I think I’ve been meaning to watch this movie since sophomore year of high school. It’s pretty darn creative. I love the whole theme of insignificant things in life leading to much larger consequences. There is so much red in the film it’s hard not to notice (i.e. her hair, the phone, the scenes of them in bed). I also really liked the camera angles. My favorites are the initial zooming into her apartment and her tossing the phone. Also, the scenes with her father + his mistress are so grainy it feels voyeuristic. Just lovely.
(Wikipedia-w/spoilers)
Super Size Me:
-I thought the grossest part was when they filmed him puking. Bleh.
-I like the segments he put in between his McDiet. Funny fellow. The school lunches part went along really well with the nutrition section we were discussing in my public health class. I used to eat that crap!
-I never realized they did gastric bypass surgery without actually opening the stomach.
-At the end of it all, I still wanted those super sized french fries. Damn french fries.
Amelie (viewing #2):
-Basically my favorite movie so far in life, since I haven’t seen anything I liked more.
-Little Amelie is adorable, especially when she pulls her neighbor’s cable.
-The above screenshot is creeepy. I mean, wouldn’t you like to be seduced by a man in a skeleton costume?
-Amelie + Nino=<3<3 As my resident said so accurately, "Makes me want to fall in love."
-Imagine the scene where Amelie’s heart lights up and starts to beat faster when she sees Nino. Then, cut to her melting into a puddle of water when he leaves the cafe. That is how I feel after watching this movie…again. Cue the *sigh*.
I have spent 2 months worth of money on Netflix subscriptions and have not ordered a single movie. I’m still holding onto the movie I ordered during my trial subscription. Lillian=sucker.
Cancel? I think so.
Update @ 11pm: Aaaand, as I am about to cancel…
“The Netflix web site is temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance.
It is anticipated that the site will be available again at 2:30 AM Pacific time.”
Perfect timing for them to renew my subscription for yet another month. >:(!!!
The Royal Tenenbaums: Hmm. I was not completely sold on this one. I can see how it’s a wonderfully shot, witty movie, but most of the humor was over my head. I think I got the same feeling with The Life Aquatic (i.e. confused). That one scene with Luke Wilson left me clutching my wrists in horror. *empathy pains*
Little Miss Sunshine: SO CUTE. Funny and touching at the same time. My favorite part: Pageant Host-”Where’s your grandpa right now?” Olive-”In the trunk of our car.”
It’s Monday! Ah! I hate school! Ah! I have no thesis topic! Fu…uck!
Good news: I can go to Reno w/Jenn!
3 cool things that happened in the last…5 hours:
1) I re-watched Sense and Sensibility with some of my residents.
2) We played a rousing game of Apples to Apples (an awesomely fun game btw).
3) I got an email saying I could return my book for a FULL refund! YES!
I had forgotten how awkward Hugh Grant can be. *awkward turtle*
“My heart is, and always will be, yours. ” Awww. 
P.S. It’s September…already??
After seeing James Spader in Secretary, I was just itching to see him in something else. And, by coincidence, he’s doing something kinky again. This time, he gets off on being a voyeur. The whole premise is Graham (Spader), a drifter, returns to his hometown in Louisiana. He visits his college roommate, John (Peter Gallagher), and meets John’s wife (Andie MacDowell). It comes out that Graham tapes women talking about their sex lives.
So, this was one of those low budget, independent movies from the late 80s. It’s shot pretty well. The camera just stays on the actor’s faces for long pauses. It’s mostly just talking throughout the movie, but the conversations felt realistic and awkward most of the time (and, yes, erotic too). I liked the odd humor (maybe even dark humor?). It felt almost voyeuristic watching the movie, which is interesting. I enjoyed the character development, but there’s still that vague, abrupt ending that implies so much yet says very little. I suppose movies need to leave something for the viewer to think about.
Oh, lastly, I had this odd feeling like I was watching a TV series. I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it was the scene transitions or…the way the credits just popped on screen without dramatic music and a long fade…*shrug*
(wikipedia)
(a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes! O.O)
I finally got my fidgety, little hands on the movie Secretary, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader (mmm, what a delicious pairing). I think I waited too long and watched the trailer too many times…because, well, I expected too much. Plus, a call interrupted my viewing. I wanted more of the characters to be fleshed out or left out of the movie altogether. For instance, the ex-wife, Peter and Lee’s father. They all seemed to have their own stories and it was a tease to put them in but allow them to say nothing else. How could Lee treat Peter so poorly? That sweet, dorky fool got shafted.
Sadly enough, I did not find myself falling for either of the main characters (though both Spader & Gyllenhaal performed wonderfully), which is my personal indication that a movie did not work it’s way into my heart. It had so much potential, too. 
Favorite scenes: 1) Fingers brush as Mr. Grey leans over Lee. 2) “Why do you cut yourself, Lee?” 3) The end! Not to mention, it was worth it to see a sexually frustrated E. Edward Grey slinking around in crisp dress shirt + tie combo. Just lovely.
Update: I just re-watched my favorite 3 scenes. The ending made my heart swell. It’s so sweet. The song (Chariots Rise by Lizzie West) is a perfect backdrop. The lyrics, “What a fool I am, to fall so in love” and “I’ve waited so long…with him I need not pretend”, basically sum it up. It may not be a perfect movie, but, gosh darn, it was fun to watch. Oh *sigh*.
Wow, Howl’s is so random. Haha. I wonder if I made a mistake by watching this one dubbed (I usually prefer the subtitles). Some of the lines seemed so out of place. That’s the only pitfall about watching foreign films…I feel so much gets lost in the translation. Sure, Howl is handsome and, yes, charming (except for his randomly awkward “You are beautiful” lines). Again though, I love Miyazaki’s humorous side characters. Asthmatic dog and Mr. Radish Head were my favorite. It could have been a promising storyline, but halfway through the film got kind of disorganized and loopy. What was the main message? Hmm, just maybe pacifism? Oh yeah, and love saves everyone (again).
I can’t believe I watched Once Upon a Time. This movie is violent. I could somewhat handle the (slightly humorous) shooting (which gave victims the sudden gift of flight *weee*), but Johnny Depp bleeding from his eyeless sockets and a bloody, incomplete facial reconstruction (?!!) is a little more than I can handle (i.e. I had to cover my eyes with my hands). This movie also made no sense…probably because we watched a version lacking subtitles and with a scratch that cut out 5 minutes of the end. Boo…except for Johnny’s 3rd arm, his wierd humor (”savvy?”) and him in tight, black clothing.
I was a little confused after watching Princess Mononoke. I had hoped I would be more…umm, inspired (it took me about 2 minutes to remember that word) by the environmental message. Or, maybe I’m writing about it too long after viewing it (I saw it on Sunday). Well, I don’t remember much of it now. I won’t forget those creepy/cute kodama though. *click click click*
As for Spirited Away…<3! I kept laughing throughout the film. There were funny characters everywhere (i.e. the bobbing green heads, the fat mouse/baby, the walking soot). My heart also swelled at the Haku & Sen/Chihiro relationship. I fell for Haku the minute he came on screen.
My supervisor lent me one more Miyazaki…Howl’s Moving Castle! Woohoo.
Thanks to this movie, I now have California Dreamin’ stuck in my head.
This film is so…artsy. The camera angles are so creative and the humor is so…quirky. It is definitely not your formulaic romance movie. Sometimes I felt like that artistic symbolism just flew over my head though. I got confused at the end and forgot who Valerie Chow’s character was. -_- One of my favorite pickup lines will always be “Do you like pineapples?”. Coming from Takeshi Kaneshiro, I can’t imagine saying “no”.
(Rotten Tomatoes)
