12 Angry Men

I had never seen this film before.

I ended up with this DVD due to a friend.  We were browsing a secondhand DVD/music store and I think I picked up 12 Angry Men and commented that I hadn't seen it but had heard that the play was amazing.  She insisted that it was brilliant and demanded that I purchase it.  I protested that I don't generally buy films that I haven't seen, but she wouldn't take no for an answer.  Being that the DVD was only $5, I figured "Why not?"

Thanks, friend.
It's a beautiful and classy film.
There's something different about actors pre-1960.  There's a particular accent and melody to the voice, a certain deliberate-ness to the acting that manages to not seem overdone (when done well) and a sense that these films were made because someone was trying to create a work of art.  Of course, there are those in the modern day film industry who are still trying to make works of art, but they are all too often drowned out by those who seem to think that movies are disposable and you just keep making them at random until you get lucky.
It sounds a bit snobbish, I know, and "they don't make 'em like they used to" and all that...  But to a degree it's true.  When you watch older movies, you can tell that things were done with care, at least in the ones I've ever been exposed to.

How likely is it that you would see a film like this now?  Ninety-five percent of it consists of twelve men in a room, talking.  What studio would take a gamble on that being successful?  How would they believe that could hold an audience's attention?  Craig Monahan did something similar with his The Interview, which itself is a very gripping piece of cinema that I highly recommend but unfortunately don't own.

For me, the joy of this film is watching things play out.  Seeing the characters argue and use logic.  Even the moments where a conclusion dawns on you just before it comes to the characters are wonderful.  You know that the writer intended to give that lightbulb moment to the audience first, allowing us to realise "Of course!" and then watch hungrily for the characters to catch on.

Since I bought this film, I've had a number of people assure me that it's great.  It's taken me three years to get around to watching it, but I have now and I agree.

Final Thought:  I really enjoyed the revelation of why the final juror held out for so long, and love even more that it didn't occur to me earlier.

Up Next:  17 Again

10 Things I Hate About You

So we begin with 10 Things I Hate About You.  (In my organising, this is at the start as it is a number, so there you go).

Man, the 90s did teen movies well.  I have no idea how many times I've seen this film.  My gang at school loved it, so it came out at every sleepover.  I did once insist that my high school boyfriend watch it, and he didn't enjoy it quite as much as I do.  But what does he know, eh?  It's entertaining, and it pretty much borders on being a parody some of the time (case in point, the introduction of the different cliques in the school.  Cowboys??)

We all know it's a reimagining of The Taming Of The Shrew, as it's from that time in the 90s when Hollywood was looking to Shakespeare for its inspiration.  For me, I much prefer them pinching ideas from Shakespeare over the current trend of "And another sequel!  And a remake!  And a prequel!"  If you can't be original, at least be inspired by material that is rich, moving, timeless and complex.  Don't make movies based on board games.  Just because someone happened to get lucky with a movie based on an amusement park ride (which will also be coming up later), doesn't mean that such an inane concept will ever work again.

The serenade in 10 Things I Hate About You is still one of my favourite moments in a teen movie.  Heath Ledger gained a lot of attention for Brokeback Mountain and The Dark Knight (which will be coming up later), but I think that even in this movie he showed flashes of subtlety that hinted at how great an actor he could be.  Then there's Julia Stiles, Joseph Gordon-Levitt...  And Andrew Keegan.  Where did he go?  This was the only movie I ever saw him in I think, but he was all over the teen magazines when I was a kid and I never really knew why.  Was he famous in America?



Final thought: The Stratfords have an amazing house.  I want that porch.

Up Next: 12 Angry Men

New Project

It has been such a long time since I've posted and life has changed dramatically.

But, I've missed writing.  At the moment, in order to have the motivation to write, I need a reason.  Something to write about.  I've been waiting for a project idea to come to me, and, as I passed my shelves this evening, it finally did.

I'm going to watch all the movies I own.  In alphabetical order.

It's not a groundbreaking project, I know.
But it's an easy place to start, and it should give me a fair bit of fodder for writing.
It's easy to feel connected to movies.  It could be that you watched it after a bad breakup, or that you watched it every weekend as a child, or that it was introduced to you by someone who had an impact in your life.
I guess, in this project, I'm looking to entice these memories back to me, and use them as material to get myself writing again.
I have a policy that I don't tend buy DVDs that I don't feel I'd want to watch over and over again.  That means that I only buy movies that have grabbed my attention in one way or another.  Although, I must admit, there's some gambles in there as well.  Some left me pleasantly surprised, and some left me not entirely convinced.

So that's my simple idea.  I plan to write a post for each film I watch.  I have a lot of DVDs... I don't even know how long this will take, what with having a full time job.  Let's see how it goes.

Wandering the internet

Every so often (more and more frequently these days, if I'm honest), I get entranced by the internet. I'll visit somewhere familiar, follow a suggested link with curiosity, become fascinated by where I end up, wander further, next thing I know I'm slightly bewildered, trying to absorb ten sites at once, marveling at the myriad of things I've found.

via Katogi Mari Illustration

Add to this that I only just discovered Flickr. Not that I wasn't aware of it before, of course I was, however I put off delving into it as I'm not (yet) terribly interested in posting my own photos up there. I'd visit it when referred to it by other sites, but I wouldn't stay for long. I'm yet to determine the most efficient way to sift through the phenomenal number of photos on display, but I am, in a haphazard fashion, starting to look around it more.

via Flickr

There's so much inspiring stuff out there.

Saturated

This is the time of day when my neighbourhood turns golden.

Sweetness

My room smells like caramel and the sun is warming my feet.

Starting to glimpse...

The sun is starting to break through the clouds...