The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

In my last post, I mentioned that I'm a fan of Christopher Nolan.  And I am.  But I am not as big a fan of this film as I would hope to be.  I think I'd expected to like it more on viewing it again, but this was not to be.

Sigh.

I'm sure it would strike me as a good film if I felt I was keeping up with what was happening.  But, for most of the time, I feel like I'm just getting the gist of things and resignedly going along with it.  Nodding along to a complex discussion in another language where I have only high school conversational abilities, latching on to words I recognise and extrapolating the meaning of the sentences around them.  Important exposition must be somewhere on the cutting room floor, because events dash along in a disjointed fashion and I have to compose connecting material myself to make sense of the story as best I can in my own head.  The characters have been tossed haphazardly in to the story and are scrambling toward the conclusion. 

Added to that, after such an expressive foil in the Joker, I have trouble Bane.  The mask prevents expression, the speech is muffled (which surely could have been cleaned up in the making of the film?) and he wound up seeming purely like a life size action figure to me.  And that's ludicrous.  A life size action figure.  So he's just not terribly menacing.

I really really want to like this film.  And I keep thinking "Maybe I just need to watch it one more time..."  But it's so hellbent on cramming in the necessary story elements that the story actually winds up suffering for me.  
Reflecting on it, I'm surprised to be complaining about that, because I hate films that blatantly, insultingly, spell out all the necessary plot points and give the audience no credit for their intelligence.  So that contributes to my trouble with this film, because I keep thinking that perhaps there's something I'M missing, that will make the whole thing magically come together.  Reassuringly though, I'm told that I'm not the only one with this reaction to it.

Final Thought:  Oh how I wish that Anne Hathaway had more opportunity to play with the Catwoman character...

Up Next:  Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2005)  

The Dark Knight (2008)

I'm learning that I'm a fan of Christopher Nolan.  It took me a while to realise.  Around the time Interstellar came out, I looked up his filmography and noticed that I'd felt compelled to see almost all of his films without being aware that he was the common factor.

This is a very good film.  That's basically what I have to say about it.  The introduction to the Joker is rather brilliant, and Michael Caine can make me tear up with a mere look.  It's long, but manages not to drag.

It's just a very good film.

Final Thought: Do any of these people ever wear anything casual?  Suits.  All the time.

Up Next:  The Dark Knight Rises (2012)  

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

It's disconcerting when I reach the movies in my collection that I'm not sure why I own them.  When it comes to this film, I could recall watching it and being surprised by it, but as I began my viewing this time around, I couldn't recall what that surprise was, or even if it was a pleasant one.

And, for the first hour or so of the film, I remained mystified as to why it was in my collection.

I can't quite decide how I feel about Wes Anderson.  While his films are visually very pretty, they tend to depict a very privileged form of suffering in a way that fast becomes irritating to me.

And so I sat watching this film, wondering why I was doing this to myself.  Why had I bought this?  Owen Wilson bugs me, why did I buy this?  This is all so forced, why did I buy this?  This is taking itself too seriously, it's pretentious, why did I buy this?

And then the moment at the river and everything changed.  The movie became peaceful.  We see why the brothers behave the way they do, the lost children that they are, trying to be grown up.  We forgive them for being so lost.

And then I understood why I bought this film.

Final Thought:  I really did enjoy the MacGuffin of Bill Murray's appearance though.

Up Next:  The Dark Knight (2008)

The Crow (1994)

I have no idea how many times I've seen this film.  As a teenager, I pretty much watched it every weekend.  I listened to the soundtrack constantly.  I had something of an obsession with Brandon Lee.  I would wake up early on Saturday, sneak downstairs, plug headphones in to the VCR, and press play.  I don't even think I owned it - I think I hired it from my local video store.  Every week.  I should have just bought it, but I guess it must have been hard for me to find.

It's been a little while since I've seen it.  As soon as I pressed play, everything was so familiar.  At first glance, it's not exactly a film you would call comforting, but it comforts me.  Surprisingly for me, there were moments in this film that I hadn't noticed before.  Or I haven't watched it in that long that I'd forgotten about them.  Small moments, glances, gestures. And I realised that the characters I dislike, I dislike with such passion it's as though they've hurt me personally.

