#35 - It Happened One Night

ALEX’S POST

Here’s the best thing about our Watch This project – I get to see some awesome new sights in the city, filled with some awesome new people.

Take, for instance, our showing of It Happened One Night. A while ago, a Twitter friend named Gerard contacted me. He had a space called Cincy Coworks, where freelancers rented out a desk to work and work together with other creative people in Walnut Hills. This place had a clean white wall and a projector – perfect for movie showings. He wanted to know if I wanted to screen something there.

Boy did I ever!

Allison and I went down to the space, which was awesome. Exposed brick, badass technology, kitchen in the back. Pretty much the perfect freelance space – also for watching a film.

Here’s Alex, setting up the projector. Isn’t he adorable.

Now, I didn’t think I had ever met Gerard before – but it turns out I was wrong. I had actually met him at a blogger’s meet up about two years ago, right after I moved to Cincinnati. Woah – throw back. Still, good to see him again!

Also joining us at the screening was Paul (who actually worked in the space), the whole DoBois family and the guys from Coming Off the Reels podcast, and one of their wives Courtney, all who apparently love us. Win! (Also, Courtney brought spicy pretzels. Double win!) Plus, two new people – a woman named Mandi and her husband who had seen my poster for Watch This at Take the Cake and contacted me about coming. Awesome that she did!

MOVIE!

Ok, let’s start this off. This movie was AWESOME. AWESOMEAWESOME! Funny and sharp and full of zany comedy. In fact, I later learned it was the first screwball comedy ever made, and thank god it started off the screwball comedy craze … I think I just like saying the phrase “screwball comedy.”

They’re so cute.

Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is a spoiled heiress who runs away from home when her father (Walter Connolly) disapproves of her whirlwind marriage to a high-class playboy (Jameson Thomas). On the road, she meets Peter Warne (Clark Gable), a reporter looking for a story. Peter thinks he can use Ellie to further his career … until he falls for her. Zaniness ensues.

This was the first movie to do a grand slam at the Oscars – win all five big awards: Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay and Picture. And, I cannot say this enough, it deserved them all. The acting? Fantastic! The cinematography and scenes? Fantastic! The wit of the writing? Fantastic! This movie was cinema gold from start to finish.

You can feel the hate/love in the room.

But what really made this film, I have to say, was seeing it with a group. I laughed harder and louder with everyone else than I ever would have by myself. Sure, it would have still been great, but it was more than that here – it was an experience. I watched this movie the way it was meant to be shown, with others, all laughing, all enjoying, all into it all the way to the end.

This was what Watch This was all about!

Rating: 5 out of 5

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ALLISON’S POST

Sometimes watching these movies feels like a chore. Often, we’re surrounded by really cool people and that makes the whole thing better, but in August especially, movie-watching has felt like a pain.

It Happened One Night is the first movie I’ve gotten really excited about (movie-wise at least) in a while. It’s one that I’d meant to see years ago and put it on the “To Watch” shelf in the back of my mind. And I never did.

Let’s watch together, shall we?

We had also been invited by Cincy Coworks to use their space in Walnut Hills to screen the movie. I had never heard of it, and it turns out it’s a place for creative-minded self-employed type people to get together and share a neat office space. Pretty cool!

Plus, they had balance balls. Something about being on a balance ball watching a movie made me feel more engaged, like constantly trying not to fall over kept me alert.

(Editor’s Note) I could make a joke here, but I won’t.

That didn’t matter much though, because It Happened One Night was engaging, hilarious and sweet right from the start.

It was interesting to watch and realize that It Happened One Night is the original chick flick. The distressed heiress runs away from her father and attempts to travel by bus to her fiancée who she maybe only sort of became engaged with to piss her father off. And then we meet the witty, down-on-his-luck reporter who quickly figures out who she is.

They travel together, argue, are forced to share a bedroom when it was definitely not okay for an unmarried man and woman to be sharing a bedroom. You can see the ending coming a mile away, but that didn’t stop me from gripping the… edge of my balance ball? You know what I mean. It was a completely winning and charming movie and I’m secure enough to admit that I teared up at the end when they [SPOILER ALERT] finally got together.

Awwwww….

What made the whole night even better was that we met some new people! It’s still surprising to me when people show up who we’ve never met before but found our crazy project somehow and liked it enough to come watch a movie with us. It makes my day.

Also, Courtney brought some really addictive spicy pretzels. I kept eating a handful and thinking “ouch, these are spicy, I really need to stop eating so many of them,” and then experiencing amnesia and eating another handful a minute later.

