Monday, January 4, 2016

Films I Saw in December

Victoria

The Best:

1. Victoria - A
2. Room - A
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - A-
4. Joy - A-
5. Tangerine - A-
6. Results - A-
7. Mississippi Grind - A-
8. Bone Tomahawk - A-
9. The Big Short - B+
10. Heaven Knows What - B+

The Rest:

Blackhat - C
Concussion - B
The Danish Girl - B
Danny Collins - B-
Glass Chin - C
Home for the Holidays - B
I Smile Back - B-
Love - C-
Meadowland - C
Mediterranea - B-
Pandora’s Box - B
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence - B
Time Out of Mind - B-
A Very Murray Christmas - B-
Victor Frankenstein - B-

Rewatched:

Christmas in Connecticut - B
A Christmas Story - B
Christmas Vacation - B
Ex Machina - A
Holiday Inn - B
Jurassic World - B+
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - A-
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - A
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation - A
White Christmas - A

35 Films Watched - 25 New, 10 Rewatched

10 comments:

  1. Plenty of Christmas movies on your list :) Glad to see praise for Victoria, I was glued to the screen and prefer it over Birdman actually.

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    1. I love revisiting a few Christmas movies every year. Glad to hear that you loved Victoria as well. It's a bold experiment that works so well.

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  2. Seems like you had a pretty good month!

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    1. Yeah, never got around to watching It's a Wonderful Life again, though. :/

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  3. Love all the Christmas movies you re-watched! I'm a complete sucker for White Christmas in all its shiny, endearing sentimentality. I adore the final scene, it's just so WOW, but the Mandy production number is a very close second. How Vera-Ellen didn't snap in half I'll never know but what an amazing dancer she was.

    I also love Christmas in Connecticut. It's no masterwork but I really enjoy its cheery affability. It has the holiday spirit but doesn't try and ram it down your throat. I think it's also a great showcase for Barbara Stanwyck's versatility, especially when you consider she went into this straight from Double Indemnity. And what a supporting cast! This is one of my favorite Sydney Greenstreet performances. One of the things that was so great about the studio system was that deep bench of character performers. Not just the big feature ones like Greenstreet or Eve Arden but someone like Joyce Compton who breezes in for a few minutes, creates a charming character, kills it and disappears but you remember them long after the picture ends. I wouldn't say that kind of performer no longer exists but the breath and variety of them is smaller.

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    1. I grew up with White Christmas, so I'm pleased that you're a fan, too. It's effortlessly lovable.

      Christmas in Connecticut is a charming little film, not unlike Holiday Affair or It Happened on Fifth Avenue. I think there were more character actors back then, for sure. Greenstreet is always a welcome presence in old movies.

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  4. I keep seeing this Victoria pop up! I need to check this movie out ASAP.

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    1. Yes you do! It's astonishing. Totally overlooked this awards season.

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  5. Yessss so happy you dug Victoria. I suppose I'm destined to love Love alone haha.

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    1. Haha, Victoria was great. Love...not so much.

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