This film was something of a phenomenon when I was a teenager, to the point of saturation and over-hype.  There's a reason for it though.  It's a beautiful, melancholic film.  Lee is amazing in this movie.  Subtle, furious and burning.  It shows that he was truly something special as a performer.  And T-Bird's dying monologue, the sparks falling in to the water, the soprano vocal and the burning crow is a stunningly gorgeous piece of cinema.  Great acting moment for David Patrick Kelly.

Big call, but I might possibly call this my favourite film.

Final Thought:  In looking up trivia about this movie, I just discovered that they're planning to film a remake.  I love this film so much that I can't help but take that as a personal affront.  How dare they.

Up Next:  The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

It took three attempts for me to watch this film and properly pay attention to it for this project.  But I enjoy this film, so it's odd that I got so distracted.  Poorly chosen viewing times I guess. 

The plot ties up in a nice little Hollywood bow, which can be infuriating, but I forgive it in this instance, thanks to some subtle surprises in the connections between characters.  And child actors who aren't aggressively precocious also help.

It doesn't leave me with much to say about it though.  It's a film I enjoy, but not one that I form an emotional resonance with.

Final Thought:  Can Ryan Gosling do some more comedies please?

Up Next:  The Crow (1994)

Cradle 2 The Grave (2003)

This is not a very good movie.  At all.  But I didn't expect it to be when I got it.  This is in my library purely for the combination of Jet Li and Mark Dacascos.  I had grand hopes for what this might be. 

Every time I watch this film, I am newly disappointed by the sidelining of Li and Dacascos.  Seems this film was made as a vehicle for DMX, which sure was a gamble that didn't pay off, based on his current acting career.  The guy barely has enough charisma on film to fill a thimble.  Is he more engaging as a rapper?  Is that why this happened? 

On my first viewing, as I watched it, I comforted myself that, ok, they may not be giving Li and Dascascos as much attention as I'd like, but that's ok,  because surely they'll make up for it with the final showdown fight between the two that is bound to happen.  And happen it did.  ...Intercut with footage of two other lacklustre fight scenes.  I felt robbed.  Each time I watch it again, I think that maybe it wasn't that bad, I got to see more of the fighting than I thought.  But no.  What a waste.

Martial arts films are like musicals - you don't always watch them for the plot.  You watch them for the fight scenes.  That's not to say there aren't some wonderfully written martial arts films out there, there certainly are.  But I will forgive a lot of lackings in the plot if they are compensated for with great set pieces.  That didn't happen in this instance.  

Final Thought:  I mean, they used "2" instead of "To" in the title.  I should have known I'd be disappointed before I started watching it, based on that alone.

Up Next: Crazy Stupid Love (2011)

Coraline (2009)

As I set this up to watch it, I realised that I can't remember why I bought this film.  There must have been something about it when I saw it for the first time that prompted me to buy it.

I watched this one on my own on a rainy Saturday afternoon, which felt appropriate.  And I'm left thinking that my main reasoning for buying it was my love of stop motion animation.  The story doesn't hold my attention the entire way through.

There's many people in this world who love Neil Gaiman's writing.  I want to love it, and I've read a few of his books, but there seems to be something about it that I don't quite connect to.  I'm yet to pinpoint what it is I'm missing.  And I think that carries through to this film for me.  Much like with his novels, there are moments that grab me and there are moments that I just drift through.

Final Thought:  This is one of the few films that I watch and think "That moment would have been pretty cool in 3D..."

Up Next:  Cradle 2 The Grave (2003)

Cool Runnings (1993)

Repeated television screenings of this film through my childhood are responsible for me seeing this movie perhaps a dozen times.  There's so many classic lines in this one I feel it needs to come back to regular TV rotation so that today's viewers can use them in everyday conversation..
I can't even remember the first time I saw this film.  It just appeared on TV once a month or so, gradually worming its way in to my brain.  "Hey Sanka... You dead?" is a line I quote regularly to this day.  

It's a fun film, but it's not one that leaves me with a great deal to say about it.  Despite it being a fair while since I last watched it, I'm so familiar with this film that I spent this viewing pottering between the living room and the kitchen, attempting to satisfy a craving for mac and cheese.  Ill timed microwaving of pasta almost caused me to miss the emotional conclusion of this film.  My distraction during this viewing in no lessened my heart swelling as Junior's dad finally showed he was proud of his son.  Sniff.

Final Thought:  The mac and cheese was very tasty.

