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SamuraiFrog, Tosy and Cosh, and Tom the Dog have both commented on this, and I must, of course, follow suit. Last week was the annual American Film Institute teevee show, when they present a list of Top X Movie Whatever’s. This year they picked several genres and named the top ten movies in each genre. As always, the point of the show isn’t to present some kind of iron-clad canon of film, but just to drum up interest in the movies. If people watching these shows say, “Hmmm, I should watch that again/for the first time”, then the show hasDown the rabbit hole….

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I’ve watched a couple of films of late. Be warned, I make no effort to avoid spoilers! :: It’s taken me a while to figure out how I feel about Juno, and I’m still not entirely sure what I make of it. Juno is exactly what everybody has already said it is: a feel-good flick about teen pregnancy. I’m not sure what it means that we can now make feel-good movies on that topic, but then, I’m not anywhere near a teenager anymore; twice as many years have now elapsed since I was a teenager than I spent as aDown the rabbit hole….

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Lynn points out a handy list of the worst “chick flicks” of all time, and I figure, hey, a list to comment on! Yay!!! Here’s the list, with comment: 20. Autumn in New York I haven’t seen this. 19. The English Patient Wow, is this movie a drawn out bore. At least, that’s what I thought of it when I watched it years ago. I read the book last year, though, and I was captivated with it. I may revisit the film sometime. 18. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood I haven’t seen this. 17. The Notebook I actually enjoyedDown the rabbit hole….

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I remember when Pulp Fiction came out. I was watching Siskel and Ebert one night, and one of the movies they reviewed was this drama set in and around the LA underworld, and they gushed over its quirky twists of story and its crackling dialog. Even though at first glance the movie didn’t seem like the kind of thing that would interest me, the one scene they showed really caught my attention: Sam Jackson, holding a gun to Tim Roth’s face, and shouting at his girlfriend offscreen: “We’re gonna be like three Fonzies here. And what’s Fonzie like? Come on,Down the rabbit hole….

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Last week when I wrote my list of 100 Things That Bug Me, I included as item #32 that when the new Indiana Jones movie comes out, the criticism focused on it will credit anything good in the movie to Spielberg or Harrison Ford or the screenwriter or whomever, while anything bad in the movie will be all George Lucas’s fault. The narrative about Lucas seems to be settling that whenever he manages to turn out something good, it’s invariably the result of some kind of alchemical reaction resulting from the happy circumstance of the talent he’s put together forDown the rabbit hole….

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Sheila waxes poetic on one of my favorite movies, Witness. (Yeah, I didn’t rank it highly enough.) Here’s Sheila: Let’s look at how delicately things are set up in this film – so much so that you don’t notice them. John Book has recovered (somewhat) from his wound and Samuel Lapp takes him on a tour of the farm. He shows him the well. (“It goes … it makes … it goes …” so cute) He shows him the silo and tells him how it works. He shows him the trap door. All of this will become crucial in theDown the rabbit hole….

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In the comments to my final post in my Top 100 movies list, an anonymous reader objects to my statement, regarding Casablanca, that Letters of Transit signed by General de Gaulle wouldn’t hold much weight in Vichy France, or a Vichy-governed territory like Morocco: In Cssablanca, the letters of transit were signed by Vichy General Weygand, not Free French General de Gaulle. Listen to the soundtrack carefully. Well, I’ve just listened to the soundtrack carefully, and I have to say, I still hear Peter Lorre saying “General de Gaulle”, not “General Weygand”. Now, both names will sound somewhat similar inDown the rabbit hole….

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I’ve seen almost none of the movies nominated for anything tonight (Pirates: At World’s End and Ratatouille are it, I think), but I’m enjoying Jon Stewart’s hosting, and those faux-montages (“Oscar Salutes Binoculars and Periscopes”) were totally hilarious. That is all. Share This PostDown the rabbit hole….

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Here are some reactions to movies I’ve seen lately, either in theaters or in the friendly confines of Casa Jaquandor via the miracle of DeeVeeDee. I don’t shy away from spoilers, so if I discuss a title you want to remain unspoiled, scroll past it, please. :: As part of The Daughter’s Christmas present, we took her to see Enchanted. I’m not sure if this movie was the result of a re-commitment to quality at Disney, or the unexpected resurfacing of the kind of quirky humor that marked the occasional Disney effort like The Emperor’s New Groove, but we allDown the rabbit hole….