My Year in Film: June

June was a bit of a bizarre month for my film watching. I watched just over 20 films (so not that many in film buff terms) and ALL of them were made after 1985. In fact, all but two of them were made after 2000. Kinda shocking for someone who purports to be a devourer of classic film. Sometimes you just need a break though and I, albeit unknowingly, needed one. I'm going to start back on my mostly-made-before-1970 film diet this month, I think, although when it comes to tv series, I'll be sticking, as usual, to my more recent ones (current favourites are Lost (NEVER thought I'd like it in a million years), Silk (BBC legal drama, watch it if you can), and the usual Band of Brothers and The X-Files). I'm really not a big fan of more "classic" tv (well, British tv, yes, but American and non-English series... nope), apart from the obvious I Love Lucy, Bewitched, What's My Line?, etc. If any of you have any suggestions, I'd love to explore classic tv a bit more! 

#133 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

#134 Leap Year (2010)

#135 Passchendaele (2008)

#136 Stauffenberg (2004)

#137 Valentine's Day (2010)

#138 Middle of Nowhere (2008)

#139 Eichmann (2007)

#140 Far From Heaven (2002)

#141 Doubt (2008)

#142 She's Having a Baby (1988)

#143 Kick-Ass (2010)

#144 Mr. Woodcock (2007)

#145 Pregnancy Pact (2010)

#144 My Sister's Keeper (2009)

#145 *School of Rock (2003)

#146 Friends With Money (2006)

#147 I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007)

#148 The End of the Affair (1999)

#149 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

#150 127 Hours (2010)

#151 Midnight in Paris (2011)

1900s - 0

1910s - 0

1920s - 0

1930s - 0

1940s - 0

1950s - 0

1960s - 0

1970s - 0

1980s - 1

1990s - 1

2000s - 13

2010s - 6

The End of the Affair, 1999

I really thought I wouldn't like this film as the original film (same title, 1955) starring Deborah Kerr and Van Johnson is one of my all time favourites. However, I just recently discovered new-found love of Julianne Moore and thought that, as this film was on LoveFilm instant, I would give it a go. Whilst I don't think it dwells on the subtleties of Sarah and Maurice's relationship as well or as thoroughly as the 1955 film, I did think the film was beautifully made and the cast absolutely wonderful.

Far From Heaven, 2002

If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of melodramatic '50s films with overly colourful Cinemascope vistas and women who look and are dressed better when they tumble out of bed on a morning than I have ever looked in my life. So, when I saw the blurb for this film several years ago, I knew I had to see it... hey, I got around to it eventually! The film, set in 1950s American suburbia, treads the fine line between appropriate authenticity and complete and utter inconsistency with historical details that so many throwback films are made of. It could so easily have been a flop, yet everything from the clothes and interior décor to the mode of speaking was down to a perfect, mocking tee.

FFH opens with a very Peyton Place-esque title sequence. You would be excused for thinking that it was, in fact, Peyton Place (or it's shoddy sequel, Return to Peyton Place) if not for the fact that there is no Rosemary Clooney singing. The plot, which I don't want to give away, is something that you would never see in an actual 1950s film... well, not in so many words, at least. That ties in with something that I found quite endearing and amusing about the film - the fact that, although made 40+ years after the Hayes Code took it's final breaths, there was a definite nod (not accompanied by a polite "How d'you do?" but with more of a scowl and middle finger.) towards the censorship of old. I hope we never go back to anything like the Hayes Code, but it was fun to see how they addressed that issue in such a gently derisive way.

To cut a long story short, you should definitely watch this if you're a fan of '50s melodramas like yours truly. :D

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004

"Blessed are the forgetful, for they get the better even of their blunders."*

Now, this really is a film that I've wanted to see for a long time. I'd heard such great things about it and, as a fan of both Kate Winslet's and Jim Carrey's work, I knew that there was a rather sizeable chance that I would love it. I didn't. Don't get me wrong, it's an incredible film - so incredible that I would end up going insane if I tried to write about because it's too brilliant and crazy (except.. is it so crazy? I don't think so. Oooh, I'm getting all mysterious over here.) and is just not meant for a human to process - but IT'S  ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO LOVE THIS FILM. I'm not even sure I'll ever be able to watch it again, it's so painful. I've personally never been in a relationship (apart from that time I was married to Gregory Peck and Damian Lewis at the same time. But we don't talk about that. It was messy.) so I have no experience of a "break-up" but whoooosh, without giving too much away, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO YOURSELF?! Anyway, it's a tremendous film I hateitloveit with a burning passion. Blah blah blah, watch it!

My Sister's Keeper, 2008

Chances are, you already know what this film is about (unless you've been living under a rock) so I'm not going to say much about it except that I cried too much whilst watching it. Yes, it's predictable. Yes, it does manipulate your emotions (but then, what film doesn't?). And, yes, it has got Cameron Diaz in it, but, at the end of the day, it's a pretty good film.

127 Hours, 2010

All you cocky young'uns out there, THIS FILM is what happens when you think you're invincible and don't spend that extra minute looking for your Swiss Army Knife. No, but seriously, this guy needs some sense knocking into him. Well, he would have if he hadn't had his arm pinned under a boulder in the bottom of a canyon for 5 days - I think that subbed quite well for a few slaps. A lot of people have said how gruesome they found the scene when he *SPOILER* cuts off his arm *SPOILER OVER* but I didn't find it so - I managed to eat through it (but, I've also managed to eat through Sweeney Todd, disgusting episodes of House, war films, and a few alien autopsies**). I have to admit though, although I really enjoyed the film, my favourite moment came the day after I watched it and LoveFilm sent me a message saying "You have 46 hours to watch 127 Hours". teehee.

Speak to you soon!

*No, I did not become intelligent. It's a Nietzsche quote that is mentioned in the film. ;D

**They weren't real alien autopsies... at least, that's what I've been told to say...