Father of the Bride (1950)

The original Father of the Bride is a touching father/daughter (a dynamic not often explored) movie.  I haven't seen the Steve Martin remake, so I can't really comment.  The film holds up pretty well in contemporary times, though...but man, that wedding dress sure doesn't.  How awful wedding dresses used to be, eh?  There was a cool nightmare sequence that was interesting.

The Stanford Theatre  showed this film as part of an Elizabeth Taylor retrospective (rest her soul).  She was so beautiful!  I'm gonna catch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof next week, too.

A Streetcar Named Desire

I think I really need to read the play (or see it) to really understand the finer details of A Streetcar Named Desire.  But man, isn't Marlon Brando great?

The Philadelphia Story

Call me a player hater but, uh, The Philadelphia Story is a story that need not be told.  Dumb, capricious rich girl receives a bunch of unwarranted praise from a bunch of dudes who she all plays for fools.  Also, lol at how she straight up drove drunk in this.

California is a Place

I heard about the California is a Place film series while at the Short Attention Span Environmental Film Festival.  I went home and googled the project and found that they're all posted on the website, so I watched them all today!  They look great in Vimeo HD.  For some reason, though, none of them but Scrapertown  (my thoughts on that short are here) are on IMDB.

Uppercut was actually filmed right here in Silicon Valley.  It's a short about a bunch of computer engineer dudes from Google and whatnot that all have a "fight club."  It kinda makes me wonder how many other similar clubs there are out there.  A lot of the rhetoric where the guys were talking about how fighting "makes them feel alive" etc was kind of like l-o-l to me...but still interesting.

El Rey is a short about the Mariachi scene in Los Angeles.  The guy they interviewed, who is a trumpet player, is obviously very passionate about mariachi music.  It made me jealous that this guy had something in his life that he loved that much (ha-ha).  It seems kind of judgmental to say, but I personally don't really like mariachi music and I would always wonder things like "who the hell are the people who listen to this?" so it was interesting to actually see those people in the film.

Honey Pie  is a short about the guy who makes real dolls...kind of a topic I didn't know I was interested in until I saw it.  There is also a cool documentary that I can't for the life of me remember the name of....that I saw online..about the users of real dolls and that was super interesting too..

Cannonball is a short about dudes who skateboard in empty swimming pools in foreclosed houses in Fresno.  Uh, yeah...I don't know, I personally think skating in a pool sounds fun, but not so fun that I'd want to clean out a bunch of dirty abandoned pools?  I mean, isn't it fun to get some skateboarding variety rather than swimming in empty pool after empty pool?  OK, forget it, what do I know, anyway?

Big Vinny owned car dealerships. He was livin' large...until the economy tanked.  This was sad...I used to work at a car dealership that is now gone too, so it makes me think about that...oh, and how the world is ending cuz gas is FOUR DOLLARS A GALLON NOW OMG.

I couldn't find any pictures of Borderland, but it's about a few people who patrol the California/Mexico border.  The wall shown in the film is pretty crazy looking...I've driven all around the country but I'd never seen it.  I guess it's a part of California that you don't really ever drive to unless you live there.  When I was in Texas, I didn't see any wall like this...actually, I was struck by how the "border" was basically just wilderness...so uh anyway yeah this was interesting.




I really liked this series because I am a proud Californian myself..but really, anyone would enjoy them...and you can watch them all online so there's no excuse.

Short Attention Span Environmental Film Festival

I went out to the Short Attention Span Environmental Film Festival last night at the David Brower Center in Berkeley.  When I heard about the festival, I was debating whether or not to go but after all the fun I had seeing films at Cinequest and SFIAAFF, I decided to make the 45 minute drive up to Berkeley, and I'm glad I did!

The very first short was a sort of documentary/infomercial for a nonprofit group, and at first I was afraid that the whole festival was gonna be like that, but thankfully it wasn't.

Pigeon: Impossible was the first film.  I'm usually a hard sell when it comes to CG movies, but I thought this was actually cute and really well done.  But hey! You can watch the whole thing online here:

Hairytale was the next short.  I can't find any pictures online, but it was a documentary about a guy in the UK who used to own a hair salon and realized how much hair gets thrown into landfills...so then he dedicated his life to finding alternative uses for discarded hair and made...a hair chair.  Had a funny final line.

Salt (2009) was next, not to be confused with the Angelina Jolie movie of the same name.  This film followed photographer Murray Fredericks (check out his photography on the website, it's amazing!) on his journeys to literally the middle of nowhere in Australia.  He explained the concept that the place where he was going, he could see NOTHING anywhere on the horizon for 360 degrees.   CRAZY.  I had no idea places like that still existed anywhere in the world (other than the ocean).  It raised a lot of questions for me...   This film has a lot of breathtaking shots. As I understood it, Fredericks shot all the footage himself over several years and then later it was edited down into the film.  He had a really great eye for the shots, but I guess that makes sense because he's a photographer.  In the end, though, the film was a bit long for my tastes...I'd rather go see an exhibition of the photography.

