Tuesday 1 May 2012

The Month that was- April

          As I had predicted, after returning to India, my film-watching has reduced enormously. Not only because of the erratic DVD player that still refuses to play my beautiful and overpriced The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo DVD, or the reduced internet speed because of which I take two days to watch an 80 minute film on Youtube, but also due to the heat that just makes me not want to watch films. And then I feel wretched. I still managed to watch 30 films in all, keeping an average of one film per day. Let's hope this continues...


Firsts:

1) Oldboy- Oh so violent! The final twist, even if one predicts it, can literally get the wind knocked out of them. One of my favourite villains in recent times.
2) Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day- Isn't Amy Adams just adorable? I thought it was a delightful film. Also Lee Pace's singing voice :O
3) The Piano Teacher- A film I did not expect to like at all, but I daresay it might have become one of my favourites. Phenomenal performance by Isabelle Huppert.
4) Doubt- I love bitchy Meryl Streep. Her face becomes just so toxic. It was an interesting film. Viola Davis was a total scene stealer.
5) Battle Royale- Amazed that I only just heard about it, considering what a huge Kill Bill and Shaun of the Dead fan I am. Still, it was quite extraordinary and really entertaining. So glad I am out of school though! I wouldn't have lasted very long at all.
6) Shame- Oh Fassy Fassy Fassy- how much more amazing can you get? Such a harrowing performance... a beautiful yet very difficult film.
7) The Hurt Locker- It was alright. Nothing special except the fact that Kathryn Bigelow is awesome.
8) if...- The film that got Malcolm McDowell the part of Alex DeLarge. It is quite a good film and would make an interesting double feature with The Hurt Locker as both are about men who like violence.
9) A Trip to the Moon- Saw it properly, outside of Hugo. It is just fantastic to think that films took us to the moon nearly 70 years before science could.
10) Barry Lyndon- So very long. I am such an impatient person and this film really tested that. It is definitely very beautiful and a good enough tale, but it went on and on and on!
11) The Guard- I love the McDonagh brothers and what they seem to do with Brendan Gleeson. This was really amusing. Also Mark Strong as the baddie (yet again)! 
12) The Secret of the Kells- Such beautiful animation. Even though I fell the film ended too quickly, just the look made up for any of the shortcomings.
13) Talk to Her- Almodóvar just keeps on impressing me. His films are almost fantastical, but they have a really serious message hidden behind it all. This was no different.
14) Animal House- So friggin' hilarious! I loved every second of it. And I am completely addicted to "Shout" by Otis Day and the Knights.
15) Wild Strawberries- My first Ingmar Bergman film and it already has such an impression on me. It was so  sad, yet so lovely.
16) The White Ribbon- Er... I did not like this at all. Black and white has never been gloomier. Nothing seems to happen- really tested my patience.
17) All the President's Men- Really fantastic investigative journalism tale, obviously based on the true story of the Watergate scandal. The ending was a bit of a letdown though.
18) Persona- I don't think I got all of it, but something tells me that it's not one of those films where you need to fully understand it in order to love it. It's absolutely stunning and two excellent female performances.
19) The Fly- Started my crazy Cronenberg films list with this horror classic. While I didn't find it that scary, I thought it was very entertaining and a great story on the whole. Also dynamic performance by Jeff Goldblum.
20) A Place in the Sun- Wow this film made me feel ugly. I mean Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor... together... in black and white! Too much human perfection. It was a very tragic film though.
21) My Dinner with Andre- This film just blew me away. I found out that I absolutely love the sound of two people just talking. And they talk about everything. It was so different and incredible.
22) The Avengers- SMASHING!!! If this film was a person, I'd marry him.
23) Sweet Smell of Success- Pretty darn amazing. I especially loved the depiction of New York in it. It's so snappy and fast and cool.


Rewatched:

1) In Bruges- This film is just so bloody brilliant. Keep falling more and more in love with it. Also Ralph Fiennes is a god.
2) Notting Hill- I was craving Hugh Grant. It's just what I do.
3) The Artist- In-flight movie. The plane in Geoger Valentin's film took off right when my plane did. Perfection :D
4) Carnage- I think this film was kind of awesome. It's really entertaining too. Christoph Waltz should play the Devil at some point.
5) Die Hard- Hans Gruber is so bloody sexy. I mean as much as I love John McClane, I wanted Hans to win.
6) Somewhere- Even though it's my least favourite Sofia Coppola film, I think it is gorgeous. The film that gave the world Elle Fanning.
7) Drop Dead Gorgeous- In honour of Kirsten Dunst's 30th birthday. So funny! "The swan ate my baby!!"


TV shows:

1) Both the seasons of Pushing Daisies- This show was so fantabulous- it should have gone on forever! I hadn't seen a few episodes of the second season, so I watched all of it. I love Ned the piemaker. So effin' much!
2) First season of Game of Thrones- It's really good, but this show frustrates me for whatever reason. Poor Sean Bean.


