You were supposed to watch Quibi during your commute
… except everyone is working at home or on semi-lockdown due to covid
The big Day One HBO Max content was supposed to be the much-awaited Friends reunion
… except due to covid the reunion has been delayed
Peacock was going to have all sorts of Olympics programming (and maybe even counter-programming)
… except the Olympics has also been delayed due to covid
VHS – Top Gun
DVD – The Matrix
Blu-Ray – The Dark Knight
Streaming – House or Cards
Some notes:
I’m glad that Terrance Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle. Although it does sort of drive me nuts when a film series replaces actors/actresses. I wonder when we’ll get a deep fake version of the film that swaps out Howard’s face for Cheadle’s.
Tony Stark/Iron Man has really experienced so much growth over the course of the MCU. In this film he starts off as a womanizer, gambler, etc. He’s a totally different person by Infinity War.
The Jericho Missile System reminds me of some of the missile technology that Iron Man shoots from his hands.
I love the Mad Money cameo — seems so apropos for 2008.
One of my favorite things about comic book movies in general is casting really great actors as villains. The MCU kicks this off in Iron Man with Jeff Bridges playing Obadiah and continues throughout the series.
That said, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man was an especially inspired casting choice. I cannot imagine the film being as successful with another actor.
Neat continuity that Paul Bettany voices Jarvis and becomes Vision. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched Age of Ultron and I’m excited to be watching it again soon.
I sort of forgot about the slight anti-war message of the movie and that a good chunk of it tangentially involved the (still) ongoing war in Afghanistan.
Obadiah/Iron Monger sorta reminds me of Johnny 5 from Short Circuit. (The missile/rocket launcher-thing coming out of his arm/elbow.)
I wish Obadiah survived. One of my favorite parts of Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy was that a character like Scarecrow didn’t die at the end of the first movie and went on to appear in the sequels (albeit in very minor roles — even better!).
This is the only Iron Man movie I am rewatching. Sometime I’ll get around to rewatching the second and third in the series.
In advance of Avengers: Endgame coming out April 26, I’ve decided to rewatch a movie from the Marvel Cinematic UniverseCaptain Marvel (which I saw in the theatres and loved, of course).
Here’s what I’m up to the the next 6 or so weekends:
How did I come up with this set of films? A couple things: First, I didn’t chose many of the recent films because I’ve seen them more recently (and in most cases multiple times e.g. Black Panther four times). It’s been a long time since I’ve rewatched Captain America and an even longer time since I’ve rewatched Iron Man. Second, I specifically wanted to focus on Iron Man and Captain America knowing that Endgame will likely be their last film. I expect Spider-Man to be around for a while… And finally, I wanted to re-watch all of the previous Avengers films.
I’m definitely looking forward to Endgame and I’m happy with the fact I was able to resist my completionist/whatever urges and attempt to rewatch every movie — this list will be a good abbreviated version of the MCU thus far.
For years now, my Fourth of July (Independence Day) tradition has been to watch intellectual and political documentaries (none of that sappy human interest stuff for this occasion!). Films I’ve re-watched in past years include Fahrenheit 9/11, Outfoxed, Bill Maher’s Religulous, and others. I started more serious and then ventured into more bizarre…
This year I’m keeping some brief notes as I watch the documentaries. Here we go!
Overall I loved this documentary! Makes me nostalgic for when I worked on my college newspaper. And made me realize how my current job is less and less about journalism.
My favorite Kompakt release is Total 6. I love the songs “The Difference it Makes” by The MFA, “Tell Me About It” by Superpitcher, and “Action” by The Field. My favorite Kompakt artist is The Field.
And that concludes my 2014 documentary marathon!
I couldn’t find the list of songs from Jay Z’s film Made in America so I decided to watch the credits sequence and list ’em out (trying to remove all of the non-features [e.g. background, score] music). Mostly this is so I can make a playlist for myself…
If you find this and notice I miss something, let me know! Great music, great documentary!
You know a song is good when: 1. It was featured prominently in a movie by one of your favorite directors; 2. It was remixed by one of your favorite DJs; 3. It was remixed by another up-and-coming DJ who has been doing awesome work lately. Such is the case with Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” The dark and haunting song is undeniably great.
I’m sure I first heard the song on alternative radio back in junior high or something, but it wasn’t until I saw David Lynch’s Wild At Heart that I realized how great the song was. “Wicked Game” plays during a great part of the film as Sailor and Lula drive across the country at night. Sailor is opening up to Lula about his past and we’re treated to total Lynchian flashbacks as well as Lula seeing her mother as the Wicked Witch of the West. The song is perfect for both the eerie drive across the desert as well as uncovering Sailor revealing his dark past and Lula connecting it with her disturbed childhood.
Then of course there is the music video for “Wicked Game” which has been called one of the sexiest videos ever:
(Also worth noting: David Lynch did a Wild At Heart version of the video [it’s on the DVD] that is kind of cool/promotional, as well.)
Then a few years ago I come across a remix of the song by Trentemøller. His “Dubby Games” remix highlights the darkness in the original by adding some cool echoes and reverb.
