2000s – Page 10 – Yesterday's Movies

Mean Girls

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I’m fairly certain there were girls’ clique stories before Mean Girls, and of course many more after and because of it. So my impression is that this is extremely generic. But that’s probably unfair. Especially because of the influence this has had on the ten years since. And there’s always room for the writing to rise above a generic story type. I know there are a handful of lines that have become memetic.

This is also likely the most in-depth look at the girls’ clique trope. I seem to recall an idea that this is nearly anthropological in its study of catty high school girls, but that may be an argument beyond the depth of this blog.

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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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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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Zoolander

October 4, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I remember all my classmates in middle school going nuts about this movie when it came out. I had no idea what it was other than a funny name and some incessantly repeated, grammatically shaky line about a school. I later learned Zoolander is a fashion model, and he has a rival model, and that’s about it. Apparently there’s an international assassination plot that he gets involved with somehow, but that’s not funny enough for people to talk about, I guess.

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Escanaba in da Moonlight

May 30, 2013May 31, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Jeff Daniels plays a hunter who has to end his dry spell soon, prompting a change of habits or superstitions or something. Weird things happen. I really don’t know what to expect.

I think this started as a play, since I recall first hearing of it as a community theater production.

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Rat Race

March 15, 2013temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

I’m fairly sure this is the movie I recall coming out at a time when I was too young to be interested in it, but I thought that it was a few years earlier, like 1997 or 98. Still, I definitely remember the title, nothing with that title came out in the 90s, and the summary is about what I remember.

I was surprised by the star-studded cast. Most of them are people I wouldn’t have heard of in 2001, but I know now are big names. I’m not sure if I knew any of them other than Whoopi Goldberg and Cuba Gooding Jr. at the time. I guess I knew of John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson, but I didn’t know they were in this movie.

I also just found out this is vaguely based on It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which make sense, because it reminds me of “The Amazing Race” and that movie. Hopefully, it will have better pacing than “Mad World”, which dragged a bit at times from having to support so many characters and generally being long enough to be the only nonmusical film I know of with an intermission.

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The Phantom of the Opera

September 7, 2012September 7, 2012temporalparadoxLeave a comment

September is Stage Musicals Lunar Cycle

phantom — The Phantom of the Opera. Really Useful Films/Scion Films 2004.

Before watching the movie:

I’m vaguely familiar with the basic story. Probably less than I should be, since I saw the Wishbone episode several times and I read The Canary Trainer, which is basically “Sherlock Holmes solves the case of the Phantom of the Opera”.

I’ve even heard some of the music (that organ fugue theme is inescapable, especially around Halloween), but I still don’t consider myself knowing this movie very well. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to comment on its faithfulness. Continue reading →

The Majestic

March 23, 2012August 10, 2012temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Eleven years ago sometimes seems like not very long. Sometimes it’s still odd to me to think that a movie that’s so well established wasn’t always there. I remember seeing the poster for The Majestic at a theater when it was running.

I never really gave much thought to the fact that this is set in the McCarthy-era 50s. I’m especially fond of the 50s, and this is one of the more interesting aspects of the decade.

The story seems to center around a theater, which is sure to please movie people, but in light of Hugo and The Artist cleaning up recently, I wonder if there are really that many more movies about movies or if it just seems like that because waxing nostalgic about farming, dentistry, or factory work doesn’t trip the self-gratification alert.

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Charlie’s Angels

February 10, 2012temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

Action. Comedy. Probably little to do with the TV series, but attached to one anyway. Angels.

Apparently the martial arts angle is an addition to the TV series. Having only been exposed to promos for the movies and that famous bathing suit photo of Farrah Fawcett, fighting is an integral part of my understanding of the show. Not that watching the movie is going to help me understand what else there was (probably espionage infiltrations).

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AI: Artificial Intelligence

May 5, 2011temporalparadoxLeave a comment

Before watching the movie:

It’s not often that I come across a science fiction movie that I’m not looking forward to seeing. This film should have everything going for it. It was made recently, so should have a clean, appealing aesthetic. It’s about robots and what it means to be human. It was made by Stephen Spielberg. So why have I put this off for ten years?

I’m not looking forward to the story. It sounds too sad for me to enjoy. A child android is programmed to be completely human, but he’s still a robot in society’s eyes. Wait, that sounds like Bicentennial Man without Robin Williams. The problem I expect is that the robot in that movie was on a quest to make society understand him, but in this movie, since he is a child, I only expect harsh treatment and crying. Admittedly, that’s a little too simplistic. I fully expect this one to fall in the category of movies I liked better than I expected because my expectations were too low.

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