Babel

I was lucky and was able to have a little bit of a relaxing day today - a rarity for me. I had some time to myself to write and relax, and then I ran out for lunch and groceries and all of that sort of stuff. I was happy to have some time to myself. I feel like all I do is work, come home, watch whatever movie I'm supposed to, and then blog and go to bed. It's been tough, but knowing that you guys are reading (and that Ebert cares) has kept me going.

Today I watched Babel, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu in 2006. I think I saw it when it first came out, and I sort of liked it. It was a good movie that I didn't really understand. I liked the stories, but I didn't understand why it was masterful. Later, I watched his entire Death Trilogy, of which Babel is the last, and I sort of got it. I really love this movie. I was shocked when I saw that not everyone likes this movie - it always was really interesting to me, and I could relate to a lot of the characters. I love that it's not just good "morality" stories like Crash (ugggggh the bad one, not the Cronenberg). It's actually a great work of art, full of incredible directing and purpose. The actions of the characters are not as black and white as other morality stories, either, which is what makes this such a powerful movie.

Au Revoir Les Enfants

I got my hair did today, which was fun - more summery blonde in it, it's so cute! After that, Anthony and I ran some errands, including grabbing some Criterions at B&N's sale. I had a bunch of coupons for $5 - $10 off at various stores, and some for free birthday gifts, so I went to those places to collect my presents. It was a pretty fun day out :) I had plans to go out for dinner for my birthday, and when I got home, I wanted to start watching a little of my movie before we left. I put on Au Revoir Les Enfants, directed by Louis Malle in 1987, and I couldn't turn it off like I planned. I was so engrossed in it that I didn't want to do anything else.

It was a great movie. It was also a sad movie, which I know really turns people off. I think this is really unfortunate - you can learn so much from movies, and just looking for ones that you can use to distract yourself or "turn off your brain" causes you to really miss out on so much. I was crying at the end of this movie, but I also felt like I saw something I never even thought of or heard of before. A new perspective on an important subject I heard a lot about. A glimpse of a life that I never could lead. And how can that not make you wiser?

Atlantic City

 I didn't really feel like going out for my birthday tonight (I thought I'd go tomorrow), but I did have a nice night. Margaritas and Chipotle, followed by doing some errand running at Target. I ended up getting the 5-disc Blu-ray of Bladerunner, since it's coming up for the project, and also more margarita supplies and a new blanket. Sounds like a good night in to me!

Today I watched Atlantic City, directed by Louis Malle in 1980. It sounded sort of dull when I first was reading descriptions of it, but I ended up totally loving it. It was such a sweet little movie. I loved all the characters, and the fact that Malle seemed to love them as well, and directed the film with much tenderness toward them. It wasn't a big, noticeable, important film, but it was a good film, and I'm very glad that I saw it.

Army of Shadows

It started storming out again, so I'm going to try to get this post done quickly in case the power decides to go again. Today I watched Army of Shadows, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville  in 1969. I ended up really liking the movie much more than I thought that I would. It was slower paced than I felt like watching, but I still somehow found myself totally engrossed in the movie. I loved the plot, and I really liked the cinematography as well.

Age of Innocence

Hey, it's my birthday today! I'm actually going to keep my post shorter since I want to treat myself to going to bed on time. My parents and Anthony and I got some delicious Indian take out, but we didn't eat until almost 9! You can imagine my movie was a bit delayed as well. It was worth it, though. I got some great movies - The Thin Red Line and Videodrome on Criterion from Anthony (now I can finally go shop the B&N Criterion sale!), and my parents got me the wonderful Stanley Kubrick Blu-ray box set. I can't wait to watch these!

For the whole course of the project so far, Anthony and I have been interested in what movie lands on people's birthdays. Usually it's something really strange that we haven't heard of before, except for two person, who actually got a movie they really enjoyed on their birthday for some reason (two of our friends share the same birthday and like the Godfather, which is what landed on their day). I was really happy that I happened to have two Scorsese films in a row. :) I never saw today's movie - Age of Innocence - until now, but it was fun to watch and at least it was by one of my favorite  directors!

After Hours

I'm happy that Ebert put today's movie on his list, otherwise I probably never would have seen it! Tonight I watched After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese in 1985. It's a great movie, with no real logical plot or resolution or message. It was awesome to see a Scorsese film that felt so different, as well. I could still see his style, but the story and actors were so far off from what he usually works with. He's so talented, and it's so fun to watch all of his movies!

