My(our) 2008 Cinematic Christmas
Still from “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Our cinematic Christmas began with watching NBC’s showing of “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas Eve. Amazingly, I thought that I had seen the entire film (once purchasing Les Blank’s own 16 mm print of the film for WVLC), but after watching and truly enjoying the film, I have to admit - I simply have never watched the entire film from front to end! It was a nice way to start….and indeed, the current economic conditions made the film seem totally undated. It might be worthwhile to make an updated version of the film.
On Christmas Day at 4:15 PM, we sat near the front of the theater in our fav movie house, The Park Place Stadium Theaters in downtown Charleston, watching my fav film of the year, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” The visuals are among the greatest ever put on film, especially the cinematography. It was like watching a Rembrandt painting come to life. I truly enjoyed the story, the acting, and most especially, the reenactments of some of the greatest dances created by American choreographers. Here are some links….
Letter to the Earth -
http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/uploads/Morgan2000_2.jpg
Choreographer: Agnes de Mille
Balanchine -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Balanchine
We also saw “Doubt,” which was a fine, well-done film with an Oscar-quality performance by Meryl Streep. As a Catholic boy myself, I really enjoyed the time - 1964. I was attending a Christian Brothers school in suburban Minneapolis at the time, after graduating from Christ the King Grade School which was somewhat similar to the school shown, nuns and all.
The final commercial film was “Marley & Me” which made me realize how much I love my own pooch, Sierra Christmas Fesenmaier, a 15 + year old mixed abandoned on Greenbrier St. near the Animal Shelter. I guess the owner just couldn’t bring himself to do the deed, and luckily for us, a co-workers saved her from a certain tragic death. The story was ok but the casting was too commercial. It could have been a lot better.
We also watched two DVDs borrowed from the local public library - “Radio City 75th Anniversary Celebration” which was simiply sensational. I almost bought it when I saw it advertised on TV and was very glad to get to see it once and return quickly to the library so someone else could see it during the holiday season.
We finished up with the DVD of “The Flight of the Red Balloon” which was chosen by a group of film critics around the country as the “best film of the year.” We only watched half of it and turned it off. We were tired, and frankly, even though I could see that it was beautifully photographed and acted, it seemed pretty boring after the first hour. Another film I previewed, also starring a young boy, “My Father, My Lord,” was even more stunningly photographed than “Red Balloon” and the acting was ever better.
I still have not made by list of “top commercial films of 2008″ and probably will not. But I truly believe that “The Curious Case…” was a masterpiece and I hope it makes a billion dollars. I told one friend that I thought it was as good as “Citizen Kane,” likewise telling the life history of one person. At least one film critic agrees with me that it is a masterpiece.
