What I watched in March

[blue_lotus13]

Hump Day- I thought this movie was absolutely brilliant. It tells the story of 2 guys who decide to film themselves sleeping with each other in order to enter Seattle's amateur porn festival. Very realistic dialogue and brilliant story.

Last Train Home- a documentary about China's migrant workers, and their plight to get home for Chinese New Year's. This was a movie that was painful to watch, raw and honest. It was definitely a good one to watch if you want to learn more about the lives of factory workers in China.

Beauty and the Beast- The Jean Cocteau version of this is pretty great. It inspired the Disney version, and is visually great and creepy.

The Conqueror- John Wayne is Genghis Khan in this movie and tells the secret of how Khan joined the clans. It's horrifically bad and is frequently on the list of worst movies made.

Far from Heaven- This brilliant film depicts life in 1950s Connecticut. Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore play a seemingly ideal couple who falls apart at the seams. I really loved this movie and thought the visuals and attention to detail were fantastic.

Couples' retreat- This movie should have been a lot more enjoyable because it had such a strong cast. It had a promising start, then it seemed like the writers went out for a coffee and handed the script over to someone else.

Shanghai Express- This movie stars Anna May Wong in her first "dragon lady" role, and Marlene Dietrich as Shanghai Lilly. It's about the intrigue that happens on a train across China. Very interesting film.

Bedlam- A Val Lewton movie about a mental asylum, starring Boris Karloff. This was one of the films that Scorsese made his cast watch as they prepared to film "Shutter Island." I like Lewton movies because they are quite creepy.

The Class- I wanted to like this movie more than I did. It was almost like a documentary about life in a rough, French school. However, I had a hard time getting excited about it.

The Informant!- Again, another movie that had great promise but fell flat. This was mostly the fault of the script, which just sort of meandered everywhere.

Every Little Step- A great documentary about the creation of "A Chorus Line." The documentary also follows new performers who are auditioning for a chorus line. Very interesting.

Good Hair- I was fascinated by Chris Rock's documentary about black women's hair. It was interesting, funny and sad and I learned a lot from watching it. I was still thinking about it several days later.

It's Complicated- I watched this on the plane and liked it a lot more than I expected to. Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were great, but it was also the feminism of the script and the smartness of the script and the situations that made it so enjoyable. I also enjoyed all the actors who played the smaller roles, like John Krasinski and Hunter Parrish.