Alright boys and girls, we're knocking these movies down left and right and things are moving well again with our little challenge. We've finished our two movies from the wonderful year of 1985 and are now moving on to our next year. First, the results...
We watched my pick first, The Breakfast Club. If somehow you've managed never to see this movie before, please find the time to watch it. It's nothing special in itself, but it is a great little flick and pretty much one of the most culturally significant movies of the 1980s. It's a little cheesy at times, but it is a great study of high school stereotypes and what happens when different "types" of kids get together for a Saturday detention. We both had a nice time watching it, and I think we'd both have been happier watching The Breakfast Club as Best Picture than Out of Africa. But that's not saying much.
Then we watched The Color Purple, which was a pretty excellent film. It's about this poor uneducated little girl (who eventually grows up to be Whoopi Goldberg) who is abused by her father growing up and then sold to evil Mr. Danny Glover to be his wife. Her only true friend is her sister, who is separated from her by Glover. The movie then follows her relationship with Glover into adulthood, eventually finding her way back to her sister. Kim felt this movie deserved to be Best Picture 1985, and I won't disagree with her. Whoopi and Glover were great, plus I was suprisingly impressed by Oprah Winfrey's role as well. This movie may not have been good enough to win Best Picture every year, but in 1985 it should have been no contest.
So now we move on to our 15th year of the challenge (only about 65 to go!): 1940. This was the year of Alfred Hitchcock's ONLY Best Picture movie. No, it wasn't Psycho. Not The Birds. Not Vertigo. Not Rear Window either. (Did I miss any other Hitchcock gems that should have won Best Picture???) Yes, my friends, it was Rebecca. 15 years before Hitchcock became a staple in the mystery genre, he made this film based on a classic book by Daphne du Maurier. And while we might think some of those later Hitchcock films may have been better, Rebecca was no slouch. This was a creepy movie. It stars Sir Laurence Olivier as Maxim de Winter, a rich widower who takes in a second bride, known only as the Second Mrs. de Winter. Then there is the really creepy house maid, Mrs. Danvers, who is right up there with Nurse Ratchett from Cuckoo's Nest in terms of female nut cases. She tries to turn the Second Mrs. de Winter into the deceased First Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca. Speaking of which, what exactly happened to Rebecca? Don't worry, I won't give it away! I gave the movie a 4, while Kim scored it a 4.5, giving it a respectable 8.5. Now, you ask, what did we select?
Adam: PASS (yea, another one...6 used, 4 to go)
Kim: The Great Dictator
My passes are running out quickly. Oh well. I looked through 1940 and couldn't find jack that I wanted to watch. Kim found The Great Dictator, a Charlie Chaplin film that parodies Hitler. Good times! We already have the movie in our possession and will be watching it soon!
In the meantime, has anyone out there seen Rebecca or The Great Dictator? Which did you like better? Any other movies from 1940 worth watching? We'll talk to you all soon!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
2006 Done + Year #14: 1985
For your convenience and viewing pleasure, we have decided to condense our little posts to move things along quicker. Instead of separately reviewing our previous year, then introducing our next year, we are going to roll it up all into one massive blog. Woo hoo! Let's get to the review first:
The first movie we watched from 2006 was For Your Consideration. It's basically about that same band of funny people who were contestants in a dog show in Best in Show and were part of a music band in A Mighty Wind. This time they were all part of making a movie, called Home for Purim. And out of nowhere this movie just happened to generate all this Oscar buzz (was this not an appropriate choice?). Well, lots of wacky things happen, like they always do in Christopher Guest movies. We both enjoyed this film a lot (Kim enjoyed this one the most of the three) but it was what it was. It really didn't compare to The Departed in quality, which as we all seem to agree was a great flick.
Then came my pick, Children of Men, which didn't seem too popular among the peanut gallery, but we both enjoyed it very much. For those who don't know, its about the end of fertility in a dystopian future London society. Well, some poor immigrant who is treated like poo poo to the Government just happens to become the first pregnant woman in 20 years. And it became Clive Owen's job to save her and the baby. Quality stuff, but we both agree The Departed was still a better film.
And now onto our next year, 1985- home of the most disappointing Best Picture of all time. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Out of Africa stunk. Stunk. Slow, long, boring. Stunk. You would think a movie with hot stuff Robert Redford and Meryl "i can only do good movies" Streep would at least be mildly entertaining. But no. And somehow, it still won Best Picture - come on! Kim even wrote in her review that she couldn't make it through the whole movie without falling asleep. Well, I stayed awake...she didn't miss much. We really couldn't even tell you what it was really about. Go watch it for yourself, and let us know. Actually, don't. I wouldn't put you through that torture. I gave it a 2.5, Kim a 2.45, giving it a mighty score of 4.95. So, now that I've let that off my chest, onto OUR picks!
Adam's Pick: The Breakfast Club. Yeah, we've all seen it, but you can't go wrong with this one! I really have no other reason for picking this film.
