A Year of Movies

Week 12: March 19, 2010 to March 25, 2010
Total number of movies watched: 8

Yes, that's right. Just eight movies this week. One more than the minimum required to fulfill my self-imposed goals--but some weeks are feasts, others are famines. And while the number is low, I actually enjoyed all eight movies this week quite a bit. I decided to try something a little different this week (and I've continued this on as you'll see in future weeks), and I watched a series of movies by one director all in a row. This week's director of choice was: Baz Luhrmann.

125. William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (dir. Luhrmann) -- An interesting mix of Shakespeare's words with a 'fantasy-modern' gun-slinging gangster setting. At first, I wasn't sure if I liked this version of Romeo and Juliet -- I suppose I was more accustomed to the typical traditional ways of telling this story -- but once I really got into the language again, I found myself enjoying this unique vision of the movie. Luhrmann's use of color in this (and as I found when watching all the rest of his movies) is impressive--and he creates lush, visual masterpieces for your eyes to feast upon. The set piece at the end (the death scene) was just beautiful.

126. Strictly Ballroom (dir. Luhrmann) -- I'd never seen this movie before, and I'm very glad that this 'movie-a-day' goal has broadened my viewing horizon and I took the time to watch this film. It was a sweet movie, touching, romantic, funny with a good message too -- a life lived in fear-is a life half-lived. That message resonated with me which is partially why I liked the movie so much.

127. Moulin Rouge! (dir. Luhrmann) -- I'll admit, this is one of my favorite movies. The very first time I watched it, the music hooked me--and then I started paying attention to more of the story, and then the little details, and then the silly tiny details -- "Frank is living in my foot" (if you've seen this movie often enough, you'll know what this means). I suppose another reason I love this movie is again, the message(s): This story is about Truth. This story is about Beauty. This story is about Freedom. Above all things, this story is about Love. How can you go wrong if you have all four of those in your life? "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return."--another great message for life.

128. Australia (dir. Luhrmann) -- I know the critics generally didn't like this movie, but I thought it was a beautiful epic movie with some touching characters and an intriguing story. The little boy who played Nullah, Brandon Walters, did an impressive job carrying is portion of the film along side Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.

129. Napoleon Dynamite -- I'd never seen this before. I didn't really know what it was about--except for the fact that the main character looked really odd. It ended up being a really good, quirky romantic comedy about a truly unique and yet easily identifiable individual.

130. The Astronaut Farmer -- A heart-warming movie with another great message about basically never giving up and to keep chasing after your dreams.

131. Red Eye -- I don't even remember this movie coming out -- but this thriller by Wes Craven ended up being pretty good. Starring Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, it's about a woman kidnapped on a plane and forced to assist in an assassination. Cillian plays charmingly evil so very well, but what I particularly liked was the strength exhibited by McAdams' character. She simply refused to quit or to play the role of a 'victim'--unlike so many other female leads in traditional thriller/horrors.

132. Rapid Fire -- Brandon Lee really showed off his fighting talents in this movie. It's a decent movie, lots of good action, excellent fighting (no surprise there) -- Brandon Lee was able to pretty much pull off being both bitter and charming at the same time. It's a shame he died so young. Love the movie, The Crow. I'll have to make sure to watch that movie again (perhaps closer to Halloween since it takes place on 'Devil's Night') this year.

Moulin Rouge! is one of my favorite movies so if I had to pick just one this week, I'd most likely choose it--however, there really were a lot of movies in this bunch I enjoyed. I've been fortunate lately in picking some really good 'new to me' movies (yes, I've seen some of these movies, but not ALL of them).

Well, I'm almost caught up. Only a couple of weeks behind now. If all goes well, perhaps I'll be caught up by the weekend.