movies watched in May

[orangerful]

May was a month of rewatching and revisiting. I guess sometimes you crave the familiar, things from long ago that you vaguely remember watching and want to see again.


The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
This is the closest thing to a Warner Bros. cartoon that Disney has ever done. So random and ridiculous, I love it! Not your typical Disney fare, but still highly enjoyable, especially for older kids who get sarcasm.




The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
This was a nice movie. And I mean that in the best and worst ways. Even though I knew exactly what I was going to see, it didn't make it any less enjoyable. Not really the kind of movie I would watch again, but a nice film for an evening together.

I think the cast elevated this film beyond what it was. Ben Stiller was perfect as rundown Walter. Kristen Wiig was good in a relatively straight roll for her. And the rest of the movie is full of familiar faces, even if you don't remember all their names. The locations are gorgeous too, really made me want to go to Iceland. A good rental for a warm spring evening when you just want something light.



Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
This movie is perfect. I've watched it so many times now and every time I just love it more. The stop-motion animation is beyond amazing, even more so after you watch the special features and marvel at how much work goes into a few seconds of film. The script is full of this dry humor, superbly acted by an amazing voice cast. This may be my favorite George Clooney role of all time. It has moments that will resonate with kids, teens, and adults. And it is HIGHLY quotable.

It's **does hand wavy motions** different.




Singin' In the Rain (1952)
It's still good, what more can I say? It's hard for me not to just stare during each dance sequence and watch Kelly's feet fly around (even though I will always have a crush on Donald O'Connor). I watched it a LOT when I was a kid and now I own it on blu-ray and I still love it (though the whole "Gotta Dance" sequence is just so random. Clearly an excuse for Kelly to showcase some different dance styles...so why was I complaining?)



The Breakfast Club (1985)
I watched it in High School and was underwhelmed by it. I wanted it again last night and was still not in love with it. I think that because I never belonged to any of these groups in high school, the story doesn't resonate so well with me. I didn't hit this level of angst until later in life. Also, I was a bit surprised by how many "gonna rape ya!" jokes Judd Nelson's character makes towards Molly Ringwald's. I had forgotten all of that and it sorta put me off the "Let's Pair Everyone Off!" ending.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off is my favorite John Hughes movie.


Airplane! (1980)
So bad, so good. I even got a few more of the references this viewing! This is my childhood (which is funny because most of the jokes went right over my little kid head). I miss movies this goofy. Some of the jokes are so subtle and quick that if you're not paying attention, they fly right by. Some are not very PC anymore, but how can you not laugh at the whole Saturday Night Fever dance scene! Surely, you can't be serious!



The Hunger Games (2012)
What can I say about Hunger Games that hasn't been said? I loved the book series and I've been pretty happy with the movies. We rewatched this because someone had just read the book for the first time and wanted to compare. It's a good translation onto the big screen, but there is so much in the book that makes The Capital that much worse. But they made the right call not including it in a movie that is already over 2 hours long.


Poltergeist (1982)
This movie has so many little problems. There are some clunky edits, some of the scenes don't flow right (especially at the end when they had been packing moving boxes all day yet there still seems to be a LOT in the house). I feel like the story still holds up really well. I still get goosebumps during several scenes. And since it has the Steven Spielberg connection, everything turns out all right in the end. JoBeth Williams is my favorite part of this movie, I think she plays Mom very well. Part of me wants to remake this movie and fix some of the issues and another part loves it for all it's flaws (and also all the Star Wars toys in Robbie's room...)


Willow (1988)
This movie came out when I was 7 and I think we must have seen it in the theater. I've loved it ever since. Yes, it's bubbling over with fantasy tropes but it's heart is in the right place. Before I knew the magic of Lord of the Rings or the darkness of Game of Thrones, Willow was my first real venture into live-action fantasy.

FYI Warwick Davis' commentary has to be one of the best solo commentary tracks I have ever listened to. Such a delight. If you own the DVD/Blu-Ray, I highly recommend giving it a listen.




If you think we have similar taste in movies, follow me on Letterboxd!

