Tag Archives: 5/5

#98- Babe

Quick recap: A pig who thinks he is a sheepdog? NO! Wait…..Yes. Very much so.

There's no rule that says a giraffe can't play football

There’s no rule that says a giraffe can’t play football

 

Fun (?) fact:  48 different pigs were used during the filing of Babe. No word on what happened to a pig once it grew up.

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My thoughts: Perspective, man. It’s all about perspective. I loved this movie as a kid and even then thought it much wittier than some of the other kid stuff being thrown at me. It wasn’t just a cute animal movie I was watching- it had heart. I don’t remember being too upset by the implications that Babe was about to be eaten, but the lesson that everyone and everything has a purpose has stuck with me. It’s probably been a good 15 years or so since I last watched the movie and it still amazes me how my viewpoint can change so drastically.

The toupee was a weird touch

The toupee was a weird touch

The animal I most empathized with and felt for this time around was Fly, the female sheepdog.  Granted, the movie is called Babe so it’s not my fault for not really noticing her before, but almost every scene she is in is a heartbreaking one: from watching her puppies being sold to the domestic violence with her Dog Husband (This is a kids’ movie?!) to the most heartbreaking scene of all: watching Babe being led to the slaughter. It was almost too much to watch at that point, knowing that that pig was all she had left and he was about to murdered by the farmer. Animals are way more complicated than I ever imagined.

I also really enjoyed the actors this time and was able to appreciate their depth. Farmer Hoggett’s character interested me especially. James Cromwell, who played Hoggett, originally took the part because he only had a few lines of dialogue and felt like it would be an easy movie,but then ended up on screen more than any other character (except Babe). He did a perfect job restraining his emotions, yet being able to convey exactly how he felt at all times.

That'll do pig, that'll do.

That’ll do pig, that’ll do.

Final review: 5/5. It’s a great family film, but maybe for older kids because the subject matter is much heavier than I remembered.

Up next: The Bigamist and then……….#100! What’ll it be??

 

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#90- Seven Samurai

Quick recap: A group of farmers, tired of being pillaged by bandits year after year (and really, who isn’t?) ,decide to hire samurai to keep their town safe. Seven samurai, to be precise.

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Fun (?) fact: Seven Samurai was the first film to showcase a ‘reluctant hero’, as well as the gathering of the heroes, now common in a film like Ocean’s 11.

My thoughts: Nothing can kill my excitement for a movie quicker than ‘3 hours and 27 minutes’. I have heard people talk how amazing this movie is, but I just can’t see anything being worth 3 hours and 27 minutes. Except for Jeanne Dielman, but that was an action filled time watching her cook dinner and wash dishes. No way Seven Samurai could top that.

From the first scene, when the bandits decide to save their pillaging for another time when there will be stuff to pillage (common sense), there was non stop action. Maybe not action in the sense of fighting, although there was plenty of that, but action that drove the plot. I can’t think of a single scene that was unnecessary to the story, or a time that I felt bored. In the same respect, there wasn’t so much going on that I was confused. Although it is a long running time, it is well justified.

I think my favorite aspect of Seven Samurai and the part I was most surprised by, is the emotion. As the villagers and samurai became used to one another and started to work as a team, I became more invested in each character and although I  knew that the ending would be sad, it still took me by surprise. I think most of that stems from watching how kind the samurai were to the entire village. Save for Katsushirō, the samurai who fell in love, everyone respected the farmers and went to great lengths to prove they weren’t all that bad. But in the end, samurai are warriors and they had to do what they were hired to do.

The final scenes in battle and the final moments with the samurai are some of the more emotional I have watched. The final scene especially: the 3 surviving warriors watching the happy villagers plant their crops and sing, almost as if they had forgotten all of the violence that led to their freedom from the bandits. Instead of being angry at the seeming callousness towards the fallen men, the samurai note that it is the villagers who are the victors and so should be celebrating. They have done their job.

seven_samurai_by_sulley1993-d38knqy

Final review: 5/5. Watch this movie. Doesn’t matter if you dislike war films or having to read subtitles or whatever the excuse- watch this movie.

Up next: Monsieur Verdoux

 

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#89- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Quick recap: Two warriors go in search of a stolen sword, only to find out the skilled master they pursued is really a nobleman’s daughter who totes doesn’t want an arranged marriage. Her parents are so uncool, probably not allowing her to get on Snapchat or Instagram. She was right to pursue a life of crime, in my opinion.

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Fun (?) fact: ‘Crouching tiger, hidden dragon’ is a Chinese phrase, basically meaning to hide your strength from others. I’ll file this phrase away to remember the next time I become entangled in a duel.