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

Even though trying to fit in time for movies in August has been a major pain, the public screenings I have made it to have been awesome. It Happened One Night is definitely one of my favorite movies so far.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Heck yes!

#36 - Midnight Cowboy

Ok, for the record: I didn’t know the shot above was maybe the most depressing scene in all of filmdom when I created the image and put our smiling faces on it, and now I’m keeping it because it’s kind of amusing in a really horrible kind of way. 

ALEX’S POST

Ok, Watch This Community, I’m really REALLY angry at you. Why did no one warn me this movie was so damn depressing. Seriously! You’re always like, “Oooooh, good movie,” or “Wow, that movie is long,” but no, “Hey, Alex, you might want to watch out for this film because it will reach into your chest, pull out your heart and punch you right in the face with it. WA-BAM!” Thanks guys. Thanks a lot.

I finally, finally, got to watch a Watch This movie with my mom – the woman who inspired the love of film in me. In fact, we actually watched the AFI special together back in 1996 when it premiered. I was … jeeze, 10-years-old and we sat and watched it and it was awesome.

Aw, me and the fam.

Her and my brother flew up from Massachusetts to spend the weekend and hang out. They specifically came up for a Take the Cake showing, since they always look fun (and they always are). We had a fantastic dinner at Bootsy’s followed b buying some wine at Clifton Wines for the film. We were all ready.

Bryan and Bootsy - a winning duo.

And then it began, and so did the heartbreak. This film was about Texas cowboy Joe Buck (John Voight), who comes to New York City to be a male prostitute to wealthy women. Unfortunately, socialites want nothing to do with him. He befriends street-trash Rick “Ratso” Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) and the two of them dream for a better life.

Sad sad sad sad sad…

Does that description sound super depressing? Well, the film was even more so. It was all about crushed dreams and unhappy people and friendships forced out of necessity. It was awful and awesome all at the same time.

Of course, this was an acting driven film, which really made it sad. John Voight was … fine. He was big and handsome and dumb, which was really all his character needed. Still, he never overwhelmed me, even in scenes when I was supposed to care about his situation. Meh, he just always seemed on the one-level of big and handsome and dumb. Dustin Hoffman, on the other hand, was unbelievable. Heartbreakingly sad in every scene, from the first moment on. I was disgusted and enamored with him at the same time. Oh god, every moment just hurt more.

But what did I expect? It’s DustinFreakin’Hoffman.

SADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSAD!

On hindsight, this was not the movie I would have chosen to watch with my mom. She was supposed to come up weeks ago for Jaws, which would have been fun and exciting with a feel-good shark exploding ending. This film ended on depressing, which isn’t really how I like to feel when around my mom. I did enough of that as a teenager, thank you very much.

Still, I was happy I saw it and I was happy I got to watch anything with her, because without my mom, this project would not have happened.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Oh yes.

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ALLISON’S POST

Take the Cake hosted Midnight Cowboy, and a couple of VIP special guests joined us for the screening… Alex’s brother and mom, straight out of Massachusetts! They were originally scheduled to join us for Jaws, which was one of the most fun screenings in recent history, but then Alex all “got a new job,” and had to “go to San Francisco.”  So they rescheduled and caught Midnight Cowboy during their weekend-long trip.

He’s walking here.

As usual, TtC served up fantastic cupcakes and pastries of all shapes and sizes. It’s amazing that after dinner at Senate I still had room to share a cupcake with Alex, but what do you know – we polished off a carrot cake cupcake no problem.

I had no expectations of Midnight Cowboy, somehow it was a movie that I just hadn’t heard much about. Imagine my surprise when I found out it was about male prostitutes, Andy Warhol parties and [SPOILER ALERT] death on a bus.

Jon Voigt is a young cowboy who leaves Texas to start a new life in New York. And it’s scary New York, not the cleaned up touristy New York we know now. There are dirty movie theaters, prostitutes and trippy parties with lots and lots of drugs. Actually, there are probably all of those things in New York now, they’re just not in Manhattan anymore.

There are, however, still crazy people.

He struggles, steals, lies, has sex for money (or tries to) and befriends Dustin Hoffman in this weird dysfunctional way. And Dustin Hoffman starts coughing a lot, which is like the proverbial ‘gun on the mantel in the first act’ thing so you know it’s not going to end well for him.

The two of them get on a bus bound for Miami and the final scenes of the movie are incredibly touching and heart wrenching. It leaves you with kind of a sudden empty feeling in your gut, like someone just knocked the wind out of you.

