A Year of Zip Movies: August 2011
August
-Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1 (2008) for SFD
-Never Let Me Go (2010)
-The Laughing Policeman (1973)
-Hustle Season 1 Disc 1 (2004)
-Gran Torino (2008)
-Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) (documentary)
-Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2008)
-The Princess and the Frog (2009)
*ETA: Sons of Anarchy Season 1
-Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1 (2008) for SFD
SFD only. He liked it fine.
-Never Let Me Go (2010)
I found this movie beautiful, and moving, but still somehow missing something. I think it's related to the story as a whole, because I felt the same way about the book, which I read two years ago. The 'twist' is much more clear in the movie than in the book - I suppose my issues are that no one tries to do anything about what is coming. They just quietly accept their fate, which I found frustrating but that is the way Ishiguro wrote it so that is the way it is. The premise - the lives of 'students' at a boarding school who will grow up to be 'donors', 'carers', and 'to complete' (all euphamisms) - is really interesting and beautifully shot. All of the acting is very good, Carey Mulligan is particularly wonderful. Not at all gory. Recommended.
-The Laughing Policeman (1973)
SFD mostly watched this one, I was in the room but not paying that much attention. 1970s detective drama starring Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, and Louis Gossett Jr.
-Hustle Season 1 Disc 1 (2004)
Recommended by listersgirl because she knows I like heist stories. We were so-so on this. The first episode was a bit annoying but we liked the second and third ones better. We intend to watch the rest of the season at some point.
-Gran Torino (2008)
Angry angry Clint Eastwood still carries around all of the anger he has from being in the Korean War. (Or he was angry before he went, and the war didn't change him?) His wife has just died, his sons are involved in their own lives and have jerk children themselves - (who lets their son wear a Detroit Lions jersey to his grandmother's funeral?) - not that Clint has any interest in them anyway - and the new next-door neighbours are 'gooks'. (His words, not mine.) As it turns out, they are Hmong, and - as you expect - Clint grows to have a grumpy-uncle-type relationship with them. But a gang is trying to mess around with his new family! Clint must act! And he does. Great performances from Clint and all of the Hmong actors, but the plot was pretty linear and you can pretty much call the highlights/lowlights/inevitable ending from quite far out. I did like this more than I expected to.
-Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) (documentary)
This was GREAT. I have no real knowledge of Rush or the band members other than that they are Canadian and have been together for ages. (I could name you two songs: 'Working Man' and 'Tom Sawyer'.) But I learned so much from this documentary. It was really fantastic. (Though may I say how weird it is to see musician/rock stars like Kirk Hammett (from Metallica*) and Trent Reznor (who in my mind is like the pre-Marilyn-Manson) looking like average guys who drive minivans and have backyard BBQs. Every time they showed Trent Reznor (in particular) I did a triple-take.)
*I knew a bit about Metallica from the documentary Some Kind of Monster, which I also recommend.
-Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2008) (TV movie)
I think we would have been fine moving on to season 4 without seeing this, but it was still entertaining enough. It's a flashback (with flashbacks in it) to stuff that happened offscreen in an earlier season, and it explains some of the motivations of characters we didn't get to know very well in the original airing.
-The Princess and the Frog (2009)
This was an animated romantic comedy - I liked it fine. The animation was really beautiful. The music was OK - I couldn't sing you any of the songs the next morning. I thought the voicework was great, Anika Noni Rose as Tiana was really good. I thought a lot of the shadow animation was really frightening - I would have been terrified seeing it as a child.
ETA: Also, we watched the first season of Sons of Anarchy - it was excellent. Addictive, nuanced, funny, just all-around good. But violent.
Currently out from Zip:
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 - Volume 1 Disc 2 (2008)
-The Book of Eli (2010)
[Watched so far this year: The African Queen, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), Frozen River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Battlestar Galactica season 2.5, Cool Hand Luke, The Blind Side, An Education, The Endurance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Single Man, Shock Corridor, 2012, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, American Splendor, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Easy A, Toy Story 3, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, His Girl Friday, Green Zone, The Big Sleep, Moon, Shutter Island, Winter's Bone, Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, Justice League Unlimited Season 1, North by Northwest, MI-5 Season 1, Cranford, Justice League Unlimited: Season 2, Planet Earth Disc 1, Tangled, Clash of the Titans (2010), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The September Issue, Over The Edge, Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1, Never Let Me Go, The Laughing Policeman, Hustle Season 1 Disc 1, Gran Torino, -Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Princess and the Frog]
-Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1 (2008) for SFD
-Never Let Me Go (2010)
-The Laughing Policeman (1973)
-Hustle Season 1 Disc 1 (2004)
-Gran Torino (2008)
-Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) (documentary)
-Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2008)
-The Princess and the Frog (2009)
*ETA: Sons of Anarchy Season 1
-Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1 (2008) for SFD
SFD only. He liked it fine.
