Blind Spot 2016: Roman Polanski's Tess

Blind Spot 2016: Last Year at Marienbad

Blind Spot 2016: Dr. Strangelove

Blind Spot 2016--Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch

Blind Spot 2016: The Deer Hunter

When I picked The Deer Hunter for my July Blind Spot way back in December, I had little idea that the film and its maker, the unfortunate Michael Cimino, would come up in conversation so much in the months between. Cimino died on July 2nd of this year at 77, leaving a legacy of really only two films. One an epic Best Picture winner, a film widely acclaimed as a masterpiece. The other an epic flop of massive proportions that may also be a masterpiece...at least it is to some. I haven't seen it.

Blind Spot 2016: Fellini's 8 1/2

"...But we intellectuals, and I say we because I consider you such, must remain lucid to the bitter end. This life is so full of confusion already, that there's no need to add chaos to chaos. Losing money is part of a producer's job. I congratulate you. You had no choice. And he got what he deserved for having joined such a frivolous venture so lightheartedly. Believe me, no need for remorse. Destroying is better than creating when we're not creating those few, truly necessary things..."

Catching Up with Blind Spot 2016: Tokyo Story and Singin' in the Rain

April: I watched very few movies. I was quite busy. My plan was to watch Ozu's Tokyo Story, as it is perennially considered one of the best movies ever made. (Ha!) So, I put it on...for about half an hour. Then, I decided that I would actually rather go outside and watch the grass grow. Sorry. But this is my second attempt at this film, and I just can't do it. I get the uniqueness of Ozu's style. I can appreciate what he did for cinema in that regard. But it is just....so....fucking....painfully....slow...., which is not always a deterrent for me. It was for this one.

May: I was even busier. I didn't even try to watch my May pick, the Gene Kelley musical Singin' in the Rain. But I did watch it in mid-June. It's the shit! Here's my Blind Spot reaction:

Blind Spot 2016: Imitation of Life (1959)

I know it's April, but this is my March Blind Spot. Thanks for the delayed shipment, Netflix. You ruined my scheme. Or, it's probably my fault for always forgetting to shift my queue and waiting until the end of the month...

Anyway, after years, I have FINALLY watched Douglas Sirk's 1959 supreme "women's weepie," Imitation of Life. My Mom was born in 1959. This is my Mom's favorite movie, or at least one she talks about all the time. She, no doubt, tried to get me to watch this thing many times when I was young. I always rain checked it though, never bought in. I made it a point, this year, to finally do it. I'm proud of myself.

Blind Spot 2016: The Sting

There's something inherent in movies about con artists that just work on you, and, when the concept is done well, it is the most rewarding kind of movie experience.

The Sting is that kind of movie experience. It works on its audience very much like the story it tells. Let's just say I spent the better part of the movie at arms length, thinking I might be missing something, rewinding even at times, only to come to realize that nothing was really ever hinted at, or what it seemed, reaching places you knew it would go (because it told you it would) but never, for a second, letting on to how exactly it would get there.

Blind Spot 2016: Rocky

At a certain moment while watching Rocky, it occurred to me why people love this movie so much:  It doesn't care about winning. Which makes it a winner. It's funny. I wonder if audiences today would embrace this movie the same way they did in 1976. We have an acclaimed, crowd-pleasing movie from the Rocky Balboa Universe this year called Creed. I haven't seen it yet (I wanted to see this first.), but I wonder if it succeeded for the same reasons...

Blind Spot 2016: Announcing My Selections

Last year about this time, I ran across some of my fellow bloggers offering up their lofty lists of unseen great ones, which of course led me to Ryan McNeil at The Matinee and the genesis of the Blind Spot Series. Being new to the movie blog world, I jumped in all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, making a list myself. I made it through August, then the wheels fell off. Football season started. I started back to work (I'm a teacher.). And I just had to let go, knowing the commitment it takes to really dive into a well-regarded film and do it justice. 

I'm trying again. My Mama didn't raise no quitter.