Holy smokes we watched a lot of movies this week!
One of my movie buddies, my eldest daughter, wrapped up her college stuff recently and that’s meant she’s had some free time at night. And that meant digging into our movie-tsundoku pile a bit where we ended up doing something like five movies over three nights after not doing anything for several months overall. And it just reminds me how fun it is to have some good sit-downs afterward talking movie and real history about them.
The first up on the list was They Live, a John Carpenter classic for me that really was a kind of surreal experience when I saw it in my junior year of high school at some hole in the wall theater with a good friend. Coming out of it and into the mall, taking a new view of everything, well, it wasn’t exactly life-altering at that age but it put a bit more skepticism in my pocket. The film has hands down one of my favorite fight scenes put to celluloid because of the length and honesty of it all with them getting worn but also for the cinematography as it avoided doing lots of quick cuts. It’s just punch after punch after punch. This is a property that I do think could make for a good three-season TV adaptation with some easy expansion.
The next night took us down the Starship Troopers path. With lots of discussions about fascism and the like, a satirical film that leans into that certainly has its merits to talk about and this Paul Verhoeven film is fascinating to watch just in how it’s been interpreted over the years. I’ve seen it many times but this viewing had me picking up on the music side as I have in the past with a great Bowie cover and the use of some other ’90s bands that just bring back a lot of memories. More than anything, however, it made me want to revisit the book and left me wishing that we had a proper serious adaptation of that still.
The third night lead to a double-header that was a delight. I’ve got all of the Invasion of the Body Snatchers films and where they reflect the time they’re made means you really need to start at the beginning. Watching films from “the old days” can be tough at times with how they’re put together and this one from 1956 certainly has its problems. But part of my “film education” series that I do with my kids over the years works best with these kinds of films since we’ve got three more made decades later and you can see the evolution of a concept so clearly in how it’s told. But it’s key to start at the beginning. I have an affection for this one as I saw it when I was young and it gave me some late ’70s nightmares to be sure.
Since that film is so short, just 80 minutes, we did a double-header and went with the 2011 The Thing. I really enjoy this film even though it’s a semi-prequel as it tells the tale about the events in the weeks before the 1982 film that John Carpenter did. This one sticks to the aesthetic, though it struggles in creating the CG monsters while trying to look practical, and it’s lead by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I think I’ve adored her in just about every role she’s done since Scott Pilgrim and I really dug the whole idea here of exploring how everything unfolded. I know people like the mystery of it from the first one but this one really has me wishing it went further and explored the ship more. Stupidly pulling for a sequel still!
A few things I took in my own time were fairly varied. I finally went back to watch Meet Joe Black and I enjoy it even more than past viewings. The cast is great, that opening death scene is still hilarious when it shouldn’t be, and I just enjoyed the hell out of the interplay between Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. I’ll not speak of my crush on Claire Forlani again.
I also went back to revisit The 13th Warrior but it continues to be a film that I become engaged with but absolutely forget everything about afterward.
A little animated fare made it into the mix with a new viewing of the 2014 CG film The Book of Life. The story is straightforward – which is why it and Coco feel so similar – but I just adore the visual design for this throughout. It’s distinctive and colorful, full of life and just a delight to watch unfold as you can feel the passio of the animation team.
I also went and had some fun watching the two-disc set fro Depeche Mode: The Video’s 86-98 since it has a lot of good stuff from the band and others talking about the process, head space, and experiences along the way. I also watched The Corrupter, again wishing Chow Yun-Fat had a bigger Hollywood career as I just find him absolutely charismatic in a way that really captures my attention.
This week has Nausicaa in the theaters for two separate nights in sub and dub form. Make sure you go. It needs to be seen on the big screen.