Here’s the breakdown of what I watched at home, lovingly transcribed from the sidebar with some dashes of remembrance thrown in.
Across the Universe — odd, very long, vaguely unenjoyable.
Adam’s Rib — delightful, funny and smart.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen — we rewatched this on Bluray, having only owned the laserdisc in times past. Hilarious, bizarre and beautiful.
The Adventures of Robin Hood — Purchased on Bluray thanks to my ongoing childhood obsession with Robin Hood. Dashing, funny, romantic. So much meat…
Away from Her — a quiet and utterly heartbreaking tale of a couple struggling with the wife’s Alzheimer’s disease.
Badlands — I was very tired when I watched this. I may have fallen asleep and choose to refrain from comment until I see it again.
Blood Simple — if only the Coen’s characters would learn to communicate with each other, things wouldn’t go so horribly wrong! But then we wouldn’t have these cool movies, I guess.
A Bug’s Life — it is, indeed, a beautiful butterfly.
Clueless — I originally saw this in the cinema. I adored it, my friends all claimed to hate it. It was the beginning of my love affair with Paul Rudd. Paul (the Pants in Motion version, not the Rudd one, obviously) had never seen it and that was just wrong, IMO.
Cool Hand Luke — embarrassingly, I was the one who had never seen this. Paul Newman being awesome and gorgeous with added religious allegory. My perfect film.
Coraline — you know what sucks about living in Australia? That sometimes you can buy a film from the USA before it arrives in the cinemas here. I loved it, and plan on watching it again soon. It was a very good year for animated films.
Cube — a small, smart existential number. The acting was a little wooden at first, but I forgave that pretty quickly.
Dan in Real Life — “This corn is like an angel.”
Dangerous Liaisons — Stephen Frears is so good that he made me like John Malkovich. He’s not good enough to make me like 80s film stock though — the print used for the DVD looked appalling.
Dark City — oft quoted as the precursor to The Matrix. Not nearly as engaging as The Matrix as I couldn’t invest in characters who were composed of constantly changing facades.
Dark Water — I was with this film right up to the end, where it where it went ridiculously off the rails. Why do mother figures always have to give up their lives for the dead children? Why can’t supernatural elements be more subtle and restrained?
Death at a Funeral — I expected better. Underwhelming.
The Fearless Freaks — I would like to give all involved in the making of this wonderful documentary a great big hug. I did touch Wayne’s foot through the bubble at the Flaming Lips concert last year. It was possibly the greatest moment of my life.
The Fearless Vampire Killers — quite silly.
The Filth and the Fury — I don’t really remember much about watching this. I think I enjoyed it.
4 months, 3 weeks & 2 days — utterly gut wrenching and unforgettable. A powerful reminder that we should never take our freedoms for granted. I teared up right now just looking at the IMDB page. Everybody should see this film.
Frantic — poor Harrison Ford had such a horrible day. Plus he had to do that scene where he ate paper, one of the few things that triggers my vomit reflex. Aside from that, the film was very enjoyable.
Gigli — I cannot believe I almost forgot to add Gigli to this list. The movie everyone loves to hate, even if they haven’t seen it. And you know what, it’s really not that bad. Sure, it’s completely implausible, and there’s that one guy that went, as Robert Downey Jr would put it, full retard, but overall it’s a well acted, interesting film. I enjoyed it.
Glue — the first film from director Alexis Dos Santos, who I will talk more about later. A little wishy-washy, but quite beautiful to look at.
Hamlet 2 — Rock me sexy Jesus! All night long!
Happy-Go-Lucky — I really thought I would hate Poppy, but I just couldn’t. Some people seem to really detest this film; I adored it.
Heathers — The first time I saw Heathers was at my ex’s house when I was 18, on his small TV, broken up by commercials with his family coming and going. Not the ideal situation, and I ended up not really getting it. This time, I loved it. It’s one of the films from that era that still really holds up today.
Hot Fuzz — it’s not as good as Shaun, in my opinion. But then, not many things are. Wonderfully witty.
The Hottest State — people tend to dismiss Ethan Hawke as a writer and director due to his career as an actor. They shouldn’t. This film, while a little long, captures the earnest nature of youth quite beautifully.
I Am a Sex Addict — thoroughly engaging and likable.
In Bruges — or, as I like to refer to it, In Effing Bruges. Fucking brilliant.
The Incredibles — an aptly named film, for sure.
Jaws — note to filmmakers: this is how it’s done.
Juno — the film that made me laugh the first time I saw it, then bawl uncontrollably for an entire weekend the second time. This was the third viewing. I coped far better, but the scene at the end between Juno and Mack in the hospital still destroys me. I simultaneously want to hug Jason Reitman and kick him in the balls.
