So this page has been dark for a little while now. Honestly, this has been due to a few factors. Primarily we have been extraordinarily busy moving into our first home. Between the hunting process and then moving process, our days have been really full.
We love our new home, and are super excited about being homeowners. The home was move-in ready, but we are trying to change somethings right away. I will get into the details and post pictures real soon.
Sometimes it all comes together somehow. I woke up on a Saturday morning in January, and was amazed with the weather outside my window. It had snowed an inch or two the night before, while I witnessed this a few times already this year this was completely unique. I had never seen such a combination of snow and fog before. It looked like I imagined Narnia looked like when Peter first went through the wardrobe. I still had a few hours before I had to be at work, but I knew I had to document this unique weather occurrence Luckily (very luckily), I had recently loaded my Holga with 800 speed film which proved to be necessary to shoot in such low light. I opened up the aperture and started walking around my neighborhood. Sometimes, its better to be lucky than good.
Currently, there are a lot of movies I want to catch up with. I have spent hours the last couple of weeks just flipping around on the old Netflix queue just trying to make a decision. So I have been thinking about a project that would narrow my focus and force me to watch some movies that I have missed.
Then while I was watching the Golden Globes on Sunday and discussing awards season, an interesting idea occurred to me. Every year at this time, I try to scramble to see all the important movies that I can. I’m sure I will do that again this year, but I thought it might be fun to try and catch up with best picture winners from the past that I may have missed. So I picked four Best Picture winners from the past 35 years that I have never seen, and before Oscar night I am going to try to watch them all.
Here is the tentative list:
Ordinary People 1980
I am interested in this one because I feel it is always being held up as an example of an ill awarded Oscar. Is it better than Raging Bull? I don’t know, but unless I see it I can’t really say.
Platoon 1986
The one surprise on the list. I knew it was a big hole in my viewing history, but didn’t know it was an Oscar winner.
The English Patient 1996
The length of this one always kept me away, but this will force me to decide if I am with team Bennis or team Petermann.
The Artist 2012
This one has been on my Netflix queue forever, and before that it was a forgotten red envelope on my dvd player. The weird thing is that I have watched silent movies in that time span, but never sat down and watched this award winner.
Here is a list of the other Oscar winners I haven’t seen.
Chariots of Fire
Out of Africa
Last Emperor
Titanic
Chicago
So I have seen 75% of best pictures in my lifetime. I wonder how normal that is with other people. I really have no idea. Kind of interesting though. Might go back and check the all time list.
These are some photos I took on a little daytrip Lesley and I took to Bryson City NC. We had a great trip with wonderful weather. I would advise anyone taking this voyage to take the time and avoid “the dragon” on 129, unless driving is something you really enjoy.
These photos came out as a real mess. Mostly in a bad or annoying way, but some have acquired really interesting characteristics. Lots of mistakes in these from inescapable ones like light leaks and other more obvious mistakes like the camera strap coming into the frame. I post these merely to serve as a document of a weekend trip on a beautiful fall day.
Before it actually fascinates. Fascination serves merely to titillate. In fact, the first half of this film is an increasingly frustrating experience. All the dialogue about what is going to happen later intercut with softcore sex scenes. The two female leads are both very attractive and play their parts well, but we start to lose interest when the narrative slows to a crawl.
Luckily, something wonderful happens at the half way point. Almost instantly the sexual aspects of the film are dropped and a sequence of violence changes the whole direction of the film. This sequence is not particularly brutal or grotesque, but rather is done so well and feels earned that the viewer becomes enthralled with the story and changes happening with the major characters. Now new characters are introduced and new themes as well. Where before sex was titillation of both characters and audience, it is now portrayed as a means to wield power by both men and women. Before the plot felt static and repetitive, in the second half the narrative seems to burst with possibilities. At the end, the reveal is not an entire surprise, but the manner in which it is delivered catches the viewer off guard.
This is the first film I have viewed by Jean Rollin. Outside of Eyes without a Face, this may be the only French horror film I have seen. Naturally, I loved the style in almost every aspect of the production. While this film never truly scares, there are quite few unsettling images that made me look away. I look forward to explore more titles from this subgenre.
3/5 Butcher shops. This is probably the bloodiest scene of the film. Butcher shops are always pretty gross, and it didn’t help that this film was set in 1909.
