Wednesday, April 19, 2006

MARCH MOVIE JOURNAL/UNTITLED
I am a little late in posting my movie viewing journal for the month of March. I watched 25 films this month which is pretty good amount. They are rated out of 4 *. The films are as follows...

March 2006
4- Walk The Line (2005) directed by James Mangold- * * *
4- Dr. Strangelove Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (1964) directed by Stanley Kubrick- * * * *
6- The Battle Of Algiers (1966) directed by Gillo Pontecorvo- * * * *
8- This Is Spinal Tap (1984) directed by Rob Reiner- * * * *
8- Walk The Line (2005) directed by James Mangold- * * *
10- The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) directed by Wes Anderson- * * * *
10- March Of The Penguins (2005) directed by Luc Jacquet- * * *
11- Spider-Man 2 (2004) directed by Sam Raimi- * * * *
11- Traffic (2000) directed by Steven Soderbergh- * * *
12- The Weather Man (2005) directed by Gore Verbinski- * * *
14- Rear Window (1954) directed by Alfred Hitchcock- * * * *
15- Lord Of The Flies (1990) directed by Harry Hook- * *
15- Army Of Darkness (1992) directed by Sam Raimi- * * * *
16- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) directed by Stanley Kubrick- * * * *
16- V For Vendetta (2005) directed by James McTeigue- * * *
17- Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) directed by Quentin Tarantino- * * * *
18- Corpse Bride (2005) directed by Tim Burton/ Mike Johnson- * * *
18- Wallace & Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005) directed by Steve Box/ Nick Park- * * * *
18- Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) directed by Quentin Tarantino- * * * *
19- Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) directed by Quentin Tarantino- * * * *
19- Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) directed by Quentin Tarantino- * * * *
25- The 39 Steps (1935) directed by Alfred Hitchcock- * * * *
25- Taxi Driver (1976) directed by Martin Scorsese- * * * *
31- The Patriot (2000) directed by Roland Emmerich- * *
31- The Squid And The Whale (2005) directed by Noah Baumbach- * * *

Also, after receiving my copy, I finally was able to see Almost Famous- Untitled: The Bootleg Cut. I really enjoyed, maybe even more than the original. Although the footage added isn't crucial to the story, it does, however, help the viewer get closer to the characters. The two-disc set has a lot of rare bonus features including deleted scenes and interviews with Lester Bangs. I really like the bootleg edition and I am very glad I could finally get my hands on a copy.


-Alex

Sunday, April 16, 2006

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

-Alex

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

INSIDE MAN
I just came back from the movie theater. In case you didn't read my previous post, I went to see Inside Man, the new Spike Lee joint. I liked the film a lot. It had a basic story but enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. I found the film to be very enjoyable and exciting. The acting was good, especially by Clive Owen who played a bank robber with a plan for the perfect robbery. I also thought that the directing was good, but that is usually to be expected when going to see a film by a very talented director such as Spike Lee (Malcolm X, Do The Right Thing, etc.). The film borrows from many ideas of old robbery films like Dog Day Afternoon yet still manages to be original. I enjoyed this film and would recommend it.

Also, my copy of the Almost Famous: Bootleg Edition finally came from Amazon. I am very excited about seeing the extended version of the film because I've never seen it before and I really like this film.

-Alex

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK-- REVIEW
I recently saw Good Night, and Good Luck and I really enjoyed this film. The film told the story of Edward R. Murrow, the heroic CBS news man who was unafraid to go up against senator Joseph McCarthy at a time when everyone else was. The story is excellent, the acting is excellent, the directing is excellent, basically all aspects of the film were excellent including the fact that it is shot in black and white, giving it that '50's feel. I really enjoyed how the CBS news team were able to change things using television as their outlet, these days that is a very rare thing. I highly recommend this film, it is superb to say the least.

In other news, I am about to leave to go see Inside Man, the new Spike Lee joint. I have heard good thing about it and I am hoping it is good.

Also, I am going over to my friend Andrew's house for a Godfather marathon on Thursday. It will be awesome because the films, the first two parts especially, are excellent and some of my all time favorites.

-Alex

Saturday, April 08, 2006

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK
Tonight I am finally going to get to see Good Night, and Good Luck. I haven't seen it yet due to mix ups at Broadway theater but today I finally do. Needless to say, I am very excited. After hearing good reviews from Aren and pretty much everyone else I am finally renting the film. I will post a review of the film along with my movie journal for March.

In other news, I had a very productive day. I finished up most of my History project and my English essay on Sherlock Holmes. I feel confident that I can finish both tomorrow. Also, it is almost Easter time; In other words meaning that I get time off from school and that I can watch some movies. Seeing as I have only seen two films so far this month (and only one of them was good--Ice Age 2 was not good at all) it is about time I saw a few more films and hopefully this break will allow me to do that, although I am going skiing in Banff for a few days. I'll have to watch a few films on my portable DVD player in the car on the way there.

-Alex

Sunday, April 02, 2006

THE METAMORPHOSIS by Franz Kafka
Yesterday afternoon I visited the local library and took out The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. I began to read it as soon as I got home and ended up finishing the whole book that night. It only took me a couple of hours to read because there were just under 100 pages in the copy that I got, keeping in mind that from each page only about three quarters of the page was used. I won't get into an in depth description of the book but I will say that I really liked it and that it could be one of my new favorite stories. It sounds like a simple story at first glance (a man who wakes up only to find he has been transformed into a bug) but after reading it you realize all the complex emotions involved, you also realize how bad it would be if you were a bug. I would recommend it to anyone and I am planning to purchase the Franz Kafka complete story collection, but since it is missing the three novels (Amerika, The Trial, and The Castle) it isn't quite complete. The collection does come with many stories and it is about six hundred pages long. I plan to purchase it just before my trip to my Europe, which happens to be where I'm from (Trondheim in Norway to be specific), this summer. I will read it on the flight over --most likely the 10+ hour flight.

-In other news I ordered the Almost Famous bootleg edition on Amazon. It should be here in a matter of days. I can hardly stand the wait. Also, I plan on posting my movie journal for the month of March. I watched about 25 films in all last month, which I consider to be quite a good number of films.


-Alex