Summer 2006: Clerks 2
Directed by Kevin Smith
Google Genre: Buddy film(?)/Comedy
Movie Tagline: With no power comes no responsibility. (true)
Actors: Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran which you'll only know from Clerks or other Kevin Smith movies; Rosario Dawson who I guess wasn't a big enough star at the time to realize she should turn this down.
Before Rewatch:
I was slightly annoyed to be watching it out of order, I had plans to watch Clerks on Election night because the very first time I saw it was on election night in 2004 and I had since watched on each subsequent election nights, must less stressful than actually watching the election. But I ignored my type-a-ness to watch it in order.
I told the man how much I loved this movie when it came out and the scene in the jail always made me cry and that it's such a great friend movie. Neither of us had probably seen it in a few years.
After Rewatch:
I didn't cry this time. I still enjoy this movie, it makes me laugh and I do appreciate the mail bonding in jail scene but I don't know. To me the whole situation was just so sad. I feel like because I am now someone who hates when people are miserable in their jobs, I find it personally offensive, I think I didn't appreciate it as much as I used to. I feel like I just didn't find anything redeeming in it really.
My favorite scene is probably the argument about Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, I know people like that even today. Can't we all just get along! I severely dislike the Lord of the Rings because I was tricked into watching 9,000 hours of the extended versions without my knowledge and I will never get those hours of my life back. But I can still appreciate it's place in the world, but yes Star Wars will always be better- suck it.
I probably laughed hardest at the Wanda Sykes cameo and Earthquake.
Overall I really don't care for this movie as much without it's partner. I think when you watch Clerks then Clerks 2 it just makes better sense and you don't feel so shocked by everything. It's probably the first Kevin Smith movie I'd watched in a few years, it's just not high on my rotation list.
Fall 2003: Lost in Translation
Directed by Sophia Coppola
Google Genre: Drama Film/Indie Film
Movie Tagline: Sometimes you have to go halfway around the world to come full circle.
Actors: Bill Murray this was before the big Murray revival right? He's great in this.
Scarlet Johansson is the perfect lost little millennial. The man didn't like her performance, I tried to convince him it was appropriate...I think I failed.
Before Rewatch:
I love this movie! I watch this movie probably a couple times a year and just love it so much. I feel like when it came out I could totally relate to the whole, what am I going to do with this ridiculously expensive liberal arts degree I'm working on! I would have been a Freshman at TLU at the time so I probably still thought it was an awesome idea and I wonder if this made me rethink that...I don't regret my degree but I can relate to the feeling that one might.
After Rewatch:
Where the fuck did those drugs come from? OMG I did not remember that drug scene at all! I remember the scene but I did not remember that they took drugs, I literally have watched this movie dozens of times and had never noticed it. This probably all goes back to me being so incredibly naive when it comes to drug culture but seriously did not remember that.
Something that I really thought about this time too that I normally don't care about or pay attention to was Giovanni Ribisi's character. He really doesn't do anything terribly wrong. I mean he's a little neglectful or his wife's feelings, but nothing really terrible. He sends her a sweet love-fax (I want a love-fax) and he puts his arm around her when Anna Faris' character is being annoying, so honestly I feel like it's the post marriage thing- marriage changes everything (when will people believe me) and that the person you married is totally different than who you knew before. I also think that is a totally relatable feeling of marrying someone and then being like oh-shit I've made a mistake who is this person. Especially if you marry someone while you're still in school!
On the other side of it I always kinda ignore Bill Murray's fling with the lounge singer, where was Scarlet at this point? Why didn't he just go find her, or was he drunk? He must have been drunk right because when he wakes up the next morning he seems to really rethink his poor choices.
One of my favorite things about this movie is probably how little dialogue is actually in it. I love the montages and the scenery- the temple, the flower arranging class, the pool, the city lights, the arcade...it's just cool to see without a lot of distractions.
I still love this movie and will probably always love it. It's so good and always makes me smile. And no I don't care what Bill Murray whispers in her ear at the end. It would not make the world a better place knowing what they are.
