A Stolen Idea

I can attribute the basic origin of this project to something that happened almost four years ago: I had the love of lists instilled in me by a close friend in college at a time when all my other acquaintances were quickly dropping out of school to play video games. She showed me what I think all Type-A overachievers (something I am most certainly not) know very well: lists are holy. Now that I've spent some amount of time out of that wheelhouse of scheduled classes and deadlines I get the feeling that I'm becoming less of a good person. Less of a list-maker-type. As I currently study for the PRAXIS and look into getting a degree in education I've quickly come to realize that though I've devolved at a later point than those undergrad friends I have still become the slacker ideal. Much of my entire life has been spent in pursuit of instant gratification, but now that I don't have the constant requirement to write I've been left with more time to spend getting head shots in Modern Warfare 2, reading the newest Audrey Niffenegger novel or Joe Hill comic, listening to the leaked Vampire Weekend album, and watching whatever it is that the Criterion Collection tells me I should be watching. That all sounds like harmless, good fun on the surface. I'm frightened of it becoming all that I am.

The final push that lead to the inception of what I'm hoping to do here was a post on the blog of the estimable Jeff Green, Greenspeak. It's only out of guilt and the threat of being caught that I point out that I've in fact lifted this project wholly from his most recent post (pointless footnote: the name I chose for this blog is being used by someone that has not used their address in around three years, which was also the case with Jeff when he started his blog, and is surely a crime).

The important facts: I want to keep writing but need an excuse; this gives it to me. I'm not going to become a monk and suddenly give up my hobbies but I do want to cut back and refine my habits and at the very least make them more worthwhile. It's no coincidence that this is happening at the start of a new year. My Netflix queue currently sits at over 500 movies and television shows that I have varied interest in seeing and though I haven't done the math on how long it will take, just being confronted with the list (lists!!!) every time I visit the site is daunting. Putting all these facts together, vis-à-vis the stolen idea from Greenspeak, I have decided to chronicle my film watching for the next year by writing my very basic impressions of what I watch. It's the hope that what I'm going to do here will motivate me to be more focused on the act of film watching as well as remembering what I've seen and incentivize me to maybe be more judicious in what I spend my time doing, watching movies or otherwise (making me the well rounded "good catch" for some lucky girl out there, right?). The final argument for movies rather than books, music, or video games for this overly complicated project is that it's the medium in which I've most recently come to adore and so I'll logically become less bored with this versus my other hobbies. There's also an efficiency to movies which will allow me to discuss more of them in a shorter amount of time. Plus there's the fact that my tastes are more likely to be in line with the average when it comes to films, which means more reason for people to read this.

Just to start things off I would like to state that my tastes lately have been for a lot of foreign drama and low budget independent pieces. This hasn't really been the status quo for me at all, and is more of a recent fad. Have no fear, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and the next Harry Potter are squarely at the top of what I want to see this year. Though you can expect to see more shit you've never heard of discussed here from time to time (is that a bad thing?) do not tremble overmuch kind souls for I love going to the movie theater and "shit you've never heard of" does not often play there.

Posts will be shorter in the future. I promise you. The formula for this might change up, but as it stands now each movie listed will come with links to the IMDB entry, the star rating I gave it on Netflix as well as when and how I watched it (the theater, DVD, etc.), and for comparison the Rotten Tomatoes percentage.

If there's something else you'd like to see done let me know!

1/1 Extract (2009) DVD, 3/5 stars, Rotten Tomatoes critic rating: 63%

Office Space does something simple very well. You can't help but remember the copier scene, the stapler, and the profuse "Yeaaah. . . I'm gonna need ya. . ."s. Mike Judge's newest comedy has a very similar subject and yet lacks almost all of that memorable flavor (doyougetitdoyougetit?! you see extracts are made for flavoring). There's nothing terrible here (minus some strange but forgivable editing and pacing problems, something it does share with Office Space) and it has an adorable cast with J.K. Simmons, Kristen Wiig, and Mila Kunis fronted by Jason Bateman. And yet less than ten days after seeing it I can't recall a single hilarious element. A forgettable movie, but would be perfect for a date at the two dollar theater.

1/3 Che (2008) Netflix Watch Instantly, 5/5 stars, RT: Part 1 (The Argentine): 72%, Part 2 (Guerrilla): 76%, combined movie: 62%

With all the politics and news of cut funding and time I never thought I'd see Steven Soderbergh's epic Ernesto Guevara biopic released in America. I'd heard a lot of crazy stuff about select screenings of film around the world: standing ovations in Havana and protests in Miami. Having seen the movie I can understand both opinions. Che was really filmed as two seperate movies, the first part dealing with Che Guevara's rise to fame in the Cuban revolution, the second with his bumbling and failed attempt in Bolivia. Both parts are scarce on showing the man in much of a bad light, but a lot of that it just how much Benicio Del Toro makes you like his understated portrayal of Che. If you detach it from the politics (which is impossible), this is mostly a depressing war movie. I have a warm place in my heart for those. This one is often slow, but every scene with Del Toro (almost all of them) left me contented with and envious of his ability to present humanity when given such a difficult role. It's worth noting that I saw all four plus hours of this after only sleeping about as many and wasn't personally bored, but it might be more ennui than excitement for most.

