October means....

I'll be seeing nothing but film noirs for the next couple of days, so that is what I'll be covering for the next week or so. Enjoy!

Summer blockbusters

Summer is drawing to a close meaning the end of another summer blockbuster movie season.  And one of the biggest movies of the summer was Jurassic World, a sequel to Jurassic Park.  Jurassic World was not directed by Steven Spielberg, but it was produced by him.  Thanks to my beloved AFI, I saw 3 Spielberg adjacent movies: Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World; and these 3 movies are roughly 20 years apart in release.  While I watched these movies this summer, I could definitely see the evolution of the summer blockbuster.  Jaws was one of the earliest movies that is considered a summer blockbuster.  Due to technology based issues, that movie is heavily character and plot driven with slow building tension.  There are still some typical action heavy scenes but it is definitely more about the substance over style and flash.  Jurassic Park was a very technology heavy summer film with an interesting of computer generated effects and practical effects, specifically all those motorized dinos.  While Jurassic Park is effects heavy, there is still a lot plot and character building involved in the movie (I was legitimately sad when Muldoon died) .  I feel like Jurassic Park is when it starts to turn a relay more on the effects and less so on the story.  Because that was extremely true when thinking about Jurassic World.  I enjoyed my time at the movie because some of the action set-pieces were quite good, there was not enough character development to make me care about anyone in the movie (I had a like bit of interest in a couple of characters but that was more due to the actors not anything about the character).  The effects in Jurassic World are all computer generated and the thrust of the movies is all about spectacle.  Which is totally fine for a summer movie but it doesn't really stick with you or really make repeated viewing interesting.

Also a side note, it was kind of a bummer that female protagonist in Jurassic World was such a bummer.  I found that Ellie in Jurassic Park was really interesting and she had a lot of agency in the film because she was smart, humorous, and brave.  The woman in Jurassic World (it is telling that I can't even remember her name) was kind of uptight and boring for a majority of the movie (until the end when she runs in high heels)

Book vs. Movie: Jurassic Park Edition

When I saw Jurassic World a couple weeks again, I liked it but it made me just really want to re-watch Jurassic Park.  And, yet again, the AFI Silver has not let me down by having a 90s film festival which included Jurassic Park so I got to see it again on the big screen.  But seeing on big screen reminded me how much I enjoyed reading to book in high school so I thought that I would read/listen to the audiobook which I've been doing to the last week or so.  In general, I find that I prefer the book over the movie, but my opinion is the complete opposite in this case.  The movie is about 300 times better for quite a few reasons:

• Several dinosaur encounters are removed.  After awhile, the interactions are not tense, just boring.  And there are so many other run ins with the T-Rex that again are not super tense.
• The velociraptors are in the mix much earlier.  You don't really see them until about the last 1/3 of the book.  
• Lex is the younger child in the book but the older child in the movie.  And making her is older sister is much better because she becomes a more interesting (and less annoying character).  Also, it is nice to see a girl not being completely helpless (she is very proactive in the kitchen scene and in the control room).
• Ellie is not Alan's student in the movie, she is his contemporary which the makes them more like equals.  And she is much more prominent in the movie than the book.  She is was more badass (and interesting) in the movie.  

I seriously may never feel the need to read the book again, the movie is way better!

The Power of Belief

I was able to catch one my most favorite on the big screen this past weekend at the AFI Silver: Gaslight (the excellent 1944 version).  It stars Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, and my beloved Joseph Cotten.  And gave rise to the term "gaslighting" which means a person is made to this he or she is going crazy through the machinations of someone else.  It comes from the fact that when Charles Boyer turns on the gaslight in the unused attic, it cause the gaslight in Ingrid Bergman's bedroom (or whatever room she is in) to flicker and reduce in intensity.  And, Ingrid Bergman is the only to see it.  So this, in addition to Charles Boyer making her think that she is constantly losing or misplacing things (including pictures) and the belief that her mother was insane as well, makes Ingrid think she is crazy.  But (one) thing that saves her is the Joseph Cotten believes her.  He believes that she isn't losing or misplacing things, she isn't imagining the flicker of the gaslight.  And most importantly, he believes her before he witnesses the gaslight flicker personally.  This movie can really cement the idea that having someone else believe in is extremely powerful.

Agent Carter!

After not writing posts for a few months, I've gone a little crazy in making up for it today.  I meant to write about how much I was enjoying Agent Carter when it was on in February, but I was filling all my free time with movies from TCM.  But Agent Carter is on my mind now because it got renewed for a second season last week!  And I am so happy because I adored this show.  It was a great little 6 episode story that was fun, fast, and fabulous.  It was really good to see a female action protagonist and Haley Atwell is just so fun to watch.  A lot of the fight scenes reminded me of Alias and there is nothing wrong with that!.  Haley Atwell had great chemistry with all the other actors and she always looked like she was enjoying herself in the role.  She was my favorite part in the first Captain America movie so it was nice to see some of the gaps in her story-lined filled.  Although, I loved the show, I hope they stick to the 6 episode order.  That seemed like a good amount of time to tell an interesting story without padding it out to filled 13 or 22 episodes (writing a show that is not really a procedure and relies quite a bit of show mythology can be difficult and not everyone can pull it off easily or consistently).  I would rather have 2 or 3 short but consistently good seasons with these characters that 4 or 5 longer and uneven seasons.  But I'm hopeful and glad that ABC renewed Agent Carter!

