Conclusion

So there you have it, roughly 75 years of my movie collection.  Going through it, I was surprised by what I owned and by what I didn't.  (In some cases, movies had been lost or they simply would no longer play.)  There are movies I don't own that are more meaningful than some I own.  Still, it's an interesting collection, eclectic in some ways, although it's certainly possible to say I have types I like.  As far as stats go, the overlapping genre tags offer 276 comedies out of 326 movies, so yes, only 50 are ones I would not describe as intending to be funny.  Fifty-four of the movies came out in the '60s, so they are mostly ones that I probably first discovered in childhood and adolescence, on television.  Paramount was the first studio, with the Marx Brothers movies, and remained number one, with 40 films in my collection.  And Groucho Marx stayed the most prolific performer in my collection, with 17 movies.  So I guess this means that Skidoo is the most typical of my movies, studio aside.



Since I gave three A's and seven A-s, that makes coming up with a Top Ten pretty easy, although the order is somewhat arbitrary.

1. Some Like It Hot
2. High Fidelity
3. Groundhog Day
4. Nine to Five
5. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
6. The Wizard of Oz
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
8. The Big Bus
9. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
10. Enchanted April

As for Bottom Ten, well, I never went below a D-.  Here it is, with the D's, D+s, and the worst of the C-s.

1. The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
2. Togetherness
3. Never Been Kissed
4. Meet Me in St. Louis
5. Speedway
6. Scavenger Hunt
7. The Sex Files
8. Roadie
9. Transylvania 6-5000
10. Gidget Goes to Rome

Stay tuned for the television blog in the next day or two....

Into the Woods

Into the Woods
December 25, 2014
Disney etc.
Musical, Fantasy
DVD
B-

When I saw this in the theater months ago, I would've given it a B+.  I'd seen two stage productions and I thought it translated very well to the big screen.  This time, I was less drawn in.  The music (especially those intricate Sondheim rhymes) seemed more contrived, and I found the film less emotionally moving.  That said, there are some good performances, most notably Emily Blunt as the Baker's Wife, probably the most complex character.  Christine Baranski and Meryl Streep are not quite reunited from Mamma Mia!, because (as Cinderella's Stepmother and The Witch) they don't really have any scenes together.  Johnny Depp again plays a creepy character, this time Little Red Riding Hood's wolf.  And Anna Kendrick is a bit miscast as Cinderella (as always, she seems like the smartest person in the room) but she does sing well.

Frances de la Tour is sort of typecast, since she was Madame Maxime in the Harry Potter series and is a much larger giantess here.  Gioacchino Jim Cuffaro was a Wizard Parent in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and is a Villager here.

They Came Together

They Came Together
June 27, 2014
Lionsgate
Comedy, Romance
DVD
B

This is better than Wanderlust, perhaps because director David Wain is again reunited with his Wet Hot American Summer writing partner Michael Showalter.  As it happens, they wrote the script a dozen years before this was released, soon after WHAS, and it is also a spoof, although definitely less rooted in a specific time.  I found it equally funny, but apparently it was even less of a success.  (I wanted to see it in a theater but had to wait for DVD.)  Like WHAS, it has a dark side, but there are moments where rom-com tropes are played very close to usual.  Certainly the casting of Paul Rudd as the "handsome in a nonthreatening sort of way" male lead leads to self-parody, although Amy Poehler always seems much too smart for her character.  The frame device of Bill Hader (among other things, The Voice in Scott Pilgrim) and Ellie Kemper (Bridesmaids) as Kyle and Karen, another couple they're having dinner with, helps give the movie structure.  (It was originally designed without this device.)  I also need to mention that the music is dead-on, including the in-movie Norah Jones video, with a confused-looking John Stamos.  I don't know that this movie will age well, but for now it's on a level with WHAS.

Michael Ian Black was McKinley in WHAS and is Trevor here.  Ken Marino was Victor in WHAS, Rudd's brother Rick in Wanderlust, and is Tommy here.  Zandy Hartig was Marcy in Wanderlust and is Katherine here.

Jason Mantzoukas was part of the Gay Couple in Baby Mama and is Bob here.  Alex Hartman was a Princeton Applicant in Admission and is '80s Dancer Party Guest here, while Barbara Vincent was a Birthday Party Guest there and is a Football Player here, and Gameela Wright is a Police Officer here and was Woman in Adoption Agency there.  Zak Orth has been showing up in small roles in my movies since In & Out, and here he plays the Waiter with Pole.  Cobie Smulders did the voice of Wonder Woman in The Lego Movie and plays Tiffany here.

It's like New York is another character.

The Lego Movie

The Lego Movie
February 7, 2014
Warner Bros. etc.
Children's, Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
DVD
B+

I didn't see this at the time it came out, although the trailer looked good.  I didn't see it until this past summer, when I laughed my head off.  I'm not into the Lego culture, and I didn't get every joke in this, but I found it to be one of the best scripts in years, both witty and thought-provoking.  That I had absolutely no expectations made it all the more enjoyable, although on this second viewing I felt it held up very well.  Also, the look is wonderful, all CGI but looking like it's made from actual Lego bricks.

The movie is full of contradictions, like the "Everything Is Awesome" song that is both annoying and catchy, or annoying because it's catchy, with lyrics that boost both mindless conformity and creative teamwork.  It's a corporate production set in a sunny dystopia run by a fascist capitalist, who turns out to be a redeemable bad guy.  Normally, I have a low tolerance for Will Ferrell, but he does well with both his in-universe villain and the live-action father.  There are serious themes, but mostly it's a giddy, quotable, fast-paced ride.  I don't know that it would stand up to multiple viewings and I can't say I fell in love with it, so I won't say A-, but it's definitely at least a B+.

