Category: Film Page 41 of 101

Watch This: The History of Aspect Ratio

On July 2, 2013

I still remember the first time I became aware of aspect ratio and the purpose of letterboxing. I was watching AMC (back when they actually played classic movies, you know), and they ran a little short piece between movies showing comparisons of The King and I, Lawrence of Arabia, and others in both pan and scan and letterboxed versions. I was floored by how much picture you lost when cutting the frame for pan and scan.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to aspect ratio. I knew there were a bunch of different widescreen formats in the 1950s and later, but didn’t know the technical specs or reasons for each one’s introduction, or even the way that 16×9 became the standard for HDTVs. Now I know all that and much more, thanks to this comprehensive and comprehensible video from Filmmaker IQ. It’s long, but it’s great stuff.

Star Trek Into Darkness: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

By Jandy

On June 24, 2013

In Film, Things I Liked

This post contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film and don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read another sentence.

I should admit upfront that while I enjoy J.J. Abrams’ update of Star Trek, I ultimately prefer the quiet, more thoughtful and ethical dilemma-driven Original Series to the more action-oriented approach of the recent movies. That preference drives my major dislikes below, but I ultimately think it is a weaker film for its reliance on action, and that it’s not just my personal preference saying so.

I should also admit that I’ve only seen The Motion Picture of the original series movies, so I have very little knowledge or preconceptions of the particular Trek lore that informs Into Darkness.

Things I Liked

Benedict Cumberbatch

Now, THIS is a villain. Cumberbatch is menacing every second he’s on screen, but menacing in such an extremely charismatic way that I never wanted him to leave the screen. It’s only been a few days since I saw the movie, but I already remember every one of his scenes 10x better than all the other scenes. Kirk who? No, but seriously, he’s a villian who gives you chills simply with a glance or a tone of voice, and I loved seeing that.

The cast’s continued embodiment of the roles

I just said I didn’t remember the rest of the cast as much as Cumberbatch, and that’s probably true, but they still all did a wonderful job embodying their characters from the original series. That was my favorite thing about Abrams’ first Star Trek movie, and nobody’s fallen down on the job since then. I particularly liked the extra time given to Checkhov, even if he did prove not to be as good an engineer as Scottie. He was trying so hard!

Top Ten: Roger Ebert’s Great Movies

By Jandy

On June 18, 2013

In Film

Today would have been Roger Ebert’s 71st birthday had he not recently passed away. What better way to celebrate his life than to remember the films that he singled out for particular praise in his Great Movies series? Ebert did not rank these films; in fact, he added them only after he had a chance to reevaluate them and write about them, so there’s no hierarchy here at all. The ones he identified as Great Movies are likely only a fraction of what he would consider the Greatest Movies of All Time, and possibly not even the top fraction. But because the list of Great Movies is unranked by Ebert, it’s a perfect filter for Flickchart, letting us see how I personally and Flickchart users globally rank the conglomerate.

Flickchart is a movie ranking website that pits two random films against each other and asks you to choose which one is better, meanwhile building a list of your favorite films. I rank according to what I like the best, prioritizing personal preferences and emotional connections, so my Flickchart is in no way meant to be objective.

10 – The Thin Man (1934)

I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it many more times in the future – Nick and Nora Charles are my favorite on-screen married couple. They flirt and joke with each other, get through disagreements and have friendly competitions, are totally secure in each others’ love, and each is ready to take a bullet for the other if it becomes necessary. And oh, it does, because this is a murder mystery that crosses the Hammett-style detective story (Hammett actually wrote the novel the film is based on) with a touch of Agatha Christie, and a whole lot of ’30s-style witty comedy. The balance is perfect, and this is a film I can watch over and over and never get tired of.

9 – Vertigo (1958)

Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite director, and a whole bunch of his movies are in my Top 100, so it’s not surprising to find two on this list. First up, Vertigo, which is one of the first Hitchcock films I remember watching, when my cousin decided we should watch it when I was probably much too young for it. I liked it anyway, and I’ve only liked it better with every (frequent) rewatch. I love everything about this movie – the dark side of Jimmy Stewart, the lush and unrealistic colors, the slow burn, and perhaps especially the tragic Midge, who gave Scottie everything she had knowing he’d give her nothing in return. The fact that Midge’s story exists alongside and underneath the Scottie/Madeline/Judy story simply shows the breadth and nuance of Vertigo.

Top Ten: Judy Garland Films

By Jandy

On June 10, 2013

In Film

When I was younger, I went through a phase of wanting to celebrate my favorite stars’ birthdays by watching their movies. The only one I managed to very successfully was Judy Garland, whose birthday on June 10th I celebrated with marathon viewings several years in a row. To this day, June 10th never comes around with me thinking of Judy, one of the greatest entertainers of all time. At this point, I’ve seen all but a handful of her films, so let’s use Flickchart to see what my favorites are.

10 – Ziegfeld Follies (1946)

In the 1940s, several of the studios had such impressive arrays of talent under contract that they liked to do films that basically just showcased them all. Musicals were great ways to do this, since they could just cram in musical numbers featuring different people. Ostensibly a recreation of the Follies of Broadway fame, and starring William Powell reprising his role as Ziegfeld from 1936’s The Great Ziegfeld in a very thin frame device, this is really just a series of sketches and musical numbers with no connecting material whatsoever. It’s a revue, pure and simple, something that never really caught on in film, despite a few attempts in the late 1920s. So calling this “a Judy Garland film” is a bit of a stretch, since she appears in one sketch and that’s it. But she’s pretty hilarious in it, and I do enjoy the movie as a whole, which is a pretty great excuse for a lot of solid singing and dancing, and some fair to middling comedy. Garland’s bit is “A Great Lady Gives an Interview,” a pastiche on an actress who thinks she’s all that (the role was apparently supposed to go to Greer Garson in a bit of self-parody, but I guess it hit a little too close to home and she refused to do it). It’s over the top, but Garland seems to be having a ball with it.

