater did not have the 3D version, and that's the one we should see. Our plans for a good time with our grandson were now totally scrambled, but Jacob was good enough to say he would like to join us tomorrow.
Sunday we were ready. We went to the theater that was showing the 3D version in plenty of time to get a good seat. I was happy that my logisitics were good, and knowing this was a long movie, was prepared to doze off like the guy sitting next to me in the Sherlock Holmes movie yesterday.
The usually interminable previews were very short, probably because of the length of the movie, much to my pleasure. Once the movie started, I was immediately captivated by the beautiful computer generated wilderness scenes. This feeling of pleasure lasted through the entire long movie. The story is an unbelievable aacount of a human projecting his spirit into a robot long distances away, but I believed it when I watched it, and it was touching and fun.
I have read criticisms of the movie as another example of art depicting the white man as the savior of a people persecuted by the white man, an attempt to exonerate the evils the white men have done.
I don't buy this criticism. The movie is a science fiction fantasy that hits the mark. It is just pure fun to watch.
So my comments could have been posted under your science fiction postings that are also dormant. I think I responded that I don't watch science fiction because I find it boring.
Nothing is simple as that. I consider the movie Sherlock Holmes to be science fiction, or, at least, pure fantasy. I hated it. I expected to hate Avatar because it is pure science fiction, but I loved it.
Maybe the genre is not important, only the artistry in the production.
I like the idea of a current place here for posting recommendations based on recent viewings. I get movies from the library once a week, so could post brief notes each week on what I watched and others could comment on what they just watched. I could use a standard graphic and title such as "Watched This Week".
ReplyDeleteJohn, you are certainly doing your part to support the motion picture and theater industries. I'm with you that sitting as close as comfortable in a theater is best. I like previews for ideas of movies to check into, and watching them on DVD allows fast skipping the losers. The mystery genre is of little interest to me. I think the Sherlock Holmes tales are almost a self parody - it's elementary my dear John. I doze off watching movies late at night, but do it in the privacy of my home, which also affords the opportunity to back up the DVD when I come to.
Avatar sounds like a phenomenon.I wonder how 3D movies are going to be handled on DVD. I'll wait a little while for viewer input and then see what rating Netflix predicts for me. The first raters of new movies tend to rate higher than normal
ReplyDeleteHow old is your grandson and how often does he watch movies with you?