West Side Story (1961)

Brief Summary:
West Side Story is like a musical version of Romeo and Juliet where instead of the Montagues and Capulets we have the Jets and the Sharks.

Riff (Russ Tamblyn)

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200XXXXX:
I think I watched up to the part where Maria talking with Bernardo and Anita, so before the dance.

[20100601][20151009 Edit]

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20100531:
The first couple of minutes is just music playing over a drawing composed of vertical lines.

"Jet Song"

This abstract drawing eventually fades away to a birds-eye view of a city and if you turn the volume up high enough there is music faintly playing in the background. The camera then zooms in to a group of teenagers. The first dance sequence begins.

"Dance at the Gym"
Maria (Natali Wood, Marni Nixon singing)
Tony (Richard Beymer, Jimmy Bryant singing)

For whatever reason, I wasn't paying attention to part of the song "Maria" and "Tonight" and I paused the movie after "Tonight." I enjoyed the movie thus far.

[20100601][20151009 Edit]

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20100602:
I decided to start watching the second half by re-watching "Tonight."

"America"
Anita (Rita Moreno)
Bernardo (George Chakiris)

For the end of the scene "Tonight," I thought it was interesting how Tony said "I love you" and Maria responded with "Yes."

Another interesting scene was the rumble. In that scene a lot of the Sharks climbed over the fence, but some of them just went through the tunnel.

"Tonight"

Maybe this had more theatrical appeal. Similarly, when Tony left at the end of the scene, he ran around and went over the fence while Anybody just went through the tunnel. Though I would admit, Tony went over the fence with great style.

As for the ending, Maria's last few lines were good and the ending deviated from my expectations. In particular, I thought the movie would end like Romeo and Juliet.

The Jets and the Sharks pretend to get along.
Lieutenant Schrank (Simon Oakland) remains suspicious.

Overall, I give the movie two thumbs up.

[20100602][20151009 Edit]

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20140404:
Today I decided to watch this movie for a second time. However, I got distracted a little less than halfway through it.

"I Feel Pretty"

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Instant Comments:
2a: The first five minutes are just music.
2a: The first actual dialogue at the fifteen minute mark. Before that, it's just short calls or sounds.
2a=20140404

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20140405:
Today, picking up from where I left off, I finished the movie.

"One Hand, One Heart"

In any case, I should note that I love all the choreography and dancing more than any of the singing.

Instant Comments:
2b: "I see you." Hehe, I think of Avatar (2009).
2b: "I and Velma ain't dumb!"
2b: Hehe, absolutely every gymnastic stunt is done by Russ Tamblyn (Riff)

"Tonight Quintet"

2b: Haha. Anybodys (Susan Oakes) pushes all the Puerto Ricans as she leaves, what attitude.
2b: It's all Maria's fault... :p
2b: "He killed your brother!" Then proceeds to awkwardly run away.
2b: "Get cool!"
2b: What jerks (picking on Anita)

"The Rumble"

Credits:
1b: Credits are shown as names over a wall of grafitti and as names on the wall itself. The camera pans from credit to credit.

Extra Features:
1b: After finishing the movie, I watched the only extra feature on the disc: the trailer.

"Cool"

1b: Upon watching it, I was surprised how it revealed quite a chunk of the movie, including important parts, like deaths.
1b=20100602, 2b=20140405

"When do you kids stop? You make this world lousy!" "We didn't make it, Doc."

"All of you! You all killed him! And my brother, and Riff. Not with bullets, or guns, with hate. Well now I can kill, too, because now I have hate!"

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Watched 1st quarter 200XXXXX
Watched 1st half 20100531
Watched 2nd half 20100602
Watched 1st, 2nd fifths 20140404 (Netflix, Instant, HD)
Watched remaining fifths 20140405 (Netflix, Instant, HD)
West Side Story (1961) Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise. 152 min [aft Broadway musical otsn (1957)][based on Romeo and Juliet (1500's) by William Shakespeare]

Relevant Links:
West Side Story (IMDb.com)
West Side Story (RottenTomatoes.com)
West Side Story (film) (Wikipedia.org)
West Side Story (Wikipedia.org)

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003)

Partial Plot Summary:
The movie begins with an exciting competition to retrieve a flag fixated atop a tree. The winner is Ting (Tony Jaa). We later see him training muay Thai and his master, having taught him what he has learned, says Ting must not use it.

