How about letting us know if you have any comments about any of these films and about what you have been watching at home or in the theater?
Food, Inc. - 2008. Renews my urge to phase out meat and poultry from my diet and to either move to Europe or become an anti-corporate activist. Did not really cover new territory for me, but very well done. I have reviewed my mutual fund materials to make sure they do not own Monsanto shares. Continuing my inclination toward documentary, I give this 3.7.
Pride and Prejudice - 1995. Jane Austen again, this time by the BBC and A&E. Well done as expected. It is interesting that these older shows made for TV were actually filmed in wide screen format, so now they can be released that way on DVD. This DVD however, seems not to have been recorded in the highest quality format, but is definitely worth watching, rating my 3.5. Smarmy Parson Collins is particularly a kick.
Julie & Julia - 2009. Though I am not a "foodie", this was still fun. Being a blogger helped me appreciate that aspect of Julie, played by Amy Adams, a young actress I look forward to seeing in movies. I have had a problem with Meryl Streep recently, felling she is acting too hard, but she was great as Julie's impression of Julia. The message of transforming oneself was obviously there, and maybe some women related strongly to that aspect, but for an old man it did not resonate much. Nevertheless it was fun and worth a 3.2.
Missing - 1982. Young idealist disappears in aftermath of American assisted Chilean coup. Father Jack Lemon goes to look for him and has to work with daughter-in-law Sissy Spacek, with whom he has more than a generation gap. Starts a little confusing but then gets clearer. Politics are not much explained beyond implication that right wing junta overthrew a democracy. Change in relationship of Lemon and Spacek is well played and I would like to have seen more of that and less of the dealing with stonewalling, but the movie was intended by Cost-Gavras to educate Americans to what had happened. I give it 3.1.
All That Heaven Allows - 1955. Douglas Sirk is one of those unsung directors who other directors admire. When he fled the Nazis to come to the US, his European accomplishments were unknown here and he was never given major films to direct. Taken as the melodramas they appear to be, these films seem competently made but unremarkable. This Criterion DVD includes
a rare interview with Sirk and an insightful essay by Fassbinder on how to observe the greater depths of Sirk's films. Worth a look to see what other directors admire, I give it 3.0.
Who Am I This time? - 1981. A Kurt Vonnegut story, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring young actors Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken, presented by PBS on American Playhouse, this slightly offbeat tale of two shy people being brought out by acting in a community theater rates a 3.
The Promise - 2007. A Filipino valentine movie of childhood love being challenged by the reality of growing up, starring heart throbs who did not look like the Filipinos I know, this is the first film I recall seeing from the Philippines. Fairly competently done, with an impressive performance by the female lead, the story as explained in the special features with the girl being seduced by a life of affluence, did not come across that way to me in the movie, where it appeared she was intimidated into acceptance. Worth a look to see something from the P.I., at 2.9.
Mad Men - Season 1 Disk 1 - 2007. This series starts in 1959, the year I graduated from high school. The time capsule scenic touches are generally accurate, but the expressions of sexism and ethnic prejudice sometimes feel a little planted. African Americans play the menial roles with enough subtlety to make me wish they were followed as prime characters. But the series is instead about the ruthless and sleazy white males in the high stakes advertising game and the women in their lives. These are all very unappealing people and I am not much interested in following their lives, so do not expect to watch more. I also bailed out on the Sopranos after a couple seasons because I found the characters all pretty disgusting. Shows about people without redeeming qualities are not ones I want to spend time on, even if they are well done. I give this a 2.8, because if you like this sort of thing, it is not bad, and honestly, I may consider watching a few more episodes down the line to see if some character comes along or develops for me to care about. If you watched this series and can offer encouragement, please do so.
Jan and I took our 11 year old granddaughter to see The Princess and the Frog. Excellent! The three of us thoroughly enjoyed it. The animation was superb and witty; the dialogue was heartwarming and witty; the songs were entertaining and witty; the ending was not a twist but a nice surprise.
ReplyDeleteI recommend this movie to anyone whose range is broader than Avatar which I also recommend. You don't need an 11 year old granddaughter or daughter to enjoy this movie.
