4.2 ~ #5

"American Beauty" (1999)

From Netflix: "Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) is struggling to endure marriage to uber-realtor Carolyn (Annette Bening), an unfulfilling career and a sullen teenage daughter (Thora Birch). Deep into a midlife crisis, Lester becomes infatuated with a friend (Mena Suvari) of his daughter. Soon, he's quit his job and is working at a fast-food joint in this dazzling blend of social satire and domestic tragedy from director Sam Mendes that scooped up five Oscars."

Another 2 hour wonder. Not that I minded AT ALL.

I've seen this movie a couple times before this week (I lie. More than a couple. I developed a mild obsession with it in high school). I totally see why it's on this list. So much so in fact, that fifteen minutes in, I started it over because my mother had never seen it and I felt she HAD to. Then at about 20 minutes in, I started it over AGAIN because my sister had never seen it, and I felt she HAD to.

The director of this movie had never worked on film before, only in stage productions, and now with my training in photography, I can really appreciate that in the cinematography. The lighting in this movie is PHENOMENAL! The score is amazing as well, which for some reason I never really appreciated before either. Kevin Spacey is mind-blowing as the main character of the film, and Annette Bening is my all time favorite actress ever, so it goes without saying that I loved her in this as well. Everything about the film seems so organic, like we really are catching a glimpse at these people's lives and not watching a movie...And I always cry at the end of this film, no matter how many times I watch it. Not a sad cry, but a so-much-emotion-built-up-inside-you-you-have-to-get-it-out cry. It's a movie that really stirs the soul and makes you truly grateful for every seemingly insignificant thing you've ever encountered or experienced.

This truly is a film that everyone on earth should watch at least once. I credit this movie with teaching me early on that one should always be kinder than maybe one deems necessary at first glance, because EVERYONE is broken, EVERYONE is battling demons, and you never really know what people are dealing with or why they do what they do, sometimes even in situations where you feel you know everything about a person, you might be surprised. I think another great message to take away from this movie is that people need to learn to slow down and just LIVE. Don't be so consumed with making a living that you forget to make a life...and of course, the most important moral of all...

"there's nothing worse in life than being ordinary."

4.1 ~ Documentary of the Week

"Chain Camera" (2001)

From Netflix: "Award-winning director Kirby Dick gave video cameras to 10 students to record their lives at Los Angeles's John Marshall High School (the same high school used in the filming of Grease and Buffy the Vampire Slayer) -- with no limitations on what they could shoot. After one week, the cameras were given to 10 new students, and so on, forming a virtual chain letter and a portrait of young America at the turn of the 21st century."

This documentary takes place in LA during the 99-00 school year...Just as the description above says, several students were asked to document their lives for a week, then pass the video cameras on, making a chain letter of sorts. Of the hundreds of students that participated, 16 of their stories made it to the film. The videos are completely uncensored, so it's an eye-opening view of modern teenage life that very few people get to truly experience unless they've lived it...I started high school the year this was filmed, so I relate to the stories in here, and though I haven't lived these particular stories, there are elements I feel I have lived myself, or that maybe someone I know has been through.

The first girl is a very pretty Asian girl...she seems relatively normal at first glance, but she soon lets us know that she was bulimic at some point, that she runs away from home and frequently finds herself homeless, begging her friends for money and underwear, and that she aspires to be a stripper. Another featured student is an Ethiopian girl who is underwhelmed and disillusioned at the American experience because the propaganda in her country led her to believe she'd have many more rights and freedoms here. Considering that the city I live in is predominantly comprised of immigrants, and many of the kids I went to school with were born in other countries, this is something I can personally relate to. And then there's Cinnamon, the "boring" girl that is so smart and opiniated, that people automatically are intimidated by her and write her off. That I COMPLETELY identify with. I was THE smart girl in class since I can remember, and I always felt invisible because of it. In high school, I decided to take advantage of my intelligence and turn my smarts into a weapon, so I became "the girl you don't want to mess with", which I MUCH preferred but meant much drama in order to keep people in check. Ahh, the wisdom of age, when you realize you don't have to be any ONE thing to be happy and self-actualized...

I found watching this kind of surreal, because I see a seventeen year old as a kid (My little brother is 17 now) and yet I remember being seventeen, and making very adult decisions that I was sure I could handle then. These kids are months away from being adults, and yet they are KIDS. It's such a crazy time in one's life...What made it even more surreal is that I used to have a video diary when I was 17 that I recently ran into, and it AMAZED me at how candid I was about sex, relationships, therapy, EVERYTHING. I was so much more AWARE than I give 17 year olds credit for, even though I'm only 23 now. On the one hand, it seems that maybe my 17 was more mature and had more of a spark than today's 17 (and most of the time, that's EXACTLY what I think), but on the other hand maybe my parents thought the same way about me. Crazy.

