What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

I mostly agree with Jeb's ranking, with two exceptions:
--I've always like Kill Bill vol. 2 more than 1, but I realize I'm in the minority on that. They're still close and deserve to be in the middle.
--I have a real love for Reservoir Dogs and sometimes rank it above Pulp Fiction.

There seems to be a sad progression in his movies from mostly great scenes --> a few great scenes --> one or two great scenes. Even his bad films seem to have at least one scene that's worth watching (although that's not enough to justify watching the whole film). I think it's a combination of being able to indulge himself to an extreme and a lack of anything interesting to say. I wish he could find a way to have a 30-minute TV show like Alfred Hitchcock Presents where he could make short vignettes. I think his talent would shine again in that sort of venue.

I saw The Hateful Eight in a nearly vacant theater. It was an early afternoon on a weekday in between Christmas and New Year's. My enjoyment of the movie was impaired because of a couple of teenage asian boys who kept giggling every time they heard the N-word. At first, I resented them and thought about confronting them. Then I realized that Tarantino invited this reaction with his gratuitous use of racist language and decided that this was part of the intended experience.

I know we've moved on (and I mostly agree with the various Tarantino rankings, though there are a few I *gasp* haven't seen), but to tack back for a sec I think I'm less tired of LORE than I am of movies that exist strictly to exist, the two most obvious recent offenders for me are Jurassic World and Alien: Covenant. I will take the unpopular and perhaps deservedly so stand of saying bravely on an internet forum that I liked Prometheus. It has logic and cohesion issues, but it had at least one scene--involving the surgical station--that was tense, fresh, and original, whereas Covenant for me had little more going on in any sense than a second-season ST: TNG episode. But this also comes from someone who while liking Alien a great deal doesn't think a lot of Aliens and kinda liked aspects of Alien 3, so there's that.

Oh, Tarantino. First of all, I don't like ranking his movies, because you can only compare Hattori Hanzo swords to any other swords, you know, not made by Hattori Hanzo.
But, since we're on the topic, I categorize his work in 3 tiers.

Tier 1: Great films, and you ought to watch them at least 5 times each, or you're unworthy to be talking about them or seriously discussing them (with me).

- Pulp Fiction. This is the most important film of the nineties, period. It's cultural significance is unparalleled, and on the long run it will be like Casablanca.
- Kill Bill. Please stop talking about volume 1&2, in the same way as you don't talk about Godfather 2 before or after the intermission. It is one film and should be watched that way. Nevertheless, my favorite part is the last 40 minutes of Beatrix vs Bill. I think it is the best film about domestic abuse and violence. The genius of it is that it manages to be entertaining and funny.
- Inglorious Basterds. Admittedly, this movie has one imperfection. Chapter 3 is too long and not interesting enough after 10 viewings. But everything else is pretty much perfect. And it has one of the most complex villains of all time. I could talk about him for hours, and still do.

Tier 2: Lesser films, that you don't have to watch more than once if you don't feel like it.
- Reservoir Dogs. It is a great first movie of a director. Every first movie of any director is measured against it (by me). But it is still a first film, and has those imperfections proper of such.
- Jackie Brown. Strictly speaking, this is not a proper Tarantino movie, because it is an adaptation (and almost slavishly close one) of Elmore Leonard book. I like it, but it is not great.
- Deathproof. Some people see in it more than what I see. But they argue the same about me in relation to Inglorious Basterds. I think the end car chase is flawless, so that's an achievement.

Tier 3: You can skip those, but I'd still rather watch those than Moonlight
- Hateful Eight. On one hand, it is an exercise in over-indulgence. On the other, I watched it again shortly after the presidential elections and liked it way better than the first time. It is a solid movie, just not as fresh and surprising as I'm used to expect from Quentin.
- Django Unchained: the last 3rd of this film is a fucking mistake and makes it look like something done by Robert Rodriguez instead.
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1st part): talking about rodriguez, here is a movie that should be watched as volume 1 and 2. Actually, you can safely skip part 2. I really like some bits during the first hour.

When Resevoir Dogs came out I liked it quite a bit. Pulp Fiction was really entertaing. After those two I have always found myself impressed with a few scenes, or at least one in each of them. Mostly I would find my thoughts wandering thinking about getting a snack or a beer or any distraction, for long stretches. The last two Tarantino films I watched I didn't finish in one sitting.

My kids are watching The Matrix for the first time right now. I had forgotten just how weird that show was the first time around. They have been heavily schooled in manga and anime, however, so it will be interesting to see what they think. I was 33 when I first saw it, by myself, and walked out of the theater and went into an Office Max where everyone was wearing Agent Smith-like white shirts and ties. It freaked me out.

Watched Mr. Holmes which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

I wasn't sure I liked it at about the half way mark but having seen it to it's conclusion I'm almost sure this is a great movie.

Be advised the pacing is slow. Slooooooooow, Slow like a movie about a man in his nineties ought to be.

It does have a few mysteries to be solved and a few "Holmes explanation" moments but this is a movie more about isolation, empathy, and resolutions. In the end I liked it quite a bit but don't go in expecting any slo-motion fight scenes or car chases as you might be disappointed.

I saw The Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time since I was a kid.

This is a great animated film. I say animated because it's,without question the most important part of it. It's a movie that couldn't exist otherwise beyong the obvious. The characters, the logic, the movement...it needs to be animated to exist. I love one small scene when Jack sings "What's this" and goes on the carrousel


There's so much going at once: The poses, the song, the town that looks out of a Lionel Trains postcard, Jack's spider-like walk...it's a lot of fun.

I did notice, though, that the plot or storytelling is not quite there. That is, it's there and it does not lead towards incongruencies but it's mainly held up by the show-stopper songs and the strong artistic design. For example, the part of the story concerning Oogie Boogie and Santa seems a bit of an ill-fit and some sections seem like could have been smoother.


On a related matter, lately I've been thinking about seeing films on the big screen. No, not just new films, films in general. The reason is that, well, I've started to realize that films tend to be designed for the big screen and some of the artistic intent is lost on a smaller one. The big close-ups of Sergio Leone films or the famous dune shot of Lawreance of Arabia are the best examples but it's pretty generalized (It's noticiable when characters adress the screen, TV shows the upper body, movies show the whole thing).

I should check out if there are some classic cinemas in Madrid and see if something interesting comes up.

Talking about watching movies on the big screen and Tarantino, I saw Reservoir Dogs on 35mm in a cinema this week-end.
I've never watched this movie on a big screen, and liked it a lot.
I remembered how when this movie came out, the (professional) critics were raving about it being a "gritty take" on gun violence and crime, but on this viewing I thought it owes more to Japanese and Hong Kong movies than any other of those of Tarantino, with the concept of "honor" taken to an absurd samurai-like extreme.

My favorite part is the story a policeman is telling to other policemen in the bathroom. It is a fictional story within a fictional story (told by Mr. Pink to the gang), within a flashback (Mr. Pink talking to his handler) that takes place within another flashback. And all this in the 3rd act of the movie. Not to forget that this is his first movie. And amazingly, it still holds my attention.

Nothing better than movies on the big screen.

Lady Klis and I are going to see Covenant tomorrow evening. Can't wait. Trying to manage expectations so I don't have another Prometheus.