Scrapertown is a documentary short from a series about California called California is a Place (I will definitely be watching these later).  It follows a group of kids in East Oakland who are part of the 'scraper bike movement', where people fix up their bikes with interesting paint, decor and decorate the spokes.  The bikes are pretty cool.  The organizers of the festival told us that they were gonna try to get a kid from the film to come speak at the festival, but he didn't show.  Boo!

The Crab Revolution , was an awesome, adorable French animated short.  I loved it!  French just seemed to be the perfect language for this story.  Or maybe the voice actor was just really good?  Watch here:

I didn't see Fat Tire Fury on IMDB.  It's basically footage of a mountain...bike...unicycler.  The ultimate rush??

I couldn't find any suitable pictures of Living Lightly.....chronicles of a farming cult with a scythe (yes, scythe) fetish.  I don't mean player hate here but uh...yeah.

A few photos of the evening:

cool kinetic sculpture at the Brower Center. I wish this were video!

 DEEP FRIED PIZZA at Sumo Grub--not a bad spot to grab a bite after a late showing in Berkeley as they are open late.  They have tons of deep fried desserts...for the heart attack in you

our friend KJ wore awesome bright gold shoes.

Ladri di Biciclette

Bicycle Thieves.  Is pretty sad.  A down on his luck guy chasing all over Rome trying to find his stole bike.  All before the bike gets stolen in the beginning of the movie you know it's going to be stolen and you have all this anxiety about it as an audience member.

This may be a blaspheme, but I think a loose remake in modern day NYC might be kinda cool.

Another blaspheme, but I also did find this kinda slow.  I don't much care for older Italian cinema (SHOOT ME), I guess I don't "get" it.  I do watch it anyway, though.

The subtitles on the netflix streaming version of this suck.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a movie about the toxicity of fame and a study of two (crazy) sisters.  This is a really good movie.  The acting is amazing. Somehow, though, I didn't find the ending satisfying!

A Canterbury Tale

I haven't read Chaucer, so any references in A Canterbury Tale are lost on me.  This is a mystery story about a man in a village in England who puts glue in women's hair.  Weird premise.  OK, well, that's not what the movie is really about, but that is the main driving plot point.  The film is really more about the characters.  The story is set against the backdrop of WWII.  How did I like it? Wellllll....OK.

Little Baby Jesus of Flandr

This is what I get for trying to take an interest in culture and local happenings.

So, I saw my first Cinequest screening today and things were pretty disorganized.  They appeared to have a gaggle of volunteers running things.  They had--no joke--like seven people taking tickets.  One person to take the ticket.  One person to hand me a pencil for the survey (there was also a different person outside after the film to collect my pencil).  At least two of these people touched my shoulders.  UH, HELLO.  I LIKE MOVIES BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE INTERACTING WITH ACTUAL PEOPLE. DONT F(*^#^#$)$* TOUCH ME!

Prior to that, we got to the floor where our screening was.  After a bit of confusion we were told by a couple of volunteers that we needed to "get in the line for the screening."

"OK.  Where is the line?"
"There isn't a line yet.  You two will be the first in the line."

Well.  No wonder we didn't know where the line was!  There was no line.

Things like "festivals" (of any sort) are not really my scene, but I go to film festival screenings sometimes because I like movies.  STEP UP YER GAME, CINEQUEST.  I mean, alls I'm sayin' is that I like going to the movies, but I don't like having to interact with a dozen different people before I sit my ass down, you know?

Anyway, the first film in the festival that I saw was Little Baby Jesus of Flandr.  I kinda don't remember how I chose which films I wanted to see at the festival.  I remember kinda browsing the website and seeing ratings on IMDB and making a list/schedule.  This popped up because it has an interesting title.  I wanted to get into a Yelp Elite screening (I'm on the squad, weirdly enough), but it was full up! Boo.  So, I ended up here instead.

The film kinda asks the question What would happen if the nativity story took place in Belgium? and What if the three magi were three retarded dudes?    


Well, apparently not much goes down.  To be totally honest, I'm not sure if this movie was a joke or not.  Was it an attempt at serious religious commentary?  Was it supposed to be blasphemous?  I have no idea.

The film is black and white except for one short part where a person (a tranny?) is singing in a night club.  That part is in color.  Then it cuts back to black and white.  Yeah, I don't know.

Half of the cast of the film are people with (what I believe to be?) Down Syndrome.  OK...interesting.

You can play I Spy Ikea furniture.  The stuff is everywhere.  Even in arty movies from Belgium.

Before the feature, they showed an animated short called The Tannery which was a charming animal story with a vegetarian/animal rights slant.  I really liked the animation, it looked like it was done on watercolor paper.  They were working off a crappy scratched up DVD or something, though.  Boo!

In spite of the few hitches, I will likely be going to a couple of Cinequest screenings on the weekend, too. I ain't no player hater.

Some Like it Hot

Some Like it Hot is one of those old films that translates well to contemporary times.  It's still very funny entertaining.  I'd actually never seen a Marilyn Monro film before!  She really is beautiful and charming.  I love her voice--it was so much softer than I'd expected.  Some Like it Hot is really a worthwhile film.

