Oh ah, just a little bit
Spellbound
So I found myself a bit disappointed with this film, not because it was bad but purely because I had heard amazing things about it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good film but I wasn't riveted. I had heard from so many that this doc made Spelling Bees super intriguing and suspenseful so I was expecting to be thoroughly engaged. It was interesting, but not much more.
Certain children were more interesting than others. The overtalkative boy, the girl of Mexican descent, the over-tutored Indian boy... but others, meh -- including the winner. We get to see some of their backgrounds but there doesn't seem to be a ton of depth. The one running thread seems to be America as an immigrant nation and how these first American born generation truly are excelling and living the American dream. I still wish there was more though. As for the actual Bee, it seemed to just be a blur of, well, kid's spelling words. There are suspenseful moments when you really think they'll get the word wrong but it rarely happens.
I feel over critical, it is a good film, interesting and solid... just not as great as I expected
La Strada
This took me a long time to finish. This is probably complete film blasphemy, but I have trouble with Fellini's films. I wasn't a huge fan of 8 1/2 which I know many others love. At any rate, La Strada took me a while to delve into. I watched it over 2 weeks at a rate of 10-20 minutes at a time and then finally finished off the last hour today.
I wasn't really pulled in until Zampano kills Il Matto. Up until that point it really is just the pair wandering. There's substance there but not enough to hook me. The murder was shocking and drew me in. It was painful to watch simple-minded Gelsomina abused through-out the film and it was completely clear why this finally broke her. Il Matto was her closest link to happiness and the world outside... and without even thinking Zampano kills that all with just two blows.
Blue Velvet
While I must admit, I don't completely understand the characters, nor their actions, I still enjoyed this one. Lynch does have an amazing talent for presenting things from an alternative angle, one you'd never otherwise see. While the mystery itself I didn't find overly compelling, I couldn't help be drawn in just to see how the character's interact. As I said, I didn't understand them but this only served to make me watch harder. I still have a big "WTF?" in my head for certain scenes but I guess that's to be expected with Lynch.
Movie Count: 150
TV Shows
310. Glee: 101 Pilot (Director's Cut)
311. Glee: 102 Showmance
312. Glee: 103 Acafellas
313. Glee: 104 Preggers
314. Glee: 105 The Rhodes Not Taken
315. Entourage: 611 Scared Straight
316. Heroes: 402 Ink
TV Count: 316