I have another blog. apparently. pinyinqueen.blogspot.com

movies watched lately

This is a list of (most of) the movies I watched at BYU, and more recently on Netflixs.

102:
Mr. Death
42 UP
Dark Water

112:
105:

114:
The Gleaners and I
The Family Jewels
Mother Courage and Her Children
Baie des Anges
The Awful Truth
The Freshman
Doctor X
Vidas Secas
Final Grave of the Fireflies
Mr. Dungbeetle
Pay Day
The Cat Came Back
"Puddins"
Hoagies
The Danish Poet

185:

187:

315:
Diantha's Crossing

Jerusalem Center:
J-ru welcome video
City of David 3-D movie
Dead Poet's Society
Indiana Jones (Last Crusade?)

273:
Atomic Cafe
No End in Sight
Home Movie
Grey Gardens
Nobody's Business
Freshman Diaries
Only the Pizza Man Knows
The Cruise

291:
The Crowd
A Trip to the Moon
The Great Train Robbery
The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog
The Golden Beetle
The Policeman's little Run
Birth of a Nation
Those Awful Hats
Corner in Wheat
The Sunbeam
the Girl and Her Trust
Cabiria
The Cheat
Tol'able David
The Last Laugh
The Love of Jeanne Ney
Battleship Potemkin
The High Sign
The Immigrant
Easy Street (Chaplin)
Greed
The Big Parade
It
Sunrise
Blackmain
The Jazz Singer
Singing in the Rain
The Three Little Pigs
Lady for a Day
Top Hat
M
Duck Soup
The Devil and Daniel Webster
Rules of the Game

292:
Hard Day's Night
Rome
D.O.A.
Night of the Hunter
Touch of Evil
Boogie Doodle
400 Blows
Pather Panchali
Los Olvidados
Tokyo Story
Alice
I was Nineteen
Bonnie and Clyde
Shock Corridor
Aguirra
Badlands
Jaws
Picnic at Hanging Rock
My Brilliant Career
Iron Monkey
Mr. Vampire
Hidden Fortress
8 1/2

293:
Missile
Etre et Avoir
Beavers
Les Raquetteurs
A Tickle in the Heart
Lumiere Brothers' films
In the Land of the War Canoes
Nanook of the North
Nanook Revisited
Man With a Movie Camera
Cannibal Tours
All My Babies
Genghis Blues
Triumph of the Will
Why We Fight: the battle of britain
Night and Fog
Symbiopsychotaxiplasm
Called to Serve
We are Family
Get the Fire!
Jesus Camp
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
Gimme Shelter
Born into Brothels
A Silverlake Life
Glas
Tops
Koyannisqatsi
Zizek!
Kokoyakyu
Back to Normandy

384R lighting:

384RFCP1:

384R doc editing:
On a Wing and a Prayer
Preach My Gospel doc dvd
Hearts of Darkness

215R doc editing?:

274:
Murderball
Supersize Me

285:

494:
Beat the Devil (MV)
Just a Dream (MV)
Wings of Desire
La Jetee
City of Angels (clips)
Rabbit Proof Fence (end clip)
Babette's Feast
Color of Paradise
Rules of the Game (?)
Man on a Wire
Pick Pocket
New York Doll
Hellboy
Mr. Dungbeetle
Monk and Fish- DeWitt
In America
States of Grace
Henry Poole is Here
Ordet

391:

394:
Seasons by Tom Lefler
My Family- Derrick Pueblo

458:
Only the Pizza Man Knows

Movies Checked Out from the Orem Library:
this American Life (season 1)
Bright Leaves
Apocalypse Now
Hearts of Darkness
Everything is Illuminated
The Lives of Others
Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Dark Water
Psycho
No Country for Old Men
Slumdog Millionaire
Dr. Strangelove
the Triplets of Belleville
Children of Heaven
The Bicycle Thief
The Color of Paradise
Citizen Kane
Bueno Vista Social Club
Ponette
Paradise Now
Goodbye Lenin!
The Kite Runner

International Cinema:
Turtles can Fly
Eyes without a Face
Amelie
The Lives of Others
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Nights of Cabiria
Hamlet
Ushpizin
Grave of the Fireflies
Henry Poole is Here
My Dinner with Andre
The Lake House (also, the original)

Netflix:
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Thin Blue Line
Monster Camp
Nosferatu
Fievel Goes West
Eyes without a Face
The Business of Being Born
Penelope
This American Life Season 2
Gattaca
the Man with one red shoe
Amreeka
28 Days
Awakenings
Passengers
Arranged
the Ramen Girl
The King of Kong
Made of Honor
The Water Horse
Kitchen Stories
Glass: Portrait in Twelve Parts
Paris, Je T'aime
WALL-E
Hannah Montana: The Movie
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Cable Guy
(500) Days of Summer
The Holiday
Howl's Moving Castle


I'd say pretty much all of these are worth watching.

