Alphabetical Movie – Gun Crazy
Gun Crazy is a 40’s film that was part of a film noir package I picked up a few years back. I pick up a lot of film noir packages because I enjoy the genre even though the classic film noir is hamstrung a little bit by the fact we know the Hayes code will require any guilty party to be punished for their deeds. Doesn’t matter if they are the least bit sympathetic – they are still going to get nailed.
The concept of evil under the Hayes code is most interesting when you consider how the subject of sex was treated. I’m not sure that we’ve ever escaped from the idea that sex is taboo in film. Read More…
Alphabetical Movie – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?
I would imagine it is obvious by now that my movie blogs are frequently not at all about the movies in question but rather my thoughts that are triggered by the film. That is especially true with films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner that have been written about endlessly for many good reasons.
You know what I think about when I watch the movie? The fact that it was Spencer Tracy’s last movie. I watch Tracy in this film and actually find myself observing his performance and seeing if I can tell that this was a dying man. Seventeen days after they finished shooting the film, he was dead. Does it show?
Alphabetical Movie – The Green Mile
It is, I suppose, fair that The Green Mile will always be known as Frank Darabont’s second best prison movie. Being mentioned alongside The Shawshank Redemption should be fair consolation, right?
I think that The Green Mile is an excellent film that mingles hope and despair in equal parts. The films ending seems to provide a glimmer of hope after an absolutely devastating moment of despair but to me, it borders on nihilistic.
Before the fold, I suppose I should mention that just about any Alphabetical movie blog may contain spoilers. This one certainly will.
Alphabetical movie – The Great Race
For anyone out there looking for “classic” movies to show their kids, I give you The Great Race. The movie fulfills the important task of letting kids know they made films prior to Star Wars while also introducing them to important concepts like “Jack Lemmon” and “Tony Curtis.”
Let’s not forget about “Peter Falk.”
Alphabetical Movie – The Green Hornet
Geek though I may be, I’m somewhat limited in my knoweledge of classic geek culture. As a result, I approached the recent Green Hornet film unencumbered by anything more than a cursory foreknowledge of the original character.
As a result, I enjoyed the movie enough to purchase it off the bargain shelf from Target. I don’t think it measures up to the truly fantastic 2011 geek properties like Captain America but it makes me laugh.
I’m not, however, going to use this blog post about The Green Hornet to write about the movie. Instead, I’m going to use it to write about dissappointment and loss and living with the choices you make because, you see, this movie is at the center of a really crappy day in 2010. A crappy day that was entirely my own fault.
Alphabetical Movie – The Great Dictator
Those keeping track at home will note that I actually watched The Great Dictator after watching The Great Escape and alphabetically speaking, that is all wrong.
It is true. All I can say is that I had acquired The Great Dictator a few months ago and forgotten to put it on the list of upcoming films. Fortunately for me, my rigid Alphabetical movie project rules allow me to deal with such errors by simply watching the damn movie slightly out-of-order.
Alphabetical Movie – The Great Escape
With a renewed sense of purpose, I’m moving forward with the Alphabetical movie blog. Today, I’m writing about The Great Escape.
Hello darkness my old friend
I’m way behind on writing up Alphabetical movie blog posts. In fact, the last movie I wrote about was Dodgeball back in June. Yikes!
I’m now most of the way through the G’s so I’m just going to start with where I am and where I am is The Graduate.
Alphabetical Movie Project – The Rules
For archival and linking purposes, this post explains my Alphabetical Movie Project.
What the hell am I doing?
I am watching every movie I own in alphabetical order.
Why the hell am I doing this?
Because there are a bunch of movies that I own on DVD but I’ve never actually watched. Some (very few), I’ve never seen at all. Others I saw once in the movie theatre ten years ago. I figure I ought to get my money’s worth.
What if I’m in the B’s and I really feel like watching The Shawshank Redemption?
Then I will watch The Shawshank Redemption. The project continues basically when I say to myself “I feel like watching a movie.” If I just feel like watching a movie, I’ll watch the next movie in order. If I feel like watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind, I’ll just watch it.
So is it that simple?
Nah. Nothing like this ever is. I have a few clauses.
Clause #1 – The watched it recently clause
If I watched a movie recently (say within a month) and it comes up as the “next” film to watch, I have the option of skipping it. Or I could watch the commentary track. Whatever. I just watched it so I don’t have to force myself to watch it again.
Clause #2 – The Sequel Clause
In the event I’m watching a number of films in a series that do not automatically follow each other alphabetically (the Lord of the Rings trilogy f’rinstance), I will watch them in the proper order. If the order is not particularly important, I shall honor the Alphabetical list.
