Crazy Movie Lady 8

March 8-14, 2009
140. Man Trouble. Wow. Awesomely bad.
141. 2 in Paris. A bit self-indulgent at times but the plot moved which has become even more paramount to me the more I read screenwriting books and watch movies and learn about film analyzation. I can't take your poorly crafted story line. This was not.
142. Young @ Heart. Doc about a group of old people singing rock and roll and pop songs. Awesomely hilarious. I didn't understand the changing post-production lighting styles throughout-- between hyper saturated and desaturated. I liked both but the variance distracted me. It would have been difficult for me to make this film because as you would expect, people die and you get wrapped up in their lives and personalities. It would be even harder for me to direct this choir. Wow. Overall, I liked it.
143. Before Sunset. Same chick from 2 in Paris which was incredibly distracting for me since she wrote that one and had much of the same dialogue in this film. Also for some reason it was putting me to sleep.
144. Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Another Woody Allen movie. They're just so accessible. Plus Penelope Cruz won an Oscar for her role. I was completely thrown (spoiler alert) that she didn't show up in the film for about an hour. I was wondering if I was watching the right movie. The movie was intriguing. The narrating, annoying and overdone.
145. Young Frankenstein. Funny Mel Brooks movie. Mad cap with a role by Gene Wilder. Amusing.
146. The Birds. Fantastic Hitchcock film. I can see why it's one of his most famous. A.ma.zing.
147. I Like Killing Flies. Documentary about this cantankerous old man and his NYC restaurant which his family helps him run. I felt for the filmmakers for producing this film in a ridiculously small space and where the subjects apparently refused to wear mics. They obviously they had to compensate in some very horrid ways-- visible hands holding wireless microphones in multiple shots. This film was at least 20 minutes too long with a lot of scenes that didn't advance the story line at all. I assume it's because the main character is a walking sound bite. In a 5 minute conversation you probably get at least 4:39 of usable material.
148. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Oddly, I liked it. I didn't expect to. Cute teen romance.
149. Confessions of a Superhero. Wow. Depressing doc about these characters on Hollywood Blvd. who all want to be actors and seem to only be getting bit parts in C (not B) movies. So bad. Some great photography though the film certainly could have been much shorter. You felt like you got it after about 35-45 minutes.
150. Freedom Ride 2008. Documentary about... well it was supposed to be about the civil rights movement in Gainesville but wandered off in several directions. I wanted a much more cohesive story.
151. Shadow of a Doubt. Hitchcock film about 2 men wanted for the same crime but police don't know which one was actually responsible. Pretty good. The Birds was way better.
152. Sydney White. Teen romance movie loosely based on Snow White and the 7 Dwarves. Horribly cliche which I suppose is to be expected. At least 20 minutes too long. Romantic comedies, teen movies, etc. should never be longer than 90 minutes. This was an hour 48!! Ridiculous.
153. Miracle at St. Anna. Spike Lee film about a group of black soldiers in WWII. Good photography. I had to suspend more disbelief than I went into this film believing I would need to which was likely my fault as I don't like to read summaries of films.
154. We're Not Married. Marilyn Monroe and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Amusing-ish romantic "classic" (this term seems to be applied to all films from a certain era regardless of whether it was a great movie). Delightfully under 90 minutes. A bit formulaic. (It is from the 50s which was a formulaic time in and of itself.) The best part of the movie involved Zsa Zsa. I always loved that name. My mom said she was gonna name me Zsameil but couldn't figure out a way to spell it that she liked. Hilarious, right? Oh mom. Love it.