The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

And here I break my streak of 3.5 star movies over the last 2 days. Sometimes I enjoy Apatow, and sometimes his stuff is just too much and I just can't take it. This one is much closer to the latter. The first 30 minutes or so were raunchy enough that it made me uncomfortable (which doesn't happen often) and even though it got a little better after that, it was never really that *funny*. Steve Carell plays a likable main character and I found myself rooting for him and hating everyone around him, all of which seemed like they were *trying* to make him unhappy and uncomfortable. There are some good moments here and there and a satisfying ending to the story, but overall not worth the watch. 1.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1117 out of 1872, below A Shot in the Dark and above The Lost Boys.

La jetée (1962)

I didn't remember the connection to 12 Monkeys until about halfway through this flick, but, truth be told, I think I like this version better, much as I enjoy Terry Gilliam (and Brad Pitt when he's acting crazy). La jetée is short, concise, and I LOVE the use of still photos. I'm usually not a fan of avant garde films or short films, but this one has a clear narrative - always a good thing for me - and its filming style enhances the story rather than obscures it. 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #691 out of 1871, below Double Indemnity and above Laura.

Ugetsu (1953)

Spoilers ahead.

This movie is slow to get going, and I got pretty impatient at the beginning, but as it continues, I was drawn into the story and in the end, I found it an extremely haunting story (no pun intended). Watching these two men abandon their women to pursue their own dreams and happiness is tragic and heartwrenching, and their reunions are equally tragic. A very well done movie. 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #661 out of 1870, below 21 and above Peggy Sue Got Married.

Ninotchka (1939)

I was under the completely wrong impression when I watched this movie. I thought it was a dark drama, probably with a sad ending. That was all easily flipped upside down in the first few minutes, which made me smile several times. Although the movie does get bogged down with overly emotional romantic drama at the end, overall this movie is delightful, cheerfully accepting the most ridiculous aspects of stories about falling in love. Charming. 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #636 out of 1869, below Elf and above The Reader.

Giant (1956)

Like most 3-hour movies encompassing several years of someone's life, this sprawls a bit too much for my taste, touching on topics like greed, unrealistic expectations, broken relationships, family pride, chauvinism, before finally being about racism for the last 45 minutes or so. I suppose the thing tying it all together is Rock Hudson's character, who is at the center of nearly all of these themes, but the movie frames Elizabeth Taylor as the one we're supposed to sympathize with, so it wasn't even until the final half hour that I realized Rock Hudson was probably the central character.

The final third of the movie is the most interesting, as it seems the most unified and consistent a narrative, and it's where it finally ties the rest of the movie together. The other thing I enjoyed most about this movie was Elizabeth Taylor's character. She was the rare "feisty female" who had interesting and likeable characteristics beyond just being feisty.

Overall, an okay movie. Nothing to get too excited about, and not nearly good enough for me to feel good about watching three hours of it. 2.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1300 out of 1868, below The Perfect Score and above Never Been Kissed.

Three Colors: Red (1994)

Spoilers ahead.

I haven't seen either of the other two in the Three Colors trilogy, but I'd been told it was safe to watch them all separately, so when this came up in my romance movie challenge, I decided to watch it.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. The dynamic between Valentine and the old judge was fascinating, and whenever the movie focused on them, I loved it. However, the side plot with Auguste was completely confusing. He didn't show up enough for me to even remember who he was half the time (I kept trying to remember anything he'd done before) and then I started wondering if he was the judge from the past, as they seemed to have the exact same life history and I couldn't remember if we'd ever seen them together. In the end, I had to use Wikipedia to figure out what was actually going on, and I'm still not sure he was at all necessary except to perhaps hint at a future romance between him and Valentine. Take him out of the equation and I really enjoyed the movie. Add him back in and it gets a little iffier. 3.5 stars.

Flickchart: #614 out of 1867, below Witness for the Prosecution and above Taxi Driver.

Pierrot le Fou (1965)

This is my second Godard film I've seen and it didn't fare any better than the other (Band of Outsiders). The almost-narrative is covered with bizarre scenes and moments that kept making me say, "What does THAT mean?" out loud. People die and I don't know why. People quote things and none of it connects. Small Asian men with guns are suddenly in people's houses reading typewriter printouts and I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. I can' t make any sense of what's going on, but neither can I let go of the linear narrative and try to construct an emotional response, because every time I tried to do that, it returned to the narrative and pretended that it was a straightforward story again for a little bit. This might have all sorts of important meaning, but I wasn't able to follow this on either a cognitive or instinctive level, and that just made for an infuriating movie viewing experience. 0.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1702 out of 1866, below Dumbo and above Watership Down.