Happy Friday, friends!
Here in the USA, we celebrate Veterans Day. Just a quick history on what Veteran’s day is about:
- 1919 – President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th as Armistice Day to remind Americans of the tragedies of war.
- 1938 – The day becomes a federal holiday.
- 1954 – Congress changes the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all United States Veterans.
With that, I just want to briefly say a huge THANK YOU to those who have served this great country. Freedom definitely is not free…
Now for the Everybody’s Chattin’ series today, I’m selecting five reviews of movies I have not seen yet. So here we go:
- Tom Bielby @ Front Room Cinema did a review of Awakening. It’s a ghost story set in 1920s England. I like the cast of Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton, and despite my distaste for spooky flicks, this one looks pretty good!
- Sometimes reading a review of an older epic film gave you a whole new appreciation for it. That’s what happened when I read Nostra’s review of Schindler’s List at My Film Views.
- Rich at Wide Screen World is taking part in the French New Wave Week, and his latest review is on François Truffaut’s celebrated 400 Blows. I haven’t seen the film myself, and his review makes me curious to check it out.
- Despite all the buzz and overwhelmingly positive reviews of Drive, Russell from 1:37 Exactly just couldn’t bring himself to love it. He explained why in his well-written review.
- I’m kind of hitting a few birds with one stone with this one as my pal Terrence a.k.a The Scarlet Sp1der have compiled ten movie reviews, including The Rum Diary, Tower Heist, etc. that he deemed worth checking out.
… - Bonus TV review: My pal Novia at Polychrome Interest just gave an in-depth look into HBO’s miniseries Game of Thrones, a series I’ve been meaning to check out. I totally feel her reluctance about watching it, which I also share given my upbringing.
Now, before you saunter off to check these great posts though, please do share what your weekend viewing plans. I’m hoping to see Immortals this weekend and perhaps have some time to check out more Gregory Peck films 😀
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Honestly do not know what my plans are … cinema-going has been anemic of late. I know I have to work on a post for the site that is WEEKS overdue. But the business of life can be so overbearing at times 🙂
Yeah, I haven’t been to the cinema the past 2 weeks either, Iba. I know what you mean, we all have lives outside blogging, right?
Better than me Ruth 🙂 I was at the hairdresser’s yesterday trying to decide what to see next. Hard decision indeed!
I’ll be seeing J. Edgar this weekend. Can’t wait to see what Eastwood, DiCaprio, Hammer, Watts and Dench have in store for me!
I’m curious to see what you think. Eastwood films are hit and miss for me, not sure what I’d think of Edgar frankly, despite the fascinating story.
Hi, Ruth and company:
I plan on catching up on some war flicks this weekend.
Specifically, ‘In Harm’s Way’ with John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Patricia Neal. Also ‘633 Squadron’ on The Military Channel. Plus John Ford’s and Robert Montgomery’s underrated PT Boats during the fall of the Philippines, ‘They Were Expendable’.
May also look at Water Hill and John Milius’s ‘Extreme Prejudice’ for an upcoming guest review,
Hey Jack,
I love Extreme Prejudice, it’s one of those 80s action films that went unseen by so many people. I remember Walter Hill said in an interview, the film was a tribute to Peckinpah’s great western The Wild Bunch.
Hey Jack, that sounds like a great plan for Veteran’s day. Say, have you seen Capt. Horatio Hornblower, starring Mr. Peck tee hee… it’s a war-at-sea flick that I might watch this wknd though I’m leaning towards seeing Duel in the Sun first.
Hi, Ruth and Ted and company:
I caught ‘Captain Horatio Hornblower’ when I was a kid and thought Gregory Peck was great as Hornblower. An officer who always seemed to have luck on his side. One reason why I enjoy Peter Weir’s ‘Master and Commander’ so much.
‘Extreme Prejudice’ is one of those cast driven action films that sweats Testosterone and deserves more notoriety Shoot ’em ups for they guys. Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown for the ladies.
Burn Notice, Season Four, disk 2 (four episodes). Go, ladies man Bruce Campbell, go! And a movie that’s sitting on my coffee table in a Netflix envelope ;-D
Hmm… not sure what I will be seeing this weekend. I really wanted to see Take Shelter, but it just left the local indie theater. I’ll probably catch up on work and try to take in another movie or two from my ongoing project. Just watched Sunset Blvd for the first time last night, and it blew me away.
I probably going to see Tin Tin, or just catch a DVD, you never know 🙂 Got mixed reviews on Immortals, but seems like a worth to watch.
I knew Immortals won’t be a hit w/ the critics. Tarsem’s other films weren’t either but I like The Fall. I hope to see it on Sunday.
I will watch Tintin too this week 🙂
I watched Tin Tin too yesterday 🙂
Well I’m going to see Immortals tonight, a friend of mine wanted to see it and since I don’t have any plans, decided what the hey, it can’t be that bad. It will be my first time seeing the new Man of Steel’s work, never seen any of his previous roles.
