Movies in October

Ed: What’s the plan then?

Shaun: Right…take car…go to Mum’s…kill Phil…grab Liz….go to the Winchester…have a nice cold pint…and wait for all of this to blow over. How’s that for a slice of fried gold?

Ed: Yeah, boyyyeee!

Movies at the Theater

I went nearly a month without having a movie subscription service, but once I finally got AMC’s A-List towards the end of the month I saw movies at a staggering pace. Finally having a service that allowed me to see any movie I wanted with no hoops to jump through kept me going back for more movies.

I liked every movie I saw this month, but I loved “First Man” and “Bad Times at the El Royale”. Both films may end up on my “favorite movies of the year” list when it’s all said and done. Even though the movies themselves were remarkably different in terms of tone and theme, both were incredibly well written, incredibly well acted, and incredibly well directed. If there is any righteousness left in the world they will both make a splash come award season.

• First Man (*)
• The Old Man and the Gun (*)
• Bad Times at the El Royale (*)
• The Sisters Brothers (*)
• A Star is Born (*)

(*) denotes any movie which I watched for the first time.

Movies at Home

• Unforgiven
• Coco
• Hell or High Water (*)
• Fargo (*)
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (*)
• North by Northwest
• How to Train Your Dragon
• How to Train Your Dragon 2
• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
• Mulholland Drive (*)
• Practical Magic (*)
• Game Night
• John Wick

(*) denotes any movie which I watched for the first time.

Movies Added to My Collection

November (and Black Friday) here we come! My wish list is getting longer and longer and it won’t be too long before the Black Friday ads are released and I’ll get to see everything that will be on sale.

As for October, however, it was a pretty sad month. I added just one movie to My Collection. “Hell or High Water” was a “blind buy”, (meaning I purchased it before ever having seen the movie) which is relatively rare for me. By my count, only 25 films in my collection of nearly 200 have been a blind buy.

I have been eagerly awaiting the 4K UHD release of “2001: A Space Odyssey” ever since I saw it in theaters back in August. It was originally scheduled to be released on October 30th, but late in the month, Warner Brothers announced it was being pushed back to a November 20th release date with virtually no explanation. Hopefully, next month’s update post will include “2001: A Space Odyssey” along with several Black Friday purchases.

• Hell or High Water

What about you? What movies did you see and buy this month?

Scene Spotlight #2: “Escape from Jakku”

That one’s garbage!…The garbage will do.

Rey

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I’ve been re-watching every Star Wars movie in My Collection (which is everything except for “Solo”) on a whim. And while there are many outstanding scenes in the Original Trilogy, it was one scene from one of the sequels that really stands out to me. That scene is “Escape from Jakku” from “Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens”. Compared to the first installment of “Scene Selections”, “Escape from Jakku” is quite a bit longer…nearly twice as long in fact.

This scene stands apart from the majority of chase/fight scenes in Star Wars movies. Most ship-to-ship aerial dogfight scenes throughout the franchise are set out in open space. “Escape from Jakku”, however, takes place mere feet (and sometimes less) from the surface of the planet. The scene does an outstanding job using the surrounding scenery and terrain to build the action in a way that perhaps no other Star Wars chase scene does.

I love that our first (re)introduction to the Millennium Falcon since the Original Trilogy takes place in such a hectic scene. We the viewers are simply thrown into it just like Rey and Finn. There is no grand entrance and no time to breathe. It is 100% fight or flight. We don’t have time to get truly reacquainted with the ship until Han and Chewie show up in the next scene.

There are (obviously) so many moments of pure nostalgic fan service in this scene. From the musical cue when we first see the Falcon, to Rey calling it a “garbage” ship, to the ship’s new radar dish. But it all works, because the scene is so chaotic that we don’t have time to dwell on how the nostalgia is hitting us. The scene moves from shot to shot so quickly that it’s not until the scene finally relents and they head off into space away from Jakku that we can finally breathe and take in everything we just saw.

“The Force Awakens” and director J.J. Abrams received their fair share of criticism for re-hashing some of the same territory as “A New Hope” in both plot and character. And while “Escape from Jakku” doesn’t do much for character development, it does drive the plot forward by getting our heroes off Jakku while providing some absolutely thrilling visuals along the way. And that is why it is one of my favorite scenes of all time.

If you were one of the handful of people who have yet to see “The Force Awakens”, or you just want to see the scene in question, here’s a link to it on Youtube.

Movies in September

Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There’s no crying! THERE’S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

Jimmy Dugan

September is the last month of summer, the last month of regular season baseball, and the last month of me being extremely busy. Fall is when my schedule finally begins to ease up for a bit, and I’m excited for the start of “Oscar Season” in October.

