Groundhog Day

Just putting this out there: I LOVE feel-good movies. Even though Groundhog Day was pretty dark , the big picture was boy likes girl, boy can't get girl, boy realizes his faults to become a better person and get the girl (yay). It was little details to the film (like Ned Ryerson) that made the movie fun. Once I realized the repetition necesary in a movie like this, I was unsure about how good a movie could be if it was the same day over and over again. The way it was done was so funny, though. I can imagine that for someone like Phil, Punxawtawney is the worst place in the world to get stuck in, and it was a great setup for a movie like this. My favorite part of the movie was the way he had the entire scheduleof the town memorized and was able to steal the money. He realization that his days had absolutely no consequence made us think "what if we had no consequences?" or "what if there is no tomorrow?" It's a bizarre concept, and I know I've had days that i want to "last forever", but PHil had a day that he genuinely hated. Growing to love and accept the situation he was placed in is a huge character development and it was great to see such a bitter and arrogant character shed that meanness and grow into a romantic and spirited person without losing his humor that was funny and biting all along.

He Loves Gooooooooold!

This was the first Bond movie I have seen (yes, ever) and, although it wasn't really my favorite, there is no doubt that it was entertaining. Whether we were snickering at Pussy Galore or the technology of the 1960s or just enjoying the film, it was good. Bond's hyper-misogynistic approach to everything he does is annoying and frustrating, but it's all about creating the persona of an international spy out to save the world from a strangem gold-obsessed German man's atomic bomb, right?
Side note: I learned that Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond books, also wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Its kind of neat that soemone could write books like that. They're completely different stories and completely different characters. That's no mean feat considering that so many authors just recycle characters and settings and plots.
And the gadget car was great. I was kind of jealous.

Please, whatever you do, do NOT spend your money on "30 Days of Night". Please.

Double Indemnity

I really enjoyed the film. Stanwyck's character was incredibly unfeeling and manipulative the whole time, and I think that, without her, the film would have lost a certain mystery and uncomfortableness that came exclusively out of her eyes. That to me was the most striking part of the entire film, the way that Phyllis looked at the camera and other people, as if she was possessed or something awful. The murder scene and the way PHyllis looks at Neff in the grocery store in her sunglasses were particularly jarring to me.
As a general form of entertainment, i thought the dialogue was a little bit too fast, and that "baby" is far too overused. It probably sounded really really super cool back then, but it kind of dates teh film.
The lighting was also amazing, and it makes me wonder how much time actually was put into making everything so dark. I also wonder about the initial response of the audience when the film screened for the first time, espeically with the whole Hays Code business.....
Aaaaand I think a lot more thought went into old movies than they do today, and it makes me a little sad. It's really hard to compare Double Indemnity to something from today and not feel bad.

Spirited Away

It was just so pretty. I've never really gotten into the Anime genre, nor have I watched a non-Disney animated film before, so it was really a treat to see so much creativity and AMAAAAAZING animation in one film. It wasn't so much the plot that intrigued me, it was much more the visual aspect of the film, and the concept that all of these characters and images and ideas were from Miyazaki. One of the more interesting things about the film was the behind the scenes and the sheer number of drawings made for a movie.
I though tthe most beautiful scene was when Haku was walking Chichiro through the flowers, adn it seemed that the scenery was completely engulfing the audience.

Fight the Power! (And Do The Right Thing)

I thought the film was kind of slow at first, and that characters like Radio Raheem were petty and unneccessary. Little did I know that characters like Raheem would make the film for me and I would love it as much as I did. Lee's awareness of social situations and racism and community enhance the film to make it extraordinary. It was a great compilation of characters that embodied different kinds of people.
My favorite concept of the movie was the prejudices present in the Korean man, the Italian family, and the African-American people. Everyone had their own biases and grudges against the other groups, and I think it was well done in a way that forces every community to look at the way they view others.
The most striking scene is (unsurprisingly?) that of Radio Raheem's brutal murder and the riot that ensues. As Raheem was slowly strangled, the reality of the undertones of racism came at me full swing, and the riot brought the chaos that quickly erupted over the music in Sal's pizzeria. To think that all that Buggin' Out wanted from Sal was a picture of a black person on the wall....and that so much destruction came out of something so seemingly petty. Smiley put a different twist on the whole film for me as well. The whole time, he is trying to get people to buy pictures of MLK and Malcom X, and he is the person who sets the store on fire and puts up the picture of the black men. Does his speech impediment mean anything? I think that Spike Lee put him in the film to show the ideals of the two men , which is echoed int he final words just before the closing credits.

"M"

I really dislike scary movies. Really. Once I heard that "M" was about a serial killer, I was unenthused. When I heard that it was a German film, I was even more negative about it. I thought, if the murderer aspect of the film didn't get to me, the language might. I was pretty surprised, though, because I really enjoyed the film. You know that a film is well done when you can't tell the difference between good and bad, and there is sympathy for a seemingly terrible character. One of the most striking moments of the film is when Peter Lorre's character gives his monologue about his burning need to kill (to stop the voices in his head). Although I knew the significant pain and anguish he caused others, my heart really went out to him. I thought that portraying Lorre's character as a victim made the movie really special. It was creeeeeeeepy, though. Especially the whole Hitler liking Fritz Lang's films and modeling the SS wardrobe after the bad guy. Creeeeeeepy.