The Caffeine Diaries
The platypus hodgepodge is an appropriate icon for this particular set of movies.
Spoilers and thoughts under the cuts:
Top Hat (1935)
The first surprising thing about this movie is more trivia about myself, in that (upon reviewing filmographies) I am now realizing that I've never actually seen a Fred and Ginger movie before. I've seen Stage Door, but it's not a typical Ginger role. I've loved Fred in Royal Wedding, Funny Face, Easter Parade, and Holiday Inn, some particularly strong dance parts. But until I finally settled in to watch the DVRed showing of Top Hat, I'd actually never seen the two together.
While the movie is charming, it suffers from a few pacing problems, mostly to do with the prolonged mistaken-identity-issue. Once everyone has arrived in Venice, it seems to be wholly unnecessary and contrived to continue with that plot. But I always give a little more leeway to older films in this regard, so I'm letting it slide with only a note. Also troublesome about most older films was the portrayal of the Italian Beddini, who was just a smidge over the top, but that tends to be commonplace. For the most part, the emotions and reactions, while necessarily amplified by a musical and farcical format, seemed mostly genuine, which I admire. Why Dale would marry Beddini out of disappointment and indignation, I can't say, but Rogers did a fine job with the complex emotions of a woman who finds a gentleman attractive, and is then horrified at his (supposed) stepping out on her good friend. Astaire as Jerry is delightful and simply pursuing a girl he finds attractive, even if she's acting beyond odd to him for unknown reasons. Bates is at times comic and slightly creepy (it took me awhile to remember that he'd been tasked with tailing Dale, so for awhile I couldn't remember who this guy was who they kept randomly showing). There is lots of sharp dialogue and silliness, and the whole thing is so dazzlingly set and costumed that it can't help but be delightful. (Kind of like Gigi in that way, which, don't think too hard about the subject matter and it's a wonderful romp.)
I do have to admit, though, that "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" is now kind of ruined for me, despite the glorious dance number. Knowing the context now, it's no longer as sweet a song.
One final note is that I was surprised at how little a part the show played in providing opportunities for singing and dancing. I'm used to musicals being used within my movie-musicals as excuses for big show-stopping numbers, so for Top Hat to set up that construct and only use it for one song-and-dance number, I was pretty surprised.
Will definitely be seeking out more Fred and Ginger throughout the year, though. I must remedy my lack of background here.
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
While I don't consider myself a huge Simpsons fan by any means, I've always enjoyed it to some degree. There are episodes I've seen that have made me laugh a lot, but I often find them only somewhat amusing. (I know, blasphemy.) However, I'd heard lots of good things about The Simpsons Movie and I'm always willing to give things a shot, so I put in a request at the library for it. We picked it up last night and it was the shortest of the three movies we'd gotten, so it was our movie for the night and a quite enjoyable one at that.
The first thing I'd been worried about was the transition of the story from 22-minute to feature-film format. In this, I thought that the movie was especially successful. Though the beginning was a bit slow, once the plot threads got moving, there wasn't much in the way of filler scenes. I was especially impressed at how easily all of the threads were wound into the totality of the ending. A throwaway gag like Homer on the motorcycle, trying to win a truck, became pivotal in dispensing the bomb. The newly introduced Colin, while not integral to the rest of the storyline, gave Lisa something to do and toned down her environmental "whining" to make it more tolerable. Maggie and the sinkhole-solution to Homer's to-do list functioned similarly, easy to forget right after it happened, but an important plot point halfway through. I think the Simpsons team had a fun time in the longer format and they proved to be quite adept with continuity and pacing.
I also was surprised at how easily the movie hit some unique emotional chords. As an infrequent viewer of the show, I wasn't sure if this is something they do every now and then, but it seemed surprising and fresh in the movie, always good. There was some genuine heartache when Marge left with the kids, taping her goodbye over the wedding video. When Homer was able to do something right and save everyone, there was joy and some nice vindication for a character that's always painted as a loser doof.
