I have a plan for this week. I just got in a stack of tapes from half.com and they take up a lot of space in the queue. Included in that stack are 2 Charlie Chaplins and a Marx Brothers, which are each about 90 min. Perfect for after work. Knocked one out tonight

I think I have a bit more appreciation for Charlie Chaplin now. I mentioned back when I wrote up City Lights that I'd seen that one once, and just didnt get it. But then on the second viewing I thought it was just beautiful. With Modern Times, I'd go from being really into it (cringing when he put on the rollerskates or the lady with the buttons on her dress walked by) to not paying attention at all. We know visual humor isnt my thing, and I dont really have much attention span for it. One of the beauties of this genre, however, is that even if my mind wanders, I can jump right back into it. I haven't missed out on some intricate subplot.

Was particularly captivated by Paulette Goddard as the gamin. Something about her opening scene stealing the bananas just got my attention. She just had such a (and forgive me for getting so hippy-like here) free and playful spirit. Prolly the best part of the movie for me.

I dont know, not much else to say about this one I guess. I think I woulda hated it a few months ago. But now I do enjoy this style, just preferably in small doses.

Im so giddy from watching this, I can't even decide where to start my write up. I must have seen this a hundred times growing up. My parents got me the tape as soon as it was released. I never quite understood why (guessing all the Academy Awards it won had something to do with it) but they just came home with it one day and handed it to me. I musta been about 8 or so, and so much of it just went over my head or I didnt understand it. Case in point, I only a couple years ago realized how Mrs. Gump got Forrest into that school. But I absolutely adore this movie. Along with LOTR, this is prolly my favorite movie on the AFI list going into the project. Back in about 4th grade I got this Kermit the Frog poster parodying the main Forrest Gump poster. It stayed up in my room until I left, then was up in my dorm room, and is currently up in my apartment under the toy hammock. I can't remember the last time I saw this, but I found myself reciting the lines along with the characters. And despite knowing full well everything that was gonna happen, I was nearly crying at the end (and we've established, Im not a cryer).

I know Im gushing. Deal with it. Its gonna keep coming.

I just love everything about this film. Its endearing and funny and dramatic and just so \m/ good. The cast is fantastic. Tom Hanks has been one of my absolute faves since the first time I saw this one. And I have nothing but mad respect for Sally Field and Gary Sinise. Also, I only recently realized that Jenny is Robin Wright (Penn) who's also Buttercup in Princess Bride. That just blew my mind when I found out, albeit rather late for someone claiming to be such a movie afficionado.

Another thing I never fully appreciated was how ground breaking the technology was. Seeing it when I was little, I didnt really think too much about it. If anything, I mighta believed some of the camera and technology tricks a little too much. But now, seeing all the flawless CGI (which even today more than 15 years later its tough to acheive) and the "historic" footage, its just awe inspiring.

Also worth mentioning, this is one of these rare cases where the movie is infinitely superior to the book. The only other that comes to mind is Big Fish, but that isn't such a glaring difference as this. If you haven't read Forrest Gump, please dont waste your time. I guess my big problem with it was that I grew up loving the movie, but two have very different intentions. While the movie is made to generate the warm fuzzies, the book was meant as satire. Gump was not a sympathetic character at all, and the things he did were even more over the top. Mad props to Eric Roth for the screenplay. If only he didnt try to recreate the exact same thing with nearly identical plot points in Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Okay, stopping now before I go on that rant.

Alrighty so I think I've driven home the point of how much this is a favorite of mine. I'll stop now.

Update: Forgot that I wanted to say something about the absolutely classic soundtrack. Growing up in a rather sheltered environment, with strict bans on what music I could listen to, I have this movie to thank for a good chunk of the classic rock that I know. There's some songs that I cant hear without picturing the scenes. Example: Anytime I hear "Free Bird" I always see Jenny in the sparkling halter standing on the ledge.

Here's another one I was a bit apprehensive about going into it. I've never particularly cared for Woody Allen. One of my so-called friends back in high school was pretty obsessive over him (Woody Allen : so-called friend :: Quentin Tarantino : Me) so I was forced to watch many of his films. At the point where it'd became clear that I just wasnt gonna get it, I tried as hard as I could to just fall asleep until it was over. I just didnt understand his humor, and I found him to be awkard to the point of being painful. Now, there have been some that I enjoyed, though I should point out I chose to watch those entirely of my own volition: Everyone Says I Love You and Vicky Christina Barcelona. However, I never really felt the need to give them a second viewing. I think I can add Annie Hall to that list.

