Author: temporalparadox

The Prestige

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The Prestige. Newmarket Films/Syncopy 2006.

Before watching the movie:

I think the main thing I know about this movie is the big secret that drives the plot. The core mystery is about finding out how a magic trick is done, so I suppose it’s about a younger or rival magician trying to learn the master’s secrets. I’m not sure how an entire movie can come out of that, so I don’t know what’s going on around it.

I believe I’ve heard there’s a lot of Christopher Nolan’s philosophy of moviemaking in how the character approaches being a magician. I recall some discussion of looking through this movie for clues of what Nolan was going to do with the Dark Knight trilogy, or that The Dark Knight Rises was going to be Nolan’s Prestige in the trick he was performing with Batman. I’m not sure that panned out, but speculation drives engagement.

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Twelve Angry Men

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12 Angry Men. Orion-Nova Productions 1957.

Before watching the movie:

I’m often going into these movies wishing I knew more, but I never really felt like I needed to know more than “heated jury debate”. Everyone is frustrated because they’re locked in the room until they’re unanimous and they can’t come to an agreement.

This doesn’t seem like the kind of idea that came to life as a movie script, but much more like a play. The characters are literally locked in one room and have to talk until they come to a resolution. So I’m a little surprised to find that it was not based on a stageplay, but on a television play. That’s a format that doesn’t really exist anymore, and I’m sure if this movie didn’t already cast a long shadow, it wouldn’t gain traction today.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Fantasy Films 1975.

Before watching the movie:

December is Oscar Bait season and on Yesterday’s Movies, this December is for those canonized movies that have become unquestionable in film culture.

I have seen mainly seen two opinions about this movie: glowing praise for Louise Fletcher, and faint repudiation of the depiction of mental health therapy techniques, particularly electroconvulsive therapy. I have this impression of a bleak slide into despair under the oppression of a corrupt and abusive mental health system. I also think this is one of the movies that made Jack Nicholson famous (or at least one of his earliest roles anybody talks about), so I’m curious to see if he’s got his recognizable style or if he’s more of a blank slate.

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Thelma and Louise

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Thelma and Louise. Pathé 1991.

Before watching the movie:

Well here it is, the one that was always going to be in this theme. Possibly the first one I thought of for title duos. And once again, what references are there other than the finale? How do they get there? I think they’re on a road trip and probably a crime spree, but I think they never intended for any of this to happen. I’m surprised this is a 90s movie, and I didn’t realize how many men I’ve heard of are in it as supporting characters to the two women who are the only ones anyone talks about. But the biggest curveball is that it’s directed by Ridley Scott.

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Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion

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Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. Touchstone Pictures 1997.

Before watching the movie:

This is probably a surprise entry for the month. I always wanted to include Romy and Michele and I’m not sure why they came to mind with the others. Possibly because one of the most notable images associated with the movie is the two women in a convertible, something also strongly associated with another iconic title duo.

I first learned of this movie’s existence from a podcast interview with Kudrow, who discussed how she’d done a pilot based on a play she’d been in that didn’t get picked up right before she got cast in Friends, and if that pilot had sold, then Friends wouldn’t have happened for her, but without the success of Friends, this movie based on the same characters from the play wouldn’t have gotten made. I have the vague idea that it’s about the pair realizing on the occasion of their ten-year reunion that they haven’t made much of themselves, but I don’t know much more and I’m mainly drawn to it because of how much it seems to mean to the actors and to the cult fanbase.

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Campanile Productions 1969.

Before watching the movie:

I am realizing now how many of the movies with title duos that come to mind as the most legendary are mainly known for their ending scenes. The ambush of Bonnie and Clyde, the Bolivian Army shootout, and another that’s coming that can probably be guessed at. So obviously all I know is how this movie ends.

I have the impression that this movie is held up as an example of machismo and friendship. Butch and Sundance in popular culture sound like tough guys who are devoted to each other in that unspoken and stoic way that Manly Men are allowed to love each other.

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Bonnie and Clyde

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Bonnie And Clyde. Warner Bros. Pictures 1967.

Before watching the movie:

How about a run of titlular duos? And of course one of the most iconic cinematic duos is Bonnie and Clyde. I’d say that perhaps they had already achieved legendary infamy before the movie, but then, I’m even more sure that the movie romanticized and cemented their legacy. Would we be talking about a couple who were robbing banks across a few states almost a hundred years ago without the star power of Beatty and Dunaway keeping them in the public consciousness?

I should disclose that I’ve recently heard a summary of the actual Bonnie and Clyde’s career with commentary on what the movie changed, but I mainly remember just how badly the movie treated Blanche.

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The Frighteners

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The Frighteners. WingNut Films 1996.

Before watching the movie:

When I was in middle school, I was obsessed with watching Michael J. Fox’s whole filmography for a while and I missed this somehow. I first remember learning it existed by finding it in a roommate’s DVD collection, and I never got around to it. I also got it confused with Fright Night a few times.

Eventually I found out it was a Michael J. Fox comedy and I still never got around to it. I’ve read the summary at least once and completely forgotten it every time I read it. At least twice, I got as far as saying, “yes, I will watch this movie” and then I saw this poster and thought maybe it was a more serious horror movie than I’d thought, and decided to pass.

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Corpse Bride

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Corpse Bride. Laika Entertainment 2005.

Before watching the movie:

I remember when this movie came out and being mildly interested but not very motivated to see it. It looked like an attempt to make another The Nightmare Before Christmas. And then I found it in my roommate’s open use DVD collection and thought maybe I’d watch it, but then maybe it would be good to blog about, but it would be a while before it would be old enough to cover.

And then I didn’t watch it, and about I moved out of that apartment, and then about ten years happened and I’m still blogging, so here’s my time to review it.

Still looks like a less magical Nightmare.

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The Blair Witch Project

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The Blair Witch Project. Haxan Films 1999.

Before watching the movie:

In 1999 a mockumentary film was released that had everyone wondering if it was made up or real. I remember it being hyped up as the scariest horror movie ever seen, though in retrospect, every horror movie would like you to believe it’s the scariest one ever. It was playing with the occult and with the barrier between reality and fiction, so I definitely stayed away at the time. For most of my young life, I stayed away from scary movies because I was afraid of being scared. When I decided to see what I was missing, I’ve almost always found them not worth the hype. And this movie had a lot of hype.

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