Following from Bourne Supremacy...
Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)
Funny story starring a roommate who drove me nuts and this DVD: I'd been out of town for the weekend and she would routinely raid my collection for stuff to watch. And that's fine, she was more than welcome. But for someone who would list movies as her #1 hobby, she was pretty clueless. When I came back, she told me she tried to get through it, but had to quit after about 20 minutes and asked me "Is the whole thing like that?" My answer: "Yeah, it's that kind of irreverent documentary..." Her: "Oh it's a documentary." Never mind the fact that at the height of Michael Moore's notoriety, she had never heard of Bowling for Columbine, but after 20 minutes of viewing, she hadn't figured out it was a documentary...
Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
This is the Criterion Collection edition, with three DVDs, really. Terry Gilliam's actual cut, the butchered "Love Conquers All" Hollywood cut, and the documentary The Battle for Brazil that shows how Gilliam went to war for the former. You know, there's a lot to like in Brazil, but it's never been my favorite film (it actually gets better with repeat viewings, but the fantasy sequences, while necessary, do look dated). However, that there documentary made it all worth it.
Bride of the Monster (Ed Wood, 1955)
Part of the Ed Wood boxed set my kid sister gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago, which sadly doesn't contain that stripper zombie movie he made, it's actually the most engaging film he's done. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty badly made, but it's a nice piece of camp, especially Lugosi's scenes. I know Plan 9 is meant to be the "masterpiece", but there are a lot of longueurs. In this one too, but not as much. So I'm defending Bride of the Monster. Wanna make something of it?
Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch 2005)
A beautiful, beautiful film, which no doubt gets compared to Lost in Translation because of Bill Murray's similar role and subtle, restrained performance. I think I like it better though. It's very quiet and slow, but it has a real emotional core and no easy answers. That's what I appreciate most, I think. The ending caught me totally by surprise and touched me. So I'd like to thank Roger Ebert for recommending it back in the day.
Bubba Ho-Tep (Don Coscarelli, 2002)
A still-living Elvis and a black JFK fight an ancient mummy in a retirement home. How could I resist? How could I resist this Joe Lansdale adaptation? How could I resist B-movie legend Bruce Campbell's best ever performance? Answer: I couldn't and would never want to. Though the premise is silly, there's real poignancy here, in large part thanks to the beautifully atmospheric music. They couldn't get the rights to any Elvis songs, but that's for the better. Man, sometimes, I pop in this disc just to listen to the score. Extra points for an alternate commentary starring Campbell as the "real" Elvis Presley (discussing his favorite Elvis movies and why he would never curse like the film's interpretation). If you haven't seen this, I think you might be surprised.
But what did YOU think? Next: Buckaroo Banzai to Casino Royale.
Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002)Funny story starring a roommate who drove me nuts and this DVD: I'd been out of town for the weekend and she would routinely raid my collection for stuff to watch. And that's fine, she was more than welcome. But for someone who would list movies as her #1 hobby, she was pretty clueless. When I came back, she told me she tried to get through it, but had to quit after about 20 minutes and asked me "Is the whole thing like that?" My answer: "Yeah, it's that kind of irreverent documentary..." Her: "Oh it's a documentary." Never mind the fact that at the height of Michael Moore's notoriety, she had never heard of Bowling for Columbine, but after 20 minutes of viewing, she hadn't figured out it was a documentary...
Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)This is the Criterion Collection edition, with three DVDs, really. Terry Gilliam's actual cut, the butchered "Love Conquers All" Hollywood cut, and the documentary The Battle for Brazil that shows how Gilliam went to war for the former. You know, there's a lot to like in Brazil, but it's never been my favorite film (it actually gets better with repeat viewings, but the fantasy sequences, while necessary, do look dated). However, that there documentary made it all worth it.
Bride of the Monster (Ed Wood, 1955)Part of the Ed Wood boxed set my kid sister gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago, which sadly doesn't contain that stripper zombie movie he made, it's actually the most engaging film he's done. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty badly made, but it's a nice piece of camp, especially Lugosi's scenes. I know Plan 9 is meant to be the "masterpiece", but there are a lot of longueurs. In this one too, but not as much. So I'm defending Bride of the Monster. Wanna make something of it?
Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch 2005)A beautiful, beautiful film, which no doubt gets compared to Lost in Translation because of Bill Murray's similar role and subtle, restrained performance. I think I like it better though. It's very quiet and slow, but it has a real emotional core and no easy answers. That's what I appreciate most, I think. The ending caught me totally by surprise and touched me. So I'd like to thank Roger Ebert for recommending it back in the day.
Bubba Ho-Tep (Don Coscarelli, 2002)A still-living Elvis and a black JFK fight an ancient mummy in a retirement home. How could I resist? How could I resist this Joe Lansdale adaptation? How could I resist B-movie legend Bruce Campbell's best ever performance? Answer: I couldn't and would never want to. Though the premise is silly, there's real poignancy here, in large part thanks to the beautifully atmospheric music. They couldn't get the rights to any Elvis songs, but that's for the better. Man, sometimes, I pop in this disc just to listen to the score. Extra points for an alternate commentary starring Campbell as the "real" Elvis Presley (discussing his favorite Elvis movies and why he would never curse like the film's interpretation). If you haven't seen this, I think you might be surprised.
But what did YOU think? Next: Buckaroo Banzai to Casino Royale.
Comments
My wife even loved it. We really need more Mummy movies. And movies about the fear of death and growing old that aren't extremely slow and boring as all heck.
I'm of two minds about Bowling for Columbine: I appreciate Moore's attempt to do right by the victims but some of his tactics are a bit underhanded and even cruel (like when he left the picture of the little girl at Charlton Heston's house).
Brazil is certainly one of those films that needs repeat viewings. The Criterion box set is like a semester's worth of film school in a blue box.
Bubba Ho-tep is the first film I actually made an effort to go see in a limited release. I live in an outer suburb of Washington, DC and the film was playing in one of the city's independent theatres. Quite the awesome experience.
Whenever my wife blames me for not paying attention, I tell her the bag of sand is responsible :)
I wholeheartedly agree. It's too bad most of my fellow Americans are entirely too content to accept whatever information comes out of the television - provided it fits into their ideology.
Grr. Argh.
Either way, there are too many people convinced of what they are convinced of. If you see my meaning.
Faith and confidence are all very well and good, but with skepticism comes a certain humility.
he's a professional rabble-rouser, and a really good one at that. he takes an issue people dont want to talk about(at least in a major mass medium like movies) and pokes at it with a stick, and forces people to discuss it.
but i get sad when he's on shows and people expect strict, coherent policy postions from him, since that's not his forte, so when he says something dumb or that wont work, the other side jumps down his throat.
he allows himself to be put in this position, in the guise of pushing his movies. ive seen almost all his films and enjoyed them, but having him talk policy is like booking George Lucas and expecting him to discuss cloning.