As always, the visual (and meta) gags were top notch and there was an appropriate degree of silliness. I'd recommend this movie, for sure.
And I will have "Spider Pig" stuck in my head for daaaays.
Superstar (1999)
One of my rules for the Project (which I actually forgot to put in the previous post, there might have to be an edit), is to include any movie that I haven't seen already, as I will likely end up re-watching movies throughout the course of the year. I take that to mean any movie which I haven't seen more than 70% of in order, as I'd totally put the original Star Wars movie in here (if I hadn't finally gotten to seeing it last year), since I'd seen probably all of the parts of the movie, but never in one sitting and never in order.
I was kind of surprised that I hadn't seen Superstar before now, because I was under the impression that I had. But, apparently, I'd seen the first half-hour or so, because once Mary Katherine was finally getting to audition for the show, everything was new to me. I'd DVRed this on a whim, having caught the first part again on a lazy afternoon and not having a chance to finish it then. So, when I sat down to watch it this morning and discovered I hadn't seen it before, I was really surprised.
There's not a lot to say about this movie: it's excessively silly (no, the parents were not ripped apart by hammerhead sharks, they were trampled to death by step dancers), with really mean girls and really exagerated "special" kids, and Will Ferrell as the excessively popular (and surprisingly nice!) "best male dancer at St. Monica's." There's a Dream Jesus, who takes care to explain that he's been drawn by Mary's subconscious in a kind of hilarious way. There is the intense best friend, whom I could have sworn was ten seconds away from trying to kiss Mary herself at all times. Glynis Johns rules (as always) as the older lady of wisdom. But what really is remarkable about the movie is Molly Shannon's ferocity and dedication to the part. She plays Mary Katherine with such earnesty that even her awkward overtures to trees and stop signs seem believably endearing. Shannon is pretty much the only thing that makes this extended SNL sketch work on any level.
More tomorrow, as we watched Ratatouille tonight, but I have to let it absorb for a little bit before I get into it.
Spoilers and thoughts under the cuts:
Top Hat (1935)
The first surprising thing about this movie is more trivia about myself, in that (upon reviewing filmographies) I am now realizing that I've never actually seen a Fred and Ginger movie before. I've seen Stage Door, but it's not a typical Ginger role. I've loved Fred in Royal Wedding, Funny Face, Easter Parade, and Holiday Inn, some particularly strong dance parts. But until I finally settled in to watch the DVRed showing of Top Hat, I'd actually never seen the two together.
While the movie is charming, it suffers from a few pacing problems, mostly to do with the prolonged mistaken-identity-issue. Once everyone has arrived in Venice, it seems to be wholly unnecessary and contrived to continue with that plot. But I always give a little more leeway to older films in this regard, so I'm letting it slide with only a note. Also troublesome about most older films was the portrayal of the Italian Beddini, who was just a smidge over the top, but that tends to be commonplace. For the most part, the emotions and reactions, while necessarily amplified by a musical and farcical format, seemed mostly genuine, which I admire. Why Dale would marry Beddini out of disappointment and indignation, I can't say, but Rogers did a fine job with the complex emotions of a woman who finds a gentleman attractive, and is then horrified at his (supposed) stepping out on her good friend. Astaire as Jerry is delightful and simply pursuing a girl he finds attractive, even if she's acting beyond odd to him for unknown reasons. Bates is at times comic and slightly creepy (it took me awhile to remember that he'd been tasked with tailing Dale, so for awhile I couldn't remember who this guy was who they kept randomly showing). There is lots of sharp dialogue and silliness, and the whole thing is so dazzlingly set and costumed that it can't help but be delightful. (Kind of like Gigi in that way, which, don't think too hard about the subject matter and it's a wonderful romp.)
I do have to admit, though, that "Dancing Cheek to Cheek" is now kind of ruined for me, despite the glorious dance number. Knowing the context now, it's no longer as sweet a song.
