What a Way to Go! Indeed

Netflix can be the bearer of some great surprises every now and again, even if they're really not surprises. You know, you create your queue when you set up your account, then you keep moving items to the top of the queue, then you forget about updating your queue for a while, and BAM! Surprise! Some random movie you totally forgot you added on that first day shows up in your mailbox! Well, that's what happened last week for me. I've had my Netflix account for about 10 months now and there are a ton of films that have yet to make their way to me from my original entries. This next one is one of those....

When I was a little kid, I remember watching a movie with Shirley MacLaine and a bunch of different well-known actors. The story involved how MacLaine would marry some poor sap, then presto! They're rich and famous, and soon to be dead, with Shirley inheriting all their wealth - and it's A LOT. Rather morbid, I know, but I really had a hankering to watch that film again, especially since Paul Newman AND Gene Kelly play two of MacLaine's beaus. It's called What a Way to Go! from 1964 and it proves its quirky, kinda strange nature right at the beginning. What I love about these American comedies that found themselves caught between Old and New Hollywood is how bright and colorful they are. And this film - WOW - is bright. And colorful. Shirley was an established star at this time and well matched with - get this - Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Gene Kelly, Dean Martin, and Bob Cummings. Talk about a line-up - especially for me! A great aspect of the film is the way Shirley explains her marriages to her psychiatrist - in movie terms. With Dick Van Dyke it was a Chaplin silent comedy; with Paul it was a French art house film; with Robert Mitchum it was a lavish, Hollywood production; and with Gene it was - shock - a musical. What a Way to Go! is slightly bizarre, yes, but very entertaining! It's fun, silly, and is a great distraction from all the seriousness in one's life. It was actually nominated for a couple Oscars - one for its Art Direction and the other for its Costumes. And both are really outstanding. And that Gene Kelly segment just might get you in some Singin' in the Rain mood. Add that to your queue, too!

Lovely Sunday Films Part II

After a very blah and dismal week, the sun made her way out from behind the clouds and shed much appreciated light all over Virginia Highlands. I felt motivated to get out of the apartamento and venture to the theater (movie that is).

Preface: I saw a film at BAM a few years back entitled Paris, Je Taime and absolutely loved it. It's such a great collaboration of various filmmakers - directors, writers, actors - in all different genres branching out around the City of Lights, sharing stories of everyday inhabitants and visitors. I think anyone who enjoys film will love Paris, Je Taime even if you don't enjoy every segment of it.

Well, after the success of that film, another group of filmmakers got their creative sparks going and decided to move across the Atlantic and try the same idea with the City that Never Sleeps - my favorite place - New York, New York ("A city so great they named it twice - the other one is Manhattan"). Simply called New York, I Love You, the film takes place all over New York and Brooklyn with lots of vignettes about couples, friends, strangers and the overall relationship with New York itself. While the film itself didn't strike quite the same chord with me as Paris, Je Taime, I loved basking in the celluloid images of the city. I do have to say, I appreciated how well all the vignettes intertwined with one another - much more so than in Paris, Je Taime - and anything with Eli Wallach I will always like (he was the main reason I did not completely hate The Holiday). I think my favorite segment of New York, I Love You, the one that really moved me, was the one involving Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn (if she still has the Penn). I don't want to say too much since there is a twist involved, but it was really well done with great sensitivity and delicateness, and I love the inclusion of "No Surprises." As soon as I heard the first note of that Radiohead song, I thought, great choice. Really nicely done. Overall though for me, and why I might be biased with this film, is that I needed some sort of escape, even if it wasn't in the physical sense such as an actual excursion to the city. New York, I Love You proved to be a great treat, and a great reminder of happy memories as well as my own grapples with NYC. It's a city that I may have issues with at times, but no matter what, New York will forever hold a most special place in my heart. New York. I truly do love you.

Lovely Sunday Films Part I

Wow, it's been a while, eh folks (I feel like I say that a lot, huh)? Well, I'm going to do my best to post once a week (and that, too). And I have a lot to catch up on writing wise since I've seen quite a few films in the last month or so. I may only mention them at this point in time (i.e. (500) Days of Summer, It Might Get Loud, The September Issue, and a few classics), but I'm going to try to be better about more in depth analysis. Especially since I'm rusty after writing my thesis and will be starting classes again in January. Whew...always the student. Never the M.F.A. recipient. I think I'll go backwards in time, starting with today...