I actually never wanted to watch this movie before. I had a friend who really loved it, but I didn't like his taste in movies. He had a tendency to like movies about dorky guys (like himself) meeting older women or women who would go home with the main character quickly, and getting into wacky adventures together or something. For some reason, I always was under the impression that this was what he thought real life was like, and because it bothered me so much, I avoided this movie because he liked it so much.. I'm so happy I finally saw it, because it was great, and really deepened my already obsessive love for Scorsese.

After Dark, My Sweet

This is a strange movie, but good - it felt just like reading the source material that it was based on, which is awesome. Today I watched After Dark, My Sweet, directed by James Foley in 1990. It's based on a Jim Thompson novel which I haven't read, but I've read other novels of his, and I know the sort of things he writes. He was a great pulp fiction writer, someone who tackled the darker and more insane side of noir. His novels often dealt with protagonists who were insane, or at least the ones that I've read. This movie felt similar to me - it was darker and a little crazier than most noir, and more of an exploration of bad choices and despair than just straight up crime.

It's full of interesting characters, and I liked watched how the acted and changed over the course of the movie. The plot is important, yes, but what is more important is how the characters react to it. It sounds sort of obvious, but it feels different than some other movies, which might just focus on how characters carry out a crime, not necessarily how it changes them to do it.

Adaptation

I've seen many parts of today's movie - Adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze in 2002 - before today. I often saw it in screenwriting classes. Obviously because the film is about screenwriting, it is educational in some way. I always liked the parts that I saw, but I never watched the whole thing until now. I'm glad I finally did! It's such an awesome and different film. I guess it is a little bit educational about screenwriting, as well. I know that I could certainly relate to the main character, Charlie's writing process. He does exactly what I to - trying to set up reward systems for himself ("If you write, then you can have coffee"), and eventually, out of frustration, writing himself into his screenplay. I think I've done both of those things before!

It's going to be really hard to write about this movie without spoiling it, and because I so badly don't want to spoil it, I'll probably keep this post a little short. I think probably everyone should watch this movie, and I'd feel terrible if I ruined all the best parts!

Ace in the Hole

Spent some of the day running errands and sleeping (all nighter last night dealing with the flooding), and some of it going through stuff in the basement that got soaked. We were really fortunate that we didn't lose power and that my boyfriend and I were awake and caught the flooding in time. I have a lot of friends who woke up and found their basements ankle-deep with water, and we're lucky that we didn't have to deal with that.

There are a few movies I've watched for this project that just felt like they came out of nowhere and blew me over. Ace in the Hole, directed by Billy Wilder in 1951, is one of those movies. I would never have rented this movie on my own, or even considered it. I never heard anything about it before, either. But it was simply great. The acting was amazing, the plot was fantastic, and it was just a joy to watch. I actually kept gasping and laughing and commenting out loud the whole time I watched the movie, because I couldn't get over how unexpectedly great that it was!

3 Women

I don't have a lot of time to write - it's storming really bad and unfortunately it's flooding in my basement for no apparent reason. since I don't want to a.) get electrocuted or b.) lose power, I'm going to try to finish this post before either of those things happens.

Today I watched 3 Women, directed by Robert Altman in 1977. It's a really strange, dream-like movie - in fact, in Ebert's essay, he mentions that it actually came to Altman in a dream and he just immediately wrote it down. I love weird dreams, and I'm always really interested in my own, especially vivid ones that really stick with me. I think it explains why I liked this movie so much. I love that it really felt like having an odd dream, just through the acting and the direction. What the film is actually about, or means, is  sort of lost on me (and during flooding when I'm stopping to move stuff every few seconds) is not really something I can ponder about. Luckily for me, it seems like even Ebert (and Altman) isn't sure what the film really means.

Yankee Doodle Dandy

I feel so accomplished - today I finished a 4,000 postcard mailing, and such an awesome job was done on it by myself and my co-workers that we didn't have to stay late like we assumed. It only took two days, and  feel pretty happy that it's finished and ready to be mailed out, finally! I had to come home from work and have a celebratory drink before I got to today's movie. 

