Although I had the best of intentions of watching all the foreign films today, I only got to one. I decided to watch The White Ribbon first because it looked creepy and I had heard really good things.

The first thing you need to know about this movie is that it’s long. 137 minutes, to be exact. Also of note, the subtitles are white. The movie is in black and white and the subtitles show up fine on the dark scenes but the outlined them in black on the lighter scenes and the words are nearly impossible to see.

That’s the bad.

On the other hand, I think I really liked the movie. I think The White Ribbon is a film you need to think on for awhile to truly form an opinion. The film, at its most basic, is about a small town in Germany just before the outbreak of WWI. Strange and horrible things start happening in the town and the children of the town always seem to be situated near the crime scenes.

The narrator lays out the goal of the film in the beginning. He suggests that telling the story of what happened in the town will help to explain some of the things that happened in Germany. It is truly a film about the seeds of fascism and cruelty being sewn into the children. It is no wonder that the town turns evil when the children are subjected to ritual punishment, sexual abuse, and are horribly repressed. The adults are all hypocrites and there is almost no one and nothing to root for in the film. However, it is an interesting look at evil and the ways in which evil is bred.

Somewhere in the midst of the film, I was reminded of the scene in Schindler’s List when the train carrying the women gets routed to Auschwitz instead of Schindler’s camp. Mila looks out the window of the train and sees a young girl near the tracks. The girl drags her finger across her throat, clearly delighting in the fact that all these women were going to die. That girl could have been any child in The White Ribbon. The spark that sent the country hurtling towards Nazism started long before the first camp was built and this movie gives a look at that spark.

I saw three Oscar nominees today. I finished out the animated film category and am 4/5 through with best actress.

The first thing I watched was The Princess and the Frog. When I saw the first trailer for this film, I immediately recoiled. It looked so incredibly racist. I was pleasantly surprised, however, with just how GOOD the movie was. It wasn’t racist in the slightest. Instead, it was the most modern feeling of any Disney 2D animated movie that I can remember. The voice acting was top notch and the princess was a hard-working waitress who worked three jobs just to achieve her dream. I loved that aspect. All in all, a truly fun film that I would happily watch again.

After that, I met a co-worker and we went to see An Education. Y’all, it was sooooo good. Carey Mulligan is a true find and Alfred Molina was better than I have ever seen him. Peter Sarsgaard was the appropriate amount of creepy and charming. I thought Olivia Williams also gave a nice, restrained performance. The story was about a sixteen year old girl with dreams of studying English at Oxford who gets swept up in an affair with an older man. Mulligan did such an amazing job of conveying youthful innocence and a sense of wonder at the sudden changes to her life. There were two scenes though, both dealing with intimacy between her and Sarsgaard, that I could barely watch. So uncomfortable. The biggest disappointment about this film was that Sandra Bullock will likely beat Carey Mulligan for best actress. Ridiculous.

Finally, I watched the last of the animated film nominees, The Secret of Kells. I knew nothing of this film when it was nominated and barely anything more when I started watching it. It was an Irish film about the monastery at Kells and the writing of the famed Book of Kells. I was was a totally tough customer going into this film. I loved both Ponyo and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and I just couldn’t believe this would be better. I have to say, I was blown away. The art style in this film is like nothing I have ever seen before. The seemed to have based it on the folios in the actual Book of Kells which gives the movie this trippy, dreamy quality. They often did away with perspective in favor of the style. It was truly cool. The character and story were good enough but the style…that’s why this movie was nominated. Awesome. I actually now believe it was The Princess and the Frog that took the fifth spot. The Secret of Kells was better. The highest praise I can give a movie is to say that it captured my undivided attention. I am a multi-tasker to the extreme but Secret of Kells commanded my attention. It was beautiful. What a year for animated films.

Tomorrow, the foreign films.

The same day I watched Unforgiven, I watched Blade Runner which is also on the AFI list.  Maybe I’m just grumpy lately but I don’t like any of these films!  I love science fiction and I love noir so…a cross between the two should be a natural fit for me, right?  Incorrect.  What a boring movie.

I’m not even really going to say anything else about it.  It was boring and I was bored.  I DID enjoy seeing where a lot of the ideas in the revamp of Battlestar came from but man…that did not outweigh the boredom.

