Before Watching the Movie:
A movie based on a television series based on a landmark murder trial. To add to the complexity, this film inspired a prequel, and probably had more to do with the remake series than the first tv show did.
In this movie, Harrison Ford runs. Also he proves his own innocence, because nobody else can, apparently. But anything can sound dull if condensed to its base points. I expect an enjoyable thriller.
Yesterday’s Movies is taking the (next) plunge into narcissism and debuting a new feature. I consume a lot of media, but a large portion of it doesn’t fit into the rules for inclusion in this blog. All the same, I have opinions about it, and a need to do something with the twitter account @yestermovies.
So today I am announcing a series of unscheduled micro-reviews using the hashtag #yestermoviesrecommends. Those who enjoy ignoring these long-form commentaries will hopefully relish ignoring them in bite-size portions.
Before watching the movie:
This week I turn my attention to the oldest film yet reviewed. I admit it diverts in style from most, but Casablanca is almost universally considered a classic, and I share any classic I first watch here.
While the romance again receives a great deal of attention, the World War II backdrop is rich and contributes significantly to the plot, I am told.
Before watching the movie:
For a long time this film has been on my list of important movies to watch, but I’ve never really given it very close examination. In fact, the most I learned about it was one occasion when I had an idea for a story, and then decided to check how much like Ghost it was. I ended up deciding it was close enough to wait on it.
In preparing for this blog, it seems that it’s actually more of a supernatural love story than I wanted, but if it turns out to be so, hopefully Whoopi Goldberg’s presence will make it bearable.
Before watching the movie:
I suppose I should see The Godfather to properly appreciate a parody of it, but Rodney Dangerfield and Dom DeLuise are too well-cast to pass this up. Also it’s the most appropriate thing I’ve found this week.
Dom DeLuise also did a Godfather-parody character in Robin Hood: Men In Tights. The film looks good, but I can’t overlook the fact that it’s got two and a half big names and yet I’ve never heard of it, so I’m not getting my hopes up too much.
Before watching the movie:
Somehow, when this movie came out, I didn’t hear about it. I was 11, a decent age to hear about movies like this coming out, but the first time I heard about it was when its first sequel came out. I didn’t know that Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was a sequel until I talked to my parents about it and they said they “saw the first one, didn’t like a lot of the content, and figured that the next would be even more” of what they didn’t like.
While I don’t expect to be as appalled as they were, I do expect an unfortunate pile of sophomoric humor on top of a pretty good Bond spoof.
Before watching the movie:
Few movies have such radical differences between the theatrical version and the Director’s cut. In fact, the only one I can think of that comes close is Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In order to split the difference, the version I’m watching is “The Final Cut (2007). It’s probably the same in intent to the Director’s Cut, but I believe in putting the director’s intent on the screen, so I chose the latest version for the same reason I prefer widescreen over fullscreen.
Anyway, I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and I’m expecting to see a familiar element here and there in a completely repainted world.
Before watching the movie:
Yes, it’s another John Candy movie. Why? Because not only does one of my primary sources of films have a ridiculous amount of John Candy movies, it’s actually started recommending them to me. This film was recommended to me by Hulu after I watched the last potboiler starring him to appear on this blog, and I chose to review it today because a lot of people, myself included, are falling over themselves about a certain Wild West-themed video game. Will this be fun for fans of that game I will not name, or will it be a counterexample to the genre?
It also stars Richard Lewis, who seems to have blipped through Hollywood in the early 90s, never seen before or since.
Before Watching the Movie:
Rarely do I come across a movie I know nothing about that has me asking questions. Young Einstein is one of those movies. Australian comedian Yahoo Serious plays a character the box assures me is named Albert Einstein, who is apparently a genius bum, but I don’t know if that’s THE Einstein or another one, or if it’s even set in the early 20th century or contemporaneously. I don’t know if I’m going to be laughing with the movie, at the movie, or just crying for the loss of a physicist’s dignity.
Before watching the movie:
Once again, an 80s classic with an iconic scene. Another fantasy comedy. Recommended by the Zeitgeist and provided by a browse through the local library.
I expect to like this film, so I’ll probably be slightly disappointed. I’m not sure if I’ve seen any of Tom Hanks’s early comedy roles before, but even knowing about them, I wouldn’t have necessarily picked him for a story about a kid in a grown man’s body. It reminds me a little of Forrest Gump, but without the depth.
Yesterday's Movies 