Netflix: MORE FLICKING

Whoo, another Netflix entry! We'll see how many of these discs I can get through before January 1st. Again, most of these movies have been in my queue for forever.

Angels in America (2 discs)
One of my geen-ee-yus ideas after college was joining a book club. I figured now that I didn't have homework clogging up my evenings, I'd resume my readerly habits from high school, and I could start building up my vaunted personal library. As it turns out, things like TV and the Internet were enough to replace homework. One of the books I got was the script for the first half of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. I figured a Pulitzer prize winning play, I'd give it a shot. And holy cow, it was fantastic! The second half, which I got sometime over a year later, not so much. Liz and I went to see it performed at W&M, and I don't have many memories of it, which makes me think it wasn't all I hoped. Still, this is a fairly star-studded production (Al Pacino, Meryl Streep), so... here's hoping!

Man on Fire
Action movie featuring Denzel Washington with a rocket launcher. What could possibly go wrong?

Fahrenheit 9/11
Yes, like I said, most of these movies have been in my queue forever. Michael Moore can be quite funny, we'll see if he manages it in this movie, or if he's overblown.

The Simpsons: Season 1 (3 discs)
During my exile in New York, I was lent Season 3 of the Simpsons, and enjoyed it quite a bit more than I expected. When I worked at Maximus, one of the most erudite and cultured employees was a devout Simpsons fan. When I asked him where to start with the Simpsons, if there was one season where the show really caught on, he looked at me, bemused, and said, "Well, with all things, it's best to start at the beginning." So, here was are, the beginning.

Panic
Yet another film in the hitman comedy genre. And starring Willam H. Macy, too! I have high hopes.

Ed Wood
Supposedly just an excellent, excellent movie, starring Johnny Depp as the titular character (director of the so awful it's awful Plan 9 from Outer Space), and Bill Murray making his first notable foray into a dramatic role. It's the story of Ed Wood, director of crap, schlock movies,

Annie Hall
Sleeper
So, the closest I've come to seeing a Woody Allen movie is Antz. Which, really, doesn't count. These two movies are my attempt to give Woody Allen a shot, and see if I think he sucks or not. I have a long-standing grudge from my childhood against the first movie, when I learned it won Best Picture the same year Star Wars was nominated (the other nominees: The Goodbye Girl, Julia, and The Turning Point). Another movie? Better than Star Wars? FOLLY! (Obviously, I was too young to know that science fiction movies never win big categories.) So, I'm trying to put that aside. Annie Hall is what I think of as a stock Woody Allen comedy, which means it's probably the movie he's been stereotyped for. Neurotic New Yorker falls for pretty girl. Probably gets girl in the end. Sleeper is a neurotic in the future movie. I was more optimistic about the movies when I put them in the queue than I am now. Hopefully I come back around again by the time the discs ship to me.

The Year of Living Dangerously
Mel Gibson before he was blatantly crazy, in a (hopefully) great movie with Sigourney Weaver about a journalist in Indonesia as the nation undergoes some upheaval. I think I saw part of this about fifteen years ago, on cable. Maybe. Anyway, it sounds interesting.

Renegade
I got the movie because I like the comic it's based on, but the movie looks like it's crap. Debating dropping it from the queue.

Hero
Yes, in the queue for a long time. I tend to really like these stylistic, wuxia movies, where Liz is more likely to derisively snort and say, "I can tell they're on wires." Hopefully I get this when she's in the narcolepsy zone.

Spider-Man 2
Yes, I haven't seen it yet. And I know that 3 is coming out in a couple months. What can I say, I watch these movies slowly.

Shaun of the Dead
The zom rom com (zombie romantic comedy)! I have high hopes, given KT's and Karen's high reviews. Liz is more dubious.

Garden State
Another movie I put in my queue when it was getting great reviews... in the theaters. Zach Braff stars, writes, directs.. heck, who knows what else.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
A stupid, stupid stoner comedy. I hope to laugh a lot.

Neil Gaiman's Short Film About John Bolton
Starring John O'Mahony as John Bolton, and John Bolton as Guest Interviewed. As the title indicates, directed by Neil Gaiman. :-)

Bob Le Flambeur
Last, but not least, a French crime classic. Recently remade as a Nick Nolte movie, the title of which escapes me right now. The Thief? Something pretty boring. Which hopefully doesn't describe the original.

Anyway, for the more boring statistics, 258 movies in the active queue, and the last five are Training Day, 48 Hrs., In the Heat of the Night, Fletch, and The Good German.

Posted by Matt at May 05, 2007 01:31 PM