Leila On Movies

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Darjeeling Limited

What a whimsical, ecclectic, touchingly true movie.
Three brothers go on a train trip across India in search of something meaningful.

Taut character story that follows the life of a real life person portrayed by Denzel Washington.

I turned to my husband and whispered, "This is like a black Godfather."
I hope no one takes offense at the description, but it' true!

Beowulf

Last night I saw Beowulf at the Seattle Center IMAX, 3D goggles and all.

What struck me about the film was that it was boring. I mean I love action movies. I love the Beowulf story. I love Angelina Jolie. I love cool new technology in the digital era.

So, what happened with this movie? Why was it so flat?
It felt forced, rushed through, pandering.

Maybe I need to see it again.
Who knows.

It was a wash.

Why Leila On Movies?

I'm starting this site because I love movies.

I watch movies every day. I go see them in the theater. I see them on my computer, I watch them on my TV, on VHS, DVD.

I think about movies all the time. I think about movies I've seen the night before or movies I saw that day. I hear lines of dialouge going through my head. I think about movies I'd like to make.

I want to make movies.

I've written screenplays for movies.

Movies make me think.

Movies touch me. They make me feel alive. They make me feel like I'm not alone. They get me in touch with other thinking, creative, alive people.

I think that movies are the apotheotetic art form; that is, they are the highest art form and the greatest expressive art. I think that they bring together all the other arts; story, visual mise en scene, choreography, cinematography, costumes, set decoration, sound tracks, scoring, and music. They bring together many different artistic expressions and manifest into one whole.

Why movies and not film or cinema or reel? The term "movies" means the most to me of all the words for moving pictures. The reason is that they are just that: moving pictures. Movies is a short and cute and fun word. Film is anachronistic, old school, referring to a medium that isn't always or even often used to shoot movies these days. Cinema is more the place we see movies, and I love cinema. I love going to the cinema. And reel, well, that's also archaic, as film was shot and stored on reels.
I'm going to call all moving pictures movies for the above reasons.

So, here, at Leila On Movies, I share my musings on movies.
I share movie reviews, critiques, reflections.
I share bests of, favorites, and lists.

Please chime in and share your thoughts about movies.

Cheers!
Leila

Leila On Movies

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Things We Lost In The Fire

The Darjeeling Limited

I Saw American Gangster

Beowulf

More Leila On Movies

Why Leila On Movies?

Leila On Movies

Of the recently released movies listed below, which one do you most recommend seeing? (you can choose more than one)

COOL MOVIE PEOPLE

DAVID MAMET is brilliant. Read all he has to say. Heed his words. Watch his movies. Listen to him.

FRANCIS FORD COPOLLA