I've become addicted to watching movies since joining Netflix. When I was younger I would go see new movies nearly every weekend, but I rarely get to see movies in the theater these days. For a long time I would only occasionally rent a movie from a local video store, but as Netflix makes renting movies so easy, I am beginning to have piles of movies sitting around that are reminiscent of my book piles (though nowhere near as excessive!). The only bad thing about Netflix is it is hard to browse for new movies to watch. Unless I know of a specific movie I want to see, I have a hard time deciding on which movies to add to my queue. Every time my two movies go back, I am at a loss what to request next. I have also been borrowing movies from my library as well as the public library (though again it is hard to browse there as well, as there are rarely popular movies on the shelf--you have to get online and add your name to the waiting list--and oftentimes the list is very long!). Since I am in the middle of several good books, and not quite ready to post about them, I thought I would share what I've been watching instead.
I finally got around to watching the last of my Romeo and Juliet movies. I watched the Baz Luhrmann adaptation this weekend. I'm not quite sure what I think of it. I really liked it, and I really didn't. Maybe I am just Romeo and Juliet-ed out? I didn't realize that Luhrmann also directed Strictly Ballroom, which I loved. Is all Australian cinema really quirky? (Of course I probably have not watched enough to make any sort of educated assumption, but all the Australian movies I can think of are, well, quirky). I liked the modern retelling of the story, yet he seemed to stick pretty close with the original dialogue of the play. For the most part, I liked the casting of the film. I didn't really like the extreme gaudiness of it, and to me, it seemed overly bright and kitschy. The story felt much darker than when I read it. Maybe it was the use of guns rather than swords? I was looking at reviews and for the most part it seems to have been well received. If this modern version makes people watch a Shakespeare production, especially young people, then why not. I think the Zeffirelli version will remain my particular favorite. I have probably had my fill of Romeo and Juliet for the time being, however, and I am ready to move on to Twelfth Night!
I would probably have appreciated Antonia's Line more had I not fallen asleep during part of the movie. Don't blame the movie for me falling asleep--I started watching it too late at night--I should know better than to start a movie when I am tired. This is a Dutch film that won an Academy Award. I need to watch it again to give it any sort of justice. The movie begins with Antonia waking up and deciding "today is the day she is going to die" and looking back on her life. One reviewer described it as "how one woman and the people around her find happiness while rejecting the roles that society would force on them." What I saw I enjoyed, and I plan on getting it to watch again!
Green Fingers with Helen Mirren and Clive Owen was a sweet, funny movie set in a minimum security or "open" prison. Clive Owen ends up there after spending most of his adult life in prison. Each inmate is given a job, and when Owen won't choose he ends up cleaning toilets. When it is discovered he has a green thumb (or the British must say greenfingers) he and a group of inmates are set the task of creating a garden. Apparently this is based on a true story, and the inmates were even so successful with their garden they won prizes for their work in a national gardening competition.
It seems the best movies I come across are the ones that come recommended. So, as always, any good movie recommendations?