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 1st 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)...
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