Alphabetical Movie – The Jungle Book
When I was young, there was no such thing as home video. If you wanted to watch a Disney animated film, you went to see what was in the theatre or watched edited chunks of them on “The Wonderful World of Disney.”
What we did have was record albums of the movies. Specifically, I remember a recording of The Jungle Book that I listened to repeatedly to the point that I knew every sound in The Jungle Book. Literally every sound. It was not a record of the songs from the film. It was a record that was literally the entire film.
Alphabetical Movie – Juno and the Paycock
Around Christmas last year, there was a good deal on a collection of all of Alfred Hitchcock’s British films. I’m a big fan of his work but his British period was pretty much a blank slate for me. Aside from The 39 Steps, I’m pretty ignorant of his developmental period.
I don’t remember the exact price but it was less than $2.00 per movie. As far as I was concerned, it was a great deal if all I’d gotten was The 39 Steps and The Lodger.
Decisions like that are one of the reasons I’m doing the Alphabetical Movie project. I have something like twenty Hitchcock films on four discs. Left to my own devices, I would probably watch one or two in the next five years.
Alphabetical Movie – Journey to the Center of the Earth
Brendan Fraser’s career is by no means dead but I can’t help but wonder if he actually reads scripts before he accepts a role. It seems like he so enjoys acting that he doesn’t much care about the movies he’s making. How else do explain how the guy makes movies like The Quiet American and Crash while also starring in films like…well…Journey to the Center of the Earth.
As an actor, I like Fraser a lot. Yeah, Rachel Weisz was definitely a discovery in The Mummy but without Fraser, the movie wouldn’t have been nearly as fun. He’s someone who can manage to make a bad movie better by his presence. He can’t save Journey to the Center of the Earth but I don’t think anybody can.
Problem is, he keeps choosing to take on films like Furry Vengeance and it gets hard to know if the next movie will be a good Brendan Fraser movie or a bad Brendan Fraser movie. I mean, I suppose that every actor has that problem but there are a lot of actors who seem to be trying to make good movies every time. Fraser doesn’t seem to be one of them.
Alphabetical Movie Blog – Josie and the Pussycats
I don’t think I would have ever seen Josie and the Pussycats had I not watched Mission to Mars.
Mission to Mars is a terrible film. Beginning to end, it is some of the most painful filmmaking you are likely to see in a big budget film. Yet I can’t deny that it resulted in one of the more enjoyable filmgoing experience I’ve ever had.
Alphabetical Movie – Johnny Mnemonic
I’ve been doing this Alphabetical Movie project for just over three years now and Johnny Mnemonic represents the first time I’ve ever been gifted a film just so I would be forced watch it. I’m actually pretty surprised it took so long.
I’ve had friends ask me how the rules work. Then they ask the inevitable follow-up question: “So if I give you a movie, you have to watch it, right?”
With a few caveats, yes, I have to watch it.*
Alphabetical Movie – John Carter
When it comes to evaluating a movie in terms of how well it meshes with the source material, I’m not a great judge. I read all the time but almost everything I read is non fiction. I like reading about history, religion, nature and a host of other topics.
I also love reading fiction but here’s why I don’t: I can’t stop.
I don’t want to know what is going to happen in the middle of the story. I want to know how the story ends. In order to know that, I need to slog through the middle and I want to do that as quickly as possible.
Alphabetical Movie – The Jewel of the Nile
For some of the younger folks out there, it may come as a surprise to learn that there was a time when MTV played music videos all the time. I was a college student during this magical time in the mid 80’s and I wasted enjoyed many hours in front of the television watching some of the finest music videos ever produced studying.
My first year of college, I attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids Iowa. Things didn’t work out so well between Coe and I left after my freshman year. One of the best friends I’ve ever made was from that first year and for me, The Jewel of the Nile will always be about Teri, Coe College, and MTV.
Alphabetical Movie – Jaws
I didn’t watch Jaws until I was in my late twenties.
I remember seeing the trailer and deciding I wanted nothing to do with the film. The shot of the girl being pulled violently under water that scared the crap out of me. I was just eight years old, after all, and I lived in a state full of lakes. I didn’t really understand the difference between oceans and lakes.
Alphabetical Movie – Jason and the Argonauts
About ten years ago, I took my first trip to the San Diego ComiCon. At the time, it was a relatively tiny 60,000 person convention.
If you’ve never been to ComiCon, it is quite the experience. These days they have 100,000+ attendees and I’ve ceased going because the crowds make it a nearly unbearable experience for me. No, I don’t really want to wait in line for 30 minutes just to go to a panel about Batman.
The first time I went, it was crowded but not “get me the fuck out of here” crowded.
Alphabetical Movie – The January Man
The January Man is a mess of a movie. It wants to be about a modern day Sherlock Holmes but it doesn’t spend any time establishing the main character as all that clever and gets bogged down in a whole lot of relationship subplots that are at right angles to the main plot.
But there is one thing about it that is relatively unique and that is the fact it is a serial killer movie in which we barely see the serial killer. Typically a serial killer movie is a cat and mouse story in which the audience, at least, is aware of who the killer is.
Grail Diary 