——Day for Night——

(A-)

This is a really good movie, but something just didn’t click with me when watching it. Which isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy it, I did, I just didn’t feel any strong connection to it that I was hoping for. This movie on the making of movies, or better yet the story behind the scenes that’s more interesting than the boring movie that they are making, feels a little too much like a story cobbled together from a string of interesting stories. Most of the subplots are very interesting, but the work feels more like a sum of its parts than a cohesive whole. I felt a little distance between me and the movie, which didn’t really help out in my enjoyment of it.

——Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Temple of Doom——

(A- for both)

While Raiders is the better put together of the two films and definitely the most iconic of the series, watching it again for the umpteenth time I felt a little bored. Even though it is one of the best movies of its kind, its kind is still the by the book action adventure sort, and while I still love the movie, this time it just didn’t do it for me.

Temple of Doom, however, while being inferior in some respects to Raiders was (and has been) infinitely more enjoyable for me. It’s like an amusement park after hours while on acid; funny, scary and action packed. For a good chunk of people this is their least favorite Indy movie, but for all of the reasons they would list as to why they dislike it, I would use to say how much I love it. Bugs, mine car chases, people ripping out hearts while the person is still alive, monkey brains….what’s not to love?

——Once Upon a Time in America——

(B+)

This plays out something like a Coppolla and Kubrick film, yet I’m not really sure it places in my heart at the same level as the best of those two directors’ films. Maybe it’s the fact that by switching to the gangster genre Leone can no longer utilize my favorite director’s trick of his, the slow drawn-out stand off. I don’t know, maybe I just have to watch it again, knowing what I’m in for, but this movie just felt fairly unremarkable (and yet insanely pretty) compared with some of his early achievements. The story is good enough, and yet not really mind-blowing like the Godfather movies. It’s merely (at least to me right now) a really great so-so movie.

One thing Leone did though, that I think he did better than any other director in any other movie I’ve seen was to have the child actors act and look so much like their grown up counterparts. Just by looking at them you can tell which kid turned into which adult. It’s uncanny.

——Unforgiven——

(A)

I’m happy to say that I had a much more positive second viewing of this movie than I did the first time around. Things that bothered me the first time didn’t the second, and the pacing seemed a hell of a lot better. Even my parents seemed to enjoy it more this time (than they did back when it came out). I enjoyed it so much that it just barely missed out on making my Top 20 list. Great movie.

——The Apartment——

(A)

Like Unforgiven, this was another one I just rewatched and realized I really loved. Unlike Unforgiven though, this one actually made its way onto the Top 20 list as an eleventh hour addition. There is just something about this movie. Is it a comedy? A drama? By being both it becomes incredibly poignant and touching. The ending is just top notch, and it’s one of the most believable love stories I’ve seen put on film.

——Rear Window——

(A+)

Instead of going on and on again about how much I love this movie, I’ll just relate my sisters reaction that I watched upon rewatching the movie (and she for the first time). One of the things I like the most about this movie is the voyeuristic aspect of it, and sure enough as time went on I could see my sister leaning forward more and more as time went on. Hitchcock really hits you right where it counts, and makes a fantastic movie.

——Juliet of the Spirits——

(B-)

I might have been too tired when I sat down to watch this movie, but I really didn’t click with it at all. Yeah, it is beautiful beyond words, but the whole séance/spirits crap I could just not wrap myself around. It was too confusing, too boring, too something. Also the fact that Fellini supposedly made this movie for his wife, and yet it is so something she didn’t want is readily apparent in the film when you watch it. Those two entirely different viewpoints seem constantly at war. I don’t know, I definitely need to give this a second shot on a better day.

——Manhattan——

(A)

I really liked this movie. It’s Woody at his best, funniest and most insightful. The ending I really liked too, because it perfectly capped off a movie I thought couldn’t (or wouldn’t) end properly, it would just go on and on. Very nice.

Two things though. Woody doesn’t end up with Diane Keaton? What the crap? And did anyone else find Woody’s relationship with a 17 year old just a tad bit creepy, especially considering his past? It was well done, mind you, just really, really CREEPY.

——Millennium Actress——

(A-)

A great anime not about giant robots or talking animals, but something you almost never see, a straight drama. Perfect Blue is one of my favorite animes (and still one I need to pick up sometime) and the director comes back with another film about perception very unlike all the other anime that has been coming out lately. I really liked how the actress’s movie history and filmography kind of melt into one in order to tell the story, in that you begin to realize that the two really are intertwined because her best characters are based on her feelings relating to real life. Also fun is when the interviewers start interacting with the flashback. It’s a really good way to involve the audience.

The one thing I thought was a little lacking though was depth. I liked the whole story, but I found it to be a little two-dimensional after a while. I was really hoping some of the later events of her life might have a significant impact on her story, but no, she remained the little girl forever. A tad bit disappointing.

——Paycheck——-

(C+)

This movie tries to answer that eternal question: If you already know how a movie is going to end, is it still worth watching it? I’m not asking this question because I’ve already read the story the movie is based on (because I have) but more because that even if you hadn’t read the story, you can already figure out where the movie is going to go fifteen minutes into it. Also, it is a shame that no one really seems to have their heart into making a great movie. This is definitely not a John Woo movie, and it shows in his apparent apathy in his assembly line approach to filming the action sequences.

Also interesting about this movie is how the filmmaking seems to match the plot of the script. Let me explain: The plot is about Ben Affleck getting a paycheck that is really just a bunch of random junk he saw that he would need in the future in order to get him out of tough jams. Instead of actually building up anything, he gets into a tight spot, doesn’t know what to do, pulls something out of his bag that acts as a semi-deus ex machina. The plot works in the same way. Early in the movie scenes are placed there for no apparent reason, until they become utilized later on in the film. Like why the hell is there a sequence in the middle of nowhere where Ben trains with a stick? Why does Uma decide to cause a typhoon in order to get Ben’s attention? Why all the scenes establishing Paul Gianmani (or whatever his name is) as Ben’s best friend? Because they will all be things utilized in the climax, of course! No other reason!

Also, there are insane flaws in logic everywhere. My favorite is actually solved in the short story (and leads to the cool climax, also not used in the movie). Here it is: Where the hell does Ben get all of the items that he puts in his paycheck? Remember the part of the movie where he isn’t allowed to leave the compound for three years? How does he get all of his items then (especially the lotto ticket)? In the short story you can actually pull small items out of the future using the devise. The cool twist at the end is when the villain thinks he has the item that will help him defeat the protagonist, and suddenly a hand reaches out of nowhere to pull it out of his hand. No such thing here. You would have thought the movie would have been more interesting if they kept that in.

Everyone except Uma sucks in this movie. She does the best she can, even though her role is basically non-existent. Ben sucks though, unsurprisingly. Woo seems sleepy. When the white pigeon flies out of nowhere, you know the man has finally stepped into the realm of self-parody.

——Blankman——

(B-)

By no means a brilliant movie, this movie does have a certain charm to it that makes you love it despite all of its inadequacies. At times really funny, at times a good parody of the Batman TV show, all around not something you want to own but a great movie to watch on a Sunday afternoon.