Incredibly interesting film about racism, eating disorders, peer pressure and other important issues straight from the people that LIVE them. Definite must-watch. Unless you're in high school and you want something to watch with your parents...easiest way to get preemptively grounded! :)

3.3 ~ #4

"Aliens" (1986)


From Netflix: "In this acclaimed sequel, the only survivor from the first film, Lt. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), finds her horrific account of her crew's fate is met with skepticism -- until the disappearance of colonists on LV-426 prompts a team of high-tech Marines to investigate. This release features an introduction by director James Cameron, commentary by cast and crew members and both the theatrical and special edition versions of the film."

This was the first movie on the list that I was COMPLETELY blown away by! What a badass movie! I hate Sci-Fi (as I've mentioned before) and I haven't been a fan of horror movies since I was in high school, though admittedly this was a pretty tame version of a horror film...it still managed to elicit SCREAMS from me and even more jumps...which reminds me, a special thanks to my husband for letting me crush his hand for over 2 hours! LOL

Yes, this movie was over 2 hours as well. I think they've all been so far except for "12 Angry Men"...this one didn't feel that long though, probably because I was so into it.

I was wondering why the creator of the list would make me watch a sequel instead of the original (this is the second movie in a quadrilogy), but at least according to my husband, this was the best of the series. I think that might have been the reason why I was so into it; as a sequel, the movie didn't bog down the first hour with backstory and character setup, it just dives right into the story assuming you've seen the first film and you already KNOW these people. That could be a bad thing, but this film does such a good job at getting you up to speed in a concise way that even not having seen the first film, I never felt lost or confused by what was going on.

Seriously, AMAZING movie. BADASS, even. highly recommended, and from someone that isn't even a fan of the genre.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

ok, well obviously I'm a little late with this one, and I only have 4 days left in this week to receive, watch, and write about week 4's movies to catch up. In case you'd like to watch along, these are this week's films:

#5: "American Beauty"

#6: "Amadeus"

DOTW: "Chain Camera"

Thanks for reading guys! and tell your friends! I'd love to get more people involved in the film discussions!

And feel free to follow me on Twitter!

-D

3.2 ~ #3

"Akira" (1988)

From Netflix: "Based on the popular anime series, Akira is the story of two childhood friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, who are pulled into the post-apocalyptic underworld of Neo-Tokyo. Kaneda is a bike gang leader, and Tetsuo is a member of a tough motorcycle gang who becomes involved in a covert government project called Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists and corrupt scientists, and a bloody battle ensues."

WOW.

I did NOT want to watch this. I HATE anime, I HATE sci-fi, I HATE apocalyptic type movies. This is ALL of the the above.

I had to watch this movie in two parts, as my electricity went out during my initial attempt. I saw the first forty minutes one night, then the last 90 minutes another afternoon (yep, another one that's over 2 hours long).

Here's some initial notes I took during those first forty minutes:

"dubbed" (I really dislike dubbed movies. I prefer subtitles over dubbing ANY DAY)

"fluid animation, almost like live action" (the animation really is superb, crazy to think this was released in the 80s)

"reminiscent of 'Cool World'" (great movie, if you haven't seen it. And story-wise, this movie is nothing like Cool World. The animation and movement reminded me of it, though)

"horrifyingly bloody"

"we're spoiled by CGI but the work of these animators really should be appreciated" (what can I say? I was REALLY impressed by the animation)

"Anarchy."

"130 minutes long" (<--- I found out while I was watching, and that kinda took my enthusiasm down another notch) "watching movie made me really anxious for seemingly no reason" (it did. I'm glad it got shut off when it did. The suspense of the first half hour was physically affecting me.)

"Hard to follow" (I learned later this was by design)

"female violence and nudity" (only one incidence of this, but it wasn't as graphic as it could have been. I guess I just noted that in case it was a recurring theme)

"kind of a mindfuck" (true.)


These are the notes I took in the last 90 minutes:

"don't find out what Akira is until an hour and 11 minutes in. Don't see it until an hour and a half in" (also true.)

"He's our friend, not yours! If someone if gonna kill him, it should be us!" (<---I just really liked that line)




That's it.


I hardly wrote throughout the last 2/3 of the movie because it actually got interesting enough that I wanted to pay attention. Also if you blinked, you'd miss something important, so it was in my best interest to not distract myself. The first 40 minutes were so hard to follow that I didn't even care enough to try to pay attention, which I guess would have obviously helped me out later on in the film.

At the end of the movie (I'm keeping this entry spoiler free) I had a simultaneous feeling of "Oh Em Gee I GET it!" and "What the HELL did I just see?!"...My husband, who watched the movie with me and is a great fan of the film, says that my reaction is a pretty normal one. I told him that the movie is good enough to GIVE you a feeling when you're done seeing it, but that it seems like the kind of movie that one would enjoy more the second time around. He says that even as a fan, he thinks the movie is too long to rewatch very often. I think I have to agree. Maybe I'll watch it again at some point to see if I was right.

Overall, I'm glad I watched this, though I left overall a bit dazed by it. It's very violent, and pretty confusing, but if you have a couple of hours to spare, it's definitely worth a watch.

-D