Fewer movies this week (I was busy wasting my time in other ways!), but they were some good ones.
Munich (2005): Damn good movie, despite what people may think about the historical authenticity of what Steven Spielberg is presenting. (My view on it is this -- it is a movie. Fiction. It is not going to be 100 percent accurate with the facts, especially with something like this, where people do not know all the facts. Munich definitely tries -- people have accepted the first third of the movie, which depicts the events of the 1972 Olympics when Israeli athletes were held hostage and killed -- but ultimately it is a dramatization that aims for emotional truth rather than complete historical accuracy.) My only real issue with the movie is that it is a bit long; my attention wavered a bit during a couple of parts.
Traffic (2000): Great movie. I love the visual style used to separate the main stories (Michael Douglas' is done in a blue tint, which gives it a cold, melancholy feel; Catherine Zeta-Jones is a bit warmer; and Benicio del Toro's is harsh and sharp, which emphasizes the cruelty and seediness of the drug wars in Mexico). Putting aside the movie's politics (which I agree with for the most part), the story is strong, thrilling and I had no trouble at all keeping up with it. My favorite of the storylines is the one down in Mexico with Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez (del Toro) and his partner, Manolo Sanchez (Jacob Vargas). They have to make so many difficult choices to keep from falling into the ebb and flow of corruption within the Mexican police.
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951): This is the old style science-fiction movie, and it is every bit as great as I hoped it would be. (Though I am now frightened of the remake scheduled for release in December -- Keanu Reeves as Klaatu? He's rational, not wooden. Also, can you imagine Reeves solving complex mathematical problems? My god.) I am pretty sure that were I a kid in 1951 and saw this, I would have worshiped Klaatu (which is sort of ironic considering he's a Christ figure). He is the coolest -- his knowing, "silly humans lol" smirks are great. Klaatu barada nikto ftw btw.
On the plate this week: Bug (2006), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) and Rashomon (1950).
Movie Count: 71 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland, Blood Diamond, Animal Crackers, Marie Antoinette, Inside Man, The Fountain, Tombstone, Jurassic Park (Rifftrax), No Country for Old Men, Juno, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Rifftrax), There Will Be Blood, Rize, Born Into Brothels, Eastern Promises, Gone Baby Gone, Hard Candy, The Matrix Reloaded (Rifftrax), Hot Fuzz, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, Phone Booth, The Dark Knight, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, Predator, Ratatouille, Renaissance, Pretty in Pink, Scanners, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, Stop Making Sense, The Killing, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rifftrax), Voices of a Distant Star, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Amadeus, Touch of Evil, Paths of Glory, Gangs of New York, Five Easy Pieces, Perfect Blue, Novocaine, A Fish Called Wanda, A Hard Day's Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, Out of the Past, The Lady from Shanghai, The Wild Bunch, The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bringing Up Baby, Pleasantville, Citizen Kane, They Live, The Terminator, The Adolescence of Utena, The Castle of Cagliostro, The Professional, High Plains Drifter, In the Heat of the Night, Michael Clayton, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Munich, Traffic, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
