Saturday, June 18, 2005

Movie Meme

I thought to participate in this one and was surprised at how hard it was to write.

Total number of films owned: I own a lot of movies, too many to count. I buy them the way I buy books, often. I don’t watch them repeatedly. I do like to keep them, glad to have them around for me to watch when I feel like it.

Last film bought: Kill Bill, Vols. 1 and 2.

Last film watched: Into the West on TNT (but perhaps made-for-television doesn’t count) in which case, the last film-film (flick released into theaters) I watched was Star Wars.

Five Favourite Films That I Watch Frequently or That Mean A Lot To Me: The Big Chill – I love the music and the characters – for the longest time, my sister and I knew lines from it and would often repeat them at fitting moments, in particular when we found ourselves using similar dialogue in our own actual conversation. Now, why the movie so captured our hearts and minds, I cannot tell you. We simply enjoy the movie every time we watch it, loving in particular the warts of the film.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – The movie with Gene Wilder is funny, lasting, fantastical. Charlie himself has never lost his appeal in all the years I’ve watched it – never do I see it as dated, or out of style. I love the shifting concept of “honesty” in the film, the fluid nature of it, how you can find it lurking in all the characters and find it just as lacking equally so. As a child, I enjoyed the antics of the children, as an adult, I love Wonka and the antics of the parents. How well both sides are captured! And they’re captured in such a way that is timeless. Other children’s movies I’ve loved and still love include Toy Story, Iron Giant, Shrek, Finding Nemo, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Wizard of Oz and the Aristocats.

Like Water for Chocolate – A beautiful movie that is both hunger-inducing and imagination-satisfying. I love the humor, the storytelling, the fantasy. I’m reminded of my own heritage in the food and the characters, I’m reminded of the passion in the stories I was told as a child about love and heartbreak. This one just…has me. I really enjoy foreign films as a whole, especially those coming from Chinese filmmakers such as Farewell My Concubine and Raise the Red Lantern.

American History X – An excellent drama that’s hard to watch and the kind that draws you into its heart with the agony of race conflict. The story’s amazing and so are the actors who created the tale. In fact, Edward Norton to this day has not matched the intensity he possessed nor the pathos in this film. Other dramas I’ve loved include Clint Eastwood’s films (spaghetti westerns and all), Requiem for a Dream (this movie gets the award as having one of the most terrifying sequences in film, that of the Ellen Burstyn’s Sarah Goldfarb’s inadvertant final and total descent into amphetamine addiction), Jesus' Son, To Kill a Mockingbird and some other "legal" films.

Young Frankenstein – My favorite comedy ever – I can watch this one repeatedly and never get tired of it nor not laugh. The kind of movie you stick in the player when you need a lift. Other comedies I’ve loved include those with Steve Martin, the Pink Panther movies, the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, and Danny Kaye movies.

I’m sure as I come across other movie memes, I’ll say, “Oh yeah…that too!”

5 comments:

Yogo said...

I loved Kill Bill, although I found Vol 2 to be tedious. I still think he could have made one very good, yet long, movie.

I did not see Into the West. The commercials were beginning to drive me crazy. Same for The Closer (no, that's not a movie, but I couldn't resist).

I also loved Like Water for Chocolate (I own that one too!), American History X and Farewell my Concubine. I think I've seen most of the foreign movies at Blockbuster.

I agree with you about Requiem. That movie scared me to death.

BarbaraFromCalifornia said...

I love all those movies you name, especially Requiem, and the soundtrack with the Kronos Quartet was stunning!

Lori said...

Did somebody say movies? LOL! I'll have to do this one over at my place.

Some great choices there, bud. Of course I'm with you on American History X. ;) I see a lot of movies...and very rarely do they scare the crap out of me or move me to tears like that one. I find that I just can't watch it very often, because it's so affecting. I mean, for me it's not the kind of flick you pop on just to have something to watch while you eat, y'know?

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is also one of the tops on my list. Still Gene's best performance aside from Young Frankenstein...and a wonderful adaptation. I found that they kept the dark humor & scary moments of Dahl's book and still managed to add musical numbers and make it fun for kids. Somehow I doubt Burton's version will even come close. I know you love Johnny...but for me, nobody's ever going to top Gene as Wonka.

Both Kill Bills were great...and I actually liked the second part better than the first. Those scenes between Uma and Carradine (and that kid...cute without being annoying) were fantastic.

Can't say as I'm wild about the foreign films you mentioned. But that's just me...film school left me scarred for life as far as that goes.

I've been trying to watch Into the West...but, uh...it's just boring the hell outta me. I find myself getting up and doing other things while it's on. I guess it just reminds me of too many other movies with similar stories that were done better.

Adriana Bliss said...

Nappy40, I think I'm with you on Kill Bill Vol. 1 because of the comic book element. I loved the fantasy of the whole story, but I did love those scenes between Uma and David C. in Vol. 2. It's been a while since two actors lived in the skin of characters like in those scenes.

Into the West...admittedly, it's not as good as I was hoping. Boring is a good word. The story is moving quickly and for having so much time to explore people, I'm disappointed in the lack of character development. I expected more. The series is ending up more akin to a pageant - where real life people enact famous scenes in history.

Barbara and Nappy40 - yup, that Requiem was amazing - horrific and memorable. Forgot another drug movie I loved: Trainspotting. That one was enjoyable for its dark comedy and interesting visual scenes.

Lori, I knew this one would get your attention! LOL! Ahhh...I didn't mention our fave, Kief, though, sadly because he's not in any lasting film yet. Hopefully he'll get around to that lead role in an above-the-board indie film. I think it's a matter of time. As to Charlie - already I don't like Johnny Depp. He's too feminine in the trailers - I don't see Depp, I see some other weirdo! I'm anticipating that I won't like it.

Thanks, everyone, for chiming in!

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