02.02.2002
feeling kinda
i got to talking to a few friends about the pet peeve list, and apparently, i forgot a few important ones. *slaps forehead* and they overlap with my own list, so i really should mention them here.
for starters, people who don't get that letting you off of the subway or bus before they try to get on will actually create more room for them. gah. also, people who forget to close cabinets or drawers. this drove me batshit more than once with an ex boyfriend. he would leave all the drawers in the bureau open, and then pile more laundry in them, as if he was trying to reach maximum gravitational pull and tip the whole damn thing over. also? leaving kitchen cabinets open, so i can whack into them as i come around the corner. double gah.
while we're on the subject of lists, how about movies? it's been the subject of much Bar Conversation recently. this has led to some frustration. after a few glasses of Pinot Grigio, you may remember entire scenes of dialog, but not the name of the movie. fortunately, my friends often have the same taste, or at least a whole store of trivia in their heads.
of course, the standard disclaimer: this is a highly subjective and personal list. they're just the movies that i would see, or have seen, repeatedly. herewith, the list, with commentary.
- Shawshank Redemption
i adore this movie. it's the first one i would buy. i've seen it all the way thru several times, and various pieces of it more than that if i catch it while channel surfing. Morgan Freeman is amazing, and it's also one of Tim Robbin's better performances. - Matrix
say what you will about Keanu Reeves. he's perfectly cast in this one. and Carrie Anne Moss? whoo hoo. quite the sight in black leather. the effects are great, and i really like the story. 'there is no spoon.' call it a retread of every apocolyptic myth or saga, it's still a good story. can't wait to see where they go with it in the rest of the trilogy. - Memento
Guy Pearce's naked butt. need i say more? okay, fine. the story is told in one of the most intriguing ways i've seen. the story unfolds backwards, and at the end, you may still not be sure what happened. bears repeated viewings. - Breaking the Waves
be warned: this is not an easy film to watch. but if you can get thru the first few minutes, filmed with a hand held camera (which made me a bit queasy), and deal with the dark tone of the movie, you will be well rewarded. personally, i found the ending to be redemptive and uplifting, but not everyone sees it that way. - Rebel without a Cause
just saw this for the first time a few weeks ago, and i was blown away by James Dean's performance. i'm of two minds about losing him so young. on the one hand, i think we may have lost one of the most gifted actors around. on the other hand, perhaps he would have pulled a Brando. at least we have this. - Citizen Kane
truly classic. there are some bits i don't care for (fireworks as symbol are completely overdone these days), but the film did break a lot of ground. and i still love the last scene. - Princess Bride
makes me laugh every time i see it. ''ello. my name is Inigo Montoya. you killed my father. prepare to die.' heh heh. plus, the sword fight on the cliff is a great send up of every 30s and 40s swashbuckler film every made. - Ronin
stunning film, with a great plot. also, the best car scenes ever filmed, to my mind. it isn't giving anything away to say that DeNiro's character reaches down and puts on his seatbelt halfway thru one of the chases. realistic details like that are what make it really work for me. and you might be able to guess the ending, but i didn't. plus, what can you say about a movie that takes the idea of a McGuffin to the max? my hat is off to them. *doffs hat* - Chaplin
okay, this is sort of an unusual choice, i'll admit. it doesn't really have much to say in the way of groundbreaking film, or telling us something new and insightful about a character. but i love Robert Downey Jr's performance in this one. i want to grab him by the collar and shake him sometimes, and say 'you are gifted, dammit! lose the death wish!' - Truly, Madly, Deeply
ooohhhh... Alan Rickman. yummy, yummy. and it's a fantastic love story, despite the fact his character is dead (no spoiler there, as you learn that in the first 5 minutes). - Mission
DeNiro and Jeremy Irons. stunning scenery, and an equally wonderful soundtrack. set in South America. predictable plot, perhaps, but a feast for the eyes and ears. - The Black Robe
Lothaire Bluteau gives a nuanced performance as a missionary in Canada. he says more with his eyes than most actors say with their whole bodies. has much the same going for it as Mission - the soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission. - Glengarry Glen Ross and Spanish Prisoner
i'll lump these together only because they appeal to me for the same reason; they stand on their own as creative works. Mamet has such a mastery of language. when i first saw GGR, i had theatre hopped to see it because of Spacey. my jaw hit the floor in the first five minutes and never left it. and SP - i love that so much is unsaid. the scene in the beginning when they set up the key plot point - an important detail is scratched out on a blackboard. and we never see it. (also appealing: i know a few actors in it.) - Henry V (the Branagh version) and Richard III (the McKellan version)
again, two very different films that appeal for the same reason. gorgeous cinematography (altho perhaps describing a war film as gorgeous is odd) in both. and i love Shakespeare. HV has a breathtaking soundtrack - Patrick Doyle's Non nobis, Domine makes me weep. and i could have laughed from sheer joy in RIII when i saw that they had adapted it in a way that the line 'A horse, a horse - my kingdom for a horse!' finally made sense.
there are tons more movies that i like, and if you asked me next week, the list would likely be different. but this, at least, is what came out tonight.
