2021 began with a change in how I track the movies I watch. Out with the old — an e-mail draft that I would send myself at the end of the year — and in with the new — Letterboxd. Adding a movie to the diary was such a pleasant, aesthetic experience that I found myself watching movies just to add them. The frenzy eventually faded with a tally of 200+ movies watched since January. Plenty worth talking about. Here is some of it.
STAR TREK (1979-2002)
I didn’t watch the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. That felt like a problem when watching these movies. There were references to happenings within the show. It had no bearing on the particular movie, but I was out of step with that crew. I couldn't tell you what two or three of characters did in the series. The movies play more like The Adventures of Picard and Data. And I tired of half of that team real quick. Still, First Contact is solid. Generations could have been tighter, but time was needed to introduce the new crew to the movie audience. It’s a well-done baton relay.
The movies of the original (William Shatner-era) series hold up well. I was more impressed with the first one than I remember. It looks epic, and the excellent score does a lot of heavy lifting. Spock has a great arc which is somewhat repeated across parts two, three and four. Final Frontier is garbage. Even though The Wrath of Kahn is, pound for pound, the best, my favorite is The Undiscovered Country, a Cold War thriller with a dash of murder mystery.
THE FIRST FOUR SELLECKS
Tom Selleck famously missed out on being Indiana Jones because the Magnum P.I. pilot was picked up and he couldn’t get out of it to film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Once he got the chance to lead a major motion picture himself, he was determined to show us his range, like a multi-image head shot.
High Road to China, 1930’s Adventurer!
Lassiter, Suave Jewel Thief!
Runaway, Sci-fi Cop!
Three Men and a Baby, Comedic Leading Man!
By a show of hands, who remembers the heroin subplot in Three Men and a Baby? It’s a third of the movie.
High Road to China has the globe-trotting adventure aspect of Raiders. Lassiter has the fedora and Nazis. It took two movies but Tom Selleck got to be Indiana Jones after all.
Incidentally, the movie is NOT called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones is one of the cock-a-doodie raiders!
CHRISTOPHER PLUMBER, R.I.P.
Christopher Plumber died February 5th. He was a great character actor who really classed up the joint.
Remember. In the fairly recent genre of “elderly actor gets a movie to carry,” this was his. It’s a great one.
The Silent Partner. A cool little heist thriller that features a kill that still make me wince. John Candy plays a bank teller.
Inside Man and The Insider. Shut up! Christopher Plumber is on the screen.
EDGAR WRIGHT’S BRITISH FILM SUGGESTIONS
The February 3rd episode of The Empire Film Podcast is a three-hour conversation between Edgar Wright and Quintin Tarantino. They talk about their favorite movie-going and -making experiences for the first half. The second half of the episode is a deep dive into British cinema. I only skimmed the surface of the suggestions.
The Hidden Room (US title: Obsession). The classic tale of keeping your wife’s lover hostage for months under threat of death.
Guns at Batasi. I am a sucker for a day-long pressure cooker.
The Flesh and the Fiends. “The best Burke and Hare movie.” - Edgar Wright.
The Queen of Spades. This deal with the devil story is the best of the lot.
I was able to stream Obsession. I bought the others on disc. It was the only way to see them.
PHYSICAL DISC PANIC
I have a physical disc panic every year or two. I’m not too concerned that current movies will disappear from digital availability. It’s the older stuff that will be lost because they don’t make it to a digital platform at all.
Who decides which older, low-profile movies are made available in the digital world? Sure beats the heck out of me, but when I think of a movie and it is nowhere to be found in the digital stream, I panic that all will be lost and a buying frenzy begins.
This time the panic started when, on Inauguration Day, I thought about Eddie Murphy’s The Distinguished Gentleman. [click, click, internet search, click, click] It wasn’t anywhere digitally. No streaming service. No rental options. [CLICK, CLICK, INTERNET SEARCH, CLICK, CLICK] I found the DVD for $5. Nothing says “sure, fuck it” like the five-dollar bin.
Was it worth the purchase? Lower case yes. The DVD isn’t formatted for a widescreen TV. Not only are there black bars on the top and bottom, a common sighting, but also on the left and right, a picture-in-picture without the in-picture. That is frustrating and a calculated risk in this game. However, I have it. Probably won’t watch it again for another 29 years. But I have it. *phew* close one.
Other 2021 panic purchases include: Spider (David Cronenberg), Red Rock West, Pump Up the Volume, The Killer, Prizzi’s Honor, Sweet Liberty, Amadeus (because the director’s cut is the only digital option).
GETTING BACK TO THE THEATER
I am relieved that Studio 35 and Gateway Film Center survived the pandemic. The theater chains survived, too, but, c’mon, they were going to be fine.
Moments that made me really miss going to the movie theater:
The naval action of Greyhound.
The opening landscape shots of News of the World.
Godzilla and King Kong fighting.
Any movie that required my undivided attention.
Every time I thought about popcorn.
I’ve been to the Studio 35 and GFC a few times this year. Nobody is a decent action flick that turns Bob Odenkirk into John Wick. A Quiet Place II is just as logically absent-minded and entertainingly tense as the first one. The Sparks Brothers documentary has all the Sparks I need. F9: The Fast Saga continues the Olive Garden movie franchise.
Gateway Film Center has remodeled their membership program. It’s an even better deal than before. An introductory price of $15 per month gets you all the regular film screenings you want to see and all the popcorn you want to eat. There are a few more perks, but jeez, what else do you want? A ride to the theater?
(When the introductory period is over the monthly rate will be $20/per month. It pays for itself after you see two movies a month. If you only see one, or none, then you are still supporting a local movie house to bring a wide variety of movies and movie events to Columbus.)
Studio 35 has remodeled the lounge and added a second screen and a pizza oven. Swing by for a pizza or a sub. Dine in or carry out. Be sure to get the pizza bread.