Friday, January 14, 2005

no 149* Calamity Jane.

*Lost count and I can't view my blog from here, so thats a guess.

Now I know what you're thinkin, your thinking 'Calamity jane? You said you were gonna see
something with a bit of credibility next!' and you're right, I did. I haven't broken
my word though. Y'see I saw 'Calamity jane' the same day I saw 'Gentlemen prefer blondes'
I just didn't realise it was on the list..

Anyways I don't know If this movie should be in the top 1001, I mean its ok as musicals go
and the actress playing Calamity (damned if I can remember her name) certainly gives it
plenty of gusto.

Perhaps its because this film has special meaning to the lesbian moviegoing audience
(apparently 'a womans touch' is a bit of a lesbian anthem). Apart from that I can't
see the appeal, sure the songs are catchy (I was humming 'Whipcrack away,whipcrack away whip crack away"
to myself for a few days after the movie), but the plot is pretty thin and Its really
more the kind of fare I'd rather to see on stage rather than on the screen..

As an aside I watched "Back to the future II" on the same day, and It had been absolutely
ages since I saw it last. Its a cracker of a movie, and the time twisting plot is really quite
a complicated thing to try and do and still be this comic adventure. But when you are watching
it ,its really quite simple to follow. I don't think I had seen this since I saw the third movie
and so I had never noticed the little references to what was to come in the third installment.
The metal plate scene from 'a fistful of dollars' playing on the t.v and the references to biffs
great grandfather in 1885. Great fun. incidentally the first Back to the future is on the list
but the sequels are not.( very few sequels are. aliens being the only one that springs to mind.

right. back to work.



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Monday, January 10, 2005

148: Gentlemen prefer blondes.

Yup, having made a grab at some credibility with L.A confidential I once again sink back down to the realm of the musical.. Thankfully the musical numbers in this are kept to a minimum.

As for the movie itself , I like it. I'm not gonna rush out and buy it on DVD or nothing but its pretty funny in places. That little millionare kid on the boat was pretty surreal. I couldn't help but chuckle.

Definitely gonna avoid musicals if I can for a while. maybe I'll try and catch Fargo or the Fly.
no I'm not kidding, I ain't seen either...

Friday, January 07, 2005

L.A Confidential.

Got round to watching this last night. It is such a cool movie. Its like three different movies at once beause of the individual plots of the 3 cops, Guy pearces 'by the book' lieutenant, Russel crowes vigilante-esque Angry detective and Kevin Spaceys corrupt but likeable vice detectve. Throw in danny devito and Kim basinger for good measure and a really nicely tied together story and you have a recipe for classic status..
Dunno how I managed to miss this movie all these years. brilliant. "Off the record, On the Q.T and very hush-hush

In case anyone was wondering that brings me to a 147 of the 1001 'movies to see before you die'

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

formatting hell.

Apologies for the eye-burningly bad formatting of that last post.
The mailed posts are tricky to get right. I'll try harder.

More movies.

Hope y'all had a good christmas. I know I did. It wasn't entirely wasted either,
I managed to catch one (perhaps more) of the movies on my list. Cabaret, a movie
based loosely around a cabaret singer and her relationship with an english teacher
in Berlin in 1931. Its another musical-ish movie, which Cap'n vane has kindly
introduced me to.
I've said before I don't like the musical genre, But all the singing and dancing
is kept to the confines of the cabaret bar so it keeps the movie firmly grounded in
reality. The songs are used to mirror the mood of the scenes that occur after (or during
with some very good editing).
Its got a bit of everything, a tragic love story, undertones of menace with the rise of the nazis, really quite clever musical acts and a touch of the surreal about the whole thing. The cabaret lead singer( compere?) is particularily well played, being creepy and compelling at the same time, a kind of narrator for the whole story. I must admit it wasn't bad. Glad I seen it.
I also got the star wars dvd box set for christmas (which I have seen already of course)
but they deserve mention because they are all on the list of 1001 movies too.

I'll list any other movies I seen over the christmas that are on the list in the next post.


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