Monthly Roundup: August Movie Watching Recap

On By ruthIn Monthly Recap

It’s the last day of the year before we enter the ‘brrr’ months. Well, September is still relatively balmy here in the upper Midwest, and after the Sahara-like Summer we’ve been having, I must say I’m looking forward to Autumn.

I know I always say time flies but really, I feel like August just passed by like lightning. Well, out of 31 days, I made 25 posts, well 26 including this one. Thanks to my loyal contributors Ted, Kevin (a.k.a. Jack Deth) and Cecilia for providing awesome content for this blog. It’s getting increasingly tough to do five posts a week, and lately I’ve been taking a blog break midweek and substituting it with a blog on a weekend day.

This month I participated in a few blog-a-thons:

And here are some of the posts you might’ve missed, including a few of Olympics-themed posts I did in honor of its host, London, one of my favorite cities in the world!

Well, what did I manage to watch this month?

Movies I haven’t seen before:

Re-watch:

Well, I only re-watched one movie this month and that was The Bourne Ultimatum. Yeah, even five years after its release it’s still eons better than The Bourne Legacy. It feels like it’s on a whole different league, from story, direction, style and of course acting, and I’m not just talking about Matt Damon who’s excellent as Bourne, but also the supporting cast including the two that was *promised* to be on the latest movie: David Strathairn and Joan Allen. The massively underrated Julia Stiles also have some memorable scenes, boy why doesn’t Hollywood cast her more often?? [scratch head]

I also re-watched the Licence to Kill which confirms once again that Timothy Dalton is my favorite Bond. Even after re-watching Connery’s Bonds I still prefer Dalton’s gritty, no-nonsense style. It doesn’t hurt that he looks so darn good in a wet suit 😉 But he’s not just bad ass, as he’s also very convincing in the emotional moments when he found out what happened to his friends Felix and Della. I also love Robert Davi as the villain and Carey Lowell as the tough Bond girl. I always get a kick out of watching a young Benicio del Toro as Davi’s henchman, back when he was still svelte you could actually see his high cheekbones, ahah. I also watched the bonus features which is fun to watch as Dalton did a lot of his own stunts. There are also some creepy stuff going on during filming as the filmmaker and crew were talking about the unexplained accidents and ghostly phenomenon on location at a haunted road in Mexico.

I also watched the bonus features of The Sound of Music. I LOVE Liesl and the actress who played her, Charmian Carr, gave a tour to Salzburg on one of the featurettes. I adore this movie and watching the special features just makes me want to rewatch it again!
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Favorite August Movie:

I rarely give a movie a full 5/5 rating but this one was sooo enchanting and totally lives up to my already-high expectations, being that it’s the inspiration of one of my favorite rom-coms Sleepless in Seattle. I don’t even mind seeing this one on the big screen if TCM choose that one as one of the TCM Fathom Events. An Affair to Remember has become my favorite Cary Grant movie now, edging even North by Northwest!

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So, what movies did you get to see this month and which one is your favorite?

34 thoughts on “Monthly Roundup: August Movie Watching Recap”

  1. About your first paragraph post: for the love of God, Minnesota, bring me the cold! Bring me the cold! I am beyond tired of this horrible, atrocious, everywhere-I-go-better-have-air-condition-or-I-will-very-literally-on-this-floor-perish! I’m ready for the cold, gimmie!

    LOVE your statement that even five years later, BOURNE ULTIMATUM is eons better than LEGACY. Could not have said it better. Now Dalton as Bond… that just sounds awesome. Might have to give that one a go.

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    1. Ahahaha, you’re too funny Andy! Now I’m from a tropical country but man I can’t stand this heat. I keep hoping for the cooler weather to set in, though I still don’t like below zero temps. NO ONE likes than even those from MN I take it.

      Man you haven’t seen Dalton’s Bond movies?? Get on it dude! Don’t let those naysayers tell you otherwise. Dalton is basically what Daniel Craig is now, before it was cool apparently, he was way ahead of his time. But Dalton is sooo much better to look at, I mean, Bond to me should always have that dark look.

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    2. Nah I will take this anyday over one day of freaking snow. The cold is one thing but then you add the elevated risk of driving in snowing/icy weather and it’s unbearable to me. Every time, I go out, I feel like I’m going to get into an accident 😦

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      1. Ahah, I’m sure lots of people share your sentiment man, but I have gotten used to it now, but of course I might feel very differently come January! 😀

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  2. Some great films on this list, Ruth. Now I kinda want to watch The Sound of Music again. And I’ve got “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” stuck in my head. Thanks for that. 😛

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    1. Yeah, The Sound of Music just won’t ever get old. People always associate it with something happy and jubilant, but the Von Trapp story is actually quite dark and heartbreaking at times.

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  3. Ted S.

    The Bourne Ultimatum is my second favorite Bourne film, right behind Supremacy. And yes Legacy was so disappointing, as I mentioned earlier, I think Tony Gilroy might just be a one hit wonder. He hasn’t directed any good film since Michael Clayton. I’ll wait to see his fourth feature before declaring if he’s for real or not.

    I always wondering too why Julia Styles’ career never took off but then I realized she doesn’t have that Hollywood look. I mean she’s pretty but somehow studio folks just aren’t dying to cast her in the lead in their films.

    I saw three films in August, Total Wast of Time aka Total Recall remake; The Bourne Legacy and a third helping of TDKR. Now looking forward to fall/winter films. Skyfall, Looper, The Hobbit and Django Unchained are films I for sure will see in theater.

