I guess it's late enough for me to say it's late.
The Secret of Kells (2009), Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey. Jan 19, 9pm. View count: One.
Conan the Barbarian (1982), John Milius. Jan 20, 9pm. View count: One and a half.
Thieves' Highway (1949), Jules Dassin. Jan 27, 7:30pm. View count: One.
The Breaking Point (1950), Michael Curtiz. Jan 27, 9:30pm. View count: One.
The Secret of Kells I quite enjoyed. It was very prettily done, and interestingly paced. It definitely rejected some of the Disney Movie Pattern that we've come to expect is necessary when it comes to kids' movies, which was welcome to me, at any rate. The characters were fun and not very cliched, and they avoided a lot of stereotypes. Recommended.
Conan on the other hand was not great. I don't think I'd seen it all the way through previously, but it was sort of hard to take most of it seriously. It didn't help that a guy was present at the viewing who kept trying to convince everyone of the movie's merits. This made me like it less in general. There were a few things I respect about it: the love interest looked like a regular person, as oppposed to a cartoon, and could fight; Max von Sydow; the camel punch was sort of funny; sorta liked all the goofy snakes. Maybe I should see this again sometime with less of a grudge against it.
Thieves' Highway (via Noir City) was a pretty good hard-luck noir with some real dark moments. The female lead was uniquely great, although I think they tried to (hilariously) pawn her off as 'french' for whatever reason. I'm definitely a sucker for a story about a guy trying to take care of his parents, or trying to correct an injustice done to them, and this film made me a sucker. It was pretty good.
The Breaking Point wasn't as deft or compassionate, really, but it was fine enough. The troublemaking lady of the picture was in The Day the Earth Stood Still (yay!) and The Fountainhead (boo), interestingly. The coolest moments in this one came from the various children in the story, who'd comment on the action in amusing and apt ways. And one of them was involved in a not-quite-underplayed moment at the end which came pretty close to choking me up at its emotional cruelty. The film had some good moments.
Conan the Barbarian (1982), John Milius. Jan 20, 9pm. View count: One and a half.
Thieves' Highway (1949), Jules Dassin. Jan 27, 7:30pm. View count: One.
The Breaking Point (1950), Michael Curtiz. Jan 27, 9:30pm. View count: One.
The Secret of Kells I quite enjoyed. It was very prettily done, and interestingly paced. It definitely rejected some of the Disney Movie Pattern that we've come to expect is necessary when it comes to kids' movies, which was welcome to me, at any rate. The characters were fun and not very cliched, and they avoided a lot of stereotypes. Recommended.
Conan on the other hand was not great. I don't think I'd seen it all the way through previously, but it was sort of hard to take most of it seriously. It didn't help that a guy was present at the viewing who kept trying to convince everyone of the movie's merits. This made me like it less in general. There were a few things I respect about it: the love interest looked like a regular person, as oppposed to a cartoon, and could fight; Max von Sydow; the camel punch was sort of funny; sorta liked all the goofy snakes. Maybe I should see this again sometime with less of a grudge against it.
Thieves' Highway (via Noir City) was a pretty good hard-luck noir with some real dark moments. The female lead was uniquely great, although I think they tried to (hilariously) pawn her off as 'french' for whatever reason. I'm definitely a sucker for a story about a guy trying to take care of his parents, or trying to correct an injustice done to them, and this film made me a sucker. It was pretty good.
The Breaking Point wasn't as deft or compassionate, really, but it was fine enough. The troublemaking lady of the picture was in The Day the Earth Stood Still (yay!) and The Fountainhead (boo), interestingly. The coolest moments in this one came from the various children in the story, who'd comment on the action in amusing and apt ways. And one of them was involved in a not-quite-underplayed moment at the end which came pretty close to choking me up at its emotional cruelty. The film had some good moments.