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Stranger Than Fiction
I watched this movie because a number of people suggested it when I posted about movies recently. I hadn't watched it because, frankly, I haven't enjoyed Will Ferrell's movies, though I liked him on SNL. If you've avoided this movie for that reason, let me urge you to watch it right away. I absolutely loved it. It's a quirky film in the way that "I heart Huckabees" was quirky. It's just...different. Ferrell plays an uptight, lifeless IRS agent who finds out that he is nothing more than a character in a writer's novel.

I thought it was wonderful.

The Straight Story
Okay, David Lynch directed a G-rated, Disney movie? I had to watch this movie if only to find out what would come from that strange alliance. The Straight Story is based on the true story of a man who rode his lawnmower across a state to visit his brother. Richard Farnsworth plays the old man with the lawnmower. I've loved Richard Farnsworth ever since he played Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables. I take one look at Richard Farnsworth, and I'm on the verge of crying. I keep seeing Matthew collapsing and dying in Anne's arms.

This is a sweet and tender film. It's worth your time.

rlp

I keep thinking I'll start posting a short review of every movie I watch, good or bad. I want to do that. It would be easy to do that. Why haven't I done that? I don't know. So I'm not making any promises, but I really would like to do that.

Recent Watched:

Game 6, starring Michael Keaton

I like Michael Keaton in dramatic roles. Pacific Heights and Clean & Sober come to mind. I just like him - there's something about the way he talks and moves. Hey, I appreciate any movie that does something different, and tying a writer's destiny to the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series is a cool idea, especially since the movie is set in 1986, the year of the Sox's infamous 9th inning meltdown.

Diabolique, Henri-Georges Clouzot's classic French thriller from 1954

Good film. I get why it's a classic, but I'm not one who fawns over movies just because they are old. It was fine - nice twist at the end which I somehow didn't see coming, even though this movie has been remade. There is a creepy part at the end with a mysterious person stalking a woman through the halls of a school, all in black and white with the shadows and everything. It reminded me that a great horror or suspense film should play with your mind, not turn your stomach.

So me and movies - yeah, I like them. During the years of my depression, I watched a lot of movies. A LOT. There were times when losing myself in a movie was the only way I could stop feeling bad. I would often watch three on Sunday night, staying up until 3 or 4 am. Maybe one Friday night and two or three during the week. I was one of those customers that Netflix tagged and put in the slow queue.

I still watch a lot of movies, but not nearly as many. I'm in a busier season of life, I guess. And I find it hard to stay up until 2 am and still get up at 6:30 to get kids off to school. I used to do that regularly.

My taste is eclectic. I lean toward drama and documentaries, and I'm always looking for wonderful new films. I used to have a compulsive need to finish any movie I started, no matter how bad it was. I kept thinking I would give it a chance. At the end I would feel horribly depressed and let-down. Now I have no qualms about shutting off a movie the minute I decide I'm not going to like it. In all those years that I kept waiting for bad movies to redeem themselves, they never did. My time means more to me now, so I won't waste it on a bad film.

And how do I define a bad film? A bad film is one that I don't like. Maybe it would be a good film for you.

I didn't spend a lot of time on the list below, but it represents a selection of movies that I love.

I've established this page so that I can hear from you. On my old blog, back in 2003, I posted a list of favorite movies and had scores of comments from readers, suggesting movies. I'm hoping you'll do the same thing here. If you love a movie or movies, leave a comment and tell us why.

rlp

I watched Junebug recently and was completely charmed by it. Roger Ebert gets it right in his review. The movie works the way good fiction works. It works because they got it right.

My roots are in small towns, and I have spent a lot of time in rural Texas. This movie gets the small town right. Not all small town men are silent, but many are, and you will find them in this movie. Not all small town women are totally focused on children and potluck suppers, but many are, and you will find them in this movie. The church is perfect. The minister's prayer at the table is perfect. The dialogue is perfect.

Sometimes, to transition from one scene to another, the director flashes a series of images on the screen. In complete silence. Very slowly. You can't believe how long he leaves them onscreen. Watch these images closely. They are meant to show you the soul of small towns. They are meant to show you something that words cannot convey. I thought it was brilliantly done.

The story and the plot are secondary. There is a story and there is a plot and the movie advances the story and the plot - somewhat. But there is little resolution and many questions remain unanswered. Just like in real life.

They got it right.

rlp

Is one big, rip-roaring, Jungian funfest.

Look, this movie is one that some people will love and others, perhaps most, will not like at all. And it won't have anything to do with intelligence or good taste. This is a movie you either grok or you don't. And I grok huckabees.

You can tell me all the ways this film is flawed, and I don't even care. I'm so happy that David O Russell even tried to make this movie.

rlp

grok?