Thursday, May 28, 2009

I've watched a lot of movies over the past week. I'll remember as many as I can.
I watched Crimes and Misdemeanors on a Saturday night and Stardust Memories the following morning. I didn't like Crimes and Misdemeanors. I found it pretty boring, and I didn't like Martin Landau...I don't know. I can't pin it on anything in particular, it just didn't resonate with me. I gave it three stars on netflix, which now I'm thinking was too generous. I'd probably give it a two. In my four star ranking system, I give it one and a half stars. I felt really stupid as I watched Stardust Memories because I feel like everyone always talks about how great Crimes and Misdemeanors is, then I like Stardust Memories A LOT, and I started worrying that I was a retard who likes all the shitty movies. I don't know if Stardust Memories is supposed to be a shitty movie. But I liked it so much better than C & M. Charlotte Rampling is my new favorite. Three and a half stars.

Stagecoach and The Tall T are both about people who ride in stagecoaches in the old timey west. Stagecoach has a super young John Wayne, which is good, and an old timey western prositute, which is also good. It's a pretty sweet and comic movie, with some awesome action too. John Ford is a legendary director for a reason. Three stars. The Tall T was pretty good too, but not as good. Randolph Scott is pretty old, and some pretty fucked up stuff happens. Definitely not as lighthearted as Stagecoach. Two stars.
I watched this movie because I have a sick obsession with watching Scarlett Johansson movies, and because it is based on an Oscar Wilde play, and I've found that no matter how bad the actors and the director, it's hard to make a movie based on Oscar Wilde material unenjoyable. And this was no exception to the rule; in spite of two of the least appealing actresses ever in the lead roles (Scarlett Johansson and Helen Hunt) this movie was much more entertaining than I expected it to be. The twist is pretty disappointing though. One and a half stars.
This movie is really fucked up. Some real messed up shit goes down. Young Lawrence Tierney is very good looking. Two and half stars.

I watched The Times of Harvey Milk last night at the Castro Theater. Gay rights issues make me unbelievably weepy. I think I first started tearing up about 15 minutes into this movie, the first time they mention the California Gay Rights bill thingee. Anyway, I found this movie really interesting, even though I'd seen Milk already (they were playing the two movies on a double bill last night and some people were whining because they covered the same material, or one was slighter than the other...I was ok with it). So yeah, it was good, and it makes me cry and it's a documentary. I think that equals up to three stars.

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