-Never Let Me Go (2010)
I found this movie beautiful, and moving, but still somehow missing something. I think it's related to the story as a whole, because I felt the same way about the book, which I read two years ago. The 'twist' is much more clear in the movie than in the book - I suppose my issues are that no one tries to do anything about what is coming. They just quietly accept their fate, which I found frustrating but that is the way Ishiguro wrote it so that is the way it is. The premise - the lives of 'students' at a boarding school who will grow up to be 'donors', 'carers', and 'to complete' (all euphamisms) - is really interesting and beautifully shot. All of the acting is very good, Carey Mulligan is particularly wonderful. Not at all gory. Recommended.
-The Laughing Policeman (1973)
SFD mostly watched this one, I was in the room but not paying that much attention. 1970s detective drama starring Walter Matthau, Bruce Dern, and Louis Gossett Jr.
-Hustle Season 1 Disc 1 (2004)
Recommended by listersgirl because she knows I like heist stories. We were so-so on this. The first episode was a bit annoying but we liked the second and third ones better. We intend to watch the rest of the season at some point.
-Gran Torino (2008)
Angry angry Clint Eastwood still carries around all of the anger he has from being in the Korean War. (Or he was angry before he went, and the war didn't change him?) His wife has just died, his sons are involved in their own lives and have jerk children themselves - (who lets their son wear a Detroit Lions jersey to his grandmother's funeral?) - not that Clint has any interest in them anyway - and the new next-door neighbours are 'gooks'. (His words, not mine.) As it turns out, they are Hmong, and - as you expect - Clint grows to have a grumpy-uncle-type relationship with them. But a gang is trying to mess around with his new family! Clint must act! And he does. Great performances from Clint and all of the Hmong actors, but the plot was pretty linear and you can pretty much call the highlights/lowlights/inevitable ending from quite far out. I did like this more than I expected to.
-Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) (documentary)
This was GREAT. I have no real knowledge of Rush or the band members other than that they are Canadian and have been together for ages. (I could name you two songs: 'Working Man' and 'Tom Sawyer'.) But I learned so much from this documentary. It was really fantastic. (Though may I say how weird it is to see musician/rock stars like Kirk Hammett (from Metallica*) and Trent Reznor (who in my mind is like the pre-Marilyn-Manson) looking like average guys who drive minivans and have backyard BBQs. Every time they showed Trent Reznor (in particular) I did a triple-take.)
*I knew a bit about Metallica from the documentary Some Kind of Monster, which I also recommend.
-Battlestar Galactica: Razor (2008) (TV movie)
I think we would have been fine moving on to season 4 without seeing this, but it was still entertaining enough. It's a flashback (with flashbacks in it) to stuff that happened offscreen in an earlier season, and it explains some of the motivations of characters we didn't get to know very well in the original airing.
-The Princess and the Frog (2009)
This was an animated romantic comedy - I liked it fine. The animation was really beautiful. The music was OK - I couldn't sing you any of the songs the next morning. I thought the voicework was great, Anika Noni Rose as Tiana was really good. I thought a lot of the shadow animation was really frightening - I would have been terrified seeing it as a child.
ETA: Also, we watched the first season of Sons of Anarchy - it was excellent. Addictive, nuanced, funny, just all-around good. But violent.
Currently out from Zip:
-Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 - Volume 1 Disc 2 (2008)
-The Book of Eli (2010)
[Watched so far this year: The African Queen, Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle), Frozen River, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Battlestar Galactica season 2.5, Cool Hand Luke, The Blind Side, An Education, The Endurance, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Single Man, Shock Corridor, 2012, A Serious Man, Crazy Heart, American Splendor, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Easy A, Toy Story 3, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, His Girl Friday, Green Zone, The Big Sleep, Moon, Shutter Island, Winter's Bone, Battlestar Galactica: Season 3, Justice League Unlimited Season 1, North by Northwest, MI-5 Season 1, Cranford, Justice League Unlimited: Season 2, Planet Earth Disc 1, Tangled, Clash of the Titans (2010), Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, The September Issue, Over The Edge, Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Season 1: Part 1 - Volume 1, Never Let Me Go, The Laughing Policeman, Hustle Season 1 Disc 1, Gran Torino, -Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Battlestar Galactica: Razor, The Princess and the Frog]