Showing posts with label First viewing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First viewing. Show all posts

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Catching Up Watch: Boyhood (2014)



Watched:  12/30/2018
Format:  Netflix
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

I missed Boyhood (2014) during its theatrical release, and it's basically taken me this long to slog through the gushing, near-manic insistence folks had that I HAD to see this movie.*  I'm okay with some of Linklater's output, but aside from Slacker, haven't ever really responded to it the way you're supposed to.  Especially as an Austinite of a certain generation. 

Friday, December 28, 2018

Thursday, December 27, 2018

RiffTrax-Watch: Ready Player One (2018)


Watched:  12/25/2018
Format:  Rifftrax
Viewing: First
Decade:  2010's

I am not a gamer.  The only console I own is one of those 2600 emulator boxes and it hasn't been out of the closet in a year.  I get that people spend a lot of time on video games, and that I have no stones to throw about people wasting their time and money on non-real-things.  I write on a blog that needlessly analyzes movies and occasionally comics and talks a lot about comic-based movies.  Take all of the below with the necessary grain of salt.

RiffTrax-Watch: Santa's Summer House (2012)


Watched:  12/23/2018
Format:  Rifftrax
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

Finally, a movie that raises infinitely more questions than it answers.

Let's start with foundational queries (that we will never answer):

What is this?  Why does it exist?  Who is this for?  How did it happen?

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Noir Watch: "The Naked City" (1948)


Watched: 12/15/2018
Format: TCM on DVR (from Criterion, natch)
Viewing: first
Decade: 1940's

"There are 8 million stories in the Naked City.  This has been one of them." is probably a line you've heard used somewhere - maybe not from this movie, exactly, but from the television show loosely based on this movie that was a sort of crime-anthology series that started off in the late 1950's, aping the style of police procedural that The Naked City (1948) may not have originated, but it did get down to a T. 

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Doc Watch: "Hal" (2018)


Watched:  12/12/2018
Format:  Amazon Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

Hal (2018) is a documentary about prominent 1970's film director Hal Ashby, best known these days for, probably Harold and Maude, The Last Detail, Coming Home and Being There.

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Christmas Watch: The Christmas Chronicles (2018)


Watched:  11/24/2018
Format:  Netflix Streaming
Viewing:  First
Decade:  2010's

I mean, honestly, they had me at "and Kurt Russell as Santa".  Does Russell's participation immediately suggest "amazing film"?  No.  But he will elevate whatever he's in just by showing up, so I figured - hey, I already have Netflix, if it's painful, we turn it off.

I'm happy to say, The Christmas Chronicles (2018) is the rare Christmas movie that's actually pretty funny and accomplishes its goals in a surprisingly uncynical, actually-earns-it way.  All of which is remarkable, because describing the plot of this film will make you raise your eyebrow and say "I've seen this movie.  Several times.  And it's always terrible."

Sunday, November 11, 2018

Noir Watch: Follow Me Quietly (1949)


Watched:  11/09/2019
Format:  Noir Alley of TCM
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's

Noir Watch: He Ran All the Way (1951)



Watched:  11/10/2018
Format:  Noir Alley on TCM on DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1951


I admit - I started watching this movie a while back shortly after it aired on TCM and then got busy and forgot to finish watching it, until now.  And I'm very glad I did.

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Friday, November 2, 2018

Halloween (Night) Watch: Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  TCM (live, for once)
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1960's

Again, still pretty tired.  A Roger Corman produced Poe-derived horror film starring Vincent Price.  It's been a long time since I read the story of Masque of the Red Death, but this movie... doesn't really do that.  Kinda weird that the one, 30 second scene in Phantom of the Opera captures the spirit better than a whole film with that name.

Apparently this is a mix of Poe stories I haven't read, so... maybe I need to get back into reading some Poe.

Still, visually striking and with some complexity to the exploration of morality in an inscrutable world, it's not half bad.  Not 100% my thing, but I'd watch it again for how good Price is here in a non-camp role and how much I was digging the script.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Halloween (Night) Watch: Cat People (1942)


Watched:  10/31/2018
Format:  TCM/ DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1940's

Well, I finally watched Cat People (1942).

I wish I had not been so tired when I put it on, but I figured "now or never" as I was winding down my Halloween night, post trick or treaters and family heading home.

Friday, October 26, 2018

Halloween Hammer Watch: The Mummy (1959)


Watched:  10/25/2018
Format:  TCM/ DVR
Viewing:  First
Decade:  1950's

I thought I'd seen this movie before, but I had not.  But, boy howdy, did I like it - weird British Imperialistic dismissal of other cultures and all.  The movie is The Mummy (1959), part of Hammer's slate of Universal Horror remakes from their 50's and 60's boom era.