What I Watched in January

Well, I came woefully short of my aspirations to watch a movie per day. I realized right away that'd be undoable unless I really shifted priorities. I did get to see some good stuff, though, more misc. ramblings below but let's look at what I saw in January:

1. The Messenger (Moverman, 2009) - An interesting premise dealing with the ethical and moral dilemmas of the coda and routine of being the one responsible for delivering the news of death to soldiers' families. Some good performances but no song ever became a classic by hitting the same note again and again and that's what this film feels like.

2. Broken Embraces (Almodóvar, 2009) - A return to form by one of Europe's finest living auteurs Almodóvar. His muse Penélope Cruz is positively radiant and stunning throughout. The film deals with passion, obsession, and creativity in equal parts melancholy and zest.

3. Springtime in a Small Town (Zhuangzhuang, 2002) - Moves at an unhurried pace that may be off-putting to some Western audiences but arrives at one of the best love triangle stories committed to film in recent memory. Beautifully crafted and executed.

4. The Brothers Solomon (Odenkirk, 2007) - Of all the recent brainless comedies about goofballs this is the best of the bunch. Two socially inept brothers played by Will Arnett and Will Forte believe having a baby will wake their father from a coma.

5. Predators (Antal, 2010) - A fairly brainless but mostly inoffensive action romp. Aliens bring human prey to a jungle for a cat and mouse game of hunting. It's hard taking the diminutive Brody seriously as the tough guy as he barks out all of his lines. Laurence Fishburne's character doesn't get much time on screen but he's great fun to watch playing a crazed scavenger.

6. The Headless Woman (Martel, 2008) - Argentinean film on many critics' best of the decade lists is certainly a puzzle. A woman believes she's hit a kid while driving (or does she?) then suffers through amnesic symptoms (or does she?). Beneath the surface the film's themes look inward at Argentina's disparity between middle and lower class, as well as its own silent complicity over past sins.

7. The Pacific (mini-series) (multiple, 2010)

8. Splice (Natali, 2009)

9. The Town (Affleck ,2010)

So, there you have it, I averaged a film watched roughly every three days which isn't bad considering everything else I've got going on. I want to see stuff from every era but right now my central focus is seeing all of the most acclaimed stuff from the 2000's. I've got three other viewing-related projects that drastically cut in my time, first, I have 61 series' recording regularly on my DVR, secondly, I'm finally trying to make a dent in all the '80's nostalgia cartoons I've amassed, right now about fifty episodes deep into G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, and third, I write for a blog called Never Hand Over where a few friends and I watch copious amounts of professional wrestling and review it there. So, as you can see, just my viewing habits alone make finding time to watch movies difficult, then when you add other hobbies, as well as, and most importantly, spending time with my family, I do the best I can. Going forward, I am glad to announce I've gotten my hands on a lot of movies I'm very excited to watch, so hopefully in February I'll get to a lot of those. Thanks for reading and I'll see you at the theater!