Hey, I went to a Red Sox game and they won! I'm sure it's happened at some other point this season, but I can't recall it. Plus, movies!
Stubless: Young Gun in the Time, in my living room on Saturday night via a Fantasia Festival screener.
I've generally been terrible about watching screeners that I'm given to review, but there's something nicely focusing about another festival with the same movie coming up that gets the thing put in the DVD player. It's not like EFC is going to get other coverage of Fantastic Fest, after all (as much as I like Jay Whyte's enthusiasm, I am much less interested in hearing about the people who go than the movies they show).
Anyway, the week started with Blackmail with the Alloy Orchestra. It could have started with the first CineCaché screening of the fall, but, yeah, silent Hitchcock with live music wins. Of course, there were points on Monday when this didn't seem like a particularly great idea; getting from work in Burlington to the Coolidge for a 7pm show via public transportation is a near thing in the best of conditions and, man, was the 17th not the best of days. I thought things were going well when there was little wait between the 350 bus and the Red Line at Alewife and a C Line train showed up right away at Park, but it was slow in the tunnels and once we were out, it seemed like we were advancing meters at a time (you can feel the whole train wanting to yell "come on, you can do it!" to the engine until the mood inevitably turns angry). By the time I realized it would be faster to get out and walk, they wouldn't open the door even when stopped in a place where doing so would be perfectly safe. I arrived at the 7pm show at 7:20, and it's a good thing I didn't mind sitting on the end of the front row, right next to the band, which was just starting to accompany the "Filmstudie" short. I think it's one of the ones I saw this March; especially since another short started as soon as it finished, causing the guys in the band to ask if someone could tell the projectionist to go to the main film, because while "The Life of a Film Extra" is a fun film, they weren't going to do that one. Screwy night all around.
As for the rest, I hit the RPX screen for Dredd in 3D and went to Somerville for End of Watch. I'd heard good things about Dredd's use of 3D and the RPX screen is the best for that in the area, non-actual-IMAX category, while at Somerville, sometimes you get lucky and wind up with film on the big screen, but not today. An interesting pairing, just because they both wind up being "two cops in an ambush" movies, but good ones that take things in entirely different directions.
Blackmail (silent version)
* * * (out of four)
Seen 17 September 2012 in Coolidge Corner Theatre #1 (Sounds of Silents, 35mm w/ live accompaniment)
I've reviewed this one before, and pretty much stand by that assessment: Good movie, Hitchcock was great from the start... You know the drill. It does, admittedly, lose a little something the second time through; there's a bit less delight in the perversity of the situation and the actions of the characters seem less motivated, while the finale is kind of a cheat. It's not enough to spoil the movie, but does lead to those weird moments when you remember something being great, but the reality is not quite there.
Still, it's a fun movie with some nifty work for a silent; the rig they must have built for a scene where the characters climb a staircase must have been pretty elaborate. It's a reminder that I really should get back on that "all Hitchcock in order" project, maybe working my way up to Universal by the time their massive Blu-ray box arrives in a month.
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