This past weekend, I watched the next film on the list, Bringing Up Baby.  This movie was actually incredibly funny.  I thought Cary Grant would be the one making me laugh and at times, he did.  But he is definitely the straight man when compared to Katherine Hepburn’s very kooky Susan.  I laughed a lot during this movie and even when the plot started to drag, the action and gags were coming fast enough to keep me entertained.  I have seen a lot of old movies but somehow I have just never quite understood the allure of Katherine Hepburn.  I’m starting to really get it.  She lights up the screen.  She did subtle things when most people were still treating movies like they were a play.  I have long been a fan of Cary Grant and paired up, they really were fantastic together.  Lots of comedy talent in that duo.

Next up, Do the Right Thing (A Spike Lee joint) and The Searchers.

I’ve still been slooooooowly making my way through the AFI movie list. I recently watched Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Unforgiven and boy do I ever have opinions.

First of all, I hated Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. I thought it was boring, I thought some of the acting was terrible, and I thought they forced the setup of the issue.

So, of course everyone know what this film is about but just in case, here is a brief synopsis: Joey (a girl) is going home to see her parents (awesomely played by Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn) and she is bringing her African American fiance with them (Sidney Poitier). Her liberal parents are forced to face their own prejudices and overcome their reluctance to accept them if they want their daughter to be happy. Spoiler alert: They do.

The message of the movie was fine and important and still relevant today. Where the movie fell apart was that Spencer and Hepburn came off more as concerned parents who didn’t want their daughter to enter into a life that might be more difficult. They were never malicious toward the Sidney Poitier character and actually accepted him quite quickly. It was a different time and even the most liberal of people probably would have been taken aback by their only daughter bringing any man home and giving them one day to give their blessing for marriage. It just felt like a lot of their reluctance had a lot to do with that and the fact that their daughter was extremely naive.

I just thought the movie was boring and a little heavy-handed. The one totally bright spot in the film was the last ten minutes. When Spencer Tracey stood up to give his speech, I thought the movie arrived.

All that said, I thought the movie was completely well-meaning and I understand why it would have been ground-breaking in the 60’s. I just personally did not enjoy it.

The next movie I watched was Unforgiven and I had a bit of a hard time with this one as well. I am not really a western person. There are a few I enjoy but it would never be my first choice. With Unforgiven, I could see how someone who likes westerns would be crazy about this film. For me, it was just pretty good.

Clint Eastwood was fantastic as was Morgan Freeman but aside from that, it’s hard for me to even comment too much on the movie. It didn’t really hold my focus. That’s not to say that it was boring. I just wasn’t interested in the story. The big shootout in the bar was insanely cool though. Clint Eastwood man…what a badass.

All in all though…Toy Story is still my fave of the AFI movies I’ve watched.

We saw Inglorious Basterds today. I have to say I completely loved it. It was so fun and funny and tense and just…Tarantino. I don’t think it was as good of a film as Kill Bill but I found every second immensely entertaining or at least engaging.

Brad Pitt was hilarious and possibly the most at ease I’ve seen him on screen in awhile. But for all the focus that has been on Brad Pitt, the star of the movie was easily Christoph Waltz. He was every inch the villain. He was gleeful in his villainy. He was that complex sort of villain that I love that has his own motives for doing what he does. He is starring in his own story in which he is the hero, the mastermind. Every scene with him was just dripping with tension and I was constantly on the edge of my seat.

I thought the movie was just fantastic. From the mixture of styles, to the complete rewriting of history, I just loved it. If I have any complaint, it’s I would love to have spent more time with the basterds. However, I wouldn’t have wanted to lose any of the time with Shoshanna or Landa so the only way would have been if this was a three hour film (which I actually would have been ok with).

In the end, this is up there with Star Trek, District 9, and Julie and Julia as favorites of the summer. But it is definitely the most fun I’ve had at the theater all year.

Had lots of fun last night. I was going to leave early this morning but Ryan asked if I wanted to see Julie & Julia. I readily agreed. I had been wanting to see this film since I read the book and I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to convince anyone to go with me (not that I have any qualms about going to the theater alone).

Let me just say, I loved every second of this film. It was funny and beautifully acted and inspirational. They were so smart to cast Amy Adams in the Julie Powell role. My main criticism of the book was how grating and unsympathetic Julie came across. I have no doubt that cooking that many recipes in that amount of time was an enormously trying task but the constant complaining and mistreatment of her unbelievably patient husband left a bad taste in my mouth. Fortunately for the film, even at her most whiny, Amy Adams is still, somehow, a joy to watch.

From the Julie story, they cut out a few things I’d have really liked to see but I think they really did the story justice. It was very well adapted and I liked a lot of the little details from the book that quietly made their way into the movie. I had a little laugh when Julie and Eric drove up in their old Jeep. It’s only shown for about thirty seconds and never mentioned again but it reminded me of all the moments in the book where that Jeep caused them problems.

