What happened to 2010?

For most of the year, my biggest complaint has simply been…where are all the great movies in 2010?  Other then Inception, The Social Network and a small handful of other films, 2010 has been a very weak movie year.  After talking with some of my movie buddies, I know I’m not alone in this sentiment.  With such an amazing selection of great movies in 2009, the question remains…what happened to 2010?  While an exact answer will probably never be known, and interesting theory was brought to my attention by a close friend.

The decline in 2010 cinema may be caused, either directly or indirectly, by the 2007-08 Writers’ strike.  On November 5th, 2007 more the 12,000 writers went on strike and did not go back to work until February 12, 2008.  Obviously, movies can take up to a year or longer to complete, so it’s not far fetched to think that it would take almost 2 years to feel the ripple effect of a strike that last over 3 months and involved 12,000 writers.  I truly hope that Hollywood looks back at 2010 and sees this year’s crop of so-so movies as the perfect example why they should do everything they can to avoid future strikes. 

As for the rest of 2010, things might be looking up a bit.  The overall critical reception for Clint Eastwood’s new film Hereafter has been pretty positive, and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Coen Brothers new film True Grit, which is scheduled for a Christmas day release.  So hopefully these last 2 months will be a pleasant surprise, and Hollywood can salvage this 2010 movie year.  We shall see…

ADDENDUM: I would just like to add that after finally seeing Clint Eastwood's new film Hereafter, I must recant my hopeful statements about it possibly assisting in the salvage of the 2010 movie year.  Hereafter is dreadfully boring and only adds to my frustration about this movie year.

Blu-ray=Hall of Fame!

As countless movie fans can also attest to, I have a pretty decent sized movie collection.  As a matter of fact, I’m not ashamed to admit that my DVD collection is one of my pride and joys.  When someone comes over and visits my place, one of the first things they will notice are my DVDs prominently displayed in the living room (always in alphabetical order by the way J).  And I am also one of those people that wants the real movie in the box.  Although I do have a few burned movies, I would estimate 98% of the DVDs I own are the real deal.

Because I’m a bit of a dork, one of the nagging problems I spent many a sleepless night trying to solve (well, not really but it did bother me J ) was how to indentify the movies that are the best of the best, so that someone browsing my collection would immediately be able to know which films I personally love the most.

Enter Blu-ray…about a year ago I decided it was time to upgrade to a Blu-ray DVD player.  As I was trying to decide which movies I would either purchase or upgrade to Blu-ray, it suddenly hit me.  “I can’t afford to upgrade my entire collection, so why not use Blu-ray to solve my problem of identifying my all-time great movies.”  The more I mulled over the idea, the more it became an exciting challenge.  I would use this new Blu-ray format to identify my…Hall of Fame movies. 

A year or so later, I can say that there are still decent number of films that I haven’t yet had the ability to upgrade to Blu-ray.  Some due to the cost factor, while more frustratingly, others because they have not yet been offered in the Blu-ray format.  I look forward to the day when I can say that all of my “Hall of Fame” movies have rightfully been honored and are all on full Blu-ray display in my DVD collection!

Weekend Movie Marathon...

I'm currently in the middle of a weekend movie marathon and thought I'd take a quick break to post an update as to my viewing choices. After doing a quick search on netflix, I created a list of movies I'm interested in viewing that netflix will allow me to stream instantly on my laptop.

This weekend's movie marathon kicked off the other night with The Sting. The Sting stars Robert Redford and Paul Newman and is the supposed preeminent movie of 1973, winning 7 Academy Awards including the 1973 Best Picture. With that type of resume, I had pretty high expectations for this film, and unfortunately it didn't live up to them. A decent con-heist movie starring two of the all-time great actors, but overall it hasn't aged all that well, and is in no way better then similar modern day con-heist classics like The Usual Suspects or even Ocean's 11. (*** Stars)

For today's first movie marathon selection, I decided to finally watch the first Iron Man (2008) film. I have found over the years that the problem with most superhero movies is that they concentrate too much on the superhero and not enough on the actual person. The perfect example of this are the two latest Spiderman movies. Director Sam Raimi got away from what made the first Spiderman a great movie and concentrated more on the CGI and special effects of the superhero. Iron Man on the other hand, works because it concentrates more on the story of Tony Stark the man. It shows his ambitions and naivety, his fears and insecurities. This idea of “a story about a guy” is why the 1^st Spiderman, The newest Batman franchise and latest Star Trek film were so successful, viewers like myself can relate to the characters on a more personal level. Overall, Iron Man is a surprisingly thrilling and entertaining ride and Robert Downey nails the character of Tony Stark. (*** 1/2 Stars)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) was the next film on my marathon list. Similar to the styling of Natural Born Killers, Fear and Loathing is a challenging movie to watch. The two main characters played by Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro are stoned, ripped and twisted the entire movie on a suicidal concoction of mescaline, acid, cocaine, ether and whatever else they can get their hands on. Based on a classic Hunter S. Thompson semi-autobiographic novel under the same name, Fear and Loathing straddles the line between entertainment and madness. Not all movies are gonna have a straight forward, linear story line, and some credit has to be given to director Terry Gilliam for creating a beautiful work of chaotic absurdity. This movie is not for the faint of heart, but if you are up for sitting back and experiencing a small slice of the drug induced craziness that was Hunter S. Thompson life in the late 60's and 70's, this movie will definitely deliver. (** 1/2 Stars)

Next up, Woody Allen's Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)...

