#126- The Thief of Bagdad

Quick recap: A thief-who lives in Bagdad- has a lot of fun stealing stuff until he falls in love with the princess. Basically it’s like Aladdin but without the monkey and the altruistic reasons. And without Genie (RIP Robin Williams).

Instead of getting a Middle Eastern guy to play the Thief of Bagdad, they got Douglas Fairbanks-the whitest name ever.

Fun (?) fact: The special effects for this movie are amazing, considering it was made in 1924. During one scene, as Fairbanks is jumping in and out of the large pots, he actually installed trampolines in each one to make it easier to hop.

I suspect this was also done with special effects. Can’t be sure, though.

My thoughts: A bonus fun fact: I started this blog chronologically, but after sitting through 9 silent films I couldn’t take it anymore and gave up. It wasn’t even that they were bad, but that they were so EPIC. It was hard to continually sit through something so heavy and long (that’s what she said) and know that the next movie would give me no reprieve. But then I saw A Clockwork Orange at the Alamo Drafthouse several months later and it renewed my passion. All that to say I made the right choice to watch randomly so that when the time came for another silent movie, I’d be ready.

The Thief of Bagdad comes from the 1001 Arabian Nights collection of stories so it’s basically your quintessential adventure movie. Fairbanks, who plays Ahmed the Thief, was the go to actor for all things adventure, starring in movies such as Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers and The Black Pirate. He spends the entire movie flexing his muscles and practically winking at the camera, to show the audience how awesome he is. It was difficult to root for him at times because he was a thief just for the sport of it instead of helping others.Not that I was expecting much, but Aladdin is the only story I know from Arabian Nights and that guy stole bread to give to children. Kind of a lot to live up to, though. Fairbanks was enjoyable to look at, although the thin lips bothered me. Was that a fashionable thing to have or did all people in the 20s just have naturally thin lips? This bothers me more than it should.

Not a complaint, but it seems like he should’ve been able to steal a shirt at some point.

If there is any reason to watch The Thief of Bagdad, it’s the setting. Director Raul Walsh had the set built on 6 1/2 acres of land and spared no expense. Every detail is beautiful and ornate. The fact that it was made in 1924 makes it all the more inspiring to think of the work that went into making this movie.

Final review: 4/5. When you take into account that the story came from an ancient book, the racism is not as bad as I expected.

Up next: Singin’ in the Rain

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#125- Jaws

Quick recap: killer shark. (I think that might be my quickest recap yet!)

Fun (?) fact: Like most movie blockbusters, there are a million facts to dig through. My favorite fact is that originally the movie had a different director. During a meeting with the producers, the director referred to the shark as a whale and was promptly fired. First rule of movie making: know the differences between basic sea animals.

a most unfortunate photobomb

My thoughts: I’ve never understood the appeal of Jaws. I watched the movie as a kid when I was in a horror movie phase and it didn’t scare me at all. In fact, even as an 8 or 9 year old I saw the whole thing as cheesy. Sharks, especially the Great White, are actually cautious fish and don’t go out of their way to murder people. I think Jaws underwhelmed me mostly because it is a situation specific film. Afraid of sharks? Don’t get in the ocean. Problem solved. And as I grew up, I wore my love of the ocean as a badge of honor. While everyone bemoaned their silly shark attack fears, I bravely went into the waters and swam to my heart’s content. I may be afraid of a number of things but a shark ain’t one of them.

After watching Jaws in the theater the other night, I finally realized the main reason it had never scared me as a kid: I’ve never seen it before. All this time what I had remembered watching was actually Jaws II or III, which are decidedly more campy and awful films. The movie I watched as an adult is horrifying. Seriously horrifying, and not the kind where you say you are scared because that’s what everyone says. Legit horrifying. I even had NIGHTMARES about the shark that night. which is a pretty rare feat these days. My idea earlier that this is a situation specific film isn’t even true now that I’ve seen the actual thing. Jaws is scary not because of the killer shark because once you get a look at him, it’s just a big fish. The scariest scenes are the people in the water unable to see what is about to happen to them.

Jaws is the perfect mix of funny, drama and horror. It was like a roller coaster of emotions, sitting through the movie. I totally screamed when Ben Gardner’s decapitated head surfaced in his boat. Legit terror, I’m telling you. Also, Alex Kintner’s death was as realistic as you can get in a killer shark movie and the scene where the mother discovers that her son didn’t get out of the water was really hard to watch.

I could go on and on about how much I loved this movie but I won’t because apparently I’m the only one who has never seen Jaws up until now. I can’t believe what I was missing out on.

Final review: 5/5. Completely deserves all your love and adoration so carry on.

