Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind
(1939) [Trailer]
Director: Victor Fleming [IMDB]

I don't know, you may have heard about this movie before, it's kind of a big deal? Gone with the Wind tops many people's 'best of' lists and is considered widely to be one of the greatest movies of all time... so I figured a blind buy on the blu-ray for this may have been acceptable. That's right, I flew into this film blind... as a first timer.... and I was ready to be blown away. The question is... was I?

Synopsis: A story about love, slavery, and civil war down in the Old South.

I knew this film was long, but Jesus-- it's like 4 hours! To use the term epic is completely fitting here. Gone with the Wind really surprised me... it didn't feel like a 4 hour long film and it definitely didn't feel like a typical Hollywood movie of that time. It's really dark and depressing, which I honestly didn't expect. I'm actually really glad I've never read/talked about this movie or had it spoiled for me in anyway.

The performances of the entire cast were memorable, but Clarke Gable and Vivien Leigh own this picture. They are so perfectly cast and their tumultuous relationship unfolds in such an entertaining way... you keep wanting to go on to find out how things will unfold for the two. I think where they end up is very shocking and left me taken aback a little.

The other thing that stands out is the visuals in this bad larry. The sets and use of lighting were extremely impressive for the time. There is a scene where the camera pulls back on a field of dead and wounded soliders that is incredible... I haven't researched it yet, but I'm pretty sure it's probably a very famous scene. The shots of Scarlett (Vivien Leigh) under the tree at Tara (her home) during the sunset were also very striking.

This is a new old favorite of mine and a welcome addition to my blu-ray library.

Skyfall

Skyfall
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Sam Mendes [IMDB]

I'm not gonna go to crazy here because my brother just reviewed this on here yesterday and I agreed whole heartedly with pretty much everything he said... SO READ HIS REVIEW.

I'll start by saying the real hero of this film is Roger Deakins, the DOP, he really did an outstanding job filming Skyfall. The film looks immaculate and there's a ton of stand out scenes, especially everything filmed in Asia. Sam Mendes borrows heavily from Christopher Nolan in this movie and I kept being reminded of The Dark Knight Rises left and right, particularly with the score and lighting.

I must say though, this is a highly entertaining film, dare I say best Bond film ever.

Now here's where I get to the most important part of the review. The movie theater I watched it in. I just recently moved to Queens (better start thinking of a new blog title) and I have a local theater right down the street. It's a pretty shabby looking theater from the outside, but it was close and had Skyfall... so fuck it, let's give it a shot. The wife and I meet up with our good friends Shawn and Doug and we arrive to find that the movie is only 5 dollars! That's right, 5 dollars! Which is insane for New York. Not only is Skyfall $5, but every movie is $5, everyday... before 5PM. I love my new neighborhood. So we enter and the inside is about as impressive as the outside. There are two big screens (that were playing Twilight and Cloud Atlas) and then all the other screens including ours, which were smaller. There were smudges on our screen and you could sometimes hear Wreck it Ralph playing next door when it was quiet, but for 5 dollars... I'm not complaining. I think I'm in love with the ghetto theater in Sunnyside.