I had a dream that I was in my backroom and "Oh My, Plotholes" was ranked #100. Considering it tends to not move beyond 30 or so even after a dry spell, I was very confused. But then I actually woke up and refreshed my backroom, only to get a Firefox error message because our internet was down. Rain does that.
Anyways.
I've finished three movies in my little movie odyssey, aaand I figured I'll make a post because I damn well feel like it. Possible spoilers, though I think I'm vague enough for there not to be any.
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1.) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): Let's get this right out of the way: This movie makes no fucking sense whatsoever. Therefore, it is very hard to actually "grade". It is a classic of sci-fi. The believable physics and special effects are mind-blowing, especially considering this was made in 1968. The message is interesting. The acting is good and feels natural.
But it's - it's hard to watch this movie as if you have no preconceived notions. By now, we know of 2001 as one of the most-respected movies of all time. Therefore, nitpicking it seems rather sinful. The best way to sum up my feelings are thus: It's a great movie, but don't think it's going to be an entertaining movie.
Shinmaru's advice is very sound: "Also, 2001 is a great movie, but just make sure you are in the mood for it. The movie can be really frustrating because it uses visuals to tell about 95 percent of its story, so it forces you to think a hell of a lot (but that thinking is mighty rewarding)." I further that advice by saying "Don't think about the characters. The characters are insignificant. Even HAL, the most famous computer ever, is insignificant as a character. Think of the story and the story only."
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2.) WALL•E (2008): After 2001, this was a much-needed fun-film, and let me say that WALL•E is absolutely wonderful - and I hate using that word. It is a beautiful movie visually with a subtle but strong message and a cast of characters that are hard not to like. As I am one of the >1% of people who had yet to see this flick, I was pleased to see Pixar living up to their reputation, but especially to see it had not suffered from hype backlash.
The first half hour or so go about with very little dialogue, and the few bits of speaking are either garbled robot speak or very short phrases spoken by WALL•E or EVE (excluding the musical bits of Hello Dolly!, which tickled my Broadway geek). Yet this is something that I found especially endearing - for once, you are watching a movie and observing actions rather than experiencing conversation. It was annoying and overkilled in 2001, but works beautifully in WALL•E. (I have renounced my sci-fi geekdom, I know.)
You have to see this movie, and considering I'm a bitch of a critic, that's saying something. NetFlix has it as an instant watch, which is the reason I watched it four times in one day and have been randomly watching bits and pieces of it.
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3.) The Princess Bride (1987): Okay. So I'm also apart of the >1% of the population who hasn't seen this movie. It's a favorite of my band/chorale directors (who also double as theater teachers) to pop in for whenever there's a free period. As band has no downtime and the two movies we watched in tech theatre were Carnival of Souls (guess what my band director is) and Sweeny Todd (the Broadway version), I hadn't seen it. So I rented it and popped it into the DVD player yesterday.
Okay. You've got a cliche fantasy movie - which is fine, I can deal with that. Westley, our dashing hero, and Buttercup (that name hurts) are so cliched it's to be painful. It killed me that Buttercup had opportunities to defend herself, but instead always reverted to screaming "WESTLEY!", even when she had a giant stick and he was wrestling an overgrown rodent. But you know what? Ignore them. Sure, they're the main focus of the movie, but c'mon. Inigo and Fezzik are the ones you're going to remember and love. They're a couple of cool dudes that I'd love to hang out and play video games with.
Also...the movie is not that funny. It's cited as being one of the funniest (well, according to Bravo), but the most it got out of me were a few chuckles and some smiles. It does get a lot better towards the end, what with the Westley-Inigo-Fezzik trio, but by then it felt like too long of a wait. It's a decent movie, but suffered good ol' hype backlash for me.
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On the Queue:
1.) Plan 9 from Outer Space (RiffTrax)
2.) Memento
3.) The Dark Crystal
4.) Ed Wood
5.) Broadway Danny Rose
6.) Across the Universe
7.) Dr. Strangelove
