Stranded In The Southland

Saturday, January 29, 2005

Quick Impressions of Recent Netflix Deliveries

So, I've been using Netflix since January 3, checking out movies I should've, but didn't see. Sometimes these are crticially acclaimed moves, like THX1138, and sometimes they aren't. Anyway, here's a roundup of recent flicks I've been watching:

  • No Such Thing -- Okay, this wasn't Hal Hartley's greatest film, but it still had some high points. It's the story of the quest of a young reporter to find a monster who killed her fiance, and what happens after she finds it. The suicidal, alcoholic monster is perfect, perhaps the most imaginative and believable monster I've ever seen in a movie, played beautifully. The plot is kind of a letdown.
  • Iron Giant -- Great animation, interesting story. Somehow, it didn't totally rock my world, but I can see why so many people love it.
  • XXX -- Not a porn flick, but a spy flick, about the X-games answer to James Bond. I enjoyed this one in the theater, but I found I couldn't even watch it all the way through this time. This was so bad it is deserving of a whole post.
  • WW II American Progaganda by Frnk Capra -- I love WW II, and it is always interesting to see what kind of swill we were feeding the folks in the armed forces to get 'em to fight. In this case, it was pretty darn good stuff. Very interesting. Too bad that the disk was damaged, and I didn't get a chance to see the included Truimph of the Will.
  • Touching the Void -- This was a wonderful documentary about a horrible climbing accident a decade ago, based on the best-selling book. As my darling SO pointed out, it was fascinating, but kind of tough to watch this guy suffering the pain of crawling down a mountain with no water, no food, and a severely broken leg.
  • Eterrnal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- Um, Charlie Kaufman is wonderful, but this movie isn't up to his usual standard. The first five minutes were enough to turn off my SO; I found that it got better after the title sequence. Still, it was kind of painful.
  • Flirting with Disaster -- I'd seen part of this, and for some reason, wanted to see the rest. What was I thinking? It was so bad, I couldn't watch it all the way through. It was just full of painful, unfunny, embarassing scenes. Stupid, ridiculous scenes that could just never happen. Ugh.