So, for instance, I will watch The Two Towers prior to The Return of the King in spite of the fact that ROTK precedes TTT alphabetically. However, I would have no problem watching Aliens prior to Alien as I think both films stand on their own.
That example sucks, of course, because the Alien films are already in alphabetical order.
A better example would be Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom vs. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The stories stand well enough on their own that I don’t really care about watching them in the order they were released.
Clause #3 – The New movies clause
In the event I acquire a movie that I have already passed alphabetically, I will save that movie until I have watched every movie in the currently collection at which point I will start on the Alphabetical Move Project 2.0.
If I acquire a movie that I would not have reached yet, that just gets inserted into the list in the proper order.
Clause #4 – The What I’m watching clause
I’m only watching movies that were released theatrically or were intended to be released theatrically. I’m not watching TV series. I’m not watching documentaries that did not have a theatrical release. If the movie either showed in a theatre or was made with that intent, I’m going to watch it.
How long have I been doing this?
I started the project in October of 2009.
Are you shitting me?
No. I own a crapton of movies.
Why the Hell am I tweeting/posting to Facebook/Blogging while I watch these movies?
Because I want to.
One accepts that social media is never about what someone else wants to read. It is about what the poster wants to write. If you are interested, that is groovy. If you aren’t, you should deal with it and either stop following that person or ignore their posts. Either response is completely valid and should not be viewed as an impeachment on either party.
We all think everything we have to say is really damned interesting. Most of us are wrong.
But where we are correct is in the assumption that it is really interesting to us. I post this crap for me because it interests me.
Omegacon Movie Schedule
For my first post on my new blog digs, I’m putting up the OmegaCon movie list! For those that are interested in such things – enjoy! Omegacon runs November 11th, 12th and 13th this year.
Our theme this year is “Moons” for the simple fact that we wanted to show the film “Moon.” For those saddened to learn that we have not put “Moonraker” or “Moonstruck” on the list of films, we can only apologize and say that it turns out there are a ton of films that fit the theme. We aren’t even going to start on the volume of films that feature at least one bare butt.
Friday: 3:00 PM The Omegacon Movie Vault
The Wolf Man
Friday afternoon is now reserved for classic films. In keeping with our theme, we will feature a fine film from the Universal movie monster vault that explores the harmful side effect our celestial partner can have on the unfortunate. The film features Claude Rains and honestly, there is no better reason to watch any film.
Friday 9:00 PM – Mystery Movie
For the last several years, we’ve used this time slot to show something that folks at the con haven’t seen and really should. Sometimes the movie fits the theme but most of the time the movie falls into the “holy crap! You haven’t see that? Someone find me a copy!” category.
Friday 11:30 PM – Late Night Movie
Moon
“Moons” is a pretty strange theme for a movie room but this movie is worth it. The film is smart, well acted and is constantly going in directions you don’t expect. Tragically under seen and only 97 minutes long, you should see this movie if only to ask yourself “why didn’t I watch this sooner?”
Saturday 10:00 AM – Saturday Morning Cartoon
Batman: Year One
Warner Brothers has been turning out a pretty good series of animated DC films lately. Their newest release is a retelling of the Frank Miller’s “Batman Year One.” We’re pretty sure there will be at least one shot of Batman silhouetted against a full moon…
Saturday 1:00 PMish – Road Trip movie
Want to watch a movie in a theatre? Hey, no problem! There’s a theatre right over there. Again!
Saturday 5:00 PM – Commentary-o-rama
Thor
Kenneth Branagh has a bit of an ego, no doubt about it. That is probably why he was the perfect guy to direct a film about a cocksure Norse god who needed to learn something about humility. Sort of like Branagh after he made “Frankenstein.” Branagh’s commentary on the film is equal parts bravado, wit, and insight into why the story was told the way it was told. If you’d like to know why “Thor” was a far better film that you expected it would be, this commentary is a good place to find out.
Saturday, 11:30 PM – Late Night Movie
The Dish
A funny and moving film about the Apollo 11 landing told from the point of view of a small town in Australia. Quite simply one of the best films about the Apollo program you will ever see.
Sunday: 10:30 AM – New Release Theatre
The People vs. George Lucas
This recently released documentary looks at the fans of “Star Wars” and explores their love-hate relationship with it’s creator/destroyer: George Lucas. No matter what you think of George, this film is an enjoyable exploration of the “Star Wars” fan culture and it also fits into our theme because we all know that there are a lot of moons in “Star Wars.” Except for the Death Star. That’s a space station.
Grail Diary 