#100 - Netflix movie round-up

In the interest of time, space, energy, and my fingers, I'm doing a massive movie consolidation post. This one will be all the Netflix movies that I watched but have yet to blog.

I realized that a) the intent of #43 is blogging about significant progress or completing an item. And b) if I don't have anything to intelligent to contribute about a movie then there is no sense in forcing myself to come up with something. I think this was the source of a lot of my procrastination. The psychic weight of writing something smart. Well, inspiration ain't striking so here goes (in roughly chronological order of viewing). Oscar winners are noted as well - those count for #93 as well.

1) Born on the 4th of July (Oscar) - Oliver Stone & Tom Cruise. Good performances. Thought Platoon was better. Puts a good spotlight on the continuing obligation we have to our servicemen and women after they are done fighting.

2) Last King of Scotland (Oscar) - Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy. Succeeds in giving a biographical sketch of Idi Amin and a general impression of Ugandan life during his dictatorship. Interesting topic for rumination: What made the U.S. so special that it was able to throw off a colonial oppressor and yet not go through the cycles of violence, corruption, and repression other countries experienced / continue to experience? On a lighter topic I think I have a small case of McAvoy fatigue.

3) Mystic River (Oscar). - Sean Penn & Tim Robbins - Directed by Clint Eastwood. Saw the ending coming but only because I was expecting a twist since it is written by Dennis Lehane who also wrote Gone, Baby, Gone which also has a twist. Good movie -worth renting

4) Leaving Las Vegas (Oscar) - Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue. Didn't care for this one too much. Nicolas Cage is basically just an asshole who drinks himself to death. Supports the "if you want an Oscar play either drunk, stupid, or crazy" theory. But I've crushed on Elisabeth Shue since Adventures in Babysitting so she is always nice to see.

5) Life is Beautiful (Oscar) - Roberto Benigini. Wonderful movie. By total coincidence I happened to watch it on Holocaust Remembrance Day (4/21). The first half of the movie is like a Mark Brothers' movie and then the second half works on multiple levels - it is funny, sad, poignant, uplifting, and depressing all at the same time. And the little kid's face when he sees the tank for the first time is priceless. Also counts for #97 as a not from Hollywood film.

6) The Queen (Oscar) - Helen Mirren. I thought this was pretty good. Helen Mirren did a brilliant job of showing the wonderment of the queen at the massive outpouring of grief at Princess Diana's death. And it was engrossing to watch her struggle with her natural inclination to keep things private and in the family and the public's need for her to make a statement and grieve with them. Equally engrossing was watching Tony Blair try to bring Elizabeth around to making that statement and essentially trying to save the monarchy - even against the advice of his advisers and wife. Michael Sheen, who played Blair, is becoming one of my favorite actors. He has such a natural quality to his acting. He was also great as David Frost in Frost/Nixon.

7) Erin Brockovich (Oscar) - Julie Roberts, Albert Finney. Pretty good. I thought Julia Roberts did create an indelible screen character, one who is fully three-dimensional (and not just in a "They are called boobs, Ed" push-up bra third dimension - though they are definitely present - but I digress). It is hard to forget some of her scenes, especially when she is playing off of Finney. If you rent it be sure and watched the deleted scenes w/ Soderbergh's commentary. It added some dimension and side stories that aren't in main movie. And Soderbergh's comments are almost a film class in editing.

8) Taxi Driver - Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Martin Scorsese. A 1970s classic which I hadn't seen until now. It is grim and dark, but compelling. I think I need to bump more early De Niro / Scorsese up on the Netflix queue (Mean Streets, Raging Bull, King of Comedy).

9) Strangers on a Train - Farley Granger, Robert Walker. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Classic Hitchcock. Holds up OK, and it is interesting to watch the source material of so many other movies and TV show plots. Apparently they are remaking this. I have no information or particulars. But I think it might be interesting to do a "teen" version of this. A high school kind of thing, starring - well I don't know - it would have to be someone who could act rather than just be cute. Cillian Murphy would be good in the Robert Walker role though obviously he isn't a teen.

10) The Philadelphia Story (Oscar) - Jimmy Stewart, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant. Cute classic movie and I love Cary Grant. Jimmy Stewart won the Best Actor for this, and it is an odd movie to win an award for. It is kind of lightweight and Stewart's role doesn't have much weight to it. I tend to agree w/ Stewart himself that it was a delayed award for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

11) The Way of the Gun - Ryan Phillippe, Benecio del Toro, James Caan. An odd little movie, from the guy who wrote The Usual Suspects. Kind of bloody towards the end. I agree with the critic who said it wanted to be a Peckinpah but didn't quite make it. James Caan is good though.

That's the round-up. Hope you are still awake.