Our grandkids are in the 3 to 6 year range, so movie options are more limited. Their parents have acquired DVD collections for them and they also know where to find what they like using Comcast free on demand. I confess I am not much interested in watching this fare. I look forward to them getting a little older, so they can understand more sophisticated movies and we can enjoy watching them together and talking about them. I know it is possible to discuss simpler movies with younger children, but it has less appeal to me. I wonder if anyone in our generation went to movies with their grandparents.
ReplyDeleteOf those listed this week, I the only one I have seen is Julie & Julia and I enjoyed it. I normally find Meryl a bit annoying (I think you nailed it with the whole overacting thing) but thought she was fantastic in this.
ReplyDeleteI gave Mad Men a shot, seeing as it became THE talked about series with the end of Sopranos and The Wire. Really, I don't see what all the hype is about. I just am not interested in the characters I guess.
The YouTube clip, Mad Men in 60 Seconds pretty much sums it up. I'd post here, but it won't allow me to.
You haven't tried out The Wire yet, have you Dad? I can't recommend it highly enough.
John, which version of avatar did you see? I'm curious if the type of theatre and one's seat in that theatre had any bearing on enjoyment.
ReplyDeleteI saw it in Imax, sitting about halfway up and to the left facing the screen. I enjoyed the film but found it a bit too blurry and the 3-D didn't pop as much as I expected.
I've heard that the blurriness may be a result of it being converted to Imax and that some found it more crisp in Dolby 3D. Also I guess sitting in the middle would have been better,
My recent viewing:
ReplyDeleteAvatar - Quite a spectacle; plot is Pocahontas with slower pacing.
The Hurt Locker - Good, but overrated. Hurt by its lack of believability/authenticity, though for some reason people hail it for being realistic.
Adventureland - Really enjoyed. Teen, summer coming of age film set in mid-1980s Pittsburgh.
The Invention of Lying - Awful.
Funny People - Liked it. A long comedy that goes a bit deeper than an average film of this genre. Eric Bana has a fantastic bit part as spot on jacked up Aussie.
Zombieland - Loved it. Won't win any awards but this is 89 minutes of pure fun. Woody Harrelson is hilarious and should do more comedy.
Big Fan - Interesting concept, but at the end of the day kind of slow.
Up in the Air - Another one that is a bit overrated. I like George Clooney in comedies and like his unlikable character in this. I enjoyed it, but don't see what the fawning praise is about.
Paranormal Activity - Dumb yet creepy at times. Though to be honest the characters are so annoying you can't help but want them to die a painful death.
Various Louis Theroux documentaries -- Love his stuff and his style. Most recently saw one where he lives with those people at the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas -- the God Hates Gays funeral picketers.
Chris, We watched Avatar in 3D in a "normal" theater, not IMAX. I did not find the images blurry at all, but I agree that the 3D did not "pop". I took that as a good thing, the producers made the story the focus of the movie, not the 3D effects.
ReplyDeleteTom, I don't understand your entry. Are you saying that the Princes and the Frog is not sophisticated or are you saying that you look forward to the time when you can watch a sophisticated movie like the Princess and the Frog with them?
I look forward to the time when I can watch more sophisticated movies with my grandchildren. The Princess and the Frog sounds like one to put on that list.
ReplyDeleteChris, what are movie theaters like in Bangkok? When you watch American movies, they must have Thai subtitles. Do you find that distracting?
ReplyDeleteChris:
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to Mad Men in 60 seconds.
The Wire must really be good. Everyone seems to recommend it and the Netflix prediction for me is 3.6. But I am just not drawn at this time to spending time with drug pushers and cops. I tried the first episode a couple years back and decided I did not want to go there. The surprisingly few reviews at Netflix are glowing. It may be that I feel burned out on the crime and cops genre from having watched Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blues for years - a case of the Blues blues. I have skipped all cop TV series since those, even though many received good ratings and reviews. Maybe some blog readers can tell me what they personally like about The Wire, beyond the standard police and crime aspects, to encourage me to give it another try.
I checked your list of movies at Netflix. Most are recent releases, and the Flix predictions for those are often inflated because the first raters are usually fans. Nevertheless, Flix predicted only a few I would like: Avatar, Hurt Locker, Up in the Air and Zombieland. The middle two have genre appeal to me.
I do not know Louis Theroux. Apparently he is BBC and not really shown here. Neither Flix nor the library seem to have any of his films. I see there are a few that can be watched on line, so I may give that a try, particularly when and if I do my computer upgrade to make it more pleasant to watch movies on the desktop.
