I've hunted, now I'm gonna gather.
Watching the Oscars I realized it's been months since I went to a movie theatre and saw something new. This is not usual. I see a lot of films every year, but money's been tight, and it's been my priority to watch stuff on DVD that I've already paid for instead of going out of my way to see new stuff. And let's face it, the last time I went out there on a bender to get some serious movie watching in, out of five flicks, one was really great. Alright, better than great, monumental even, but still. Four disappointments is a harsh blow. At this time last year, I officially got excited about what was around the corner, and so I'm trying to do it again this year:
1) Hitchhiker's Guide - the more I see, the less worried and the more excited I get. The trailers (especially this one) make me not just smile, but actually remember what was so great about reading those books in the first place. They weren't just funny, they let you feel like you were a part of them. Not a reader or a viewer, but a co-conspirator in the fun. The movie just feels like it's doing the same thing, and I haven't felt that much like a part of something since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and that was over 15 years ago. Half a life is too long to wait for that feeling.
2)Sin City - duh. I keep going back to the graphic novels and collections and issues of this that I was buying 10 years ago and showing to anybody I could get to sit still. The compositions on the page blew my mind. Sin City was and still is utterly unlike any comic book story ever, with renderings so evocative and stylish that they out noir everything on the planet. Do I think Rodriguez can pull it off on film? It sure looks like it. My big Rodriguez complaint has always been on the writing side, specifically story and structure, where I think his reach often exceeds his grasp. But Frank Miller is essentially in charge here, and although it may all play a bit flat in the end, at least what happens won't get in the way of how great it all looks and feels.
3) The Amityville Horror - SURPRISE! I am looking forward to a horror film. I am intensely unbuilt for horror films. I am the first person to scream, jump, or otherwise be completely manipulated by what is going on up there on the screen. I'd prefer to believe that it's that same quality that allows me to desperately love all other kinds of films, that inability to set myself apart from the experience. In any case I am willing to risk the sheer humiliation of it, if only because this looks like a genuine attempt to recapture the '70s supernatural horror genre, when getting scared meant empathizing with the adults, not a bunch of pretty young things being punished for their sexual encounters.
4) The Ringer - finally a movie about that universal subject, a guy who pretends to be retarded so he can rig the special olympics for profit. Dude.... that shit's wrong, dude.
5) Kung Fu Hustle is supposed to hit this spring as well, and based on everyone's raves I will be there. This was the movie I had a ticket to during the past festival, only to find out the film had been destroyed at a private screening. So technically I've been lined up for this for over 5 months.
Herein lies the problem. This list was the best I could come up with for the next 3 months. It's not exactly that great. Where are the really great movies, man?
1) Hitchhiker's Guide - the more I see, the less worried and the more excited I get. The trailers (especially this one) make me not just smile, but actually remember what was so great about reading those books in the first place. They weren't just funny, they let you feel like you were a part of them. Not a reader or a viewer, but a co-conspirator in the fun. The movie just feels like it's doing the same thing, and I haven't felt that much like a part of something since The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and that was over 15 years ago. Half a life is too long to wait for that feeling.
2)Sin City - duh. I keep going back to the graphic novels and collections and issues of this that I was buying 10 years ago and showing to anybody I could get to sit still. The compositions on the page blew my mind. Sin City was and still is utterly unlike any comic book story ever, with renderings so evocative and stylish that they out noir everything on the planet. Do I think Rodriguez can pull it off on film? It sure looks like it. My big Rodriguez complaint has always been on the writing side, specifically story and structure, where I think his reach often exceeds his grasp. But Frank Miller is essentially in charge here, and although it may all play a bit flat in the end, at least what happens won't get in the way of how great it all looks and feels.
3) The Amityville Horror - SURPRISE! I am looking forward to a horror film. I am intensely unbuilt for horror films. I am the first person to scream, jump, or otherwise be completely manipulated by what is going on up there on the screen. I'd prefer to believe that it's that same quality that allows me to desperately love all other kinds of films, that inability to set myself apart from the experience. In any case I am willing to risk the sheer humiliation of it, if only because this looks like a genuine attempt to recapture the '70s supernatural horror genre, when getting scared meant empathizing with the adults, not a bunch of pretty young things being punished for their sexual encounters.
4) The Ringer - finally a movie about that universal subject, a guy who pretends to be retarded so he can rig the special olympics for profit. Dude.... that shit's wrong, dude.
5) Kung Fu Hustle is supposed to hit this spring as well, and based on everyone's raves I will be there. This was the movie I had a ticket to during the past festival, only to find out the film had been destroyed at a private screening. So technically I've been lined up for this for over 5 months.
Herein lies the problem. This list was the best I could come up with for the next 3 months. It's not exactly that great. Where are the really great movies, man?
posted by Mattvideo at 2:10 PM
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