Watch it – Page 19 – Ponderous Personal Projects

I decided I’d watch Blazing Saddles again, just to see if it still would be funny. Not only was it not funny, but worse is that even though I know it really makes fun of racism, it still feels pretty racist. But even worse, it just isn’t funny.

The Amateurs [2005]

The Amateurs

Michael Traeger

4/5

I got this because of John Hawkes, which I really like. It’s not that he’s the greatest actor ever, but he seems to have a good eye for quirky scripts.

The Grand Budapest Hotel [2014]

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson

5/6

Impeccable Wes Anderson impecs yet again. Less cryptic than many of his earlier outings, but no less enjoyable.

Monster in a Box [1992]

Spalding Gray’s Monster in a Box

Nick Broomfield

6/6

War & Piece

War & Peace

Tom Harper

4/6

Not up there with Bondarchuk’s 1966 masterpiece, but still a good watch.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans [2009]

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Werner Herzog

4/5

Only superficially related to Ferrara’s neo-classic name-sake, Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant finally sees Cage on form again. I can’t really remember much of the Keitel-lieutenant, but I’m still pretty sure this is much better.

Birdman [2014]

Birdman or (the unexpected virtue of ignorance)

Alejandro G. Iñárrity

6/6

Wow. That was awesome. Understated, intelligent, ambiguous. More, please!

The Squid and the Whale [2005]

The squid and the whale

Noah Baumbach

5/7

Puberty sucks.

Asylum [1972]

Asylum

Peter Robinson

1/2

A documentary about an experimental treatment facility for the insane, where they’re essentially left to their own devices to … get over it.

Didn’t work.

Tag: Watch it

Kill Your Darlings [2013]

Blazing Saddles [1974]