A Beautiful Mind

And this week's Friday night movie has been... A Beautiful Mind!

Original image located here. Accessed 4th November 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 74 (2001)

Yep, we're skipping over the 1990s simply because I have already seen them all. 
But in a way, perhaps it is fitting that I'm going straight from the 1980s to the 2000s. Why? Well, both decades share parallels: They both follow two heavyweight decades and, with the passage of time, look very pale compared to previous Best Picture winners. 
Still the eighties ending up surprising me so it would be interesting to see if something similar happens with the 2000s....

At time of writing, I am two thirds of the way through this year long undertaking. And it is at this point that I have come to recognise some recurring elements that appear in the Best Picture Oscar winners. Of course, it is not willingly but this notion of Oscar Bait seems to have up in the past two decades. 
Mind you, this is a post-Shakespeare in Love world we live in and now having a movie that has no other purpose other than to score big at the Oscars are now going to be more frequent. Indeed, I suspect that in the weeks ahead, I'm going to see Harvey Weinstein's name a lot....

But if this movie is a product of a post-Shakespeare in Love world, I would argue it owes it's existence more to Forrest Gump: It tells the story of a man of extraordinary ability and of a life lived. 
Personally, I found this movie very long and with some dull moments - seriously you could shave off twenty minutes and no one would've noticed - but the real strength of this movie is it's use of mathematics and it's portrayal of schizophrenia.
And hey: who wouldn't want Paul Bettany as their roommate? 

Legally Blonde

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Legally Blonde!

Original image located here. Accessed 17th December 2021

Kiera chose this one XD
I do remember this movie from it's initial release in the early 2000s. But what is fascinating about this movie, to the outsider like myself, is the shelf life it has garnered since: A lot of people still think highly of it - indeed moreso than other rom-coms of it's era - and it has a successful musical to it's name. So there must a good a reason behind this endurance, right?

Well, I will admit there were some laugh-out-loud moments (thereby passing the first and foremost requirement of any comedy). And it certainly has a greater sense of identity that makes it stand out from the other rom-coms - which is another plus.
But in all honesty, what makes this movie for me is Reese Witherspoon herself, who has charismatic presence and is clearly having the time of her life. Is it enough to sell the movie however?
Well, if Legally Blonde's enduring appeal is set to continue then the answer would indeed be yes

Atlantis The Lost Empire

And this week's Friday night movie has been....Atlantis: The Lost Empire!

Original image located here. Accessed 28th June 2019

It has always always been my perception that the Disney Renaissance ended with The Lion King. Every movie that followed, at least until Tangled, has polarized opinion and would sooner be discarded by the Disney faithful and left in the trash heap alongside the sequels. Therefore it is something of challenge to find, as some would claim, a 'diamond in the rough' / 'underrated classic'.
Which now brings me to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a movie I have put off until now. So could this be prove to be an underappreciated gem?

First things first: The animation is great. It may be a given considering this is Disney but the characters are expressive, full of energy and have some great designs. Speaking of which, there are some superb mech designs, some truly imaginative sequences throughout and everything rockets along at a cracking pace. And, if anything, this come across as an action movie - perhaps the purest action movie in Disney's animated canon.
Plus, as a sci-fi nerd, there is some amusement in having the voices of Spock and Susan Ivanova in the same movie.
However this is a movie of two halves: The first half does indeed move but at times it is difficult to keep up and not enough time is spent to process key plot advancements. The second half however is when things slow down and time can be invested in the plot. And there are some moments of astonishment that easily rank among Disney's best (the part when Kida approaches the Heart springs to mind) but it does leave me wishing such a pace was consistent.

Grumbling aside is this an 'underappreciated gem'? Maybe - but what i will declare this as an action movie and all the better for it

Monsters Inc

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Monsters Inc!

Original image located here. Accessed 18th May 2018

Well, i saw the prequel last week so seeing the original is somewhat inevitable.
Well this is a Pixar movie so once you see enough of them, you soon know what to expect: Great jokes, touching moments, interesting characters, top-notch animation and enough creativity involved that one is left wondering when that particular well is going to run dry.

Considering what i said about the prequel last week, it;s interesting to place the two films next to each other. Monsters Inc seems to adhere closer to the Pixar formula but at the same time it seems, strangely enough, generic. Sure it ticks the boxes that we expect from a Pixar movie (as stated above) but at the same time, no one seems to complain.
Conversely, Monsters University eschews the formula by taking an unusual route. Brave yes but ultimately coming across as colder than the usual fare. There's no denying that the formula Pixar uses clearly works but a deviation is asking for trouble. But such is the strength of the formula that Pixar sure are quick to recover from low points and we, the audience, are quick to forgive.
I may have said some harsh things about the prequel last week but, upon seeing the original, my view has somewhat softened. If anything I'll take a noble failure than a weak success any day.