9 – Presenting Lily Mars (1943)

I have this much higher on my list than it appears on Flickchart’s global list (where it’s near the bottom of Garland’s filmography), partially because it’s not that well known and I doubt many Flickcharters have seen it, but it also seems to be relatively maligned even among classic movie fans. I remember looking it up in Leonard Maltin’s guide (I did that for almost everything I watched back then), and being severely disappointed that he gave it ** stars, or maybe even *1/2. I even remember the gist of the one-line review: “Well, there she is, and there the movie festers.” Okay, so it ain’t a masterpiece. But it’s one of Garland’s first adult roles, and she’s fresh-faced and delightful as the title character dogging Van Heflin’s producer to try to get a job on Broadway. Along the way are numbers like “Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son” showcase not only Judy’s magnificent pipes, but her burgeoning talent as a comedienne as well.

8 – The Pirate (1948)

This highly underrated movie was something of a flop when first released; you can kind of see why, as its story of a young girl infatuated with tales of the pirate Mack the Black and a circus performer who gets mistaken for said pirate is a bit all over the place, and the musical numbers fall toward the overly frenzied. This is a fever dream of a movie in a time period that was used to far less outre entertainment. Today parts of the film might fall under the classification of camp, as in Judy’s wild performance of “Mack the Black” (in the film, she’s under the power of hypnosis and revealing her innermost passions), while others are simply fantastically silly, like Gene Kelly being outdanced by the Nicholas Brothers in Cole Porter’s “Be a Clown.” Supporting turns from the always dependable Mildred Natwick and Walter Slezak don’t hurt, either.

Scorecard: March-May 2013

By Jandy

On May 31, 2013

In Film, Scorecard

Three months at a whack this time. Somehow May got away from me, but then again it didn’t really matter too much, since I only watched one movie in May. WHAT. I know, right? I did okay watching some movies when I was just taking care of Karina, but now I’m back at work, working from home, and taking care of Karina at the same time, and that leaves ZERO time for movies. Someday this will all even out and I will get back to watching movies. In the meantime, I’m not sure where my lack of time leaves this blog. If I were smart I’d take an official leave of absence. But I’m not smart. What I’d rather do is just do shorter, more bite-sized posts and not feel like everything has to be either an in-depth review or a long recap with a dozen capsule reviews. Sometimes I just get too ambitious and feel like I just shouldn’t bother posting anything that isn’t ambitious in some way, but I don’t really want to feel like that. So the blog may get a bit more personal and stream-of-consciousness for a while. That is, if I ever actually post at all.

Okay, introspection over. On to the movies!

What I Loved

Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure

My husband has been after me to watch this almost since we started dating; I had never really considered watching it, but that’s because I clearly had no idea how awesome it is. Thank goodness Jonathan understands my sense of humor and knew I’d love this. The absurdity of Pee-Wee’s existential journey to find his stolen bike is right up my alley, and pretty much all the vignettes hit immediately. I can definitely tell this is one we’ll be quoting a LOT as the years go by.

1985 USA. Director: Tim Burton. Starring: Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger.
Seen April 24 on HBO.

The Stranger

Apparently this was Orson Welles’ least favorite of his own films, and I’m not really surprised – it’s far less ambitious and personal than most of his other films. Still, it’s too bad it tends to fall through the cracks, because regardless of how it stacks up against Welles’ masterpieces, it’s an extremely solid film noir, reminiscent of Hitchcock’s 1940s noirs (especially Shadow of a Doubt). Robinson is a detective searching for Nazi war criminals who have gone incognito after the war, and he thinks he’s found one in small-town America. Some great visuals and suspense, though perhaps a bit too dogmatic at times.

1946 USA. Director: Orson Welles. Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles.
Seen April 28 on Netflix Instant.

El Dorado

I love me a good western, and when I heard the credentials of this one, I knew I was in for a treat. I wasn’t disappointed. Hawks and Wayne reteam seven years after Rio Bravo with another hanging-out style western, as Wayne and rookie James Caan help out drunken sheriff Robert Mitchum against baddies. It’s a very similar vibe to Rio Bravo to be honest, and I enjoyed it just about as much.

1966 USA. Director: Howard Hawks. Starring: John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, James Caan.
Seen March 6 on Netflix Instant.

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

Did I mention I love me a good western? I did? Oh. I’ve about run out of name-brand classic westerns on Netflix Instant, but thankfully I found this one on there. Lancaster is lawman Wyatt Earp, who’s consistently thrown together with drunkard gambler Doc Holliday (Douglas) despite their differing viewpoints on, like, being law-abiding. It all eventually leads to the titular gunfight, but getting there is actually more fun than the climax itself. The little narrative bits of song sung by Frankie Laine are a bit on the cheesy side, but I loved them, too. Douglas’ performance is a great asset, too, bringing a devil-may-care facade on top of a man struggling greatly with illness and loneliness. I figured I’d like this film, but I think it was even better than I expected.

1957 USA. Director: John Sturges. Starring: Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming, Jo Van Fleet.
Seen April 26 on Netflix Instant.

Rewatches

Mildred Pierce (1945; Michael Curtiz) – The film that taught me that melodrama isn’t a bad word, and it still holds up. I had actually forgotten how the murder played out, so the suspense even worked the second time around (I have a notoriously bad memory for the resolution of mysteries).