Ominous foreshadowing.

Once TtC was straightened back up, we re-convened for a drink at Neon’s with Watch This and the Shebar clan.

Midnight Cowboy has been the only public screening in August that I’ve been able to attend. It’s been that kind of month. I missed out on some great movies with friends I really wanted to see, but when I finally made it to a screening I was glad that it was fantastic. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes.

#37 - The Best Years of our Lives

ALEX’S POST

I’d never heard of The Best Years of Our Lives before this project. Ok, that’s probably not true. It won best picture so I probably read about it sometime, somewhere, on some AFI’s best list of something or other – but I guess I never really cared. It didn’t really have any star I knew, it didn’t seem that interesting, it was unfamiliar territory.

Still, when I said we were going to watch it, everyone who did know it went, “Oooooooh, good movie” – it happened enough that I was actually kind of exited to see what all the fuss was about. Turns out, I got my hopes too high.

With Allison gone on another adventure, it was me alone, manning the ropes. Luckily we did it at the ever-awesome Hamburger Mary’s, where Kat “Woman Of” Steele once again saved the day, bringing in a projector and screen. I got myself one of their awesome hamburgers and sat down for a long movie – it was a good time.

Kat LOVES Watch This. Just loves it!

We were joined by the DuBoises (of DuBoise Bookstores) and Gail the proprietor. Other men were supposed to join us, but they punked out at the last moment. They won’t be named.

The movie is about three World War II veterans returning home from the war, who all learn they can’t ever really go home again. Al Stephenson (Frederic March) was a banker who finds he’s as alienated from his family as he is from his job. Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), a newly wed before the war, is annoyed with his new wife and his old life. And Homer Parrish (Harold Russell) lost his hands in the war and just wants everything to be like it was.

Also, the place they lived in – Boone City – was based off Cincinnati in the original book. Neat little fact!

More beers! More beers!

Here’s the thing – this movie was good. The acting was fantastic and all three leads were great. And it was a very important movie. They didn’t make films like this, where soldiers were conflicted and tortured from their time in battle. Most movies had soldiers as heroes who were back from the war victorious and celebrated. Here they are normal guys with very normal problems for what they went through.

Playing piano with hooks? Not as easy as it looks…

However, I just never connected with this film. I wanted to care that they all hated life after a traumatic experience, but it meant nothing to me. I felt bad for them, but I didn’t feel their pain. In fact, often times, they all just seemed like whiners – harsh, but true. When Dana Andrews catches his wife with another man, he buys a ticket to leave town forever. Wah wah wah. Get over yourself you big baby.

What! Who am I! Where am I!

This movie dragged, hard core. It was almost three hours long of them repeating themselves over and over and over. Again, I felt bad they couldn’t connect with real life after what they saw in the war, but after two hours of it, I just wanted them to stop complaining and just end the film.

It was beautifully shot though. Long shots down narrow hallways to represent anguish and wide shots of big shopping centers to show normal life progressing like it always did, before, during and after the war. That was really well done.

This hear is a tear-jerky scene for sure.

So was this film important and well made? Yes. Was it for me? No.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes, but higher. Much much higher.

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ALLISON’S POST

Yet another screening I couldn’t attend in person, Best Years of Our Lives was hosted by the always delightful Hamburger Mary’s. I was in Yellowstone, I think. Alex agreed to sit through the movie again as we both sat in front of our laptops in the living room.

I was surprisingly hooked more than I thought I would be right at first. It has a kind of soap opera feel, with tragic heroes and pretty girls. The three soldiers return from war, we see them return to their wives and girlfriends and everything unravels from there. It’s riveting stuff.

Riveting.

And then the movie kept going for another three hours. Or what felt like three hours. Things look pretty bad for the heroes, and then some people get married at the end. This is how I will remember Best Years of Our Lives, mostly because I was working through it. Without the benefit of being present at the initial screening, I’m finding out it’s really hard to get motivated about watching a movie. Especially if it’s difficult for me to relate to from the get-go.

Yay, weddings for all!

I don’t want to sell BYOL short though, the story line of each soldier is pretty engaging. I love a good husband-returns-from-war scene. Watching that scene reminded me of the scene from A League of their Own (ALTO? Okay I’ll stop with the acronyms) when Geena Davis’ husband comes home unexpectedly. And just thinking about that scene got me all choked up. In fact, remembering remembering that scene makes me a little bit emotional. Why wasn’t A League of their Own on the top 100 list? I liked that movie way better.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Can we trade it for A League of their Own?

