You Haven't Seen Braveheart?!

It is done.  I have seen Braveheart*.

Braveheart disproves an earth-shattering theory I’ve been forming throughout this year-long project: many films made in the 90s aren’t as good as you remember them to be.  Not all, but maaaany.  It was a weird time for movies.  Obviously there were 10s of great movies made in that decade, some of my favs, but try watching Falling Down before you recommend it to someone and see if you still like it.  It doesn’t hold up.  Braveheart holds up.  Here we can thank the 90s for not turning Braveheart into a trilogy (possibly with prequels), which is assuredly what would have happened were it made today.  Of course, I realize no film is safe from a potential completely necessary franchise, but I’m hoping Braveheart will forever stand alone on its own wonderfully sturdy Scottish legs.

Yes, I enjoyed Braveheart.  Who doesn’t like to see the underdog win?  Add that to Avenging Rape and Epic 13th Century Battles and you’ve got yourself a Netflix queue of Movies Carol Might Enjoy!  It’s just fun.  Braveheart’s not in my Top 100, but it’s a fine movie, and one I should have seen. 

And then there’s McGoohan. 

You perfect man!  I don’t care if you act the part of mean old Longshanks, you’re always (not a Number!) Six to me. 

2011, my Year of Movies, is over.  Stay tuned for my lists of the best and the worst, and thanks for reading.

*My sister Monica maintains that she and I watched Braveheart together while visiting a friend of the family in New Jersey, possibly during the summer of 1998.  I do not remember doing this, which just proves why I did this project in the first place: to watch the films I should see, and those I think I haven’t seen but have and can’t recall.

(viewed 9/30/11)

I accidentally watched the first 20 minutes of the 2009 remake of Fame before I realized Netflix had shipped me the wrong disc in the correct paper sleeve.  I mean, the graphics of the title sequence gave it away, but I kept watching anyway.  I’m not here to tell you that the remake is an unwatchable failure, you know this or could guess (re: Frasier and Lilith together again!!).  But that tiny snippet I watched made the original so much more endearing and fun.  Because 80s New York— when it was still rough and unsafe in more places than not— is what makes the film possible.  It does not work in 2000s New York.  All the students had nice clothes on.  What’s the fun in watching upper middle class (mostly white) kids go to an arts high school?  Granted I didn’t watch the entire film, but if my college experience is any indication, it’s pretty boring. (Carol: 1, College: $85,745,908,204,629,438,752,093,487,519,385.09)

A few other things make the original Fame work: every girl isn’t a babe, the actors look somewhat close to high school-aged kids, the students aren’t professional musicians/actors/dancers their first year— there’s a transformation.  Fun stuff. 

“Be a professional, you’re going to be one anyway!”

I have that fabulous song stuck in my head and most likely will for days.  After seeing The Runaways last year at Sundance, someone told me to watch this movie.  I can’t remember who recommended it, but I put it on my To See list. Then I put it on my Netflix queue.  Then I pushed it back and back, until finally it arrived in the mail as a result of Chronic Netflix Neglect.  CNN also involves letting the dvd sit in its envelope somewhere prominent in your living space, staring you down… it’s watchability waning as it’s relative cost to rent waxes in perfect negative correlation. 

My question now is: Why hadn’t I heard of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains before?!  I love Diane Lane and Laura Dern!  Was I too busy watching Heathers as a teen, or did this movie just fade away?  No one will ever know.  I’m not saying L&GtFS is on the Heathers level, but I enjoyed watching it because I could see my 13 year-old self LOVING it.

Besides Diane Lane, the best part about this film is obviously the uber-talky news anchors who follow The Stains rise and fall, and the constant news-ticker sound behind their coverage.  Thumbs up.

Another fun thing about watching this movie was seeing the actor David Clennon play The Stains manager.  What?  You don’t know who David Clennon is?  You mean you don’t remember the insurance agent from the beginning of Being There?  Well, I didn’t know his name until about 10 minutes ago, but I remembered his face and spent the whole movie trying to place it.  Normally, I’m very good at placing a face before turning to The Internet Movie Database for help.  Josh even used the word “uncanny” to describe my ability, which was gratifying.  But tonight my brain is foggy with a cold and I gave into the quick answer.  Ladies and Gentlemen, David Clennon!

1.  Must watch one movie per day OR seven movies per week.

2.  The only days I will purposely skip will be when I’m camping, but I have to make up the days at some point.

3.  Majority of films will be ones I’ve never seen.

That’s it.  It seems incredibly daunting and basically impossible when I think about the whole year.  So I’m thinking of it day by day, and it seems less insane.

I have a number of tools to help me:

-I made a fancy Excel spreadsheet of a running list of movies I need to see, sortable by genre, director, decade, main actor, and “other”.  It also has a page for listing each movie I watch by date.

-I’m increasing my Netflix account to three-at-a-time by mail.  I stream instantly on the xbox, but not a ton of movies are available for instant viewing.

-Josh got me a year-long subscription to the Cinefamily theater on Fairfax!  WOW.  The boyfriend wins again.  I can see any screening for free, and get a discount on special screenings.  So you know where to find me if I’m not on the couch.

-Josh just discovered how to watch movies for free on DirecTV.  Hooray!

-I have a free ticket at the ArcLight.  Not much, but it counts.  I’m sure I’ll rack up a few more freebies this year.

-And I have this blog, which I hope to update as frequently as possible.

Here we go!!