Books:

1) Submarine by Joe Dunthorne- Surprisingly, not as good as the film. The book is far more cynical and the Oliver Tate is more messed up. The perfect sweetness of the film isn't present so much.
2) Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger- Fantastic. Love it. Just what I needed at this point in my life.


Final tally:

                                         Firsts- 114          Rewatched- 52          Shorts- 3
                                                                      Total- 169

18 comments:

  1. Wow, Kirsten Dunst is 30 now? That woman never ages. You're doing so much better than I am with your movie watching!

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    1. Ye she doesn't age at all. I love her!
      Well, you're not too far behind. I just have to make sure this continues.

      Delete
  2. Wow, this is a great selection of movies. Some I watched, some I'm planning to see. I think it's good that you started your acquaintance with Ingmar Bergman with Wild Strawberries, and it's oh so good.

    I watched A Place in the Sun last month, too. It's such a classic film with the classic talent in it. But even I admit that it's kind of depressing, and it's meant to be that way.

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    1. Thanks. Wild Strawberries is so very good.
      I know A Place in the Sun is depressing and it should be, but a little part of me wishes that it had a bit of 12 Angry Men in it and Clift could've been saved :(

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  3. HULK SMASH!

    I'm seriously going to go and buy a Hulk T-Shirt, they're selling them at a local store.

    I so want to see Battle Royale! I heard about it just before the Hunger Games came out! The age old problem...buy things, or save (and I don't have a full-time job. The job I do have doesn't always pay me, because sometimes we do videos for free, haha)

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    1. I want a Hulk t-shirt too!!
      Ooh watch Battle Royale- it becomes funnier once you're older.
      The age old problem sucks balls!! I hate it too.

      Delete
  4. 30 films is good, but I understand that you don't watch many films now you're back in India - always find it very difficult in Mexico because of the heat.

    I watched Trip to the Moon before even knowing of Hugo, so it was pretty awesome to get to know the film much more later on. It's really cute. Agree on Carnage, however I found The Artist overrated. A good film, entertaining, but not very original.
    Good month :)

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    1. God heat is like the antagonist to any productive activities, even if it's sitting on your laptop watching movies all day.

      I had known about Trip to the Moon because of Moulin Rouge! but I never saw it for whatever reason. The Artist is a bit overrated. I wouldn't call it original either, but I think to make a film like that in this day and age is incredibly daring, and to make it well is commendable.

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  5. Lots of great movies here! Damn, I believe I saw less than 10 films last month, all in one weekened too. I really need to organize my time a little better :) Game of Thrones is quite frustrating because all the good people get screwed over in this story :)

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    1. Yes Game of Thrones is frustrating because of that. Also because I don't tend to watch a lot of real drama on tv. And Joffrey's face!

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  6. I love the quality of the movies on this list. Oldboy, Shame, Doubt, Wild Strawberries, In Bruges all are amazing. Miss Pettigrew and Guard may not be as deep as others on the list but I love them all the same. And you are right about Persona - I don't think I understand even half of it as well.

    Great Month !!

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    1. Thanks. Deep schmeep- those films are awesome too!
      I don't get all of Persona either, but so beautiful.

      Thanks!!

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  7. Boy, you put me to shame with all of the movies you've watched in April. I probably saw like 5 in April....maybe, including The Hunger Games, She's Gotta Have It and Wrath of the Titans.

    Oldboy is somewhere on my Netflix queue...I think. I'm more excited about seeing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo though, just to size up Daniel Craig's performance and find out if it's as good as I heard. I also read good things about Shame, despite it being controversial.

    I wonder how you manage to watch so many films in April.

    ~Nicole
    Blog: The Madlab Post
    @MadlabPost on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Aww it's okay :P
      Do watch Oldboy, but be warned that it has some shocking stuff.
      I really liked Craig's performance. He made Blomkvist likable. Shame is very good, and very controversial.

      I have no job and no college at present, to answer your doubt :P

      Thanks for commenting :)

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  8. Great line about the avengers - that's what I say about various wuality songs or foods...

    Battle royal really is an acomplishment because it actually makes a point, has a thesis, and greatly use/advances its characters. All that hardcore violence, and it's not empty or meaningless at all.

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    1. Oh yes.. totally. I'd marry a molten chocolate cake :D

      BR is really amazing. I love the whole teenage angst aspect of it... so smart.

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  9. Great list Nikhat, you still saw more movies than I do and you have viewing problems. I really need to see Piano Teacher, Wild Strawberries, In Brugues. Glad you got to see Shame!

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    1. Once my new college starts (hopefully), I don't think I'll be able to watch so much. But while the sun shines, right?
      Oh you must see them. They are all incredible.
      I'm starting to really like Shame :)

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