I'm a movie-watching fiend.
Seriously. In the last couple of weeks I have watched 10 movies. Here's a quick rundown of the movies I've watched recently--listed in alphabetical order rather than any more meaningful order.
Chalk: This was a pretty darn good movie. I picked it up because it is recommended by Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me) and because it is about teaching. I didn't read the back of the video case very closely, so I thought I was getting a documentary about high school teachers. I watched the movie thinking it was a documentary. But it's not. It's marketed as a mockumentary, but it isn't really mocking anything. What it really is, instead, is a sometimes funny, sometimes moving, frequently telling portrayal of the teaching life. One teacher is nakedly ambitious, determined to win the Teacher of the Year award. He loses the award; and then he loses it in front of his class. Another teacher struggles with finding a way to get administration and other teachers to listen to and respect her without turning them off with her pushiness. One major character is not a teacher but is a new assistant principal. She realizes over the course of the year that she does not like administration, that she misses teaching, that the two days she got to fill in for substitutes briefly and teach for just a little while were the happiest days of her school year. The most compelling character, though, and the most difficult to watch, is a first year history teacher. He is awkward, he doesn't know how to relate to the students, and he cannot control his classroom. The film does its best work in showing how he changes as a teacher throughout the year and how the experience of teaching changes him. The film clearly illustrates the difficulties in and ambivalence surrounding teaching as a career. Some love it and want to do it, despite the difficulties; some wish for a way out; and some quit. It was easy to watch this film as if it were a documentary because it felt so real and because it's focus remained primarily on the school experience rather than turning to romance or politics or the personal conflict of one character.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Awful movie. Don't watch this.
The Day After: See my earlier entry.
Dr. Strangelove: I watched this again recently because I assigned it for my American literature class. I liked it even better this time than I did the first time I watched it. I was greatly disappointed with my class's response to it. A small few had seen it before and were thrilled to have a chance to watch it again and talk about it. A couple seemed to like it on the first viewing. But most were either baffled or bored. Several said they couldn't figure out why it was labeled a comedy, and several more had difficulty even describing the plot.
Evan Almighty: I should've known better. I fell asleep while trying to watch its predecessor, Bruce Almighty. Twice. But I thought, "Well, I like Steve Carell, and this one has animals. And the threat of annihilation by God. Maybe it'll be cool." Nope. It was the most boring of the movies I've watched recently. Even The Chronicles of Narnia was at least somewhat interesting, even if it wasn't very good.
The Last King of Scotland: Great movie. I highly recommend it. Forrest Whitaker is wonderful as Idi Amin and James McAvoy is great, too, as the central character of the movie, a young, idealistic Scottish doctor who travels to Africa to try to make a difference. The movie is a reflection on power, its attraction, and its corrupting influence. It also addresses the issue of outsiders' place in a foreign land. How much good can an outsider do in a country like this? Can he really understand the situation? Can he tell what is the right thing to do? And if he can, does he have the right (or obligation) to attempt to push the natives toward this right thing?
Marie Antoinette: Visually, this is a lovely movie, but it's not terribly interesting. The performances are dull, the narrative is slow, and there are far too many party scenes in which we don't get to hear a single complete conversation. Plus, Coppola's incorporation of modern music in the soundtrack (alongside period music) turns out to be ineffective. It makes the movie feel even more like a music video instead of a film about what should be an extremely interesting part of history. After Lost in Translation, which I loved, I was really disappointed with Sofia Coppola's direction here. Both films have a heavy emphasis on quietness and visual storytelling, but Lost in Translation also has a moving narrative and much stronger performances from Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson than Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman provide in Marie Antoinette.
Moulin Rouge: I really love this movie. It's melodramatic and structured like a music video, but I love it for all that. I love the music. I love the visuals. My favorite moments include our introduction to the Moulin Rouge (with Zidler (Jim Broadbent) singing about the cha-cha, the dancers singing "Lady Marmalade," and the male patrons singing a rather smarmy version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), the silly rendition of Madonna's "Like a Virgin," and the fabulous "Roxanne." The performance of "Roxanne" still gives me chills. And I still cry every time I watch this movie. Not when Satine (Nicole Kidman) dies, but when Satine and Christian (Ewan McGregor) reconcile and sing to each other in the middle of the big show.
Starter for Ten: I rented this because it stars James McAvoy; I was really impressed with his performance in The Last King of Scotland and, actually, as the faun Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia. This movie, though, was if not thoroughly dull, at least not very interesting. His character lacked depth and the romance plot was not compelling to me at all.
Stranger Than Fiction: I saw this in the theater last year with piezocuttlefish (and maybe puddinhed as well). I liked it a great deal then, and I like it a great deal now. It's a clever, sweet romantic comedy and Will Ferrell is surprisingly good as the baffled and likeable romantic lead.
