Rambling Film

What I knew going in: That it's arguably Jean Seberg's most popular film Michel (Jean-Paul Belmando) is a small time thief who makes a big mistake and has to go on the run. He reunites with his friend, an American journalism student living in France, Patricia (Jean Seberg)  I've been sitting with this movie for a few weeks before writing down my thoughts. I found it incredibly messy. I had read on IMDb that director Jean-Luc Godard didn't have his script finished when he started shooting, and I'd believe that. It's very disjointed....but I didn't hate it? There was something lovely about this movie that I just have trouble putting my finger on. I certainly didn't like Michel, but I adored Patricia. She was the interesting one. It's funny when a movie does that to you. I might chalk it up to just enjoying French movies in general. It's a beautiful language and it always looks so stylish. I know this was a big deal at the time. It seems it was an a...

  What I knew going in: Pretty much all of it.  Two best friends, Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Surandon) go off on an adventure only to find themselves running from the law after comitting a crime along the way.  I feel like Thelma & Louise is so well known within the culture pantheon that I felt like I had already seen it before even pressing play. The infamous ending is always talked about. To this day, this film still comes up when discussing female leads. But I needed to see it all play out.  I'm glad I finally saw it the whole way through. I think my expectations might have been a bit high, but it's pretty tremendous for a movie like this to be released in 1991. I think it struggles with pacing here and there and some of the decisions these women make are very frustrating, but over all I enjoyed it.  Davis and Surandon are of course marvelous. Davis being my favorite. It's also fun to see Baby Brad Pitt at one point.  Sometimes I feel li...

  What I knew going in: That Anna Magnani gives an excellent performance. During Nazi occupation of Rome, a resistance leader Giorgio (Marcello Pagliero) attempts to hide with his friend Francesco (Francesco Grandjacet) and his soon to be wife, Pina. (Anna Magnani) Meanwhile, we also check on his ex lover Marina ( Maria Michi) and a helpful priest, Don Pietro (Aldo Fabritzi) who believes it's the Godly thing to help the resistance.  Rome, Open City was never on my radar until I watched a video from the lovely Be King Rewind on Anna Magnani. Seeing it was available on HBO Max, it easily became part of my Blind Spot list.  This film is BLEAK. How could it not be? It's about the Nazi occupation, but somehow I was still caught off guard by how relentless this movie is. It's dreadfully sad, but also incredibly brave. Director Roberto Rossellini started shooting this 2 months after the Nazis left Rome in 1944. The time this was made makes it feel more urgent and dangerou...

  What I knew going in: The premise. Karin (Harriet Andersson) is recently released from a mental hospital and goes on vacation with her husband, Martin (Max von Sydow) to visit her father and brother (Gunnar Bjornstrand and Lars Passgard) in their remote cabin. She slowly starts to unravel. I had to bring my boy Ingmar Bergman back to the Blind Spot series. Yes, he's my boy now that this ongoing series is what is directly responsible for introducing myself to his work. I've been wanting to see this one for a while considering how much I love von Sydow's work with Bergman, but it's Andersson who is the true star here. Frankly, all of the men in Karin's life kind of suck. Her husband talks to her like she's a child while simultaneously trying to have sex with her, which dials the ick factor up to eleven. Her dad is pretty self centered. There's nothing wrong with Minus, her brother but this poor kid doesn't have it easy either. It's devastating in a w...

What I knew going in: The premise of the trilogy, and that it is very loved on Film Twitter Before Sunrise - This was so impossibly sweet without being corny. A lesser movie would've had them run off together at the end but I loved how logical it was with this one night together premise. From the outside looking in, Celine is definitely the more interesting of the two, but I can see why she was charmed with Jesse. I wonder what it must have felt like for fans of this movie to have a sequel announced all those years later? I imagine it was so exciting.  A- Before Sunset - I LOVED this. Maybe it's because I'm also in my early 30's, so this is the chapter I probably should relate to the most, but this film to me is perfect. I could listen to Celine and Jesse just walk and talk for hours. I loved how brisk this movie was. It never had time to drag because the conversation was so rich it kept everything moving along nicely. I loved the ending. It was perfect and I've had...

Norman Maine (James Mason) is an aging actor whose drinking away all his good graces. He comes across a performer, Esther (Judy Garland) and is taken with her talent. He makes it his mission to make her a star, all while falling in love with her as well. Shockingly, the 2018 film is the only version of A Star Is Born that I had seen prior to watching this. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. But I've been trying to watch more of Judy's films and I knew I had to see this.  I still have the same problems with this version that I did with 2018, and it's just I think the story and the romance between the two leads is gross. This is a little less gross than the 2018 version, but I could never get behind it. Thankfully, Judy Garland gives an absolutely spectacular performance and every time she sang, I was entranced. I loved her in this. James Mason was also very good, but Judy's the star. This is however a hard movie to love overall since the version I watched was the ...

