drama – Page 22 – Yesterday's Movies

Suddenly

July 25, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

One from my grandparents’ library, highly recommended for Sinatra’s performance as a hired assassin. It sounds like a tight-knit drama, since it concerns a hitman taking over a small-town household, but it has the potential to be a political thriller, since it concerns an attempt to assassinate the president. Either way it seems like a movie I’ll be gladder to have seen than to watch, but it comes highly recommended.

There was a poster I liked better showing a Sinatra that looked more like a killer than like he’s crooning about what he’s going to do to this woman, but I try to keep to posters that have a traditional poster shape.

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Moby Dick

July 11, 2014April 14, 2016temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The most intriguing big name here is the writer: Ray Bradbury. Gregory Peck rarely gets mentioned outside of To Kill a Mockingbird anymore, I’m sure director John Huston has a following among deep film buffs, and of course Melville’s novel is a (somewhat sloppy) masterpiece, but Bradbury gets my attention. When I think of Bradbury, I think of his sci-fi concepts. I never think of his words, only his ideas. In a medium dominated by actors and directors, using someone else’s ideas and doubtless many of his words, I’m curious to see if I can spot any of Bradbury coming through.

Note should be made that this is once again from my late great aunt’s collection.

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Paulie

July 4, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I think I heard this was terrible. But then I might have conflated it too much with Pauly Shore. I had in mind that the bird was voiced by Pauly Shore in the “falling out of favor” part of his career. So I have no idea what to expect besides “talking animal road movie”. It has Tony Shaloub, so it can’t be too bad.

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Rocky

June 27, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

And now another installment of “how could you never have seen…?”

Yes, I’ve never seen any Rocky movie. Or maybe I’ve seen them all, thanks to spoofs, parodies, homages, reference clips, and a handful of “underdog solo athlete” genre movies that I have seen. But that just proves the cultural relevance of the film and why I should be seeing it. The story of Stallone’s million to one shot of getting this made was more interesting to me than a David and Goliath story about a boxer. There’s probably a documentary or biopic about that out there.

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Broadcast News

June 12, 2014June 13, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

This doesn’t have any real reason to, but something about it reminds me of Radioland Murders, Stay Tuned, and Night Court. I doubt it will actually have anything in common with any of them. I keep thinking this has Jeff Daniels, but I think that’s mainly because I’m conflating it with The Newsroom.

Aside from those spurious associations, what draws me to this movie? I don’t remember why it was recommended. The television industry of course interests me, and this looks like a typical workplace comedy in that field, otherwise not too remarkable.

Additionally, this might be the first time I’ve seen Albert Brooks on screen, though I’ve heard him in Finding Nemo and several times on The Simpsons. Oh. And a few appearances in the early days of Saturday Night Live, I guess.

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Lost in Translation

May 30, 2014temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

I’m struggling a bit to describe my understanding of this movie in a way that doesn’t sound like it came straight from the blurb. Two Americans played by big stars find each other in Tokyo in an independent movie, and those and still other reasons, form a difficult-to-classify relationship.

Much beyond this description has been drowned out by Bill Murray’s presence in what’s definitely not a comedy, even though by now it should be easier to accept that he’s pretty much sworn off comedy and this is his thing now (or at least until he gets an award for it).

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You’ve Got Mail

May 16, 2014temporalparadox5 Comments

Before watching the movie: The late 90s, a time when the internet was just beginning to be a thing normal people used, when it was beginning to be treated like the post office or telephone and nobody had a business interest in controlling access to it.

PSA aside, a time when the internet was new but probably safe enough, not something fearful. A time when Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan could be Hollywood’s most bankably romantic couple yet again by somehow meeting online without knowing each other’s real identity, and this is a good thing. Yay technology. Continue reading →

Patriot Games

April 24, 2014April 25, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Terror plot, Harrison Ford, action, that sort of thing. I expect it to be exciting. I’m looking forward to it, but not in ways that seem to be able to fill a page.

I should probably be comparing this to The Hunt for Red October, but I didn’t even remember that Jack Ryan in that film was Alec Baldwin (I was remembering Martin Sheen for some reason).

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Ben-Hur

April 17, 2014April 18, 2014temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

The Ten Commandments is an Easter tradition for many people. The connection seems tenuous to me, but there’s a thread there. I’ve already seen “Commandments”, so I won’t be reviewing it here, but it has me following another connection, that you can already guess at due to the title and the picture to the right.

In my mind, that film is much more strongly linked to Ben-Hur than to Easter, but on examination, it seems circumstantial. They’re epics, set in Middle-Eastern antiquity, informed by religious legend, starring Charlton Heston. It seems accidental, though possibly the success of one got the other made. While I don’t know of it being an Easter tradition like its cousin, if anything, this one should be more Easter-related, since it actually has a few scenes with Jesus.

On the other hand, its overall reputation is more like CHARIOTS CHARIOTS CHARIOTS.

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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

April 10, 2014April 11, 2014temporalparadox1 Comment

Before watching the movie:

The basic plot seems attractive enough, as I’ve always been fascinated by explorations of mind and memory. I was even more interested when I learned about the dream imagery included. And I’m interested in Jim Carrey, even though I’m pretty sure he’s in a purely dramatic role here.

The reason I’ve never gotten to this is because it seems entirely concerned with the emotional drama, which is something I’m rarely in the mood for, especially at a feature-length scale. And so it’s now eligible to be among the movies this blog has given me a kick into seeing.
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