Annie Hall has been heralded as Allen's best, and I can see why. All of his signature idiosyncrasies just fit perfectly. The witty dialogue and references weren't overly obscure. Im always in favor of talking to the audience, and I found those bits to be just brilliant.

This is another one of those, that Im glad to see so I can finally understand all of the references in other films and such. The one in particular that stands out is That 70's Show using the "removed" bit. Maybe now when I hear someone mention Annie Hall I'll actually picture Diane Keaton in the hat, vest, and tie instead of Laura Prepon.

Overall I'd say this was a win. Just dont expect me to turn into an actual Woody Allen fan, but I'll at least not be so quick to dismiss the idea of watching other films of his.

Hey I finally stayed awake thru a late Saturday AFI movie. Prolly could attribute that to two reasons. 1-I didnt pick a 3 hour movie this time. B-I really didnt pay much attention to the second half :-\

Its not really the movie's fault that it lost me. I just have trouble getting into westerns. I was more interested in reading Paul Newman's IMDB trivia than the long horse rides and chase scenes. Speaking of Newman, he's another one I've only recently started to get familiar with. I watch Cool Hand Luke for the first time a couple weeks ago, and between that and this Im now starting to understand why he's such a movie icon.

So yeah, I did like the cast. Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and even Katherine Ross (I just found out that she was Dr Thurman in Donnie Darko) were all fantastic. The other thing I found interesting was the soundtrack. Struck me as odd at first how they were using contemporary songs, but it actually worked quite well. Kinda made the movie a bit more approachable I guess.

Anyhoo, the plan is to get two more in later today. Haven't decided which two yet.

This movie made EW's list of 25 movies to see before the Oscars. Wasn't too sold on it from the trailer, so I figured I'd hold out until the nods were out. Given that it got two acting nods, and seeing it would mean I've seen all of the nominated performances I figured I'd best get my butt over to the theater. Luckily it opened at Coolige Corner this week, so I didnt have that much of a trek. While on the subject of the EW list, should point out that I'm at 23 of 25. Not much interest in the last two (Young Victoria and Bright Star) since they didnt really gain any nominations I _really_ care about.

This movie turned out to be quite the happy surprise. I was a bit apprehensive going in since again, trailers didnt impress me, and then I always feel outta place with the matinee crowds at indie theaters. As is usually the case, I was prolly the only one there of my age group, with prolly a 20 year gap to the next youngest. But I found it to be really funny and quite entertaining. I will say that I loved the first half more than the second half. It did kinda start losing me at that point, but the stuff that was good was really \m/ good.

Specifically, the best of that really \m/ good stuff would be Helen Mirren. Such an intense and commanding performance, and a great strong and somewhat quirky character. I see how she earned this year's Academy Award nomination, and now I hafta see her Oscar winning performance in The Queen. I dont think Last Station woulda been half as good without her.

Also adore James McAvoy. I knew regardless of how the movie ended up, he'd at least be my consolation prize. I just adore that boy, and I have so much respect for his balance between fun films and award winning films. I've always loved when an actor can find that perfect harmony between the two sides of Hollywood.

Didnt realize Paul Giamatti was in this one. I was gonna say that he's always so comfortable in period films, that you'd think he was born in the wrong century. However, I think its more that he's here now specifically to fit into those films. Not that he doesnt do a good job with films set in the present, but he's just more at home in the others.

I feel I should say something about Christopher Plummer, in the other Academy Award nominated role, but I dont really have much there. No complaints on his performance, but I wasn't particularly impressed with it. Yup, no problem conceding that award to Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds.

Anyways, I definitely recommend this one if it seems like your thing. If you're not into the older-set stuff (which Im typically not) dont feel too obligated to go. But if you are, then this is a must.

The Last Station - \m/ \m/ \m/

On schedule for the weekend so far. Woulda written this up just after I finished it, but I didnt wanna feel rushed. This was one of those that I was kinda sad I ended up renting it off Amazon instead of buying. I really would like to see this one again. Doesnt mean I can't add it to my DVD wishlist though...

