Movies Post

When your broke it isn't the end of the world, as I have found out. Stuck pinching pennies for the last few months means whatever you can get for free, go for it. Well the Library has provided some source of comfort in my broke days offering me a whole library of music, movies, and books to borrow for the low low price of zilch. It's great too because they have some movies that I may have skipped over in past, but now I am interested. This week I borrowed some movies to see them, and some I haven't seen in years.

The Rookie
It's your classic feel good sports, based on a true, story that has been done several time before in Hoosiers and Remember the Titans. The story revolves around a teacher/baseball coach who had aspirations to play in the majors but through a chain of events never did. When his team goes on a winning streak he is encouraged to give his dream one last try. This being a feel good story, you kind of already know what happens in the end. I enjoyed it for that, and it's a good family movie that your kids can enjoy too.

Cloverfield
This movie was hyped out at the time for doing something a little different. A monster movie from the perspective of an amateur camcorder perspective. It's scary as heck in some bits, and in others almost nausea inducing due to the camera bobbing up in down. Blair Witch part 10, when Godzilla strikes I guess. I didn't like the whole premise of the movie. We have no idea where it came from or who the monster is and why it is tormenting the city. Also the ending is quite abrupt, almost like a Hitchcock ending, but with any resolution of anything. It's ok and it's short which is good.

The Last King of Scotland
From one Monster to another. This partly fictional documentation of Idi Amin's rule in Uganda is quite compelling and I believe Forrest Whitakker won the Oscar for this role. He is quite amazing, and looks the part almost too well when the footage of him is interspersed with the real Amin at the end. In the end the movie paints an even more disturbing view of Amin as a classic sociopath. A real charmer to his people and media, but also as an animal who murdered his ex-wife and killed 300,000 of his own people.

Days that Shook the World (Season 1)
A TV series by the BBC that looks into specific events in modern history that changed the way we view it, from advances in communication and transport, to shocking horror like the assassination of Kennedy and Hiroshima. Season 1 has 13 hour long episodes that usually deal with two related subplots. For instance one episode documents Kristalnacht as the powder keg that starts off the Holocaust then moves into the birth of the State of Israel. Another deals with the Wright Brother's flight, and then the Moon landing. I haven't watch all the episodes so far, but the ones I've seen are very good. The filmmakers are very good at mixing archival footage next to recreations of specific events to create an overall picture of the event. Another interesting aspect of the series is the use of perspective, usually tailing 3 or 4 people who were caught up in the events of the time and their recollections of the event.

Sesame Street presents Follow That Bird
I saw this when I was a child and out of curiosity borrowed it to see if it was as funny or as good as I remember. It feels kind of funny watching a movie that was clearly intended for a preschool audience but the nostalgia trip was a blast. You have Oscar doing a cute rendition of the Grouch National Anthem and Cookie Monster eating everything in sight before he went on a diet. This is a movie that I can't wait to share with my niece, when she is old enough.

The Three Caballeros
Another nostalgia trip as well. An early, and often overlooked, Disney animated feature starring Donald Duck. The premise of the film is that it is Donald's Birthday and he receives a number of presents from his bird friends in south and Latin America. That is used to propel various segments of the story forward that could easily be chopped up into shorts. Donald learns about penguins, gauchos, and take a trip to Brazil and Mexico. Another interesting thing about the film is that it is one of the first cartoons to mix live action in with the animation (a neat feat from 1945). Obviously the movie is dated too particularly in the use of the word "gay" which is something totally different now.

Anyways, I have also borrowed Pineapple Express which I hope to watch today. I heard it's quite stupid, or funny, or both. I guess we will see.