To Die For (a martini)

Love and Life, Movies

Nicole Kidman was deliciously evil in Gus Van Sant’s To Die For. Another great MovieNight!

It was a particularly exciting MovieNight for me. We are currently doing a cleanse. It seems like a good thing to do once in a while, you know, give the old liver a bit of a tune-up. In previous years, my version of the cleanse had been slightly modified so as to accommodate a cup of coffee in the morning, and a drink (or two) in the evening. This time around, we decided to be more rigorous, and cut those two parts out as well. As a carrot, I promised myself that I could break the no-drink rule on MovieNight. When Thursday came, I was feeling super-energized, and getting compliments on how good I looked. Was it the diet or the not drinking? I decided to conduct an experiment. I had three gin martinis.

The next morning, only a cursory glance at my reflection in the bathroom mirror was needed to confirm my suspicions… it was the non-drinking. Bummer.

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The Holy Girl. Wholey good.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

Lucrecia Martel’s intriguing The Holy Girl (La niña santa) brought yet another good turnout to MovieNight this week! This spellbinding film moves slowly from one expertly-crafted shot to the next and, I must admit, even after my second viewing, there remain subtle nuances which I haven’t been able to comprehend. Somehow, though, it doesn’t matter. I just believe.

And in the category of best blurted-out comment from the pre-show bar, we have, “Stop saying that! You’re freaking me out!” Not mentioning any names, of course.

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Martha Marcy May Marlene. MovieNight.

Movies

Another great turnout at MovieNight! This time there was extra seating though, so everyone got to sit comfortably… which is just as well, given the rather uncomfortable story we saw played out on our screen. Sean Durkin’s creepy (good creepy) first full-length feature, Martha Marcy May Marlene, is remarkably assured,  and made all the better by another debut: that of the stunning younger Olsen sister, Elizabeth (are there any more waiting to pop up?). Say what you will about the ending (try Googling Martha Marcy May Marlene, and you’ll see that the word “ending” auto-fills the first line in the search box) but, after hating it for a week, I’ve decided it’s quite brilliant. Call me fickle. Rickle? Dickle? In any case, I look forward to Mr. Durkin’s next picture, Janis, which is in pre-production. Sean, I can’t imagine the pressure you must be under after such a strong first effort, but try to keep it real, dude.

So far we’re liking 2013.

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The Cranes [will be] Flying [back to MovieNight soon].

MovieNight stuff, Movies

Wow! Who knew that this many folks would turn out to see an old, black and white, Soviet wartime melodrama? You people impress the heck out of me sometimes! You love a beautiful movie!

Also surprising? There were only two Ruskies in the crowd… maybe this is a time they would rather not think about (clearly not something that any of our MovieNight guests would remember… we don’t get many octogenarians here on a Thursday night!). Our apologies to the folks who couldn’t find a place to sit, and ended up leaving. : (

The Cranes are Flying moved Bob one notch higher up in the Successful Suggesters ratings. Her lead seems unassailable at this time! I could watch this beautiful film over and over. As a matter of fact, since we had to turn so many away last night (!), Cranes will be flying back to MovieNight again soon! Hopefully those of you who were here this time will skip the next screening so that everyone else can see it. Jeez… I never thought I’d be asking people to stay away!  Looks like 2013 is gonna be a good year. Yay!

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Beasts of the Southern Wild. Nice one, Benh.

Movies

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a remarkable first feature from Benh (what the h?) Zeitlin whom, I recently discovered, is “fiancéd” to an old friend of mine (actually not so old for goodness sake… Benh is barely 30 years old himself!) and , hands-down, our favorite movie of 2012.  Moonrise Kingdom came a close second.

This season of MovieNight has been somewhat erratic, what with Thursday-night conflicts, elections, super-storms, etc., but when I look back at what we’ve screened so far, I can’t help but feel proud. What does 2013 have in store for us? By the way, it looks like the Mayans just figured enough was enough. : )

Best wishes for the New Year to you all!

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Body Double – Not too subtle.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

As the first few scenes of Body Double roll by, one finds oneself feeling duped into watching something so obviously “B”, and yet there is something fascinating,  some nice visual treats (not talking about her… she doesn’t make her entrance until over twenty minutes have elapsed!), and enough quirkiness to keep you watching. Now that you’re watching, Body Double gets louder and more preposterous with every turn (“What?” you find yourself crying). Everything does get tied up in the end, even if you are a bit exhausted. Those of you who know Acacia (AKA The Loud One) may be aware of her enthusiasm for this kind of thing, but her blurting out “This is the best film I’ve ever seen!” seemed pretty heartfelt.

Maybe not “the best”, but certainly well worth the price of admission. Oh yeah…

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