Watched 2012

Thanks to @gm928 for his help (his consistent help) with finding my ol' Profile information! Thank you!
I'll add some thoughts to these as I go. Watch this space... or better yet, watch the films!

Pink Floyd's The Wall, I watched The Wall over the holidays, a week or so after listening to the album. I knew, as soon as the film began, that watching it on a MacBook Pro was possibly the silliest way to watch this film, that it truly belonged on a big screen. However, the whole film had been uploaded to YouTube and there were many films, to watch, so before and after work, I watched it.

The album came about because Roger Water’s found the spectators of Pink Floyd’s In The Flesh/Animals Tour to be quite rough and bad mannered, and he was so affected that he imagined building up a wall between the band and the audience. He felt alienated by playing Stadium shows

The character of Pink, played by Bob Geldof before he was a Sir, is “modeled after himself and the band’s original leader, Syd Barrett (who inspired the scene where Pink shaves off all his hair). Pink has traumatic memories from losing his father and feeling crushed by his mothers overprotectiveness, and tormenting teachers, and the break down of his marriage.

What I found interesting about the production of this album, is that there was a 40-page script, and they did a table read, and every one was excited because they could SEE the album.  

What I found incredible was how long the production for the album was, and how work-intensive it was, and I found it quite sad, how a lot of the band members worked by themselves and some dropped out or conflicted.

I also found it sad that during the tour of the wall, Roger Waters still felt isolated and that the bands relations deteriorated. It felt like what Waters created, that was based on past feelings, only became greater and more troubling for every one. The reality became the art became the reality.

I really enjoyed the illustrations by Gerald Scarfe. They were grotesque and at sometimes I felt too obviously sexual, but the ugliness I recognized from seeing those images from my childhood, from album covers or things that my mother and father must have been interested in.

More depressing to learn is that the artists involved with the film continued to fall out during the production.

I found the film to be very interesting; a very long music video, that never really lost my attention for a second. I found it to be quite heartbreaking and frustrating and I found the repetition of “Tear down the wall” to be quite enlightening, and will use it as a reminder in my Acting journal.

Goodbye Charlie, I watched this film to watch Ellen Burstyn, though she was known as Ellen McRae then. She wasn't in the whole film, but she was amusing. It's interesting to see this to see how Burstyn has grown.
The story was quite bizarre, but every now and then I laughed and Tony Curtis grows on you. It took me ages to recognize Walter Matthau, he had this ridiculous accent.
The one thing I found the most hilarious was how it contained exactly the same things that Down With Love makes fun of, like the sexual innuendo two characters used while talking about a "sick" car. I loved the outfits and the hair. It'd be so much fun to be in a 60s project!


Happy Days - Beckett on Film, I have to read this play and try to see it performed in the theatre. I found that it started to hurt my head. I really liked Rosaleen Linehan, though I found her a little too inaudible at times and the spit in her throat often rattled in a way that I found distracting, not affective. I loved the last moment with Winnie and Willie. That moved me.


Game of Thrones Season 2, Game of Thrones is like sex. If I was a teenager, I would be playing some sort of RPG of it right now, but thank goodness I am grown and all I want to do is cook some of the recipes from the Game of Thrones Cookbook, one day.

The silly thing is that I had watched the last two episodes (not with total attention) before I had watched any of the series, so it was very interesting for me to go back to the start and see how people ended up in their situations at the end of Season 2.

It also saved me some grief, because I knew that certain people weren't actually dead and that helped.

I hope Sam doesn't die.


Game of Thrones Season 1


Spoiler? The last thing I expected was what happened to Sean Bean to  happen. I cried and cried and cried.


Dark Shadows


Alice Doesn't Live Here Any More


West Wing Season 7


West Wing Season 6


Srebrenica: A Cry from the Grave, I finished watching this on a Sunday. All Easter holiday I had studied the events of Srebrenica and the war in Bosnia. This film is very interesting, with some very beautiful interviews with survivors, but I've read far worse things about what happened in Srebrenica than this film shows us.

The Story of Aus, we watched this in Voice Class. It was very funny and very interesting to hear all the different Australian accents, even though they say that it's a myth that different regions of Australia have different accents. I don't agree, I believe we do, maybe not all people from some regions, but the accent differs from one individual to the next.

All About Eve
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Jo's Boy/Le Fils a Jo
A Cry In The Dark/Evil Angels, 


House of Spirits, a very uncomfortable film. Irons, Streep and Close are all magnificent. Glenn Close delivers a particularly moving monologue, that I would love to keep. I would suggest reading about the film before watching it though, because it was just so strange at first. It took a couple of viewings to finish the film.

