February + March Movies

In high school i used to keep a book journal. But that fell by the wayside last year as i started to watch more tv and reach for the non-fiction over the fiction. I like keeping track of things i've encountered, recording the images and ideas produced by other people, so i'm going to do a cultural round-up of the things i've seen/ read/listened to/loved every month on here. I suspect the only issue will be trying to recall everything.

AT THE MOVIES









Melancholia directed by Lars Von Trier.

First impressions were mixed. However the more I think about it, the more I really like it. It's absolutely stunning.



Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese




The Artist directed by Michel Hazanavicius.



The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel directed by John Madden  Check out my Review for Yahoo!7 I loved Judi Dench and Bill Nighy in this!




Project X directed by Nima Nourizadeh




Late Bloomers directed by Julie Gavras.
For the sake of accuracy, i include this on my list. BUT IT SUCKS. IT'S TERRIBLE. SO REDUCTIVE TO MATURE-AGED AND A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. I did not enjoy one minute of it, and wished i'd made my bathroom break longer. It makes me profoundly sad to see Isabella Rossellini star in it. FUN FACT: Isabella Rossellini is the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Italian director, Roberto Rossellini-Wow! No wonder she's so beautiful.





The Hunger Games directed by Gary Ross.
A long term fan of YA fiction, and thus of course the books, I was so pleased with the film adaptation- it was just as great if not better. Also, i have a huge crush on the square faced Josh Hutcherson (even though i'm a Gale fan in the book!) and an even BIGGER crush on Jennifer Lawrence. The girl is a revelation: so funny, witty, intelligent, down to earth and outright crazy in the vein of Emma Stone. More than wanting to be her, I want to know her! I'm so sure we'd be best buds.

AT HOME




Shine directed by Scott Hicks. Amazingly powerful and inspirational. One of my favourite biopics and there aren't many I like.




O Brother Where Art Thou directed by Joel and Ethan Coen -"Come on in boys, the water is fine."



American History X directed by Tony Kaye




Departures by Yôjirô Takita. It deservably won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009. So memorable.




The American President directed by Rob Reiner.
Aaron Sorkin's rom-com predecessor to the West Wing. It packs a heavyweight punch at the end though: "This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. "









Splendour In The Grass directed by Elia Kazan
Although in this day and age I find the film's stifling puritanical attitudes totally foreign and the fact that Natalie Wood's notion of self-worth was based solely on her boyfriend's love, and without it, she went  bonkers and had to be hospitalised in an asylum for the insane, which is so patently RIDICULOUS, it's still a really really great film.












And lastly, The Parent Trap directed by Nancy Meyers
The raddest movie!