#38 - Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity is one of the coolest, slickest, most badass films I have ever seen in my life … and it’s about insurance fraud?

You bet your keester it is, baby (that’s me, talking like Fred MacMurray, who pulls off 1940’s nonchalant awesomeness in a way I’ll never know. ) I saw this movie about four years ago in a film noir class and I still remember it vividly. Now, as it was later pointed out to me, four years is really not that long. But think about this: I watch a lot of movies in a year. A LOT of movies. And out of all of them, I’d say I forget about 80 percent after only a few months of seeing it. So to remember this one so well means it’s something special.

I was very happy that good-friend Jeff snagged this one up way back in the day (like, way way back in the day – back in late January/Early February if I remember correctly). I was even happier after we did our first movie at Jeff’s and had that caramel “crack” popcorn. Oh my good.

I was LESS happy when I learned Allison would be missing another film – this time because she was invited to a last-minute Columbus food-tour that she really couldn’t refuse. It wasn’t the first movie she’s missing in August and in no means will it be the last. Sad.

Still, her loss – at Jeff’s, Meg, Eric, Kristen and I ate popcorn and drank margaritas and had humus and flatbread and talked and laughed and all that jazz. It was excellent.

A terrible iPhone photo in the dark. Jeff hides behind a chair and Kristen … oh, Kristen is going to punch me again for this one.

Oh, and we watched a movie!

Say howdy, did we ever.

Double Indemnity is about insurance salesman Walter Neff (MacMurray), who runs into the striking Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck) while looking for her husband to renew his insurance policy. They talk, which leads to flirting, which leads to temptation – both to be together and to kill Phyllis’ husband for the insurance money. But can one really get away with murder?

This movie is just so much fun to watch. It’s smart and suspenseful and fast. So fast. By the time you get to the end, you’re actually disappointed it’s all over. There’s so much buildup to an overly-climactic ending, just as there is in a lot of film noir.

On that note, the movie is gorgeous, in a way that could never be done in color. The blacks clash vibrantly against the whites and there are long, ominous shadows everywhere. It’s wonderfully creepy from the first moment Fred walks into Phyllis’ home.

First moments indeed…

I love the acting in this film. Besides MacMurray’s charm, there’s the evil, spider-woman allure of Barbara Stanwyck, who somehow pulls off both inviting and dangerously cold at the same time. But the real star of this film is the classic Edward G. Robinson (Yeah, see, yeaaaah), who steals the show. When I saw his name on the box the first time around, I assumed he’d be the husband, but he turns out to be Fred’s boss at the insurance agency – a hardcore bureaucrat with a knack for figuring out when insurance claims don’t add up. He’s not as cool as MacMurray, but more interesting. He’s the protagonist in this thing, playing detective when the audience knows the truth. It’s really an art to watch him work (both as the character and as an actor).

Yaaaaaaaaaah, seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

This movie was a lot of fun to watch, and even more fun with the group that I did. Last week was a tough week for our good friend Jeff, and I asked him before we did the movie if he still wanted to do it. He said he did, he wanted to be around friends. I’m hoping that night helped and he enjoyed it even half as much as I did, because it certainly was a highlight of my week. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Hell yes - a surprising, fantastic film.

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ALLISON’S POST

In the continuing saga of me not having enough time to watch any movies in August, I popped Double Indemnity into the DVD player late Wednesday night. My dad had just helped me move the last of my big furniture items out of my old apartment and into the new condo. And how did I celebrate a new chapter of my life beginning? More laptop time in front of a movie.

Double Indemnity was surprisingly easy to get caught up in, though. I love a movie that tells you the ending right at the start – “I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman.” You know it’s going to be the feel-good movie of the year when you hear that line.

The girl.

The ending is still surprising, even though we’ve got a good clue what’s going to happen. I think this was the first real film noir I’ve ever seen, and it lived up to all of my expectations. People wore sunglasses indoors, there’s a dame, and most importantly a murder plot that goes slightly awry. There’s just a lot of good things going on.

I was especially bummed out that I would be missing the real screening of the movie on Friday night at Jeff’s apartment. My Amy’s frozen macaroni and cheese dinner doesn’t hold a candle to the crazy stuff like caramel popcorn that Jeff cooks up. Oh well.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes

#39 - “Doctor Zhivago”

ALEX’S POST

It wasn’t great that friend of Watch This Meg was bummed before her showing of “Doctor Zhivago” … but it was fitting.

The last time Allison and I had traveled down to Burlington, Kentucky for a screening at her home (lovingly known as “The Bee Hive”), we were there for steaks and German warfare. This time, we were going for vodka and Russian revolution. I can’t say really which is better!