Chris Isaak _ Wicked Game (Trentemoller Businessman Dubby Games Remix) by elodienelson
And now recently the “up-and-coming” artist Soul Clap comes out with their own remix. Unlike Trentemøller’s darker mix, I feel like Soul Clap highly the dreamy and disco-y aspects of the song. I’ve only had it a couple weeks and I’m already in love.
Wicked Game Edit by Soul Clap
So there we have it — a great song in so many aspects and forms.
I love movie trailers. I’m one of those people who actually enjoys seeing the trailers before the movies. Sometimes it’s the excitement of getting a sneak peak, sometimes it’s the fast-paced editing and strange juxtapositions, and oftentimes it’s the great music.
Last night I watched the movie Nine and thought, as I often do, “Wow, the trailer for this movie was way better than the actual movie itself.” Not to say that the movie (or any of the movies in this blog post) are bad, but the trailers themselves were just really great or represented the movie in a way that I would’ve prefered over the actual movie itself.
Here are a few that I can think of off the top of my head right now:
Men Who Stare at Goats
Don’t get me wrong — I actually liked this movie a lot. But the trailer is just great. I’m sure a huge part of it is Boston’s song “More Than a Feeling,” but the trailer really sets the movie up to be way more funny and trippy than it actually is.
Watchmen
Again — I totally love this movie. One of my favorites. But the trailer for it is so incredibly awesome. I’m pretty sure a huge part of what makes the trailer a success is the Smashing Pumpkins’ song “The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning” (a slower remix of their song “The End Is The Beginning Is The End” from the film Batman & Robin). The trailer also has some great fast/slow editing and sets the movie up to be way more epic than it was.
Nine
This trailer is just total fun. The trailer, at least, made me expect the film to be really fast and flashy — but it wasn’t. Most of the musical numbers were a bit more subdued. My two favorite songs from the film were “Be Italian” and “Cinema Italiano.” They were the two main songs used in the trailer: the music from “Be Italian” and the excitement from “Cinema Italiano.” For example, the scene showing the main character Guido spraying champagne everywhere was from “Cinema Italiano” and lasted maybe 2 seconds in the movie itself.
Burn After Reading
Another great film that was slightly misrepresented by the trailer. The trailer makes the movie seem a lot more fast-paced and funny than it was. The movie, in fact, is a bit darker. This is also another example of music making me love the trailer even more — Elbow’s “Grounds For Divorce” is in this one.
Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
This trailer was so great because it was so highly anticipated. I remember when it came out while I was in high school people would analyze every second of it for clues about what the first new Star Wars film was going to be like. There was nothing spectacular about the trailer itself — it was the excitement about the what the trailer represented. In the end the movie was pretty bad (my least favorite of all Star Wars films).
So those are my best examples of trailers that are better (or vastly different) than the movies themselves. What am I forgetting? Admitedly trailers aren’t as memorable as the films themselves, so I’m surely missing a lot.
Just finished watching Wong Kar-Wai‘s Happy Together again and the end reminded me of something I love in film: taking a really happy song and playing it against a really depressing scene.
Two moments immediately came to mind, though I’m sure there are many more (and would love input from others):
First, of course, is the end scene of Happy Together. Without spoiling much, it”s just a very lonely time in the movie and Danny Chung’s cover of “Happy Together” by the Turtles with its happy lyrics and tone makes the loneliness of the film that much stronger.
The first time I encountered this happy vs. sad juxtaposition was Michael Moore‘s Roger and Me. Toward the end there is a scene where Moore shows the economically depressed Flint, MI and plays it against the Beach Boy’s “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
Granted, both “Happy Together” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” have a slight sadness to them, the way they work with the scenes in both films takes the tiny bit of melancholy and multiplies it by a thousand.
One of the reasons I love the fact that I’ve kept this blog going for over 4 years now is that I can go back and read things I wrote before and see how my thoughts/perspective have changed.
A very recent example: I re-watched the movie A Hole In My Heart — which I still consider to be the most graphic, violent, sexual, and disturbing film I’ve ever watched. Although after I first saw it I never would’ve expected that I’d watch it again, there was something about the movie that has stuck with me all of these years. Now that I feel like I’m dealing with some of my own personal darkness, perhaps I wanted to see an example of utter darkness on film? I’m not sure.
Anyway, when I watched the movie during SIFF in 2005, I found the film to be an exploration of taboos and highly sexual behavior. Now I see the film as an examination of broken people who all seemed to have traumatic things happen to them at a young age.
I still find the film very challenging and I’m still not sure it approaches either of the meanings in a clear and meaningful way (I also found the film much more exploitative this time)… but I do find it interesting that I saw it in a such a different way this time. (And I realize that this isn’t a new idea at all — the idea that the way you see films [or anything really] changes depending on time was expressed very well in a scene in 12 Monkeys [or at least that’s when I was first really exposed/grasped the idea]).
…On a more upbeat note, while watching the film this time I managed to find the name of the crazy poppy song that plays early in the film. Turns out that it’s “Floorfiller” by the A*Teens.