Kim's Pick: The Color Purple. Kim has seen it, I haven't. This movie was the basis for this whole second challenge. After watching Out of Africa and seeing that it beat The Color Purple for Best Picture, Kim must have mentioned a dozen times how much better this movie was and how it should have won and why aren't we watching The Color Purple?
So, whew, now it's your turn. Which of these movies from 1985 was your favorite? The Color Purple or The Breakfast Club. I didn't add Out of Africa because I know that one wasn't your favorite :) What other movies from 1985 did you enjoy? Please let us know! See you real soon!
The first movie we watched from 2006 was For Your Consideration. It's basically about that same band of funny people who were contestants in a dog show in Best in Show and were part of a music band in A Mighty Wind. This time they were all part of making a movie, called Home for Purim. And out of nowhere this movie just happened to generate all this Oscar buzz (was this not an appropriate choice?). Well, lots of wacky things happen, like they always do in Christopher Guest movies. We both enjoyed this film a lot (Kim enjoyed this one the most of the three) but it was what it was. It really didn't compare to The Departed in quality, which as we all seem to agree was a great flick.
Then came my pick, Children of Men, which didn't seem too popular among the peanut gallery, but we both enjoyed it very much. For those who don't know, its about the end of fertility in a dystopian future London society. Well, some poor immigrant who is treated like poo poo to the Government just happens to become the first pregnant woman in 20 years. And it became Clive Owen's job to save her and the baby. Quality stuff, but we both agree The Departed was still a better film.
And now onto our next year, 1985- home of the most disappointing Best Picture of all time. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Out of Africa stunk. Stunk. Slow, long, boring. Stunk. You would think a movie with hot stuff Robert Redford and Meryl "i can only do good movies" Streep would at least be mildly entertaining. But no. And somehow, it still won Best Picture - come on! Kim even wrote in her review that she couldn't make it through the whole movie without falling asleep. Well, I stayed awake...she didn't miss much. We really couldn't even tell you what it was really about. Go watch it for yourself, and let us know. Actually, don't. I wouldn't put you through that torture. I gave it a 2.5, Kim a 2.45, giving it a mighty score of 4.95. So, now that I've let that off my chest, onto OUR picks!
Adam's Pick: The Breakfast Club. Yeah, we've all seen it, but you can't go wrong with this one! I really have no other reason for picking this film.
Kim's Pick: The Color Purple. Kim has seen it, I haven't. This movie was the basis for this whole second challenge. After watching Out of Africa and seeing that it beat The Color Purple for Best Picture, Kim must have mentioned a dozen times how much better this movie was and how it should have won and why aren't we watching The Color Purple?
So, whew, now it's your turn. Which of these movies from 1985 was your favorite? The Color Purple or The Breakfast Club. I didn't add Out of Africa because I know that one wasn't your favorite :) What other movies from 1985 did you enjoy? Please let us know! See you real soon!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Year 13: 2006
It's good to be back in recent times! Amazingly, 2006 was the last year of our original Best Picture challenge, we started the challenge that long ago. It was actually right after we watched the 2007 Best Picture, No Country for Old Men, in theaters that we decided to start this whole thing. We also made sure to watch Slumdog Millionaire around this time last year, and plan on watching whatever wins Best Picture this year. It'll be like a traditional kind of thing. Yeah. Anyway, I'm sure many of you remember the 2006 Best Picture well - The Departed.
The Departed was one of those movies that for some reason everyone in Hollywood signed up to be in. What a cast- Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and Martin Sheen all shined on the big stage. Set in Bah-sten, this was a well crafted, action packed Mafia crime thriller that kept you going up until the very end. There were mucho plot twists and double crosses- at times you were left wondering what the hell was going on. Great stuff. I gave the movie a 4.5, but it would have gotten much higher if Matt Damon wasn't in it- I hate that guy! Not really, but Kim is convinced I do because I just happen to hate just about every other movie he's been in. Kim rocked a 4.75 on this one, calling DiCaprio "tolerable, which is the best he can hope for in my book". As good as this movie was, I think we both agreed that it wasn't really a "Best Picture" type movie, so we were surprised that it won.
Now onto our picks!
Kim selected the movie For Your Consideration. This is a Christopher Guest film, who we all know from classics as Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Neither of us has seen it, but it is expected to be a good time by all. Kim chose this movie simply because she hasn't seen it and she really likes the style of movie Christopher Guest brings (which I must say can be a little strange at times, if you've never watched him). But that was a good enough explanation for me!
I decided to go with a movie called Children of Men. Again, neither of us have seen this film, so we could be in for a very interesting year this time around. This film is a futuristic drama about a world where humans can no longer procreate, and it stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. And for all you Harry Potter fans, the director was the same guy who directed Prisoner of Azkaban. Good times. I picked this movie basically because of the interesting plot line and for its potential to be a great movie. So yeah.
Well, there ya go. 2006 is under way! I know it's been awhile, but we want to hear what you think! Which of these 3 movies have you seen? The Departed, For Your Consideration or Children of Men? Which is your favorite? We'll post back soon!