Spring 2004: Sideways
Directed by Alexander Payne
Google Genre: Drama film/Comedy-Drama
Movie Tagline: In search of wine. In search of women. In search for themselves.
Actors: Paul Giamatti duuuude get over it. But he's great in this role.
Thomas Haden Church hey it's the guy from Wings!
Virginia Madsen is a goddess and I love her.
Before Rewatch:
I remember I saw this with my first college boyfriend. This was way before I started really getting into wine, like years before and I remember still loving it. I remember Virginia Madsen's scene that they showed that year at the Academy Awards or Golden Globes when she's talking about wine being alive. I just remember loving her character so much and while it's totally not fully developed enough I just love her.
After Rewatch:
Still love this movie. I've probably watched this movie a handful of times after really starting to get into wine and whenever I go to wine tastings or a winery or anything I always think about certain scenes. I think it's fun to think about two men doing this, especially since my girlfriends and I have been talking about doing this for a few years. I think it's funny that they would go to wine country for a bachelor weekend...especially when the soon to be married bachelor isn't really into wine.
Not even 10 minutes into the movie I started laughing not at what was on the screen but just thinking about a scene- the man in my life asked me what was funny and I told him I was just thinking about a scene. A little bit later there's a scene where the men are at a winery tasting wine and Thomas Haden Church's character is trying to describe the wine and Paul Giamatti turns to him and says "Are you chewing gum?" and it does a quick cut to the next scene and I just start cracking up! It's one of my favorite scenes and always makes me laugh. Just thinking about it now still makes me chuckle.
People who know me know I don't like comedies, it has to be a really specific type of comedy for me to like it. So movies like this that are so funny but still so dark and depressing are really my favorite types of movies. I love the swing of emotions. The ending is rough for some people, I know people don't like unfinished things but I'm fine with it. I like to think that Virginia Madsen's character opens the door and maybe they don't get together immediately but become friends and eventually figure it out. I'd be upset if she immediately let him in. I love this movie and will keep watching it.
Directed by James McTeigue
Google Genre: Drama film/Thriller
Movie Tagline: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
Actors: Natalie Portman love her! It always takes me a little bit to get used to her accent but once I do I love her.
Hugo Weaving isn't there like some weird thing about his role in this, like he wasn't the original V but does the voice? Or he did the acting but someone else did the voice? I can't remember
Stephen Rea love him! The eternal police detective, but he plays it so well.
Before Rewatch:
Okay I did not watch this when it came out. I watched it at some other point afterwards. Probably on November 5th, because I've been watching it on November 5th for years and years, which is why it's a bonus movie because it fits the timeframe and the man and I watched it on the 5th. We watched it right before the election and of course a few days later it's viewing takes on a bit more of a surreal quality, but it's always a good movie to watch annually.
After Rewatch:
I love Natalie Portman but he character's motives are just not very clear in the beginning. Does she want to have dinner with Stephen Fry or not? If she does why the hell is she so late? Also the next day at work why does she look so suspicious when delivering the packages? She already looks like she know's she's going to try to deceive someone. I don't know--- always bothers me, still bothers me.
I always want to know more about Larkin and what the experiments were there. It reminds me of something out of a Margaret Atwood book. I want to know more about the doctor and her involvement and all of it. Like an Atwood book it's scary to think about some of these things happening and Stephen Rea's monologue about guessing how it'll happen - someone will do something stupid. It always starts with someone doing something stupid...
My favorite scene is always the first one with V blowing up Old Bailey and Evey looks at V like he's crazy conducting a fake symphony. It always makes me laugh.
It's a good movie, I enjoy watching it once a year and will continue to do so.
Final Thoughts:
I really love all these movies except Clerks 2, it'll probably have to wait another 4 years or so to be watched again. Lost in Translation out of the bunch is my favorite probably followed by V and then Sideways.
Previous Movie Posts:
College movie project overview
Fall 2006 - Stranger than Fiction