In the middle of the night, the head of Ong-Bak is stolen, taken from the statue upon which it normally sits. Important to the village, they assign Ting the task of retrieving it. Ting begins by meeting his cousin Humlae in the city. Humlae is reluctant to help Ting, until he sees Ting's money, which the village gathered for Ting's journey. When Ting isn't looking, Humlae swipes the money and goes to bet it on a fight. Ting pursues Humlae and finds him in the fighting arena. He just wants his money back, but in doing so walks into the fighting circle and is taken to be a challenger. He anti-climatically wins with one blow. Above the arena, we see two rich men betting on the fights. The one man who lost his bet is upset when Ting wins.

Upset that Humlae stole the money, Ting leaves with his money. The next day, Humlae and Muay, a friend of Humlae's who we met earlier, try to pull another scam to earn money. They're slightly successful, but run into a guy and his gang who they scammed earlier. As Humlae is getting beat up, Ting passes by and Humlae asks for help. Ting helps fight off the guy and his gang. They leave, but then return with more and pursue the Ting and Humlae. A fun chase scene ensues where we get to see Ting pull off fancy jumps in order to put a distance between him and his pursuer. Humlae occasionally copies some of the same movements to a humorous effect. The chase ends with Humlae and Ting escaping, and Humlae promising to help Ting find Don.

They return to the fighting arena where Humlae says Don often comes to deal drugs. While there, Ting is goaded into fighting. In total he fights three competitors and consequently the same man who bet against him loses three times. He's grown furious. The plot continues to escalate.

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20100530:
Having watched the movie once before, I remembered various scenes, like the opening scene and the chase scene with the barb wire. But I didn't remember the car chase and some of the fight scenes. I also forgot the plot of the movie, so watching the movie today was fun. However, I guess there was good reason I didn't remember the plot: the interesting part of the movie is the action. The fight with the fire rocks.

Today, I watched all of the special features with the exception of "The Making of the Music Video." Let's see, there was a Tony Jaa exhibition in France, there was a music video in French (some English), there were teasers and trailers in English, in Thai, and in French, all different, there were B-clips which I guess were unused clips, and there was Muay Thai movements.

Some of the teasers and trailers were good. Some not. The Muay Thai movements and the exhibition special were cool. The music video was uncool. The B-clips weren't exciting. The one with the rap group making ooo and ahhs when the kicks connect in the fight club was funny. I would summarize and say half of the special features were good.

We had the option of Thai or English audio and English, Spanish, or no subtitles. We went with the standard option.

[20100530]

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20130705:
While the story isn't too interesting, the action is awesome and makes the movie worth watching.

Today, I found out (from Wikipedia.org) the version made available in the United States is an edited version which changed the score, removed the subplot involving Muay's sister Ngek, and apparently shortened the final showdown between Ting and Komtuan's bodyguard. In the movie, we see Ngek refusing to further push drugs for Don, to which he responds by shoving heroin into her mouth. When Ting and Humlae find Don, we see that Humlae recognizes Ngek and calls her name several times. However, since any mention of her earlier in the movie was cut out, I was definitely confused.

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Watched 200XXXXX (first time watching)
Watched 20100530 @ Home (Thai audio, English subtitles)
Watched 20130705 (Netflix, Instant, HD) (Thai audio, English subtitles)
Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003) Prachya Pinkaew. 105 min.

Relevant Links:
Ong-Bak (IMDb.com)
Ong-Bak (RottenTomatoes.com)
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (Wikipedia.org)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Overview:
The movie began with a property called Xanadu. The scene, however, seemed out of place and I briefly wondered if I put in the right disc.* However, the story continued and presented itself as a puzzle revolving around the word "Rosebud."

As more and more clues were presented, I began to feel sorry for Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles). In the end, the missing piece of the puzzle is given to us, the viewer, and only us.

*There was another disc called The Battle Over Citizen Kane, but that is a documentary of some sort.

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20100530:
During my first viewing, I fell asleep from the end of Scene #15* ("Susan Alexander") to the beginning of Scene #22* ("Singing Lessons"). I did, however, catch "I'm gonna send you to Sing Sing!" during Scene #17* ("Love nest confrontation"), but only to fall back asleep. After finishing the movie, I watched the scenes that I missed.