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    1. It’s hard to pick which first three Bourne movie I like, but Karl Urban is the baddie in Supremacy right? Yeah, then I’m partial to that one 😉 I agree about Gilroy, Michael Clayton was indeed very good though.

      As for Stiles, I think she’s attractive but not the typical beauty Hollywood seems to be keen on, she’s more ‘real’ looking y’know, that’s what I like about her. Too bad, she’s very talented.

      WOW, you’ve seen TDKR 3 times! I still don’t know when we’ll be seeing it a second time. Lots of good movies in the next 3 months, yay!

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      1. For those of you who like Stiles’ work check out this little indie, tour-de-force with Stockard Channing:The Business Of Strangers. It’s the story of an eventful night shared between a middle-aged businesswoman and her young assistant.

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  4. I watched the rest of Mary Harrons filmography, as for a while i had only seen American Psycho. And after seeing her other 3 films, i think she may be my favorite female director.I wish she was a bit more prolific. She has only 4 movies in total.

    I also saw Lovecrime, which is the film De Palma is remaking as Passion.Overall i liked it, although there was a section of the film where i was confused about what the main character was trying to achieve. It has Kristen Scott Thomas in a prominent role,but i’m pretty sure you’re not into erotic thrillers. I am curious see what De Palma will do with it(from the trailer it seemed like he is focusing more of the lesbian undertones between the 2 main female characters, which was only hinted at in the original). And i saw both Dressed to Kill and Obsessed.

    I saw a foreign crime thriller called F*** up(i know you don’t like swearing, which i why i censored the first part). It also had 2 female characters i found intriguing, as they seemed tougher and smarter than most female characters in movies of that genre

    Lastly, 2 classics.High Noon(a western) and the Misfits(the classic with Monroe). Both were really good, and imo deserving of there classic status.

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        1. Oh, I think I might rent Cabin in the Woods though I’m not generally fond of horror. I’ve heard lots of good things about it and it’s got Chris Hemsworth in it 😉

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    2. Interesting pick of a filmmaker Julian. I’ve only seen American Psycho myself, not sure if I’m interested in her other work though.

      You’re right I’m not into erotic thrillers, so I’m gonna be skipping Passion and that other one you mentioned. Thank you for self-censoring 🙂

      Oh High Noon, been wanting to check that out as my hubby saw it in a film class and he said Gary Cooper was very good in it. Glad you got to see that one!

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  5. I only saw comedies last month, really liked American Pie movies and Tucker and Dale vs Evil, hilarious stuff. I was going to see Total Recall and Bourne Legacy but all the reviews for them put me off 🙂

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    1. No, just rent TR and BL, Sati, don’t waste your money. Ahah, I’ve only seen the first American Pie movies. I remember Jennifer Coolidge was hilarious in it, and that guy who played the father of the main character.

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  6. oow you know Ruth…I spent my August watching 3 series of Doctor Who (in total 40episodes) 😉

    for movie, I watched The Grey, The Machinist, and Pintu Terlarang.

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      1. Ow yes I do…I really like it 🙂
        I have been meaning to write the review but you know I have an obsession to be reviewed…so the Machinist got pushed behind.

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  7. LOL the ‘brrr’ months. Autumn is not so bad if its been hot 🙂
    I wish I had thought of those olympic post ideas, so cool!

    Timothy Dalton is your favorite Bond, that’s a brave choice! Licence to Kill was just a tad too violent for my taste(Anthony Zerbe’s death) My favorite guilty pleasure Bond movies with Roger Moore are generally dismissed as less than stellar by most critics and bloggers.

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    1. Yep, I don’t mind the cooler weather, bring it on! 🙂

      Yes I stand by my Dalton choice, I’ve always liked him and Craig’s gritty style is pretty much similar to how Dalton did it, but people are more welcoming of it a decade later apparently. I like Moore’s Bonds too, but more a guilty pleasure like you said.

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  8. Nice post. You watched a few pretty awesome movies in August and it was a great month for your blog with amazing content! I’m so looking forward to Autumn as well. It’s been super hot and humid over here, I almost went out of my mind. I think my favorite August movie was The Philadelphia Story (a re-watch) and (cue gasp!) Katy Perry: Part of Me. Unexpectedly good and SO MUCH FUN.

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  10. I saw some great movies this past month but a total of 0 (zero) were at the movie theater.

    – The Bourne Legacy: Meh
    – Jiro Dreams of Sushi: Awesome documentary
    – A Separation: Favorite film of 2011? It’s up there
    – John Carter: It was alright…
    – The Raid: Redemption: Great action flick. Loved it!
    – Man on a Ledge: Terrible
    – The Thing (2011): Meh
    – Fires on the Plain: I don’t know what to think of this movie
    – 21 Jump Street (Rewatch): Funny movie
    – The Bicycle Thief: A masterpiece
    – Machine Gun Preacher: Meh… ok…
    – Coriolanius: As you already know, I couldn’t finish it…

    I saw more movies than you yea!!

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  12. ilovethatfilm

    Ultimatum was easily my favourite of the Bournes! I still need to see Licence to Kill. Maybe I’ll try and get round to it before Skyfall!

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  13. Yes, bring on the fall! Hopefully today is the last hot day for a while…

    I was expecting Singin’ in the Rain to be your movie of the month. 😀 Forgot how much you enjoyed An Affair to Remember!

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