Tommy Guns in Tow...

You know, there are some great benefits working for a cable company, especially one focused on the movies. Today, I went into work at 9, then at 1130, I was off with my coworkers to lunch at Mellow Mushroom and then screen Public Enemies at Midtown Arts. This ended at 330, and my boss, Tom, decided that we should all just go home. In essence, I get my day of pay for 2.5 hours of actual "work" plus lunch and a movie - which I wanted to see! Fantastic! Now with my free time I figured I'd watch another film on my list - Days of Wine and Roses - whilst blogging about the film I saw this afternoon.

As aforementioned, I was uber excited to see Public Enemies. From the trailer it looks gritty and violent and is about an extremely fascinating bank robber from the 1930s - pretty much the ingredients for any good gangster film. My first thought as soon as the end credits started to roll: This is definitely a second half film. I felt the first act and a half dragged. A lot. Johnny Depp is fantastic as John Dillinger, and the movie is hands-down all Johnny's. From his first close-up and the couple loose strands of hair dangling in his face, I couldn't help but reflect back to Cry Baby, 19 years earlier. But even Johnny couldn't keep me from getting a tad antsy during the first hour or so. Nor could Christian Bale's Melvin Purvis, the FBI agent who apprehended the notorious criminal. I feel that both Depp and Bale are two of the best actors today, but Bale's character, especially, was rather flat. I suppose that could be because the film's main preoccupation is on the Dillinger character, but still, I would have liked to have learned more about Purvis and his background.

Aside from the rather lackluster character development, the film looked really nice. Michael Mann opted to shoot all HD, and you can tell. As with most of his work, the hand-held camera makes many appearances, provoking an uneasiness and suggesting the unsteady ground Dillinger and his cohorts were traversing. What really bothered me, however, was the liberty the writers took with the timeline of events. I suppose since no title card appeared saying "this film is truth or based on truth," the writers have some leeway, but still, after watching the movie and having my interest peaked about Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, and Pretty Boy Floyd, I learned (thank you wikipedia) that the deaths of each criminal occurred in a very different order. I just didn't understand the reasoning for playing with these facts. All in all, the movie was fairly entertaining but nothing so great I would rush out to see again: in the theater, on DVD or on TV. And that's very rare for me and Johnny. Well, I guess Secret Window and Nick of Time fall into that category. But that's alright. I'll always have Don Juan DeMarco to go back to, time and time again.

And P.S. The movie I'm watching right now - deeeepressing. Eeesh.

Firstly, I have my computer back! My sleek, lovely black MacBook. She crashed on me back in March - a horrific, terrifying moment of my life - and it was discovered that my hard drive was completely fried :( Ergo, I lost EVERYTHING because I hadn't backed up anything since I got her in August 2007. Word to the wise: Buy an external hard drive and use it! But on a happier note, she (with a larger hard drive and all the trimmings) and I are reunited and ready to work!

Onto the classic films I've seen over the last few weeks. I've started screening some of this season's TCM Essentials (Saturdays at 8PM with Robert Osborne and Alec Baldwin) and the first I watched was The Letter. It stars Bette Davis directed by her favorite of all filmmakers, William Wyler. If I were to use one word to characterize this film, it most definitely would be melodrama. It's about secrets, adultery, and murder, but what melodrama isn't? Probably the most famous line from the film is Bette in her most exasperated exclaiming, "With all my heart, I still love the man I killed!" I think that sums it up.

Next, I watched Woody Allen's first big break Take the Money and Run. Being a Woody Allen fan, I really enjoyed this film. It clocks in at a breezy 85 minutes, and definitely keeps pace with Allen's witty, fast-paced persona. It incorporates mockumentary and crime films, but the criminal in this case is the world's worst. Everyone in it shows off their comedic skills, and I have to say, other than Woody and one or two other folks, I was pretty unfamiliar with most of the cast. Nevertheless, everyone was great, and I highly recommend it. Keep in mind, it's on this year's Essentials calendar, so check it out on TCM if you have cable.

Third, I watched a Julie Andrews musical from the early 1980's - Victor/Victoria. So. Good. Funny. Entertaining. Great songs. Great cast. Honestly, my eyes stayed glued to the tele. Granted, it is a Blake Edwards film, so it comes as no surprise as to how enjoyable it is. Andrews, being the musical phenom she is, delivers the songs flawlessly. She's joined by Robert Preston (a.k.a. The Music Man) who plays a homosexual singer in 1930s Paris who sees Andrew's potential and turns her into the most popular musical act in Paris. The catch: She has to pretend to be a man pretending to be a woman. Confusing? Perhaps, but it becomes hilarious once James Garner comes into the mix and starts questioning his own heterosexuality thinking that he's attracted to a man, when in fact, he's very much attracted to a woman. Also, keep your eye on scene-stealer Lesley Ann Warren. She's fantastic!