Chalk: This was a pretty darn good movie. I picked it up because it is recommended by Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me) and because it is about teaching. I didn't read the back of the video case very closely, so I thought I was getting a documentary about high school teachers. I watched the movie thinking it was a documentary. But it's not. It's marketed as a mockumentary, but it isn't really mocking anything. What it really is, instead, is a sometimes funny, sometimes moving, frequently telling portrayal of the teaching life. One teacher is nakedly ambitious, determined to win the Teacher of the Year award. He loses the award; and then he loses it in front of his class. Another teacher struggles with finding a way to get administration and other teachers to listen to and respect her without turning them off with her pushiness. One major character is not a teacher but is a new assistant principal. She realizes over the course of the year that she does not like administration, that she misses teaching, that the two days she got to fill in for substitutes briefly and teach for just a little while were the happiest days of her school year. The most compelling character, though, and the most difficult to watch, is a first year history teacher. He is awkward, he doesn't know how to relate to the students, and he cannot control his classroom. The film does its best work in showing how he changes as a teacher throughout the year and how the experience of teaching changes him. The film clearly illustrates the difficulties in and ambivalence surrounding teaching as a career. Some love it and want to do it, despite the difficulties; some wish for a way out; and some quit. It was easy to watch this film as if it were a documentary because it felt so real and because it's focus remained primarily on the school experience rather than turning to romance or politics or the personal conflict of one character.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Awful movie. Don't watch this.
The Day After: See my earlier entry.
Dr. Strangelove: I watched this again recently because I assigned it for my American literature class. I liked it even better this time than I did the first time I watched it. I was greatly disappointed with my class's response to it. A small few had seen it before and were thrilled to have a chance to watch it again and talk about it. A couple seemed to like it on the first viewing. But most were either baffled or bored. Several said they couldn't figure out why it was labeled a comedy, and several more had difficulty even describing the plot.
Evan Almighty: I should've known better. I fell asleep while trying to watch its predecessor, Bruce Almighty. Twice. But I thought, "Well, I like Steve Carell, and this one has animals. And the threat of annihilation by God. Maybe it'll be cool." Nope. It was the most boring of the movies I've watched recently. Even The Chronicles of Narnia was at least somewhat interesting, even if it wasn't very good.
The Last King of Scotland: Great movie. I highly recommend it. Forrest Whitaker is wonderful as Idi Amin and James McAvoy is great, too, as the central character of the movie, a young, idealistic Scottish doctor who travels to Africa to try to make a difference. The movie is a reflection on power, its attraction, and its corrupting influence. It also addresses the issue of outsiders' place in a foreign land. How much good can an outsider do in a country like this? Can he really understand the situation? Can he tell what is the right thing to do? And if he can, does he have the right (or obligation) to attempt to push the natives toward this right thing?
Marie Antoinette: Visually, this is a lovely movie, but it's not terribly interesting. The performances are dull, the narrative is slow, and there are far too many party scenes in which we don't get to hear a single complete conversation. Plus, Coppola's incorporation of modern music in the soundtrack (alongside period music) turns out to be ineffective. It makes the movie feel even more like a music video instead of a film about what should be an extremely interesting part of history. After Lost in Translation, which I loved, I was really disappointed with Sofia Coppola's direction here. Both films have a heavy emphasis on quietness and visual storytelling, but Lost in Translation also has a moving narrative and much stronger performances from Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson than Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman provide in Marie Antoinette.
Moulin Rouge: I really love this movie. It's melodramatic and structured like a music video, but I love it for all that. I love the music. I love the visuals. My favorite moments include our introduction to the Moulin Rouge (with Zidler (Jim Broadbent) singing about the cha-cha, the dancers singing "Lady Marmalade," and the male patrons singing a rather smarmy version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"), the silly rendition of Madonna's "Like a Virgin," and the fabulous "Roxanne." The performance of "Roxanne" still gives me chills. And I still cry every time I watch this movie. Not when Satine (Nicole Kidman) dies, but when Satine and Christian (Ewan McGregor) reconcile and sing to each other in the middle of the big show.
Starter for Ten: I rented this because it stars James McAvoy; I was really impressed with his performance in The Last King of Scotland and, actually, as the faun Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia. This movie, though, was if not thoroughly dull, at least not very interesting. His character lacked depth and the romance plot was not compelling to me at all.
Stranger Than Fiction: I saw this in the theater last year with piezocuttlefish (and maybe puddinhed as well). I liked it a great deal then, and I like it a great deal now. It's a clever, sweet romantic comedy and Will Ferrell is surprisingly good as the baffled and likeable romantic lead.