I think IMDb's description sums it up well: "The Monoliths push humanity to reach for the stars; after their discovery in Africa generations ago, the mysterious objects lead mankind on an awesome journey to Jupiter, with the help of H.A.L. 9000: the world's greatest supercomputer." Oh boy... It's not often I don't write my own summaries of movies but I felt it was important to remind myself of the official one while writing my thoughts. It is way too easy to forget what this movie is about while you're watching it. Honestly, I think the best thing 2001: A Space Odyssey has done for cinema is be an inspiration to better sci fi writers. It's harsh, I know. I've heard many a fan of this film state you need to see it multiple times to get its deeper meaning, but I'm sure there's a better movie out there for me to spend another 3 hours on. It's not that I hated this. I just wanted so badly to like it, and I found it dull and pretentious. Th...

  What I knew going in: That it's considered a cinematic masterpiece In Post WWII Italy, Antonio (Lamberto Maggiorani) is given a job that requires him to have a bicycle. His wife ( Lianella Carell) goes to the trouble of buying back the bike, which she just recently sold so they could eat. While out on said job, the bike gets stolen, so Antonio and his young son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) roam the streets trying to find the thief. Italian neo-realism is a sub-genre that I haven't really dabbled in. Yet this year, I have two films on my Blind Spot list that fall into this category. Since this is the more famous of the two, it's where I decided to start.  True to the genre, it feels like we're dropped directly into poor working class Italy. Nothing about this film feels polished, and that's meant as a compliment. I found myself hoping for a happy ending that never came. I think the thing that surprised me the most was how depressing it was from start to finish.  None of th...

  What I knew going in: I had seen clips of some of Gene Kelly's dances. Jerry (Gene Kelly) is an American living in Paris. He's friends with Adam (Oscar Levant) a concert pianist, whose friends with Henri (Georges Guétary) a French singer. It's through them Jerry encounters Lise (Leslie Caron) A beautiful young shopgirl that Jerry immediately falls for. At its very least, this film is about two grown men lusting after a teenager, and it's easy to make fun of in that regard. In fact, this is one of those films I'd file under "oohhh shiny!" Meaning overall, it's a basic plot, not too thrilling of a story or set pieces, but then those dance number start and suddenly I don't care about how bare bones everything else is. The dancing is perfection. That day dreaming sequence at the end? PERFECTION! BRAVO! I want to watch it on repeat. Those 20 minutes really elevate the entire film. I can see why this is Gene Kelly's favorite of his filmography. He...

  What I knew going in: I've seen other of Chaplin's films featuring "The Tramp" When the Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) meets a blind woman selling flowers (Virginia Cherrill) he begins to look for ways to earn money to help her with a medical procedure to get her sight back.  I wanted to add a Chaplin film to my Blind Spot list and I chose this one since it appears to be one of the most well-liked of his work. Thankfully, this was available on HBO Max for me to check out. This didn't quite change my feelings about Chaplin films in general, and that's that they should never been more than an hour long AT MOST. Silent slap stick is definitely an acquired taste, and it's one that I appreciate more than I actually enjoy. There were a few parts in this film where I did genuinely laugh. Mostly during the infamous boxing match. I will give this film a ton of credit for being quite ballsy for a 30's film. Attempted suicide is a big part of the story, and from what ...

  What I knew going in: That Greer Garson won an Oscar for this. Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson) tries to keep a positive attitude in her small town in England during the start of WWII. Her eldest son, Vin (Richard Ney) is enlisted. He's falling in love with young Carol (Teresa Wright) at the same time. Between looking after her young children, her husband also having to go away, bombs dropping on their city, and some pesky business about a local flower competition. She's got a lot on her plate. As awful as this sounds, I don't think I had really heard much about Greer Garson until I started watching Be Kind Rewind's youtube channel. After watching her Oscar win episode, I knew I wanted to add one of her films to my Blind Spot list, and lucky for me while taking a recent flight. This film was available on Delta Studios. There are some drawbacks of inflight movies, mainly, planes aren't very quiet. I found myself a little confused on where this movie was supposed to be ...

My final entry in the 2021 Blind Spot Series is scheduled to post on Christmas Day (It's A Wonderful Life) so I thought now would be a good time to share my 2022 list! I'm being a bit ambitious with one month again, and am finally going to tackle the Before trilogy. I'm also giving myself a nice stack of alternates in case I run into availability issues like I did this year. So what do you think? Have you seen any of the films I'm planning on watching? Am I in for a good year? 1 Mrs. Miniver 2 Rebecca (1940) 3 An American in Paris 4 Bicycle Thieves 5 City Lights 6 Rome Open City 7 2001 A Space Odyssey  8 Breathless (1960) 9 Thelma & Louise 10 Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight 11 Through A Glass Darkly 12 A Star Is Born (1954) Alternates: Suddenly, Last Summer. Come and See. She Got Game. 8 1/2. I'll Be Seeing You