October 2: I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang
Screened: For class
October 5: Drive
Screened: In the theater
I'm so glad I let the buzz prevail over my action-movie misgivings, because I loved this dreamy, pulpy movie. A side effect of working in the film class I TA'd for this semester was thinking more about the impact of seeing a movie in the theater as opposed to watching it at home - watching Drive in the theater felt like being steeped in a pure distillation of the essence of an action movie.
October 7: Hanna
Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix
October 9: Moneyball
Screened: In the theater
I think Moneyball at its heart is a perfect expression of its story's central thesis, an idealized portrait of moving parts working in concert. It felt like it had just the right amount of everything - the wonkiness of delving into sports statistics, the emotions of tracing players through the ups-and-downs of the sport as commercial enterprise (including the flashbacks to Billy Beane's start as a player), and the ultimate embrace of pure sports-movie cliche in the culmination of the A's lengthy winning streak.
October 9: Maurice
Screened: At home, DVR from TCM
October 11: The Ides of March
Screened: In the theater
I liked this movie, particularly the performances from the ensemble and Clooney's command of the current media climate, but I wondered whether the relatively insular focus on the campaign at the heart of the story prevented Clooney and his collaborators from making broader claims about politics in general. Not that I think the characters here needed to map more clearly onto familiar political figures; I wasn't expecting, say, Primary Colors, but I think I was expecting something more like Peter Morgan's studies of Tony Blair, where at its heart it's making larger points about the difference between persona and reality or the substance of today's political climate.
October 12: Limelight
Screened: At home, DVR from TCM
October 16: She Done Him Wrong, Gold Diggers of 1933
Screened: For class
October 21: Bad Teacher
Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix
Screened: For class
October 5: Drive
Screened: In the theater
I'm so glad I let the buzz prevail over my action-movie misgivings, because I loved this dreamy, pulpy movie. A side effect of working in the film class I TA'd for this semester was thinking more about the impact of seeing a movie in the theater as opposed to watching it at home - watching Drive in the theater felt like being steeped in a pure distillation of the essence of an action movie.
October 7: Hanna
Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix
October 9: Moneyball
Screened: In the theater
I think Moneyball at its heart is a perfect expression of its story's central thesis, an idealized portrait of moving parts working in concert. It felt like it had just the right amount of everything - the wonkiness of delving into sports statistics, the emotions of tracing players through the ups-and-downs of the sport as commercial enterprise (including the flashbacks to Billy Beane's start as a player), and the ultimate embrace of pure sports-movie cliche in the culmination of the A's lengthy winning streak.
October 9: Maurice
Screened: At home, DVR from TCM
October 11: The Ides of March
Screened: In the theater
I liked this movie, particularly the performances from the ensemble and Clooney's command of the current media climate, but I wondered whether the relatively insular focus on the campaign at the heart of the story prevented Clooney and his collaborators from making broader claims about politics in general. Not that I think the characters here needed to map more clearly onto familiar political figures; I wasn't expecting, say, Primary Colors, but I think I was expecting something more like Peter Morgan's studies of Tony Blair, where at its heart it's making larger points about the difference between persona and reality or the substance of today's political climate.
October 12: Limelight
Screened: At home, DVR from TCM
October 16: She Done Him Wrong, Gold Diggers of 1933
Screened: For class
October 21: Bad Teacher
Screened: At home, DVD from Netflix
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