DVDizzy Forum

Ok, what have I seen this weekend. Lemme think...

His Girl Friday (1940 - USA) (Viewed 9 June 2006): Was in the mood for a Cary Grant comedy and this fit the bill nicely. An incredibly faced-based comedy that has lost very little in over 66 years, not to mention being surprisingly frank and self-referential for its day. I suppose that I can never complain about remakes again - this is definitely one of the exceptions to the rule (being a remake of The Front Page with a gender twist). Lots of ad-libbing, spontaneous fun and whimsy. An almost perfect comedy.

The Gold Rush (1925 - USA) (Viewed 10 June 2006): Having recently found a love for Buster Keaton, I thought I'd better check out some classic Charlie Chaplin films while I was at it. There are some absolutely classic gems of slapstick and physical comedy in here that wouldn't look out of place in a modern film. Indeed, the special effects - including the chicken suit scene - are phenomenal for the 1920s. Classic scenes include the shoe-eating scene and the now-sic dancing dinner roll scene.

The Awful Truth (1937 - USA) (Viewed 11 June 2006): Was still in the mood for Cary Grant, and this was a nice companion piece to His Girl Friday. Legend has it that the film was improvised from day-to-day and the sense of fun that pervades this film would give a certain amount of weight to that notion. Ralph Bellamy who played a similar role in His Girl Friday, steals several scenes as the hayseed love interest.

The Barbarian Invasions (2004 - French-Canadian) (Viewed 11 June 2006): Winner of the 2004 Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, it is easy to see why. I mainly picked this up because I had enjoyed Marie-Josée Croze in Mensonges et trahisons et plus si affinités... (The Story of My Life) (2004) earlier this year. While I suspect that I would have enjoyed this even more if I had seen Denys Arcand's earlier installment, The Decline of the American Empire (1986), as it contains many of the same characters 20 years on, it is still a moving piece that contains equal doses of humour. Recommended.

Last night I watched The Fox and the Hound(Oh my gosh I cried throught the whole thing), and then I watched Toy Story 2 on ABC.

Watching The Replacements right now... man I haven't seen this movie in ages, I love it.

Later on tonight, Old School's coming on at 8:00, so I'm gonna watch to see if I like it and if I do I'll record it at 10:00.

-JM

I watched:
Guilt by Association- Good movie, But I thought I was renting Guilty by Association and got the wrong one.
Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the Road- Very funny. I prefer Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy over Ron White and Larry The Cable Guy

I finished watching Secondhand Lions this morning. It was a pretty good movie, I liked it at least.

Well, I've listened to the songs a few more times, and watched Shock Treatment again (this time with subtitles on) and its gone up in my estimation this time (although the script does still confuse me a little – and you shouldn't really need to watch something with the subtitles on to get the best out of it).

However, it holds together a lot better the second time around. You notice more, and the songs, in context, aren’t as bizarre as they first appear. My favourite Bitchin' in the Kitchen seems a little odd, but when you see Brad and Janet are singing to the prizes from Marriage Maze, it makes perfect sense. The prizes are supposed to give a married couple happiness, so they're questioning why they don't.

I also have fallen in love with the song Lullaby on repeated listenings.

I think I may have misjudged the theme of the film as well, initially I thought it was about conformity. But second viewing shows it's about liberation too. It just takes longer for the 'heroes' to desire and attain their liberation. It's interesting that, at the end Farley and his TV cohorts seem to be just as victorious as Brad and Janet. One of the last shots is of Farley and crew throwing money about, as the Denton TV audience willingly pay and commit themselves to the Dentonville Rest Home. (A warning about social conformity? As none of the audience seems to question what they have seen, and are all-too willing to follow Farley's instructions because watching TV has made them apathetic and docile. It's doubly symbolic being as the rest home is what was once just a TV set.) Only Brad and Janet, Betty and Judge Oliver, who have ultimately fought for their liberation go free.

Yes. This was certainly a film ahead of it's time. Perhaps this is it's biggest fault.