However, “we” became “I” when Allison was invited on a food trip in Columbus that she couldn’t pass up. And that was only the start of the thinning numbers – Meg had planned out a whole night full of snacks and drinking before people started to cancel one-by-one. It got to the point where she wondered if I even wanted to come.

Um, hell yes I wanted to come! Ignore the fact that Meg and husband Eric have traveled down to Cincinnati for many-many of our movies (and other events), I also like hanging out with them. Even if it were just the three of us drinking White Russians, it would be a good time.

She shouldn’t have to worried though – we were joined by Julie and Kristen (the later who brought CRAZY GOOD Russian candy – there was this chocolate ball filled with marzipan and pistachio cream. Oh my yes.) And after eating and drinking, we all settled in for an epic.

Hey, hey, the gang’s all here.

Doc Z is the three hour, 20 minute movie about a young doctor and poet name Yuri Zhivago (Omar Sharif) who grows up and becomes both successful in medicine and writing. He marries a childhood sweetheart Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) but all the while is in love with a girl he met at a younger age, the alluring and sad Lara (Julie Christie). Their paths intertwine throughout the years, but alas, it’s never right for them to be together.

I’m so pretty! Also, Russian.

First of all, let me point out that this movie is told in flashback by Zhivago’s half-brother, a Russian general looking for his niece. As soon as the man started speaking, I had these weird flashbacks to being a boy watching Star Wars with my dad, and I realized it was Ben Kenobi! And it occurred to me, I’ve never seen another Alec Guinness movie – and now, I don’t ever want to again. Obi-Wan can’t be a Russian general, he’s a Jedi Knight dammit. That’s it, now and forever! He’s not been in anything else, no I can’t hear you, lalalalalalalalalala.

These aren’t the Bolsheviks you’re looking for…

Anyway, the rest of this movie was awesome. Omar Sharif was wonderfully tortured and sad – this lovesick man trying to do right for everyone. And being around the incredibly beautiful Julie Christie, who pulled off soft naivety and sexuality in a way all actresses strive for, did not help.

You can’t resist the power of my mustache.

This movie was long – but it didn’t so much feel that way. I ached my way through films like Giant, but this one was actually ok. It did drag a bit in the middle and there were certainly scenes that could have been cut (the post-war went on forever), but overall this movie moved … And then, it wrapped up in no time. There was so much build-up for so little conclusion. I know this was done on purpose to show how the story had no real ending, but still, it was very disconcerting.

I know Meg was sad that people crapped out on her – and it did help to create a semi-somber mode for a very-somber film – but I had a great time at their house … but, then again, that might just have been the excellent White Russians.

Rating:  4 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Sure does.

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ALLISON’S POST

Dr. Zhivago

Also, a review of the Ikea Malm six-drawer dresser

In the continuing saga of how I don’t have any time to do anything in August, I didn’t have any time to watch Dr. Zhivago at Meg and Eric’s on Wednesday night. I needed to move the rest of my worldly belongings to the new place in OtR, and Wednesday night was the only night Dad was available and I would be in town for the next week and a half.

(Dad, I owe you a big order of Pub Curry Fries.)

We managed to get everything into the family SUV and my little Nissan, haul it to my new home, swing back up to Clifton and load up a dresser into the SUV to be taken to the parents’ house. I was pretty tired after all that. I didn’t get to Dr. Z that night, and the next opportunity would be on Saturday night after I came back from Columbus and before heading back out of town for work.

We also needed to build a dresser.

The Malm, specifically, for Ikea fans keeping score at home. Six drawers and three and a half hours of dresser-building lay ahead of us. To kill two birds with one stone, we put Dr. Z. in the DVD player while we got to building. Dr. Zhivago didn’t stand a chance.

Not a chance, blue!

I should mention I was also supposed to read Dr. Zhivago for a Russian Lit class in college. I sort of read it, sort of didn’t. I’m not proud of that. It seems like a great story, and I love a good epic tale with lots of brooding. Dr. Z, however, never sparked my interest and it was the same story as I half watched/half constructed a dresser on Saturday night.

Keep on going train…

For anyone without experience building a piece of Ikea furniture, here are some interesting facts:

There are no written directions. Just a picture of a squiggly creature holding a hammer (and in case you need guidance on what to do if things go wrong, a picture of him holding a phone and calling Ikea) and then 24 or so line drawings depicting each step.

