Reel Culture: The ones I've seen, Part II

Here are the next ten movies I've seen from the 50 listed in Reel Culture. These range from 1961 to 1977.

1. Breakfast at Tiffany's. I love Audrey Hepburn. This may be my least favorite of her movies, though.

2. The Graduate. I really don't remember much from this movie. I guess my clearest memory is of the wedding interruption scene.

3. Bonnie and Clyde. Don't remember much from this either. Gosh, this makes me wish I had started my movie blog years ago.

4. Easy Rider. I actually watched this during the past year, so I blogged about it here. My main reaction was, "what was the point of that?"

5. A Clockwork Orange. Rather a disturbing movie. Unfortunately the scene that most sticks in my mind is the rape.

6. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I am probably the only person my age on the face of the planet who first saw this as an adult.

7. The Exorcist. In high school once I went to a Scary Movie Sleepover and we watched this. I can't remember which other movie (or movies?) we watched--maybe Poltergeist?

8. Rocky Horror Picture Show. I've never had the full experience, though. Not sure I want to.

9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I love this movie. So many quotable quotes. I've seen a couple (but not all) of their other movies and this one's my favorite.

10. Annie Hall. Typical Woody Allen. Is he an acquired taste, or do those who like his work like it the first time they try it?

Reel Culture: The ones I've seen, Part I

Here are ten of the "influential and classic movies" I've seen that are listed in that Reel Culture book. These movies range from 1938 to 1960.

1. Bringing Up Baby. I was just sure I saw this recently enough to have blogged about it, but I guess it's been more than a year. Without a blog post, I don't remember enough about it to say anything here, so I'll add a tidbit from the Reel Culture book: The dog in this movie also played Asta in the Thin Man movies.

2. The Wizard of Oz. Of course this is a classic, but it's a classic on the level of Star Wars. Everyone knows it well enough to practically have it memorized. The reason I bring up Star Wars is because it is not in this book, but in the author's foreword she explains her reason behind leaving that one out: "Everyone already knows it." I defy you to show me an American over the age of three who does not know The Wizard of Oz.

3. Gone With the Wind. Definitely a great movie. I would totally watch it more often if it wasn't so freaking long.

4. Citizen Kane. This movie kind of bored me. Of course, someone had already told me the meaning of "Rosebud" before I watched it; I wonder if it would have made a difference in my viewing pleasure if I hadn't known that ahead of time. Just so you know, if you read Reel Culture, you too will know about Rosebud.

5. Casablanca. One of those movies I really loved but can barely remember. I own a copy. Maybe it's time to watch it again.

6. It's a Wonderful Life. OK, I put this on the list of ones I've seen even though I'm not absolutely sure I've actually watched the entire thing in sequence from beginning to end. However, I'm sure I've seen every single part of it multiple times. Put them all together and I bet there's more than one full viewing.

7. Rear Window. See #5, except I don't own a copy. But here is an interesting tidbit from Reel Culture: "All of the audio in the movie is diagetic, meaning that the film does not include any sound that is not to be heard by the characters."

8. Rebel Without a Cause. What I most remember about this movie is how immature James Dean acted at the beginning. It seemed false to me.

9. Some Like it Hot. Another one I barely remember, although I don't remember especially loving it. I haven't been very impressed with most of the Marilyn Monroe movies I've seen. Did she always play such a complete airhead?

10. Psycho. I remember this one a little better than usual. Here's what interested me from the book: "Hitchcock wanted Psycho to look like a cheap horror movie, so he shot it in black and white (color was available, so it was an intentional choice) and used his lower-budget television show crew as opposed to the staff that worked on his more expensively made films." I never would have known that--I just chalked those details up to being a 50-year-old movie. (Well, it was probably more like 40, or even 30, when I saw it, but you get the idea.)

Reel Culture (*A book, not a movie)

I heard about this book from Melissa at The Avid Reader's Musings. At first I thought I might write about this one on my book blog instead, but it really fits in here much better.

This is a fun little book that lists 50 influential movies from 1938 to 1991. (For all you mathematicians out there who have figured out that's more than 50 years, you're right. This book does not present one movie for each year; some years are skipped, and some years have more than one movie listed.) The movies are found in the book in the order that they were released, from oldest to newest. If you would like to see the Table of Contents for this book so that you can see which 50 movies are included, click here.

This book seems to be geared toward a younger reader--someone who has neither been alive long enough to see all the classics nor was alive when most of them came out. If you can get over the author using the word "hot" on every other page, it's a fun read for any age, but beware--if there are any of these 50 movies that you haven't seen, it will be spoiled for you if you read its synopsis.

As I read, what I made a note of was the number of movies I have not seen.

1. Sunset Boulevard. I added it to my netflix queue today, even though it kind of sucks that the book spoiled the ending for me.

2. The Searchers. It's a Western. I think I can live without seeing it, even if John Wayne was in it.

3. 12 Angry men. It's a courtroom drama. I think I can live without seeing it, too, especially since Henry Fonda is somewhat less compelling a reason than John Wayne.