Unfortunately, after watching the movie, I read parts of the Wikipedia page on Citizen Kane and my opinion on the movie was heavily influenced.

It was, however, a good movie which was only interrupted by my sleeping. In particular, it was interesting to have a movie told in flashbacks, especially after recently watching the LOST finale (last Saturday) and Memento (2000). While flashbacks were part of Season 1 of LOST, and Memento wasn't exactly dealing in flashbacks, each approached traditional methods of its own genre in fresh ways, as Citizen Kane apparently did.

Putting aside what I read about the movie, the movie's presentation was wonderful. In addition, the end of the movie was a surprising one, just don't look through the scene selections if you don't want to ruin the ending.

On a different note, the next oldest movie I have watched is 12 Angry Men (1957) which is still 16 years after Citizen Kane (1941).** But it's hard to compare the two. 12 Angry Men takes place in entirely one set and presents itself in a straightforward manner. It also relies a lot more on tension and character interaction. With Citizen Kane, the tension and drama is spread out.***

Overall, I enjoyed 12 Angry Men more. From movies I have logged so far, I would guess Citizen Kane got a 95% and 8.5, i.e., tying No Country for Old Men (2007); but I would place it below The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), i.e., currently fourth top movie.****

previous movie (Shutter Island):next movie (Ong-bak)

*The scene selection divides the movie into 31 scenes - with the 31st being "Cast and End Credits."
**20101206: As of today, the oldest movie I have seen is The Last of the Mohicans (1920) and I've additionally seen various movies made in the 1930's.
**20151020: As of today, the oldest movie I have seen is A Trip to the Moon (1902). It is, however, only 13 minutes long, which is about as short as a cartoon segment.
***Haha, Roger Ebert had this to say on Rotten Tomatoes about 12 Angry Men: "This is a film where tension comes from personality conflict, dialogue and body language, not action."
****20151020: I'm pretty sure I'm referencing some list I made, but I'm not sure which.

[20100530][20151020 Edit]

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Watched 20100530 @ Home (DVD)
Citizen Kane (1941) Orson Welles*. 119 min
*Also produced by Orson Welles, written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles, and starred Orson Welles.

Relevant Links:
Citizen Kane (IMDb.com)
Citizen Kane (Wikipedia.org)
Citizen Kane (RottenTomatoes.com)

Shutter Island (2010)

20100527:
It was the last day Shutter Island was showing at the Charter. Watched the 10 o'clock PM showing, which ended at about 12:30 AM.
First, I loved the lighting of the movie.
Second, I loved how some of the scenes were done creatively and elegantly.
Third, I will state that no scenes in this movie made me jump. And after watching the movie, I believe the movie never intends to make anybody jump. It does intend to keep the viewer in suspense, and its possible it might succeed in making some people jump. For example, one scene that could have easily been made scary, was done in a manner that reduces its impact on the viewer.
Fourth, two titles I noticed in the credits were dialect something and water safety. It was probably dialect coach or dialect instructor. In any case, the credits were flashed instead of scrolled.
Fifth, it's interesting to watch this movie after Memento (2000), because this movie, like Memento, is part of the mystery and thriller genre.

previous movie (Memento):next movie (Citizen Kane)

[20100528]

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Released 20100219.
Watched 20100527 @ Regency Charter Centre $3
Shutter Island (2010) Martin Scorsese.

Relevant Links:
Shutter Island (IMDb.com)
Shutter Island (RottenTomatoes.com)

Memento (2000)

Memento might be confusing the first time you watch it, but it'll still be an awesome movie! With that being said, the movie follows Lenny (Guy Pierce) who suffers from some form of short-term memory loss. As such, the presentation of the movie makes sense: the audience feels as confused as the protagonist feels.

[20130319]

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20100527:
It's been a long time, but I've finally watched all of Memento. It's a great movie, particularly in the story presentation. As a viewer, you might spend the movie wondering who is good and who is bad. From the audience's viewpoint the movie is a big mystery and each new scene reveals a piece of that mystery. By the end of the movie everything comes together and the viewer gets the entire story. Watching the special feature sheds some light on various elements of the movie, such as production directions, and removing some of the uncertainty that you might have when you finish the movie.

from xkcd.com

previous movie (About a Boy):next movie (Shutter Island)

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20130318:
This is a fabulous movie and I'll have to remember to watch it on blu-ray when I visit my parents in California. Hopefully that version has the feature to watch the movie in chronological order.