I feel like I may be repeating myself from a previous entry, but I'll say this anyway. Dustin Hoffman has been one of my faves for a while now. One of the many reasons Im really stoked to be doing this AFI project is that I've gotten to see him in so many of his iconic roles: The Graudate, Midnight Cowboy, and now Tootsie. This wont be the last of him either. There's at least one more of his on the list. But he was just fabulous as Dorothy/Michael. When he was in drag, I not only forgot I was watching Hoffman, but I'd even forget I was watching a man. He was just that belivable at it.

Really, the whole thing felt more like I was watching Mrs Doubtfire for the first time than watching one of the films deemed to be the best by the American Film Institute. What I mean by that is that this didnt have that hint of stuffiness or formality that tends to go along with the other movies on the list. It felt more like I went to Blockbuster and grabbed whatever movie intrigued me. Does that make sense?

Great supporting cast. Really liked Bill Murray. It was a different yet familiar type of role for him. Points for Sydney Pollack as well, mostly just cause I like seeing him. While the girls were good as well, I have a hard time believing Jessica Lange won a supporting Oscar for that. Now I completely understand Hoffman getting his nod, but Lange's role just didnt feel like your typical Oscar bait. Granted, I haven't seen any of her competition for that year, but when you consider that the lead actress Academy Award went to Meryl Streep for Sophie's Choice, something really does seem odd.

But yeah, overall thoroughly enjoyed this one, especially as a theater geek. I guess that gave me an extra special appreciation for it.

As I mentioned on Twitter this movie's been sitting at the top of my queue for a while now. Reason being that its been there longest, so I tried to up its priority. But then with the whole work sucking donkey balls thing and then other choices fitting into available timeslots better, it kinda got pushed aside. Now I feel like such an idiot for doing that. It was soooo good.

Random fact about me that should be common knowledge by now: I like movies that are \m/ up. The more effed they are (provided that its sensical of course) the more I like it. Requiem For a Dream, Funny Games, American Psycho are just a few examples without thinking too hard about it. Now Sunset Blvd wasn't quite at that level, but it definitely had the same vibe. And back in its day, yeah it prolly was about as messed up as it gets.

Its not that the plot was all that insane. It had some of that sure, Joe being trapped in the mansion, the weird creepy cougar relationship with Norma, but it was just the feel of the movie. The whole time you could just sense something was off, nearly to the point of being uncomfortable watching. But for me, that just draws me in more. Im practically salivating, so anxious to find out what happens next.

And Gloria Swanson's performance as Norma really gave me the heebie jeebies as well. Not quite the same kind as Norman Bates, who we discussed a few days ago, but I think she'd be the one of the two more likely to give me nightmares. I guess overly strong women just scare me. Dont get me wrong, Norma (haha just realized the name similarity there) is a \m/ great character, but not one that I'd want to encounter again. Whereas I can watch Bates in Psycho repeatedly.

So yeah guess we can add this to the list of movies that makes me happy for the AFI project. Otherwise, I prolly never woulda ever seen it

Before there was Dexter Morgan, and before Patrick Bateman, there was Norman Bates. Gee, I wonder how many other people use a simliar line to start their reviews or write ups (as I prefer to call mine) of Psycho?

Im operating under the assumption that anyone who hasn't seen this movie has already be spoilt for most of it. If thats not the case, I envy your for being able to see this film as it was intended, and I very much encourage you to take the next opportunity to do so, and stop reading this write up now. I'll give you spoiler space.
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My God, I \m/ love this movie. Shouldnt surprise those of you who know me that I really do have a thing for serial killers, and Norman Bates is certainly the king of 'em all (although I think Patrick Bateman might be my personal fave). I dont even know where to start. Okay, lets go with Bates himself first. So fantastically played by Anthony Perkins. Throughout the majority of the movie, he's just someone I wanna have a conversation with. Seems like such a sweet and loveable guy, and then OMG he's crazy?! And that last shot of him still creeps me out every time I see it. With or without the superimposed skull of his mother. Gaaahhh

I think this goes without saying, but Hitchcock is just absolutely \m/ brilliant as a suspense director. I've seen this movie several times, know exactly whats going to happen, and I could still feel my heart pounding at certain key moments during the film. Seriously, I've got goosebumps now just thinking about it. And for its time, it was such a groundbreaking movie. I know that nowadays with all the cheap horror movies, its tough to really appreciate the genre. But try to put yourself in the context of 1960 when nothing like this had ever been done before. And on top of that, they pulled one of the ultimate bait and switches in movie history. It was marketed as starring Janet Leigh, and builds up like a mystery/chase thing around the stolen money. And then wham!, your leading starlet is killed halfway thru the movie while taking a shower. Yeah and how crazy is that? Hitchcock took something as ordinary as a shower and made it one of the scariest places imaginable.