Interspersed with the Julie story, they told the story of Julia Child discovering cooking and writing Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This part of the movie was revelatory. They could have easily done two solid hours on Julia Child alone. It’s been said already and will be said again before the year is out but Meryl Streep was brilliant in this role. I forgot it was Meryl Streep. She just was Julia. It moved far past impression or imitation and right into the realm of perfect acting. I think she’ll get an Oscar nomination for this film. Also awesome was Stanley Tucci as her husband Paul. Not that that’s a surprise either.

I am totally surprised to say that I really loved this film. I laughed a lot and remembered all over again why Julie’s story inspired me to be a little less lazy. Ryan seemed to really enjoy the movie as well and if you are worried about it being a chick flick, it really isn’t.

This year, I have been so unimpressed and disappointed by nearly every movie I’ve seen. This weekend, between District 9 and Julie & Julia, I finally feel like this year might be a decent one for movies. It has to be…we have 10 Best Picture slots to fill.

Next week: Inglorious Basterds.

I went to College Station today and Zac, Ryan, and I went to see District 9. I thought it was fantastic. I haven’t seen Zac grin that much about a movie since we saw Cloverfield. That’s not to say they are in any way similar but they are equally unique sci-fi movies.

District 9 was a total surprise to me. I had avoided trailers and reviews and had no expectations. I was a little worried when the trailers were all for horror movies but the film wasn’t scary at all. It was haunting and deep and enormously well done.

I was incredibly surprised by the effects. I had heard the budget was pretty small and was expecting the old school technique of building suspense by never showing anything. Instead, the effects were done brilliantly. The aliens were fantastically rendered. Even Christopher, an alien with Jar Jar Binks levels of screen-time, was simply alive on screen. I actually forgot that he was CG, something I was never quite able to do with Jar Jar or even Gollum.

All in all, it was a fantastic movie and, along with Star Trek, the best I’ve seen this summer.

I have been getting a ton of movies from Netflix and in the last batch, I got the first of my AFI movies. I got serious about my AFI list a few weeks ago and combined the original list with the 2007 update. All total, I think there are something like 121 movies to watch between the two lists.

I am watching the films in reverse order and rewatching anything I have already seen. I am watching in the original 1997 order and sliding the 2007 add-ons in below the positions they took.

The first film I watched was the old James Cagney film, Yankee Doodle Dandy. I was not looking forward to watching the movie. I love old movies but there is a certain era of musicals that I am not crazy about and this was released during that time. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the film. James Cagney was great and I really enjoyed the story.

The movie is about the playwright George M. Cohan and it picks up after the opening night of the musical I’d Rather Be Right in which Cohan is starring as Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After the show, he is summoned to the White House to meet with Roosevelt and over the course of the meeting, Cohan relays the story of his life. His life is detailed from the Vaudeville circuit to the bright lights of Broadway. They show some of his plays and the songs that made him famous.

The movie was totally enjoyable and I was thoroughly engaged for the whole film. Cagney was a total star and I had no trouble seeing why he won the Academy Award for the film. The only negative I noticed was the kind of knee-jerk racism that is easy to spot in this era of film. In one scene, The Four Cohans are performing on the stage in black face. All the servants in the film are black and there are no other black people or minorities in any roles that aren’t either stereotypical or demeaning. Unfortunately, that is an issue that is nearly impossible to avoid in older films.

There were two standout moments of the film. The first was when he shook Roosevelt’s hand after being presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor and uttered the famous line, “My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you.” The second was when he was leaving the White House and tapped right down the long stair case. Great film, great performance, great way to kick off item 11.

The next film I watched was Toy Story. Of course, I had already seen the movie but it had been awhile. I was excited to rewatch it and it didn’t disappoint. It really holds up. The idea is just so exciting. It must be amazing to see it for the first time as a child and imagine that all your toys are coming to life, that they have feelings and personalities and are looking out for you. As an adult, I really enjoyed the nostalgic look at classic toys and the humor that we now all expect from Pixar.

It’s easy now to forget that Pixar wasn’t always the gold standard in animation. Toy Story was the first feature film from Pixar and while it’s amazing to think of how far they have come, it’s equally amazing to think about where they started. The movie is just incredibly solid, the plot is engaging and sweet, and the idea is truly exciting.

Next, I have Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Unforgiven, Blade Runner, and Bringing Up Baby.