A Raisin in the Sun

Wow, what a powerful, gut wrenching, emotional story.  I really need to read the play.  This is a story about the black American experience...but it's also about the existential angst all human beings feel.  Excellent characterization....amazing acting.  Just wow.  I am really fond of some adaptations from the stage to film...I love the dialog driven storytelling.  

Piccadilly

Piccadilly is the silent drama about a dance club of the same name.  The best part about this movie is that Anna May Wong is in it.  The worst part is the drawing of her topless on the DVD cover is completely misleading because there are no titties in this.  There were a few cool shots in this, like a woman's face covered halfway with the shadows of a fern...I wish I could take screen caps :'(

The music they added to this was pretty awful, though...a jazzy soundtrack.  I'm used to the organs!

Killer of Sheep

I'd been meaning to watch Killer of Sheep for quite some time.  So, what's it about? Uh...well...it's about...working class black people going about their days. A few poignant scenes but overall...well, I hate to call it "boring", but...

The Ten Commandments (1923)

Even after subjecting myself to the more famous ten commandments movie, I figured I should watch the older, silent version  that came in the same boxset that I'd borrowed from the library (also directed by Cecil B. DeMille).  I really enjoy silent films and like the overly exaggerated movements of the actors as well as how all the women are robust in a 1920s sort of way.  The movie begins somewhere in the middle of the Moses plague story and goes on until the revelation of the commandments.  This happened by Moses climbing the forbidden holy mountain and god revealing the commandments in sky lettering not unlike a fireworks display (in English).  Moses then rushes to carve the rules into the side of the mountain (in some made up pictographic language).  This was all complete with that hokey wind chime sound effect that you hear in things like Celine Dion concert DVDs (you know the sound I'm talking about).  Other than that the soundtrack is pretty standard organ stuff, giving the film even more of a corny Sunday feel.

 By the time the story was nearly finished, it was only some halfway through the 130 or so minutes I knew the movie to be.  What could the other half possibly be, I wondered?  Of a sudden the Moses story finishes and the film cuts to an old lady closing the Bible.  Evidently she had been reading the story to her boys, and apparently this family had waited until the kids were almost in their 30s to discuss religion as the reading of the story of Moses prompts a falling out between this religious sap of a mother and one of her "heathen" sons.  He goes off and gets rich at the expense of others but in the end he "breaks the ten commandments and they break him."  More garbage promoting atheism as a lack of morals, complete with atheists getting leprosy.  If this movie had skipped all the moral modern-day mumbojumbo after the Moses story, I would've ventured to say that it was better than the Charlton Heston version by virtue of being shorter.  Still, I might give this film another chance if I could see a live performance.

12 Angry Men

The concept of a movie about the arguments made by a jury sounds really boring, but 12 Angry Men is actually very gripping.  It's kind of funny how the audience is like the thirteenth member of the jury, but all you get as an audience member is heresay, no actual testimony, which isn't allowable in an actual court.  It's a fascinating method of storytelling.   I'm not sure if actual deliberations are nearly so interesting, but this made for a great movie.  The acting is amazing and this is one of the few stage adaptations I have enjoyed.

La Dolce Vita

I really have no excuse for only having just watched La Dolce Vita.  I tried to a couple of times before, but couldn't get through the three hours until now.  I don't have much to say about it other than that the Sylvia ^ character really was a knockout.  A good old fashioned voluptuous beauty!

The Mark of Zorro

tight pants for real

There was a healthy sized crowd at The Stanford Theatre to see The Mark of Zorro tonight.  Many lols were had.  The costumes in this film were pretty good....really elaborate.  But damn did the men wear really tight pants.

I Walked with a Zombie

Tonight I went down to The Stanford Theatre ♥ to see I Walked with a Zombie. There are some old cheesy horrors on the upcoming program and a double feature would make a great date for any movie buff couples!

Anyway, I Walked with a Zombie is a different kind of zombie movie....it's a sensitive, romantic zombie movie.  A rom-zom if you will.  It was alright...the face of the guy above ^ was pretty crazy...I can't believe I was the only person i the theater who lol'd

ゴジラ

Today I finally watched Gojira, AKA Godzilla.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Takashi Shimura in the film!  Liked the music.  Liked the eye patch guy.  Thought overall that the film is more engaging than most old monster flicks.  It's pretty amazing that they made 20+ of these movies.  The scene where the guy is reporting his own impending death was pretty bleak.  It's really fascinating to see the Japanese post WWII mentality through this film (re: the atomic bomb).  It's pretty funny/interesting that Gojira goes down in a cascade of bubbles rather than something more dramatic like a laser beam.

Raging Bull

Well, I've gotten my fill of cable TV & I'm back to movies!

Ah, boxing movies.  I don't like boxing movies.  I don't like boxing.  Boxing is boring.  The best people never fight because of all the fight promotion company bullcrap.  All of said bullcrap is always the political intrigue in these boxing films...I just find it dull.  Raging Bull was OK, though.  The best part was the dialog.  I couldn't help thinking though that this was basically a movie about a guy who was a bad person.