There were a few things I knew about this movie before I watched it. Originally, I thought this movie was a comedy, because people always makes jokes about it. Turns out, it's a drama. The reason it's so funny, is because it takes place in Minnesota, and therefore the people in the movie have Minnesotan accents. And, they speak like Minnesotans in how they phrase things, and what they say. Based on people's reactions to my accent, I can understand why this movie is funny to other people. I'm not going to really recap it, because it would give too much away. You can gather a general idea since the tag line of the movie is a "a homespun murder story."
The only other thing I'm going to comment about this movie is the fact that people from Minnesota get upset because everyone makes fun of the Minnesotan accent in the movie Fargo, when Fargo is in fact in North Dakota. Well, these people are either idiots, or haven't actually watched the movie. The movie is called Fargo, and the opening scene takes place in (as displayed on the screen) "Fargo, North Dakota", but then the rest of the movie takes place in Minnesota, Brainerd, Minneapolis, and some in the more generic Twin Cities. However, that said, people who actually do live in the Twin Cities can get a little upset over the accents since these are the 'up nort' accents.
Along that line, there is a scene where two guys are traveling from Brainerd to Minneapolis, and they show a snapshot of the skyline and the highway signs. Sadly enough, I recognized this as a piece of 35W that you would see as you drive into the Cities from the south. And Brainerd is North of the Cities. So goof up on the part of the movie makers, but seriously, how on earth did I notice this?
The beginning on the movies says it's based on a true story, but after a little research from Wikipedia, it's not any one true story, but bits and pieces from many true stories strung into the one.
Overall, I actually liked this movie. I would probably suggest watching it, or at least chunks of it when it's on TV. And people who live in Minnesota, or Fargo, North Dakota should definitely watch it. However, it does get a little long, but, it's Minnesota after all, don't we move at a slower pace?
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Duck Soup
The title of the movie has absolutely nothing to do with happens in the movie, but Groucho's explaination for it is: "Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you'll duck soup the rest of your life."
The movie's plot is really only there for necesity because it's a movie. But the movie is essentially just for their gag comedy. It's a pretty short movie, only a little over an hour, and it is pretty funny. The best scene in the movie is where two of the brothers (the two in the background) dress up like the brother in the front. And two of them do this hilarious mirror scene, so if you have at least three minutes you should watch the clip on youtube. And if you have an hour, you should watch the movie.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Shane
I wasn't very excited to watch this movie. It's a western. And I do not appreciate westerns. However, it was a pretty good movie. The basic set up is about a group of men who are farming/ranching and just making a small living, but they are getting all sorts of grief from a big ranch who think they are the shiz and deserve the land of the small farmers. And naturally there is a whole big fight thing going on, and everyone has to take matters into their own hands as the nearest law enforcement is 3 days away. Shane is a stranger to the town. He was a gunslinger, but wanted to get away from that, so he stays with the main leader of the small group of farmer/ranchers and trys out the farmer/rancher thing while offering moral support to the group. In the end, Shane becomes the hero by returning to his gunslinger ways, taking care of the bullies so that the famer/rancher heros can raise their family in peace.
So, not a bad movie, especially for being a western.
City Lights
This was a great movie. It was Charlie Chaplin's last silent film and one of his last films in general. I've already mentioned that I'm not a big fan of silent films, but this is a good one. Charlie Chaplin always puts a lot of physical comedy into his films, which makes them fun to watch. Maybe I just don't like silent dramas, because silent comedies are typically alright. This movie is funny, but also very heartwarming. Chaplin, in his ever famous character-The Tramp (in this time period tramp refered to a homeless person, not a skanky girl, so think Lady & The Tramp). He falls in love with this blind girl, who mistakes him as a rich man. Chaplin also meets a rich man and they become friends... or at least they are friends while the man is drunk, but then when he sobers up, he can't ever remember Chaplin and is mean to him, until the next party. Then the blind girl has a surgery and is no longer blind, she waits for her 'rich' suitor to come, but the 'rich' is actually homeless and incredibly poor. But she recognizes him anyways and they love each other! So heartwarming :) And it's really funny. So, this is one of the few that I am actually recommending that you watch.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
The Philadelphia Story
This movie was a real struggle. I started it one night, and I couldn't handle it, so I had to stop it and started another day. The female lead was Katharine Hepburn, who played the mom in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". Apparently, she was a really big star in her day, which I didn't really know. There were a few male leads in this film, but the most noteworthy ones were Cary Grant and James Stewart. All three of these actors show up a few more times on the Top 100 movie list, and I bet that you would at least recognize their faces. The only recap I'm going to give is to say that it's about multiple guys chasing after one girl. But, don't watch this movie. You can definitely find a better movie that's stars these people, maybe even together.
The Apartment
So, I haven't blogged in a while... I haven't watched too many movies off of the list lately because I got very distracted by catching up on television shows. I watched all of Veronica Mars and the entire series of The Office-bringing me up to speed with the current season, and I just have just started watching NCIS. The NCIS episode I finished referenced this movie, which was kind of awesome to hear a vague reference to a movie and know what it was about.
I'm going to give away some things here, but most of it is explained in the first few minutes, and then a lot of it is very predictable, so I don't really feel bad about giving it away. This movie is about Baxter, who works at some company at a low level, and he is trying to move up by helping out the top executives. The way he helps them out is by lending out his apartment to the top executives so they can bring the girls they are having an affair with for a few hours. Which is just weird and gross. Baxter has a crush on this girl in the office who runs the elevator, which really made me smile. Then there are a couple twists that I won't reveal.
Then Baxter gets the job and he cuts off everyone from using the apartment, except for his new boss. And then his new boss wants to take the girl to the apartment. And Baxter quits because he would rather have no job than have a job since it means letting the boss use his apartment with the girl. Then the girl finds out and chooses Baxter. So, happy ending all around.
It was a little difficult to watch the movie, it got kind of long, and I just felt so bad for Baxter for most of the movie. However, if you are going to watch all of NCIS, you should watch this movie first.
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