One final note is that I was surprised at how little a part the show played in providing opportunities for singing and dancing. I'm used to musicals being used within my movie-musicals as excuses for big show-stopping numbers, so for Top Hat to set up that construct and only use it for one song-and-dance number, I was pretty surprised.
Will definitely be seeking out more Fred and Ginger throughout the year, though. I must remedy my lack of background here.
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
While I don't consider myself a huge Simpsons fan by any means, I've always enjoyed it to some degree. There are episodes I've seen that have made me laugh a lot, but I often find them only somewhat amusing. (I know, blasphemy.) However, I'd heard lots of good things about The Simpsons Movie and I'm always willing to give things a shot, so I put in a request at the library for it. We picked it up last night and it was the shortest of the three movies we'd gotten, so it was our movie for the night and a quite enjoyable one at that.
The first thing I'd been worried about was the transition of the story from 22-minute to feature-film format. In this, I thought that the movie was especially successful. Though the beginning was a bit slow, once the plot threads got moving, there wasn't much in the way of filler scenes. I was especially impressed at how easily all of the threads were wound into the totality of the ending. A throwaway gag like Homer on the motorcycle, trying to win a truck, became pivotal in dispensing the bomb. The newly introduced Colin, while not integral to the rest of the storyline, gave Lisa something to do and toned down her environmental "whining" to make it more tolerable. Maggie and the sinkhole-solution to Homer's to-do list functioned similarly, easy to forget right after it happened, but an important plot point halfway through. I think the Simpsons team had a fun time in the longer format and they proved to be quite adept with continuity and pacing.
I also was surprised at how easily the movie hit some unique emotional chords. As an infrequent viewer of the show, I wasn't sure if this is something they do every now and then, but it seemed surprising and fresh in the movie, always good. There was some genuine heartache when Marge left with the kids, taping her goodbye over the wedding video. When Homer was able to do something right and save everyone, there was joy and some nice vindication for a character that's always painted as a loser doof.
As always, the visual (and meta) gags were top notch and there was an appropriate degree of silliness. I'd recommend this movie, for sure.
And I will have "Spider Pig" stuck in my head for daaaays.
Superstar (1999)
One of my rules for the Project (which I actually forgot to put in the previous post, there might have to be an edit), is to include any movie that I haven't seen already, as I will likely end up re-watching movies throughout the course of the year. I take that to mean any movie which I haven't seen more than 70% of in order, as I'd totally put the original Star Wars movie in here (if I hadn't finally gotten to seeing it last year), since I'd seen probably all of the parts of the movie, but never in one sitting and never in order.
I was kind of surprised that I hadn't seen Superstar before now, because I was under the impression that I had. But, apparently, I'd seen the first half-hour or so, because once Mary Katherine was finally getting to audition for the show, everything was new to me. I'd DVRed this on a whim, having caught the first part again on a lazy afternoon and not having a chance to finish it then. So, when I sat down to watch it this morning and discovered I hadn't seen it before, I was really surprised.
There's not a lot to say about this movie: it's excessively silly (no, the parents were not ripped apart by hammerhead sharks, they were trampled to death by step dancers), with really mean girls and really exagerated "special" kids, and Will Ferrell as the excessively popular (and surprisingly nice!) "best male dancer at St. Monica's." There's a Dream Jesus, who takes care to explain that he's been drawn by Mary's subconscious in a kind of hilarious way. There is the intense best friend, whom I could have sworn was ten seconds away from trying to kiss Mary herself at all times. Glynis Johns rules (as always) as the older lady of wisdom. But what really is remarkable about the movie is Molly Shannon's ferocity and dedication to the part. She plays Mary Katherine with such earnesty that even her awkward overtures to trees and stop signs seem believably endearing. Shannon is pretty much the only thing that makes this extended SNL sketch work on any level.
More tomorrow, as we watched Ratatouille tonight, but I have to let it absorb for a little bit before I get into it.