On a side note, the remake is one of those things that makes me morally object to remakes in general. I've only seen a few scenes from it, but even back when I hadnt even seen all the original it made my soul hurt. Some things are just sacred, you know? I guess the saddest part (for me at least) is that for the longest time that's all I could associate Vince Vaughn with. Anyhoo, dont expect to be adding that to my wishlist any time soon. Nope, I'll stick to the original, even if I do only have it on VHS

Finally made it to this one. It had the unfortunate fate of being released the same weekend as (I think) 2 other movies I was interested in. And while normally a week night movie isnt that big of a deal, its been tough trying to pull that off this month with the insane-ness of work. Last week I actively tried to go 3 times. First Monday, I got slightly delayed just before running out the door, and then just didnt wanna anymore. Then after debating the whole T ride home, I was ready to go on Wed, but the 7:40 show was cancelled. Was determined to go on Thur but somehow forgot that the after hours training session at work got scheduled for then (at least I got pizza and beer outta that). And I was certain the movie was on its way out, but huzzah it stayed. And I really shoulda thought ahead and gone to this on Sat, and pushed of Edge of Darkness til next week. But whatevs. Its done. Worth it? Ummm yeah sure.

And another thing Im doing against my better judgement is blogging this now instead of setting the sleep timer on the tv with The Big Lebowski and going to sleep. That will come later.

I am very much a fan of Michael Cera. Fell in love with him in Superbad, and everything I've seen him in since (although I didnt like Year One). Yes, I know he always plays the same socially awkward kid, but he's so good at it. And at least this time he had a little edge, both in his main character Nick Twisp and especially with alter ego Francois. Gotta say the trailer made it seem like the relationship between those two was a bit different, as was the reasoning for Francois' existance. It did work out quite well, but resulted in some minimal confusion due to previously set expectations.

Overall, I found it to be a very clever movie with some snappy dialogue. Not quite as good as the dialogue Cera had to work with in Juno or even Arrested Development, but it gets this script snob's approval. What also gets my approval is the featured cast. I say featured because most of these peeps didnt have quite big enough roles to be considered supporting, but they were slightly more substantial than your quick cameo. The aforementioned peeps would be: Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Justin Long, Zack Galifiankis, and Fred Willard.

I was gonna knock off half a point for the bit that the film did start to drag. However, Im adding that half back for general creativity--in particular the animation bits. I dont wanna give too much away since those were quite the happy surprise, but there's a few scenes animated in different styles that were such a nice touch. So yeah, I guess I am glad I finally made it to this one

Youth in Revolt - \m/ \m/ \m/

I'll try not to go on another OMG Meryl Streep is amazing post, like I did for Its Complicated. But I'll just make it completely official that she is my favorite actress. That was one \m/ amazing and intense performance, and with an accent and multiple languages on top of that. Word on the street (by which I mean IMDB trivia) is that she begged on her hands and knees for the role. Glad she was able to get her way.

The guys in the film were great too. Its nice to have some good dramatic work to associate in my mind with Kevin Kline other than In & Out, which is his role I know best. I guess I know him well for Midsummer's... but c'mon is there ever gonna be anything more classic than this scene ? I think not.

Was particularly fascinated with Peter MacNicol. Mostly because I know him as Larry on Numb3rs, which was my fave crime drama before I started watching Bones. Yeah thats another continuing trend, me being captivated by an early role by an actor whose current work I know fairly well. See also Kevin Dillon in Platoon.

Story was quite intense. Although sadly I'd already been partially spoiled by this Penny Arcade strip. Although there was a bit of a disconnect between the stories. It was told through Stingo (MacNicol)'s eyes, but really centered around Sophie. From there you had two great stories: her relationship with Nathan and her past. I just had some trouble resolving the two, since neither really had much to do with the other, which felt awkward to me. Dont get me wrong, they were both interesting, it just felt odd.

