Film Journal

[bcholmes]

Films I've seen since the beginning of the year:

• Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle of Life -- 1.5 stars.
• Bad Boys 2 -- .5 stars. God this was a terrible film. I hated it.
• Blood: The Last Vampire -- 2.5 stars. A really good anime that looks like it was the first part of a longer story. I wish anime would learn Brecht's observation that "bad comedians are always laughing and bad tragedians are always crying." I've yet to see good anime that varies mood and atmosphere.
• Underworld -- 2 stars. It was pretty to look at, and my expectations were low, so when I watched it, it seemed okay. Also needs to learn the Brecht quotation.
• Once Upon a Time in Mexico -- 2 stars. Desperados had humour. Why couldn't this film have humour?
• S.W.A.T. -- 1.5 stars. Nothing to write home about.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen -- 2.5 stars. Fun, but I thought parts of it were ham-handed. Especially the whole "The British Empire passes the torch to the Americans" subtext.

A lot of these films were picked up at the new, nearby Rogers Video store, which hasn't really developed a large selection, especially of indy films. That's why there's a lot of "popular" films on the list. So far, January has been a write-off for films.

The two things that I did enjoy this month weren't films, though. The Battlestar Galactica mini-series (I generally agree with every thing that jedediah has to say on this topic. (In general, jedediah's feed is a great read). I hope it goes on to become a regular series, 'cause it was so good. Also, the DVD set to Firefly, which I've been watching with the_siobhan.

I'm thinking of seeing the major Oscars films, now that the nominations have been announced. I've only seen 2 of the best pictures (Lord of the Rings and Master and Commander), and 3 of the best directors (City of God, Lord of the Rings and Master and Commander). City of God is incredible and I highly recommend it.

I also really want to see House of Sand and Fog, and I feel like I should see The Barbarian Invasions, but I wasn't all that crazy about The Decline of the American Empire so I'm not sure. On the other hand Jesus of Montreal was excellent.

Also, if Charlize Theron doesn't win the best actress for Monster, they may as well stop holding the Oscars. Mind you, I believe that there are years that the evil mirror-universe Oscars take over and do crazy things (like decide that Forrest Gump and Driving Miss Daisy are Oscar-worthy pictures. That former one is especially glaring since it was the same year as The Shawshank Redemption which is definitely in my top twenty films).

Comments

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I feel like I should see The Barbarian Invasions, but I wasn't all that crazy about The Decline of the American Empire so I'm not sure.

I loved Le Declin when it first came out - saw it several times. I saw it again last year and didn't like it very much. I don't know why the change. So I haven't seen The Barbarian Invasions yet either. Is it subtitled? (I don't like dubbed French movies, and would rather go to Hull and see them in French)

[deepforestowl.livejournal.com]

I kind of liked Tmob Raider 2 in that action flick no brain required kind of way. I havent really seen anything that was nominated for the oscars. Ive seen Return of the King but that is about it. I do want to see Lost in Translation and House of Sand and Fog. If you see either one, I hope that you will post about it...I actually rather liked league, but i liked the comic book and it was good solid suspend my disbelief into the atmosphere kind of fun...

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I used to review all the movies I saw and post to them to mailing list and a web site. After I stopped, I got lax about keeping records. In the past couple of years, though, I've been saving all of my ticket stubs. I'm going to start putting together a scrapbook to track all the movies / concerts / plays / shows / attractions I see. :)

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I am now officially embarassed that I liked Bad Boys 2.


Just kidding.