Jandy's Meanderings - Latest Comments

Re: One More Mushy Post…

Bonjour Tristesse — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:47:08 -0000

Wow such lovely photos. Congratulations!

Re: One More Mushy Post…

Mythical Monkey — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:03:10 -0000

Hey, great picture! Congratulations and best wishes!

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Hannah M — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:55:28 -0000

I think mostly Unpublished for a Reason. I'll write my little mini reviews as usual on the movie blog, but won't differentiate them from any of the other reviews. On the main one, I'll categorize them all together and post a slightly expanded version of my take on it, including talking about what made me choose the movie in first place, how it compared to my expectations, that kind of thing.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Jandy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:16:27 -0000

Awesome, Hannah! Can't wait to see what you pick. Which blog are you going to use?

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Hannah M — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:06:50 -0000

I think I'm going to participate, too. I made this decision approximately 2 minutes ago, so I'm off to decide what my 2012 movies will be and will post on my blog as soon as I've decided. I'm student teaching this semester so I suspect I won't end up watching any of them until after my graduation in May. But we'll see!

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Jandy — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:40:22 -0000

Yeah, I think you cover blind spots pretty much all the time! I always like to start series like you have (with the Czech New Wave or French Extreme, etc.), but I don't have nearly the follow-through that you do. Hoping with just twelve over a whole year, I can manage.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Bonjour Tristesse — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:09:13 -0000

I considered doing this too, but my list ended up looking just like your super long list, and my blog is pretty much one endless blind spot series anyways so I'm not officially taking part but I'll be closely following your progress, since I've only seen half of your picks.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Jandy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:04:19 -0000

Dan, I have seen all of Twin Peaks, and I mean to see Fire Walk With Me; just Eraserhead first. :)

I've tried to watch Tokyo Story a couple if times and can't get into it. It'll be on my Blind Spot list in a year or so, but I want to get more Japanese and other Ozu films under my belt first. I watched Good Morning as my first full Ozu experience last year, and it was much more accessible. I'll be ready for Tokyo Story eventually. Sunrise is amazing, and absolutely gorgeous. Rules of the Game I've seen, but I literally don't remember anything about it. It's on my rewatch list. Good stuff you've got coming up.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Dan Heaton — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:20:20 -0000

Animal House isn't something that you have to see. Fire Walk with Me is intriguing if you've seen Twin Peaks. It has a lot of the same characters but really heads into darker territory. I watched some Fassbinder in a few film classes, and I do think Ali (or the Marriage of Maria Braun) are the right place to start.

I'm offsetting the lighter picks with my next marathon, which is the three movies I've missed from the Sight and Sound Best list from 2002. I'm checking out Tokyo Story, Sunrise, and Rules of the Game, which should be a good way to fill in the gaps from some pivotal directors like Ozu and Renoir.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Jandy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:26:25 -0000

There are a lot of "silly choices" that I haven't seen, too - I debated putting stuff like The Goonies on here that people my age can't believe I haven't seen, but I opted to make this one more cinephile-esque, mostly because I'm finding it harder and harder to make time for these kinds of movies anymore and I want to get back to them. Looking at your list, I'm pretty sure my husband will have me watch Pee-Wee Herman's Big Adventure pretty soon - he talks about it a lot. I also haven't seen Stand by Me. Oh, or Animal House, but I have little interest in that one that's not purely academic. The other three I like very much, definitely good ones to catch up with.

Eraserhead is the only David Lynch film I haven't seen aside from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me - I want to finish out his filmography. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is mostly because I really want to see some Fassbinder (haven't seen any), and I don't know where to start, so I just picked one. Heh. And Once Upon a Time in America is the only major Leone I haven't seen, and I'm curious to see what he does outside of spaghetti westerns.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Dan — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:13:29 -0000

I'm doing something similar with my List of Shame marathon, where I watched six movies in January that I needed to see. Those were sometimes silly choices, but they still were blind spots. I'm planning to extend this and do one movie each month in a similar vein for the rest of the year. I haven't nailed down that list completely yet. Solaris will definitely be on there. From your list, I love the Passion of Joan of Arc, enjoyed Cool Hand Luke, and think Eraserhead is very inventive. Ali was sort of dull, though I saw it a while back so it might seem better now. I wasn't a huge fan of Once Upon a Time in America, but it's worth seeing. Should be a fun list of movies.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

Jandy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:55:18 -0000

Yep! I'm well-prepared for the guilt - I already feel guilty that it took me almost until the end of January to get this posted. :) I'll have to double up in one of the months, since I doubt I'll get to any of these during the next week.