Continuing the previously mentioned trend for the weekend, we've got Crazy Heart. You know, its The Wrestler except instead of Mickey Rourke playing a washed up wrestler who has an estranged kid and a thing with Marissa Tomei, you've got Jeff Bridges played a washed up country singer who has an estranged kid and a thing with Maggie Gyllenhaal. No really, on some fronts they're the same movie. But on others, they're different, and I'll stop the comparison here by saying that I felt Crazy Heart was far superior.

Ultimately, this film was just putting Jeff Bridges on display hoping for Oscar nod #5 and win #1, and he's got a damn good shot at it. Yes, this was the classic Oscar bait role with your guy at the end of his rope hitting rock bottom and trying to claw his way back up. However, the one thing that I felt made this role step away from the cliche is that he really was a sympathetic character. You prolly would like to hang out with him, as opposed to just observing him or at best taking him on as a charity case.

And just wanna go on record for saying that Maggie Gyllenhaal is another fave of mine. Has been since I first saw Criminal. Short tangent on that, I remember having one of the worst weekends ever and then Criminal was playing at LSC at MIT. For lack of anything better to do, I shuffled over there in pj's and my South Park Timmy slippers carrying my stuffed alien Marty and a bunch of tissues (again, really bad weekend) and I left there feeling like everything was okay, as cliche as that sounds.

Heart Collin Farrell as well. Im not sure how much I buy him as country, but he played the superstar quite well, and eventually won me over there. But that long hair has gotta go. As much as I love long hair on guys, it doesnt work on him.

The gripe for this movie (cause I always gotta have at least one) is that I didnt buy the relationship between Bridges' and Gyllenhaal's characters. I can see why he fell for her, and I could get her falling for him eventually, but it was too fast which gave it a really forced feeling (I know I use forced a lot to describe these sortsa things). But on the other side of the spectrum, there was a big event towards the end that did have me on the edge of my seat (yeah I use that phrase a lot too). Wont spoil it, but definitely added something a bit more unique that was quite effective.

Anyways, if youre one of those like me who hafta see the major players in the Academy Awards, this is definitely one not to miss

Crazy Heart - \m/ \m/ \m/

The trend for this weekend's theater movies (all two of them) is flicks that strangely resemble ones from last year. Starting with Edge of Darkness, or Taken with Mel Gibson kicking ass for his hurt-in-someway daughter instead of Liam Neeson.

Impression overall is that it was wicked slow paced. I hate when they do that. 90% of the action sequences fit into the trailer. I know I wasnt the only one who felt that way. I overheard a couple in front of me comment on how slow it was, then the other replied by pointing out that it was just like Taken.

But yeah, when there was action, it was great. There was even one big outta nowhere, to avoid spoilers lets say action-y bit, that seriously made me jump. It took a few minutes to recover and bring my heart rate back down. I think if I was a screamer, that woulda gotten some sound outta me. The rest of the time, I was fighting to stay awake. I'd initially thought that maybe I'd just partied too hard the night before and shoulda slept in longer. 'Cept when I came home and tried to nap, it didnt happen, which leads me to the conclusion that the movie was just that sleep inducing.

Notably, this is Mel Gibson's return to the front of the camera after 8 years mainly behind it. Character-wise he did good, but that \m/ Boston accent has to go. Yes, Ive only been living in Beantown for 6 1/2 years, but I've already become quite the snob as to how my town is portrayed. I dont claim to be an expert, and as far as the accent I cant do much more than say "pahk yah cah in Hahvahd Yahd", but a bad on-screen Boston accent is nails on the chalkboard for me. Seriously, not everyone you'll encounter here talks like that. If your actor can't nail it, its okay to drop that. We'll still understand where the movie's happening. However, on the Beantown front, I will give it points for some good shots of the city. I wasn't particularly paying attention for geographic accuracy (such as the opening scene in 21 where Jim Sturgess crosses the Charles River about 3 times), cause I know thats impossible. But at least they didnt pull a Fringe and say they were driving along the Fenway while on a highway. Yeah I can see the Fenway from my window. Not a highway.