Up Next: Coraline (2009)

Con Air (1997)

I first saw this film on a bus to a school camp in the country.  I think it might have been the only film the bus driver had, and we might have watched it more than once.  Bizarrely, the entire group on the bus enjoyed watching this.  I say this is bizarre because it was a bus full of teenage girls who didn't generally seek out this sort of film.  Or perhaps I just really enjoyed it and projected my enjoyment on to everyone else.

It's not the best film.  I realise this.  It's barely even a good film.  I was blinded by my discovery of John Cusack (whose entire film catalogue I subsequently made it my mission to see, and some further evidence of this will come up in later entries).  But I really enjoyed this film when I saw it the first time.  And the second time.  And the twentieth time.  I went out and bought it on VHS and watched it repeatedly.  I thought Nicholas Cage was a bit lame, but who cares when John Cusack, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi are around to make up for it?

By the time I reached this in my current movie library viewing crusade, it had definitely been more than 5 years since I'd seen it.  Unlike Clueless before it, this one hasn't aged as well for me (though John Cusack is still as wonderful as ever).  I like my crappy action movies, don't get me wrong.  More of them will pop up as this project continues.  But sometimes it can be difficult get past the fact that they're not great.  I wonder what I would think of this film if the nostalgia factor were removed...

Final Thought:  It seems as though they thought that "Put the bunny back in the box" somehow carried the same ominous feeling as "I'll be back."

Up Next:  Cool Runnings (1993)

Clueless (1995)

It's proven time and time again that successful teen movies don't talk down to teenagers.  Don't treat them as though they're not intelligent, curious and empathetic.  I know that media has changed since the 90s, but none of the movies I loved as a teenager were condescending. 

Would you really label this film as being aimed at teenagers though?  Perhaps it’s more a film that features teenagers.  It certainly resonates if you watch it as a teenager, especially if you happened to be one in the 1990s.  But while it’s embedded in the decade in which it was made, it manages to be enduring.  Watching it today, I enjoy it just as much.  Granted though, my enjoyment of this film has evolved as the years have gone by.

I eventually attempted to read "Emma", to get a broader sense of the story on which this film is based, but I ended up gradually wandering away from that book until I stopped reading it all together.  It didn't quite grab me.  I was probably not in the right frame of mind to be reading it at the time.

Going back and watching this film decades after seeing it for the first time, it doesn't suffer from seeming dated.  That's not to say that it hasn't dated, but the story is strong enough and timeless enough that it doesn't matter.  If anything, it hams up its 90s-ness so much that the more dated it is, the more I enjoy it.

Final Thought: Let's not talk about the TV series.

Up Next:  Con Air (1997)

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (2013)

The characters are what make these films work for me.  They appeal to my sense of humour.  They really do strike the perfect balance between emotion and the ludicrous in a way that works for me.  That said, I only went to see this film thanks to the good feelings engendered by its predecessor, and I wouldn't say that it was in the same league.  It was great at the time, because it had been a while since I'd seen the one before it.  But re-watching the original film confirmed to me my preference for it over this sequel.

Mainly, I think I find the villain in Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 a bit of a... hassle.  I think that's the best word for it.  Rather than providing impetus for the plot, I feel like he gets in the way of it.  And that goes twofold for his orangutan sidekick.  The first film only needed the villain to be a vague idea in the background; the entertainment came from watching the characters reacting and dealing with consequences.  The villain in this film tried to steal the show from the main characters too much for my liking, making this film the lesser film.  But what do I know?  The Bassist says he prefers this one to the original (though he did see this one first).

Final Thought:  "There's a leek in the boat" makes me laugh every. single. time.

Up Next:  Clueless (1995) 

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009)

This film was a real surprise to me in how good it was.  From the title, it seemed like such a stupid film.  And it is, but in a wonderful way.
I love animation, so there's a lot of animated films that I'll watch as a gamble, and this was one of them.  I fell in love from it right from the start, at the moment they introduced of spray on shoes.  And I kept loving it, because there's so many delightful little side moments in this film.  You have to keep watching so you don't miss something.  Not to mention the fact that Steve is one of the greatest sidekicks ever.

Even though this film is a ludicrous idea, it's tempered by Flint's dad, who they've made such a touching character - hairy and gruff but well meaning.  And they deftly set the poignancy of this relationship early in the film and thereby give some sort of vague purpose to why Flint behaves as he does.

