Helen's favorite Movies and TV

8/1/2008
Last new movies seen in the theater:
Dark Knight (^ | Heath Ledger was great in this.)
Iron Man (- | It was decent)

Last movies seen on video/netflix online:
MI:5 - Volume 2 (aka Spooks) (^ | Matthew MacFayden. Enough said.)
Mad Men Season 1 Disc 1 (^ | Intoxicating. Strange to care about the main character who is quite handsome, but also quite a cad. He manages to make him mysterious enough to make you keep watching. Great period detail.).

(v) = thumbs down, (-) = so-so, (^) = thumbs up, | = comments

My random comments/rankings

• my rankings of movies by year, updated frequently for movies seen in the past 5 years based on release years (except foreign films).
• list of movies that I have seen -- this list is by no ways complete -- also the little remarks I have by the movies are almost completely random -- it's just amazing how many I have seen

Some Movies that I like

• Austin Powers -- this movie was a blast..you can hear lots of people quoting the movie, like "shag me baby" or "shhhhh!"...I also liked the music a lot in this movie
• The Big Hit -- I just can't get enough of Mark Wahlberg...that sexy thang...he plays a professional hit man who can't stand it when someone doesn't like him
• Blade -- despite it's comic book feel, this has to be one of the coolest vampire movies that I've ever seen. It's got such a different feel from other (good) vampire movies, like The Lost Boys, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Nosferatu, etc. Not that Blade is bad. I really liked Stephen Dorff's acting and the techno music that was played.
• Boys Don't Cry -- This movie put me into quite a depressed mood for a while after I saw it. It made me think of all the ignorance that is out there and it was sad to watch the two young characters be so into each other and to have such a tragedy fall on one of them.
• The Breakfast Club -- don't you...forget about me
• Chasing Amy -- this is a great movie...and one that I will always remember as being the movie where tested a guy's reaction (whether or not he would go see the movie) as sort of a "let's see what this guy's like" question...
• ChungKing Express -- this film is set in present day Hong Kong about some introspective policemen and their love lives (or lack of) -- the two stories are only connected by way of a small take-out restaurant -- the cinematography at times is breathtaking with the camera rushing headlong through crowds following the lead character...Wong Kar Wai, or whoever his cinematographer is, has such a romantic style of sometimes lingering on details and other times quickly rushing you through scenes. At times impressionistic or voyeuristic.
  Fallen Angels, Happy Together -- These films to me were very similar in style to Chungking Express. They were frenetic movies moving along telling the tales of youthful characters catering to their own neuroses. The style that I've come to know of his was very present in these two films. He incorporates a lot of different film textures and pop music in them.
  In the Mood For Love -- I was initially somewhat put off by his change in style. Or perhaps maybe I just don't want to have to think about mature topics as Wong Kar Wai has chosen to focus on in this film. I'll agree with the reviewers that what he has put together works well together here. I suppose I was struck by just how different a topic this is. Here he focuses on the emotional impact of finding out that your spouse is cheating, and what it would feel like if you were to engage in something similar. All the time saying to yourselves "We won't be like them." Some people say that this is their favorite Wong Kar Wai film. I still like Chungking Express the best of these four that I've seen of his. I have a tendency to like the first movie that I see of a director and be very critical of others that I've seen of theirs. This is true with Kevin Smith's, Chasing Amy.
• Croupier -- my friend Iain told me about this movie so we saw it up in Lincoln Center in NYC, I'd read reviews of it but wasn't quite sure what to expect. In a summer where I hadn't seen many movies and was disappointed by many (summer 2000), I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this movie. As with Elizabeth, it came at a good time when I was starting to get very cynical about seeing new movies and it left an indelible impression on me.
• Dead Poets Society -- A good movie! It also helps that I love poetry. I wish that guys I knew got so passionate about poetry and expressing their individuality
• Desperado -- this movie was really funny...gotta love those gun guitar cases :) -- the prequel El Mariachi is awesome for the low budget film that it is -- the bathtub/serenade scene is particularly funny
• Dune -- what can I say? I liked the novel with its interesting concepts and ideas...the movie was okay...not great. I have yet to see the long (around 4 hours) version of this. If anybody can get me a copy of that e-mail me :)
• Elizabeth -- this movie has such power and grace...also the cinematography was very beautiful...I liked the character of Sir Francis Walsingham.
• Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility -- all of those Jane Austen movies...what can I say, I'm a bit of a romantic :)
• Farewell My Concubine -- This movie to me is one of the best ones that I have ever seen. The epic quality of the tragedy is delicious, however the ending of this movie is quite disturbing. For me this is the kind of high art quality that I would like to see more of in movies. Kaige Chen's other recent movie, Temptress Moon, however was very beautiful (wonderful color and cinematography, also a period drama), but it lacked a memorable plot.
• Face/Off -- To believe in the plotline is a stretch, however beyond that the acting is good, and the cinematography at times is great. There are such great contrasts in this movie between innocence and beautiful imagery vs. bloody violence. And these such scenes are extremely memorable.
• Fargo, Blood Simple, the Big Lebowski -- movies by the Coen brothers -- both are rather gory, Fargo is really well done and Blood Simple is very suspenseful (low budget too). The Big Lebowski is just plain odd..."dude!" and I personally love white russians!
• Good Will Hunting -- I really loved the dialogue in this film...the characters were fleshed out
• Joy Luck Club -- this movie brought me to tears the first time I saw it in the movie theater. It really hit home...
• L.A. Confidential -- This movie was great...it kept me on my toes for most of it and the acting and dialogue were good.
• The Last Emperor -- okay okay..so I like long Chinese epics :)
• Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive -- David Lynch stuff - weird stuff - need I say more? :)
  Mulholland Drive has been one of his more normal movies, with the exception being, A Straight Story, which I have to admit that I haven't seen yet. As almost always I have to say that I've become intrigued with the music soundtrack for his movies, especially his latest. I'm more fascinated with his popular choices than the Badalamenti score. I like the score, because it really adds to the movie, but I would find it difficult to listen to on a regular basis as comfort music.
• The Piano -- The music from the soundtrack is truly breathtaking...the ending to this movie was disturbing to me. There is such a lyrical quality to this. For some reason it reminds me of Kate Chopin's novel, "The Awakening".
• Practical Magic -- love the fashion style in this movie.. it's set in a beautiful new england-type setting...some of my favorite movies are romantic comedies, although I tend to be critical of all other movie genres
• Real Genius -- probably saw this many times when I was younger, but didn't really quite remember it. I saw it again recently and it just rocked my world. It was so funny to see all the shameless geekiness.
• The Rock -- now here was a good action movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.
• Rounders -- I didn't really hear that much about this movie when it came in the theaters, but I saw it recently and I liked it a lot. It seemed to raise a lot of good issues about following one's heart at the risk of losing career, significant other, and old friends.
• Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi -- classic films... who couldn't love them? :)
• Twelve Monkeys -- love the plot and the music
• The Usual Suspects -- cool "suspense" movie, you aren't so much frightened as you are just trying to figure out what happened/is happening in the movie
• The Winslow Boy -- by the same director as The Spanish Prisoner, I just recently watched this again on HBO. Upon first watching it, I thought that the subject matter was relatively plain. I mean a boy and his family's struggle for proving his innoncence? However last night I realized that there were so many more subtleties that I hadn't noticed before and that the whole subject of what you're willing to sacrifice for an end to some means is fascinating. So this is one of the few movies that upon the second viewing really revealed more about the film.

Favorite Directors (and fave films of theirs)

• Coen Brothers : Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Terry Gilliam : Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and Fifth Element
• David Lynch : Blue Velvet and Lost Highway
• Kevin Smith : Chasing Amy
• Wong Kar Wai : Chungking Express
• Michel Gondry : Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• George Clooney : Good Night and Good Luck, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Favorite Actors (and fave film role or tv role)

• Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth
• Edward Norton in practically anything
• Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society
• Kevin Spacey
• Jennifer Aniston
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Clive Owen
• Jeremy Northam
• Sela Ward
• Peter Sarsgaard in Shattered Glass and Garden State

Favorite Screenwriters

• Charlie Kaufman : Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

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hlh, hlh@snurgle.org