Comments

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

Oh man, Emperors New Groove is one of my favorite things ever. How do I not have an icon for that movie? So much love. Also for Airplane. <3

[thekaiserchief.livejournal.com]

I love The Emperor's New Groove so much! It's hilarious.

I've got to rewatch Fantastic Mr. Fox one of these days!

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

Wow, I haven't seen Emperor's New Groove in forever and I totally need to but I feel like it's such an under-appreciated Disney movie that doesn't get any love. It's up there with The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, Great Mouse Detective, Pete's Dragon and the two Rescuers movies as far as lack of love goes, which is really sad because they're all great movies. I mean, Sword in the Stone can be kind of boring but it does have its moments that make it good...like Mad Madam Mim, and the squirrel scene. :D

Apparently they're working on remaking Poltergeist, which makes me super sad/want to rage because it does have its flaws, but for a movie of its time it's so great. And I freaking love all the Star Wars stuff in Robbie's room. I actually have the same exact Darth Vader action figure case that he has.

I agree with you about The Hungers Games- for a movie that was already over two hours long, they did a good job with it but they left out so much for important details...they did a much better job with Catching Fire, but they still left out important scenes. :( I really hope they don't do that with Mockingjay 1 and 2.

Aww, I love Willow! I've never listened to the commentary but I think I need to do that. That's another amazing, under-appreciated movie. Have you ever seen the movie Ladyhawke? If not, you should. Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeifer (I don't think I'm spelling her name right) are in it and it's great. Very under-appreciated, too. I had one or two of the Willow books...I think it was only one, but it was about Aurora growing up and such. I don't remember a whole lot about it, though I also don't think I got very far into it.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Just watched "Emperor's New Groove" a few months ago on Netflix and still think it's so funny and cute. David Spade is one of my favorite comedians, so that sarcastic humor is right up my alley.

I only saw "Fantastic Mr. Fox" once in the theater. I remember liking a lot of it, but a lot of stuff kind of went over my head. It's probably something I need to see again to see if my opinion on it's changed.

I don't remember there being that many "rapey" jokes in "The Breakfast Club."

I haven't seen "Willow" in such a long time. Though I do have a vague memory of the first time I saw it, it being this big event and HBO was showing "Star Wars" before it, that was probably the first and only time I'd seen "Star Wars." I can barely remember it, but I do remember "Willow." I adored it. I'd heard that Warwick Davis' commentary is pretty great.

Stacey

[sevarem.livejournal.com]

Glad to see I'm not the only one underwhelmed by The Breakfast Club. People are usually incredulous when I tell them I didn't like the film.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I recently watched The Breakfast Club, and I liked it, but the first time I tried I was so underwhelmed I stopped. I think for its time it was very revolutionary for a teen comedy, kind of like Ferris Bueller - now everyone's tried to emulate it, so the "tough guy probably has a hard home life and just wants to be loved by someone" and "popular girl is secretly drowning in glitter" tropes are so cliche and common. In 1985, not so much. So once I got the significance of that, I really did like it, and I think there are things about teens John Hughes films got even a lot of movies now miss the mark on. One of the things that strikes me about Ferris Bueller is that while it is about a guy who skips school with his friends, they don't go to the beach or some seedy spot in town and get drunk, they go to the Sears Tower and an art gallery - things you'd expect them to do on a school trip. They're smart and want to be educated, they're just dissatisfied with how they're being educated, with how the adults in the world view them as sharp objects. TBC kind of got that too, which was nice.

(Actually, I kind of feel that way about Buffy too, and that was way more recent. It did things most teen shows didn't do - hell, most horror movies didn't do. I may write my own post on that.))

As for the sexual harassment jokes, yeah, that bothered me too, and it's in a few Hughes films. (Sixteen Candles goes really far, to the point where it's implied someone ese essentially date raped. Yeah.) I think some of it is that media was a bit... bolder with how far it could go back then? I realize "back then" was hardly the stone age, I was born in 1985, but I still feel that now, people are more likely to pick up on those things and say "dude, not funny", whereas at that point it was more "okay, we know he's just angry and probably doesn't mean it." Which I'm sure is what John Hughes meant, but that doesn't make those jokes any less creepy and unfunny. (ETA: Not saying that weird unfunny jokes don't still creep up in more recent film; just that I think they tend to find themselves over more scrutiny when they do.)

