Netflix Adventures

This week: Dirty Harry
First impression: I always like a good shoot 'em up flick
Will I watch it again? If I happen upon it in the bargain bin, I'll probably pick it up

Overall I enjoyed watching this movie. The only nagging point I have is why they asked Harry to deliver the ransom the second time. That part just makes no sense to me. This guy has made it absolutely clear that he wants to kill this murderer, and yet they ask him to play along and do what the bad guy says. Unless they knew that he would kill him, and that was what they were counting on...The plot thickens. I'm probably reading way too much into that.
As far as shoot 'em up cop movies go, this is one of the better ones I've seen. There's weren't any wacky explanations about why the killer was doing this. It doesn't matter why he's doing it, what matters is stopping him. It also addresses a flaw in the judicial system when the killer is released because his house was searched without a warrant. I'm not entirely settled on that point anyway, so it's good to see a strong take on how the systems put in place to protect us can also harm us.
One thing I am sure of: I would kill someone to get my hands on this trench coat!


Is that not the most beautiful jacket you have ever seen? I couldn't find any images of it online, so I straight up took these pictures of my tv. I am dedicated. I will have this jacket.

Update: As Pamala pointed out, yes this jacket does look like cheap plastic "leather" in these photos. You will just have to trust me that it looks way better on tv. It's shiny because it is sort of metallic looking. It doesn't look cheap on tv. Yes, somehow shiny+green+metallic+jacket = not cheap looking. Just go with it.

Netflix Adventures

How it all started.

This week: Heathers


First impression: wicked and funny and disturbing
Will I watch it again: I think I have to

I had heard a lot about this movie, and I had some idea that it was pretty fucked up. But I had no idea just how fuck up it really is. Or how much I would laugh. I do have a morbid sense of humor, so it was sort of a given that I would enjoy it. There were part of it that I don't really get, for lack of a better phrase. For instance, Veronica bounces back and forth from being insightful and ashamed of her actions to oblivious and not as good of a person as she claims to be. She is indignant that Heather #1 "forces" her to write a note to The Fat Girl that will make it seem like The Football Star wants to have sex with her. Granted, this situation is uncomfortable and mean, but no one is physically hurt. I'm not saying that non-physical hurts are less significant, just hear me out. Later, after agreeing to go on a double date with Heather #2, the four of them (Heather, Veronica and the two football players) end up in a field tipping cows. Well, the guys are anyway. After said cow-tipping, Veronica is fending off the drunken flirtation of her football guy when Christian Slater (I don't remember the characters name) shows up to take her away. While Veronica and Christian Slater are talking, in the background Heather is on the ground with her football player on top of her. Heather is trying vainly to push him away, while he alternately grabs her face and kisses her and hold down her arms. With this scene playing out behind her, Veronica takes off.
It's that type of action that makes Veronica just a little bit hard to believe as a character. She is self-righteous when the Heathers are taking advantage of someone, yet when one of the Heathers is being taken advantage of, Veronica doesn't give a shit.
It also bothered me that Veronica was sort of stupid. She had this sort of tra-la-la everything is going to be fine now attitude, in spite of everything getting worse with each death. When she finally figures out how to beat Christian Slater at his own game, she doesn't even prepare! She just wanders around the school looking for him. Yeah, yeah, she had a gun. As with all confront-the-evil-mastermind-and-foil-his-dastardly-plot scenes, he easily took her gun away. After a brief fight, she got it back and saved the day. I'm pretty sure that scene had been done.
I'm probably giving the impression that I dislike this movie, but that's not the case. I did really like it and I do want to watch it again to catch some background things I'm sure I missed. These are just my nitpicks with the movie. Or the character.
As a final note, I would like to mention that I was incredibly distracted by how Christian Slater sounds exactly like Jack Nicholson. They need to do a father/son movie. Seriously.

Netflix Adventures

As a result of my new Netflix account, I have decided that I am going to watch all of those great movies that everyone loves, but no one I know has actually seen. This series will be about my reactions to these movies, whether or not I liked them, and why. Please feel free to suggest movies for me to add to my queue.

