Woo, I meant to write this yesterday, but I got caught up in doing quizzes on this site. My siblings and I quizzed the crap out of each other through the morning and afternoon, haha.
Radio Days (1987): I never listened to the radio much except for when my mom drove me to school in the mornings -- and even if I did, this movie focuses on an era way before my time -- but I could not help but have a huge grin on my face the entire time I watched this. The interesting thing about this movie is that it does not have one dominant narrative. It follows a young Jewish boy (played by a very young Seth Green) and his family, all of whom infuse themselves with radio shows during the World War II era. The movie also follows a series of radio urban legends about radio stars, such as an urbane host who gets trapped on the roof of a building during a tryst with a cigarette girl, and other such stories. What ties it all together is the strength of the memories the movie evokes. How Woody Allen views the days of radio is how I might view the days of the NES, or someone else might view drive-ins, or something like that. It's romanticized, but that is the effect these things have on people.
Deconstructing Harry (1997): It took me a long time to warm up to this movie, although I did enjoy it. One thing that is kind of jarring is that this movie is more obviously vulgar than most Woody Allen movies -- most of them are vulgar, but it's hidden behind a veil of language and playfulness. However, this is more like if Mel Brooks directed a Woody Allen movie, which is obviously not a bad thing at all (although it's not exactly like that). Another thing that is jarring is that Woody Allen's character is so amazingly unsympathetic. He usually plays a neurotic fool, but at least the audience can sympathize with him because he is ultimately harmless. But Allen's character in this movie, a writer named Harry Block, really does do quite a bit of damage to those he meets, and he tries to retreat behind his neurotic personality. The movie doesn't really condone his actions -- and deep down, Block doesn't condone it himself -- but again, it takes a bit to get used to him. The movie is funny and interesting enough to weather that, at least.
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966): This is an incredibly intense movie. I actually needed about 10 minutes or so to recover before I could write this post, haha. It's about a couple, Martha and George (played by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, respectively, who are both insanely good), who are on a perpetual warpath against each other. Another couple they invite to their home (played by George Segal and Sandy Dennis) are caught up in Martha and George's verbally and physically abusive "games." Aside from the plot, I think part of what makes this movie such an intense experience is that you know it pushed the boundaries of language as much as possible. It's not just the language itself, actually -- it's the ferocity of what's said that pushes it far beyond what you would expect to hear from a movie of this time period. On a more literary level, it's interesting how the movie (and the original play, obviously) examines the boundaries between fiction and reality, and how people use fiction to shield themselves from harsh realities, even if the fiction itself is harsh.
On the queue for this week: Nothing, actually. Nothing came for me at the library, and they didn't have anything there I was interested in checking out. There might be something on TV this week I'll watch, though. We'll see.
Total Movies: 33 (Gaslight, The Last King of Scotland, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Darjeeling Limited, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Diary of the Dead, Bullets Over Broadway, Interiors, Husbands and Wives, The Professional: Golgo 13, Lars and the Real Girl, Lolita, Quills, Hamlet, Iris, Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, The Savages, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The Stranger, Love and Death, Harold and Maude, Spartacus, Scarlet Street, Sabrina, Zelig, Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask), Stardust Memories, Barry Lyndon, Be Kind Rewind, Radio Days, Deconstructing Harry, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