Wow, this got long.

[aveilthe.livejournal.com]

Oh goodness, I remember Emperor's New Groove. It's fantastic. It's good to know people remember it. That movie was certainly watched to death when I was a kid!

[pleasant-valley.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love The Emperor's New Groove. I actually think it's the funniest ever Disney movie and I don't care what anyone else thinks I find David Spade really amusing.
I was never a massive fan of The Breakfast Club either. I'm a big sucker for 80's movies in general but although I think TBC is okay there are way more 80s films that I love so much more. (And my favourite John Hughes movie is probably Pretty in Pink btw.)

I guess you may already know my thoughts on Singin' in the Rain and Gene Kelly. I basically love and adore them both! Donald O'Conner is adorable in it too. I think it's one of those films that even if I'm having a truly grotty day I know I can put on and it'll make me feel better.

I've not seen The Fantasic Mr.Fox or Willow. I find Warwick Davis incredibly charming and witty though so it doesn't surprise me that his commentary would be delightful.

[twissie.livejournal.com]

Wow, I wish I'd known about Letterboxd back when I used to keep track of all the films I watched, haha. I might sign up, I watch a lot of films, and I enjoy keeping track. Thanks for sharing :D

The Emperor's New Groove is amazing~ the humour is so on point, I quote "yay, I'm a llama again~" all the time <,<;;;

I think I need to rewatch Fantastic Mr. Fox (again). I really love Wes Anderson's films, but this is still my least favourite of everything he's done. I'm not sure why, I usually love stop motion animation. I think I somehow expected more in terms of style and craziness? I don't even know. A rewatch it needed to sort my feelings xD;

Uugh, I love The Breakfast Club. I love high school stereotypes, which is a really foreign concept to me, things may have changed since I was in school, but our groups and cliques are definitely more loosely defined than what's usually portrayed in American films and TV shows. I think I identify a little with all the characters, and I love the soundtrack. Most of all, I love the atmosphere and set up, which I find very relatable for some reason. Maybe because I usually feel like I don't have anything in common with anyone around me. This film sort of reminds me that we all have something we can share or give that'll be interesting or meaningful to someone else.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

LOL this post has turned into a test to see if I can reference Emperor's New Groove on my blog and have people get it. I think I am safe LOL.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I need to get Sword in the Stone on blu-ray at some points. I know I watched it over and over as a kid (and I think my Dad looks more and more like Merlin each time I see him LOL). I <3 Great Mouse Detective. Another big departure from Disney's usual style and it doesn't get enough love...(and now I have the Rattigan song stuck in my head).

I haven't seen Ladyhawke in AGES though we were discussing it on our roadtrip a few months ago. Perhaps it's time to rent that one...wonder if it's streaming on Netflix.

I actually have one of the Willow books that I took from a throwaway pile at work. It's by Chris Claremont, of all people! I've had it for awhile now but never opened it (this is usually what happens to books I own vs check out from the library - no due date means I never read them)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Warwick was only 18 when they made Willow so he talks a lot about how weird it was for him to pretend to be a Dad LOL. He's just such a sweetheart. I actually met him in an airport after a Star Wars Convention! He was so nice, let us pose for a picture with him and everything.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

**fist bump**

You are not alone!

(I love your icon, btw!)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

YES! That is a great point about Ferris. He doesn't skip school to go get wasted or cause problems. He just wants to have fun. He even talks seriously about marrying Sloan, which what 18 year old would have such deep thoughts?

