brrr... it's cold.

Brr... it's cold: a whopping zero on the ol' C scale.
I just melted off a huge chunk of ice from my kong tiao with scalding water.
Here's hoping winter is bearable!

The Greatest Movies Ever: #7

The Wizard of Oz

I must have seen this movie over a hundred times during my childhood. No joke. This time around, I noticed a few different things, namely the following:

• The field hands in Dorothy's 'real' life are the scarecrow, tinman and lion during her time in Oz. I can't imagine how this one slipped by my 5 y/o self...
• God bless Technicolor. The transition from sepia 'real' life to Technicolor 'Oz' adds wonders in my opinion. Remember those more-vivid-than-life dreams? This effect helps to mentally go from the grind to utopia.
• When you watch a movie carefully, the second, third or one hundred twenty-seventh time around, you notice a lot more. We all know that we're supposed to 'Follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick road!' which I won't contest. But where, oh, where does the red brick road lead to? That is the question I'd like answered. Watch carefully. The yellow brick road and the red brick road come from a point and do a yin-yang spiral out, the yellow brick heading one way, the red brick another. I pose this question...
• One thing I noted about this movie was that it is set up more like a stage play. Each scene has a set and the transitions are quite noticeable. It was almost like watching a play on stage, and I liked this aspect.
• The Wicked Witch of the West uses poppies to put them to sleep. Is this a reference to opium and it's dreamy, drowsy effects? Just noticed that and thought it interesting.
• Flying Monkey-like creatures. Wah haha! Just think it's strange. And I have a completely rad t-shirt, completely unrelated, but complete with flying monkey-like creatures. Sweet! Photo to be added later.
  
• I'm again impressed at the end of the movie with the Technicolor-back-to-Sepia transition. It's a classy manoeuvre. It keeps with the whole dream like theme and really helps tie together the movie's end.

This is an all around classic and I'm glad it made the list. I fully concur with it making the list. I'd watch this movie again, many times over. The sequel, Return to Oz, in contrast, leaves a lot to be desired... I doubt it'll make this list. Anyway, I haven't read the 1900 children's novel; another thing to put on the to-do list...

UPDATE: Just read this page on good ol' Wikipedia. I was never too good at deriving hidden meanings or themes from literary works. Here are some takes on the true meaning of the Wizard of Oz. Others claim there are no hidden meanings. Taking a look at the context of the times and people helps immensely...
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The Greatest Movies Ever: #6

North by Northwest

It’s great to watch these classic movies. I’m not sure where they were going with it… spy flick crossed with mistaken identity? The end is the best part- a really terrible ending that makes it a classic. SPOILER ALERT: Sorry, I have to prove my point. How does an epic battle involving a knife, a damsel in distress on Mount Rushmore sound? Throw in a little 1959 cinematography and you’re sure to get a winner. Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, fade from action scene to- CUT! End of movie complete with happy ending and The End credits.

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The Greatest Movies Ever: #5

Lawrence of Arabia

The first time I watched the movie I liked it. The second time around, I still agree with my first assessment. Clocking in just under four hours, the movie is a bit of a commitment but the watcher will be rewarded with some spectacular imagery and excellent acting. The themes behind the characters, and even behind the movie, are thought provoking and draw the audience in. More interesting is the fact that the main character is based on a real human being and not entirely based on fiction. Note to self: read up on Lawrence; his biography should be interesting.
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Documentaries

I'm a huge fan of documentaries. Huge is, well, subjective language. Let's just say I enjoy learning about stuff and see an occasional documentary. One of the best resources for this type of thing is on pbs.org, specifically Frontline. Free information, hopefully objective, and most certainly free. I've embedded a couple here that I recently watched. Peruse, I implore you. Just click the play button, sit back, and spend some time learning about what is going on in the world and perhaps your country.

This one is called Obama's War, which I believe isn't titled well. It speaks very little of Obama per se and more to the effect that he inherited the invasion of Afghanistan. This documentary was informative and a bit hard to take on many levels.



The second one I'll put up here I just watched this morning (I strangely woke up at 4:30am and continued to stay conscience... thought I might do something productive... how's about early morning education?) about the economic crisis and some of the workings on Wall Street that lead to some of the problems. Apparently some people were keen on fixing the problem 10 years ago but were blocked for some reasons or another. Insightful to watch.

The Greatest Movies Ever: #4

Sunset Boulevard

Definitely entertaining. Falls under the film type noir if memory serves me (and search engines… yep this movie is actually included in the definition here). This may have been my first in the genre and all things aside I was entertained. Oh- did I say that already? I wasn’t quite sure how to swallow what I was being given. The characters were larger than what was going on. Perhaps it’s a period piece? ;) Apparently this movie is quoted forever and ever again… so if you’d like to know where those lines came from, it might do you well to watch this movie about a washed up screen writer who plays second fiddle to his sugar mama ex-movie star from the old days of silent picture. There is sound in this movie, though you’d better not be looking for Technicolor…

The Greatest Movies Ever: #3

 Casablanca

Another great black and white flick. The story is amusing, even romantic one might say. A great many clichés are derived from this film and it's important to see them in their original context. A definite classic, though I'm not exactly sure why, or if I saw this in the 1940's whether or not I would like it. Considering it was produced in 1942, I can see its importance (during the wartime). Well... I can add this to the list of classic movies I've seen. All said and done under 100 words. :) Talk about terse.

The Greatest Movies Ever: #2

Before I delve into the second movie listed in the book, I’ll start by saying I skipped the first one because I’ve seen it so many times. I can surely say that the movies are listed in no particular order- at least that’s my hope… I may also note that I watched the first several of these movies during my vacation time a week or so ago… therefore the first few will come in rapid succession and I’ll add other movies as I see them.

Citizen Kane

Acted and directed by Orson Wells, this movie made the number two spot (whatever that may entail).
What made this movie appealing to me was the attention to detail in the scenery. Though (or because) the film was in black and white, I noticed the props, the reflections and the contrasts of the picture more than had the film been in color.
The mystery surrounding “Rosebud” clicked about a third of the way through the movie. Perhaps others would have guessed what it was earlier than me as I am rather slow in identifying themes, plots and associations.
It seems as the film is a critic on current events (of the era) and loosely based on the life of William Randolph Hearst. After watching the movie, I am intrigued enough to read (or think about reading) a biographic note on the newspaper magnate.
Another character, Boss Gettys, I am thinking might actually be related to name I often read in association with pictures and newspapers. I’ll have to check out the connection there.
My knowledge of history is quite poor but my curiosity is surely not lacking…
Overall, I can’t say that I wasn’t entertained. I’m not sure if the book listed the films in a random order or in some kind of rated way. He’s hoping the selection will grow according to my taste as it progresses…