Category Archives: Movie

Odd movie connections

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One of the weird things about writing down all the movies you ever saw (work in progress) is that when you go to add movies you watched recently, you find out the other movies from that year.

Did you know, Chasing Amy was out in the same year as Flubber (1997)?  I remember watching Flubber, but I have no recollection of hearing anything about Chasing Amy at the time.  It was the same year as Fifth Element and Con Air and Liar Liar.

Mallrats came out in the same year as Twelve Monkies, Judge Dredd and Mortal Kombat (1995).

Not really enlightening, just something that amused me as I was adding new entries.

Kevin Smith – wow

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So, wow.  Apparently I’m a dick for ignoring all the Kevin Smith stuff I’ve heard over the years, and dumb for never managing to catch any of his flicks in the cinema.  I mean wow, I sorta knew, but can’t believe I missed it.

Fantastic.  We just watched Mallrats and Chasing Amy (reviews for both soon).  Superb.  I love the dialog, the style, the control and the pitch.  I can’t believe a single director has so far gotten me to watch four love stories and love them all (clerks, clerks ii, mallrats and chasing amy).

Kevin Smith wrote this in a reflection on Mallrats,

See, I grew up on those movies; all through the eighties, it was stuff like ‘Porky’s’, all the John Landis flicks, and the twisted classical tragicomedy ‘The Last American Virgin’.

And John Hughes movies.

I was there, right next to him, watching that stuff with him.  National Lampoon’s Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller, Stripes, Weird Science.  It’s part of me too, part of my love of cinema and movies.  I can watch Animal House a hundred times and never get tired.  I can watch John Belushi a thousand times and never get tired.  I can watch John turn around on that ladder and waggle his eyebrows at the camera and laugh, every, single, time.

Kevin Smith’s Mallrats is a brilliant homage to those movies, his performance at the end of Mallrats is a brilliant homage to Belushi in Animal House.

Kevin Smith – I’m sorry I missed your previous movies in the cinema.  I’m sorry this blog post reads like a wet fanboy love letter.  I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you man, when you needed me.  I’ll try harder, I promise.

Pan’s Labyrinth

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This is an adult fairytale told against the backdrop of 1944’s Fascist Spain.  A young girl (Ofelia) and her pregnant mother travel to live with a sadistic Spanish Captain.  Ofelia’s mother has recently remarried the Captain and her unborn child is his.  The Captain is fighting a personal war against rebels in the surrounding hills.  Ofelia begins to interact with a fantasy world of faeries and fauns, discovering she is herself a faerie princess.

Pan’s Labyrinth is very clearly two intertwined stories.  A compelling drama of rebellion, betrayal and loss in a bloody war and an equally compelling tale of a young girl seeking to escape the harsh reality of her new life.

The viewer is challenged to decide if Ofelia’s story is real or imagined, in some ways to make the same choice those around her are forced to make when she reveals the truth.

The film is in Spanish with English subtitles, is shot with del Toro’s now trademark brilliance and vision, and as mentioned, is compelling viewing.  The contrast between the real world and it’s rebellion and the faerie world somehow makes both seem even more solid.  The characters are believable and engaging, and in a very short space of time empathy is built for Ofelia and the adults around her.

Ivana Baquero plays Ofelia and brings life to the role, her performance is truly memorable.  The cast around her is superb as well.

Pan’s Labyrinth is not an easy listening fantasy tale, or something you can just put on in the background, it’s a challenging and interesting story which encourages you to think and believe.  Well worth the effort.

The Incredibles

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Well, what a thoroughly entertaining and all round excellent film.  Amazing animation, funny characters, interesting story.  I half intended to see this in the year it was released (2004) but as usual things got in the way, and since then it’s just never been the right moment or time.

I found myself laughing, crying and cheering in equal amounts, considering the characters on the screen are totally animated it’s impressive how much emotion they manage to generate.

There’s clearly not much to be said about the deep plot or the meeningful dialog, but this is an animated hero comedy for grown ups and it delivers.  Go rent it.  Watch it.

Ok, Empire top 500

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So here’s what I’ve seen in the Empire top 500.  Again, green are the ones I’ve seen.  Caveat: It’s a long list, I’m tired and not well, so I may have missed some, I may have mis-marked some and I can’t promise this list matches the top 250 list.  I didn’t mark the ones I’m interested in or the ones I own but haven’t seen (there are more in this list) because it’s a long-ass list.  I’ve seen about 124 out of this list.  People reading this in their RSS reader, sorry for the length.

  1. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
  2. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981)
  3. Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)
  4. Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)
  5. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
  6. GoodFellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
  7. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
  8. Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952)
  9. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
  10. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
  11. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
  12. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)
  13. Chinatown (Roman Polanski, 1974)

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