sorry....

As you can see I got bored of this. Okay, bored isn't the right word...I do want to share all the cool things about the movies we've seen but I haven't had enough motivation to do it.
We have watched a couple movies on the list - Psycho and The Third Man. Maybe one day soon I'll share all the juicy tid bits I've learned with the class. I need to do it soon before all the knowledge (and plot) leaves me head for good, I can already feel it slipping away.

Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain

Released: December 16 2005

• Director: Ang Lee
• Leading characters: Heath Ledger - Ennis Del Mar, Jake Gyllenhaal - Jack Twist
• Drama
• Rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence
• #1034 on list

While working together near Wyoming's Brokeback Mountain in 1963, sheepherders Jack Twist  and Ennis Del Mar begin an increasingly passionate affair. But keeping their relationship a secret from their wives proves agonizing and all-consuming. *taken from Netflix

Everyone knows this movie, the movie that Larry H. Miller refused to play in his Utah theatres claiming that the film represented a danger to family values. The movie that shook the nation and the world. It was also banned in China because of the homosexual nature of the film.
A movie that John nor I wanted to see, not because of the content though. As many know I'm pro-gay so I wasn't offended by that, I just didn't have any desire to see it.
Well there it sat on the list, we had no choice, we had to watch it. So I added it to our Netflix instant play list and waited for John to consent to watching it.

While waiting I decided to expand my knowledge of the film, I read the plot so I could really know what it was about instead of going on what I've heard from friends, friends who had never even seen the film.
The plot made my interests grow so I started reading some trivial facts which finally cemented my curiosity and I was actually excited to see it.
This isn't the first gay movie to hit theatres like most seem to think, in fact the list of gay movies is huge. Remember The Birdcage with Robin Williams & Nathan Lane? Fabulous, but back to the movie at hand.

We watched Brokeback last weekend and I wouldn't say it's one I'd own but it really wasn't half bad.
It's based on the short story by Annie Proulx that was published in The New Yorker in 1997 and is said to be one of Heath Ledger's greatest works.
There are some violent love scenes which left me confused and disoriented but I just decided that they're manly men and that's how manly men like to be loved. Other than that the story is very good, it goes through both men's lives and how they're trying to live the way they want but also the way the world wants.

During is first weekend release where it only played in 5 U.S. theatres it set the records highest pre-screen gross of any non-animated  film in history, it also cost so little to make that it recouped its cost during the first week it was released.
The movie was expected to win 2005's Best Film and the Academy Awards and the crowd was shocked when Crash came out on top.

The trivia on this movie alone is reason to watch it, but don't come crying to me if you get offended. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Jerk

The Jerk
released: December 14 1979

• Director: Carl Reiner
• Leading characters: Steve Martin - Navin R. Johnson, Bernadette Peters - Marie Kimble
• Comedy
• Rated R for sexual suggestion and language
• #654 on list

After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson runs off on a hilarious misadventure in this comedy classic that takes him from rags to riches and back to rags again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love. *taken from Netflix

John's first reaction to seeing this movie in our Netflix playlist was, "I dont want to watch that! I've seen it before and it was stupid!" Turns out, he confused this movie with another one they played during one of my art class work shops, he had never actually seen The Jerk.

This movie will have John and I quoteing it for years to come.
Steve Martin is a hoot, this is his first starring role and praised not only as Martin's best comdeic efforts, but also one of the funniest motion pictures of all time. Now I wouldn't say funniest just because I think The Hangover takes that title, but I'd have to say it's up there.

He names his dog Shithead and John and I were rolling on the floor laughing when Navin tells his sweetheart to jump in the tub with him, Shithead jumps in and Martin yells, "Not you Shithead!!" In fact I'm chuckling about it as I type this. I think it's just the name that gets to us. This is now John's new nickname for the dogs, he thinks he's a riot.
Another scene Navin is leaving saying he doesn't need anything to make him happy, but then stumbles upon silly things and then he decides he does need it. "I dont need anything but my paddle ball game, my lamp,and  my ash tray and that's it! I dont need anything else...except for this chair, I need this chair..." This scene, in fact, is the cover of the movie case.

So John liked the movie after figuring out he'd never seen it :) we'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

Release: January 23 2009

• Director: Danny Boyle
• Leading characters: Dev Patel - Jamal Malik, Freida Pinto - Latika
• Drama
• Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language
• #1068 on list

After coming within one question of winning it all on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," 18-year-old Mumbai "slumdog" Jamal Malik is arrested on suspicion that he cheated his way to the top. While in custody, he regales a jaded inspector with remarkable tales of his life on the streets and the story of the woman he loved and lost. *taken from Netflix

This isn't a movie I really cared to see when it came out and truthfully I cant remember why. I'm glad it was on the list so I was forced to watch it.

I love how the story is told, very original and pulls you in. The police have the older Jamal in questioning about the game show, they'll show him a clip of the show on a little TV which will then move us to the time he was being asked the question on the game show, then it'll show how Jamal knew the answers by showing us the clip of his life. I couldn't get enough of this shooting, I loved how they did it and the movie wouldn't have been as good done any other way.

The different camera views and color portrayal in the movie really add to its greatness, the director of photography really knew the shots to capture your attention.

The actors are amazing, they really play their roles well. You love, hate and admire the characters they play.

A few interesting tid bits about the movie are that Mercedes-Benz asked that all of its logos be removed when scenes were taking place in the slums. They thought that being associated to the poverty-stricken slums would ruin its image.
 Also it's the first film since Schindler's List (we haven't seen that one yet) to win Best Picture, Director and Screenplay at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and the Oscars.
I think the story telling of this movie is good enough reason alone to watch it. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Not on the list

Last night we saw Knight and Day, it's not on the 1001 list but our A/C is on the fritz and we had to leave our 90 degree house for a few hours. It's really funny, full of action and not full of filth.

Plus Riley from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is in it. He looks kinda dweeby with the mustache he has, but still it's Riley! Every time he came on screen I'd lean over and whisper to John, "It's Riley!!!" and he'd look at me funny and say, "I don't know who that is." He's so uncultured.

Even with not being a huge fan of Tom Cruise I really liked him in it, he was almost dreamy even and as always Cameron Diaz was awesome.

It's definitely one I'm going to buy when it comes out. Go see it, you'll thank me.

Alice

Alice

Released: March 26 1988

• Director: Jan Svankmajer
• Leading Characters: Alice - Kristyna Kohoutova
• Fantasy
• Not Rated
• #795 on list

After her stuffed rabbit opens a portal inside her dresser, Alice crosses over into a world of puppets and dead animals in Czech director Jan Svankmajer's bizarre adaptation of Lewis Carroll's children's book, considered a classic of surreal cinema. Svankmajer gives the Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter and the Cheshire Cat equally warped makeovers via stop-motion animation and stark cinematography. *taken from Netflix

Watching this was like being on an acid trip, in fact I'm pretty sure the director was on acid when he made this movie.

It's a Czech film dubbed in English and suppose to be a children's movie but is probably too scary for children. The white rabbit is a taxidermy specimen that comes to life, he's always leaking saw dust through the hole in his chest and has scary long teeth and beady glass eyes.

And it only gets worse. The flowers in the Disney version are replaced with animals that are half skeleton half stuffed with creepy glass eyes, the Caterpillar is a sock that has his eyes sewn shut when he's done talking to Alice, weird assorted foods that come to life, the list goes on and on.

Alice would narrate anything anyone said by an up close shot of her mouth with spit clinging to her teeth. There was an over fascination with drawers, it felt like there was one in every scene. Alice would pull the knob, it would fall off and then she'd have to pry to drawer open only to find a weird assortment of household objects in them. In fact the Rabbit hole happens to be a drawer that she crawls in...so weird.

One thing I did find interesting was how the director shrunk Alice. She would turn into a little doll that looked just like her, I really enjoyed those scenes.

I couldn't find any real facts on this movie so I'm not sure why it's on the list, I have to wait for my 1001 movies book to come in the mail and maybe it will tell me. I do have to say that the stop action was done really well and went smoothly, too bad it was mostly with creepy characters that made you pull a face in disgust.

I'd only recommend this movie to someone so they could see the weirdness or I knew they'd be doing some kind of hallucinogen while watching it.

I give it 1 out of 5 stars.

Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer

Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer

Released: February 4 1994

• Director: Nick Broomfield
• Leading characters: Aileen Wuornos - herself, Arlene Pralle - herself, Nick Broomfield - himself, Steve Glazer - himself
• Documentary
• Rated R for for language and sexual references
• #852 on list

Filmmaker Nick Broomfield explores the troubled life and deadly end of female killer Aileen Wuornos. Filmed after Wuornos was imprisoned but before she was put to death, the documentary highlights the media blitz surrounding her case, culminating in interviews with Wuornos as well as her lawyer, her lover and her adoptive mother. * taken from Netflix

How do you review a documentary? You really cant since it's actual facts so I'll just describe Aileen's life and my feelings while watching the movie.

Aileen, also known as Lee, is said the be the first woman serial killer but really she's the first on record to kill by gun. Most women serial killers kill with poison (read this about one of the women who found poison as her method of choice) .
Lee had a hard life from the start, she was born to a mother who married at 15, divorced two years later and two months before Lee was born.
Lee never knew her father, he was a child molester and in prison at the time she was born and committed suicide when she was 13. When she was 4 her mother abandoned her and her brother, leaving then with her maternal grandparents who legally adopted them 2 months after her mother left.

Early on in her life Lee starting engaging in sexual acts with multiple partners, including her own brother. She became pregnant at 13, she claimed she was raped by an unknown man. She gave the boy up for adoption right after he was born.
Her grandmother died of liver failer when she was 15 and her grandfather kicked her out of his house. She then began supporting herself as a prostitute.

Throughout her life she was committing crimes and getting arrested. Just a small example of what she's done: She hit a 70-year-old man with his own cane, throwing a cue call at a bar tender's head, committed armed robbery, forged checks, and committed grand theft auto.

She was charged for murdering 7 men between 1989 to 1990. She claimed it was self defense but with her dark past I'm thinking she really did it.
While in prison Arlene Pralle, a born again christian, sprung up a friendship and then adopted the 31 year old. She said that she wanted her to be apart of her family and really cared for her but really I think she was in it for the money since the press were all over Lee's story. Arlene said that she wouldn't interview with Nick, the director, unless he pay her, her lawyer and Lee $10,000.
Steve the lawyer was just as shady. It would be a cold day in Hell before I let him be my lawyer. The first time we meet him in the movie he's sitting next to a creepy dummy that he made since he has imaginary friends, makes perfect sense doesn't it?
He's a failed musician and every chance he got he'd sing on camera, he never really cared how Lee was feeling, he just wanted to make sure he got his chunk of the money.

Arlene and Steve convinced Lee to confess to the murders to clear her soul for God. Lee did so thinking that if she did it wouldn't give the press any fuel for their movie wanting fires. It didn't matter since a movie was in the works anyway. Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story was put out in 1992.
The film ends with an interview with Lee trying to convince Nick to find the cops who were turning over their stories for movie rights. Nick later says that the cops Lee wanted him to see wont meet with him but they were all suspended from the force.

Curious to see what happened to Lee after the film I googled her story.  She petitioned the Florida Supreme Court for the right to fire her legal counsel and stop her appeals. She said, "I killed those men, robbed them as cold as ice. And I'd do it again, too. There's no chance in keeping me alive or anything, because I'd kill again. I have hate crawling through my system...I am so sick of hearing this 'she's crazy' stuff. I've been evaluated so many times. I'm competent, sane, and I'm trying to tell the truth. I'm one who seriously hates human life and would kill again." * wikipedia
In her last interview with Nick she claimed that her mind was being controlled by "sonic pressure" to make her seem crazy and said her coming death would be like being taken away be angels on a space ship.
Her last statement before her Lethal Injection on October 9 2002 was, "Yes, I would just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back, like Independence Day with Jesus. June 6, like the movie. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be back." * wikipedia

There are a few books and movies out about Lee's life with the newest being the 2003 Movie Monster with Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci.

For review purposes I'd give the documentary 3 out of 5 star.