I feel like I wrote so much about how I disliked musicals and dancing that I almost don't need to write a post about this movie. I watched Yankee Doodle Dandy today, directed by Michael Curtiz in 1942. It's not really a bad movie, so much as it's just not my kind of movie. I'm not so into the musical and dance scenes, and this movie was just full of them. I liked a lot of the little comedic scenes in between dance numbers, but it didn't really save them movie for me or anything. Overall, it was just not something that I personally liked, that's all.

West Side Story

I was sort of dreading coming home to today's movie - and you know that it's bad when I spent all day at work printing and slicing post cards. Not even joking - all day! I actually feel a little sore from the repetitive motion. Whine whine whine. I'm not a big fan of today's movie - West Side Story directed by Jerome Robbins and  Robert Wise in 1961. I saw it a long time ago, most recently in the beginning of high school when I was being forced to sing a song from it  (I was a total goth girl in high school, I'm not sure why this song was chosen for me. Perhaps hatred).

I wish I could have some interesting story of how now, shod of my goth boots, I could see the fun magic and unicorns of the story or something. Not so much. I still really dislike it. I really don't enjoy any of the songs, and find most of them sort of badly written and lazy lyrically. I think it's simply too long of a movie, and also pretty boring. I also just as a rule dislike musicals and musical theater, which makes this movie totally not my taste. I can understand why people like the movie, but personally, nothing about it works for me.

Walkabout

I wasn't able to start today's movie - Walkabout, directed by
Nicolas Roeg in 1971 - until it was already pretty late, and I have to get up all sorts of early tomorrow. I wish I could give this movie some more time and attention, because it deserves it. My dad likes this movie, so I bought him the Criterion a while ago - I hope that I can watch it again soon, so I have some more time to think about it.

It's a really wonderful film, totally pessimistic and sad, but so great. It's almost hallucinatory, because the passage of time is never clearly defined. It's almost never clear is anything is really happening, because it all feels a bit off at times (to me, at least), but you never really have a reason to question the films reality, nevertheless. I felt sort of weird after I watched this movie. I felt a sort of acceptance, like, "I understand what this movie is saying, and it's unpleasant but it makes sense," and but also a discomfort that I couldn't pin down.  I was moved and deeply saddened by parts of the film, but I had this lingering disturbing feeling, because there was something very true about this film. Despite any strangeness in the look and feel of the film, the depressing message is honest, and the way the story played out felt real and honest as well. I think that's why it's sticking with me and lingering, because it's harder to let go of something that is so real.

Victim

Oh my gosh, today was so busy! I had so much to do at work for an event, and the deadline was the end of the day. I'm lucky that my co-workers were so helpful, I'm not sure I would have gotten everything done without them! I'm happy to be home and relax a little bit, though, today was a little exhausting.

After I got home and settled in, I watched today's movie - Victim, directed by Basil Dearden in 1961. It's not the most exciting movie, but it was really good. It's an important film, as Ebert points out, being the first movie to even use the word "homosexual", and one of the first of be so sympathetic to gay people. It doesn't feel groundbreaking anymore, because times are so different, but it's interesting to see this movie and think about it's context. It's also a good story with interesting characters, although I found it a little slow for my mood (which was overly-energetic because I finished my project).

Unforgiven

I think I'm finally over my "I hate westerns, but..." stage. I sort of like some westerns, so I was interested in finally watching today's movie - Unforgiven, directed by Clint Eastwood in 1992. Somehow I never saw it before, despite how famous it is. I always heard that it sort of marked the end of the western genre's popularity, which I think has since come back somewhat (also I've got a great western screenplay if anyone is buying, hint hint).

The movie was really great, focused on the dark side of the west. I loved the characters and the story, and it was just so well filmed and made. I liked that it was sort of a blend of a lot of different styles of westerns - John Ford meets Sergio Leone, in a way. It had a lot of brighter, beautiful outside scenes that were more adventure-y, but it was mixed in with the nastier, grittier, and more violent end of the film. I liked the combination, and really loved this movie! I'm pretty sleepy from having a bad headache today, so I'm going to have to keep this post short despite how much I love the film.