Kids — it’s shocking and difficult and heartbreaking and every singe teenager should see it.
Kung Fu Panda — really, really fun.
Lars and the Real Girl — I want to make a joke like “show me on the doll where this film touched you”, but this film doesn’t deserve such stupid and cheap humour. A wonderful story about family, community, a troubled man and his plastic girlfriend.
The Last Starfighter — I can understand why so many little boys loved this film back in the day, but really, it’s just not very good.
Live Free or Die Hard — I didn’t hate it, but it was pretty stupid. Doesn’t remotely compare to its predecessors.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — whereupon we fall in love with Hobbits, wizards and Viggo Mortensen.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers — Viggo Mortensen continues to be hot.
Man on Wire — this captivating documentary occupies the same space in my heart that the Flaming Lips do. Seeing it inspired me to be a better person.
The Man Who Wasn’t There — up there with my favourites from the Coen brothers. Earlier comment about communication still applies.
The Manchurian Candidate — people love this film; I don’t know why. It’s silly and utterly predictable with extraordinarily overblown two-dimensional characters.
Millions — it has the Danny Boyle stylings, but reeks a little too much of ‘made for TV’.
My Beautiful Laundrette — there’s a laundrette in Fitzroy named after this film. It makes me smile every time I see it.
Pleasantville — one of my all time favourites. I think we watched this with Paul’s mum, who I believe described it haltingly as “different” and “interesting”, in the way that only mums can.
Rachel Getting Married — a wonderful and sympathetic film about substance abuse and family relationships. Excellent performaces all round, not just from Anne Hathaway.
Raging Bull — one of my List of Shame films (ie, films that I really should have seen but haven’t). I thought it was very good, but it didn’t grab me as much as I expected it to.
Rear Window — another from the list of shame. Hitchcock really knew his shit. This was fantastic.
Rififi — quite long, but not a film that suffers for it at all. The premise of the film is a jewellery heist, and the scenes of the break-in are absolutely riveting. Plus, Rififi is just so much fun to say.
The Right Stuff — I’d never seen this. I know, I can’t believe it either. The brash, overtly American bravado of the characters frustrated me at times, but I did really enjoy it.
Robin Hood: Men in Tights — sometimes you just shouldn’t rewatch the films you loved as a child.
Role Models — a somewhat fun, lightweight film with a horribly messy storyline.
The Science of Sleep — Dear Michel Gondry, I love you. Please keep making beautiful things.
Shaolin Soccer — quite enjoyable, but not nearly as memorable or awesome as Kung Fu Hustle.
Shopgirl — back on a now defunct bulletin board, the posters would often get up in arms about films that portrayed relationships between older men (or men in power) and younger women. Usually the posters would deride these films without ever bothering to see them. Shopgirl was one of these. I now have a rule where I try really hard not to diss films without having viewed them first. And this one is lovely. Claire Danes is delightful and should really get more work.
Sita Sings the Blues — a wonderful, witty animated film that unfortunately suffers from being made almost entirely by one person.
Son of Rambow — it makes my heart happy to even think about this film.
Sullivan’s Travels — Preston Sturges. What a genius.
Sunshine — some people don’t like the ending. Those people are wrong. Also, the space suits are stunningly beautiful.
Superbad — I laughed and I laughed. And then I laughed some more.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three — what a fucking crackerjack of a film. Awesome in every singe way.
The Tenant — it was just… so… odd…
The Terminator — another one from the list of shame. Yes, you read that right, I didn’t see The Terminator until 2009 and I damn well loved it. My favourite James Cameron film by far.
The Transporter — stupid mindless beefcakey fun.
The Transporter 2 — a load of unenjoyable, unintelligible nonsense.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona — I certainly wouldn’t deny Javier Bardem some babies, if he, you know, offered. A beautiful film filled with beautiful scenery (of both the human and location varieties).
Waltz with Bashir — I was a little disappointed with this, but I feel bad for saying so… it’s a very good film, but I can’t shake the feeling that it could have been better.
Wanted — the more I see this film, the more I enjoy it. And not just because it’s centred around a magical loom. It’s clever, the acting is great and on the whole it’s ridiculously enjoyable.
Watchmen — I’m so happy I didn’t get around to seeing this at the cinema. What a crushing, horrible disappointment of a film. We borrowed the Bluray from a friend and I still feel like demanding my money back.
So that’s it. My year of cinema at home. 70 71 films (Gigli, can you believe I forgot to add Gigli to the list!!!??!) Not too shabby.