Up next: The Thief of Bagdad

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#124- The Thin Blue Line

Quick recap: A documentary from Errol Morris, who attempts to prove a man has been wrongly convicted of murder. The story takes place in Dallas, Texas where there has never been any controversy with pegging the wrong guy for murder.

nothing to see here. Move along.

Fun (?) fact: After having his conviction overturned (SPOILER ALERT. I should really do those sooner), Randall Adams sued Morris over the rights to his life.

My thoughts: I had been looking forward to this documentary for awhile A) because I love documentaries and B) because Errol Morris appeared on ‘Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me’ and was pretty funny. Thinking back a bit, there haven’t been many documentaries I have disliked, not even Dear Zachary, which completely broke me until I wished I could no longer feel feelings. Considering all these things, The Thin Blue Line seemed like a slam dunk perfect rating from me.

The case itself is pretty straightforward: A drifter by the name of Randall Adams comes to Dallas looking for a job. Along the way he meets up with teenager David Harris. The two drink a little, smoke a little and watch a movie or two. Later on at night, a man is pulled over by a cop. As the cop walks up to the car he is shot several times and dies. Seeing how it’s the 70’s, it’s really difficult to find the person who did the shooting because all the police have to go on is a poor description of a vehicle. There was another cop in the car that night who was supposed to get out and back her partner up, but instead sat in the car sipping a milkshake. After the officer was shot she dropped the milkshake and allegedly fired shots into the fleeing vehicle. About a month later David Harris reemerged in his hometown, bragging about killing a cop so that somehow led police to arrest Randall Adams instead.

there was a lot of time spent on this milkshake

To cut to the chase, I feel like Adams was probably innocent (and the court agreed too because his case was overturned) but I don’t believe Morris made an ironclad argument. There were a lot of details that showed the ineptitude of the investigators- focusing on Adams from the beginning and then finding evidence to back them up, as well as the witnesses who claimed to have driven by as the cop pulled someone over. But there were also a few unanswered questions for me: Harris said he was a ‘scared 16 year old kid’ but he had already done a lot of crimes so why did this cop scare him enough to shoot? And it was also never answered where Adams was the night of the murder. Could he have been in the car?

Moving away from my super scholarly arguments, I mostly disliked this documentary because it was SO literal. A person mentions that it was after midnight and you see a clock pointing to midnight. An investigator mentions hypnosis and there’s a watch swinging back and forth. The investigator mentions the police officer throwing her milkshake out the window and then that’s what you see because it’s apparently really difficult to imagine that. The reenacted scenes were also a little hokey. I like that Morris continued to use the description of Adams instead of Harris so that the audience could see how little belief that theory held, but I got tired of watching the cop get shot 10 different times. The milkshake getting tossed never got old though. I hope it was at least a strawberry flavor.

Final review: 2/5. Meh.

Up next: Jaws at the Drafthouse.

#123- Dead Man

A big thank you to S for recommending this movie. My favorite part was that it was an ‘art house’ film that didn’t make me want to drink heavily.

Quick recap: Johnny Depp plays William Blake (not the poet), an accountant on the run from the law. After murdering a guy, Blake is shot. Thus begins his journey as a dead man (wanted for murder) and a dead man (because he got shot).

Johnny Depp pre judging himself on later film roles

Fun (?) fact: Many of the lines spoken by Nobody are taken from the real William Blake’s poetry.

My thoughts: My thoughts on Johnny Depp the actor are as follows: I have none. I’m aware of his career and I’ve seen many of his films but I wouldn’t call him a favorite by any means. Or even an actor that I hate (yeah, Bill Paxton, you’re still number one for that). I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal that he has done so many films with Tim Burton because he is well suited for those roles. It is nice, however, to watch a movie like Dead Man and be reminded how talented Depp really is.

Of the many aspects of the film, it was the scenery I was drawn to most. I read trivia that cinematographer Robert Müller ‘s idea to shoot in black and white was based off of Ansel Adam’s photographs. For a fantasy film, the setting was entirely realistic and I imagine that’s exactly how it would’ve looked and felt back in the 19th century. With the school year starting, my wanderlust has picked back up and I now find myself fantasizing a trip up north to make my own trek through the woods that Blake and Nobody rode through.

What interested me most about Dead Man is that although there are plot elements, the emphasis is really on the journey. There aren’t any monologues concerning Blake’s thoughts on his impending death or what he will leave behind. He is just along for the ride and for whatever happens. The scene where Nobody brings him to his tribe is a great example of this, as Blake just lays there and watches what is being done around him. He doesn’t fight death or argue about it. It just is.

Final review: 5/5. I’m shocked at this rating because immediately after watching it, I had planned on giving it just a 3. Considering I’m still talking about it to people and thinking about the meaning behind some parts, I felt it best to bump it up to a more deserving score.

Up next: The Thin Blue Line

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