It's funny. You know how every once in a while you get a movie scene or quote stuck in your head, and you can't really remember what it's from? Well, I've had this one segment in my head about smiles for a few weeks. I couldn't remember which movie it was where the male protagonist is in love with the female lead and there's a monologue about the number of smiles she has. Luckily, while I was sitting eating my bagel and sipping my latte, I decided to turn on the tele which I haven't done in a few days and see what the weekend movie was on Peachtree TV. When the commercial break finally ended, Josh Duhamel and Kate Bosworth appeared on screen, and I remembered just where that smiles discussion was from: Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! Now, it's not the finest work of the cinema (the acting may turn you away), but I do remember enjoying it - that hopeless romantic movie escapee that I am - when I watched it at the Union Square theater in NYC. I hadn't seen it since, and that's why it's funny that that smiles talk has stayed with me. Movies - especially romantic comedies - can be torturous but at the same time sweet and fun. I guess when I saw Win a Date, I always wondered if anyone would notice how many smiles I have and if I would be able to distinguish someone else's. Or if there are differences in smiles - because I've been more astute at differentiating among laughs - but the smile question still intrigues me. And how a silly, pretty soon forgotten movie has the ability to make me wonder something like that five years later? Anyway, the point is, I no longer have to search my memory for where that line came, and I kinda hope Peachtree TV repeats Win a Date. I think I might have to watch it from the beginning and not 3/4 of the way through. But I'm not so sure I want to Netflix it - yes, I am a pretentious movie snob. Accept. And move on (Dot Org). God. Where is Lorelai when I need her??

Goonies Never Say Die!!!

I know I'm slacking on the posts, but I had to share this link. A co-worker just told me about it, and I thought I'd pay it forward. Makes me want to go back to Astoria and see the Haystacks. They're just so lovely. Or at least pop in my personal copy of the film. I guess that'd be easiest. And cheapest.

Goonies.org

Magic and Space - What could be better?!

Okay, so it's been a while. Things have been a tad crazy with work, life, travel, etc etc. But to the movies. I suppose I'll start with what was this post's original purpose three weeks ago - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince! That'll fulfill the "magic" portion of this evening's two part festivities followed immediately by the "space" installment. You ready? Let's go!

I have to admit, I've never really been a huge fan of the Harry Potter films (I just love the books too much, I guess), but with this latest film update, I have to say, I'm coming around. Perhaps because I haven't read the books in two years, I'm a little more open to the film. The special effects keep getting better and better, and I think the scenes involving the Quidditch matches prove just that. But like all the other films, my main issue lies in the fact that so much of the narrative is omitted. With The Half Blood Prince installment, obvious tweaks have been made, and in my opinion, the book should be at least perused in order to understand the characters' motivations. The film's climax occurs much too quickly, thus condensing the book's finale much too much. However, the kids keep getting better and better. They're aging too fast for the books' timeline, yet, they're still able to pull off the teenage angst and confusing hormonal changes that Harry, Ron, and Hermione undergo during their 7 years at Hogwarts. It's hard to discuss plot details without giving too much away. The main narrative involves Harry (shock) and 1) his relationship with the past owner of his Potions textbook and 2) Completing a task set forth by Dumbledore in order to unearth Voldemort's secrets. The movie deals with those pretty well, if not in their completions, but satisfactorily. However, while I was up North visiting the famiglia, I uncovered my HP set - yay! Instead of lugging all the books back, I decided to start with my favorite installment, The Goblet of Fire, and each time I return home, I'll grab another. Anyhow, I'm very excited to revisit Harry and Co. at Hogwarts little by little. It's all about pacing.

The next movie I saw which was really quite fascinating and thought provoking was Moon. I didn't know what to expect really, but the film deals with some pretty heavy ethical issues while maintaining a level of suspense that greatly meshes 2001: A Space Odyssey and Alien. The idea of cloning people to maintain a space station seems pretty reasonable - at first - but when human emotion comes into play, all bets are off. It's by far not a perfect solution, and the film handles that struggle incredibly well. Sam Rockwell delivers a fantastic performance, or performances really, as he is the only actor on screen for 99% of the film. There is of course Kevin Spacey voicing GERTY - an updated,but somewhat less conniving and evil HAL, but really it's Sam, Sam, and well, Sam. David Bowie's son Duncan Jones makes his directorial debut with this film, and I'm pretty excited to see what else he comes up with. Moreover, the timing of this film's release coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Moon Landing, and for those of you who think NASA staged that event out in Area 51, I got to say, you're as crazy as those deniers of Evolution. And if you doubt both the Moon landing and Evolution, well then, you really scare me.