Julaugust

Features (17)

High Sierra ****1/2
The Virgin Spring *****
That Touch of Mink ****
Brave ****
Holiday ****
Gun Crazy ****
The Artist **1/2
The Dark Knight Rises ****
Angels with Dirty Faces ****
In a Lonely Place ****1/2
The Rules of the Game ****
Wings in the Dark ***
Big Brown Eyes ***1/2
Pickpocket ****
Bed and Board ****
The Last Days of Disco ****
Lawrence of Arabia ****1/2
Celeste & Jesse Forever ***
Metropolitan ****

Television

Breaking Bad seasons 2, 3, 4, 5
The Wire season 1 (the first ep.)
Seinfeld season 4
The Daily Show
The Colbert Report
Weeds season 8
The Newsroom season 1
Doug season 4

Notes: That Touch of Mink is a lot of fun and was much funnier than I thought it would be. Cary Grant and Doris Day are a great comedic team in this one.

I really enjoyed Brave and I wish I had posted on it back in July. The theater was packed with families and little kids when Jeff and I went to see it. But instead of thinking, "no one should bring a toddler to a movie" like I usually do in those moments, I realized that that's what I should come to expect watching an animated film at the theater. I think Brave was the first Pixar film I've seen in the theater since Toy Story. Anyway, there were moments when I thought the film was going to lose me, but ultimately I was impressed and loved the story. It's a great mother/daughter story with heart. Something we don't get to see too much of. Merida is a great character for little lasses to look up to.

I agree with Jeff on The Artist. Time for Uncle Jesse to join film club (I really love his top ten list, by the way). Anyway, I assumed The Artist would charm the hell out of me, but it didn't do much of that at all. There aren't many memorable scenes. I wasn't expecting too much from the film, despite/because of its awards and acclaim. I just wanted it to entertain me and it failed in that regard. The dog was great, though; I'm sure we all agree there. Give him the Oscars. He'll know how to treat them properly.

I need to watch more Bresson. As it stands, all I've seen is Pickpocket and The Trial of Joan of Arc. Diary of a Country Priest is on our DVR and I will watch it at some point. His other films are in my Netflix queue. Anyway, I like Bresson so far but I am waiting for one of his film to come along and really impress me.

I just need to see Love on the Run and I've finished the Antoine Doinel series. Apparently that one contains clips from the other four films. That's kinda lame, but I am looking forward to watching it anyway. Love me some Trauffaut.

Watching The Last Days of Disco at Brandon's was a lot of fun. It was hilarious - I especially love the discussion about Lady and the Tramp. It also made me appreciate Damsels in Distress even more, and I did like that one quite a bit to begin with. Glad to see that Metropolitan was reinstated on NWI. All of Stillman's films are great - sign me up for the fan club, too. I'm not sure which is my favorite film, but I still need to see Barcelona (I added it to my queue). Chris Eigeman is damn good in Disco and Metropolitan, but really the casting for all three films is commendable.

Celeste & Jesse Forever is one to pass on. It's not very good, but it does have some good laughs. Rashida Jones is great and makes the film much better than it is - and I say that with the fact she co-wrote the script in mind. But Jones hilarious and loveable. I especially enjoyed the scenes where her character hits rock bottom. I only wish I had photographic evidence to compliment that fact but I couldn't find the pictures I wanted on-line. Anyway, she's is definitely worthy of praise here.

This isn't a competition, but I actually found The Newsroom to be too corny during the second episode. The tone of the first episode was something I preferred - it was angrier and more dramatic. The second episode tried too hard to be funny and likeable. I'll continue to watch, but I'm not a huge fan of it so far. If it were a show that was completely devoted to bashing conservatives, I'd enjoy it more probably. But I have Real Time with Bill Maher for that so....meh.

I've only seen the first episode of The Wire. Now that Breaking Bad is on a long (bad) break, I might start watching more episodes. Good stuff so far.

Nickelodeon's Doug kicks ass. I love that show.

Watching the final season of Weeds. Thank god it's the final season. I'm not sure how I feel about this particular one yet. Guess I'm waiting to let it all play out before I judge. I will say that I enjoy the opening credit sequence this year. It's nice having "Little Boxes" back - that and the sketches of everything the Botwin's have been through over the past eight years is kinda cool and sentimental.

Also, welcome Alex! We've met once or twice already. From what I can tell, you're a great guy...but I'm an awful judge of character.  I watched Election a long time ago and I've forgotten everything about it. Hopefully I have something to offer for your next post.