Ugh. I watched this on a hungover Sunday afternoon. Man this franchise has really become tired. The acting has hit a new low. Rob Cordry has been brought onto the cast with little or no comic effect. Some of the 3D shots may have been interesting in the theatre, but here they feel and look extraneous. Gone are the Rube Goldbergesque death sequences. In their place are completely random and unsurprising deaths. The climax involves gunfire and fistfight which always means death anyway. Just a really silly and uninteresting addition to the franchise.
1/5 Lasers (This is the best death scene, but both obvious and unjustified at the same time)
How exciting would a trip to Hammer Studios in the sixties have been? I imagine actors in monster makeup and period costumes wandering around and socializing in front of fake European castles. Hammer films always fill me with a sense of nostalgia for old time showbiz.
The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb has this sense of nostalgia in spades because it attempts to recreate not just one but two historical time periods. I know when first released Hammer films were genuinely received as new horrifying versions of classic Hollywood horror. Watching them now, they feel even older. The ridiculous stock characters and bright cheesy sets make them feel like direct continuations of Universal horror films then the reimaginings that they were. This is not a bad thing. There are great chuckles to be had at obvious cleavage and ridiculous accents on background characters. Yet, something happens while you are chuckling. Suddenly, you become invested in the plot, because at it’s core this film has a well-crafted, thoughtfully-paced narrative. When the climax arrives, which may not be a shocking revelation, you are hooked.
With it’s engaging plot and solid acting, The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb feels like a horror movie out of time, in a good way.
3/5 Head-stompings (This is the most brutal death in the movie and happens off-screen. Still it is very effective.)
So last year, I watched 13 horror movies during the lead up to Halloween. I did this for the simple reasons of focusing my viewing habits and also ramping up my excitement for the holiday. I have decided to do this again for the same reasons with the extra inducement that Lesley and I have procured to tickets to the Knoxville Horror Film Fest. This event is held at the end of the month at the Relix Theatre in the Happy Holler neighborhood of North Knoxville. I’m hoping that watching a dozen or so horror movies will get me in the mood to see the festival and if nothing else clear out some space on the Netflix queue.
So last week I broke down Lesley and my favorite music from the last 3 or four months. I certainly didn’t mean for these two posts to break down in a sexist ways. I wasn’t attempting to proclaim one type of music as masculine or feminine. It was just an easy way to break up what would have been a rather long post. With that being said, I must admit that the music on today’s post is of a much different energy than that of last week’s. All I can say is that is was not intentional.
Definitely the workout track of the summer.
Lesley hates Rick Ross (although lately she has been using the term “like a boss” for some strange reason). I can understand the sentiment. I am fairly ambivalent towards Mr. Ross. That being said the Andre 3000 verse is one of his dopest, and definitely worthy of repeat listenings. It starts at the 3:00 mark.
A mormon doing a Springsteen impression, what is not to love? Ok, this song, this band are both fairly ridiculous, but if I get a few beers in me and this song comes on I lose my mind right before I start singing along and air drumming.
Something a little different here. I found this on the amazing soul-sides.com. This was a late summer entry, but might just be my song of the year. It is one of the rare joys of listening to music (especially soul music) when a contemporary artist can highlight and draw on his influences and still create something that is completely unique and fresh.
All in all it was a good time. We moved, sweated, and found a new place in an old location. It certainly has been summer I will never forget. That being said, summer don’t let the door knob hit you because I am definitely ready for fall to arrive.
So as the days begin to shorten and summer breathes it’s last gasps, I thought I would take a few moments to reflect back on the soundtrack of summer 2012. I am going to start with female artists, mostly because there seem to be a lot more of them.
This might be my favorite of the year. Rather down tempo for a summer song, yet completely catchy and irresistible. I think this girl is going to be huge. Maybe not now, but soon.
I am absolutely crazy of genre switching covers. Anything that gets a weird disco version is going to get a listen from me. Great voice and great version. It is worth looking for the full version.
I am very excited by this artist, She is really fascinating. She seems to work in all kinds of genres and sounds. But she does it effortlessly without using her versatility as a smoke screen to hide how she is not really good at anything (looking at you Janelle Monae). Lianne reminds me of so many people. I’m really excited to hear the whole album.
Great song. great video.
I listened to Patti Smith on all songs considered. Her new album sounds great. There was a time when I had a giant aversion to all things Neil Young. Recently, I have come to have a begrudging respect for him. Patti does this song great. I think she has the tone for it. Lesley thinks it’s a bit slowed down, but I don’t think it hurts the song. The kids at the end? I’m not sure how I feel.
Up next: The fellas.
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