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)