Crumb (1994 - USA) (Viewed 13 June 2006): A fascinating documentary about the months leading up to cartoonist Robert Crumb's retirement and move to France. As much about family dysfunction as it is about art, we also get a look inside the head and background of an artist to find out where some of those twisted images come from. A nice companion piece to American Splendor.

I watched Fearvand Loathing in Las Vegas and I didn't like it. I ended up fastfowarding through the whole thing.

I watched part of Chicken Little yesterday

I watched The Chipmunk Adventure earlier today. I had forgotten how amusing this movie was. I was glad that all the original songs were still in place. It makes me hopefully that the original music will be included if/when any season sets for the show Alvin and the Chipmunks comes along.


Tabbi <3

Just finished watching 16 Blocks, and I thought the same thing that I thought in the theater: This is an excellent, underrated edge-of-your-seat thriller. Bruce Willis, you done good.

16 Blocks - 4 out of 5 stars

-JM

I am in the middle of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. So far, it's pretty good, I find it dumb, however, that Patrick Swaze (sp?) is in it. First of all, this movie is set in time before the orignial movie. So he is older in this movie, which is set before the original, where he is younger. This I find is quite stupid, but I think that Artistan made a sequel just so that they could see Patrick again

The Last Metro (1980 - France): One of François Truffaut's last films (he made two after this), and it does have a lot in common with his earlier pieces. As part of the French "Nouvelle Vague" (New Wave), his early works such as The 400 Blows (1959 - see my review above) challenge conventional filmmaking principles, and didn't so much create a narrative as 'record' one. The free roaming cameras often caught an immediacy that most conventional films did not. This film concerns a theatre troupe in Occupied France in the Second World War. Starring Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu, it is far more polished than his early works and raises a number of important issues. We've all seen many tales of the Resistance and life in Occupied France (including the internationally renowed 'Allo 'Allo ), but this is done with a lavish style and period accuracy that we don't often see. The main problem, however, is that not much happens. In Truffaut's earlier works, the same could be said, but there it was an experiment with style and form more than anything. Here, in a farr more stylish format, the lack of subtance is a little more noticeable. You'd think it would be the other way around wouldn't you? Deneuve and Depardieu are excellent, especially the former who really holds the picture together. Looks great, has some great moments, but doesn't really go anywhere.

Aquamarine- it was ok, but it's nothing that I would ever buy. More of a movie for someone younger then me.

This morning, in the very early AM, I watched The Cheetah Girls, and after watching that, I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang until after "Sweet Toots" That's a great song!

Just finished watching The World's Fastest Indian with Anthony Hopkins, portraying the 'speed-minded' Burt Munro from New Zealand. This is the true story of Munro who set a land-speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah that still stands to this very day. The 'Indian' in the title refers to his streamlined 1920 Indian motorcycle. The first half of the movie shows him rebuilding and modifying the bike for a speed run, and how his neighbors, except for a young boy, made fun of him and said that an 'old fart his age should just die'. Burt Munro was in his sixties when he came to the United States in the late 60's and over a period of years made nine runs across the fastest recorded salt flats in the US. The latter part of the film depicts his trials and tribulation after arriving here in the US and getting officials to let him make his first run. Very entertaining and very educational film. As one of the bonus features, Roger Donaldson, who directed "Indian", gives us the 1971 Documentary he directed called "Offering to the God of Speed", which documents the speed-trials of Burt Munro. Very good DVD collection, and I think if you rent it, you will find yourself wanting to add it to your collection.

Old Yeller - Truely a terrific film, in my top 5 films of all time. It's proven, no film has as much lasting impact as a film about a boy and his dog

I watched A Goofy Movie last night. i liked it. it took me back to when i watched it a lot in elementary school.

Took Junkie's advice and rented The World's Fastest Indian. To sum it up, everything DJ said was correct.

Also, last night I took my girlfriend to see The Lake House. We both enjoyed it a lot. A good quality romantic drama that doesn't pile on the sap like many cliched romantic films.

WFI and Lake House - Each 4.5 out of 5 stars

Tonight, I watched Lady and the Tramp on ABC Channel (the pan and scan version). The Original version (aka CinemaScope) is 10x better than pan and scan shown on ABC. Oh well, it was a wonderful movie.