Again, wanted so bad to like this movie. I do need to give it another watch at some point, and hopefully I'll stay coherent enough to make sense of it. But for now

Edge of Darkness - \m/ \m/

Im kinda sad that Ive gotten so far behind on my AFI list. Ive been hovering so close to 50 watched for so long. Im really close to having them all acquired, though. Once the ones currently on order get in, Ive got 4 to buy and 5 to rent. Im thinking at that point, I might just go in countdown order for whats left, or at least mostly countdown order with some skipping at my discression.

Anyways so yesterday I wanted to get another rental out of the way. For some reason, from the remaining ones I was most drawn to It Happened One Night--the considered the original screwball comedy, and not generally my type. Turns out, I ended up absolutely loving it.

From this film, I can totally get why that subgenre was so big back in the day, and why every movie tried to replicate it. Characters were great, cast was great, really funny, just on the outer rims of belivability, overall damn near close to perfection. So much so, that this is one of the 3 films to have ever won an Oscar grand slam. We talked about that a bit when I saw All About Eve (the second one to do so). For those keeping score at home, Silence of the Lambs is the third. Yet to see it for blogging purposes, but I do know it well and love it much. But yeah, I could see how if this is one of the first classic older films you ever see you could get \m/ addicted to them.

Also understand the whole Clark Gable thing. I'd seen him in Gone With The Wind back in jr high, but at that point in time I was not in a position to appreciate it. Watching him yesterday I was getting kinda excited to revisit ...Wind once I break into the top 5. You know, its interesting how some things never change. A movie gets popular, and some little detail starts a big fad. According to IMDB trivia, during the undressing scene (one of many aboslutely classic scenes in the film. Im partial to the dunking donuts bit), it was too awkward for Gable to deal with an undershirt, so they nixed it. There was then a huge decrease in the sale of undershirts nationwide as guys stopped wearing them as a result of this movie. Im sure we've all got recent examples of similiar phenomenon. The first that comes to mind is the fashion craze from Sex and the City.

Gotta get this wrapped up to I can go about the rest of my day. Plans include a trip to the Kendall for Crazy Heart and finishing up Sophie's Choice cause yeah I fell asleep thru it. Why do I always think its such a good idea to watch a 3 hour movie late on a Saturday night? I think Titanic was the only time that actually worked out.

I really worry about myself and my movie addiction. There's times, like today, where I go to the theater just cause I hafta see some new movie cause it just opened, even if I know its not gonna be good. Such was the case with Legion. I tried talking myself out of it, but was unsuccessful. I still dont really know why I just had to go. Walking out of there, I overheard someone say "Well at least it had Paul Bettany". That's kinda my sentiment too. Then her companion replied with "Who's Paul Bettany?" and a little piece of my soul died.

Before ya'll start leaving comments asking the same question, I'll educate you so that you can at least pretend you knew if you didnt. I know him best as Chaucer in A Knight's Tale, but he was also in The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind, Wimbledon, Master and Commander, and a buncha others. Got it now?

And yes, Bettany was great as the archangel Michael. He was the one redeeming quality in a movie that is waaay beneath him and what he's capable of. I guess it does say something about him that he'll still give 110% in something like this that woulda prolly be phoned in by another actor.

As far as the rest of it, there just really wasn't much to it. There was the whole attempt at being meaningful and making a point about faith, but really I think it was just an excuse to have people possessed by angels that were essentially zombies. And I can just picture the protest emails that are likely circling the religious groups right now (hell back in the day I used to get those for other films). But it felt like it was attempting to be controversial simply for the sake of being controversial.

Another thing I found odd was how contained it all was. They never really left the little diner, which was a bit strange, or at least its not typical.

But yeah, really not worth your time unless you've got a movie addiction that rivals mine, and you're not afraid to pay to sit through a potential dud.

Legion - \m/ \m/

I hoped to get in another AFI film tonight (My pace has slowed too damn much) but these write ups took longer than expected. At least I got Land Of the Lost outta my queue (that was my background noise). Yeah still dont know why I actually bought that. Impulse buy on Black Friday. Hoping to catch Youth in Revolt tomorrow. I really need to try and get in a few AFI's during the week if I dont get stuck at work. Then planning to trek to an indie theater for Crazy Heart on Sat and Edge of Darkness of Sun. Aaaand break!

