Movie-a-Week: Hey, I think I’m done

With the details surely the makes of a longer, less-interesting post sometime, Stace and I fired up a Netflix account again about a month ago. So, access to movies of all types just became a lot easier. It also not only ended this year-long exercise, but probably erased its value as well. I mean, the point was that with an obstacle like having to FIND a movie to watch (as well as put a kid to sleep and the fact that I’m kind of a picky SOB), I was never watching movies. As you all know, Netflix streaming takes care of finding a movie. (Not “finding a good movie,” but that’s another discussion – there’s always a movie waiting right there).

So here’s a short list of what I wrapped the year up with. Netflix members understand why it’s a doc-heavy tally – that’s where their inventory’s best gems live. This list doesn’tt include my 27th viewing of “Midnight Run,” which I’m smack in the middle of while typing this. And by the way, why are you so unpopular with the Chicago Police department?…

Freakonomics (imdb.com)

A collection of shorts, all inspired by the book of the same name. Fun doc focusing on divergent thinking and how we often misinterpret data.

Super High Me (imdb.com)

I think Doug Benson is one of the smarter comics out there, and his “Doug Loves Movies” podcast is a fixture on my phone. While I liked the movie, I’ll admit that I’ve avoided it for a while because the pot schtick is (in my opinion) pretty cliche and keeps him penned in. That said, it’s an interesting topic that he handles with both goof and seriousness in the film. As things seem to move a little quicker these days, it seemed dated even though just four years old. For whatever that’s worth.

Dominick Dunne: After the Party (imdb.com)

And here’s the biggest danger with Netflix. I have no idea why I watched this. I barely knew who he was before clicking on it – nothing more than “that guy during the OJ trial.” He’s an interesting dude and his story is compelling. (Then again, who’s isn’t. We’re still only a few years away from every human over 45 getting his own documentary, right? And everyone under 45 gets their own reality show.)

Tales From the Script (imdb.com)

Could have used a more discriminating editor, as you really have to care about the topic to sit through this many interview clips, but it’s a great look at the profession of screenwriting. From the mouths of an abundance of them, including some of the best like Ron Shelton and Paul Schrader (pictured). Their descriptions of the obstacles that occur between paper and screen – you wonder how any movie actually ever gets made. (Or how any GOOD movie gets made.)

And here are a few I’ve watched w/out the aid of Netflix…

True Grit (imdb.com)

It got enough attention during award season that I don’t think I need to sing its praises. I was mildly disappointed, frankly. It lacked some elements that I (probably unfairly) expected. But it’s a good film. Where does it rank amongst Coen Bros. films? That might need be its own post someday.

The Mechanic (imdb.com)

As far as unapologetic action movies go, it’s fast-paced and smart enough. I enjoyed it.

Limitless (imdb.com)

As far as unapologetic thriller movies, it’s slow and way too dumb. Maybe record-setting dumb. Award-winning dumb. Should probably specifically be noted for its one awesomely-bad hero-escape-danger sequence. I won’t give it away, but when he’s laying on the floor, about to get shot and you see a bad-guy’s blood headed his way – feel free to start groaning, early and loud.

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Alright, thanks for indulging me this last year. Not sure what we accomplished. I watched more movies, especially more bad movies, than usual. So there’s that. Might we’ll just keep the “Movie-a-week” name around and I’ll continue this narcissistic “I bet you wanna know what movie I watched while you went out and had a life” silliness.

Now, back to “Midnight Run.” Relax Sidney. Make yourself a sandwich, drink a glass of milk…do some f#%@ing thing.

Movie-a-Week: 6 to go

I Love You Phillip Morris (imdb.com)

Well, that was something.

Somewhere (imdb.com)

I loved the heck out of this boring movie. Maybe it was just the mood I was in, but Coppola’s slow tempo reeked of high school ennui. Yet it totally worked for me. I’m a sap. The long one-shots that often bring the story to a halt are stylistic, and they just keep going, and then you say to yourself, “hmmm…this has been going on for awhile,” and then they keep going, and then – and this is when it starts to work – your mind drifts off into related melancholy in YOUR life, and you start going deep inside your own head…and the long shot just keeps going, and then you’re back in reality saying, “wow, I haven’t thought of that in a while” and maybe you have a good cry, and there’s that shot – still going, and then… yeah, then you’re pretty much done with thinking about anything other than nachos (or maybe that’s just me, cause I’m always thinking about nachos), but they keep going…

Seriously, there are moments in the movie that are like the coffee scene in “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”… but I don’t think it’s supposed to be a joke.