Go Flash Go!

One new TV show this year that I have be super loving has been The Flash on the CW.  For me, comic book adaptations are sort of a mixed bag.  I don't really enjoy the super dark ones (i.e. Batman Begins) but I really like the ones with the lighter touch (like last year's Guardians of the Galaxy which was one of my favorite movies).  I have tried watching the show that The Flash was spun-off from, Arrow with mixed success.  I got about half-way through the first season and then I stopped watching it, I may have another run at it this summer.  So I wasn't sure I was going to like The Flash.  However, I wanted to try it out mostly because my beloved Jesse L. Martin is in it (and I've liked some of the stuff from the executive producer Greg Berlanti).  I was pleasantly surprised with the pilot which seemed to have a light touch but was still able to have some really emotional (and earned moments).  It is one of the few shows that I watched in real-time (meaning day of airing, not on Hulu) because the first season throughout has been really solid. The writers did a great job of pushing the various story lines forward without letting any story spin its wheels for too long or not getting attention (left dangling).  The casting is really solid, no one it really out of their element talent-wise (the lead, Grant Gustin is really great, and his dad is played by the actor what was The Flash in the earlier TV adaptation in the 90s, so that is fun)  And the first season finale was really good (again there were some great emotional moments that felt earned and realistic).  I am still loving Jesse L. Martin in it and they upped the ante in back half of the show by adding Victor Garber (never a bad idea to add Jack Bristow!).  The other thing the show has done in their favor (in my opinion), is really good use of CGI effects.  In general, it never seems like they are trying to do too much with the CGI that makes it crazy unbelieveable/fakey looking.  So good on you The Flash, can't wait to see you next season (maybe I'll catch some summer reruns).

The perfect show that I didn't know would be perfect

I've been really busy at work and therefore really tired and stressed.  And somehow, Netflix is magic (or at least we have fantastic synergy) and the disc I got on Friday was the Best of Match Game.  Which was a perfect way to unwind.  Whoever picked the episodes for Best of Match Game clearly watched the show consistently and all the ones (so far) feature my two favorite panelist Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly. The lightness of the episodes was a perfect way to unwind after a long week and I loved it. And it is no surprise that I am going to get another disc this weekend.

Oscar time on TCM

It is the 31 days of Oscar on TCM which is always my favorite month(ish) on TCM.  I think they also do a good job of showing the big Oscar movies (your Citizen Kanes, your Bridges of the River Kwai) and the smaller lesser known Oscar movies (like The More the Merrier).  And almost every year I get to see little gems that I wouldn't really see otherwise (like one year when I got to watch Bullit and The French Connection back-to-back, which were shown in like that because both movies shared the same stunt driver).  So far this year, my favorite discovered movie is The Yearling.  Which I, surprisingly, have never seen (given that it stars Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman).  I really enjoyed it (which my mother recommended that I watch).  The cinematography was top notch and there was some wonderfully composed shots. And of course Gregory Peck was so good as was Jane Wyman.  And I cried of course, but not really at the parts about the deer, more due to scenes between Jody and Ory (Jane Wyman).  I highly recommend it!

Boo, Academy, Boo!

The Oscar nominations were announced today and I am kind of in shock how much Oscar love "The Imitation Game" received.  I saw it this weekend and while I didn't hate it, I was severely underwhelmed. I felt like it was a competent movie,  but not a great movie.  I thought it looked great so I have no issue with any of the technical nominations.  But I do not understand the nominations for Best Director, Best Actor, or Best Supporting Actress.  The plot was kind a mishmash mess, there was a subplot that was never really resolved and what I think was supposed to be the climax came at a really weird time in the movie that somehow seemed both too early and too late so the denouement was very unsatisfying .  I really hated the endless flashbacks/flashfowards, look movie I can pay attention to complex plots but if you do nothing to make Alan Turning look different, I can't really tell if the scene takes place in 1939 or 1942.  Plus, I felt like you don't really learn about Alan Turing and the end was such a cop-out (and just kind of ended).  I learned more about Alan Turning from an 45 minute episode of RadioLab than in a two hour movie.  And to me, all these problems are due to the director so I really feel like the nomination for the director was undeserved.  Plus, Academy, you nominated the movie Selma for Best Picture but you couldn't nominate the female African-American director (especially, since, you know all the other acting nominations and most of the directing nominations went to white people and this was a chance to be inclusive).  I like Benedict Cumberbatch, but his Alan Turning is very Sherlock-y to me (with some stuttering) and I think that there were more interesting performances than this.  And I know that I have issue with Keira Knightly (I've never really liked her), but again I felt like her performance (and that role) was so like middle of the road and uninteresting.  I guess my biggest issue with the movie is that Alan Turning had a interesting and tragic life so an interesting movie could be made about his life, but The Imitation Game is not it.

As a side note, I know that the Academy has a history of not recognizing great talent (like the fact Joseph Cotten never won) but it is kind of aggravating that the Academy is honoring such a bland-y blanderson movie.