West Side Story (1961)

Netflix DVD on 1/1/12
Happy New Year! Watching this brings my total of Best Picture winners that I haven't seen down to 10. I have been resistant to this movie for a very long time, since I watched the beginning a long time ago and was so disgusted by the singing, dancing street gangs that I turned it off. Turns out, this is not as painful as I thought. I don't like movie musicals - the theatricality of them doesn't work on screen for me - but I have seen far worse. This is the street gang version of Romeo and Juliet of course, and it's at least interesting to see how they translate some of the aspects of the play.
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

New Movies in Year Three: 121

The Ides of March (2011)

The Nick with Lauren on 11/5/11
I am not a huge fan of political thrillers to begin with. I find them often to be plodding and lacking a lot of the "thriller" elements. That being said, this one was decent. It's definitely something that's going to be nominated come Oscar time, and George Clooney and Ryan Gosling (who I normally don't like) were both very good. My biggest gripe with the film is that it lifts its character development, step by step, from The Godfather. Not much by way of originality, right down to the final shot of the film.
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

New Movies in Year Three: 101

Good (2009)

Netflix DVD with Lauren on 8/13/11
I'm not really sure what this movie was about. And it's biggest fault is that it doesn't either. At first, it seems to be about a good man who inadvertently gets caught up in the Nazi regime. Then it moves into being about a man who maybe knows what he's doing is wrong but doesn't do anything to stop it. And from there, it becomes about a man who may or may not be crazy, depending on how the viewer interprets the creepy singing that comes from absolutely nowhere. If it had picked one of the three, it would have been a good movie.
My Netflix rating: 2 stars

New Movies in Year Three: 71

The Farmer's Wife (1928)

DVD over 8/7/11 and 8/9/11
Can't I be done Hitchcock's silent films yet? They're just not interesting in any way. Certainly not suspenseful (except The Lodger) and not engaging at all. The stories are simplistic and boring, the characters are not developed at all, and there are not nearly enough title cards. Please don't think this is a slight against all silent films - there are several that I have found very effective. Still waiting for the point where Hitch hits his stride.
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

New Movies in Year Three: 68

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Movie Night with Anna, Kat, Mike, Adam and Sadie on 3/20/11
This is an odd movie stylistically and it takes a while to get used to. But, all of Baz Luhrmann's films are like that. The casting is absolutely spot-on (though Leo makes Romeo into the ultimate emo kid and Claire Danes looks remarkably ugly when she cries), especially with Harold Perrineau as Mercutio and John Leguizamo as Tybalt. It's interesting to see what they cut out and what they emphasize. If you can get past the glut of neon and odd editing patterns, it's worth watching.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

New Movies in Year Three: 16

194. January 31, 2011 - Rabbit Hole (2010)

This reminded me of 21 Grams, just less soul-crushing. In fact, by the end it's sort of hopeful in a weird way. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are impressive in the way they portray parents dealing with the death of their child in very different ways. I felt that all the stuff with the extended family (overbearing mother and pregnant sister) was unnecessary and cluttering, but Dianne Wiest was believable as the borderline alcoholic mother who can't deal with the death of her own son, let alone her grandson. Nicole Kidman is solid, but no one is going to win Best Actress over Natalie Portman for Black Swan.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

185. January 21, 2011 - Finding Neverland (2004)

Though Johnny Depp isn't great with the Scottish accent, this is still a powerful and moving film - one that makes me tear up every time. I know that in real life there were questions about why JM Barrie was so close to the Llewelyn Davies boys (and that's addressed with a single, almost throw-away line in the film), but why do we all have to be so cynical? Kate Winslet is fantastic as always, though she got nominated for Eternal Sunshine that year, not this. Also, as I watched the movie this time around, I learned that Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, the mother of the inspiration for Peter Pan, was the aunt of Dame Daphne du Maurier, who wrote Rebecca and the short story version of The Birds.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

130. October 13, 2010 - Easy Virtue (1928)

I think that I may have screwed up the order with some of these early Hitchcock films, but oh well. I'll get them all in at some point. This is another slow, overly-dramatic story that shows how good of a director he WILL be but isn't yet. The tragic heroine is slandered, deemed as having "easy virtue" (sleeping around), even though she's innocent and her past disrupts her present. At least it's short. Though, I have to say that this is another movie we are lucky still to have available. Bring on the good Hitchcock!
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