1/3 A Christmas Tale (2008) DVD, 5/5 stars, RT: 86%

I saw this doubly late. It had a limited release in America during the holidays in 2008 and I heard a lot of good things from sources I trust. Unfortunately it didn't hit DVD until December 2009. I didn't receive my copy from Netflix until after the new year, just when all that Christmas flavor becomes tired. So in a pregnant and backwards way this movie was somehow really refreshing. A Christmas Tale is a family drama that I watched alone while my own family out of state on vacation. I liked Mathieu Amalric in the latest James Bond flick and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (also the beautiful Anne Consigny, present in both French movies) and was excited to see more, but Catherine Deneuve in the role of the plot-axial mother stole all the spotlight. I've not seen anything else with this absolutely legendary French actress, but now I totally want to. I'd only recommend this film to a select few, though. If The Royal Tenenbaums / Death at a Funeral + bourgeois French adult-angst and schadenfreude sounds good to you, give it a shot. Might I suggest Christmas 2010 after you've found a quiet moment away from your family?

1/5 The Seventh Seal (1959) Netflix Watch Instantly, 5/5 stars, RT: 93%

Death comes for a crusading knight who holds him off with a game of chess, hilarity ensues. Obviously the subject of the movie is often poignant and the film is considered historically and critically important for the entire art, but I honestly did not expect this to be so funny. And it's not just gallows humor; it has so much to say about acting, family, love, death, war, the church, faith, and on and on. I'm no Ingmar Bergman scholar (my friend Daniel is probably the closest that I know in this regard), but after watching The Seventh Seal I want to be. I so desperately want to be. Also, props to (500) Days of Summer for making me want to see this even more.

1/5 Trucker (2008) DVD, 4/5 stars, RT: 58%

This was just released on DVD. A very independent affair, complete with cheap DVD menus. Honestly, the only reason I gave this a shot was because it has Nathan Fillion. I feel in love with Michelle Monaghan, though. Now that I think about it, the kid wasn't bad either. I don't feel that I was deceived but it should be said that Trucker was more about motherhood and responsibility than about the life of a semi-trailer truck driver.

1/6 Solaris (2002) DVD, 4/5 stars, RT: 65%

I liked this film. I liked the original Andrei Tarkovsky version more. The subtext about heaven and hell is handled with less grace in Soderbergh's adaptation. I feel that if the idea was for the movie to be made more appealing to American audiences it should have dispensed more with the contemplative pacing and added some actual tension (something present in the 1970's Soviet era film and endemically lacking in the clean and polished years of the early 2000's). If you care at all about the story premise, watch both (and I'm told you should read the book, too).

1/6 I Like Killing Flies (2004) Netflix Watch Instantly, 5/5 stars, RT: 95%

This isn't an insult to New Yorkers, but with all my pretense and vanity I'd either fit right in or get my ass kicked in NYC. I was told to watch this student film-quality documentary if I liked people. I do like people. I saw the words "Jewish, Greenwich Village, comfort food, oddball resturant" and knew that I had to see this.

1/8 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) Netflix Watch Instantly, 4/5 stars, RT: 100%

I heard Patton Oswalt talking with Terry Gross on NPR about Martin Scorsese and realized that I hadn't yet seen all of his (Scorsese's) movies. Like a good dealer, Netflix hooked me up instantly with some well aged wine (pretty lame, as far as mixed metaphors go). This is early Scorsese, and before Taxi Driver. The story is that of a mother and a series of failed relationships with mostly abusive men while she attempts to provide for her eleven year old son. Not exactly what I expected in many ways. It's raunchy with language and dialogue (fine for Scorsese, but slightly shocking for the characters at first). The kid isn't very likable at times. Also of note: a twelve year old, hipster Jodi Foster.

1/8 Lorna's Silence (2008) DVD, 5/5 stars, RT: 86%

This is my favorite movie that I've seen this year. We'll see how long it manages to hold on to this spot. I'm not sure I could gush uncontrollably about this movie without giving away a lot of what it has to offer. I wasn't familiar with the directing team behind this, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, but I'm going to be watching everything else they create. I've read that they're known for realism within complicated situations, and that holds true here. Finally, I'm pretty level headed these days but I will admit that I found myself looking up Arta Dobroshi pictures on Google Image Search. What am I, fifteen? Maybe what I need right after watching all these depressing family focused dramas is a childish crush.

And so then our noble knight went off to slay more dragons and watch more DVDs. There's mail on Monday and I've got movies to watch before the postman comes. The quest never ends. See you next time!