Tue, 30 Dec 2008

Looking Back - '08 Movies

As it's the end of the year, I've been looking back to do a self-review. Part of it is so I can write my goals for next year, but mostly I just want to know how this past year went for me. My goals are almost always the same thing, so it gets boring sometimes and I need to get creative when writing new ones - or I have to be very specific.

But as I was looking back over '08 I realized that I haven't been enjoying the movies as much. Well, I knew that but I wanted to think about it more and to find out why.

Here are two things that stuck out at me:

1) I think I only went to the actual movie theater twice this year. That's it!? Just twice?! I saw No Country for Old Men and Batman: The Dark Knight.

EDIT: I saw No Country in Dec '07. Uggh, I only went to the theater ONCE in a year? That's unheard of for a Schwartzman. That can't be right.

2) Most of the moviesDVDs I watched this year, I kind of whined about. Various little things here and there... plot points, characters, etc. And as this is a blog, I don't get into why that is, I just whine and move on. But why is that?

For item #1- I know there's a lot of "stuff" surrounding theater-goers woes: ticket prices, concession prices, cell phone noise, cell phone texters, loud talkers, etc. But that's not what has kept me away. I think I just don't schedule my time correctly, or I wuss out and look for excuses not to go if I'm invited. (I get invited to a lot of daytime showings - "long lunches".) That's fixable.

For item #2- I think the reason that I'm whining more is that I've lost some of my escapability. I'm probably not wording this correctly- but what I mean is that sometimes I just can't sit back and get lost into the movies like I used to be able to do.

I could with Torque (and enjoyed it) but I couldn't do it with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (review pending). With Indy, it was because I had wanted to see it and my expectations were high. And even though I was at home and on my couch, I couldn't get into the film without picking it apart (and thinking "Southpark was right!").

It wasn't until later (my 3DMT™) when I heard Kevin talking about it over Pho that I realized it was a fun movie despite it's flaws and that I should "lighten up, Francis"

So for '09 I have two movie goals: go to the theater more and just enjoy what I'm watching without picking it apart.

30 Dec 12:47 | /movies | 0 comment(s)


Wed, 05 Nov 2008

DVD Roundup - 10/31/2008

Yes it's been a while. Here's how it usually goes-
insert statement here about how I'm shocked that I haven't watched many movies (even though I have - I even had a quick blurb about the artistic Torque which you really should watch with your friends and beer this week)...

I then complain about how I haven't been to the cineplex in a while (although true, I did finally go see The Dark Knight when it was out) on this line here ..

Okay - now we're ready for me to whine . ..

... there's more to read here ...

05 Nov 12:44 | /movies | 1 comment(s)


Sun, 26 Oct 2008

Torque - *

I finally watched Torque the other night. It had been recommended to me by a trusted friend. The movie is bad. Real bad. Stinky bad.

But you know what? It's so bad it's good. Real good. Stinky good.

Drinking games could be (and probably already have been) made for this movie.

Superbikes jumping onto trains. Girls having a catfight using their motorcycles. Bad lines. I love it. You will too. I agree that there could've been some nudity though, it was disappointing to not have any. (Yes, I'm still on my kick that American movies need fewer guns and more boobs).

26 Oct 12:38 | /movies | 0 comment(s)


Wed, 23 Jul 2008

What About The DVD Reviews

Someone asked me recently why I haven't posted a DVD Roundup in a while. Well, the answer is that I haven't really seen anything worth writing about.

I'm not sure if it's because I've been caught up in other things (Euro2008 in June?, work?, tech crap?) or if I was just watching more TV from the DVR. Or maybe I've just been negative about everything. . .

I have a theory about the movie-watching-slowdown, but I'll save that for a future blog post.

But I tell you what, I've gone through my Netflix rental history and my stack of borrowed items. Here's what I've seen recently:

... there's more to read here ...

23 Jul 23:42 | /movies | 3 comment(s)


Mon, 21 Jul 2008

No More Ebert & Roepert?

I saw this on a Cinematical.com rss feed, but it's from CNN originally:

Ebert and Roeper leaving 'Ebert & Roeper'

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert says he's cutting ties with the television show that he and the late Gene Siskel made famous.

This news came after Roeper announced that he wasn't renewing his contract.

:(

21 Jul 13:01 | /movies | 0 comment(s)


Again With The BO Records?

I (still) wish theaters and movie production companies would report the number of tickets sold over a given weekend, not the amount of sales of tickets. It annoyes the crap out of me. Well, not too much really . . .

21 Jul 12:36 | /movies | 0 comment(s)


Thu, 08 May 2008

Indy BS Marketing

Okay, I love escapism and good stories, but let's nip this crap in the bud now.

If you don't already subscribe to the Skeptoid Podcast, you should.

That said, read (if you don't want to download an audiofile) this episode about Crystal Skulls. That way when you start seeing more marketing kits/text from the Indy movie machine, you'll recognize it's just buzz for the movie . . .

08 May 11:41 | /movies | 0 comment(s)


Thu, 07 Feb 2008

Thai Chocolate

The trailer for Chocolate is up on twitchfilm.net. It's a new Thai movie, and it looks pretty cool. It has the same director from Ong Bak

Cinematical has a post about it too. Check it out.

07 Feb 17:07 | /movies | 0 comment(s)


Mon, 04 Feb 2008

Uggh, Roswell?

I've been renting and watching The Shield from Netflix. As it's been raining out for what seems like six weeks straight, it's been easy to get semi-caught up.

I'm on Season 4, and was breezing through the discs, but I realized that the final episode of the season was on a separate dvd from the ones I had- I was at my limit for how many I could have out at once. Anyway, I finally got the final episode on Friday, opened up the red envelope and pulled out the DVD.

But lo and behold . . . there was a mixup. An episode of Roswell(?!) was in the wrong disc wrapper. Roswell?!

Netflix is sending me a replacement disc, (I love their site, they rule) but . . Roswell!? Who watches Roswell!? And also- why did they have to break out that final episode of The Shield onto it's own disc? I guess I'll find out tonight.

04 Feb 15:23 | /movies | 2 comment(s)


Sun, 27 Jan 2008

Eastern Promises - ***

I forgot to include Eastern Promises in my last DVD Roundup becasue it wasn't in my Netflix rental history- Cory loaned me the HD-DVD combo version.

I really liked the movie and recommend it highly, but I'm a bit confused as how to describe it now. You can look it up yourself if you'd like. Why am I confused now? Well, let's get the basic stuff out of the way first.

... there's more to read here ...

27 Jan 13:18 | /movies | 0 comment(s)