The Envelope, Please. Wait, where is it?

My next Netflix shipment was supposed to arrive today. Unfortunately, the company shipping plant was down for whatever reason on Monday --as an apology e-mail from the company confirmed.

I've come to rely on getting cinema treasures in the mail every few days. Sadly, those little red envelopes won't be in my mailbox today. I'm already behind. Although, I've upgraded to the two-at-a-time plan, I think my film queue could very well outlast my life expectancy.

In all of this, what's a cinema lover to do? For one, I'll reflect on some cinema standouts
(As any true film geek, I keep a running list of the movies I see...)

In this politically charged year of Hilary vs. Obama, with McCain safely on the sidelines, it's a good time to check out Frank Capra's, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Hmm... Can an idealistic senator make it in Washinton? (Mr. Capra also made a little movie called It Happened One Night, one of my all-time favorites.)

Other Recommends:

*Marty (1955) --The little movie that could...and did. It swept the Academy Awards for its year. It's isn't showy. It doesn't ask to be more than it is. It's just a simple, sweet story about Marty-- a regular guy that has zero luck when it comes to women. (Marty's director, Delbert Mann passed away last year.)

*Overnight -- A documentary (and great character sketch) about Miramax screw-up kid, Troy Duffy, a bartender who hit it big selling a shoot em' up script to Harvey Weinstein only to royally mess up it up in ways you wouldn't believe. A great chronicle of what not-to-do when you finally sell that script.

*Viridiana (1961) -- Any movie that's ever been banned breeds natural curiosity (at least for me,) especially if it's director has a last name of Bunuel. There's some intoxicatingly creepy imagery as a young nun's uncle sets out to corrupt her. Through the eyes of Bunuel, religion doesn't escape attack either, as highly evidenced in this film.

*Jesus Camp (2006) -- Speaking of religion, if you're one that thinks that atheists are scary or wrong for what they believe: This documentary about fundamentalist Christian youth will make you have second thoughts. Now, they're scary...!

*My Dinner With Andre (1981) -- I admit, I've been avoiding this Louis Malle movie for years. Two guys in a restaurant talking to each other for the entire duration of the film? [Yawn] Boy, was I wrong! The conversation they have and the questions they pose to each other about the nature of life and humanity is absolutely fascinating. Don't avoid it like I did for so long!

*Throne Of Blood (1957) -- Kurosawa's take on Macbeth is perhaps not as well known as that other movie that he did that involved a handful of samurai warriors-- a movie I won't bother mentioning because you know it already-- but in some ways I like this even better.

*The Illusionist (2006) -- The preview to this film seemed to be everywhere for a time. However, the film itself vanished into thin air. It's a shame because this is an excellent film about a famous magician that falls in love with an aristocratic woman. I cannot reveal the film's magic, but the amazing way it all comes together in the end, is perhaps its greatest trick of all.

Copyright © 2008 KLiedle

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Witches Brewing

There was something strange in the air yesterday...

Yes, it was Columbus Day-- that questionable holiday that appears on the map each year, but it was more than that.

Yesterday afternoon, I pulled into a parking lot and nearly ran over a witch on rollerblades. Her cape blew in the wind as she circled the lot, scowling at me. I realize it's October and Halloween is imminent, but isn't it a litte early?

Evidently, she (which I suspect was a 'he' in witch's drag) was skating around to promote a children's dentist office. I don't know about you, but if I were a child, nothing would scare me away from the dentist more than a badly-dressed warlock masquerading as a witch. Frankly, it still scares me.

From there, I entered Blockbuster to take advantage of an e-coupon associated with their Blockbuster Rewards program. I subscribe to Netflix, but thought I'd try the competition's free trial since my Netflix queue now stands at 70+ titles. (I badly need to catch up!) Perhaps the witch scared all the movies away since Blockbuster doesn't seem to carry them anymore. After surveying the paltry selection, I ended up with Entourage Season 3, Part 1 (the only decent pick.)

Then, I went to Target to find that all the chipper, albeit useless, young adult team members had been replaced by haggard-looking, not-so-nice, post-menopausal women wearing odd, I-can't-tell-if-it's-a-costume ribbons in their hair.

Now, I have nothing against old people. In fact, I really like them (better than younger people sometimes even), but unlike the nice, older people that work as Wal-mart greeters, these women clearly did not want to be plodding down the aisles of my neighborhood Target. Collectively, they clutched their price scanners and glared at me as I dared to try on a hat in the accessories section.

The day before all of this, I'd gotten that nifty Social Security Administration notice in the mail telling me that I'm eligible for benefits. However, they also told me that they project that Social Security funds will be exhausted by 2041.

In the Target aisle, as I looked at the vultures circling around me, price scanners pointed in my direction, ribbons (like horns) standing on-end with static electricity I told myself,

"Kendra, quick! Do math in your head...2041...the year you were born...Will I, too, be doomed to pick up a broom and sweep the bull's eye corporation myself in a few years?"

It looks like I'll just barely make it... but there's no guarantee. The witches are brewing and I still could become one of them someday...

*Photo credit: Kenny Maths

La-La-La Bamba and the Magic Mystery of the Netflix Queue...

Recently someone asked me to make some recommendations for their Netflix queue. They had subscribed to the service not that long ago - and apparently- they had run out of movies! OK...seriously, how does that happen?

And does that happen? I mean, to anyone else or is this some isolated incident?

It's certainly not something that's ever happened to me. There's also currently 80 movies in the queue. I'm really trying not to add anything new until we get that pared down a little. Half the time I don't even know what's coming in that little red envelope.

We also only get one movie at a time which is dirt cheap and fits our sometimes crazy work hours and creative lifestyle. Which brings me to another thing I often wonder: Who are these people that get 8 Netflix movies at a time? Do they have jobs? Or is it that they have ten kids or something? In that case, well then, yes, I could see maybe running out of movies...but still--

Our movie tastes are "all over the map" and I keep track of every movie we see, Netflix and otherwise ( in my little planner). From 2006~ the standouts were:

~Junebug
~Mildred Pierce
~Gilda
~Diabolique --1955 original French version, Dir: Henri-Georges Clouzot ~ I've seen it many, many times!
~The Butterfly Effect
~Thank You For Smoking
~An Inconvenient Truth

Guilty Pleasure:
~La Bamba --Come on! It's a good story ~ and the moment they flip for who gets to take the plane always gets me...

Surprises:
~ The Weatherman -- Nicolas Cage/Hope Davis super-quirky dramedy ~ Netflix actually sent this on accident and it ended up being better than the movie we'd originally intended ( I know it was better since I can no longer remember what that original movie was...)

Overrated:
~Dreamgirls -- You can call me a snot, but I just didn't see the wonder and amazement that other people saw in this movie. The music was good and kudos to Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy et al...but that constant singing and showiness got a little tiring for my tastes.

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