4. West Side Story. I know, I know. It was already on my netflix queue even before I read this book.

5. Planet of the Apes. I feel like I've seen enough bits and pieces that I don't really need to see the whole thing . . . do I? I already know about the Statue of Liberty. And if I hadn't, I would have after reading this book.

6. Night of the Living Dead. Ugh, zombies? Really? I was forced to sit through Zombieland . . . isn't that enough?

7. 2001: A Space Odyssey. You know, we own this movie, and I don't think I've watched the whole thing all the way through yet. In fact, the only part I remember is when the caveman tosses the bone in the air, and when the lady is walking through the space station . . . and walking . . . and walking . . .

8. Gimme Shelter. No clue about this movie. Is it like This Is Spinal Tap, but real? I'll give it a try.

9. Harold and Maude. It was also already in my netflix queue, though I'm not sure how it got there.

10. The Godfather. My husband told me I don't want to watch it. I still haven't decided if I believe him.

11. Jaws. Well, actually, I'm not sure if I've seen it or not. I've read the book! But I can't remember if I've watched the movie.

12. Taxi Driver. Also already in my queue.

13. Network. Never heard of it. But I added it to my queue today.

14. All the President's Men. Ugh, politics? But--ooh, Robert Redford. OK, fine, I'll watch it.

15. Rocky. Yes, you can believe your eyes. I'm pretty sure I've seen Rocky Four (or was it fourteen, or twenty-four? whichever one he fights the Russian in) but I don't think I've ever seen the original. Although I do know he runs up a lot of steps and then does a silly little victory dance. And I know that people are talking about this movie when they say, "Yo, Adrian."

16. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. I've only seen the original once (unless you count the time I saw part of it while I was babysitting--the part with the motorcycle guy's hand chained to the back of the van--which really freaked me out) and I wasn't especially impressed. I'm not really interested in seeing the sequel. I've already suffered through The Postman and Waterworld, and I've seen the chase scene from The Blues Brothers.

17. Scarface. See #10.

18. This is Spinal Tap. I tried to watch this once and it bored the heck out of me. Yes, it is possible that perhaps something is wrong with me.

19. Do the Right Thing. Sounds really depressing. I think I would rather watch a Western or a war movie.

20. Goodfellas. See #10 and #17.

I've seen the other 30. Maybe I'll post about them some other time.

In reading this book, I added about 50 movies to my netflix queue; only five of these were from the list of 50 featured--the rest were all movies that were mentioned either as influenced by the 50, or as sharing a director or principal actor.

I will never, ever be able to cancel my netflix subscription.

Let the Right One In

I first heard about this movie when my mom told me a remake of it was being filmed in the town where my parents live (which I thought was pretty cool, and unusual--it's not like they live in L.A. or anything). Then Chris of Park Benches & Bookends posted about the book and movie, convincing me that I was interested enough to watch the original. (I'm especially pleased to be able to name Chris without shaming him this time).

It was kind of nice to see a more realistic portrayal of vampires in this movie. This vampire seemed to follow most of the old-fashioned vampire rules. Nobody sparkled, and no animals were harmed in the making of this movie.

Knowing about the vampire factor ahead of time, I was surprised that this movie was more poignant than creepy. Scenes that could have been made creepier with mood music had no soundtrack. The scenes that did have music mostly seemed more sad than scary.

The version I watched was badly dubbed. I wish I could have watched the one that Chris watched, which was in Swedish with English subtitles. Even with the horrible English voiceovers this was a pretty good movie, but I think it would have improved immensely without them.

Tetro

Would you believe Hud picked this movie? It's the kind he would normally make fun of me for choosing. I'm really not even sure what made him think he would like it. He saw a preview for it and made his decision based on that. I haven't seen the preview myself, but I saw absolutely nothing in the movie that might have caught Hud's interest. Wait, I take that back. I suppose I saw a few of pair of things. But Hud usually chooses his movies based on the number of guns and explosions. I only remember one gun in this movie, and no one even shot it.

I really wasn't in the mood for this movie. In fact, I'm probably not in the mood for anything but a nap. But I can think of two things about the movie that interested me. First, the cinematography during the black and white sequences was beautiful. At times it got a little over-the-top artsy-fartsy, but most of the time it was subtly stunning. Second, the actor who played Bennie (Alden Ehrenreich--never heard of him) reminded me of Leonardo DiCaprio, except slightly less suave and without an abnormally large head.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I can recognize a tad of French, a smidgen of German, and a fragment of Spanish, but Swedish? Heck no. That's a whole 'nother ball of spit. I did recognize a few words that sound just like their English counterparts, but that was as far as it went. Anyway, thank goodness for subtitles once again.

