Sunday Screening #40: Wall-e

I’m doing something I told myself I’d never do for entirely selfish reasons. On Monday, November 7, my local trivia-ery is hosting Pixar trivia and I’ve been studying up all week. Obviously, this means that I will be only watching Pixar movies in the lead-up and can’t sacrifice any blocks of time for other films because victory is of the essence. Therefore, I’m selecting the only good Pixar movie that I’ve only seen once (Cars isn’t very good and I haven’t seen Cars 2). This breaks my personal rule (and the mission of Sunday Screenings) of selecting a film that I’d never seen. I can only hope you’ll all forgive me in time.

Sunday Screening #39: Live Tweet Spooktacular! 10-30-2011

So, some of us were talking and we decided it’s about time we make use of some of this “technology” stuff all the cool kids have been talking about. So we decided we’re going to do a live tweet event with our Halloween Sunday Screening. And if that’s not enough interaction for you, we’re also going to have a poll to decide which film we’re going to screen. They are all horror films in honor of Halloween. We’re planning on doing the screening at the same time across the US so we can all participate at the same time (we’ll see how that works). Pick your favourite below.

The movie will start at 1pm Eastern (Noon Central, 10am Pacific).

Sunday Screening #38: Once Upon a Time in the West

Hi there Screeners. I figured it’s seemed like a while since we watched a Western, so why not rectify that. I’ve seen a few of Leone’s spaghetti westerns, but I’ve never seen this one. Many consider Once Upon a Time in the Westerns ever made, and I’d like to see if I agree with them. It’s going to be a hard battle as I’ve always had a soft spot for John Wayne films (thanks to my Grandad).

Sunday Screening #37 (in a row?): Clerks

I know the number 37 has a lot of connection to movies (here’s a list http://magliery.com/37/movies.html ) but I think the number will always remind me of the Kevin Smith film Clerks. Whether you want to admit it or not Kevin Smith was part of a change to filmmaking. Along with Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez (who live in my town) a new era of low-budget DIY filmmaking was brought to the forefront. This movie along with Mallrats will always have a special place in my heart. When I first saw them on VHS I worked at a Convenience Store and drove a Volkswagen. I really enjoyed the sequel, and am saddened that Kevin Smith has decided to quit filmmaking after his forthcoming Hockey film (which is going to be 2 films). I’d really like to see where Dante, Randall, Silent Bob, and Jay end up another 10 or so years down the road.

So this week we watch a film that is not necessarily on any of the “Greatest X of all time…” lists, but is a movie that I still love.

Sunday Screening #36: Alice

That’s right! We’re going to watch the entire 10-year run of the T.V. series Alice! Hope you’ve got a couple days to kill.

OK… not really. Jan Svankmajer is an amazing animator who’s made any number of twisted stop-motion films. He was/is a huge influence on Tim Burton. I’ve never seen all of Alice and have been looking for an excuse to just sit down and watch it. Given the history of Lewis Carrol’s story and it’s any number of adaptations, I feel like there will be a lot to discuss, especially where this fits in with the rest. It’s available on Netflix Instant View.

Here’s a tasty nugget:

And because I’m a shameless whore… my stop-motion efforts:

Sunday Screening #35: The Swarm

Have you ever listened to Wu-Tang? You know that one song, Clan in Da Front ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eVUUziQUbg )? I don’t think it’s about this movie…

Basically Screeners we ended up skipping last week because I was totally unable to make a decision as to which movie to watch. That has now bled into this week and certain of us started to panic (not me, I’m used to be indecisive). Luckily for the second Sunday Screening in a row John has come to save the day. We are going to watch the 1978 film The Swarm. The film features Michael Caine and Richard Chamberlain (as well as Samwise Gamgee’s real life Mom).

I really hope this doesn’t give me Killer Bee nightmares…

Sunday Screening #34: Charade

This week’s pick comes from Screener John. I’ll let him take it away:

Cary Grant. Audrey Hepburn. Stanley Donen. Three big names from the golden era of Hollywood. What sort of film could bring them together? Why, a suspenseful, funny, and romantic thriller in the vein of Hitchcock’s lighter fare, of course. You’ve also got George Kennedy, James Coburn, Walter Matthau, and Ned Glass (the shopkeeper from West Side Story) in strong supporting roles, a witty score by the great Henry Mancini, and a sharp script by Peter Stone. And for you trivia hounds, it’s got an opening title sequence by Maurice Binder, the man responsible for the classic James Bond title sequence. See you in the comments section!

Sunday Screening #33: Super Fly

I was looking over our Screened Films list and noticed a shocking lack of diversity. Sure, there’s a couple films from Asia in there, but, aside from Shadows which was directed by a white man, we are not representing the black population at all! So I decided it’s time to remedy that.

I was going to pick some early Spike Lee or Hughes brothers, but I wanted to start a bit earlier. Unfortunately, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song isn’t on Netflix Instant View or their mail service. So I picked the one with the best soundtrack (of all time?). I could’ve gone to Movie Madness and grabbed a copy of SSBS (and I’m sure you Screeners have places to hit up), but I didn’t want to have to rely on it being there when I need it.

No video this week. Paul’s two consecutive weeks threw me off and I didn’t have something in mind until last night. Plus, with going shadowy for Shadows, silent for Intolerance, and werewolf for Ginger Snaps, I kind of feared the reaction I’d get for a similar interpretation of Super Fly.

The trailer is here. I don’t understand why anyone would want a trailer, something designed to bring in viewers to have embedding disabled. It’s ridiculous.

Sunday Screening #32: Shadow of a Doubt

If you’re lucky enough to live in Austin (hot), Texas then you’ll have an opportunity to sit in the World Famous Alamo Drafthouse Theater with my and watch this Sunday’s Screening on the big screen. The Drafthouse’s Cinema Club is presenting Shadow of a Doubt followed by insight into the film by Dr. Thomas Schatz. We did this once before with Bride of Frankenstein, and it is really nice to hear what an film professor has to add to our discussion. I will try to bring as much of his interpretation to the group as possible.

I’m sure many of you have seen Shadow of a Doubt before, and Hitchocock himself has referred to it as his favourite of his own films. If you’re in Austin hope to see you at the Drafthouse Sunday at 7:00pm.

Sunday Screening #31: Small Change

I love Francois Truffaut. Nate recently read (is reading) Truffaut’s book on Hitchcock (more on that soon). Next week we’re watching Shadow of a Doubt, so why shouldn’t we watch a Truffaut film this week? This particular film I have yet to see, although I think that Truffaut does a very good job of working with child actors.

Can’t wait to see what you all think.