Film Theory

... is kicking my ass.  I really do get that it's important and helps us understand how cinema is used and all... but GAH!  Sometimes I don't understand how people think like that.  We just got done thinking about how the set up of a theater helps us convey what's on the screen.  "Why do we willingly sit there and watch horror movies?"  .... because we want to?  I would that if you paid a $7-$9 ticket you would want to! (sigh)

So anyway, since HP, I've sat down and watched a few other movies.

I watched Ridley Scott's Robin Hood recorded from Starz or something.  My niece said she didn't like it and so I was a little weary going into the movie.  However, like I've said before, I am in love with Ridley Scott and so I thought of that while I watched.  It's hard to understand at first that the story is supposed to be before Robin Hood became an outlaw and living in Sherwood Forest.  But once you get over that initial hump, then everything makes sense and I could enjoy the movie more.

I wasn't a huge fan of Cate Blanchett before this movie (although I have a deep respect of her acting abilities after watching Elizabeth) but after I LOVE her.  I think she's great.  I think it was also because there was a different side of her from Elizabeth and Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Chrystal Skull (blech).  There was a strong but vulnerability to Maid Marian and I really liked what she brought to the character.  That and I don't think I've ever really noticed how gorgeous she is!  So, kudos you Cate Blanchett.

Then aside from Cate, I've always been in love with Russel Crowe since The Gladiator (Ridley Scott!) and A Beautiful Mind.  So yay :)

The same night I ended Robin Hood, Treasure and I decided to start watching Burlesque.  Seriously... it's a bad movie.  If you have seen any of the following:  Coyote Ugly, Chicago, and/or Moulin Rouge you've seen Burlesque.  And actually, I have a lot of respect for Christina Aguilera as an artist, but this movie just ruined it for me.  The only redeeming qualities it has for me is Kristen Bell (I am a big Veronica Mars fan) and Cher.  Other than that... blah.  And it hurts to know that Xtina's character came from Iowa :(  I didn't even finish the movie because it was that predictable.

... there's not even a picture online I like enough to post here.

So at work I watched North by Northwest by none other than the wonderful Alfred Hitchcock.  And if you say that he's not one of the most profound directors of our time I WILL FIGHT YOU.  I hadn't watched a Cary Grant film in a while and the movie reminded me how much I love him.  The acting is so crisp and witty that watching him being chased around it just fun instead of a thrill.

Again, Eva Marie Saint the whole time reminded me of a girl I knew from college.  I think Mr. Hitchcock just has a knack for casting girls that mess with my head.  Or was he doing that for everyone ... hmmmmm.  j/k, probably not.  I hadn't paid as close attention to Hitchcock movies was I am now viewing them over again (I had a collection of his movies on VHS growing up) and between North by Northwest and Vertigo both main women are aged 26.  Coincidence? 

I also love how the twist of the move isn't the climax.  It's like OOH she's a double agent!  But that's not the end!  I dunno... it's just great.  Not to mention the graphics to the opening credits are awesome.

My niece informed me that in this scene part of Saint's lines had been flubbed out.  However, I must have grabbed the copy that had put the lines back in.  :/

Then while I was away this last weekend, I started to watch West Side Story... but by the middle of the movie I was having an online argument with my niece (the fake kind that you spam someone's Facebook wall with).  All I could think about though was that Maria's voice wasn't Natalie Wood's.  She actually doesn't have a great voice at all... not even good.  Go watch the movie Gypsy with her in it. 

Also today in Film Theory, we are talking about the roll of the woman within movies.  First we watched Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story... as told with Barbie dolls.  Wow that movie is just... cool in an awkward way.  It's just weird watching Barbie chug down ipecac syrup and Ex-Lax.  That and my TA informed us that the director (Todd Haynes) had started shaving away at Barbie to make her! skinnier!

Then we watched a short movie called Illusions directed by Julie Dash in 1982 although the movie takes place probably in the early 1940's since the war was going on.  First, it was about a black woman who had used her singing abilities to dub over a white woman's singing voice (very a la Singin' In The Rain).  She later admits that the other studios had never paid her before National Studios, where a woman exec. forces her boss to pay the black woman.  It it later revealed that this woman exec. is actually a black woman also and that her life within the movie business is an illusion.

Lastly we watched a movie called Removed which is some old porn movies but the woman had been scratched and colored out.  So we are left with the man... and all the other props surrounding a porn.  So yeah... I've now officially watched a porn in class.  And extremely awkward to watch when you're the only girl in the class.

Other than that... I just keep chuggin' away at Dr. Who and rewatching episodes of Castle.

As far as my half marathon training is going... it's been so hot here in Iowa this last week.  I've been going out and kicking my soccer ball around but it's been so hot that I haven't really made an effort to go to the gym.  I really need to tomorrow.

Lastly, a shout out to the US Woman's Soccer Team!  You still make your country proud!