107. August 24, 2010 - The Women (2008)

So, this is supposed to be a film about female empowerment and the importance of friends, but it ends up being a two-hour long Hallmark card rife with cliches and contrived plotlines. There is nothing wrong with the performances - in fact, Bette Midler steals the whole film in her five or ten minutes onscreen and Cloris Leachman is great - but the movie never comes together. And really, throwing a banana on a NYC street? But a friend of mine is in it!
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

92. July 11/12, 2010 - A Man For All Seasons (1966)

I am totally striking out with the Best Picture winners from the 1960s. I can't stand The Sound of Music, it took me months to finally get through Oliver!, I was disappointed by Midnight Cowboy, and I can't stand to get more than 10 minutes into West Side Story (which is now the only one of the decade that I have yet to see). This movie, unfortunately, is boring. King Henry VIII wants to divorce Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn (we all know how THAT turns out) and everyone is fighting over it. It's a sin, it's not a sin, it's treason, sign this oath, throw him in the tower, blah blah blah. Sounds like it should be exciting, though. Too bad it's not.
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

80. June 21/22, 2010 - Downhill (1927)

I find silent films a little tedious, but normally I can make it through. This film is another of Hitchcock's incredible hard-to-find early offerings and though I found it to watch for free on the Internet Archive, the version they have includes no music. Truly silent. I'll admit, it was awfully hard to get through. I'm waiting for Hitchcock to hit his genre stride, which he hinted at with the dark material in The Lodger, but so far these are kind of fluff pieces. It's a sob story about a man whose life falls apart after he falsely takes the blame for a waitress's sudden pregnancy - mildly interesting to see how something like that (that seems like a manageable occurrence today) can totally destroy his life, but nothing other than that. The Netflix rating is hypothetical, since this film isn't available on DVD.
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

January 11, 2010

Nine (2009)
This movie is not to be confused with 9 or District 9, although maybe the filmmakers should wish it would be, since both were better (and considering that 9 was about creepy sentient dolls made of burlap sacks, that's saying something). It was completely unimpressive. Daniel Day-Lewis mopes and whines and screws around on his wife for two hours and yet the seven women in this movie are all obsessed with him. Why? Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench and Kate Hudson are all fantastic, while Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard are pretty blah (though, to be fair, I really can't stand either of them and probably nothing would make me like their performances). Sophia Loren and Fergie appear only in weird, out-of-place black and white flashbacks and, though they both play their roles well, feel totally unnecessary. The songs were hit or miss for me - I really liked "Be Italian," "My Husband Makes Movies," "Cinema Italiano" and "Unusual Way," but the others were boring. Also, all of the musical numbers are presented as fantasies that the main characters are having and feel disconnected from the actual plot. Not sure why this got so many Golden Globe nominations.
My Netflix rating: 3 stars

November 10, 2009

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
#28 on my Top 100 List
While you know how much I adore Gone With the Wind, I think that Vivien Leigh's work in this is even better. Ladies and gentlemen, Scarlett O'Hara has left the building. Her portrayal of Blanche Dubois is just as tragic and heartwrenching as Gloria Swanson's Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Blanche starts out the story fragile and looking for someone who will care for her - what she finds is her brother-in-law Stanley Kowalski. Stanley is played by Marlon Brando with more vicious sexuality than any other role I think I've ever seen. He's tragic in his own way too - a slave not only to his temper and his lust but also to his love for his wife. After his final confrontation with Blanche, that love might not be so reciprocated after all.
My Netflix rating: 5 stars

October 29, 2009

Dial M For Murder (1954)
This is one of Hitchcock's best films and surprisingly one I had never seen before. There are many people in the film world (myself included) who believe very strongly that 1939 was the Greatest Year of Hollywood Ever - I would like to nominated 1954 as second greatest. Besides this, you had On the Waterfront, Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Caine Mutiny, White Christmas, Rear Window, Sabrina, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - the list goes on and on. Grace Kelly is perfectly cast as the unfaithful wife targeted for, and then framed for, murder. The scene with the scissors is one of Hitch's best.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