Umberto D

Today I went out to Nordstrom because I wanted to get like, only one pair of shoes for work, not realizing that it was their Anniversary Sale. I of course ended up leaving with new clothes and 3 pairs of shoes. I was tired from my extravagant day of spending, so I came home and settled in for some Italian take out, a Negroni, and today's movie - Umberto D, directed by Vittorio de Sica in 1952.

I'm usually not too in love with Italian neorealism, but this film was amazing. It was so quiet and sad, but so incredibly beautiful and moving to watch. It was really hard to watch it after I was in such a good mood from a fun day, but I'm still glad that I did. Just because it's often terribly sad doesn't make it a bad movie - and in my book, it makes it an amazing movie. I always think that it's pretty easy for movies to thrill or shock us, but it's harder to make people truly feel difficult emotions. Umberto D managed to do that for me, and I really loved it.

Nikita!

This blog has really been lacking in Nikita pictures, so here's one from a few weekends ago, when she was outside in the yard ripping up grass for some reason. 

She is a noble creature.

Ugetsu

Today's movie is Ugetsu, directed by Kenji Mizoguchi in 1953. I didn't know anything about this movie when I started watching it, but I was really surprised by the plot - it's actually a ghost story! Not a Western ghost story by any means, or a horror movie - it's totally different from anything that I've seen before. I really liked it, though. I really enjoyed all the stories with the different characters, and I loved that it had such an interesting overall plot as well.

I really enjoyed that on top of everything, it had a beautiful and elegant style. It was full of really big characters, some of whom were funny or rough around the edges, but the film felt really light and misty, I guess. It really just made the whole film an awesome experience. I love that it felt so mysterious, and not full of cheap shocks or thrills like I am used to seeing.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

I'm starting this blog a little late (after midnight), so I'm going to try to keep my post a little short so I can get some sleep. I have a lot going on at work right now, and it's a little stressful since it's all so new still! I want to make sure I actually get enough sleep so I can function.

Today's movie was The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, directed by John Huston in 1948. It sounds like an adventure movie (and we all know how I feel about those), but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually depressing, to some extent, and not at all what I was expecting. I thought it would be some sort of blah, Indiana Jones adventure or something, but I guess I should have known that Bogart was above that. It's gritty and dirty, and ends like some of my favorite movies - by proving that everything the main characters were doing was sort of pointless. Amazing.

Touch of Evil

I keep staring at this blank screen and not writing. I'm not sure if I'm just tired or if I'm at a loss for words. Probably a little bit of both. Today's movie is Touch of Evil, directed, written by, and featuring Orson Welles. It was one of the last film noirs ever made, and pretty much marked the end of Orson Welles' career for the studio system, as well. The beginning of the film told me that the studio badly cut the film, and released it with a bunch of weird inserted scenes and cuts. Welles was so angry that mere hours after being shown the new version, he wrote a 58 page letter to the studio pleading his case.

Unfortunately for Welles, they never listened, and the film was released as the second part of a double feature, despite it's famous cast. Only recently did anyone attempt to restore the film to comply with Welles' wishes. I'm glad I never had to see the weird version, and I got to watch the one that tries to stay true to how Welles wanted it. I really liked it - not so much for the confusing plot, but for the directing and the characters. Didn't I just say this last night about a different movie?

Touchez Pas au Grisbi

Well, our power came back on at about 2 a.m. last night, but the internet is being wonky. It's so late and I'm sleepy so I'm not really up to running around trying to get it to work. I'll find a coffee shop or some such thing tomorrow and post this for you guys.

The storms were not so horrible by my house, but it was terrible by work! I drove right into it on Monday, and a lot of my coworkers are out of power. It's really sad because it's been pretty hot here, and I know how tough it can be after my stint without power for 4 days. I hope that everything will be up and running soon for everyone.

Today's movie is Touchez Pas au Grisbi,  directed by Jacques Becker in 1954. which Ebert says translates to “Don't Touch the Loot”. The movie is similar to other French crime films that I've seen – sort of a slow burn, but with so much style. It's not full of action, but it has really interesting characters who are totally original. I will admit I found parts of it to be a little slow (tired today), but overall, I was able to stay engaged with the film because I was so interested in the characters.

Welp.

Power is out again at my house, and much of the surrounding area. There was a bad storm this morning (and I was lucky enough to get to drive through the high winds, white-out rain, and falling branches on the tollway!) and I guess we lost power quickly. Figures.
The news says that  over 700,000 people are now without power, the most following any storm in the last half-decade. Ugh!