Movies at the Theater

I finally cancelled MoviePass this month and am currently without a subscription service for the first time on nearly a year. Combining that with my absurdly busy schedule meant I was only able to see two movies in theaters in September. Fittingly enough, “Operation Finale” gets the fine distinction of being the final movie I saw using MoviePass.

• Juliet, Naked (*)
• Operation Finale (*)

(*) denotes any movie which I watched for the first time.

Movies at Home

• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
• The Incredible Jessica James (*)
• A Serious Man (*)
• A League of Their Own
• Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
• Howl’s Moving Castle (*)
• Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
• Long Shot (*)
• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
• Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
• Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

(*) denotes any movie which I watched for the first time.

Movies Added to My Collection

I finally completed my Star Wars collection (well, except for Solo which was only released on home media last week). I had been holding off from getting the Prequel Trilogy (for obvious reasons), but I finally caved. I had watched the rest of the films and saw the trilogy was on sale on Amazon so I finally pulled the trigger.

• Tora! Tora! Tora!
• Star Wars Prequel Trilogy

Five Movies I Wish I Could See In Theaters

A lot of it is the social magic of going out to the movies, seeing it with a lot of people you have never met and sharing an experience. I feel there is no substitute for going out to the movies. There is nothing like it.

Steven Spielberg

Recently, my significant other told me that her job was renting out screens at the Alamo Drafthouse to show movies to employees. They asked everyone to submit a list of five movies they’d want to see, and then chose three movies to screen from those nominations. What they ended up with is “Jaws”, “The Notebook”, and “Jurassic World”. I could take or leave “The Notebook” and “Jurassic World”, but I have to say “Jaws” is a good pick. Getting a chance to see the original summer blockbuster on the big screen would be hard to pass up.

This got me thinking, though, about what 5 movies I would nominate to see on the big screen. It took me awhile to think of a good list of movies. Obviously, if this is a one time thing I am going to pick something I’ve never seen in the theater before. Generally, I would want to see something spectacular, something visually awe-inspiring. I would also want a movie that I can get absolutely lost in with a world and a story and characters that feels true and tangible. But mostly, I would want a movie that truly deserves to be on the big screen. And to my mind, all five of my picks definitely deserve it.

The Godfather

This is by far the most intimate of the five films I would choose. There’s very little action in “The Godfather”, but I would still love to witness the drama unfold on the big screen. From the opening “I believe in America” monologue I can see myself getting lost in the world of the Corleone Family. The drama and suspense would only be amplified even further on the big screen.

Lawrence of Arabia

Seeing this historical epic as it was intended would be something else. The vast scenery would completely envelop you. The action would feel larger and even more perilous. There was a major restoration completed in 2017 and the film was shown at a select few theaters in 70mm. What a sight that must have been.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

This movie had an enormous impact on me at a young age. It is one of the first films I ever remember loving and it has always been something my father and I have bonded over. To see it in the theater with Steven Spielberg’s incredible direction and John Williams’ enduring score would be something I would never forget.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

This is (by far) the newest movie on my list, but I missed it during its original theatrical run and have only seen it once in a very small, very bad “theater” (I’m not sure the term “theater” even accurately describes the space). I would love to see this in a full-sized theater to fully experience Edgar Wright’s bombastic style of story-telling. Every frame is bursting with style and color and the soundtrack is relentlessly cool. I want to lose myself in “the mysterious land…of Toronto, Canada”.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

I’ve obviously seen other “Star Wars” movies in theaters, but seeing the original would be a different beast entirely. “Episode IV” came out just two years after “Jaws” and was the really the 2nd ever “blockbuster” movie and was the highest grossing movie in history at the time. I feel like seeing this would be like a trip back to the 1970s in the best way possible.

Movies in May

Without even thinking about it, I used to be able to fly. Now I’m trying to look inside myself and find out how I did it.

Kiki

Movies at the Theater

I love getting the chance to see older movies in theaters, and this month I actually got to see two in “Can’t Hardly Wait” and “Porco Rosso”. If “Porco Rosso” taught me anything it’s that I need to see absolutely every Studio Ghibli film because even their lesser known movies are simply outstanding. I want to try to see most of the movies during Studio Ghibli Fest 2018, but if not I will try and get them on Blu-ray.

• Tully
• Can’t Hardly Wait
• Deadpool 2
• Porco Rosso
• Solo: A Star Wars Story

Movies Added to My Collection

As for My Collection, it was a pretty slow month…right up until Memorial Day weekend. Vintage Stock (my favorite place to find used Blu-rays) had a “buy 2 get 1 free” sale and I was able to pick up a couple good movies. “Tombstone” and “The Last Samurai” had both been on my wishlist for a while now. Then, after seeing “Porco Rosso” in the theater I ended up getting “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and I’m completely in love with it. I’ve already watched it twice and would watch it a third time in a heartbeat.

• Tombstone
• Lady Bird
• The Brothers Bloom
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
• The Last Samurai
• Kiki’s Delivery Service