The pieces are not labeled, and they all look god damn the same. There are a thousand tiny screws and pegs and plastic things, and they’re all lumped together in one plastic bag.

We finished the dresser in more time than it took to watch Dr. Zhivago. I tried, really tried to warm up to the movie, but somewhere in the construction of the third or fourth drawer, I had to admit that I truly, truly hated Dr. Zhivago.

It’s not the fault of the movie. Well, only half the fault of the movie. The same damn music kept swelling. There was a bunch of overacting, tragedy, and moody beautiful people. I can imagine it’s a wonderful movie to watch when you’re not building a dresser, and maybe drinking a White Russian instead.

Sadly, I don’t have plans to revisit the book or the movie anytime soon. As wonderful as Dr. Zhivago seems, I know I’ll have Malm flashbacks whenever I hear the theme music.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? I’m saying no.

#40 - “North by Northwest”

ALEX’S POST

A midnight screening.

There’s something sexy even saying that. It’s kind of got this classic, badass once-anti-establishment-turned-modern-day-commonplace idea. It used to be that you went to a midnight screening to get away from the families and squares and people who did’ really appreciate cinema. Now you do it – well, basically to say that you saw a midnight screening. Still cool, but not as cool as it once was.

However, that’s not why we did OUR midnight screening – a showing of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic North by Northwest. We did ours to help out a friend.

Mt. Rushmore, Cary Grant, the awesome.

The man who goes by the name Jesse Folk (AKA JFolk5) had planned to screen this movie forever ago on one of his days off – Friday (the other is Thursday. The man has some weird days off.) Only it turned out I was going to be in Chicago that day, so he was going to do it just with Allison. Only it THEN turned out that Allison was going to be in Yellowstone until Sunday, and so, we were back to doing it on Saturday – at midnight – when I got home and Jesse finally got off work from his job as a Web news producer (the man works weird hours as well).

I was going to show the film at my house, only we were surrounded by friends while planning it – two who wanted to hold a party at their new home in OtR: The awesome Travis and John. So a midnight screening, to accommodate Jesse, was planed for the next week in order to show off a new home. Win-win for all (These plans were made, by the way, in a span of about five minutes at the awesome Neon’s bar, after our King Kong showing. Movies from movies, what a way to do it).

And then, after all that, it turns out that Jesse couldn’t even make it! Sad.

Anyway, onto the night.

We once again started our time at Neon’s and were surrounded by great Watch This people. Some, like Meg and Eric and Kristen, had to run home before the film but others, like Jen and Becca and Krissy and their respective brothers and JT and David traveled down to Orchard for some additional drinking and movie watching. Allison was sorely missed, for sure, but alcohol did help ease the pain of her absence. Fact.

The awesome house of Travis and John.

Let me say, John and Travis do not mess around when they host. A smorgasbord of tasty treats was delivered for our delights. Mini-cake balls and cheese cakes and chops and dips and cheese plates and plates made of cheese … that last one may have been imagined in a sweet-filled coma. Still, amazing.

They also had a bartender friend who made us espresso martinis. Mmmmm…

John and I … two classy gentleman.

After being packed with food, we all settled down onto the couch for a thriller.

Look out Cary Grant, she’s got a gun!

Let me begin by saying all fans of Mad Men need to see this film. Not only is it about an advertising executive at the end of the 50’s, but it turns out that Cary Grant can pull off a slick suit just as good as John Hamm any day – maybe even better! Yes, I said it.

In this film, Roger O. Thornhill (Grant) is a well-to-do advertising agent who gets mistaken for a CIA agent who’s wanted by foreign spies, led by the evil Phillip Vandamm (James Mason). Roger gets kidnapped, flees and becomes wanted by both the spies and the police. While on a train, he meets the mysterious and sexy Eve Marie Kendal (Eve Marie Saint) who may not be all that she seems…

Don’t trust her, Cary! She’s a blonde! Have you ever seen an Alfred Hitchcock film?

I love this film. I liked it the first time around, but the plot was a bit hard to follow and I’m not sure I understand what was going on and where it was going. This time, though, when I knew the plot twists and could see them coming at me, it was awesome.

Cary Grant was dry and funny and an incredible actor – when he was annoyed, it was obvious in every action of his body, and when he was scared, a simple turn from the camera said it all. I’m always amazed watching him just to see how grand he is. And Eve Marie Saint – woah mama. I’m not usually a “into-blondes-kind-of-dude,” but the girl just radiates subtle sexuality in everything she does. Her and Cary (and Alfred) make quite the trio.

DAMN YOU CORN!!!