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Instant Comments:
2: The movie is presented the way it is for artistic purposes. I'd love, however, to watch the movie in chronological order. Apparently there are releases with a special feature allowing this.
2: "You have to burn them."
2: "Okay, so what am I doing?" "Oh, I'm chasing this guy." "Nope, he's chasing me."
2: When Teddy tells him to write something down about Natalie, he uses a different print then he normally uses. This is one example of how the reverse presentation creates a better experience for us, the viewer.

2: I totally forgot how the movie ended. Wow. Mind is blown.
2=20130319

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Watched 1st half 200XXXXX
Watched 20100527 @ Home on Blu-Ray
Watched 20130319 (Netflix, Instant, HD)
Memento (2000) Christopher Nolan. 113 min.

Relevant Links:
Memento (IMDb.com)
Memento (RottenTomatoes.com)

About a Boy (2002)

Plot Overview:
Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) meets a boy named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult).

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Will Freeman (Hugh Grant)

20100518:
I liked the movie. I think Hugh Grant is funny. The clothing Marcus wears is hilarious. I don't know whether Marcus or Will is funnier. In any case, the relationship between them was nicely performed by Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, respectively.

Memorable Moments:
"Shake Ya Ass!" Haha.
"Killing Me Softly."

Marcus Brewer (Nicholas Hoult)

[20100524][20191213 Edit]

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On 20191213, Netflix determined the movie for me as a 86% match. I decided to give the movie neither a thumbs up nor a thumbs down.

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Watched 20100518 (Netflix)
About a Boy (2002) Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz. 101 min [botnotsn (1998) by Nick Hornby]

Relevant Links:
About a Boy (IMDb.com)
About a Boy (RottenTomatoes.com)
About a Boy (book) (Wikipedia.org)
About a Boy (film) (Wikipedia.org)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

20100516:
This was an interesting movie. Note that Emilio Estevez starred in The Mighty Ducks (1992). Interestingly, he's also Martin Sheen's son.

John Hughes has done a lot. In particular, he wrote and directed Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). And having mentioned Emilio Estevez, I should note that his brother Charlie Sheen had a small role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

In any case, The Breakfast Club is funny and tells a good story. There's a lot going on between the five high school students, and even the principal and janitor to some extent. The janitor is great.

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Watched 20100516
The Breakfast Club (1985) John Hughes. 97 min

Relevant Links:
The Breakfast Club (IMDb.com)
The Breakfast Club (RottenTomatoes.com)

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

20100515:
What a wonderful movie. I wonder how great the book would be after watching the movie. I think half of what made the movie grade is the setting of the movie. This movie goes straight to the top of the list for me. Or somewhere around there. I would just say watch the movie if you even sort of like romantic comedies. Though its more of a romance with some comic relief than a romantic comedy. I will definitely watch this movie again.

Bonus Features:
Don't watch the bonus features until after watching the movie. Tuscany 101 will give away the movie. But do watch it after finishing the movie. There are three deleted scenes which are alright; the one with the painting beneath the fresco was best.

Update: I didn't realize I've seen so many good movies. Thus despite my good feelings towards this movie, mainly the spontaneous decisions and the different struggles through which the protagonists goes through I seemed to relate with, I guess it doesn't compare to some of the other movies I've seen. I certainly like the way 500 Days of Summer was presented. I guess I just focused on the general feel for Under the Tuscan Sun and wasn't paying as much attention to dialogue, etc. And somehow, like the movie I ranked today (Meet the Robinsons), it came down to how this movie compares to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. To which it lost. But in this case I decided it should beat Harold and Kumar, to which it actually did worse on RT.

[20100516]

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Watched 20100515
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

Relevant Links:
Check out the Under the Tuscan Sun page at IMDb.com.
Check out the Under the Tuscan Sun page at RottenTomatoes.com.

Cry-Baby (1990)

20100511:
This movie was hilarious, especially after watching the darker Batman Returns (1992).

You know its ridiculous when the opening scene has high school teenagers lined up for vaccination shots and they're all squirming ridiculously.

