Project Moviewatch: September report

[gridlockjoe]

What have I gotten myself into?

While lamenting the state of the fall TV season and simultaneously bemoaning the amount of time I found myself in front of the computer, the idea struck me that I should actually watch some of the movies in my collection, rather than just letting them sit around gathering dust in what is supposed to be my dining room.

And so I resolved to watch a DVD on nights when there's nothing on TV, keep track of what I watch and provide my thoughts on a monthly basis.

I'm always willing to entertain recommendations of what I should watch next, and also would love company on movie nights.

	Staplerfahrer Klaus: Der erste Arbeitstag (Forklift Driver Klaus: The First Day on the Job) This very gory, very funny parody of workplace safety films won many awards. After seeing it on YouTube I found it on sale at amazon.de a while back (thanks, lil_m_moses!) The YouTube video I linked above has English subtitles; the DVD does not. You don't really need subtitles to figure out what's going on.
	Black Sunday Ah, nothing like a pleasant Sunday afternoon of football. Looks like it's going to be a good game between the Cowboys and Steelers. There's Tom Landry and Roger Staubach... and the Goodyear Blimp crashing into the Orange Bowl! Robert Shaw and Bruce Dern highlight this thriller.
	Are You Being Served?: The Movie I quite liked the British comedy series on which this movie was based. (And I met star Trevor Bannister at a KERA pledge drive once.) This movie-length adaptation plays just like an overlong mediocre episode of the long-running BBC comedy, with the exception of the lack of a laughtrack. I started looking at the time-remaining counter about 40 minutes into this 90-minute movie. I eventually lost interest and left it running in the background while I checked e-mail.
	The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love This is a very sweet first-love, wrong-side-of-the-tracks movie. Working-class Randy meets beautiful, well-to-do Evie when she brings her Range Rover into the repair shop where Randy works after school. Immediately intrigued by each other, the two discover their subsequent friendship develops into an unlikely romance. Oh, yeah, and Randy's a girl. The lesbian theme may be off-putting to some, and there is a sex scene, though not too explicit (the movie got an "R" rating).
	Series 7: The Contenders: Marathon Edition Network is my favorite movie of all time. So when I saw this on the shelves with the tag line "Dr. Strangelove meets Network", you know I had to check it out. And I was not disappointed. This film is presented as if it were a marathon showing of the 7th season of a reality show called The Contenders, in which people are randomly chosen, given a gun, and forced to kill one another on TV. The last one standing is the champion, and returns for the next season. This season's returning champion is heavily-pregnant Dawn, and it turns out that she knows one of the other Contenders. Much more would give away large swaths of the plot. This movie plays well as a parody of the reality show genre, and although it leaves some questions unanswered, it works well.
	Night on Earth: The Criterion Collection This is a charming film set in five different taxicabs in five different cities around the world. I first saw this movie a number of years ago on Bravo, back when it still showed artsy stuff and wasn't a rerun conduit for NBC. The Roberto Benigni segment, set in Rome, and the New York segment were the funniest; the Paris segment was very touching. I did find myself checking the countdown timer during the Helsinki segment, which was thankfully last. As a Criterion release, there are many special features, which I have not seen yet. (In English, French, Italian and Finnish; subtitles provided.)
	Fail Safe This is the George Clooney version, which aired live on CBS in April of 2000. Clooney and crew did a very good job of updating the original Henry Fonda film. (Clooney was rumored to be considering a live version of Network, though I haven't heard anything about this since the first report.) Very tense and thrilling.
	Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Precious bodily fluids! This is one of the real classics of the Cold War. Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Peter Sellers, James Earl Jones, Peter Sellers and Slim Pickens, this black comedy from 1964 satirizes the Cold War and mutual assured destruction. Peter Sellers almost played four major roles in this film, rather than three; a sprained ankle kept him from playing the B-52 commander.

Comments

[the-blue-fenix.livejournal.com]

Once in college I watched a double feature of "Dr. Strangelove" followed by "Buckaroo Banzai." It was weirdly congruent.

[ladycrim.livejournal.com]

Yes, unfortunately AYBS?TM rehashes jokes from several episodes (notably "German Week" and "Dear Sexy Knickers"). It feels like an ep of the show minus a laugh track. Too bad, really.