Hombre, I watched this film for Diane Cilento, a lady who one of my teachers studied with in Northern Queensland before she passed away. Diane Cilento has an amazing voice and eyes that live and think with each word that either she or characters say to her. She has an ancient understanding about her. She seems like one who knows her body, her soul and feels comfortable with the power she radiates towards people. I enjoyed her performance in this film. It was quite intriguing though I found it pretty funny during the first scene.

Shame, we saw this at the cinema. There were quite a few elderly people there and that was quite uncomfortable. I'm not mature enough to watch this film and not giggle and feel like I'm watching a porn movie. I could see how both characters dealt with their pain and I wish I could have stayed with him the whole time at the end, but I couldn't help but think that it was excessive. I felt embarrassed. I also didn't think that Carey Mulligan really gave her best when singing her song. I felt like I was meant to be really moved by it, brought to tears, like other characters. But it just sounded like someone singing New York New York sadly who really couldn't sing. Are people moved by people who can't sing? Usually it's a soft but well executed voice full of sadness that moves us, isn't it? I very much admire Carey Mulligan but this film kept making me think that I was meant to feel something now and then feeling guilty for not feeling it. Is that it? Did it work? Is that the whole point of the film? He's meant to feel aroused by a natural, normal attraction but he doesn't and he feels guilty about that?

I enjoyed it (I was shocked and moved) either way and I saw a man pee on film for the first time in my life and that felt important. I also thought both Fassbender and Mulligan were incredibly brave and I applaud them for that. The scene with the waiter cracked me up, as that is somehow how my job feels - so awkward.

The Deer Hunter, this last scene in this movie (if it is the scene where they are all at the table) is a textbook for acting students. The use of breath between the actors is the very foundation of what we learn to be important. I wasn't particularly moved by any parts of this film (I don't know why), but I am glad I saw it for the last scene and to see the actors we admire in their golden youth!

My Week With Marilyn, I saw this at the cinema and I'm very glad I did. I loved it! I think that anyone interested in acting should watch this film. Sure, the methods of making film differ and have changed now, but other parts of it continue. The union stuff. The read through, etc. I thought Michelle Williams did a marvelous job of Marilyn. She made me forget that Marilyn Monroe really doesn't look anything like Michelle Williams, which I think is pretty impressive feat. This also made me appreciated Marilyn Monroe's artistry. Even though I always admired her, I think I will respect her more now. I wish people could have helped her. I wish that people could learn from all the artists who have died before them. When are we going to be able to stop them from hurting themselves? Or is that what keeps us interested? It's quite unnerving.

Hunger, we were asked to watch this film for A Ballad With Reading Gaol and it was very helpful because it led me to Bobby Sands and his diary entries and poetry. Since Oscar Wilde was an Irishman who suffered in jail, the connection was powerful. The film was excellently shot. The conditions these prisoners put themselves in to try to acheive their political goals were grotesque. I don't know how they did it. There is a scene where a man cleans up the piss that the prisoners have leaked out into the hallway and he sweeps it forward and back into some of their cells. It is interesting how a simple task can be so compelling to watch. This wasn't my first introduction to Michael Fassbender, but I am glad I got to see him like this. I love the scene of Bobby Sands with the Priest. I was so impressed that it was all just one take. I can imagine that trying to do one take really raises the stakes in ones performance, brings it to the intense level of theatre. I found it interesting that I only shed one tear as he shed one tear at the end of the film. The look he gives, the exhalation of breath, is a great example of the importance of intention with breath.

Shine, we had to watch the first 10 minutes of this movie over again because you need to be in a completely silent environment if you don't want to miss the babbling of Geoffrey Rush, who is somehow articulate amongst all that incessant babbling, but only if your mind and environment is quiet. I'd like to see the real David Helfgott perform. He is coming to QPAC this year. This is a very inspiring story, but it is a shame to see so much controversy surrounding Helfgott and his wife.

J. Edgar, another movie I should have supported at the box office! I really enjoyed this film. I was also impressed to see Chuck Bass himself in the film, though he was actually very good. I wanted more from Armie Hammer. I adored him in Social Network but he felt so squeaky and new next to a more grounded, experienced Leonardo DiCaprio. What does Leonardo DiCaprio have to do to win some gold? I hope he doesn't lose heart. Maybe it'll be Gatsby that gets him something.

Dancer in the Dark, finally worked up the courage to watch this film. We were recommended to watch it by our acting teachers at school to help us try to understand the emotional depths we'd have to seek for our performance assessment. Oh! It was painful. It was so strange. I can't say I actually liked it at all. The plot was predictable and therefore you just knew, especially if you know Lars von Trier's films, that shit is going to go down and the main character will suffer horrible wrongs. Even though I didn't like the songs, I did like Bjork's joy while singing them and I liked that they helped take me out of the emotion of the story. Musicals always seem to serve two purposes, to quiet your mind a little while the plot somehow moves along or to really heighten a point or dramatic/romantic/comedic moment that really does move the story along, if not just intensifies the moment, and you are moved. This movie, the songs, they helped quiet my mind. They helped me take a breath and stop getting caught up in it's horror. Especially at the end. I cried and cried and the she sung and I stopped, and then she stopped and I started. One would say possibly that it was a "Brechtian" technique. My boyfriend says that that's just an excuse people use when its just really bad.

