Number of movie viewings in 2009:
141 (45 new and new-to-me, 96 rewatchings.)
What's included in this number? See below (links are to my reviews).
Old movies I just discovered (or finally managed to sit down and watch all the way through):
- Anna Karenina (1935)
- The Asphalt Jungle
- Easy Living (1937)
- The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935)
- I'll Be Seeing You -- Watched while I was on a Ginger kick. Crazies on vacation find each other and fall in love, the moral being that if you settle for second best, it may just turn out to be first best. This movie includes what just may be the worst advice ever given by an aunt. The rather pedestrian script is elevated by the acting, especially Joseph Cotten's tender performance.
- Idiot's Delight -- I'd seen the clip of Clark Gable singing "Puttin' on the Ritz" before, but it was neat to finally watch it in context.
Key Largo -- How did I never see this wonderful film before? I liked seeing a more subdued side of Bacall.- Kitty Foyle
- The Lady From Shanghai
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
- Meet John Doe
- Modern Times
- Ninotchka
- Random Harvest -- I was surprised at first by how much the movie differed from the book, but really the plot twists in the book would just not work on film.
- The Secret Garden (1949)
- The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) -- Loved Leslie Howard, not so keen on Merle Oberon. Favorite lines: "It rhymes!" "Oh, yes, it's a poem!"
- Son of Paleface -- The enjoyment here was not so much from watching the movie as from making fun of it.
- Stage Door
- The Women (1939)
A surprising number of documentaries:
- The Business of Being Born (recommended for anyone expecting or thinking of having a baby)
- Following Sean
- Man on Wire
- Maxed Out
- Seven Up (a few in the series)
- Word Wars -- Fascinating look at the world of competitive Scrabble, I watched this after I read the book Word Freak. The one moment that sums it all up is the interview of a young boy playing in a lower division of a tournament. When asked if he wants to make it to the top division someday, he explains how he doesn't want to become super obsessed to the point of not having a job (like the characters we've been following all along). Ouch.
- And from Ken Burns: Jazz, The National Parks, Lewis & Clark
- He's Just Not That Into You
- Julie & Julia
- Star Trek
- Up -- I love how Mr. Fredricksen looks like Spencer Tracy, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner era. The brilliant visual storytelling that sets up the background of Carl and Ellie is the best part of the film, and leaves me teary-eyed every time.
Some other new-ish movies I watched:
- Chicken Little
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- Flash of Genius
- Last Chance Harvey
- Metropolis (2001 anime)
- Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day
- Music and Lyrics
- Radio -- Touching based-on-a-true-story movie.
- Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
- The Magnificent Ambersons (2002)
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist -- I hated this film. Perhaps I'm just not the intended audience, but this movie has the distinction of being the only movie this year I couldn't even watch all the way through. I didn't think it was at all charming but instead found it gross and vulgar and turned it off. (I weep for the future.)
Movies I hadn't seen in a while that I was really happy to rewatch in 2009:- The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
- Benji -- I'm a sucker for cute dogs. And "I Feel Love" is such a great 70's theme.
- Breaking Away
- It's Always Fair Weather
(I did a lot of rewatching of old favorites as always, but I revisited these movies more than once in the year.)
- Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- The Apartment
- Casablanca
- Double Indemnity
- Gone with the Wind
- Laura
- The Maltese Falcon
- North by Northwest
- The Third Man
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
- WALL-E
- You've Got Mail
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