I’m slowly catching up.

Patriot Games - I checked this one out because I’d watched all these serious and artsy films and decided to go for more of a popcorn movie. The films based on Tom Clancy’s novels are generally good, and tend to be above average for the typical cookie cutter good guy/bad-guy movie, which is kind of what they are. Definitely check out The Hunt For Red October if you haven’t seen it already. However, I don’t think I particularly like the Harrison Ford films. I like Jack Ryan better as a desk jockey, the type who isn’t really prepared to smash heads, which is why I prefer Red October and The Sum of All Fears to this. This film really had a good chance to delve into the Ireland conflict a bit more, but that really just served as a backdrop for a standard villain out for revenge scenario. As such, it really is kind of boring. What is good about the Clancy novels is that they draw in the political intrigue and conflict into the story. This movie didn’t do that well. Great soundtrack, though.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Heh, imagine my surprise when I realized that Louise Fletcher and Brad Dourif were in this film. I had only known her from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and it’s obvious now that this is a role she is much more widely known for. That’s why I did this Netflix run; I’d rather not sound like an idiot when watching a classic film and say something like, “Dude! That’s Kai Winn from DS9! And Piter from Dune!” I wasn’t particularly moved by this one, but it was watchable. There’s not a whole lot I can say about it; it was well written and acted, but it didn’t really leave a lasting impression on me.

Schindler’s List - Finally got around to seeing this. It’s solid throughout; hard to point out any real weaknesses in this film. There are no real slow points, and it actually comes across as a good blend of documentary and drama. I like how Spielberg didn’t really hold back in his presentation, and decided to highlight some of the more gruesome and terrifying events. Great filmmaking, but you can’t really call it enjoyable or escapist.

12 Angry Men - Fantastic. It’s great the way most of the film is shot in the jury room. It’s really quite amazing (and believable) to see every juror’s individual prejudices come out and influence each other, shifting attitudes. Many elements are captured well here, from the sheer pettiness of one of the jurors trying to get a verdict quickly so he can catch a ballgame (despite it being a murder trial) to stereotypes based on class differences. It’s an older movie as well, but it really holds up even today.

2001: A Space Odyssey - You know, I’ve liked all of the other Stanley Kubrick films I’ve seen, but really didn’t like this one. Apparently Arthur C. Clark was quoted as saying “If you understand 2001 completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered.” I suppose that’s one way to make a film, and it might have been amazing back in 1968, but this just does not hold up well. Aside from that, there are a handful of elements that don’t piece together well, and Kubrick’s apparent obsession with the photography used just does not make it very watchable. All of his other films are directly engaging in some form or another; I’m just not sure what he was going for here.

Platoon - I actually only watched this because it uses Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and the resulting film has had ties into pop culture on occasion. My overall goal here is to become more familiar with cinema’s effect on American culture, but I think there are more powerful Vietnam films out there. I didn’t like the story since I felt it focused too much on American vs. American conflict instead of the larger picture. That could be accomplished in any setting, really. It’s obvious that war brings out the worst in people and society as a whole. However, this film uses a nameless, faceless enemy just as a foil to drive the action and plot forward. This is where films such as Full Metal Jacket excelled. Platoon was still good, but I was expecting more out of it.

Run Lola Run - Awesome stuff. Somewhat unique storytelling, and a solid techno score, to boot! =) It basically takes a scenario and plays through it three times, with minor differences that result in very different outcomes. A solid blend of humor, action, and drama make this very watchable. Highly recommended, especially to those who like foreign films.

Memento - I’d heard so much about this film and absolutely loved Chris Nolan’s work in Batman Begins, so I thought I’d check this out. Really trippy stuff, and I still don’t think I’ll even come close to understanding everything even if I watch it a couple more times. Still, it’s masterfully edited, acted, and directed considering such an insane script. Definitely good for those who are into alternative methods of filmmaking.

Since I never update here anyway, I figure writing comments on the movies I’ve watched via Netflix would be useful to both myself for future reference and for anyone interested. I’ll be posting this in segments since I have a lot to cover from January:

Ghost World: Surprisingly good. As everyone knows, I have a serious thing for Scarlett Johannson, which is probably the primary reason I checked this out. I also do generally like independent films, and this one did not disappoint. Kinda like another of Scarlett’s movies, Lost In Translation, the writing and the directing managed to really nail interpersonal relationships and discourse. Solid ending too, that left much to interpretation. Highly recommended.

Philadelphia: Overrated. I was expecting a lot more out of this movie than Hollywood fluff, but that’s about all I got. Another movie I checked out for one person’s work (in this case, cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, who has shot Silence of the Lambs and Signs among many other popular films). He has a very unique style that can really change your perception of a story. Anyway, I don’t think this film has held up well. It came out over ten years ago, and perhaps it was a better film for its time then than it is now. It’s just so fluffy and the message that “everyone hates gays” is so thinly-veiled. It’s either that the screenplay was written by people who had no real concept of male gay society, or it was written by gays who didn’t know what they were doing. Frankly, I was kind of offended by how this film portrays homosexuals as hornballs, running around trying to get some action.

That’s it for now, more to come.