Watched: 12/30/2018
Format: Netflix
Viewing: First
Decade: 2010's
I missed Boyhood (2014) during its theatrical release, and it's basically taken me this long to slog through the gushing, near-manic insistence folks had that I HAD to see this movie.* I'm okay with some of Linklater's output, but aside from Slacker, haven't ever really responded to it the way you're supposed to. Especially as an Austinite of a certain generation.
Watched: Some time in December
Viewing: Unknown
Format: Netflix
Decade: 1950s
I watched White Christmas (1954) a couple of weeks ago and forgot to write it up. It's a Michael Curtiz flick, which means it's automatically a decent sort of film. I understand Bing Crosby thought the film's final product was a disappointment, and I have to say - there's something odd about the movie I can never quite put my finger on that doesn't work.
Likely my main issue is that the third act misunderstanding between Rosemary Clooney and Crosby makes no sense at all (and seems like a single question posed by Clooney's character would have cleared things up). And I learned this viewing that the part played by Danny Kaye was originally supposed to be Donald O'Connor, which... we'll just have to let our imaginations fill in the blanks, but some of what's in the script makes more sense if that's who you wrote the part for.
While mostly a bit of holiday fluff, it is an interesting peek into the Post WWII American mindset and does give us a bit of the returning soldier's melancholy as some try to find their useful place in society when they aren't commanding a regiment.
Also, Rosemary Clooney wears a black dress that Jamie and I are going to have to agree to disagree about.
Watched: 12/25/2018
Format: Rifftrax
Viewing: First
Decade: 2010's
I am not a gamer. The only console I own is one of those 2600 emulator boxes and it hasn't been out of the closet in a year. I get that people spend a lot of time on video games, and that I have no stones to throw about people wasting their time and money on non-real-things. I write on a blog that needlessly analyzes movies and occasionally comics and talks a lot about comic-based movies. Take all of the below with the necessary grain of salt.
It's Christmas Eve here at The Signal Watch. By now the sun is down and, if you're lucky, there's not much to do but make yourself a cup of cocoa or pour a cocktail or two. Unless you're headed for Midnight Mass or late service. If so, we'll catch you on the other side.
I hope your Christmas Eve is spent as you'd wish. For me, it's a small gathering of family. We're planning to eat tacos and tamales (this is Texas, after all), and stay up a bit late watching movies and maybe indulging in those cocktails. I'll be the last one up, most likely. I am every year and have been since I was a kid.
stockings are hung by the chimney with care
I like that image from Paul Dini and Alex Ross's graphic novella Peace on Earth. As Scrooge might have learned on his own Christmas Eve - there's more joy in others than in the accumulation of riches, more satisfaction in knowing we've reached out somehow to our neighbors here on this big, blue marble. Let's all strive to do better and raise each other up in 2019.
For the past several years I've closed out with Ms. Darlene Love and one of my favorite Christmas tunes. If I didn't love the song before (and I did), then seeing Ms. Love perform the song as her show closer here in Austin a few years back was one of the best live performances I've ever seen. After the melancholy tunes of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, some Nat King Cole, some Sinatra and some new favorites - this is how I want to say goodnight before Christmas morning arrives and a new round of celebration begins.
This version has the incredible addition of Ms. Patti LaBelle.
Peace on Earth. Goodwill towards all. God bless us, every one.