I think that was part of my issue with BC, that it felt more like stereotypes than real teens? And the whole pairing them off at the end just felt so sudden! Slap some make-up on Ally Sheedy and everything is better? Wha? Especially since they play it like this is the first time they have all formally met so you spend a Saturday together and suddenly you're making out in the parking lot? Hm...

and the library is closing now so I need to stop commenting LOL. I will be back later with Buffy feels. :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I went on a mission earlier this year (or late last year) to find a site that let me do with movies the same as I do with GoodReads. I found two of them and Letterboxd won out. I highly recommend it. I wish they had an app, but otherwise it's awesome. Feel free to friend me on there. :)

Fantastic Mr Fox was my real introduction to Wes Anderson so I didn't have any preconceived notions (in fact, when I first watched it, I accidentally posted and said it was a Wes Craven movie LOL!). I think I had seen one of his movies before that, but I was too immature to "get it" then. I saw FMF and then immediately rented "Darjeeling Limited" and loved that. I really want to watch "Royal Tenenbaums". I didn't care for "Rushmore". I liked "Moonrise Kingdom" well enough.

[sevarem.livejournal.com]

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Singin' in the Rain. A few years ago, a friend and I went through a period of watching a bunch of old movies, and this one was probably the best of the bunch. It was so FUN, which I really didn't expect. (On the other hand, Sound of Music goes on FOREVER.)

I remember LOVING Willow as a kid, but I tried to re-watch it a few years ago, and for some reason, I couldn't get through it. However, Airplane! will be awesome forever.

(Thanks!)

[twissie.livejournal.com]

I really do not need yet another site with a profile and things to update, but ungh. Tempting. I'm afraid it would just end up largely unused, though :( Abandoned internet profiles are sad things.

But you have left out the best Wes Anderson film there is, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It's my absolute favourite~ The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Royal Tenenbaums close behind (though my ordering of these films tend to change a lot XD).

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I'm so happy that so many on my flist know this movie! Clearly I am among my people!

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

confession: I've never seen Sound of Music! I love musicals but somehow that one never got into rotation. I guess my parents were not big fans so we didn't own it on VHS. The King and I I watched a LOT and I love and adore The Pirates of Penzance and Into the Woods.

We watched Spaceballs tonight and that is also still awesome.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

OH! I shall bump that up on the to-watch list then. :)

and as someone with many many abandoned profiles, I totally understand. GoodReads and Letterboxd are probably my most used sites after LJ now though. But there are so many (LibraryTHing, Shelfari, BookLikes, Seen That) lying dormant...

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Most of the movies in the John Cusack filmography outrank BC for me. If I need 80s teen angst, I'd rather watch Say Anything LOL (though I actually prefer the cheesy A Sure Thing)

At least I know someone will get it if I ever have to start a LJ post with "Dignity...always dignity..."

WHAAAAAAA! You should at least see Fantastic Mr. Fox. I know I wear my childhood nostalgia glasses when I watch Willow but FMF is awesome and so pretty.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

It came out after I graduated high school but my whole family LOVED it and we quote it all the time. :)

[poniesandphotos.livejournal.com]

Anytime there is a lever anywhere I find it REALLY hard to not yell at the top of my lungs "PULL THE LEVER KRONK!" followed by "WRONG LEVER!" after the person pulls it.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I've totally lost my train of thought from earlier now LOL. I think, for me, I felt like TBC wasn't sure if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama and it was off balance. Having the angry kid say mean things is one thing, but he got a little too nasty with those comments. And, like you said, it's all even more cliche now (though I feel like the whole Rebel without a Cause/Catcher in the Rye character established this cliche long before Breakfast Club).

Actually, now I'm curious if anyone has written and film essays on the movie, I would be curious to know about it's place in teen movie history. Sorta like The Godfather, I know it was important but it's been done so much better since then, it doesn't really impress me anymore. (yes, I just dismissed The Godfather...)

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

I have it on DVD (because I got it when I didn't have a bluray player- it was one of the replacement movies I got when the car crashed into my dad's house and the insurance company gave money to get movies replaced since a lot of the VHS tapes we had were ruined from that) but eventually I might have to get it on bluray since I'm starting to buy more and more blurays. I think I didn't get to watch it AS much as I might have liked to? I don't know/remember if I had the actual VHS tape, but I think it was recorded onto a VHS tape by my parents...there was this TV movie called The Hugga Bunch that my parents taped onto VHS for us, and then after that was Sword in the Stone...and then eventually the tape got lost so I wasn't able to watch either of those movies any more, at least without renting Sword in the Stone (I doubt Blockbuster had The Hugga Bunch XD).

