Tuesday, December 3, 2013

The shiny gloss of unsalted popcorn

Because of traveling and having a busy autumn and (insert some other lame excuses here), my quest to see a lot of films this year stalled out around September. I also must say that losing interest in volunteering for my local theater and simply not having the time anymore to do it has limited my film intake. The shiny gloss of free films and unlimited, unsalted popcorn wore off around about the time when I grew weary of living on Long Island. There just needs to be salt on my popcorn. And it happened just in time as we just got word that the theater is changing and growing and will likely not even be located up the street from my apartment in a year's time. I'm happy for the progress of the  scrappy start up theater and that fellow film buffs are alive and well but sad for the loss of my own private Idaho. Nothing gold can stay.

So far the tally stands at 162 films in 2013. I may just leave the list alone at that, seeing as we are in the tail end of the year. Then again, it is only the third day in December so I might add to it.
Anyway, here's what I watched since the last time I listed the movies I watched.

Le Auberge Espagnole (2002)
Les Poupees Russes (2005)
The Bling Ring (2013)
World War Z (2013)
Blue Jasmine (2013)
Sidewalls (2011)
Gravity (2013)
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
The Razor's Edge (1984)
A Perfect Man (2013)
The Karate Kid (1984)
The To Do List (2013)
This is the End (2013)
Rushmore (1998)
The Happy Poet (2010)

I just finished that last one, The Happy Poet. It was an interesting, little film with your standard unlikeable characters and bizarre, immature life decisions, just like real life. However, and this happens more often than I'd like it to, I was completely distracted by the film's score. Throughout the entire film, there was a sporadic note played on a piano and held for a few seconds. Sometimes it was in the middle of a scene, sometimes at the beginning or end but it didn't matter because it always seemed random and unnecessary. It completely took me outside of the story every single time it happened. The last time I was this distracted by the music in a film was during the ENDLESS organ music that accompanied the ENDLESS corridors of Last Year at Marienbad. Holy crap that just about ruined that film for me. You can hear some of it in the trailer if you are so inclined.


Irritating.

As a whole, I was unimpressed by the films I have seen since September, apart from Blue Jasmine, Gravity and the ones that were rewatches. I am really excited by several films that are on the horizon, not the least of one is Spike Jonze's latest called "Her". I just have a strong feeling that it might break my heart and if I know how to do one thing well, it is seeking out various ways in which to have my heart broken.

Also, the new Justin Bieber film looks phenomenal.

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