This Week's Library Selection (part 1):Hard Eight (1996)

For those of you that are not aware, many local town libraries, including Thomas Branigan here in Las Cruces, have a movie collection in which you can check out movies for free. Now the selection of newer titles is usually pretty thin, but for those of you looking to watch some of the great movies from the past, your local library is a place I'd recommend taking a look at.

For me the library has become a wonderful resource, offering access to a large range of classic and contemporary films without costing me any money to view them. On Tuesday, I decided to head to the library, and after a twenty minute search I selected the following four films: The Sting (1973)-Best Picture winner starring Robert Redford & Paul Newman; My Left Foot (1989) starring Daniel Day Lewis in his first Academy award winning performance; Marc Forster's The Kite Runner (2007); and Paul Thomas Anderson's first feature film, Hard Eight (1996).

Being a great admirer of writer, director Paul Thomas Anderson and the fact that Hard Eight was the only Anderson film of his five that I had yet to see, I decided of those four movies I would watch Hard Eight first. P.T. Anderson is best known as the writer & director of the 1997 critically acclaimed masterpiece Boogie Nights. Hard Eight was Anderson's first feature film, and was released one year prior to Boogie Nights.

Going back and watching a favorite director's first movie can sometimes be bittersweet. As exciting as it is to finally get the chance to view the film that started it all, many directors have this wonderful habit of getting better with their second and third movies, leaving the viewing of their first film as an almost disappointing experience. Luckily this problem did not arise while watching Hard Eight, as Anderson created a very seductive and confident first directorial effort.

Hard Eight stars Philip Baker Hall (Sydney), John C. Reilly (John), Gwyneth Paltrow (Clementine), and Samuel L. Jackson (Jimmy). Sydney, an experienced lifelong gambler, befriends the down on his luck John, taking him under his wing, teaching him the secrets to the life of a successful gambler and later becoming his surrogate father figure. John meets and impulsively falls in love with Clementine, a cocktail waitress who has a secret life as a part-time hooker. After hastily marrying, John and Clementine find themselves involved in a bad situation that if caught could lead to possible kidnapping and extortion charges, and desperately need Sydney's assistance to help make their problem disappear.

In the pantheon of P.T. Anderson films, I can't place this movie ahead of Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love or There Will Be Blood. But Hard Eight was a very pleasant surprise and one of the better movies that came out during a relatively weak 1996 movie year. Even in his first effort, Anderson's unique filming style is highly evident and the dialogue between characters is sharp and sophisticated. A highly recommended gambler indie flick: (*** 1/2 stars)

My Favorite Movies-Part 1

Definition of Greatest: Of outstanding significance or importance.
Definition of Favorite: One that is trusted, indulged, or preferred above all others.

Every movie fan has their list of all-time favorite movies. While some of these movies might be considered one of the best, many will never find their name on an All-time Greatest list. As the definition says above, favorite movies are: ones that are trusted, indulged, or preferred above all others. I too have a list of my favorites and I am admittedly biased when it comes to these movies.

The Godfather & The Godfather Part II are clearly the greatest movies of all time. However, if you were to ask me what my favorite movie is, Almost Famous (Untitled-The Director’s Cut) will be my answer every time. This is the movie that I have viewed more often then any other in my collection. It’s become a trusted friend. Whenever I’m having a bad day, I can always count on Almost Famous to help lift my mood.

So I’d love to see your favorite movie list. Feel free to post responses and proudly display the movies that you truly love (even if they aren’t what scholars consider classics). Here is the list of my All-Time favorites. If you haven’t seen any of these movies, I hope you’ll get the chance to check them out sometime.

1. Almost Famous (Untitled-The Director’s Cut) (2000)
2. (500) Days of Summer (2009)
3. The Godfather (1972)
4. The Godfather Part II (1974)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6. Before Sunset (2004)
7. Lost in Translation (2003)
8. Big Fish (2003)
9. Fight Club (1999)
10. Boogie Nights (1997)
11. Garden State (2004)
12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
13. Before Sunrise (1995)
14. Sideways (2004)
15. Rushmore (1998)
16. American Beauty (1999)
17. Punch Drunk Love (2002)
18. Jerry Maguire (1996)
19. Dogma (1999)
20. Meet Joe Black (1998)

Other Favorites:

Apollo 13 (1995), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Gladiator (2000), A Good Year (2006), Goodfellas (1990), Harold and Maude (1971), Kill Bill (2003-04), Rachel Getting Married (2008), Stranger Than Fiction (2006), V for Vendetta (2006)

Welcome to ALMOST OBSCURE!

I would like to welcome you to ALMOST OBSCURE-A Cinematic Journal. With so many options these days on the web, I thank you for checking out my movie blog. After years of watching and personally critiquing movies, I finally decided it was time for me to create a forum where I can post my opinions, excitements, and criticisms about the various movies I'm viewing, along any other random thoughts I might have.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't view a movie, so I plan to post as often as I can. My ultimate aspiration for this site is that you will visit ALMOST OBSCURE regularly and read up on my movie journey. I also want you to feel comfortable sharing your own thoughts and opinions, because lets be honest, conversing and sharing about movies is sometimes half the fun of watching them.

Over the years I've had the pleasure of watching hundreds of movies. However, I will be the first to admit there are many, many more that I haven't had the chance to view yet. But one of the beautiful things about movies is, you can always go back and watch ones you haven't seen. So if there is a movie you really think I should check out, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know.

My first couple postings will be an introduction to who I am as a movie fan. This will give you an idea of what my personal cinematic tastes are. Thanks again for visiting ALMOST OBSCURE and I hope you enjoy the future content of this site.

J. Leahy