Hahaha, I had the Rattigan song stuck in my head as soon as I read that line in the email notification. :D

I haven't seen it in ages, either, and I have it on DVD (actually two copies...I think one belongs to my mom). I need to watch it again, it's such a beautiful movie. They have it on DVD on there but I don't know if that means they have it on streaming. There are so many old movies/TV shows that are DVD only on there that I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have it for streaming. :|

I have no idea what book this was...I don't even remember the name of it, haha. I just remember trying and failing to read it.

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

I think, for me, I felt like TBC wasn't sure if it wanted to be a comedy or a drama and it was off balance.

You know, you're exactly right. It sort of works as a dark comedy, but even so, it's weird.

(though I feel like the whole Rebel without a Cause/Catcher in the Rye character established this cliche long before Breakfast Club

I've never read either one, but from what I know of Catcher, at least, you definitely have a point. I guess I mean in the sense that you have a tough character who all the other kids are almost afraid of, but you realize he's not so bad. But even afterschool specials probably established that sort of character, and even Grease played with the tough/soft thing to some extent.

Actually, now I'm curious if anyone has written and film essays on the movie, I would be curious to know about it's place in teen movie history.

I know I've read reviews/essays that have backed a lot of what I just said, that before John Hughes films, teenagers really weren't written as people. This archived article from 1984 (by Robert Ebert no less) kind of supports that point: http://www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/john-hughes-when-youre-16-youre-more-serious-than-youll-ever-be-again (It may have been edited, there's a picture of TBC cast even though it was written in 1984...)


I think Buffy was similar, though more in the vein that the blonde kind of ditzy girl was actually the hero. (And honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if Joss Whedon took a few tips from John Hughes.) I like Buffy better than TBC, but it never occurred to me (when I watched it in 2008 after making a deal with a friend*) how unique it was to have the show open with a seemingly dumb girl and a boy wandering an empty school after hours, only for the girl to be a vampire and kill the boy. That's not as much of a shock now as it was in 1996. (Though it is still a twist. I totally thought Darla was going to be the victim.)

*She'd watch Firefly I'd watch Buffy. I'd previously assumed Buffy was basically Sweet Valley High or any other teen series with vampires. I try not to assume things anymore.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

It's not streaming, argh! Wonder if the library has it...if not, I will use this as an excuse to ask them to buy it! haha.

[andy-wolverton.livejournal.com]

Good list! Gotta post mine soon, although it will be rather short. (Spent too much time last month reading graphic novels!) Gotta pop in Airplane! again soon just so we'll have more quotes to refer to at work! ;-P

[jediknightmuse.livejournal.com]

Lol, I figured it wouldn't be. Netflix really needs to give more of a variety for the stuff they stream. Most of the stuff I want to watch is DVD only, which is why I only do the DVDs (and then it takes me forever to actually watch and then send them back). I learned the hard way that you can't switch back and forth between doing streaming and dvds on one account and it's too expensive for both. It didn't used to be, but then they got dumb and hiked the prices up. :| Hopefully the library has it! :D

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I feel like no one says "Surely" any more...I wonder if it because of this movie LOL. (also it took a lot of brain power to type that...kept typing "Shirley"...)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

(LOL I actually hate Catcher in the Rye and Grease...perhaps there are just certain personalities that rub me the wrong way and hinder my enjoyment of a story?)

Ally Sheedy compares TBC to doing a play and after we finished watching it the first thing I pondered was trying to make it into a stage play. If you remove some of the harsher language, it would be a fantastic play for high school or freshman college classes...

I *knew* they all looked way too old to be in high school, especially Nelson and Estevez. I think when you're a kid, it doesn't bother you as much but now that I'm older, I know they are not teenagers by how they are built haha. Though most of the Buffy crew wasn't HS age either -- ACTING!