And James Mason? Well, he’s just evil and scary and, above all, fun to imitate.

As I said before, this film’s a little hard to follow the first time though. It moves very quickly and doesn’t reiterate itself, especially any of its smaller plot points. Either you get it or you don’t, and that’s hard the first time around. Still, on second or third rewatch, it’s fantastic. This is why it belongs on the list, and as low as it does – because it just keeps getting better and better with age and watchings!

Rating: 5 out of 5

…………………..

ALLISON’S POST

There are two things I recognize immediately when I watch North by Northwest – late fifties architecture and Mount Rushmore. Oh, and Cary Grant’s chin. I like all of those things, and generally I liked North by Northwest.

Look out, chin!

Here’s how the story goes. We were supposed to watch NXNW at our friend Jesse’s house, who had hosted one of our favorite screenings at his place earlier in the year. It was probably a favorite because we had massive margaritas right before we watched Frankenstein. Hilarity ensued.

So Alex and I were both going to be out of town on the scheduled movie night and it had to be moved. And then the new movie night would have conflicted with a night that John and Travis would be hosting a party, so the movie was wrapped up into one big movie/partying/drinking fiasco. And I missed it all because I was out of town for work.

The closer the movie/party night got, the more elaborate and awesome the plans became. “We’re going to Neon’s before!” “They’re making homemade popcorn!” “There’s a professional bartender making espresso martinis!”

I read these updates from my hotel room. I’ve just watched NXNW from my couch with half of a day-old Sam Adams Light and a few handfuls of Reeses Pieces. Not quite as much fun, but that’s how life goes sometimes.

Is Cary Grant going to have to choke a bitch?

The movie is mostly how I remembered it from watching several years ago. There’s mystery, intrigue, mistaken identities and a crop duster. I love the climactic scene at the Frank Lloyd Wright-esque house at Mount Rushmore… mostly because I love the design of the house.

I wish I could have given the movie some more time and dedication, but I’ll be honest. I worked straight through the damn thing. No rest for the website editor. It was a good reminder of why I liked NXNW in the first place, and hopefully John and Travis will host another kickass party at their place when I’m not traveling.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes.

#41 - “West Side Story”

It is a weird thing to watch a musical in your house by yourself.

Maybe it’s just me as a dude or personal preference or whathaveyou, but this is not something I do on a regular basis. It is, in fact, something I never do. If I’m alone, you won’t walk by and here show tune ditties blaring out of my window. No Mama Mia, no Hairspray (at least the awful remake. You might here the original John Waters without the music – that one’s pretty awesome) and no West Side Story.

Still, when I came home from a trip to Chicago last week, one where I was so busy I didn’t get a chance to watch any of it on the plane, I knew I had to bite the bullet and get down with my musical self.

With Allison out of the state in Yellowstone, and North by Northwest coming up that night, I put on West Side Story and … was reminded by why I don’t watch show tunes.

Ugh.

This movie is cheesy! CHEESY! With holes and on top of pasta and whatever else you want to do with it, it’s cheesy. You watch this gang standing in a basketball court, messing with people, being intimidating, doing badass things and then – they dance. And not just dance – they prance and twirl and jump and clap … and then you’re supposed to believe they’re the toughest dudes around. That they’ll kill someone for messing with their turf.

I think not.

Give it back! HEY! Come on! Give it baaaaaaaack.

And don’t even get me started with the singing! I cringed every time they opened their mouth, and the more intense they tried to be, the more I lost it (singing about being cool does not make you cool, Jets, just a hint.)

Quick plot: Two New York gangs, The Jets and The Sharks (worst gang names ever, by the way), don’t like each other. They’re going to fight. Meanwhile, Tony (Tony (Richard Beymer), the former founder of The Sharks, falls in love with Maria (Natalie Wood), the sister of the leader of the Jets. Forbidden love and all that. Things don’t go well for either of them. The end.

The end indeed.

The actors were good. Great even. Richard, Natalie, and especially Rita Morino as Natalie’s friend Anita were fantastic. Great singers, great actors, just all around great.

Now, like all good school children, I watched this movie at a really young age – maybe even in school. For the love of god, I can’t understand why. They sing about fucking and fighting and smoking pot and there’s almost a rape scene! Jesus Christ. Who decided this was a movie we should all watch at nine-years-old?

Well, I imagine it’s because none of that stuff stays with you (I know it didn’t with me), and instead you get a modern-day Romeo and Juliet which, despite its over-the-top nonsense is actually amazing. Its choreography is flawless, its songs are catchy and timeless and it’s actually pretty funny. Plus – that knife scene? Badass.

