Celest and Jesse Forever trailer

Samsara trailer

The Ambassador trailer

Man of Steel trailer

Caught the Man of Steel trailer before The Dark Knight Rises.  OK...so how many times are the powers that be gonna reboot Superman, really?!!  This trailer kind of intrigued me...I dig the cinematography, but I wonder if the feel is just for the trailer.  And if not...how can they counteract the inherent corniness of Superman??  WE SHALL SEE.

Drive

I finally saw Drive and I really loved it.   Loved the soundtrack...I adore anything 80s throwback.  I especially liked Chromatics - Tick of the Clock (I'm already something of a Chromatics "fan").  The track is a lot quieter in the movie but it's great:

One thing......y'yknow, I'm not Carey Mulligan's biggest fan.  After seeing her in this and in Shame I'm really just not feelin' it.  Although I did think she was fine in An Education and I have high hopes for her in The Great Gatsby....

The Dark Knight Rises

Yep, I saw The Dark Knight Rises last night.  Because of all the speculation on the internets I was really prepared for the worst....so it turned out to be alright.

Oz the Great and Powerful trailer

Really looking forward to this.

Petit Nicolas trailer

I've been on the other side of the country doing a work training, so no time for movies! But...this looks like it may be cool...Wes Anderson meets The Goonies?  It kinda has an American vibe to me.

Ma Mère

My Mother in a nutshell: nasty French incest movie based on a Georges Bataille story.

But damn, I've now discovered Louis Garrel, who is SO BEAUTIFUL.

Dark City

Dark City ... I liked this move.  It's good....great. I just can't help thinking it could've been awesome.  There's just something(s) missing that I can't really put my finger on.  A little more...development?  A few tweaks to the story?  I'm not sure. 

Oh, and the last fight scene is over the top, ridiculous, hilariously bad.

The Man From Earth

The Man from Earth.  An interesting watch...basically about a professor who tells his colleagues he is an ancient (or I guess, older than ancient!) cave man.  Gets campy at certain points and man is the film quality bad in the darker scenes, but an interesting little philosophical piece.  I think the story may have made a better book.

The Invisible War trailer

The Invisible War is a documentary about how rape in the US military often gets covered up...man, shit like this makes me so angry. I need to see this. I hope it changes the world in some way...

霸王别姬

Watched Farewell my Concubine.  Eh, I dunno... Maybe it wasn't a good time to watch it.  Frankly, my brain isn't really being receptive to this sort of film right now... political history of China heavy stuff etcetera.  Lately, I keep starting half a movie because I can't sleep then giving up and never finishing them.  Well... I finished this one. SIIIIIGH!

Notes on a Scandal

In search of some good old fashioned forbidden love, I watched Notes on a Scandal.  I'll bet that the book is good--my favorite parts of the movie were Judi Dench's pity voiceover diary entries.

Call me Kuchu trailer

A documentary about the (lack of) human rights for LGBT people in Uganda.  This looks like a very powerful film.  Issues like this make me cry angrily.  feh!

Naissance des Pieuvres

Naissance des Pieuvres really translates into "Birth of the Octopi" but the English title was changed to a much lamer Water Lilies.  Probably because synchronized swimming is featured in this movie?  I know that isn't a question.  Anyway, this was a random late-night movie I caught on netflix and it was something of a surprise hit for me.  I think it was really spot on in regards to feelings of adolescent loneliness, isolation, and friendship.  Worth a watch!

Shame

After a Friday night of studying diligently I was ready to wind down with a movie, so I watched Shame.  It was hard to watch, but maybe not as hard to watch as you'd think a movie about sex addiction could be.

Michael Fassbender was really good in this.  It definitely couldn't have been an easy role.  Carey Mulligan, however, I think was miscast.  Didn't dig her performance so much.  Her British accent came through a couple of times... there was a really terrible, drawn out scene where she was singing "New York, New York" that was harder to watch than the gritty sex scenes.  Yawn.

Liked the camerawork, it was meticulous and I enjoyed how darkness was employed in many shots.  Definitely a very subtle story that tells a lot without words. yadda yadda

Compliance trailer

I'm pretty intrigued by Compliance, a movie based on the story about the McDonald's manager that got a prank call from a weirdo telling her to strip search one of the employees.

more Moonrise Kingdom

because...who can resist!

(source)

Can you tell I'm just sitting around on the internet on a Saturday night?

The Great Gatsby trailer

I must admit that when I was in high school & I was assigned The Great Gatsby, I really didn't like the novel.  However, a lot of my friends & acquaintances say they love that book, so I'm wondering if I should give it another chance.  Because I was never crazy about the book I really didn't care much about the film hype, but I gave the trailer a watch and it looks worth watching.  I like how they used No Chruch in the Wild by Kanye & Jay-Z, I think it actually works really well.

Moonrise Kingdom photo

                 (source)

Only slightly weird because they're like, twelve.

Moonrise Kingdom

Caught Moonrise Kingdom with a friend and I really loved it.  The overall atmosphere was amazing--so meticulously created.  I also really loved the cinematography.  Somewhat precious but overall just great (and I don't usually go for romance movies. OK, so I guess I do like quirky romances like this a lot).  The story sort of ambled like Anderson & Coppola just went with whatever crazy idea popped into their heads next.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Recently I became cognizant of the fact that I'd never seen A Nightmare on Elm Street in spite of the fact that I love horror.  So, last night my boyfriend & I kicked back and gave it a watch.  A relaxing and romantic evening!

So...this movie is kind of...bad?  I don't know if that's the word.  Maybe it just hasn't aged well.  I thought there were too many scenes that tried to build up tension but fell flat.  Like, it just ended up being "nothing is happening."  The dialog was really ridiculous because the writing was so bad.  The best scenes were Nancy's dreams by far.

After we finished, I found myself asking what is it that has made this movie persist in the public consciousness?  I mean...it isn't really good or anything, but Freddie Kruger is one of the famous Monsters.  I'm an educator and my students know and love A Nightmare on Elm Street.  These are kids that are younger than my car, and this movie came out in 1984.  So what is it?  The timing?  My boyfriend said he thought the concept of a monster that doesn't let you sleep is just super sinister and sticks with you.  HMMMM.

Beasts of the Southern Wild trailer

Caught this trailer before a showing of Moonrise Kingdom, I am pretty pumped up to watch this.  Magical realism!

The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

Hey-o!

Prometheus

Caught Prometheus this weekend.  A lot of people had been poo-pooing it but I had a good time.

Django Unchained trailer

Anticipating Django Unchanied just like the rest of the world.   DiCaprio is one of my favorites.

Kotoko trailer

Just checked out the trailer for Kotoko & I am pretty pumped up to watch it.  It's directed by Shin'ya Tuskamoto, who also did Tetsuo: the Iron Man & A Snake of June--two of my favorite films.  Definitely on my to watch list.

a new project

I've decided to start over and keep a log of my movie watching again.  I haven't been keeping up and watching enough movies and I really think this will help.  This weekend: time to watch lots of movies!