Joss would have been 20 when these movies came out so there is no doubt in my mind they spoke to him.

I would guess that Buffy's relationship with Joyce mirror's that of Joss and his mother and that is another thing that I think drew me to Buffy but turns me off of so many other teen shows. Yeah, I had arguments with my parents but I was never angsty. (also another reason I fell for Gilmore Girls, despite thinking it was just a dumb girl show...it's not. Like Buffy, it's far smarter than anyone could guess from the horrible DVD packaging).

Oh and I totally put off watching Buffy for a long time. I thought the movie was dumb and figured it was just another fluffy teen show. But, as I always say, I had a bad breakup with my X-Files and then I met Buffy and Joss treated me so much better as a viewer that it's been love ever since. :)

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

The Gilmore Girls is one of those shows I've seen with other friends and stuff, but never really sat down and watched on my own. I really should, though. But you're right, like Buffy the packaging makes it look way sillier than it is, as well as the way the media covers it, honestly. The magazines I read (only for the stories, I never cared about fashion or celebrity gossip, and I also loved making fun of the advice columns) would be all "and like, Willow is like a witch now, and Buffy's like, hell no, and Sunnydale's like, hellmouth." Yeah, the show is... way way more intelligent than that.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was so bad about watching the DVDs and my To-Watch list for streaming is so long, I dropped DVDs awhile ago. Between that, Hulu, and the library, I'm pretty much always entertained :D

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

oh huzzah, there is a copy of Ladyhawke on the shelf at my branch! I'll go looking for it tomorrow :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Yes, give it a try! My college professor is the one that talked me into it. I kept telling him it wouldn't have enough kicking for me (we were both big Buffy fans too) and he said to just try it. I actually got my friend to watch it recently after she finished Buffy and was sad she didn't have any more shows. She loved it so much she bought the DVDs so I stole them from her and started to rewatch and fell in love with the show all over again. It is just full of strong characters, it's all about the quirky but it has a good heart. And not in a omg-so-sweet-i-will-vomit way but in a realistic way (even if I'm 99% sure a woman who got knocked up as a teen and worked as a maid could never afford a house in New England...but you gotta suspend disbelief sometimes!!)

I think the media has no idea how to handle "smart" shows. It's like they always have to break them down to their most inane parts. Even Game of Thrones gets turned into "OMG LOOK AT KIT'S FACE SO PRETTY!" (which I agree with...but there is more to it than that!)

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Before I knew the magic of Lord of the Rings or the darkness of Game of Thrones, Willow was my first real venture into live-action fantasy.
Same here! I love that movie. Watched it over and over when I was little, but I haven't seen it in ages. Mainly because I just don't have it on DVD--only VHS, and that version only ripped from TV with commercials. (The way most of my movies were back in the day--including The Princess Bride, Annie, Neverending Story, and several others.)

I also had a huge crush on Warwick Davis back then too--I don't think I quite *got* that he was actually a grown-up, but I don't know if that would've made a difference. He's had a pretty damn awesome career though--been Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter.

[geekslave.livejournal.com]

Cool! That's awesome that you got to meet him and that he was so sweet.

Stacey

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

You know, I always loved our taped copies of movies. We had a copy of "The Dark Crystal" on BETA, tape from TV, and I always looked forward to the commercial for the McDonald's clothing line at SEARS LOL!

[hermionesparkle.livejournal.com]

The Emperor's New Groove is in my top 5 Disney movies!! Kronk is my favorite male Disney character, ever. I love everything about it though. In fact, I just opened a fanlisting for it, lol.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

OMG I adore Kronk. :) I quote him all the time. I made a reference to him during our D&D game the other night when I asked if my Rogue was invisible and the DM said "You think no one can see you" so I leaned against the wall and did the little theme song pause noise haha...not sure if anyone got it though.

[hermionesparkle.livejournal.com]

BWHAHA!! That is AWESOME!! I would have laughed myself silly over that.