I think this film works for me because it embraces what it is and then takes it just a little bit further.  It leaves me teary (because I'm a sap, apparently) and jubilant (because Yay Animation!), which is just great.

Final Thought:  What's distressing is that Baby Brent reminds me of someone I know, and I can't figure out who...

Up Next:  Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 (2013)

Closer (2004)

The first time I watched this film, it left me shattered.  This is not a film to see when you've just broken up with someone.  Though, if that is the situation in which you see this film, it is cathartic through the emotional turmoil.  I don't think I knew very much about it when I first watched it, so the emotional impact it had on me was a shock.  The effect has lessened with subsequent viewings, as I know what to expect, but I still find it fascinating to watch.  
The script is stunning.  My university drama society staged the original play around the same time, and unfortunately it didn't come close to this film.  The acting is fantastic, and it's such a relief that they had the original playwright adapt it for the screen.

Final Thought:  "Natalie Portman does a pretty impressive split" is a thought that occurs to me every time I watch this.

Up Next:  Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (2009)

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012)

I think you need to approach this film as a piece of art that you watch.  This isn't a film you seek out when you want an in depth plot, or even a plot that makes sense.  The plot exists in the same way it does in an old school musical; as a means of leading from one production number to the next.  If anything, the plot is even thinner than those of musicals.

That isn't necessarily a criticism.  If you watch this film with that in mind, you won't feel that you've missed out on anything.  And sometimes I need movies like that.  A pure, escapist, visual treat.  Certainly, if the focus had been the plot, something very interesting could have been created.  And I'm sure I would have loved to see it.  But the point of this movie is that it's a showcase of Cirque du Soleil acts from their Las Vegas shows.  And I'm fine with that, when that's what I'm in the mood to see.  And tonight, I was.

Final Thought:  I'm jealous of her umbrella boat.

Up Next:  Closer (2004)

Charade (1963)

Charade is so much more fun than I remember.  I haven't watched it in my adult life before.  I had completely forgotten about most of the comedy elements of this film, so watching it was a delight.  As a kid, I must have thought it a much more serious movie, and yet I remember the shower-in-a-suit moment in perfect detail.  I was so fascinated by all the parts I'd forgotten that I'm actually left with not much to say about it.  Just wonderful.

I've found, when it comes to classic films, that I'm sometimes left wondering what it is about them that earned them that status.  For example, Breakfast At Tiffany's didn't appeal to my tastes, and, other than the fashion, I do wonder a little at how it became as exalted as it is.  I think I need to sit down with someone who loves it and listen to why they feel that way.
To me though, Charade is definitely a classic.

Final Thought:  Nobody wears clothes as well as Hepburn and Grant.  Nobody.  I spent half the film wondering how Hepburn managed to look so good in what she was wearing.

Up Next:  Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (2012)

Champions (1992)

The appeal of sports movies baffles me.  I don't say that because I don't like them, I say that because it seems that I do like them.  I don't actively go out and watch sports matches, but somehow, there is something about sports movies (ones from the 1990s in particular) that can really get me caught up in the film.  There's obvious things like wanting the team/player (aka the good guy) to win, and the battle to win is usually very blatantly played out in the championship game or whatever it is that serves as the climax to the film, and the pay off of the good guy winning is satisfied with the definite acknowledgement of a trophy/medal/glory/valuable moral lesson/whatever.

But why do I, someone who doesn't remotely care about actual sports games when they're on TV, care?  Good writing and acting is always a contributing factor, but the subject matter is rather removed from my interests.  Perhaps I'll have this figured out by the time I watch Remember The Titans.


Recently, I watched the series "Fringe" in its entirety, which stars Joshua Jackson as a mostly concerned and problem solving character.  So watching Champions was partly fascinating just to be reminded of just how damn charming he is as an actor.  No wonder he was cast.  As a child actor, he was pretty great and, cheesy as it is, he gives the film heart.

Final Thought: I don't understand why they thought this film couldn't be called The Mighty Ducks in the UK and Australia...

Up Next: Charade (1963)

Center Stage (2000)

 In the year 2000, Center Stage and Coyote Ugly were both released cinematically, and though neither were brilliant films, they captured the attention of my circle of friends.  We saw each of these movies at the cinema multiple times.  I couldn't even tell you why, to be honest, but we just kept going back.