The voice-acting obviously is a big part of the enjoyment of the movie, with the stand-out being Morgan Freeman as Vitruvius, wise and hilarious.  Elizabeth Banks, who voices Wyldstyle, was Beth in 40 Year Old Virgin.  Liam Neeson provides the voices for Bad Cop, Good Cop, and Pa Cop.  Charlie Day is Benny.  Jonah Hill voices Green Lantern.  Dave Franco, who was Perry in Warm Bodies, does Wally.  Chris Romano was Little Druid in This Is Spinal Tap and does the voice of Joe here.

Admission

Admission
March 22, 2013
Focus Features etc.
Comedy, Drama
DVD
B

Based on a book I've never read, this has a refreshingly not-quite-resolved ending.  It is happy, in a bittersweet way, but not all the problems have been solved.  I was on the fence about the grade, whether B- or B, because I'm not sure how much of my fondness for the film is for its cast, particularly those I've tagged.  Tina Fey is of course a soft-hearted Type A and Paul Rudd is an amiable, boundary-crossing idealist.  It's good to see them work together, but their romance is too much in the background for this to be a rom-com, or even a dramedy-com.  (Their relationship, in the sense of how they relate, matters, but not the romantic side so much.)  Perhaps needless to say, Wallace Shawn, as Fey's boss, and Lily Tomlin, as Fey's mother, are perfect, giving the roles much more than expected.  (The details are great, too, like the vintage late '70s picture of Tomlin on the back of her character's feminist classic, The Male Mistake.  Or her Bella Abzug tattoo.)  The supporting cast is good, too, notably Michael Sheen as Fey's ex that thinks she's not over him, and Gloria Reuben as Fey's rival.

The blend of humor and drama generally works and I felt like even the more exaggerated scenes (like a cow giving birth) rang true on some level.  At the time (two and a half years ago), I saw this shortly after Warm Bodies, and probably would've ranked that a bit higher, but now I find that this is the movie that stays with me more afterwards.  Warm Bodies is entertaining, but this one made me think more, even if it doesn't quite live up to its potential.  And, yes, I need to read the book someday, although I hope it's better than the print version of Warm Bodies.

Alex Hartman, who's a Princeton Applicant here, would be '80s Dancer Party Guest in Rudd's They Came Together, while Barbara Vincent, who's a Birthday Party Guest here, would be a Football Player there.

Yes, I didn't say anything about the whole "Is this kid her son?" plot.

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies
February 1, 2013
Summit etc.
Comedy, Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi
DVD
B-

My review of the book is here:  http://rereadingeverybookiown.blogspot.com/2014/01/warm-bodies-novel.html.  The main thing I want to add is that my enjoyment has faded after so many viewings in 2 1/2 years, although it remains better than the book.  I think part of the problem is that as the film goes on, it loses its contrast between R's internal monologue and his inarticulate zombie shell.  The movie becomes more of a standard apocalyptic narrative, although still with moments of humor and sweetness.  And it remains impressive that a zom-rom-com is actually a workable sub-sub-genre.

Dave Franco, who plays Perry, would do the voice for Wally in The Lego Movie.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
August 3, 2012
Fox
Comedy
DVD
B-

Diary of a Wimpy Kid regulars include:

1. Dalila Bela as Taylor Pringle
2. Devon Bostick as Rodrick Heffley
3. Karan Brar as Chirag Gupta
4. Robert Capron as Rowley Jefferson
5. Christopher Thorgard De-Schuster as Chris the Bass Player
6. Connor and Owen Fielding as Manny Heffley
7. Zachary Gordon as Greg Heffley
8. Rachael Harris as Susan Heffley
9. Bryce Hodgson as Ben Segal
10. Alf Humphreys as Mr. Jefferson (this time actually with lines!)
11. Terence Kelly as Grandpa Heffley
12. Jeff Kinney as Mr. Hills
13. Peyton List as Holly Hills
14. Laine MacNeil as Patty Farrell
15. Andrew McNee as Coach Malone
16. Melissa Roxburgh as Heather Hills (formerly Rachel in DWK2)
17. Grayson Russell as Fregley
18. John Shaw as Mr. Draybick

As the subtitle suggests, this is set in the summer, which means we get much less of school, and classmates and teachers, than in the previous films.  I don't know if it's this, or that Zachary Gordon has hit puberty (like Harry and Ron in Chamber of Secrets, his voice seems to have dropped several octaves), but I generally didn't find this entry as entertaining as the first two.  And yet I am giving another B-, because it contains what is easily the funniest sequence in the series:  Rodrick's cover version of Justin Bieber's "Baby."  (Yes, each of my 2012 movies has a song or a band called Baby as the highlight.)  Bostick remains the best thing about these movies, and he has the moves like Jagger as well as a very expressive face.  Even the moment between Rowley and the bestie of the girl that Rodrick has spectacularly failed to impress is good.  If only the rest of the movie were on that level.  Still, it's nice that Zahn has more to do, with the central relationship this time being between Greg and his dad.  It's not a bad place to leave the characters onscreen, although of course in the books Greg and company continue to not age.

Dawn Chubai was a newscaster in the second movie as well.  Nicole Fraissinet, who was a Megastore Girl in Josie and the Pussycats, plays Receptionist Julie here.