I read this book just a few months ago. Once I've read a book, I am frequently eager to watch it come to life on screen, though it doesn't always do so successfully; sometimes it may flop around jerkily like a revenant, sometimes it may be unrecognizable in its new incarnation--but in this case, the adaptation was excellent. I had hoped the movie would eliminate a lot of the blah blah blah that I found at the beginning and end of the book; for the most part it did, although the ending seemed to be a little stretched out--but it had to be, to complete the story.

It's a shame that all adaptations can't follow the book as closely as this one. Evidently Sweden has more respect for their own son than Hollywood has for most authors. A few parts were left out, some others were streamlined, but overall the movie was very faithful to the book. (Well, what I remember of it, anyway). Speaking of Hollywood, of course they want a piece of the action and a remake is already in the works. I don't see how they can improve upon the original, though I bet the new version will reveal the dragon tattoo much sooner than this one. American audiences won't be patient enough to wait an hour and a half to see it.

I really needed to wash dishes and iron clothes tonight, but the only thing I managed to do while watching this movie was to drink wine, since I didn't need my eyes for that. The evening was more fun that way anyway. Though it does mean tomorrow will be less so. But there's a tradeoff. I picked up a cooking tip from this movie: the secret to making meatballs is to wet your hands first. I don't remember that from the book. Will have to try it.

I must admit I don't know much about Sweden. I mean, I know it's between Norway and Finland, and I assume it gets pretty cold there, and my parents and sister have vacationed there (without me, I might add), but that's about all I know. So I looked up Sweden online and learned a couple of facts that I will now pass on to you. The country is a little bit bigger than California (which surprised me--I would have guessed it was the size of Florida--I was way off) but its population isn't much greater than that of New York City. There, don't you feel smarter already?

Gone Baby Gone

This movie was directed by (as my husband calls him) Ben Afflicted. His little brother Casey stars. (Nepotism, anyone?) Between the two of them, I didn't know what to expect--but, as it turns out, they did a pretty decent job.

I totally think that Patrick made the wrong choice. I mean, if I were Amanda's mom, I would probably disagree with me, but then again, maybe not--since I'm not a white-trash crack ho. It definitely brought up the always interesting "what would you have done?" question. On the other hand, I was annoyed by the, shall we say, "epilogue" which proved me right. It would have been much more interesting if we had been left to wonder.

Paranormal Activity

Least scary "scary movie" I've ever seen.

Horror is not my usual genre, but I saw previews for the sequel which made me curious enough to watch the original. Maybe I built it up too much in my mind, but this was nowhere near the creepfest I imagined it would be. What did not happen was that necessary suspension of disbelief. Perhaps if I were a fan of reality TV this movie would have given me more of a fright, but as it was--with all unusual activity announced by that "paranormal hum," and no creepy music to set the mood--the subtle "scariness" going on was too easy to dismiss as someone off-camera jerking on fishing wire. I even watched this by myself, at night! Of course, I locked all of the doors in the house before starting the movie to avoid any unpleasant surprises, and I left all of the lights on, but I think those were unnecessary precautions. The doors are unlocked now and I have no fear of anything unusual opening them.

Of course, I haven't tried to go to sleep yet tonight . . .

Full Metal Jacket

Hud forced me to watch Full Metal Jacket even though we both know I don't like war movies. The whole thing made me want to cry. I didn't, because of my heartless cruelty, but now I just feel like crap. The only good thing I can manage to say about this movie is that it had some decent music.

If you like war movies, I guess this is a good one. But if you're like me, maybe you'll be smarter than I was and you'll skip it.

The Lives of Others

Here's a movie in German for a change. It's actually a pretty good one. It was fascinating to watch the character development of Wiesler (he's the guy in the headphones), who starts the movie seeming to be a mindless socialist who does his job well and without conscience, and sees the world only in black and white, but through a series of decisions proves himself to be a truly good man with a heart for altruistically choosing right over wrong.

I think you should watch this movie, only maybe not when you need to iron your clothes, because (unless you know German and you don't have to read the subtitles), you may find yourself ironing wrinkles into your clothes rather than out of them.

I couldn't help but, once again, notice the differences between some of the spoken lines and the English subtitles (even though it seems, when it comes to French, I can't tell the difference between deuxième and dixième). My favorite was when the subtitle read, "We'd be shooting ourselves in the foot," but I distinctly heard the actor use the word hintfleisch. I guess Germans tend to shoot themselves in the butt rather than the foot.

Henry & June

I watched half of this movie a week ago and only just now got around to watching the other half, if that tells you anything. It's about real-life people: writers Anaïs Nin and Henry Miller, and their respective spouses. It probably doesn't help that I've never read anything by Nin or Miller, but oddly enough, watching this movie didn't make me very interested in trying. Although perhaps if I did, I might understand Nin and Miller's mutual fascination for June that allowed her to be a muse for both. It seems inexplicable in the movie; maybe it comes through better in their books.

Most notable to me was the wooden performance of Nin's husband Hugo. I couldn't figure out if this was with purpose, to showcase the passion and life in the writers and artists he was surrounded with, or if he's just a really bad actor.