 Center Stage, while showcasing some rather unimpressive acting, is admirable for casting actual dancers.  My two major peeves in cinema are musical instruments being played with blatantly wrong technique (see August Rush) and terrible dancing being portrayed as great dancing (see The Artist).  So in this instance, I am more than willing to forgive bad acting for the sake of seeing ballet danced properly.

Final Thought: Despite the multiple times I have seen this film, my memory of it pales in comparison to The Seamstress.  She can quote this word for word.

Up Next:  Champions (1992)

The Cat Returns (2002)

I bought this film without having seen it, purely because it was Studio Ghibli.  It was at a time when I was buying a Ghibli film a week, and my decisions were based entirely on the DVD cover.  I didn't realise at the time that The Cat Returns wasn't made by Hayao Miyazaki himself, so sadly it isn't quite of the same calibre of the Miyazaki's films.  That said, it's still a lovely, peaceful little film.

It beats you about the head with the moral a bit, but I can forgive that in a Ghibli film for some reason.  The thing with these films is that I feel like I can't look away.  Not because the plot is complicated and I might miss something, but because they're just so visually stunning that I'd hate to miss anything.

Final Thought:  The soundtrack is oddly jovial in moments of upset.

Up Next:  Centre Stage (2000)

The Cat From Outer Space (1978)

One of my first jobs growing up was at my local video store, at the time that the shift from VHS to DVD was happening.  I watched as our shelves shifted from being mainly filled with videos to gradually being overrun by DVDs.  And one of the great things about my video store was that they purchased all sorts movies.  Not just the popular ones that would bring in money, but also those that regulars might want.  So our collection was huge.  You could find anything there.  Despite this, my video store went out of business.  A new, profit focussed chain store opened up down the road not long after, and they built up their catalogue by buying the one that my childhood store had painstakingly collected.  Cheaters.

I realised, after a couple of years, that many of my favourite films from my childhood weren't likely to end up on DVD, so if I ever wanted to see them again, I'd need to hunt them down on VHS from my childhood video store's original collection.  Since many of these films were a little obscure and not exactly profitable, the new video store would easily sell them.  And that is how I ended up with the very same VHS copy of The Cat From Outer Space that I had watched dozens of times as a young child.  So many times that I can even remember the melody of each line of dialogue in the trailers preceding the movie.
I'm not even sure what specifically it was that drew me to this film so much, other than the fact that there was an anthropomorphised cat in it.  But I was possibly the only person who ever hired this from my local store.

Strangely enough, 4 years or so in to our friendship, I randomly mentioned this film in conversation with one of my closest friends, only to have her respond enthusiastically, much to my surprise.  I have never met anyone else who has seen this movie.  We decided to watch it together, but ended up dozing off.
As an adult, it kinda drags a little.  But it's so familiar and comfortable and silly.  A cat.  From outer space.  With a glowing collar that allows him to communicate with humans.  Who else would come up with such a thing but Disney in the 70s.


Final Thought:  The protaganists in these sort of films have a tendency to be conveniently accepting of the circumstances into which they are thrust.  If they wasted too much time with skepticism, the film couldn't move forward.  Alien cat with a magical collar?  Sure, I'll help you break in to an army base.  ...Seriously??

Up Next:  The Cat Returns (2002)

Casablanca (1942)

This was the first time I watched this film.  And as I carry on with this project, I find that it's more difficult for me to write about films to which I have no emotional attachment.  So despite this being hailed as one of the best films ever made, I don't actually have a great deal to say about it.  It was interesting to finally get around to watching this, and it is, of course a very good film, but I think I'll need to watch it again for it to move me.  On this initial viewing, I was merely trying to keep up with what was happening.  The majority of the films I've seen from this era have been musicals, so it was an adjustment for me to need to keep up with a more complicated plot where the characters don't frequently break in to song.  That is something I appreciate about older movies though - so often now movies seem to hold your hand and explain to you very slowly what is happening, rather than giving you enough credit to be able to figure it out yourself.  It's more satisfying when it's not painstakingly spelled out to you, and it allows you to interpret things in a way that is meaningful to you, rather than being beaten over the head with what the maker's intention was.  And isn't that what art should be?  And isn't film a form of art?

Final Thought:  You see so many images of Humphrey Bogart, but seeing him as a movie star is quite striking.  It was bordering on alien for me to see a moving, speaking version of him. And as for the film itself, the lines from it are pretty much cliche now, so it's interesting to see them in context.

Up Next:  The Cat From Outer Space (1978)