And yet – seriously – I loved this movie. Stephen Dorff is immensely watchable as a disconnected celebrity. It’d be easy to make fun of the film with “oh no, look at the rich kids and their problems,” but it didn’t seem to play it for sympathy. More about how isolation and loneliness is both self-imposed and indiscriminate. Dorff and Fanning both do a great job not overplaying their conflicts. Whether you’d like the movie or not (I’d guess “not,” and I might not either if I watched it tonight), it’s more evidence that Sofia is one of the top “actor’s director”s around.

Or maybe I was wrong on this one. I refuse to watch it again to find out. I have good feelings about it, so why mess that up?

Movie-a-Week: 8 to go

Fish Tank (imdb.com)

British indie-film that I read about on multiple top-ten lists from last year, which I probably would have loved a decade ago, but today found little charmed in the vague, disconnected characters and high-school-screenplay symbolic devices.  I know it’s not a bad movie.  I’m probably just not the target audience these days.

Kung Fu Panda 2 (imdb.com)

Have I written anything about this yet?  Gabe’s first movie theater experience.  Three people, matinee, three medium drinks, one medium popcorn = $42.  Or, the same amount in Rinnert currency = $wontbegoingbackthereforawhile.

The Girlfriend Experience (imdb.com)

Turns out, being a call girl doesn’t lead to fulfilling relationships and can be kinda depressing.  Whowouldathunk?

Unstoppable (imdb.com)

Unstoppable?  More like “Unwatchable!”  Hahahaha…woo…ahhh… no, really, it sucked.

Movie-a-Week: 12 to go…

Blue Valentine (imdb.com)

Seems like I have enough reminders in my life of the complicated nature of adult relationships. I didn’t really need this well-acted, sometimes-subtle/sometimes-overly-sentimental, 112-minute, slap-in-the-face reminder.

It’s well-executed. The story of how the film was made – the uber-involved off-screen preparation and improvisation – interested me more than the movie itself. But that’s more a reflection on where I’m at in my life than anything wrong with the movie. I’m sure relationships actually are filled with these difficulties and obstacles for some. I just couldn’t relate. (And really didn’t want to go to the depressing places where I could – why spend my free time doing THAT?!!!!)

Yep, I’ve become a movie-watcher that the movie-watcher I was in my twenties always hated – I like more fun in my movie than this one offered. And that actually makes me more depressed than the movie itself.

Movie-a-Week: 13 to go

Restrepo (imdb.com)

On the lightly-publicized “Movies Portraying the Tension in Modern Warfare” scale, it makes “The Hurt Locker” feel like a romantic comedy.  You feel the wear and tear on these guys’ bodies and brains.  Great documentary.

Movie-a-Week: 14 to go

The Brothers Bloom (imdb.com)

I’m not sure why this fell flat for me. Clever dialogue. Has two of my favorite current actors (Weisz & Ruffalo). Beautifully shot. But somewhere the story didn’t work. Maybe I like my con movies with just a little less “Rushmore” irony. Or maybe the cons themselves were less imaginative or interesting than the people carrying them out. Not sure, but I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would.

The Fighter (imdb.com)

Enough’s been said about it – a terrific film. Exceptional acting. Only thing I’d point out is that the last quarter of the movie is further proof, much like “The Natural,” that a good story will make a sports movie’s action scenes irrelevant. The boxing sequences were “Rocky III”-bad on the believability scale. And I’m not sure Russell even cared about shooting them very realistic. They were still effective because we actually cared about the people involved. (Also effective because I didn’t know how much I missed Larry Merchant.)

Charlie Valentine (imdb.com)

Seemed like a can’t-miss premise. I think I was hoping for something along the lines of the terrific Terrance Stamp film, “The Limey.” But despite two lead actors that I really liked, the movie regresses to a film that could only have been appreciated in those few years immediately after “Reservoir Dogs” was released. I feel like I’ve seen this “look at all the shooting” ending a dozen times. A really disappointing film.

Inside Job (imdb.com)

Great documentary on the financial crisis. And even though there was no shooting, it definitely plays as bloody as “Charlie Valentine.” An unrelenting set of interviews, with key participants stammering and sweating – they often note who wouldn’t agree to be interviewed and it’s hard to not say, “good choice!” by watching those that did. Also deserves credit for extending the conversation past sub-prime and the overly-simplified “lender vs. homeowner” debate that hides some of the especially-egregious crimes. The ten minutes they spent on the role of higher ed and the self-fulfilling cycle that exists when academics and policy cross paths (or never diverge – as the same individuals move from one to the other cleanly, leaving crumbling messes in their wake)…that was some great dot-connecting. You don’t have to be right or left (Clinton’s years are taken to task as much as anyone’s) to find the information affecting. It’s a smart, goose-bumping, tick-you-off account that’s made me think about some things differently.