Can't think of a decent intro, so I guess I'll just toss out an early reminder that we'll be watching Chinatown tonight!
Dirty Harry (1971): What really stood out to me on my second watch of this movie is the whole style of it. I like how it floats between this bombastic view of Harry Callahan as a badass, heroic cop, and how it gets more subdued and realistic when he has to do all these other jobs that distract him from hunting Scorpio, like talking that one dude down from committing suicide. Don Siegel and Bruce Surtees definitely knew what they were doing behind the camera. And of course I loved all the '70s-era funky cop movie music, haha.
Swingers (1996): Even hearing about how young and skinny Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau look in this movie can't really prepare you for how disorienting it is lol. Also lol'd at all the slang. (Top three things that really date a movie: 1) music, 2) slang and 3) technology.) But it's pretty funny regardless of that. I especially enjoyed the drive to Las Vegas that slowly becomes more irritating the longer it goes on, and the long nights spent playing NHL '94. (Even though I guess they're actually playing the '93 version.) And the intentional rips of Reservoir Dogs and Goodfellas are also funny. :p Some of the dating scenes are also The Office levels of awkward ...
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005): Watched for purposes of Rifftrax. I thought this was the best of the Harry Potter flicks ... but, man, it really isn't good at all. The pacing is just a freaking mess. There's a lot of stuff cut from the book, which I don't really mind, but the transitions are terrible. And this isn't one of the better books in the series, anyway; the main story is pretty boring. The one bright spot: Loads of unintentional comedy!
Harper (1966): Paul Newman hits yet another home run. He's fantastic as the titular detective who seems to actively despise his clients (yet he does his job, anyway, because there's still some shred of justice left in him). He also shows off some great comic ability; not just the sarcastic one-liners that film noir detectives are famous for, but also when Harper assumes different personas to pump various people for information, or Harper's hilarious reactions when people do or say weird shit. And the bizarre plot is totally all over the place (in a good way), with a kidnapping, an alcoholic former movie star, a cult, illegal immigration and on and on. I loved it; all of you who enjoyed Newman in Cool Hand Luke should watch this, too (and every other great movie Newman has starred in).
On the queue for this week: Chinatown (1974), Hoosiers (1986) and maybe Inherit the Wind (1960)
Total Movies: 140 (The Taking of Pelham 123, The Station Agent, The Final Destination, Silent Movie, The African Queen, Departures, Moon, Bound, Solaris, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rifftrax), Wristcutters: A Love Story, In the Loop, Public Enemies, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Rifftrax), Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-Hen, District 9, The Magnificent Seven, Night Moves, My Name is Bruce, Big Fan, Almost Famous, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Drag Me to Hell, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Kara no Kyoukai 1-7, 9, Zombieland, Ninja Scroll, Primer, Re-Animator, Summer Wars, The Changeling, The Men Who Stare at Goats, Ponyo, Eden of the East: The King of Eden, Porco Rosso, Something Something Something Dark Side, Castle in the Sky, Robot Carnival, Halloweentown, Whisper of the Heart, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, Fiddler on the Roof, Kiki's Delivery Service, Genius Party, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, The Sky Crawlers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, My Neighbors the Yamadas, THX 1138, The Stepfather, Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, Tremors, Horror of Dracula, The Brood, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, Rabid, Inglourious Basterds, Them!, The Yakuza, Alphaville, Ghost in the Shell, Priceless, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, Whip It, A Boy and His Dog, Fletch, The Blind Side, Speed, June 17, 1994, Nobel Son, Invictus, Toy Story 3, The Two Escobars, Soylent Green, Up in the Air, Tyson, This Is Spinal Tap, The Proposition, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, The Informant!, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Macross: Do You Remember Love?, Coco Before Chanel, The Vanishing, Inception, Mind Game, Pale Rider, The Hurt Locker, Roujin Z, Broken Blade, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Black Christmas, Crazy Heart, The Man with Two Brains, Ninja Assassin, Panic Room, Mobile Suit Gundam I-III, Casablanca, Stray Dog, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva, Memories, The Gold Rush, Paprika, Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness, An Education, Eden of the East: Paradise Lost, Dr. Strangelove, Doomsday, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Natural, Bungaku Shoujo, The Book of Eli, To Kill a Mockingbird, Aim for the Ace!, Animal House, The Princess and the Frog, Char's Counterattack, Date Night, Cool Hand Luke, Kiss Me Deadly, An American Werewolf in London, Teen Wolf, Logan's Run, The Naked City, Dirty Harry, Swingers, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rifftrax), Harper)