An update from Tom Skilling - "Commonwealth Edison says the loss of electricity this "derecho" (the term for squall which holds together over a long path producing damage all the way) has produced is the worst in at least a decade and among the 3 worst on Com Ed's books here. It may end up the all time worst, says the company. It's t-storms towered to 61,000 ft. which is swept across the metro area producing gusts of 80 mph at some locations." 

I'll probably try to do the whole generator-to-watch-movies thing again, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to post or not. If it's quiet around these parts again, you know why.

This is Spinal Tap

I was so happy to see today's movie on Ebert's list - This is Spinal Tap, directed by Rob Reiner in 1984. It's one of my favorite comedies, and I never get tired of seeing it. I love that Ebert loved this movie enough to include it - it was sort of unexpected, but great.

I've watched this film many times, and every time it's amazing. It's so well written, and well-acted. The actors all seem to just have fun being their characters and made them seem totally real. There's so many little touches and moments that make it feel like a real documentary. I love that it just perfectly gets its subject matter - enough so that many rock stars have not been able to see the humor in the film, because too many things in the movie had really happened to them.

It's hard to write about a movie like this that you've seen so many times...for me, at least. I sort of know it so well that it's hard to point out every reason why I love it so much. I'm weird.

The Thin Man

I had a pretty nice, relaxing day today. I went out with Anthony to go see Horrible Bosses, which I thought was really funny. I loved Kevin Spacey so much in it, he was great! I was on the fence about it for a while, but Ebert's review pushed me into going, and I'm so glad that I did.

Today's movie was The Thin Man, directed by W. S. Van Dyke in 1934. It's a really charming movie, an adaptation of a Dashiell Hammett novel. I loved the chemistry between William Powell and Myrna Loy, and the witty banter was amazing. The dialogue was so quick, funny, and intelligent, and the actors just delivered the lines so naturally. It felt very easy and relaxed. My mom read somewhere, and Wikipedia confirms it, that this film was only shot in 12 days! I never would have guessed that from how laid back the actors seemed to be. I also loved the dog in this movie - I love all dogs, so watching a cute one help with detecting was great. Daw!

A Tale of Winter

Please pardon me if my post is a little short - it's Anthony's birthday today and we started the movie pretty late after going out to dinner and all of those sorts of fun things.

Today's movie is A Tale of Winter, directed by Eric Rohmer n 1992. For some reason this movie was difficult to find, and I ended up buying a cheap VHS of it. I don't know why it was such bad quality, it isn't that old of a movie. Ah well. I was glad that I got to see it, despite the quality. It was a really interesting film, full of great writing and really engaging characters. I liked that it was a romantic film but it didn't feel like a strange fantasy or anything. It just focused on how normal people deal with relationships. I mean, people were a little obsessive, but overall, it felt very...normal.

Sunrise

It's hard to write about a silent film that did something groundbreaking with visuals. Today's Movie, directed by F.W. Murnau in 1928, did just that. It did a lot of things that were new and exciting, but they are so commonplace now that it's hard to ever catch them. Ebert does a great job writing about the cinematography, and his essay is a good read.

Not knowing any of that before I watched it, I was surprised at home awesome this film is! I loved the story, and there were many scenes that were really impressive. The camera seemed so light and full of movement, which I'm not used to seeing in silent films. Sometimes (all the time, in my experience), silent movies can make people fall asleep or feel really tired. This sometimes happens to me, too. This movie really kept my attention and even with barely any intertitles, it was so easy and engrossing to watch.

A Sunday in the Country

Hmm, it figures that after watching a few good movies in a row, I'd get to one I felt really meh about. Today's movie - A Sunday in the Country, directed by Bertrand Tavernier in 1984 - is sort of slow and meandering, a French Ozu. It's a story focused on just a French family and their doings one afternoon. It just didn't work for me tonight, when I felt so sleepy, and like I've been fighting a cold or something. You know how it gets. A sleepy little movie was just not what I was interested in tonight.

I feel frustrated writing this because I can see that this movie is great for all the reasons that Ozu's films are great. I just...didn't like this one. I didn't like the characters, I found the story to be too mundane and normal. Watching people nap and climb trees was a little too tiring and I just wasn't feeling it. I don't get why I love Ozu and this fell flat for me, but alas, such is life.