The Departed was one of those movies that for some reason everyone in Hollywood signed up to be in. What a cast- Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin, and Martin Sheen all shined on the big stage. Set in Bah-sten, this was a well crafted, action packed Mafia crime thriller that kept you going up until the very end. There were mucho plot twists and double crosses- at times you were left wondering what the hell was going on. Great stuff. I gave the movie a 4.5, but it would have gotten much higher if Matt Damon wasn't in it- I hate that guy! Not really, but Kim is convinced I do because I just happen to hate just about every other movie he's been in. Kim rocked a 4.75 on this one, calling DiCaprio "tolerable, which is the best he can hope for in my book". As good as this movie was, I think we both agreed that it wasn't really a "Best Picture" type movie, so we were surprised that it won.
Now onto our picks!
Kim selected the movie For Your Consideration. This is a Christopher Guest film, who we all know from classics as Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. Neither of us has seen it, but it is expected to be a good time by all. Kim chose this movie simply because she hasn't seen it and she really likes the style of movie Christopher Guest brings (which I must say can be a little strange at times, if you've never watched him). But that was a good enough explanation for me!
I decided to go with a movie called Children of Men. Again, neither of us have seen this film, so we could be in for a very interesting year this time around. This film is a futuristic drama about a world where humans can no longer procreate, and it stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine. And for all you Harry Potter fans, the director was the same guy who directed Prisoner of Azkaban. Good times. I picked this movie basically because of the interesting plot line and for its potential to be a great movie. So yeah.
Well, there ya go. 2006 is under way! I know it's been awhile, but we want to hear what you think! Which of these 3 movies have you seen? The Departed, For Your Consideration or Children of Men? Which is your favorite? We'll post back soon!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
After a 2 month hiatus, 1942 is DONE!
Weeeee're Baaaaack! Poltergeist II style yo. After a short break, the must anticipated return of movie watching has finally come. We bet you're all very excited! That being said, let's get right back to business...
Way way back in December, we chose our movies for 1942. They came via Netflix and have been sitting in our house collecting dust for nearly 2 months now. Well, we knew we had to get back into it soon and thanks to the snow storm of the century, we had a nice day off today to watch our 2 movies. For those who need a brief reminder - the Best Picture of 1942 was Mrs. Miniver, I picked The Pride of the Yankees, and Kim picked Roxie Hart. Let's get to it...
First, we watched The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper and Best Picture darling Theresa Wright (she was also in Mrs. Miniver, as well as The Best Years of our Lives). This was basically a biopic of Lou Gehrig, from his childhood years up until his death, with Coop starring as Sweet Lou. The film was very well done and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was really cool to see the real BABE RUTH in this film as well (playing himself of course). Good times.
Then we watched Roxie Hart, which is based on the musical Chicago, starring dancing foolette Ginger Rogers. It followed the Chicago story pretty well, and at times seemed almost like a parody of it. There were some real goofy moments it seemed, like when Roxie was fighting with another female inmate, there were the sounds of real cats screaming in the background. So yeah, it was interesting. It was a very short film, only about 75 minutes, and we found it to be very enjoyable as well.
Deciding which of the movies we liked best has been one of the more difficult years to decide upon. Of the 3 we watched, none of them really stood out as superior to the others, and none of them stunk either. If we had to choose, Kim would pick between Miniver and Pride of the Yankees, while I enjoyed Roxy Hart the most, but thought Miniver and Pride of the Yankees were better films. I don't know.
Well, definitely stay tuned, we will be posting our next picks (a recent year!) very very soon! Good to be back!
Way way back in December, we chose our movies for 1942. They came via Netflix and have been sitting in our house collecting dust for nearly 2 months now. Well, we knew we had to get back into it soon and thanks to the snow storm of the century, we had a nice day off today to watch our 2 movies. For those who need a brief reminder - the Best Picture of 1942 was Mrs. Miniver, I picked The Pride of the Yankees, and Kim picked Roxie Hart. Let's get to it...
First, we watched The Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper and Best Picture darling Theresa Wright (she was also in Mrs. Miniver, as well as The Best Years of our Lives). This was basically a biopic of Lou Gehrig, from his childhood years up until his death, with Coop starring as Sweet Lou. The film was very well done and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was really cool to see the real BABE RUTH in this film as well (playing himself of course). Good times.
Then we watched Roxie Hart, which is based on the musical Chicago, starring dancing foolette Ginger Rogers. It followed the Chicago story pretty well, and at times seemed almost like a parody of it. There were some real goofy moments it seemed, like when Roxie was fighting with another female inmate, there were the sounds of real cats screaming in the background. So yeah, it was interesting. It was a very short film, only about 75 minutes, and we found it to be very enjoyable as well.
Deciding which of the movies we liked best has been one of the more difficult years to decide upon. Of the 3 we watched, none of them really stood out as superior to the others, and none of them stunk either. If we had to choose, Kim would pick between Miniver and Pride of the Yankees, while I enjoyed Roxy Hart the most, but thought Miniver and Pride of the Yankees were better films. I don't know.
Well, definitely stay tuned, we will be posting our next picks (a recent year!) very very soon! Good to be back!
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