Absolute Wannabe

So this movie is totally holiday appropriate. Not. I have to admit something. This is the first movie I've watched for the blog that I've not totally understood. And that's okay. I'm not going to understand every movie I watch after one viewing. This may be one I revisit and come back to later. I will say that Battleship Potemkin , a 1925 silent Soviet propaganda film by Sergei Eisenstein, was fascinating to me. I've discovered over the last few months that I really enjoy silent films. Granted, the others I've seen are works by Buster Keaton and Charles Chaplin with a very different tone than Potemkin , but I still think the absence of sound can amplify the message of a film. A silent film also relies on music, which I love. Though the musical score usually changes over time, any score with a silent film really makes the audience remember why music is important to a film's message. What I did get out of this film about mutiny and massacre was a mes...

If you're looking for inspiration for your next haircut, look no further than The Adventures of Robin Hood. Here's the Trumpet Player Style: The Sir Guy:                      And the iconic Prince John:           I was really excited to see this movie. I've loved the Robin Hood story since I was little. When I was in elementary school, I had a cassette tape of the Robin Hood legend that I got in a kid's meal that I would play constantly before going to bed.  Robin Hood has all the characteristics of a hero that I admire: a higher purpose, a loyal following, skill, and a quick wit. Watching Errol Flynn's interpretation of the iconic character reminded me of others like Luke Skywalker and Spiderman that I've loved all my life.  This movie holds up over 70 years later in an age of superheroes and big, expensive effects (both of which I love, by the way). I can see peopl...

Here's a thought: If there isn't a guy named Charlie who gets continuously yelled at, is it really a classic Hollywood movie? This week, I watched the 1961 classic Paul Newman film The Hustler .  I thought I was going to hate it so much, but (spoiler alert) I didn't. I have to admit, this isn't my kind of movie. Usually, I really hate sports movies because of how similar the plots usually are. However, The Hustler  does the exact opposite of everything that makes me angry about sports movies. The movie starts out with Newman's character, Fast Eddie Felson, on the quest to make his life legendary. He's arrogant and naive and driven. In other words, he's the protagonist in a sports movie. Instead of progressing in his quest to win, he actually grows as a character. Eddie falls in love with Sarah, a hard drinking, enigmatic woman who stands up for herself and what she wants. She gives Eddie a run for his money, living fast and working for what she wants...

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for the amazing women who are changing Hollywood. Oh, and that I'm not stuck in space. If you haven't guessed already, I watched last year's it-film Gravity . However, this wasn't initially the film I was going to watch this week. This time of year, I love to watch The Hollywood Reporter's Roundtables that they do with the most influential (and Oscar-worthy) writers, directors, producers, and actors of the given year. I was shocked this year to find that there were so few noteworthy female performances again this year. In my book, this has nothing to do with the actresses. The ones who appeared in this roundtable gave remarkable performances in remarkable films. However, most of the films that are being lauded this year revolve around male characters. I think a good story can be told through the eyes of a character of any gender (or anything else you'd like to use to label them, for that matter). But, as a female write...

Fun Fact: I love fun facts. I love to include what I can in these posts. So, in an effort to keep you informed (and to entertain myself), I look up a few each week. While I was looking up fun facts this week on IMDb, I came across what may be one of my favorites ever: Some Like It Hot  was not shown in Kansas upon its release because cross-dressing was dubbed, "too disturbing for Kansans". Boy, am I glad I am not in Kansas ca. 1959. I have to admit, I'm a little late to the Marilyn Monroe game. I saw Gentlemen Prefer Blondes  when I was 15 and I loved it, but didn't really pursue her movies further. It was a few months ago when I saw All About Eve  (one of my very favorite movies now) that I said to myself, "People like Marilyn Monroe. Should I?" So, in the last few months, I've watched a few of her films, a documentary about the last years of her life, and My Week With Marilyn , a 2011 film starring Michelle Williams as Marilyn during the making...

I've always found that the best way to relieve the stress that is the mountainous work load during pre-Thanksgiving weeks is to watch a funny movie. With that in mind, I opened up the list this week, and it popped out at me: Airplane! I'm so glad this movie was what I watched this week, not only because I laughed for the first time since I heard the words "due Friday",  but also because this is one of those movies that has been constantly referenced in my house since I was a kid. The biggest testament to the movie's influence on my family comes in the form of a dog. A few years ago, in an attempt to explain our rambunctious golden retriever Mac's behavior toward strangers, my mom took to YouTube. What she wanted to show us was this scene: I think every family has a few movies that are interwoven into the their lives. Lines are quoted involuntarily, scenes are acted out at the dinner table, etc. To me, that is the best evidence to film's influe...

I always love looking through my list and coming across a movie I've always wanted to see. Ghost World was one of those movies. I've been reading about this movie since I was 16 and started reading Rookie . Most people seem to enjoy the movie, a cult classic, for the protagonists' eccentric behavior, cynical attitudes, and Doc Martens. I loved the movie, but for an entirely different reason. The film chronicles the transition from high school to the real world for Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson). The girls plan on moving in together "somewhere downtown", but Enid refuses to get a job and starts hanging around with Seymour (Steve Buscemi), a record collector and shut in instead. Enid starts ignoring Rebecca to admire Seymour's life, developing an obsession with getting him a date. It's clear the two see a bit of themselves in each other. When Enid calls Seymour lucky for having a room full of records and antique oddities, Seymour ...