My friend Caroline said this movie was a spoof of Grease, and Wikipedia says its "a parody of teen musicals."

In any case, a portion of the plot didn't make sense, but being ridiculous just makes up for the plot holes. Filled with cheesy dialogue, the movie had several musical numbers, with a sound more akin to Elvis than to Grease. There's even a jail number!

[20100512][20151010 Edit]

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Instant Comments:
Credits:
Lip sync instructor.
James Intveld was Cry-Baby's singing voice and Rachel Sweet was Allison's singing voice.

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Watched 20100511 (Netflix, Instant)
Cry-Baby (1990)

Relevant Links:
Cry-Baby (IMDb.com)
Cry-Baby (Wikipedia.org)
Cry-Baby (RottenTomatoes.com)

Meet the Robinsons (2007)

20100504:
Minus the way the movie dealt with time travel, this movie was fun to watch.

Time Travel Discussion:
This movie couldn't decide what type of time travel it wanted to work with.

First there's the consistent type of time travel - where everything that has happened via time travel is already in place and nothing is actually being changed. The prime example of this is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Typically the characters involved do not realize their actions were predestined until the story is brought to a full circle. Also knowing something about the future will be part of the cycle that produces exactly how events play out.

Another type of (sci-fi) time theory assumes a frontier of time where changes can be made. Such a theory allows for going to any point in time and make changes, but no matter how hard one tries, one is unable to run into an inconsistency. For example, if you tried to kill your father, you'd always end up failing.

In any case, let's examine the flaw (paradox) of this movie. First, can this movie subscribe to the first theory of time? Well, near the end of the movie, Lewis (protagonist) thinks to himself to simply not invent Doris. So then Doris disappears and everything returns to normal. But if Doris isn't invented, then Bowler Hat Guy wouldn't go back in time and Lewis would not have a reason to not invent Doris. Thus, there can not be a full circle - at least one which involved just one timeline.

In addition, Lewis also fixed the reason for Goob's return to the past. If Goob didn't return (with Doris), then Lewis would have yet another reason not to invent Doris.

While trying to analyze the movie using multiple timelines may be viable, I figured it was better just to enjoy it at face value.

[20151015 Edit]

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20180121:
I started this movie today with no recollection of having seen it before. But just in case, I searched my blog for any pre-existing entry and to my surprise I'd seen it once before (seven and a half years ago - in fact, it was one of the first fifty or so movies I saw after st).

Netflix determined the movie for me as a 91% match. I decided to give the movie a thumbs down.

Time Travel Discussion:
As I mentioned in my previous entry, the plot butchers time travel. In particular, there was one scene near the end during which would make a perfect example of fixed-time theory. However, there are an endless number of moments in the film which clearly indicate the plot is not an example of fixed-time theory. As such, why throw in the little fixed-time theory scene?

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Instant Comments:
2: Why didn't they mention the peanut allergy sooner.
2: Lol. Caffeine patches. With "no side effects."
2: Who is the voice of the gym teacher? [His name's Don Hall, but I soon realized the voice reminded me of Gronk from The Emperor's New Groove. Gronk was voiced by Patrick Warburton]
2: "Todayland" instead of "Tomorrowland" (Disneyland)
2: Oh, I remember who the Bowler Hat guy is. I remembered after I deduced that he wasn't Lewis.
2: Ha. Tom Selleck.
2: Ha. "Is dinner like this yesterday night?" "No, yesterday we had meatloaf."
2: His P.B. & J machine.
2: Ha. "I have a big head... and tiny arms. I'm just not sure how well this plan was thought through. Master?" (references what the frog said earlier)
2: He could have just went back in time and catch the ball.
2: Why did Wilbur disappear? Bowler Hat guy didn't change the past.
2: It's strange because he's technically meeting his future self, but it's not really his future self. Because the future self he's meeting, doesn't remember any of the events which the past self has just experienced.
2: I temporarily went back to see if the same sounds in the opening scene to see how it matched up. It played out exactly as if Wilbur were there.
2=20180121

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Watched 20100504 (Netflix)
Watched 20180121 (Netflix, Instant)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)

Relevant Links:
Meet the Robinsons (IMDb.com)
Meet the Robinsons (RottenTomatoes.com)