Woo hoo! Let me know what you think, Ted. We’ll compare notes on Monday, hopefully I have time to review it after seeing it on Sunday afternoon. I’m curious what you think of Henry as well.
Well unfortunately it lived up to my expectations, which wasn’t much to begin with. I thought it was a mess and what’s worst is the 3D didn’t help at all. I did like Cavill as the action hero, so he should be good in Man of Steel, unfortunately in this movie he didn’t really much to do since the script was so weak.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy it more than I did.
Hey Ted, I did enjoy it more than you, but that’s because I expected Tarsem’s visuals and Henry’s performance to wow me and they deliver on both counts. The story is fine, Tarsem’s story-stelling style often take a backseat to his visuals but it wasn’t horrible. In fact, it seems to be more ‘accessible’ than The Fall, though both offer arresting visual effects. Glad to hear you’re sold on Henry as Man of Steel now. He certainly has the physical and screen gravitas to carry such a role.
I’m hitting the St. Louis film festival tonight. Going to see Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage tonight, and I’ll likely go to see Michael Fassbinder in Shame tomorrow night. Also plan to check out something on Sunday night but haven’t decided yet. Should be a busy movie-watching weekend.
Awesome Dan. Well, despite my liking for Fassbender, Shame is really not my cup of tea. I’ll check out your review when you have that up. Enjoy your movie-watching weekend!
Hi Ruth,
Watched a few good movies on TV this Veterans Day.
Ivan’s Childhood, first time I’ve seen this Russian movie set in WWII.
Tunes of Glory
Started re-watching The Band of Brothers
and the History Channels new HD series on Vietnam.
Hey Funk, good to hear from you, man. I’m sure there’ll be tons of great war flicks on TV this weekend, sadly I’m not a fan of that genre.
Thats cool, I’m getting to where I usually watch them around Memorial Day or the 4th of July anymore, Course a few of the classics I can watch anytime.
Since Baseball season is over :(, I’ll be getting back in the movie watching mode more frequently have a lot of catching up to do.
Studying the French New Wave films this week was a challenge for sure. I didn’t feel like the cultural differences were a barrier, fortunately, but on the other hand, some aspects of the films I watched seemed way over my head. I’m glad I did it, but I’m ready to get out from under it now. And I’ve even got one more French film to write about on Monday! A last-minute addition, not FNW-related.
Thanks for the link Ruth.
Ha..ha.. I think it’ll be way over my head too, Rich. Hey I’m looking forward to that post you said you’re gonna do based on the ‘crush’ post. Be sure to let me know ok?
I just got my Criterion box set of the beautiful classic Fanny and Alexander in the mail, so I am taking the whole weekend off to experience this fantastic cinema again. It’s the sort of film that’s so beautiful, touching, enthralling and rewarding that I feel privileged to own it. So yeah, a great weekend planned!
Hey cool, Tyler. There’s a big sale going on at Barnes & Noble bookstores here on Criterion collection and as I went through them I thought of you 🙂
Thank you for the shout Ruth 🙂
I know you would understand my reluctance more than anyone :hug:
So US veteran day is one day after our Hari Pahlawan 😉
I will see tintin and in time next week. I have just watched the amazing super 8…a very awesome movie!!!
Hi Nov, I enjoyed Super 8 too. It’s like watching Spielberg’s classics.
I watched Norwegian thriller The Headhunter yesterday and earlier this week I have seen The Good, The Bad and The Weird and Bad Day at Black Rock when guesting on the Demented Podcast. Of those two films I liked Bad Day the best.
That’s cool, Joel. It kinda makes me feel a bit guilty that I hardly ever watch anything from my homeland.
Thanks Ruth for the kind words and the link to my review. Appreciate it!
You’re welcome, Nostra, anytime!
…didn’t see a single film over the weekend. Also, managed to get a break from the internet and the website for a while. That was nice.
Good for you, Dan. Sometimes a break from our routine is always refreshing.
I have to disagree with that assessment on Game of Thrones, however my disagreement is set apart from the fact that the author’s reluctance seems to stem wholly from discomfort with the abundance of nudity. That’s a matter of personal taste, which I can understand. Where I have to raise my hand is at the notion that most of it isn’t important, to which I must suggest rather the opposite.
Sexuality is huge in the books, and therefore in the series; it’s used both as a means of subjugation and also self-empowerment. The first book only scratches the surface, too; wait until the action moves over to Essos. Sexuality comes up in Dany’s and Cersei’s chapters frequently in both capacities. Rather than serve as exploitation, though, it enforces the idea that one’s sex can be used to bring them under or used to lift themselves up.
It’s very much a series worth taking a look at, I think. I blogged about it throughout the first season, and I’m looking forward to S2’s release this Spring– I wholly recommend catching up on it by then!