October 22, 2009

Casablanca (1943)
#62 on my Top 100 List
Right off the bat, this movie is intriguing due to the exotic locale of a Moroccan bazaar. The plot quickly unfolds and envelops sinister Nazis, murdered Nazis, valuable letters of transit, a beautiful woman, a delightfully shady bit part played by Peter Lorre, and Humphrey Bogart as the jaded saloon owner Rick. The film's famous ending on the fog-shrouded tarmac was heavily influenced by the rules that Hollywood had to adhere to at the time known as the Production Code - Rick and Ilsa were in fact not allowed to end up together. The Production Code also accounts for the seemingly shortened love scenes, as "excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, are not to be shown." (A full copy of the rules is available if anyone wants to Google it.) There are several famous lines from the film, but don't trouble yourself straining to hear "Play it again, Sam." It isn't there.
My Netflix rating: 5 stars

September 29, 2009

Quills (2000)
#96 on my Top 100 List
Okay, so it's not a very factual biopic, but it's so effective in chilling the audience with its version of the Marquis de Sade that it almost doesn't matter. Geoffrey Rush is one of the best villainous actors around, but in this film, it's truly Michael Caine who plays the villain. Try wrapping your head around that performance - it's phenomenal. From the opening scene with an execution by guillotine to the climactic most hellish game of Telephone ever played, this goes beyond horror into something way more disturbing. Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix hold their own against Rush and Caine very well and look for a very young Stephen Moyer as the Doctor's interior decorator.
My Netflix rating: 5 stars

September 16, 2009

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
#55 on my Top 100 List
In the first scene, Cary Grant punches his wife in the face and yet I still love him. I love everything about this movie, from the all-star cast (besides Cary Grant, most handsome man ever to grace the screen, it includes Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart) to the slapstick plot to the hysterical scene between Jimmy Stewart's drunk Mike and Cary Grant's half-asleep CK Dexter Haven. The only thing that was strange for me was hearing the other characters call him Dexter or Dex, considering how much of the show Dexter I've been watching recently. Definitely not the same kind of character.
My Netflix rating: 5 stars

August 2, 2009

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)
This is the weirdest, most frakked-up, most horrifying thing I have ever seen. The little girl from Spy Kids has cancer, goes to see the head of an organization that repossesses organs from transplant patients, and is used in a vicious revenge scheme. Anthony Stewart Head rips people's stomachs out in his basement. Paris Hilton sings. What?? And it's an opera! It's like Sweeney Todd on steroids and a bad acid trip. I feel like it was kind of trying to do what Grindhouse did, but it's not enough. It's not bad enough to be good and it's certainly not good - it's in the middle where bad is just bad and singing murderers are not endearing to anyone, even if they are Giles.
My Netflix rating: 2 stars

July 17, 2009

An Ideal Husband (1999)
When an old school rival shows up with a damaging secret against you husband...well, Kat put it well: hijinks ensue. All of the leads were great, though Rupert Everett has still not managed to convince me that he's straight. Ever. It's interesting that they put Cate Blanchett and Minnie Driver, as the sympathetic characters, in beautiful dresses, while they put Julianne Moore, the bad guy, in horrid ill-fitting clothes. Her costumes are still befitting for a lady of the time period - they just aren't pretty like the others. It's a subtle distinction, but one that definitely enhances the sides in the movie. Jeremy Northam is adorable, but I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who he reminded me of. It's David Wenham, in case you were curious.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

June 25, 2009

I Confess (1953)
Hitchcock has always been good at portraying the gray areas and this movie brings that to light in a big way. A priest hears confession that a man who works in the rectory has killed a man, only to find himself the prime suspect in the crime. He can't clear his name without breaking his vow and what follows is an example of how innocent people have their names dragged through the mud in the pursuit of justice. Hitch had two very distinct kinds of films: chilling suspense that was almost horror (like Psycho and Rebecca) and more mellow suspense that was plot and character driven (like this or The Wrong Man). Though I tend to like the horror ones better - who am I kidding? I love them all.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars