So this weekend I was one of the approximately 1.2 billion people who went to see Spider-man 3. I saw it Friday with some people who live by me and some friends from work. I bought the tickets Friday before lunch and when I came back, the show was sold out.
The people I saw it with were slightly underwhelmed but I had a good time. Not the best Spider-man movie but pretty entertaining still. I’ll be interested to see what Sam Raimi does after this though. Maybe he’ll finally have that budget for Darkman 5.
More interestingly though, I also rented a couple classic movies this weekend and ones that I sadly have to admit that I had never seen. The first was Chinatown, the Roman Polanski film that stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway. I knew it was good but not much else (which seems to be the case for a lot of classic movies) and was not disappointed. I’d recommend it to most anyone.
The second movie I watched was Lawrence of Arabia. I really enjoyed that one as well. The characters in it were interesting and it’s so epic that it hurts. It’s crazy when you watch old movies and realize that none of that stuff was done with CGI and that all the people were actually there. It makes everything seem so much larger than life when you know it’s not just some dudes sitting in a room with a computer but actual people out there in the environment doing these things.
At the end of the day, I’m glad that I’m finally starting to understand why these works were so important and how they are still referenced in movies today. I’m honestly getting tempted to do more than just watch them. A huge step for a guy who sucks at critically analyzing art.
Up in my queue next are: Spartacus, The Dirty Dozen, and the original Gone In 60 Seconds. If anyone has suggestions for other great classics to add to the queue, please chime in.
My current queue is after the break
The Queue
Spartacus
Dirty Dozen [Blu-Ray]
Gone in 60 Seconds [25th Anniversary Edition]
Last Waltz [Blu-Ray]
City Heat
Birdman of Alcatraz
Bad Day at Black Rock
Magnificent Seven [Special Edition]
Once Upon a Time in America [2 Discs]
Victor/Victoria [20th Anniversary Celebration]
Bat 21
Once Upon a Time in the West
Better Tomorrow
Once a Thief
Salvador [Special Edition]
Pale Rider
Live Wire
Born on the Fourth of July [Special Edition]
Golgo 13: The Professional
Sting [Special Edition]
Hustler
True Romance [Special Edition Unrated Director's Cut]
Seven-Ups
Marathon Man
To Live and Die in L.A. [Special Edition]
Dirty Harry
Walking Tall
Stagecoach
Rio Bravo
Hour of the Gun
Harper
Soldier of Orange
All the President’s Men
Long Goodbye
Badlands
Five Easy Pieces
Little Big Man
Z [Masterworks Edition]
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Alphaville
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
added:
How to Steal a Million
Charade [Criterion]
May 6th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Charade.
How to Steal a Million.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Thanks! I added both of those to my queue.
May 7th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Sounds pretty good. You could start adding some Kurosawa like Throne of Blood and Yojimbo. I know you have seen a Fistful of Dollars and hope the same for the semi-sequels. I would also recommend The Seventh Seal, Persona and The Unbearable Lightness of Being, but don’t watch all three in the same week, unless you have nothing else to do that week.
May 7th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
You forgot to add The Little Mermaid. Everyone knows that is on your list.
May 8th, 2007 at 5:31 am
Why would I need to add it to the list when I already OWN it.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Dude, then what Fulsome said about you is true.
Thanks for confirming that.
…………..AG moves onto the next blog………….
May 8th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Actually, if fulsome talks about anything, it’s usually my love of the movie Fern Gully.
That movie was awesome and also pro-environment. Congratulations nature, you’re pretty cool!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:43 am
I’m with you on the classic movies. I still remember seeing a new print of Lawrence of Arabia on the super big screen and getting chills down my spine during those desert shots. Also the music is amazing - to the extent that it required parodying on The Critic. Every single movie on your list that I’ve seen is great. You can’t go wrong. Talk to Pinko Punko for the list of all the Hitchcock movies you really really need to see. He’s right.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
UC, you and Pinko rank right up there in the Little Mermaid crowd. Given such, you got nothing.
Fulsome says many sweet nothings to AG. He tries to deny it, but his secret is no longer safe with AG. He has messed with this AG one too many time.
P.S. Buy Bonds!
May 10th, 2007 at 6:17 am
Touch of Evil and frigging awesome The Third Man.