This week: Some Like it Hot

First impression: Such a fun movie


Will I watch it again: Absolutely


I had never seen Marilyn Monroe in a movie before (remember the whole point of this adventure) and I was impressed by what a great actress she really was. After watching her steal every single scene she was in from other fantastic actors, I can completely understand why the entire nation was captivated by her. She was unbelievably sexy, in the truest sense of the word. Not the way it is commonly used now, to denote anything even slightly good. I mean that her every movement made you think about sex. At the same time, there was something about her that was very vulnerable and made me feel like I wanted to take care of her, be her friend, and help her out. She managed to contain that dichotomy without ever seeming insincere. No wonder she remains such an icon.

As far as the rest of the movie, I was thoroughly entertained by it. Even though it was fairly predictable, I was never bored. It probably helps that I love a good slapstick; Arsenic and Old Lace is one of my favorite movies. I love kooky. When I was younger, I made my family watch Noises Off! over and over until they could quote it verbatim.

Netflix Adventures

So I finally joined the Netflix bandwagon, and I must say that it is better than I thought it would be. My only quibble is that it is difficult to move the movies around in my queue. I want to drag-and-drop them, but I can't, and when I type in the line number that I want it to go to, it ends up a few lines above or below where I want it, so I have to move it again. Unless I am retarded, which is always a possibility. Let me know.

As a result of my new Netflix account, I have decided that I am going to watch all of those great movies that everyone loves, but no one I know has actually seen. This series will be about my reactions to these movies, whether or not I liked them, and why. Please feel free to suggest movies for me to add to my queue. The only limitation I will place on suggestions is: do not even bother suggesting scary movies. Of any kind. I am including Hitchcock in this category. I know, I know, this is sacrilege or whatever. I don't care. I do not enjoy scary movies and I will have nightmares for at least a week. I had nightmares after being forced to watch the third Resident Evil movie. And that one was stupid and predictable. The only scary movie that didn't give me nightmares was High Tension, but that was because it was so incredibly stupid and nonsensical that it just pissed me off. So I was too angry to be scared. Ok, moving on. This first installment will cover the three movies I have seen so far, future installments should be just one movie.

First up, Casablanca.

First impression: enjoyable

Will I watch it again: probably not

I typically don't like film noir, so I was a little surprised that I was sucked into this story so quickly. I think it helped that there were not that many shots where someone was lingering in a shadow looking contemplative for five minutes without any action or dialogue. The pace of the movie was good, alternating between fast and slow. I wasn't really surprised by any of the plot twists, but that isn't something that I need for a movie to be good. Ricardo watched this one with me, but since he wasn't able to keep his trap shut and just watch it, I don't think that he will be joining me again. I can understand him needing clarification about the setting of the movie, since his world history is not that great, but I have to draw that line at him announcing "This girl is so stupid. She doesn't know about life." Which may be true, but keep it to yourself. One thing that he and I both agreed on is that people in general were more attractive back then than they are now.

Next up: Breakfast at Tiffany's

First impression: LOVED IT!

Will I watch it again: definitely

I absolutely adored this movie. The life that Lula Mae made up for herself, the shades of her past that you could always see just under the surface of everything that Holly Golightly did, the extravagance, the austerity, the clothes. I sincerely have nothing bad to say about this movie. It made me miss a time I have never experienced and it made me smile and laugh and cry.

And third, A Streetcar Named Desire

First impression: Marlon Brando was HOT! My goodness...(fans self)

Will I watch it again: not likely, or at least it will be on mute and fast forwarded when Stanley is not on screen

I have some mixed feelings about this movie. I was annoyed by Blanche, mesmerized by Stanley, and I constantly forgot about Stella when she wasn't on the screen. I also had a hard time understanding what was going on. There were tons of ambiguous statements and significant looks, but nothing was ever brought out in the open to my satisfaction. I'm still not sure what happened. Which is probably how I am supposed to feel, but I still don't like it much.