Bad or good, I felt like I was breaking at the end of the film. I was in so much pain. The teachers would have been pleased that I had a "cathartic experience."

Kate and Leopold, I made David watch this. Muahahaha. I love this film. It's so silly. I think I just like the etiquette of that time, even though the time period is totally impractical for an independent woman like Kate McKay. It's just such an impossible situation but hey, now I know who Bradley Whitford is, and that made it all the more enjoyable to watch.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, we saw this at the cinema. It was brilliant. I didn't catch every thing at first, David had to help explain some parts to me at the end. It was quite heartbreaking wasn't it? And I was surprised at how attractive Mark Strong was. I had always imagined him as a really short, mean man, simply because of his character in Kick Ass (even though there's nothing about that film that indicates that he is short, I must have just made the evil parts about him less powerful by imagining as short (which, apologies to short people, must seem to mean less power... but we all know that isn't true, right Game of Thrones fans?).

Requiem for a Dream, I finally saw this and wow. I now understand why every one often discusses it or mentions it with awe. I was watching this film for Ellen Burstyn's performance, which was remarkable, of course, now I understand. My favourite moment has to be the end, (possible spoiler alert?) showing what each person has lost due to drugs - I don't believe this gives anything away.

Paul, I felt guilty for not seeing this in cinemas when it came out, but after watching the DVD, I don't feel so bad. I enjoyed it, but it didn't fascinate me. I felt like the aliens lack of energy or enthusiasm for a great part of the film made the story lag.

Rango, I wish I had seen this at the cinema and given it some box office money. It was so good! It was probably one of the best animations I have seen since some of the groundbreaking Pixar films. The quality of the animations as superb, the story was interesting and it was incredibly funny and I loved how Gore Verbinski directed it. I would love to be a part of something like that!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (US), after we had watched the original trilogy, we wanted to see what this would be like. I think we saw it at the cinema. I don't know why we did that if we did. I loved the opening credits they were very nice. I thought that some of the original drama was missing from this version. It may be more true to the book, I don't know, but I thought the opening of the package of the framed pressed flower and the reveal of his collection and the exploding car were all less dramatic (and therefore, in my opinion, less interesting) than in the film. I did like the scene with Stellan Skarsgård though. The film brought up a fabulous point about how people know they are in trouble and yet they don't take their gut instincts advice. I loved that.

Source Code, "I can't remember what Source Code was about..." "Source Code? That's the shit Jake Gyllenhaal one." I still don't remember. I can see Gyllenhaal's face, but I can't hear what he's saying. I like Gyllenhaal anyway.

Bra Boys, I think it's important to watch this film if you want to understand the people who were at one point blamed for instigating the Cronulla riots.

Elizabeth, I watched this with someone who hadn't seen the whole film. It was fun to revisit because I had forgotten a lot of the story and we also got to enjoy Eric Cantona, who I wouldn't have enjoyed before seeing Looking for Eric.

The West Wing S5, things are getting more interesting, but I really feel like S3, 4 and 5 are not as stimulating or as enjoyable as S1, 2 and 6, 7. I felt like the small jewels of humour had been lost.

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, I really disliked her brother, not just because he was a monster, but his whole character in general or maybe it was the performance of the actor. It felt appropriate but at the same time it was incredibly frustrating to watch, and I was disappointed that the climax of the film was between the siblings.

The Girl Who Played With Fire, sort of like Star Wars Episode 5.

127 Hours, we both found ourselves very emotional while watching this film. It's incredibly humbling and inspiring. To know what we are capable of but to also face the sad fact that most of us would not be able to do what he did. Films that place the importance on life are so important for us to watch, the next moments after the film have ended feel so fresh and alive and you just want to hold on to it for as long as you possibly can, and not get lost in the crowd.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, we wanted to watch the original films before seeing the US version. It's almost like we wanted to pay our respects, and I'm so glad we did. This film is so complicated and so thrilling.

The Jane Austen Book Club, I've always wanted to watch this film ever since I saw it's trailer on another silly rom-com film. This film is one of those touching but funny films that you want to pick up an hug. It's not perfect, but neither are your best friends. What I'll remember about this film and the next four films I watched was where I was and who I was with. I was so happy, so relaxed. Life was a perfect dream.