at the movies with dave...

Thanks to some diligent TiVo use and a little free time last week, I've recently managed to catch up on three movies that up to now I've failed to see in their entirety due to various reasons. (Lack of opportunity, lack of interest, and childhood trauma, respectively.) I present my brief reactions below....

THE SHINING: No, I don't know how I've managed not to see this one either. I've seen all the "scary" parts here and there though, so the movie lacked any real suspense whatsoever. Still, it's nice to finally know how exactly it all hangs together. I found much of the dialogue in the first act very entertaining though, and very reminiscent of the first act of 2001. It makes me wonder what kind of stage direction Kubrick used to give his actors. "No! Flatter! FAKER! Give me LESS emotion!!"

DR. STRANGELOVE, (OR: YADDA YADDA...): Every time I've watched more than 10 minutes of this film in the past my reaction has been the same... "I thought this was supposed to be a comedy...?" I wasn't exactly rolling in the aisles this time, but at least now I "get it". I've always been skeptical of the label of "genius" often pinned on Peter Sellers... it's nice to see him in something other than "The PInk Panther".

WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY: My wife TiVo'd this for the kids, and I mustered up the resolve to sit through it. I didn't find the same things creepy as I found as a kid... but I could clearly identify what they were. And that's not to say I didn't find it creepy this time. I just found DIFFERENT things creepy.

Anyway, I feel somehow relieved to get some of those pop-culture-literacy points out of the way.