Officially watched my final DVD from Netflix yesterday. It was a good run, buddy. We'll always have instant, though ...
Cabaret (1972): Why in the hell did I underestimate how depressing this would be? It's about the Nazis overtaking German culture -- of course it would be depressing. The final song especially has this undercurrent of sadness and desperation to it that totally flips the opening song on its head. Also, for a musical, I'm kind of surprised at how few songs there are and how the songs are used. I guess they all fit in with the movie, though.
Spaceballs (1987): It's kind of funny what time does to the perception of movies. Spaceballs is generally enjoyed today, but I think at the time of release, the major reaction to it was, "Sigh -- another parody of Star Wars?" Haha. I don't think it's really close to Mel Brooks' best, but it still has plenty of amusing moments that hold up today. Or maybe my sense of humor is down there in the dirt with Mel Brooks.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007): Watched for purposes of Rifftrax. Probably one of the better Harry Potter movies, although it has been so long since I read the book that I can't really remember how much the movie skims through or tries to cram into the movie. I will say, though, that the movie does what the book cannot: Make sense of Sirus Black's death scene. That shit makes no sense whatsoever in the book. I can still remember Dagger and other folks on OB being pissed off about it at the time, haha. Ah, memories ...
If.... (1968): Really strange counterculture movie that's infamous for its ending. It stars Malcolm McDowell in his first screen role, and in a role that has more than a few things in common with the role that made him famous (Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange, of course). The movie also has a surreal side to it; there are a lot of visual elements and scenes that float in and out of reality so that you never really know what to take seriously and what not to take at face value. It's difficult for me to comment on the target of satire -- English public school life -- however, because it's a culture that is unfamiliar to me. It seems like a more extreme version of American high school movies to me, haha.
El Topo (1970): Maybe the single weirdest movie I have ever seen, and that is saying something. You know when cartoons and stuff poke fun at arthouse movies and plays, and they're always these insane, incomprehensible things? El Topo is the type of movie they're riffing on. It's about a Mexican gunfighter seeking enlightenment in the desert, but it's like he's traveling through a Salvador Dali painting. The desert landscape is harsh almost to the point of absurdity, and the characters the gunfighter meets are more like eccentric ideas than actual people. It's all quite cracked out, strange and bizarre to follow ... and that's before the final third of the movie, which takes on an entirely different tone. I'm not sure there's much to get here other than a peek into a man's bizarre imagination (the writer/director Alexander Jodorowsky is infamous for making crazy ass movies), but I dunno, that's good enough for me.
On the queue for this week: uhhhhhhhh fuck if I know (this will be a recurring theme now that I am no longer using Netflix's DVD service)
Total Movies: 141 (Blazing Saddles, The Descent, Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer, Village of the Damned, Children of the Damned, Trigun: Badlands Rumble, The Night of the Hunter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 1st, Dawn of the Dead, Black Swan, Clue, Scarface, Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, True Grit, Perfect Blue, The Quick and the Dead, High Sierra, Shutter Island, A Serious Man, Kite, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Broken Blade 3, Kite Liberator, Machete, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Heathers, The Prince of Tennis: The Two Samurai, The First Game, Notes on a Scandal, The American, King of Thorn), The Expendables, Sword of the Stranger, The Hangover, Welcome to the Space Show, Broken Blade 4, The Social Network, End of Evangelion, Neo Tokyo, Red, Dreamcatcher, Jason X, Wag the Dog, The Naked Gun, Dirty Work, 8mm, The Wicker Man (2006), Blood: The Last Vampire, Winter's Bone, The Road, Heartcatch Precure! Hana no To de Fashion Show ... Desu ka?!, Broadcast News, Bulletproof, Dead Leaves, Dirty Dancing, Hot Tub Time Machine, Eureka Seven: Pocketful of Rainbows, Cloverfield, Best in Show, Play Misty for Me, Paprika, The Cat Returns, Welcome to the Dollhouse, 12 Monkeys, The Killer, Metropolis, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, The Third Man, The King's Speech, Mega Shark vs. Crocosaurus, The Abyss, The Fighter, Mega Piranha, Dumb and Dumber, The Rebirth of Buddha, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The Town, Willow, Akira, Morning Glory, The Verdict, I Love You Phillip Morris, Phantasm II, American Splendor, Broken Blade 5, Tangled, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, The Rock, Wanted, Green Zone, Despicable Me, Waiting for Guffman, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, X-Men: First Class, X-Men, Hereafter, X2, Zatoichi, All About Eve, The Thing, Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight, City of God, Das Boot, Some Like it Hot, Downfall, X-Men: The Last Stand, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Winnie the Pooh, Bullitt, Hard Eight, Memories of Matsuko, Double Indemnity, Freaks, Break Blade 6, Key Largo, The Grand Illusion, The Seven Year Itch, Hermes: Winds of Love, To Catch a Thief, An American in Paris, Ninotchka, Interstella 5555, Hobo with a Shotgun, Dog Day Afternoon, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steamboy, Little Norse Prince Valiant, Redline, Beat the Devil, Casablanca, The Girl Who Played with Fire, Easy Rider, Little Caesar, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, Band of Outsiders, The Three Faces of Eve, Mardock Scramble: The First Compression, Clue, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Cabaret, Spaceballs, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rifftrax), If...., El Topo)
