This week I wanted to let everyone know that IMC has a new DVD display up featuring Directorial First Films—it’s a great display and has a wide range of types of movies. I ended up pulling Pi from our display, and then also ended up watching Nebraska and Les Miserables.
My first movie of the week was Nebraska (IMC DVD 306.8742 N362 2014), a film about an elderly father who becomes convinced that he has won a sweepstakes prize. After several attempts at trying to convince his father that it is a scam, the son decides to drive him to go collect it. On their journey together, the son eventually discovers the real reason for his father’s determination. I ended up really enjoying this film, although it took a bit for me to get comfortable with both the black and white nature of the film as well as the quirkiness of the characters.
I actually ended up watching another black and white movie this week as well—the movie Pi (IMC DVD 512.73 P579 1998) from our DVD display. It was amazing to me how these two movies used the black and white medium so differently—Nebraska gave off a Midwest oldtime movie feel, whereas Pi felt gritty and more like a thriller. Pi, the directorial debut of Darren Aronofsky (also known for Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and more recently for Jackie), follows a mathematician as he struggles to discover the number that unlocks all the patterns of the world. This was a weird movie, but it offered a lot in terms of cinematography (Aronofsky loves to play with weird camera angles) as well as a very unique musical score which tied in perfectly with the feel of this film. If you like weird, I would definitely recommend taking the time to watch this movie.
Finally, I watched Les Miserables (IMC DVD 843.7 M678 2013). I have put off watching this movie almost as long as it has been out because I love this musical so much and didn’t want to see it get ruined by big name actors that couldn’t sing it properly. However, I finally decided to watch it and was more impressed than I thought I would be—specifically Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean (who was absolutely incredible) and Eddie Remayne as Marius. There were some actors/actresses who I felt should not have been cast in their role, but overall it didn’t hurt the film too much. If you have never been exposed to the musical, I think this movie would be a good introduction.
As always, feel free to follow along your own movie progress here: https://letterboxd.com/peterstanley/list/1001-movies-you-must-see-before-you-die/ . Also, come check out the IMC’s newest DVD display, Directorial First Films!
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