M

M (1931)
IMDB #57 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022100/]

The Gist:
Peter Lorre is a murderer, a child murder, a child rapist/murderer, generally not a nice dude. Strangely he doesn't get a lot of screen time as the film focuses more on how his actions provoke those around him, creates a panic that stirs the city, and starts a manic man hunt from police and criminals alike. At the end you have an odd "trial" run by the criminal underground which becomes more of a philosophical forum for how society should punish criminals like Lorre's character. Due process or righteous destruction?

All About Eve

All About Eve (1950)
IMDB #91 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042192/]

The Gist:
A tale of a duplicitous young girl who worms her way into the life of a legendary stage actress and manipulates the environment around to engineer her big break. The beginning suffers, not from being bad in and of itself, but from inspiring a knock off formula prevalent in stories today (girl is doe-eyed, admires great woman, wants to become great woman, starts dressing like great woman, gets progressively crazier, and so on). Because of this it feels dated without the film really warranting. Thankfully, once Eve gets her big break it becomes more of a study of the sacrifices she has made for success and what invisible and irreparable harm that does to her soul (or anyones).

Play It Again, Sam

Play It Again, Sam
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069097/]

The Gist:
An early film in Allen's career. He actually didn't even direct it, but he wrote the play, then wrote the screenplay, then starred in the film so I figure he's still the main creative force on the picture. Anyway, the film is a lot more schtick than I had expected, very zany and almost off-putting for someone used to his more tempered hybrids of drama and neurotic comedy like Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, and so on. However, once I got past that I realized this film is quite genius in its own right and the final build with all the little fantasies and this awesome back and forth between an imaginary character and a real character in the same conversation is fantastic.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0844471/]

The Gist:
Alright, so sometimes I need a movie that I can turn my brain off with. Hopefully, when I pick such a movie I can still get something of a quality experience. As far as these requirements go, Cloudy performs quite well. It's safe kids stuff, sure (eg monkey throwing feces). However, at the same time it's incredibly eccentric humor (which is my particular brand of humor along with what I would label as "witty"). And while events play out in their inevitable spiral into chaos and the geeky scientist gets the girl that is way out of his league, at the same time you get a crazy Kung Fu chicken fight, Neil Patrick Harris as a monkey, and random lines like "I wanted to run away, but you can't run away from your own feet".

Visions of Light

Visions of Light (1992)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105764/]

The Gist:
This is an interesting documentary about the impact that cinematographers have had on Hollywood film history, particularly with the depiction of light in film. While it kind of plainly goes through the touchstone "lighting" films one by one, there are so many keen insights into the films and the craft of lighting itself that the doc remains very engaging. For instance, in The Godfather they intentionally lit the whole movie dark just for one character motivation: through the movie you can't see Brando's eyes and it gives the character a sort of enigmatic edge to his thought process, etc.

Week Twenty

As we approach the end of another month, new queue:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009) - check
All About Eve (1950) - check
Visions of Light (1992) - check
Play it Again Sam (1972) - check
M (1931) - check

On Another Note: After careful consideration I have decided to add a fifth film to the week, hopefully to be watched tonight. The reason is two-fold:

1. I would like to try and keep a foreign film in my queue every week and haven't with this week for the first time since the project's inception.

2. Back on Week Seventeen I counted the two parts of Scorcese's doc as two different films. I have since decided that I will go with how netflix separates them (Part 1 and 2 on one disc, Part 3 on another). Therefore, the first two parts count as one film and whenever I watch the third part that will also count as one film.

Trouble In Paradise

Trouble In Paradise (1932)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023622/]

The Gist:
It's kind of a cheeky film, equal parts sophisticated high society and tawdry sexual exploit. It revolves around a thief who passes himself off as a gentleman, who meets another thief and falls madly in love than they set up to con a young rich beautiful woman and of course he falls in love with her too. There's some very funny moments in the film, and it takes a lot of risks for a film of its time, but I couldn't help thinking that it was more of a plainly pleasant film than anything else. I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the unique individual touches of the director, but I don't think the plot was terribly involving.

