May Activity

Features

Dark Passage ****1/2
Magnificent Obsession ****
This Is 40 ***
Life of Pi ***1/2
The Big Heat ****
Treasure of the Sierra Madre *****

Re-watched

Punch-Drunk Love ****1/2

Television

Arrested Development seasons 1-4
The Ben Stiller Show season 1
The Colbert Report
Comedy Bang! Bang! season 1
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Game of Thrones season 3
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia (various episodes)
The League (1 episode)
Mad Men season 6
Mr. Show season 3 (the first half)
Parks and Recreation seasons 4 and 5
Real Time with Bill Maher
The Simpsons (various episodes)
The Twilight Zone (1 episode)

Notes: The POV shots in DARK PASSAGE are really well done; I enjoyed that one quite a bit.

MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION might be seen as a little too cornball and cheesy, but I honestly didn't have a problem with it. This was also my first Rock Hudson movie.

THIS IS 40 wasn't funny and it wasn't enjoyable; what else is left? In a way, I appreciate the fact that Judd Apatow is trying to write stuff that is much more personal, but when you're not doing a great job of writing that kind of thing, it can only be seen as a failure. One of the big critiques of FUNNY PEOPLE was that Adam Sandler's character was too wealthy for audiences to identify with and feel sympathy for. And now Judd centers his next film on a family who might have to sell their mansion and move into a smaller mansion (as Brandon pointed out in his review). And in using the word "centers," I'm actually giving the film more credit than it probably deserves. I fail to find a center for this movie; it was all over the place. I know Jeff likes the piano scene with the youngest daughter; for me, the best moments of the film were the scenes dealing with the relationship between Judd's daughters. It was far more interesting than anything else.

LIFE OF PI was pretty good. Great visuals from Ang Lee, Suraj Sharma gives a great performance, and it's pretty easy to feel invested in the story. The Pi/Richard Parker dynamic plays out in an interesting way.

I really dug THE BIG HEAT but I don't know that I have too much to add. My LIFE OF PI comments were pretty inane so I must be losing some steam here. SPOILERS: It was a little shocking that Glenn Ford's wife was killed off so quickly, but obviously makes the story that much more intense. Between this film and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, Lee Marvin is a great bad guy.

TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE had been on my list of "Movies I Must See" for a looonnnngg time. I finally watched it back in May and it didn't disappoint. Bogie, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt were a great trio, as each of them offered something different and enjoyable to watch. The ending is pretty brilliant/poignant as well.

A day or two after seeing John's post on PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE, I was sitting around kinda bored one night and decided that the only thing I wanted to do was watch that film. And I actually agree with everything John wrote about it back in May. I, too, wasn't really feeling it the first time I saw it, but this time I was completely blown away. Agreed, it is one of the best romantic comedies of the past thirty years. I love the performance Paul Thomas Anderson gets out Adam Sandler here. I love the score as well - it builds some great tension and adds to the torture that Sandler goes through.

Waiting almost a year until new GAME OF THRONES episodes is gonna suck.

Also, Jason, I only watched one of the three episodes you wanted me to watch. Sorry. And I guess this will just have to be one of those things that you like that doesn't get a ton of support from the rest of Film Club. I just have strong doubts that the other two episodes would change my mind about the show. It just ain't my cup of tea.

Overall, I really enjoyed this past season of MAD MEN. It was slow-going at first, but after the third episode or so, I really got into it again. Looking forward to the final season.

I had planned on mentioning this earlier, but I did decide to buy all of the PARKS AND RECREATION on DVD so that I could re-watch them. It's only the most enjoyable shows I've ever seen and much of that is due its phenomenal cast/characters.

And hey, Twilight Zone Club, I watched one episode of the show over these past few months. I had mentioned that the one episode I really wanted to see was An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and I finally watched it. It's brutal and really well done. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.