I was sick part of the week last week. That, coupled with the Thanksgiving holiday, allowed me to get through some more movies on my never-ending list. Without further ado, from worst to best:
On the Waterfront: The 1955 Best Picture winner. Bleh. Boring. Brando’s newfangled “method” acting made everyone else look like they were doing bad line readings from another movie. He was great, the movie was not. Unless its a musical, I detest plots where the two leads (Eva Marie Saint in this case) meet and within a day they and all the other characters are convinced they’re in love. I can just never buy that “poof, we’re a couple and I will stake my personal well-being on your actions” crap. And beyond their love, she just kept showing up in places she shouldn’t. Someone dies in an accident in the cargo hold of a ship that could only be accessed by a hook and suddenly there she is in her spotless dress next to all the rough and tumble guys. Where the heck did she come from?! Apparently I just can’t relate to people working down at the docks with a hook on their shoulder.
Kramer vs. Kramer: The 1980 Best Picture winner. Which I had already seen at some point, I realized about halfway through, but the ending was so unmemorable that I had to watch to the end to find out how it did actually end. I guess the idea divorce and single parenting 26 years ago was a huge deal, but in general, I just thought the mom character was horrible and she got what she deserved. I never felt bad for her. She left. And no one had forced her to get married in the first place. Shut up weepy mother character. Dustin Hoffman is a good actor, but did anyone really ever think he was attractive? Meh. Oh well, another off the list. 28 left to go.
Cars: The first Pixar movie that I didn’t see in the theater. I’m not a NASCAR fan, I just couldn’t really get that excited about cars as characters. However, it was an enjoyable movie. The voices don’t disappoint and the animation is always so clever and well-executed. The story was supposed to be about true friendship or something, but what I took away was that the interstate system of the US just killed the interesting traveling soul of our country. It was kind of depressing. I doubt I’d ever watch it again, but even as the lesser of all the Pixar movies, its still better than most of the crap that hollywood makes.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service: In preparation for seeing what would turn out to be the best movie of the weekend (if not the year) for me, I thought I’d brush up on my Bond by finally seeing the George Lazenby take on 007. I was pleasantly surprised by both the actor and the film. It was great classic 60’s Bond. Bond wears a kilt! Bond curls! Diana Rigg is an ice skating Bond Girl who makes the mistake of really and truly falling in love with James, that never ends well. There was Moneypenny and a bit of Q. And fourteen women in tall boots being treated for allergies/programmed as terrorists by Telly Savalas. What’s not to love? Did you know that the Bond family motto was The world is not enough?
Now that I was able to accept someone other than Sean or Pierce as Bond, I was ready to move on and hit the theater for the main event:
Casino Royale: This movie. Oh this movie rocks! I immediately wanted to see it again. Actually, the movie was probably only half over when I knew I wanted to see it again. I had sheltered myself from all the trailers and commercials, and I’m glad I did because I just knew nothing about this. I barely knew who else other than Daniel Craig was even in it. And Daniel Craig. *fans self* Pierce who? Seriously. This guy. He’s the real deal. There can never be another Sean Connery, but this guy makes me forget about those old movies. It was so fresh and so now. He’s so completely rugged and manly. *growl* The movie just feels so different than the old Bond, which had just reached a saturation point with the campyness and the “wink wink, nudge nudge” feel of it. In a conversation with a friend today, he made the point that this movie is to Bond what Batman Begins was to that franchise, a reimagining, a rebirth, whatever you want to call it. Its just good. Its serious heart-pounding action. Great action. Great “look at that guy actually hanging off of a real crane not CGI” action. Bond is back. See this movie. I highly recommend it.
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