Re: Blind Spot Series – 2012

James McNally — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:15:41 -0000

Hey welcome to the yearlong guilt fest that will be Blind Spots! I'm trying to get at least one done a month but January is almost gone and as more and more people come aboard, I'm feeling the pressure! Great list, too. I've only seen four of those, so your discoveries will become my discoveries, too.

Re: 50DMC #35: Favorite Adaptation

Ecommerce Software — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:58:17 -0000

i think you have a done a great job...keep updating...

Re: Love in a…Parking Garage?

Marina Antunes — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:17:48 -0000

My belated congratulations! And those photos are gorgeous!

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Jandy — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:45:02 -0000

I have the comments set to only nest one level; I was getting nested comment threads that just got ridiculously thin - one or two words per line. I wish Disqus would let you still reply past the second level, but just display them flat instead of nested. Kind of annoying.

Thanks for the rec! I've never even heard of that Bresson film. If it pops up anywhere, I'll make sure to check it out.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Bonjour Tristesse — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 02:06:29 -0000

I'm not sure why it won't let me reply further, but continuing on about Bresson, I highly recommend Four Nights of a Dreamer, an amazing film that sadly seems to have been forgotten or lost. I had to watch it from a copy of a copy of a VHS tape, but it's definitely worth it if you can get your hands on it.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Jandy — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:16:30 -0000

Agreed! I have been dying to see Zazie for AGES. I think it used to be a New Yorker-distributed film, a lot of which have gotten stuck in distribution limbo. Hopefully other New Yorker films can make their way onto Criterion at some point.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Wilde.Dash — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:07:11 -0000

What a great idea for a feature! I may have to do some recognizing of the non-2011 flicks I saw this past year as well. Zazie dans le Metro would be on it for sure, so glad Criterion released that!

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite 2011 Films

Jandy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:17:31 -0000

Sam, I feel like "unique" might be code for "what the hell was she thinking." :p But I'll take it as a compliment. :)

Did you see The House of the Devil from a couple of years ago? It's a really solid '80s-style evil house horror film, same director as The Innkeepers. The Innkeepers is on VOD now, I think, with a US theatrical release within the next few weeks. Definitely worth checking out.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Jandy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:04:34 -0000

Thanks, Dan!

I have seen Bob le Flambeur - it's pretty great. I don't like it quite as much as Le Samourai or Le Cercle Rouge, but it's definitely solid. I should really rewatch it now that I've seen more Melville. One I really need to catch up with is Army of Shadows.

Yeah, I totally agree with you about The Secret in Their Eyes. Most of the time I don't like when mystery/crime movies spend way more time with the detective's own personal problems and angst than with the actual mystery, but the way everything integrated together in Secret was fantastic.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite 2011 Films

Sam Fragoso — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:26:58 -0000

Some unique selections here.

Glad you placed DRIVE & HANNA on your list.

I haven't even heard of THE INNKEEPERS.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Dan Heaton — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:39:42 -0000

There are so many good movies in this list and far too many to comment about here. So I'll just pick a few. I saw Le Cercle Rouge in the theater when it was re-released, and it's a great movie. Have you seen Bob Le Flambeur? That's another excellent movie from Melville.

I was really surprised by how much I liked The Secret in Their Eyes. It seems to be a straightforward police procedural, and it ends up becoming something entirely different, and much greater than just a detective story.

Finally, I have to agree about Batman the Movie, which is just a classic tongue-in-cheek film. I love that line about the bomb, especially when you combine it with all the obstacles placed in Batman's way, including kids and a group of nuns. It's such a fun movie.

Great post!

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite 2011 Films

Jandy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:21:27 -0000

I haven't seen it. I can't guarantee you I wouldn't have mentioned it if I had seen it. :) I generally like both Alexander Payne and George Clooney, so I'm expecting to like it when I do get around to seeing it.

Re: My 2011 in Film: Favorite Non-2011 Films

Jandy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:03:19 -0000

Thanks! I really enjoyed putting it together. Bresson is a tough nut for me...a lot of times he just seems to be really angsty about kinda boring things. But with the crime/prison elements in A Man Escaped and Pickpocket, they work like gangbusters. I still need to see Au hasard Balthazar. I've heard that one's really good. But I don't know if it's good like A Man Escaped, or "good" like Diary of a Country Priest. I fear the latter.