"Atomic Cafe" (1982)

by Kevin Rafferty and Jane Loader

What was marketed as a “shock value” film has few related redeeming qualities. The film is composed solely from archival footage, and there is virtually no overarching narration to guide the film. I admire the filmmakers for their editing abilities to create a story with dialogue where dialogue was not created. The lack of conventional storytelling methods is made up for with the immense substance of the original footage. The mere history of the atomic scare in the United States proves educational and entertaining enough to drive the story and astound the viewer. The original footage of the bomb blasts are a rare treat. They are images not readily seen on our modern day education or in personal experiences. This film greatly serves as a historical memorial to remind and inform the viewer of the follies of the past. We become astounded at the statements and training videos put out by the US government. We laugh at their claims and precautions and regard them with absurdity. We are reminded that even our mightly nation cannot tell the future and are forced to acknowledge that our precautions now may be later regarded as the absurdities of the past.

"Grey Gardens" (1975)

by the Maysles brothers

This film serves as a chill inside exploration of mentality. By the simple documentation and prodding of the characters, the filmmakers are able to observe the Beale’s thoughts and actions, understanding their drives. Personally, living in a “bubble” where everyone is the same, it is stimulating to observe individuals who live such a diverse lifestyle. I resonate with them because my roommate carries many of the same characteristics they do, with preferences on nudity, cleanliness, and reason. To me, these are odd qualities, but as I confront them I am better able to understand them. The Maysles brothers are geniuses at casually, yet professionally, capturing character traits and the observed reality of a situation. I love how they portray themselves in the film and do not try to hide the fact that they are there. They acknowledge their own presence and realize that the audience will accept it as well. The shots where they film themselves in a mirror in order to detour the personal actions of the women candidly show their relationship to their subjects. While this is an artistic style, it is one to be admired and I hope to exemplify this type of documentary making sometime in my life/career. I fell that the Maysles Brothers did not exploit this family, but rather allowed the general public to understand them.

"Ghengis Blues" (1999)

by Adrian Belic

Belic’s storytelling approach was loose and reflexive. He seemed to have few expectations in making this film at the beginning, but developed the story as it progressed. Belic improvises when the unforeseen events happen, like when Paul’s medicine runs out or when the other guy gets a heart attack. Even though the story becomes sporadic and unplanned, it is still effective because we are able to see the real life experiences as opposed to the glossed over reality that could easily have been observed by the filmmakers. Because of Belic’s storytelling, I was able to see the true Paul, or Paul’s true feelings in those contexts. Belic can be admired because of his ability to pull a story out of diverse and unorganized situations. The use of sound was key in this film. The build up to Paul’s performance in the competition is great, and then Paul’s improve throat-singing is a crowning moment. I wanted the movie to end there. Instead we are then taken along on the rest of the crazy trip. Belic does a great job with character development in all of his films. This film inspired me to make music.

"No End In Sight" (2007)

Directed by Charles Ferguson

I appreciated this film for its ability to inform and educate its audience. It was a great movie because it found answers and made clear the problems and issues surrounding the Iraq War. However, I can’t help but be skeptical because the film was so flawless. In a war between two countries, I think it is hard to pin down all the mistakes and bad choices that led to the war. This film offered a concrete explanation and was so well crafted and planned that I cannot wholly agree with it.

The use of lighting techniques, interview choice, and original footage all led to the creation of a one-sided propaganda movie. It was interesting that the director tried to interview people such as Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz, but they refused to meet with him. The way the interviews are interposed with the title cards telling of these men refusing in such a way that it implies they were scared to tell the truth to the public. It makes them look like they are running from the problem when in reality they may have refused for a number of reasons, including being suspicious of Ferguson’s aims and not wanting to disclose any private information to the public.

The portrayal of key interviewees in relation to the aim of the film was carefully planned and carried out. In every interview of Paul Hughes, his face is entirely lighted and is placed in front of a warm background. Other interviews, such as that of Walter Slocombe, are portrayed with stark contrast shadows on the interviewee’s face, with a completely dark background. By using these techniques, the director is manipulating the audience to naturally see the interviewee as a villain in the story.

Despite these manipulative efforts, I was pleased with Ferguson’s ability to synthesize the precedings of the war which are so often misunderstood and neglected because of them complex nature.