Okay, I have a slew of other films I've watched:

• Network: Put this on your queue. I've seen it a few times but felt like a refresher. For a 1976 film, it was somewhat prophetic, as well as an overall brilliant film from screenplay to directing to acting.
  
• The Bride Wore Black: Truffaut's 1968 homage to Hitchcock starring Jeanne Moreau and scored by Hitchcock's frequent collaborator, Bernard Hermann.
  
• Ruggles of Red Gap: A delightful, quirky comedy from 1935 starring the Hunchback of Notre Dame himself, Sir Charles Laughton.
  

More recent films:

• Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  
• Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones doc Shine a Light
  
• The sequel to City of God, City of Men, which was not as experimental or intense as its predecessor, but still a gripping film.
  
• And a collection of Radiohead videos entitled The Best of Radiohead. I can't tell you how ridiculous it was seeing the band as their early 90's selves. Johnny has the nicest facial structure!
  

I think that covers things for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but it's been a busy few weeks, so forgive me. The next new release I'm anxious to screen is Public Enemies. I really hope it doesn't suck. Eeesh.

Classic Cinema Fun!

While perusing the interwebs today, I came across a very intriguing blog post on The Gay Philosopher. The post contains a collection published in 1938 of caricatures featuring the leading actors, actresses, directors, and producers gracing the Hollywood sound stages from the 1930's. Sadly, some of the names have been misspelled and not all the pictures are the most flattering, but hey! I like that people make it a point to keep these folks in our cinema vernacular. And since I devoted a chapter of my thesis to him, I'll post the image of Jimmy for your edification. Ahhhh Jimmy, you''ll always have a special place in my heart.

Good Summer Fun Cine!

I have been slacking...whoops...but I have ventured to the theater a couple times since I last wrote (and of course have watched new and old films in the comfort of my apartment). But let's discuss the new releases, and fortunately, so far this summer as compared to last, they don't suck. Yay!

Star Trek: For someone who has never watched an episode or one of the many films from this franchise, I have to say, I was thoroughly entertained and interested in JJ Abrams' latest addition. It wasn't on my list of films to see, but after many co-workers and friends told me the film is AWESOME, I listened. I gotta say, for a summer blockbuster, the film delivers on all fronts: The effects are awesome. The acting's pretty good. And the script proves to give non-Trekkies/Trekkers (not sure which is accurate) insight into the Star Trek universe. I'm starting to realize, however, that JJ has a major preoccupation with time travel. It seems that every one of his shows, at least, the ones I've watched (LOST, Felicity, Fringe) focus on the phenomenon. And since I saw Star Trek not long after the LOST season finale, I was hoping to draw some connections between the passengers aboard the USS Enterprise and those "survivors" from Oceanic Flight 815. Alas, no such luck. Now, I'm not going to go into much detail about the plot of the film, mainly because I can't remember most of the characters names (other than the usual suspects: Kirk, Spock, Scottie) or the specific place names within the Universe. But if you're looking for a fun, somewhat thought provoking, but overall entertaining summer blockbuster, Star Trek will not disappoint. If, however, you're looking for clues to next season's LOST, this may not be exactly what you're hoping for, but if you do find something, please! Let me know!

The Hangover: Oh. My. God. Go see this movie. Yes, it's a guys' movie. Totally ridiculous and ludicrous on all fronts, but not overly gross-out disgusting or chauvinistic. It may make you ladies put the ix-nay on your betrothed and his buddies going to Vegas two days before your wedding, but it's a movie, so put those feelings aside. Just, you know, go with it. Revel in the fact that guys can be completely idiotic, but fortunately, some of them know how to channel that lunacy into an outrageously funny script and get three fantastic actors who deliver stellar (and maybe not so far-fetched) performances. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis are brilliant as the three groomsmen who lose their best bud/groom sometime during a night of mayhem and debauchery on the Strip, but then, cannot remember what the hell happened or where the groom could possible be. I mean, everything that could go wrong, does. And while rooting for the guys to figure things out, you can't help but hope that more obstacles get in the way so that our laughter keeps going. And while the old saying goes, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," happily the filmmakers let us in on all the missing pieces, causing much laughter and squirming at the same time. And Mike Tyson: Hey! He's still got it!

I PASSED!!!!

Not exactly with flying colors, but I passed! Yay!

Many thanks to those kind souls who read, re-read, edited, critiqued, and encouraged me along the way, especially on that last stretch. You're all wonderful, fantastic, beautiful people! MWAH!

That's all for today.