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New column: What are you Watching?
To promote even more interactivity and fun (I hope) on this blog, today I introduce a new feature: The weekly “What are You Watching” query.
It occurred to me that I see a lot more movies than the new ones I review on this blog, and I wanted to find a way to share those with you. But I’d also like you to share with me. I want this to be like the “Friends” feature on Netflix, where we can keep track of each other’s movie-watching. This will appear weekly on Tuesdays, along with my usual DVD release post.
Tell me about movies you’ve seen in theaters, on DVD, or on TV. These can be movies you’ve never seen before, movies you have seen before and noticed something new, or movies you’d simply like to turn more people on to. Who knows, maybe you’ll even turn me, the critic, onto something.
Here’s what I’ve been watching (links go to IMDB):
Angels with Dirty Faces: Classic James Cagney gangster pic, with an ending that’ll make your head spin for days. A+
The Evil Dead: Never did see the original until just recently. Very rough around the edges, but loads of fun, although I still like the second movie best. B+
Heavenly Creatures: Caught the DVD of the picture that broke Peter Jackson and Kate Winslet in this country. Has some fascinating extra footage, albeit nothing essential. A+
The Maltese Falcon (1931): This was actually the first filming of the classic story. Pretty similar to the more famous remake, but Spade is more of a playboy than a tough guy. B-
The Maltese Falcon (1941): Proof positive that Hollywood should remake mediocre movies, not good ones. A+
Meet John Doe: The least effective of Frank Capra’s “common man does amazing things” movies, with an ending that just doesn’t wash, but with Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck in the leads, still plenty effective. B+
The Old Dark House: Spooky haunted house movie from James Whale, who gave us the classic Frankenstein movies and The Invisible Man, among others. Fun to see Boris Karloff without all the makeup. B+
Outrage: Underrated drama about a girl trying to recover from a rape. Pretty daring for 1950. Directed by Ida Lupino, who was a star herself. B+
The Public Enemy: Made Cagney a star. Not hard to see why. A+
The Roaring Twenties: Grossly underrated Cagney gangster movie, and my favorite of this batch. It’s fun to see Cagney butt heads with Bogart before he was Bogie. (Same goes for Angels with Dirty Faces.) A+
The Petrified Forest: More early Bogie, playing an out and out bad guy. Pretty stagy and creaky now, and I can’t help but wonder: Why did strong women like Bette Davis and Vivien Leigh fall for a PRISS like Leslie Howard? B
Rescue Dawn: The latest from Werner Herzog is an occasionally pokey but still compelling POW Vietnam drama. B+
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: Worth it for the spectacular barn-raising dance alone. A-
Sunshine: Although it does fall apart in the third act, this is still the most visually spectacular film of the year. Eerie and fascinating most of the way. Directed by Danny Boyle (28 Days Later). B+
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974): Another classic horror pic I only recently caught up to, this is actually less bloody than its reputation suggests. Scares more by suggestion than actual gore. A
Treasure of the Sierra Madre: All together now: “Badges? We don’t need no STEENKING badges!” A+
Your turn - tell me what you think of my pic(k)s and/or what you’ve been watching.
Comments
By Sir Critic
August 2, 2007 1:10 AM | Link to this
Kelly: Well, it’s nice to see your son being turned on to the classics! I have to say, though, I disagree about “Temple of Doom” besting “Raiders.” You’re not the only one who’s said that recently, but I think “Raiders” is this perfect engine of an action movie. “Temple” has a great beginning and a great ending, but a VERY uneven middle. Thats why I prefer “Last Crusade” to “Temple,” which is boosted in no small way by Sean Connery. That’s why I was disappointed to learn he will not appear in the fourth film, which comes out May 22 of next year.By Mark
August 1, 2007 10:33 PM | Link to this
What’s up, Eric! I just watched “Shooter” last night and it was awesome! I love a good conspiracy movie! :)By Kelly
August 1, 2007 10:27 PM | Link to this
I’ve been introducing my 9-year-old to the Indiana Jones movies and thus far have watched Raiders of the Lost Arc and Temple of Doom. We both enjoyed the second one more than the first, but both movies hold up after all these years. Looking forward to No. 4 - when is that scheduled to come out?By Allie D.
August 1, 2007 9:37 PM | Link to this
Eric — I too like Zemeckis. I thought his Cast Away was unfairly maligned, and I of course loved Forrest Gump and several of his others, but Jodie Foster was rubbing me all kinds of the wrong way in Contact the other night, and was guilty of the overuse of the “sentimental quips.” Like the “waste of space” line and “small moves,” etc etc. I still believe it was well-crafted and I love the themes and the questions raised by the basic storyline, but it was too mired in cloying gloopiness… if that’s a word. ;)By Sir Critic
August 1, 2007 10:13 AM | Link to this
Allie - Sorry to hear that about “Contact,” that was my 2nd favorite film of 1997, after “Titanic.” I haven’t watched it in awhile, but I have a feeling it’d hold up for this Zemeckis fan. Derwood: Morse was good in “Disturbia,” but NOTHING, and I repeat, NOTHING compares to that stare that Burr gives Stewart across the way. Bud: You are right indeed about the WB crime flicks, I rented all the ones in that gangster box set that came out a couple years ago. Thank you, Netflix, the money saver!By Bud Norton
August 1, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this
Sounds like you got a theme of classic Warner Brothers crime flicks going on. They sure don’t make ‘em like that any more — wonderful crafsmanship, acting, dialogue, pacing, you name it. TCM showed “Angels With Dirty Faces” a few weeks ago, and I re-watched it with my 9 year old daughter, who usually doesn’t like B&W movies because they’re “old,” but for this one she was glued to the screen. And that ending! Today, the studios would re-shoot it (i.e., ruin it) to make it more cheerful.By Derwood
August 1, 2007 4:24 AM | Link to this
Allie, If you like Cillian Murphy, definitely go see Sunshine when it comes out. I recently watched Infinity. It stars Matthew Broderick, and its about Richard Feynman and his wife. It was interesting initially, but the ending left much to be desired. I also re-watched Hitchcock’s Rear Window in preparation for watching Disturbia. I’m curious to see how David Morse compares to Raymond Burr. Personally, I prefer Morse :)By Allie D
July 31, 2007 1:34 PM | Link to this
I am disappointed lately by my lack of theater-going lately, as there are several films I want to see, 2 of which are on your list. But I have been doing some TV movie viewing lately, mainly through HD On Demand. I’ve watched Silence of the Lambs. I have it on DVD, but I didn’t have to go dig it out. Still a great film. Continuing on the Jodie Foster theme, I also watched Contact, a film that I have come to think is not nearly as good as I thought it was 10 years ago. Probably because I think Foster over-acted and was probably not quite the right person for the part. So that was sort of disillusioning. I also watched Gattaca, which, with its brilliant themes, gorgeous art direction, and amazing musical score, remains one of my favorite science fiction films. 28 Days Later was also a recent view. I actually only saw a portion of this before I saw the sequel earlier this year. The first film was amazing, and frightening. And any chance to see Cillian Murphy is fine by me. :) I also recently saw Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man at the local arthouse theater here in Olympia. It didn’t do much in helping me to really much like Ralph Nader, although I admired the film nonetheless. That’s all I can think of for now, but I like this feature! It reminds me that I need to return my Netflix movie (The Queen — which I loved) so I can get the next one.