arvTales

Right now, at the very second I am writing this, I have a major headache. It came out of nowhere half an hour ago and for no reason. Seems to be that's where most things come from, with usually the exact same reason.

So I want you to understand that I'm writing this under mental duress.

This is a reflection of my week.

Idea: Movie a Day.
Spend a couple of hours watching a movie. That's 365 movies in one year. That's a lot of movies. Hmm. This idea requires too much of a time commitment. It's still a good idea though, just needs a bit of tweaking. It might work quite well with just 2-3 movies a week. Yes, that's it. It cam be integrated to work out nights. Yes, yes, quite. This might could work.

Rules

• No more movies on the telly
  
• New release or old classic or old not-so-classic
• It doesn't matter what kinda flick, so long as it interests me
• Only on days I actually have time, like workout days
• Movies I've already seen are okay too, but they must be awesome to qualify

But Why?
That, I have no answer except to say that I do enjoy movies. From plot to character, to story, to good writing, cinematography, acting, and directing--I like it all. Heck, I even enjoy stupid, funny movies, action flicks, and tear jerkers. So long as it's entertaining.

Like Cloverfield. Most people are probably not going to like it, like the group of Asian twenty-somethings sitting behind us in the theatre. They found it boring, I found it quite entertaining, even if it was unbelievable at some points (think about it tough, a monster attacking NYC... how believable is that to begin with?). It was good entertainment which actually had me, literally, at the edge of my seat a couple of times. Okay, one of those times I was adjusting myself, but still.

Abrams marketed it well. Matt Reeves is a competent director who will probably grow. Drew Goddard wrote a good tale. When I read his name in the closing credits, I knew instantly why I enjoyed it so much. He's got a certain style to his writing and I found the dialoguing familiar. It was funny at the right times. He balances intensity with levity quite well. Plus the exploding person idea was so gross and so cool at the same time.

So what's next?

So far...
2008.01.01: I Am Legend
2008.01.05: Futurama: Bender's Big Score (repeat)
2008.01.12: The Man From Earth (repeat)
2008.01.19: Cloverfield
2008.01.20: Live Free or Die Hard (repeat)
2008.01.20: Sliding Doors

Scheduled:

• Serendipity (repeat)
• Taxi to the Dark Side
• Day Zero
• Juno
  
• Cassandra's Dream
• Beautiful Girls (repeat)
  
• How She Move
• Knocked Up
• Superbad (repeat)
  
• Rambo
• The Professional (repeat)
  
• 28 Days Later
• 28 Weeks Later
• Pan's Labyrinth
• Cars
• Sunshine
• Serenity (repeat)
• Transformers (repeat)
• His Girl Friday
  

Will update the list as appropriate.

Hey, my headache is gone.

Labels: ideas, movie

Michelle and I got to talking about romantic movies. It was born from her apparent lack of movie taste. She would argue that it's her boyfriend's lack of taste. Either way, they rent craptacular movies. Movies like Balls of Fury.

As with most conversations between a man and a woman, ours naturally went into romance and romantic movies. I gave her my faves, she gave me hers. We have different tastes.

That was the mentally I had going into this weekend when, after going through dozens of borrowed CDs containing hundreds of songs, my mind wanted some visual stimulation.

A quick search of new movies in the paper was disappointing. I did not want to see AVP 2, saw Legend last week, Beowulf was a definite no, and a pass to both One Missed Call and Walk Hard. Sweeney Todd sounded interesting but not this week. Bloor Cinema didn't have anything interesting either, which was a surprise.

Scanning the paper, my memory was tickled at the word "once." A positive online search and I was off.

It's always fun falling serendipitously for serious quality, even if it was a little bit planned.

Wow.

Once is a fantastic movie. It's a simple story about people living their lives and things happen as they have a habit of doing and their lives change a little bit for the better. It's character-driven with not a whole lot of plot. It's a music lover's movie. It's a love lover's movie.

Simply, it is one of the best movies I have seen in a good long while.

From the first duet, Falling Slowly, the movie and music will grab your heart and mind and not let go until you yearn for similar story in your short life.

There is so much more to tell but it's best to let you discover it all for yourself.

Enjoy a good story, for once.

Labels: love, movie