Had plenty of time last night, so I figured I'd attack one of the longer ones in the movie queue. The version I have is The Complete Dossier which gives you both the original and the Redux version, each split in half over two disks. I figured I'd go with the original. Having an "intermission" was both a good and bad thing. For one it made the lengthy movie seem a lot more manageable, thinking of it in terms of needing to get through an hour and fifteen then another hour and fifteen. And I think it did help me stay awake longer than I otherwise would have. But then when I inevitably fell asleep at the start of the second disk, it felt like there was a big disconnect between the two halves.

This isnt the first Vietnam flick to make an appearance in the AFI project, and its a slight bit annoying how many freakin' war flicks in general are on the list. Granted, they're good, but a bit more variety would be very much appreciated. Definitely prefered this over Platoon (and I find it kinda interesting that ...Now has Martin Sheen then a few years later Charlie Sheen starred in Platoon). Unsure which I'd prefer between this and The Deer Hunter. I think I was more into Apocalypse Now, but I liked the Deer Hunter characters better. However Full Metal Jacket (not an AFI film sadly) is still my fave 'Nam film.

I know that I read Heart of Darkness back in high school but I dont quite remember well any of it, really. Other than there was a crazy guy named Kurtz and it was actually set in Africa. I do find it interesting that it was moved to Vietnam, and I do think that worked out quite well. Although it did seem strange to me that you go so \m/ long until you meet Kurtz. Cant remember if thats how it happened in the book, but that was prolly a big part of why I felt kinda disconnected by the time we reached the second half.

Not my fault Im late on this one. LJ was down on Fri night when I planned to write it up, and just hadnt gotten around to it since. Yeah I know, Fri night is the least likely day of the week you'll find me going to the theater (unless initiated by a buddy) but my options for Dr Parnassus were Harvard Sq or the Common. And since I try to avoid the AMC Loews Boston Common as much as possible I figured going straight after work on Fri would be better than a round trip the length of the movie that would knock out most of my Sunday.

I dont think ya'll would be surprised that the reason I had to go out of my way to see this movie is Heath Ledger. For that, the film was worth it. The first image of him on screen caused so many gasps and sighs from the audience. I'll try to spare you the sappy tribute as much as possible, but goddam I love that guy. No other celeb death has affected me the way his did. I remember a buddy of mine said he found out from this tribute. I'd actually heard it from someone and dropped everything and ran to a computer to verify the news.

That said, I think Im with the camp that will prefer to think of Dark Knight as Ledger's last film. That was truly an iconic performance in a nearly flawless movie. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and it totally breaks my heart to say this, wasn't really that great. I mostly say that cause it was just weird and I did not get it at all.

The big question about this film was how were they gonna salvage Ledger's work, and as Im sure you've all heard, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell took it over. I have to say, for the most part, that worked quite well. Kinda serendipitous that this movie actually lended itself to that solution. Gonna try to explain as best I can without giving anything away, which is also tricky since I didnt entirely understand all of it. But the characters would go into this magical world (the Imaginarium) that was formed by their imaginations, so having a different appearance was entirely possible there. They even established this early on before it happened to Ledger's character. That much worked. Depp was the first one to step in, and he charmed his way through it beautifully. The one downside was that the story had to be concluded within the imaginarium, since Im assuming they hadnt gotten that far in filming otherwise, and there was a bit of a disconnect having a different actor resolving Ledger's character. But its not like there were too many options.

As far as the rest of the film, again it didnt make much sense to me. The pacing was a bit slow, things werent ever fully explained, and it was just all so absurd. Admittedly, I had similar feelings toward Brothers Grimm (another Terry Gilliam film) but then it grew on me on a second viewing. Im really really hoping thats the case here.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - \m/ \m/

File this one under the group of movies that makes me grateful for my AFI project. Enjoyed Rocky so much, its taking all my willpower to not go out right now and buy the boxset of all the movies. I figure I shouldnt spend on a boxset until I knock down a good percentage of my movie queue.

So why did I like it so much? First and foremost, the characters. Very much fell in love with Rocky Balboa. Such a great combination of bad assitude and heart. Tough guy with a softside, played beautifully by Sly Stallone. And as a mostly quiet, shy girl myself, I totally identified with Adrian. So of course the two of them together instantly made them a favorite movie couple for me--and I dont have many of those.