My Dinner With Andre

My Dinner With Andre (1981)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082783/]

The Gist:
The entire movie is a conversation that covers a realistic span of time, much in the same vein as something like Before Sunset. Here, however, the conversation is more intellectualized as Andre bats around existential and philosophical quandaries and observations while his estranged friend politely tries to keep up. The most interesting aspect of the film is the dynamic between the two characters. First Wally stays relatively quiet and just furthers Andre's monologues with simple guiding questions. About halfway through the film he gains some footing and begins offering his own perceptions, he even begins to argue against Andre's views. It's a fascinating film, filled with pleading questions of our existence, though there are moments where Andre's anecdotes lose temporal grounding (like when he talks about mystical fauns).

Laura

Laura (1944)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037008/]

The Gist:
A sort of film noir detective mystery that has a unique take on things, the principle idea of a woman who everyone seems to fall in love with. Through the premise, seeds of doubt are sown into the viewer as to whether the detective's judgment can be trusted and it adds to the depth of the film. Expertly made by Preminger, I only noticed a bit of a hiccup in the detective's transition into "being in love" with the dead woman. However, it smoothed over well and the end result was a very satisfying film.

Elevator to the Gallows

Elevator to the Gallows (1958)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051378/]

The Gist:
Interesting concept piece of French New Wave, man has affair with someone's wife and kills husband in order to run off with her only to get trapped in an elevator as he's making his getaway. Then you have all the happenstance that you often see in this kind of cinema, leading to the man getting framed for an entirely different murder. Unfortunately the whole film is somewhat ruined by a lousy subplot with shallow characters, in particular the petulant kid who murders two tourists and his irrationally lovestruck girlfriend. Their characters were terribly annoying, lacked motivation or depth, and almost took up more time than the main plot so it was a big strike against the film.

Week Nineteen

See? Quick turn around. New queue:

Elevator to the Gallows (1958) - check
Trouble in Paradise (1932) - check
Laura (1944) - check
My Dinner With Andre (1981) - check

On Another Note:
You may notice that none of the films are currently part of the IMDB top 250. However, Laura was part of it at the start of this project so that's what is going to that requirement. In the future, I'll just make a short note when the requirement is being satisfied by a film that has been edged out.

Riding Giants

Riding Giants (2004)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389326/]

The Gist:
I have to admit, I had some issues with the structure in the beginning of the film. However, after this documentary was over I was floored and I think I might have been quibbling. Regardless, this is a doc on big wave surfers, people who ride 20-30 feet waves, stuff like that. It examines the history of the movement, the counter culture that it developed from, the more minute details and technical aspects, and most importantly it offers a brief glimpse into the visceral experience of big wave surfing and the kind of personalities that are drawn to it. It's pretty badass, all in all.

Wild Strawberries

Wild Strawberries (1957)
IMDB #152 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050986/]

The Gist:
An old man has reached the end of his life, more or less, and reflects on the nostalgia of his childhood while at the same time struggling with his identity, whether he is or was a good person, and so on. The film brings out beautiful and intricate conflicts and resolutions, is full of underlying metaphor, has splashes of surrealism. However, its greatest asset is in its modesty, in its great care of its characters. Absolutely amazing film.

Night Nurse

Night Nurse (1931)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022208/]

The Gist:
A B movie made before the Hays censorship was enacted, more interesting as a study of film than as a film itself. It tries to scandalize the audience with scantily clad nurses (see above) and seedy bootleggers, but its obviously going to seem tame to a modern audience. The story is fairly mild beyond these qualities, but in trying to be somewhat exploitative the film manages to capture some honesty that you wouldn't see in many hollywood films of the time, or in social life at all (i.e. Nurses trying to find a doctor to seduce and marry for his money).

