December 7, 2020 - October 20, 2021
Day 7: "A film you will never get tired of."
Jeez. This is tough.
I'm going to pick director and co-writer Wes Anderson's MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012).
There were so many candidates to consider:
GHOSTBUSTERS,
RED,
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD,
CITIZEN KANE,
KILL BILL, VOL. 1 (well, and VOL. 2, too)
JAWS,
THE GODFATHER,
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK,
MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN,
WHAT'S UP, DOC?,
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, etc., etc.
GHOSTBUSTERS is a nod to when I worked in a video store(s). I used to work at Rosa's Home Appliances when they created a video rental store for their customers to promote selling VCRs. I also worked at Blockbuster and finally at Record Theatre. Ah, memories! Anyway, we used to play GHOSTBUSTERS over and over on the TV as well as THE SURE THING and a few others. Later, RED and SCOTT PILGRIM were compulsive watches for me at home when we had cable. Every time I happened to catch any of these films on the TV, I'd stay and watch them until the end, if I could. And, actually, MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, too. Go, director Frank Capra and Turner Classic Movies!
But, MOONRISE KINGDOM was unique for me. I remember being very obsessive about it after I first saw it and when it was available on DVD, I bought it right away and I JUST KEPT WATCHING IT. I don't know why. There was just something about it, all of it. I just love that movie, man!
Thursday, March 25, 2021
So, one of the things I'm trying to do is simply finish this 30 Day Film Challenge which I originally started on Facebook last year. And no, I didn't finish it on Facebook either, but, this being my film blog, it seems appropriate to continue posting this here.
Anyway, I feel like I should elaborate a little more, either on MOONRISE KINGDOM itself or regarding those films I never get tried of, or both. So, I will, dammit!
Prior to first watching MOONRISE KINGDOM, I believe I had seen two other Wes Anderson films, RUSHMORE (1998) and THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS (2001). I liked them both very much, but I think it was with MOONRISE I articulated to myself that I was a definite Wes Anderson fan. I made a point of seeing his follow-up film, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (2014).
I like Anderson's world building, usually an accumulation of details (and props!). I think that's what ultimately appeals to me about a Wes Anderson film: he creates these very specific worlds in his movies, which initially seem to be a reference or homage to very specific genres, time periods, cultures, nostalgia, whatever (for instance, THE LIFE AQUATIC OF STEVE ZISSOU seems more or less Anderson's tribute to Jacques Cousteau and/or at least inspired by him and his adventures. But Anderson takes very specific and careful, precise pains to create this world not only down to its specific references and particulars but to also to his subjective vision of it. I think that last aspect of it, the creation of his own world in each of his films is what's so compelling about his films for me. They're not just homages, they've become unique Wes Anderson worlds and films. That complete fictional world building is an ambition of mine to achieve within my own films and comics, etc.
Wednesday, October 20
Well, this post took forever to get finished, didn't it? I really am VERY lame at being a consistent blogger. Ah, well! At least I'm consistently inconsistent in the way I maintain ALL my ventures: blogging, filmmaking, creating art and comics, etc.
Anyway, let's see if I can put a bigger dent into this damn "30 Day" Film Challenge, shall we?
Onward!
#30DayFilmChallenge2020