Stroszek

Today's movie is certainly an odd one. I've had a bit of a long day, so forgive me if I keep this short. I watched Stroszek, directed by Werner Herzog in 1977. I found this film to be more strange to watch than...well, I don't know what to compare it to. It's like nothing else. It's not trying to be a random, bizarre film, and you never feel like it's trying to do anything. It's just sort of running on, following the story, and we're just tagging along.

I love Herzog. I always wonder what it would be like to be him, for just one day. What's it like to experience such a different world view, to look at everything in a different light? I love that you can just see his obsessions and inspirations in all of his films, and that all the plots of his many works are so diverse. He wanders from subject to subject, seeming to obsess over it madly for a bit, and then move to something new and exciting. I loved seeing another one of his films, and I felt sort of obsessed with the characters, location, and story.

Strangers on a Train

I totally lost track of how much time I spent outside today. I went out thinking I'd just be there for a little bit while I waited for Anthony to come over, and somehow I ended up staying out there relaxing until almost 5:00pm. And I ended up looking like I might be rather sunburned, ugh. It took me longer to watch Strangers on a Train, directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951, because I had to pause it towards the end to make an emergency run to Walgreen's for some aloe. They make aloe with lidocaine in it! I had no idea of this genius invention.

Enough about me. I really liked today's movie, but I like all of the Hitchcock films that I've seen. I love his style, and I really like the tense thrillers that he directs, and this one was no different. I thought the story here was especially cool as well. It was a fun movie to watch, and even more fun to watch in the A/C, with fans blowing on my disgusting red knees and arms. :p

Solaris

It was hard to watch today's movie - Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972. It's such a long and slow movie, and I had to find time to watch it today when we were having family over for a cook out. Despite the hassle, I still really liked this movie. It's so slow, but somehow, I liked that about it at points. At times it was frustrating for me, but overall, I liked the story and the whole experience of watching it. It was not a lazy, unedited movie, but a deliberate movie. I ended up really enjoying the style of the whole thing, and the really rich atmosphere that it created.

I never saw this film, or the 2002 remake with George Clooney (which is what everyone I spoke to thought I was watching today). I also honestly didn't know anything about the story at all, so it was nice to go into it totally blind. I always heard that it was some sort of vaguely important or famous movie, but otherwise, I knew nothing about it. I like it when that happens, and you can actually watch a movie without any thoughts about it yet.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Having had my dislike of Disney movies well-documented, I feel sort of awkward to say that I...er, liked a Disney movie. I'm not in love or anything, don't worry. But I did really enjoy watching this film, and I thought it was a nice, well-written story with incredible animation. Today's movie was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, directed in 1937 ( I always forget how old it is!) I watched it with Anthony and my parents, which was really fun. My dad never saw it, and he ended up really enjoying it as well.

I got the Blu-ray from Netflix, and it looked amazing! I thought the restoration was so well done, and I loved that you could just see that every frame of this movie was hand crafted. I don't remember the movie looking so hand-drawn ever before. However, the last time I watched this was when I was a kid, and kids can't really notice any differences in animation quality. Not because kids are dumb, but because everything is new - they haven't really seen enough movies to compare.

I went into this a little skeptical, but I ended up enjoying myself. I liked the plot, and wasn't traumatized like I was by other Disney movies. I also really just loved the animation. The animals were so cute, and it was awesome to see how beautiful each frame was.

Shane

I am so glad that it's the weekend and I can get some time to sleep in and relax! Today when I got home from work I saw that my local newspaper had run an article about me and my blog. It was really cool! Maybe I'll scan it later and post it so you guys can check it out, it's really well-written and flattering, if I might say so :)

Today after a long day of work I watched Shane, directed by George Stevens in 1953. I feel bad, but I honestly just wasn't very into this movie. I will say that this is probably largely based on my mood. I felt like going out and doing something, and I was a little resentful that I had to watch a long, meandering movie instead. I usually like meandering, but this just felt a little off to me. What's so frustrating is that there are many parts that I actually liked, but they often were followed by something I really disliked - and that little scene I hated seemed to stand out more. These are more faults of myself than of the film, though. It's another one of those movies where I can so clearly see what it's masterful, but just didn't personally feel anything for it.