Im just so \m/ pumped after watching that. The music, the montages, the fight, everything. I dont really wanna go to sleep right now, I wanna go out and kick some ass.

I've noticed that my AFI write ups generally tend to be a lot shorter than my current movie write ups. Im not entirely sure why that is. I think I feel weird doing the whole "I liked this, this didnt work for me" thing for movies that are considered to be the best.

Totally unrelated but I got District 9 playing in the background. It looks \m/ awesome on Blu-Ray. Just saying.

I had a hard time getting into Yankee Doodle Dandy at first. But after a while, it picked up. I went from not caring about the big musical numbers to those being the best part. However, I dont get why this is considered one of the all time best movies. I had to Wikipedia George M Cohan about 45 minutes into the film because I still had no idea who he was.

As far as cinematical breakthrough, the best I can find is that it was one of the first movies to be colorized after its release. That definitely helped a lot. I can't see those broadway numbers working too well in B&W. Also, James Cagney's Oscar winning performance as George M Cohan is considered one of the all time best. I'll give him that. I was quite impressed with his dancing, and I did totally buy his arrogant yet sweet character.

Really liked his relationship with Mary. That was probably my other fave part besides the big broadway numbers. And I suppose it was the theater geek in me that liked the musical-ness. But still, mostly unimpressed.

Before seeing this movie, there were two things that I kept on hearing. One was the controversy over leaving out the murder/rape stuff. The other the debate whether or not it was unfilmable. Before I comment, should point out that no, I haven't read the book. But I am very interested to. I usually prefer to go backwards (see movie then, read book) so I will be adding it to my list. That said.

On that first issue, I think they made the right call. It didnt take a lot to put 2 and 2 together and figure out what happened to Susie Salmon. Also, I really liked the way they transitioned into her death. I knew she was going to be killed, and I actually believed for a second that she hadn't been. I was almost as surprised as she was when she realized it (not quite though cause I did know it was coming. Not a spoiler, cause its the basic premise of the story)

As far as the unfilmable bit, sorta inclined to agree. At least, I think I do. The reason its considered that is because of the whole "in between" stuff (where she's in a purgatory state of not on earth, not in heaven). I really coulda done without all that. I was into the story otherwise, but it lost me everytime we went back there. That also really bogged down the pacing. I did like her having a connection to the living, but the whole What Dreams May Come-ish afterlife world just didnt work right.

I will say the cast was fantastic. Loved Saoirse Ronan even from the trailers for Atonement. That is one intense little actress, and with an Academy Award nod already under her belt there'll be no stopping her. Heart Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weitz, of course, but the scene stealer was Susan Sarrandon who's been a fave of mine since I first saw The Client. Excellent choice for the eccentric grandma.

The other debate I've been hearing is over Stanley Tucci. He's got a good chance of scoring an Oscar nod this year. The question is Lovely Bones or Julie & Julia? Most tend to lean toward Lovely Bones. I disagree. Yes he was fantastic. He so fully embodied this really creepy character, including voice and mannerisms. However I felt there was a lot more depth to him in ...Julia. There he shone by helping his costar shine, and we all fell in love with him for it, or at least I did. And while we all know how much I love psycho killers (Dexter, Patrick Bateman, etc) Im not quite ready to add him to the list of the most classic killers.

Yeah so it seems I liked it more than a lot of others did. Its losing half a point for the whole in between fail. Otherwise, really intriguing story with a great cast.

The Lovely Bones - \m/ \m/ \n

My impressions of this film early on was that it almost made me feel like a bad American (in a good way though, if thats possible). Just the way his character was so excited about democracy in action and his love of American history really got to me. I'd always found that stuff to be rather cheesey, but Jimmy Stewart's Mr Smith sold it with such conviction. I was thinking that I need to add this to the list of movies I really need to make my future kids see (whenever it is that they come along) preferably while they're not old enough to be jaded into forgetting all the liberties we take for granted. Okay, its getting a bit weird here now. I'll just conclude this thought with some trivia I got off IMDB. American politicians hated this film because they felt it portrayed the government as too corrupt. European facist states band it for being too democratic.

But yeah I did really like this one. The characters were great, the story was compelling. I guess I sorta knew what had to happen, but I was still anxious to see exactly how it all unfolded. Not sure how much more there is to say than that.