11/26/16 Blue Velvet, 1986 #60 BBC
Many people claim this to be one of David Lynch's best films. I'm not expert enough to say that. I will say there were some intriguing moments, well-laid out elements of film noir, but at the end of the day, I really didn't like it. I thought Dennis Hopper's sadistic character of Frank was way over the top; perhaps crazy sadists are like that, I don't know. It did put Hopper back in the public eye. I think Lynch lost me at the beginning when Jeffrey's (Kyle MacLachlan) father is stung (I think) by something and falls down and is then hospitalized with some pretty devastating injuries. It made no sense, and from that point (which was really like five minutes into the movie) I was really skeptical about everything. I'm not a huge fan of Isabella Rossellini who played Dorothy Vallens, the femme fatale and whipping girl of Frank Booth, and object of lust for Jeffrey. I don't think she's a great actress, and she seems to overdo everything here. This was more time than I planned to spend on a movie I didn't like. I don't have the energy to give you anything else. If you like sado-masochism, you'll probably enjoy this.
11/27/16 Spider-Man 2, Best Visual Effects, 2004
"Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can." Spider-Man is omnipresent in the Marvel universe; whenever I go through my comic books looking for photo opportunities, I find that I have a lot of Spider-Man comics, almost more than any other. I think that's because the Spider-Man of the comics and the animated series is fun, filled with action and a wonderful palette of villains. Sadly, I don't think that always translates so well on the big screen (or as well and as amazing as I would like); it might be a case of being spoiled with too many options. Having said all of that, I did enjoy watching Toby McGuire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the second film of this particular franchise. In the story, Peter finds it very difficult to find that work/super hero balance that every masked hero desires. He is falling behind in school, not keeping up with photo ops for The Daily Bugle, or his promises to his friend/girlfriend, Mary Jane (Kristen Dunst). Peter also gets the opportunity to meet one of his heroes, Dr. Otto Octavius/Dr. Ock (Alfred Molina) who creates, and is later taken over by his own invention. Of course, the mad scientist wreaks havoc on New York and Peter's personal life as his beloved Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Mary Jane are threatened. So, Spider-Man is back in action. Not only does Spider-Man have to battle Doc Ock, but he has to fight Harry Osborn (James Franco), who is Peter's best friend, but who has sworn to destroy Spider-Man. The effects and action sequences are great, and still hold up ten years later (so much has changed in visual effects, you never know if they'll look dated). Personally, I don't think McGuire/Parker is as wise-cracking as I would like and what I'm used to, I think Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man got better lines and was more Spidey than McGuire's version. I also think the problem/challenge with introducing new villains all the time (this is true for any super hero movie) is that sometimes so much time is spent on the origin story of the villain, there isn't enough time left for the good stuff; and since there's a new villain all the time, this happens with every new film. I like origin stories, but sometimes it seems like a vicious cycle. I think that's why I still like the animated versions of the super hero universe, because they are shorter stories, that pack a lot into each episode. This may make sense only to people who watch too many super hero movies and television shows (which is not a bad thing at all).
11/28/16 Leaving Las Vegas, Best Actor, 1995
Sometimes I think there is a reason I didn't see a movie when it first came out. This is one of those times. Nicholas Cage won the Best Actor for his role as Ben Sanderson a writer whose life has been taken over by his alcoholism and desire for self-destruction. Between this movie and Blue Velvet, I kind of found myself wallowing in the cesspool of human frailties. Elisabeth Shue is Sera, a prostitute who forms a not all together healthy relationship with Ben. I almost turned off the movie, which I try not to do, to honor the list, but I was close. The last twenty minutes were some of the best acted and intense scenes I have watched; why I had to slog through the earlier scenes, I'll never know. This is another movie that I do not have the interest to review more in depth or offer any other insight (limited as it is).
Sometimes I just try to get through the list. This entry is an example of that.
Remaining on the list:
Oscar winners: 765
AFI 100: 4
BBC 100: 26
National Film Registry: 500
