watch more movies

Whatever the question is…the answer is Once.

I watched it (the film Once) with a friend downtown back in July on a Sunday afternoon. We had a pretty good time. I’ll admit, that while it was sweet and sentimental and had really catchy music^{I still catch myself singing one of the tunes} I was expecting a little more…blast those reviews…they hype things up too much! For those of you who have yet to watch it, I won’t spoil it, but it doesn’t exactly end up the way you’d expect it to, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…it just wasn’t what I though it would be. But I’ll admit that I enjoyed some really beautiful parts…the piano store scene…the recording studio…the last sequence. It was beautifully shot and the simplicity of the project makes me respect what they did. I think it’s important to support independent films…they do it for the love of film and not for that of the green goblin.

I found a list of the 1000 Best Movies of all time…or something like that…here are all of the “A” movies. I’m gonna try and get through the whole alphabet.

A
À Nous la Liberté (1932)
About Schmidt (2002)
Absence of Malice (1981)
Adam’s Rib (1949)
Adaptation (2002)
The Adjuster (1991)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Affliction (1998)
The African Queen (1952)
L’Age d’Or (1930, reviewed 1964)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, reviewed 1977)
A.I.(2001)
Airplane! (1980)
Aladdin (1992)
Alexander Nevsky (1939)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975)
Alice’s Restaurant (1969)
Aliens (1986)
All About Eve (1950)
All About My Mother (1999)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
All That Heaven Allows (1956)
All the King’s Men (1949)
All the President’s Men (1976)
Amadeus (1984)
Amarcord (1974)
Amélie (2001)
America, America (1963)
The American Friend (1977)
American Graffiti (1973)
An American in Paris (1951)
The Americanization of Emily (1964)
American Movie (1999)
Amores Perros (2000)
Anastasia (1956)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
The Angry Silence (1960)
Anna and the King of Siam (1946)
Anna Christie (1930)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Apartment (1960)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Apollo 13 (1995)
The Apostle (1997)
L’Argent (1983)
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
L’Atalante (1934, reviewed 1947)
Atlantic City (1981)
Au Revoir Les Enfants (1988)
L’Avventura (1961)
The Awful Truth (1937)

Before Sunrise – How could I have taken so long to watch this movie! Here are two (1)(2) of the sweetest parts.

Before Sunset – An ode to lost love.

Amelie – How could you not enjoy this quirky, funfilled movie?!

Cool Hand Luke – A little odd, but a classic.

My good friend invited me over the other night to watch a movie. She had rented “Step up”, which I very much enjoy, _{it makes me wanna dance!} so I went on over. We had a great time reminnising about old times from our tour this summer, listing to some new music…and yes, eventually watching the movie.

She also introduced me to a movie called Something New ...which was quite good. It’s essentially about a young black woman who’s not really looking, but not, not looking for love. _{Does that make any sense?} Anyway, she doesn’t really want to, but ends up falling for her white gardener. She eventually learns to let go of her predetermined”list” of qualities that she’s looking for in a guy and just follow her heart.

It reminded me to not list qualities either…they’re not any good when it comes to the big “L”.

Watched Invincible the other night…we had everyone over…and every time a cousin showed up they sat down to watch whatever part we had reached. This was a great movie. I especially liked the fact that it was based on a true story as well as the fact that he was the underdog who had the passion and dedication to reach his goal…a really great film.

We also ended up going to watch Rocky Balboa in theaters Wednesday night…and surprisingly my mom came along. It was really quite funny and well scripted…and although it had some awkward or odd moments (e.g. When Paulie takes Rocky aside just before his fight and tells him he loves him) I found the entire film to be quite good. I’m sure that some people would argue that it was just a way for Sylvester to make a few extra bucks, but I felt that this really helped to conclude the Rocky legacy.

Favourite quote:

Rocky: Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!

This goal got me thinking of a course that I took two years ago in my undergrad…what a great course…I had to watch movies for school…how great is that! The movies showed on T.V. on Saturday nights, but if I missed them I was lucky enough that York University has a great “Sound and Moving Images Library”...I spent a many great afternoons there…and it was also nice that you were able to take out films, documentaries and all sorts of other film related stuff. I miss that place.

I had intended on doing some reading this afternoon…but was distracted by the T.V. as my dad watched. At first I didn’t pay much attention…it was a western after all…but then it got to be slightly interesting. I usually have a love/hate relationship with watching movies with my dad. It’s nice b/c we can share and laugh and enjoy the story line…on the other hand, he’s usually talking and making some commentary or asking questions…you can imagine how annoying that might be. Luckily this was a western, his favourite, so he was pretty quiet and I was the one asking the questions. The movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales was actually really good…and it was quite funny at times too!...and I never realized how good looking Clint Eastwood was!

Within the last little while I’ve watched…

Coach Carter – Had never seen it…inspirational and moving…blah, blah, blah…it was nice a times though…it really just made me want to play basketball!

Bridget Jones’s Diary I and II – Love her! She’s such an ‘every-girl’ character…If she were real I think we would be great friends.

Garden State – I was moved by the simplicity of this film. It said things without having to ‘say it’, which is always the sign of a good movie in my opinion. The odd-ball, quirky humour was right up my alley…and so every day in many ways.

Love Actually – I had never watched it before…and although the story line was a little sporadic at times – the fact that every three minutes was a commercial break might have had something to do with that though – it made me think about love, and how often times it’s smacking you right in the face…I mean right across the face, and you don’t feel it…or see it, however you want to think of it. Or sometimes we make the choice to ignore it for whatever reason or logic we have in our head.

Mr. Holland’s Opus was on the other night…I don’t know why I hadn’t ever notice before but many good movies are based on teacher/student relationships…anyway, it was nice to re-watch.

Ok…so I still haven’t sat down to watch the movies that I had intended to…but I did watch Mona Lisa Smile on T.V. tonight. I had never really watched it from beginning to end…I had usually always caught it half way through or near the end. I have to say that although the cheese-factor was way above the radar at certain points, I was surprised by the story line, cinematography and script at times.

When the crate opened to reveal a Pollock…and the way the camera hovered along the canvas, revealing the depth of paint and mixtures of colours…!!! That was a nice moment.
A few of the quotes have also stuck with me…

“Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea.”

“Not all who wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond the image.”

”...the horizon is an imaginary line that recedes as you approach it.”