Theaters in Bangkok are nicer than those in the U.S. Most are fairly new and are in great condition. They give you plenty of options of different seat types, from single seats to honeymoon love seats to, my favorite, lazy boy recliners that come with a pillow and blanket.
ReplyDeleteThe best part is that all seats are assigned, so you don't have the rush to get the best seat or have to worry about saving seats. When you buy your ticket there's a computer screen with all the seats and you pick the ones you want. If there aren't any you want left, you can buy for later shows. You can do this online as well.
They do all have Thai subtitles, but it isn't distracting. You kind of forget they're there.
To be honest though, I don't really go to the theater that much. I watched all of those movies above at home, except Avatar. We have other ways of getting movies here.
I think you would really like Louis Theroux. Strange that his stuff isn't available in the states, seeing as that's the focus of so much of his work.
ReplyDeleteGood profile here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2007/sep/30/featuresreview.review14
I'm not watching anything this week except a series of beautiful rains delivered by the god El Nino to us through the Pacific Northwest. It's been years since we have seen rains like these. A few minutes ago my neighbor was loudly singing in the rain as he pulled his garbage can out to the front for pickup tomorrow. He saw me watching him and cheerfully called to me, "isn't this beautiful?" Yes was my heartfelt reply.
ReplyDeleteChris, what is your home theater setup like and if you watch movies sometimes on your computer, how is that set up?
ReplyDeleteI looked at the Theroux interview. I'll have to look more to see if he is on TV somewhere I can get. Maybe he is on a channel that is not in my package.
John, it is Sunny here this morning. Our weather has been showers and in the mid 50s. Crocus are up and it feels like an early Spring is coming. Your neighbor singing in the rain sounds like he is doing an impression of Gene Kelly in the movie of the same name. Some winters the rain gets old, but I love the smell of a shower.
ReplyDeleteJan and I watched Julie and Julia this week. Jan had seen it once but wanted me to see it, so watched it for a second time, rare for her. Like Tom and Chris I enjoyed it, and I found Julia's life far more interesting than Julie's, maybe the old man thing that Tom spoke of. Unlike Tom and Chris, I like Meryl Streep as an actress very much and thought she was coasting in this movie. But she seemed to be having as good a time making the movie as I had watching it.
ReplyDeleteJan and I have a special fondness for Julia Child. A couple of years ago I bought a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume 1 at a used bookstore and began cooking some of the old recipes. (My original copy went with my first wife.) Jan has her own impression of Julia which never fails too bring laughs when she gets into it.
To clarify, I think Meryl Streep is a very good actress. My problem with her is that I have become so familiar with some of the techniques she uses (e.g. lots of business with her hands), that I often see the techniques and actress using them rather than the character she is portraying. As Julia, she was doing a caricature and she nailed it. Julia is so distinctive it is hard to resist launching into a quick imitation when her name is brought up. But I have never tried to imitate her cooking.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have a home theatre set up. Just a 29 inch TV.
ReplyDeleteSame with the computer, which I often watch stuff on. Just use headphones and watch it while lying on the bed. I do this more with TV Shows than movies.
Being a condo person, even if I had a nice theatre, I'd worry about bugging the neighbors. I can hear the bass from the guy downstairs.
Wouldn't mind a nice TV though.
I was having trouble with dialogue being drowned out by music and other sounds on DVDs, and Seth told me I should get a center dialogue speaker. I found that a home theater set up with an up to date 5.1 receiver, dialogue speaker, sub woofer, front stereo speakers and two rear surround speakers was about the same price as buying a few speaker upgrades piece meal. Having to keep the volume low would reduce the fun though.
ReplyDeleteI like having a wide screen TV to capture the full picture without letter boxing. Some old DVDs released before wide screen TVs became popular have a picture letterboxed on all four sides. I use the zoom button on my TV remote and the picture fills the screen with only a slight loss on the edges.
My 42" TV is only 720P, but the picture looks great to me. I don't think a 1080 is necessary unless the picture is 50". I am considering a Blu Ray DVD player with Netflix streaming and then could try Blu Ray DVDs to see if they make any difference on the 720, and maybe upgrade an old CRT TV room to HD 1080.
For HD TV watching, I am thinking of renting an HD DVR.