(no subject)
Two live journal entries in one night but this is very different in content so I wanted to make it separate.
I've learned something since moving to Madison. Needless to say, Madison is much different than southwest Ohio. Madison is more progressive, seems more proudly queer, proudly vegetarian, proudly bike-riding, eco-friendly (Madison has a few hybrid public buses, one of which, I'm happy to say, runs the route I frequent). Madison isn't New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or any number of other places that is more liberal, more gay, more vegetarian. However, when it comes to the difference between the selection at the East Washington Blockbuster here in Madison, versus the Dayton-Yellow Springs Blockbuster in Fairborn, I've learned an important lesson.
The Blockbuster I frequent here in Madison has a much wider selection of films that did not have a wide release if they were released in theaters at all. What I've learned, and this is really a no-brainer, is that a lot of good movies are made and are not widely distributed. I've generally thought that if a film is really, really, really good, regardless of its subject it will be widely released. But living in Madison I've seen a number of films that have been very good but didn't seem spend much time in the theater, if at all. It is becoming a habit to rent these films, and I'm so much more willing to take a chance on a film I haven't heard of than I was before I moved here.
So I want to share some movies that I've watch in the last six months that I thought were really good but didn't matter much at the box office. In no particular order:
In Bruges --- This was in the theaters but I don't think it made a big splash. I saw it at the cheap theater, expecting some sort of heist movie. It isn't really that at all. It involves criminals, but it is the sort of movie that makes you consider your own mortality. Made me consider my mortality, anyway. I highly recommend it.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford --- Once you get through the very slow beginning this is actually a very good movie.
Goya's Ghosts --- I rented this thinking it would be a biopic about Goya. I have a soft spot for biopics. This movie isn't really about Goya at all. It's really about the hypocrisies of both conformity and revolution. Spanish Inquisition to French Revolution. This is a really good movie.
La Vie en Rose --- Not that this is a little-known film, but speaking of bio pics, this is a good one.
In the Valley of Elah --- I've heard reviewers casually toss this title around when discussing the number of films made around the war in Iraq. This isn't one of those films. It doesn't take place in a conflict zone. This movie pretty skillfully mixes a detective storyline with a deeper story about the effects of war on soldiers' minds.
Fur --- OK, I watched this a while ago but I have to mention it is. This is an imaginary biopic of Diane Arbus with Nicole Kidman. Really unique, fresh, arty (but not without a narrative). I highly recommend.
The Queen --- This was in theaters and a lot of people saw it, I'm sure. But I love, love, love this movie and if you haven't seen it, you should.
I am less enthusiastic about these movies but they are good nonetheless:
Sunshine --- kind of takes a turn at the end a la 29 days later, in which a good meditative action-adventures devolves in its search for a climax. But "meditative" and "action-adventure" seem contradictory. I just mean that 28 Days Later was much more interested before they reached the mansion. So too is Sunshine more interesting before it finds its villain. Still worth watching.
Margot at the Wedding --- This is a family drama about the dysfunctional family. The filmmakers do not try to charm you with the family's dysfunction. It's interesting, and Nicole Kidman is, I think, always a winner. Jack Black always a plus. Won't make you feel warm and fuzzy, won't make you hate your life (I think).
Flawless --- We just watched this tonight. It's a heist film. I understand why it wasn't released in theaters - it doesn't have that big pop, the wow factor. But it's a good story told from a very different perspective.
So, some of these movies received much more exposure, and a few were in theaters for a while in either wide or limited release. But about half of these were news to me when I encountered them in the store, and I'm really glad I took a chance on them, and I just want to pass the word along. With most of these, I've found that the description on the box couldn't adequately describe the movie, and I have found that that is usually to the movie's credit.
I've learned something since moving to Madison. Needless to say, Madison is much different than southwest Ohio. Madison is more progressive, seems more proudly queer, proudly vegetarian, proudly bike-riding, eco-friendly (Madison has a few hybrid public buses, one of which, I'm happy to say, runs the route I frequent). Madison isn't New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or any number of other places that is more liberal, more gay, more vegetarian. However, when it comes to the difference between the selection at the East Washington Blockbuster here in Madison, versus the Dayton-Yellow Springs Blockbuster in Fairborn, I've learned an important lesson.
The Blockbuster I frequent here in Madison has a much wider selection of films that did not have a wide release if they were released in theaters at all. What I've learned, and this is really a no-brainer, is that a lot of good movies are made and are not widely distributed. I've generally thought that if a film is really, really, really good, regardless of its subject it will be widely released. But living in Madison I've seen a number of films that have been very good but didn't seem spend much time in the theater, if at all. It is becoming a habit to rent these films, and I'm so much more willing to take a chance on a film I haven't heard of than I was before I moved here.
So I want to share some movies that I've watch in the last six months that I thought were really good but didn't matter much at the box office. In no particular order:
In Bruges --- This was in the theaters but I don't think it made a big splash. I saw it at the cheap theater, expecting some sort of heist movie. It isn't really that at all. It involves criminals, but it is the sort of movie that makes you consider your own mortality. Made me consider my mortality, anyway. I highly recommend it.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford --- Once you get through the very slow beginning this is actually a very good movie.
Goya's Ghosts --- I rented this thinking it would be a biopic about Goya. I have a soft spot for biopics. This movie isn't really about Goya at all. It's really about the hypocrisies of both conformity and revolution. Spanish Inquisition to French Revolution. This is a really good movie.
La Vie en Rose --- Not that this is a little-known film, but speaking of bio pics, this is a good one.
In the Valley of Elah --- I've heard reviewers casually toss this title around when discussing the number of films made around the war in Iraq. This isn't one of those films. It doesn't take place in a conflict zone. This movie pretty skillfully mixes a detective storyline with a deeper story about the effects of war on soldiers' minds.
Fur --- OK, I watched this a while ago but I have to mention it is. This is an imaginary biopic of Diane Arbus with Nicole Kidman. Really unique, fresh, arty (but not without a narrative). I highly recommend.
The Queen --- This was in theaters and a lot of people saw it, I'm sure. But I love, love, love this movie and if you haven't seen it, you should.
I am less enthusiastic about these movies but they are good nonetheless:
Sunshine --- kind of takes a turn at the end a la 29 days later, in which a good meditative action-adventures devolves in its search for a climax. But "meditative" and "action-adventure" seem contradictory. I just mean that 28 Days Later was much more interested before they reached the mansion. So too is Sunshine more interesting before it finds its villain. Still worth watching.
Margot at the Wedding --- This is a family drama about the dysfunctional family. The filmmakers do not try to charm you with the family's dysfunction. It's interesting, and Nicole Kidman is, I think, always a winner. Jack Black always a plus. Won't make you feel warm and fuzzy, won't make you hate your life (I think).
Flawless --- We just watched this tonight. It's a heist film. I understand why it wasn't released in theaters - it doesn't have that big pop, the wow factor. But it's a good story told from a very different perspective.
So, some of these movies received much more exposure, and a few were in theaters for a while in either wide or limited release. But about half of these were news to me when I encountered them in the store, and I'm really glad I took a chance on them, and I just want to pass the word along. With most of these, I've found that the description on the box couldn't adequately describe the movie, and I have found that that is usually to the movie's credit.