My thoughts: I vaguely remember watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when it was in theaters .  This occurred during my sophomore year of high school, when I went out of town to an academic meet. The truth is, everyone else was old enough to watch the new Morgan Freeman film, Along Came a Spider, and I was stuck watching something ‘cultural’ and ‘sophisticated’. So that explains why I remember the experience and not much of the movie itself, because all I really wanted was a good murder mystery.

Watching the movie again as an adult was much more satisfying, I’m glad to say. 15 year old me was much more focused on the subtitles and not so much the detail, and so I missed out on how beautiful the film is. It’s one of the reasons I enjoyed Brokeback Mountain so much- because the scenery and setting is as vital to the story as the characters and plot. Several points in the movie I had to remind myself that this was shot in modern times and I wasn’t actually watching footage from ancient China. After the movie ended I found myself with a sudden urge to visit China and see all the places Ang Lee showcased.

One of the most surprising parts of the film was the theme of strong women. So much so that in the years since watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I had completely forgotten that there was any romance. The young girl, Jen , is the secret warrior and far more advanced than most adults who have been studying this form of martial arts their entire life. The argument she has about not wanting to marry comes partly from her love of a another man, but also because she recognizes that marriage will end most freedoms she currently enjoys. When her former love, Lo, comes back and tries to take her away, she refuses. It isn’t until the end of the movie that she accepts her feelings and goes to him. The other female character, Yu Shu Lien, is in the same boat. She has strong feelings for Mu Bai, a famed warrior, but has never mentioned anything because kicking ass for a living is kind of fun. So although romance is involved, it is not a driving force in the movie. Also worth mentioning, the main enemy,Jade Star, is also a woman.

The one part of the movie that didn’t work for me were the scenes that involved flying. I get the idea that fighting is really a dance and when the characters were in combat with one another, I was interested. But the scenes where the warrior flew over buildings in a single leap or ran up the wall felt sort of silly. It was easy to see that everyone had been hooked up to wires which had been edited out, instead of trying to convey that this was a magical part of the story. I enjoyed the fight scene in the trees because even though they were in battle, it was peaceful.

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Final review: 5/5. The soundtrack was as beautiful as the rest of the movie. I would definitely watch this one again

Up next: Seven Samurai

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#76- Groundhog Day

Quick recap: Phil Connors, local weatherman, is sent every year to the town of Punxsutawney to report on Groundhog Day. After a bad day  makes him hate the town even worse, Connors wakes up the next morning and realizes he has to repeat the holiday over again. And again. And again. And again. And……you get the point.

Fun (?) fact: Many people have been stuck in their own time loop (SEE WHAT I DID THERE?) trying to calculate how long Groundhog Day lasted for Connors. The official estimate is 10 years, although I would say close to 30. One recent calculation came to over 1000 years.

I should try this with my cats!

I should try this with my cats!

My thoughts: As you may have picked up on, the Internet loves to obsess over certain celebs. One of the earliest examples was Chuck Norris when people started making up facts about him. And then everyone collectively realized that Norris was a hardcore christian and slowly backed away. More recently, Bill Murray has been the target of such adoration. He recently did a Reddit AMA and answered hard hitting questions like ‘Why the hell did you do those Garfield movies?’ I’m not normally one to get on the Internet bandwagon (except with doge, because that stuff is hilarious), but for once I believe the attention given to Murray is justified.

how I wish this were true

how I wish this were true

I can’t say I have seen too many of Murray’s movies, but I’ll go ahead and put my money on this being one of his best. I came into this movie thinking it would be just a comedy, nothing too special. And this movie definitely is funny. There were several scenes I loved, but mainly watching Murray’s expressions was good enough. At one point, as he realizes he will be stuck reliving the same day over and over again, he decides the only way out is suicide. He drives his truck off  of a hill, he jumps from a building, he stands in front of a car to get hit. The tone became much more dark and the true horror of the situation started to sink in for me. I have no idea what I would do if I were stuck in a time loop, but I imagine it would drive me insane rather quickly. Murray manages to convey the underlying seriousness with humor instead of veering into the ‘sappy moral lesson’ path.

I wouldn’t necessarily say that there was a moral lesson in Groundhog Day. The reasons are unknown as to how Phil Connors got into this situation, although I think it’s just bad karma from being a jerk. It is only after he realizes that being nice to people gets you stuff that he is able to escape to February 3. I don’t think it would hurt for a people to let that one sink in for a bit.

no reason for this picture except that I really like the doge meme.

no reason for this picture except that I really like the doge meme.

Final review: 5/5. I could see myself watching this as a yearly tradition because in all seriousness, Groundhog Day is kind of a stupid holiday.

Up next: The Postman Always Rings Twice

 

 

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