Sympathy For Lady Vengeance

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451094/]

The Gist:
The third film in Park Chan Wook's vengeance trilogy, and the greatest mixed bag of the three. The film has plot holes and gaps in logic, along with some weak sequences caused by a lack of consistent tone. On the other hand, it has numerous moments of poetic brilliance and when it hits its tone it hits it really well. In the end, Lady Vengeance shows the pique of an evolution in the trilogy where Park becomes more and more fascinated with style. It hurts the picture as much as it helps, but the ending has such a fascinating and sterile view on vengeance that makes up for a lot of shortcomings.

Week Eighteen

Alright, this week should be finished later today. I'm going to stop mentioning being late because so long as the films get accounted for at some point, I figure my project's integrity is sound. Also, if you notice from last week's "The Gist" sections, I'm going to try and keep things a little more succinct. Just get a core impression on a film out and that'll be good. Anyway, new queue already in process:

Riding Giants (2004) - check
Wild Strawberries (1957) - check
Night Nurse (1931) - check
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005) - check

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorcese Through American Movies - Part 1 and 2

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorcese Through American Film - Part 1 and 2 (1995)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112120/]

The Gist:
Perhaps I should just count this as one entry, I still might. In any case, its something of a mix between a documentary and textual body of film history. However, it not only provides an insight on American film, but also the films that Scorcese was influenced by in particular. He opens the film up by saying that "I can only talk about what has moved me or intrigued me". The entire program is five hours, split into three part, and it is a remarkable and passionate guide into film.

Sullivan's Travels

Sullivan's Travels (1941)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034240/]

The Gist:
An amazing film that manages to be about a lot of different things all at once. It is a Hollywood film that is both a critique on Hollywood and validation for Hollywood, a study on artistic integrity, a modest attempt to address poverty. It's not a perfect film, it falls to much of the trappings of the industry it eschews, but at the same time it recognizes itself as a part of Hollywood and comes to the conclusion that such a thing is not so bad.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
IMDB #190 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018455/]

The Gist:
A weird hybrid of a silent film, mixing the art house sensibilities of German Expressionism with the more entertaining elements of Classic Hollywood. The result is a fascinating film, with harrowing moments but a rather irreconcilable tonal shift that can make or break the film for you. That issue is this, once your husband tries to violently kill and then sees his mistake and repents, are you really going to forgive him and be all affectionate and lovey dovey with him less than an hour after the incident? Just saying.

Week Seventeen

Sort of week seventeen, because it is the eleventh of January right now so it's more like halfway through week eighteen with not much to show for it. Why? A couple of reasons, starting school, obsessively devouring the entirety of 30 Rock (kind of a slow burn that show, takes a while to see that its pretty brilliant). Anyway, I was going to do something different with this month (watch a bunch of movies from last year that I missed to get a more accurate top 10 of 2009, which would negate rule #1 of my rules list. However, no longer, because instead I am changing the rules of the project entirely to make my semester less stressful. You see I have decided to graduate a full year earlier than I had previously intended and am taking 6 classes this year in order to do so. Because of this, I'm going to cut back on this project. Fear not, I'll make it up either by over-stacking during the summer or going past my year due date because it's my project and I can do that. Thus the integrity of the project will stay intact. For now, I think I might do 3 a week instead of four and will keep track of how many movies I have missed from my customary 4 a week that I need to catch up on. Also I might chose this time to enact my idea of one retro-viewing of a film I've already seen to take a slot, in which case I may not end up needing to make up anything at all. Haven't decided yet though. As it stands now, here is my belated week seventeen queue:

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) - check
Sullivan's Travels (1941) - check
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies - Part 1 (1995) - check
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies - Part 2 (1995) - check

On Another Note: My Semester got a little easier so I'll try to keep it at 4. This month will be hard to catch up with though.

Four Months

Hey, four months and brand new calendar year. My blog is just swelling with pride and accomplishment. My top five of the month:

1. Au Revoir Les Enfants
2. The Cove
3. The Lady Vanishes
4. A Christmas Tale
5. The Bridge to the River Kwai

Honorable Mention: Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Modern Times, Bonny and Clyde