Seven Movies a Week #9

This was the final week of my crazy summer. I did a lot of traveling these past few weeks, and ended up watching quite a few movies on the road. This week I headed up to Boston for UFC 118, so I had my movies planned out for Monday through Friday. For the weekend I had to rely on the hotel on demand channel, or if that failed, Netflix Watch Instant. I have a theme for next week, but I will talk about that later on in the column.

As always up for themes or movies suggestions. If you have any, send them my way. You can email me or hit me up on twitter.

BOOGIE NIGHTS

Year of release – 1997

Written by – Paul Thomas Anderson

Directed by – Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring – Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle & William H. Macy

What it’s about – The rise and fall of Dirk Diggler

Thoughts Before Viewing – Today is my 600th(!!!) straight day of watching a movie a day. Wow, that is crazy to write. I did not want to waste it on just any old movie. Since I just recently saw JAWS, my favorite movie all of time, I went down the list to number two.


Thoughts After Viewing – Hilarious. I think the movie is perfect. The performances by everybody in this movie are amazing. For many of them it’s their best work, and these people have turned out numerous great performances. Paul Thomas Anderson is high on my list of filmmakers out there today.

THE SQUARE

Year of release – 2010

Written by – Joel Edgerton & Matthew Dabner

Directed by – Nash Edgerton

Starring – David Roberts, Claire van der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps & Bill Hunter

What it’s about – A secret love affair turns deadly.

Thoughts Before Viewing – I saw the trailer for this movie several months ago and I thought it looked good. I did kind of forget about it, but it’s out on DVD this week.


Thoughts After Viewing – Excellent movie. It’s one of those “what else can go wrong” movies, which is why people have compared it to a Coen Brothers film. The suspense build up is great, and the movie ended the only way it should have. I look forward to future work from the Edgerton brothers.

PIRANHA

Year of release – 1978

Written by – John Sayles

Directed by – Joe Dante

Starring – Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn & Dick Miller

What it’s about – Piranhas. Evil Piranhas.

Thoughts Before Viewing – I tried watching this last week, but had a mishap (grabbed the wrong VHS at the video store). I was stuck watching the terrible 1995 remake that I had no interest in. Well, this week I made sure I got the right one.

Thoughts After Viewing – So much better than the sequel and remake that I watched last week. The original had a certain charm about it that the other two were severely lacking. Which I find kind of weird considering the remake is pretty much a shot for shot remake. It really comes down to Joe Dante knowing what kind of movie he was making: A goofy movie about killer piranhas. It seems like Dante had fun making it, and in turn the viewer [should] have fun watching it.

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

Year of release – 2010

Written by – Edgar Wright & Michael Bacall (based on the graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O’Malley)

Directed by – Edgar Wright

Starring by – Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Brandon Routh & Jason Schwartzman

What it’s about – Mr. Pilgrim has to fight for the love of a pretty young lady… literally

Thoughts Before Viewing – Saw it opening day (midnight showing) and loved it. If I have time, I love checking out movies more than once. I was hanging out with a friend who has been having trouble finding someone to see the movie with, so I made it a point to take her.

Thoughts After Viewing – Loved it even more the second time around. Edgar Wright can do no wrong in my book. I am bummed out that the box office numbers have not been that great. It’s a great movie that should be seen on the big screen. I really hope more people see this movie when it’s released on DVD. Once again I will direct you to Manny’s review.

THE LAST EXORCISM

Year of release – 2010

Written by – Huck Botko & Andrew Gurland

Directed by – Daniel Stamm

Starring – Patrick Fabian, Iris Bahr & Louis Herthum

What it’s about – A film crew follows a pastor as he sets out to perform his… wait for it… last exorcism.

Thoughts Before Viewing – Normally I am not a fan of this type of movies. Yes, THE EXORCIST is a great movie. It’s just not my cup of tea, but with this movie I was interested to see how the genre would work in a mockumentary (Cinéma vérité) style. Not to mention, the reviews and word of mouth have been good.

Thoughts After Viewing – I really liked this movie, but I must warn you. Some people might leave the theater a little disappointed. I didn’t think the movie was all that scary and it’s also not really what the trailer makes it out to be. It’s a character driven movie that deals with real life scariness, which might be why I liked it so much. If you can get past that, I think you’ll have a great time at the theater.

BABIES

Year of release – 2010

Directed by – Thomas Balmès

Starring – Ponijao, Bayar, Mari & Hattie

What it’s about – Babies doing baby things.

Thoughts Before Viewing – I did want to see this movie when it was in theaters. Can’t remember why I never got around to it. While in the hotel room browsing the movie On Demand channel, I came across this. It was late and the only other movies I hadn’t seen were foreign or two hour dramas.


Thoughts After Viewing – I don’t think this movie needs a lot said about it. It is a movie about babies doing baby things. If that sounds like something you want to see, then see it. You will love it.

SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER
Year of release – 1993
Directed by – Thomas Schlamme
Written by – Robbie Fox
Starring – Mike Myers, Nancy Travis, Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Plummer & Brenda Fricker
What it’s about – Charlie Mackenzie may have fallen in love with an Axe Murderer.

Thoughts Before Viewing – I remember seeing this movie years ago and loving it. I cannot remember the last time I saw it though. A friend of mine saw it recently and still enjoyed it, so now it’s my turn to see if it holds up.

Thoughts After Viewing – As the opening credits were playing, I thought to myself, “I’m going to hate this movie.” I really don’t know why I thought that, but thankfully I was very wrong. The film held up just fine. It’s a great, funny movie. Not many people bring it up when they are talking about great comedies of the 90’s. Probably has to do with its release being sandwiched between WAYNE’S WORLD & WAYNE’S WORLD 2. If you have not given this movie a chance, please do. You will not be disappointed.

Because I went away this weekend, I did not have a chance to watch anything other than my seven movies. My goal is to watch at least 500 movies this year (last year I watched 435). So far this year, I have seen 355 movies. At the pace I am going, I should be able to reach that.

Next week I will start a theme. “Movies I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Seen.” These are movies that I have no reason for not seeing. And boy, a few of them are surprising even to me. Some of those movies include:
BLADE RUNNER
THE ABYSS
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS