chaplininpictures:

Sunnyside (1919)

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etharzaherl:

Modern Times <3

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I flipped out when I saw the Google Doodle today. The Horse in Motion! The amazing experiment that led to such great things, such as board games turned into movies. And of course, the namesake of my Tumblr :) Thank you, Mr. Muybridge!

I will be writing more soon. Watching movies (somewhat) just haven’t had time for write-ups.

#6 - Goldfinger (1964)

Somehow, about 7 years ago, I decided this was my favorite Bond film? WTF??? This movie is horrible, horrible camp. And not even good over-the-top camp like the Batman TV series or Dr. Phibes. None of the action scenes are interesting, the whole plot is stupid. I was really pissed. Why was this my favorite??? I guess because I love the name Pussy Galore, and I was once obsessed with <i>Catch Me If You Can</i> which shows a clip from this film. And I love Shirley Bassey, who does the theme for this one. If you are watching Bond films, you can definitely, DEFINITELY skip this one. 

Man, Connery was one HAIRY dude. That just wouldn’t fly in movies today.

I think I’ve been watching movies on track to hit my goal of 50… just haven’t been updating!

#5 - Alien (1979)

Kinda crazy that I had never seen this film! I started using the library a lot… and they have a pretty good DVD collection that is easy to browse. Wow, this movie really blew me away. It’s my idea of a feminist manifesto: Fuck all y’all… all I need is my CAT. Everything about this film was perfect. The long, opening shots in the beginning, the acting, the score. The realism! In a scifi film! All the actors were pretty old, and there was pretty much no non-essential makeup. I mean, they actually took the time to think, “Why the hell would you worry about putting on eye shadow when you’re on this ship in the middle of nowhere???” 

I don’t really have a top film list or anything (yet), but I’d say this would have to be at least in my top 50 of all time.

#4. From Russia with Love (1963)

So my Bond story is this: I had never seen a Bond film, until one winter break in college. My mom had probably seen them all, so we decided to rent as many as we could, and in order. I think we made it to somewhere in the 80s. The thing is, out of all the films, I liked From Russia with Love the least. What was I thinking???

James gave me all his Istanbul commentary… what a gray city! I liked the action and I loved the camp. Bond chases bad dudes around Istanbul and then on a train. Well, I guess they chase him on the train. I guess you could say all Bond films are sexist but since this is only the 2nd one… yeah it’s a little extra offensive.

#3 - Edward Scissorhands (1990)

How could I have gone so long without ever seeing this film??? I had no idea I would love it so much. Yeah, I’ve seen a bunch of other Burton films, but I can’t believe how this one crosses German Expressionism with 60s Sunshine Pop. Who knew you could do that?!?! There has to be a term… for when a movie has a retro look and feel, but you know it’s still present day… like these present day people just haven’t changed their style in 20-30 years??? The only other example that sticks out in my mind is Napoleon Dynamite. The score was amazing! It also had a 50s choral feel. The story is pretty much Beauty and the Beast, with a few quirks, nothing really surprising. Just delightfully absurd. 

#2 - Gosford Park (2001)

How dreadful. Really! Well, if you are going to watch this film, do NOT watch it after watching the first two seasons and Christmas special of Downtown Abbey. You will be quite disappointed. 

Gosford Park was written by Downton’s creator, Julian Fellowes. They have an insanely similar set up: almost the same time period, and the whole story is about the relationships and differences between the higher and lower class. I think I was expecting more mystery, more whodunit. The film made it pretty obvious who did it and how. All the story lines were just incredibly predictable. If this was an episode of Downton Abbey, it might be the worst. The only saving factor is the amazing cast… but even then, there is just so much talent, it’s hard for anyone to shine really. Sorry, just nothing in this film works… I can’t remember the last time I was so bored watching a movie (oh wait, yes I can, PECKINPAH). 

#1 - Dazed and Confused

OK, 2012 movies… this year, I am including movies I have already seen (I did not include these in previous years). The thing is, if I rewatch a movie, it’s because it was over 10 years ago. My goal is to watch 50 movies in 2012. I definitely did not hit that in 2011.

I loved this movie in high school, and fortunately because of the title, it was pretty easy to get James to agree to watch it. He had told me a hundred times how Jimmy Page wanted to allow them to use the song in the film… but Robert Plant did not! I don’t think I realized in HS how low-budget this movie felt (hi there, boom). It kinda bugged me, being older, how it pretty much aimlessly wandered. There’s really just one message at the end, “Enjoy yourself.” This film might be in the running for best non-cheezy high school movie. Yeah I love Hughes, and Can’t Hardly Wait and that, but it’s super cheez. This film is so honest. Remember how in HS, if you had a popular older brother or sister, you were automatically welcomed into the popular crowds. It’s like a monarchy or something! And there’s really nothing to do in HS except drive around. OK- this film does rip a huge chunk from American Graffiti. The stoner dude is the best… he needs more dorm room posters a la Belushi.

#36 - Sugar Hill

Do you like zombies? Do you love the cheeziness of Blaxploitation films? Then Sugar Hill is PERFECT! I wasn’t expecting much from this film, currently available on Netflix watch instant. But I haven’t met a Blaxploitation film I haven’t loved yet. I also want to get into Turkploitation, but it’s hard to find stuff. Sorry, off topic, Blaxploitation and Turkploitation have NOTHING to do with each other, besides both having “ploitation.”

Sugar Hill is the name of our heroine (which is also the name of a small section of Harlem). Her lover is killed by some mob dudes, so she must get revenge! What is sweet Sugar gonna do? Why pick up her mean voodoo skills and call upon a zombie army! Duh! This is an AIP film, I don’t know why it felt so much better than the others. I think it might really just have been the makeup. It was a little tacky, but the zombies were borderline actually scary/creepy. Kinda MJ Thriller-esque.