Wednesday, April 8, 2015

My Month at the Movies - March 2015

I honestly wasn't even going to do this this month, but it's late, my wife is in bed and I'm still wide awake, so why not. I'm kind of burnt out on writing about movies, I'm not gonna' lie. I don't know if it's something that a sabbatical would cure or if I'm permanently fed up, but nowadays the idea of just watching movies and leaving it at that is becoming way too appealing to me. Anyway, that's why the reviews have been more than sparse lately and I plan to continue taking my time on finishing THE BOOK. However, I vow to you that I WILL finish eventually, I'm just in no hurry. Anyway, on with the show, shall we?

MARCH 2015 FILM DIARY -  BEST TO WORST (22 FILMS)
1. Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965 - Otto Preminger) 8.5/10
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001 - Chris Columbus) 8/10
3. Killer's Kiss (1955 - Stanley Kubrick) 8/10
4. 127 Hours (2010 - Danny Boyle) 8/10
5. When a Stranger Calls (1979 - Fred Walton) 7.5/10
6. Sexy Beast (2000 - Jonathan Glazer) 7.5/10
7. 28 Days Later... (2002 - Danny Boyle) 7.5/10
8. The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 - Norman Jewison) 7/10
9. All the President's Men (1976 - Alan J. Pakula) 7/10  review
10. Donnie Brasco (1997 - Mike Newell) 7/10
11. Bridget Jones's Diary (2001 - Sharon Maguire) 7/10  quick thoughts
12. Mommie Dearest (1981 - Frank Perry) 7/10
13. The Sea Inside (2004 - Alejandro Amenabar) 7/10  quick thoughts
14. Away From Her (2006 - Sarah Polley) 6.5/10  quick thoughts
15. Milk (2008 - Gus Van Sant) 6/10
16. Solaris (1972 - Andrei Tarkovsky) 6/10  review
17. Klute (1971 - Alan J. Pakula) 6/10  review
18. Argo (2012 - Ben Affleck) 5.5/10  quick thoughts
19. The Evening Star (1996 - Robert Harling)  quick thoughts
20. Foxcatcher (2014 - Bennett Miller) 4.5/10  quick thoughts
21. Jerry Maguire (1996 - Cameron Crowe) 4/10
22. The Mirror (1975 - Andrei Tarkovsky) 3/10  review

BOLD = MOVIES I SAW ON A FIRST TIME VIEWING

So not a lot of reviews or even quick thoughts this month, as, like I said, I was more interested in just watching and not so much doing the homework part of it. A few really good first views this month, as Turner Classic Movies proves to be a nice thing to have, as I caught both Bunny Lake Is Missing AND Killer's Kiss off of the classic movie channel, not to mention The Thomas Crown Affair. I've been setting up my DVR to catch a few movies off of there each week, trying to broaden my classic movie knowledge. LOVED Bunny Lake and Kubrick's Killer's Kiss would probably rank in my TOP 5 Kubrick films (behind Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange, The Killing and The Shining). You could really tell, even back then, that Kubrick's style was different, as the film featured shots I just wouldn't have expected to see in a film that old. My wife and I picked up DVDs that contained all eight Harry Potter movies on the cheap, so I plan to rifle those off one by one, however long that may take. I surprisingly took to the first one, as I didn't expect to like it much and look forward to the rest. Biggest disappointment of the month turns out to be Foxcatcher, really letting me down after I'd waited and anticipated it for so long. Such an unnecessary film, with not really enough material for an entire film, let alone a compelling one. No 10/10 this month, but one 8.5/10 and a trio of 8/10 make it a pretty good month with a few more movies to consider for the personal favorites list.

No stills this month, as it's almost 2:30 in the morning and I'm getting tired.

April 8, 2015  2:22am

4 comments:

  1. Oh dear.. You are sounding rather burnt out..
    So thank you for getting something out!
    Just a quick point Andrew .. don't feel obliged to us to carry on! carry on to the bitter end for your own sence of achievement.. but we are not demanding completion. it would be a rotten shame to just grind through films for the sheer hell of it.

    Anyway... some intriguig films there.. most I know.. but Bunny lake is one I keep wanting to see, and failing. illers kiss is a god one...
    Sexy Beast is not really my 'thing', but I can see a well crafted film as good.
    The harry potters need grinding through I suppose, but I much prefered the books.
    Mommie Dearest.. a good fun ride, but I felt the bitterness towards Joan was so OTT that it made you wonder just how much was true (Although if you read up, there is a case that the film played somethings down. It seems she was not all that good a mum.
    I feel I should do 127 hours, but knowing my queezyness, I doubt I could cope with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nah, it's not that I'm only doing it for the audience. I guarantee you it IS indeed for my own sense of achievement. It's just a temporary burn out right now and I'm sure I'll eventually come around. Honestly, I should probably just take a hiatus, but instead am trying the thing where I only put up a post here and there. Anyway....

      Bunny Lake was great, I hope you can track down eventually. It's very good. I was a bit disappointed by the end, but honestly, I think any ending would've been disappointing.

      Haven't read the Potter books, so that bodes well for me enjoying the films. Reading the books would've only ruined it I'm sure (see Gone Girl).

      Thanks for stopping by Ray, as always.

      Delete
  2. Aww, I'm bummed you don't feel like writing about movies, but I can understand. You saw some great ones this month though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Brittani, though I'm sure it's nothing permanent. Just a temporary funk that I'm sure I'll eventually snap out of.

      Delete

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