I know, it’s contradictory, but that’s what this movie does – it switches from classic and wonderful film work to cornball scenes that fall flat, or worse, fall awkwardly.

Come on gang, jazz hands.

Now, I’ve talked before about my dislike of plays turned into films – I don’t feel the two entertainment mediums bridge well. The same, as always, goes here as well. This is the problem. When they’re doing grand, amazing, cinematic shots, this movie blows my mind. But when they try to capture the feeling of what it was like on stage, it’s awful. Awful, awful, awful.

Still, I did it – alone – in my apartment in Over-the-Rhine – and I can only imagine what people walking by thought when they heard the belting chorus of “I feel pretty.” 

Rating: 3 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes

…………………..

ALLISON’S POST

Sometime midway through August, sitting down to watch West Side Story started to feel sort of like a chore.

“Oh no,” says Natalie Wood in an over-the-top Puerto-Rican accent!

Let me explain: Alex was leaving on Wednesday for Chicago. I was preparing for a work trip leaving early the following day at an ungodly early hour (read: anything before 9 AM).

We’d hoped to watch West Side Story at the Cincy Athletic Club. When our respective employers decided to send us across the country, those plans changed. We scratched the Athletic Club screening and decided to watch it on our own time.

Time, what a precious commodity. I’ll be honest, I’m watching West Side Story right now as I write this post. That’s because this is literally the only free time I’ve had since, oh, last Monday. I mean that seriously.

That’s a shame, because I love West Side Story. What a love story, when they see each other across the room and everything else gets fuzzy. It’s exactly what you want falling in love to look like – lots of colors, music, and coordinated dance numbers.

Dance, dance, dance.

What is about musicals that are so wonderfully dramatic? Is it the singing that gets everyone all excited? Or is it the tight pants and skirts? West Side Story is a classic musical in every sense. Tragic and wonderful and full of good musical numbers.

Even though I didn’t get to watch West Side Story in the classic Athletic Club, it was still nice to re-watch a movie I’d seen years ago and loved. It’s a reminder of why everyone liked musicals to begin with. And even though it took me a full week to find some time to watch it, West Side Story was worth it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes

#42 - “Rear Window”

ALEX’S POST

How have I not seen Rear Window before? I’ve seen all the other uber-famous Alfred Hitchcock films (The Birds, North by Northwest, Psycho, etc.), but somehow this one escaped me! And that’s tragic, but this was fantastic!

We were once again invited to Take the Cake Café in Northside to watch a movie. The turnout wasn’t as large as the crowed we had before (I think the showing of King Kong had something to do with it), but it was an enthusiastic group of people who was ready for some suspense.

What a group! What a guy!

L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries (James Stewart) is a photographer who injured his leg on the job and is forced into a wheelchair until his cast heels. Bored out of his mind, he starts watching his neighbors through their windows with his telescoped lens – until he seems something suspicious. He becomes convinced that his neighbor killed his wife, and brings in his on-and-off girlfriend, the beautiful Park Avenue socialite Lisa Carol Fremont (Grace Kelly), to help him prove it.

Now, Alfred Hitchcock does not do horror film, and this movie wasn’t scary, per say. What it was, though, was suspenseful and there were times when I was holding my breath and gripping the table in front of me. Goddamn, the man knows how to make a film!

Good old Alfred.

Stewart was unbelievably good in this roll (just as he has be in every roll we have seen him in on this list). He starts our sad and bored and slowly becomes filled with obsessed excitement and paranoia. He’s convinced that his neighbor is up to no good, even though no one believes him, and will do whatever it takes to prove it – until Kelly starts putting herself into danger. Then we see the excitement fall and watch as he becomes filled with worry – a worry from love.

That’s another part of this story that is so very subtle and well done – it’s also a love story. We watch Stewart and Kelly slowly come together over this experience. It’s so awesomely organic and not at all crammed down our throats, but by the end, it’s clear they are crazy about each other.

Kelly was … well. She was beautiful, that’s for sure. There just wasn’t a lot else to her. I never really saw her fear or excitement, even when she was scared or ready for action. I liked watching her, don’t get me wrong, it just wasn’t really for her acting ability. : )

She’s so pretty that I’ve gone paranoid.

I love the crowd at Take the Cake – it’s a small space where people really get into the movie. When the climactic ending occurred and Jimmy Stewart’s life was in danger, people gasped. Anna Penny even screamed, which was just perfect.

Congrats Alfred, you did it again!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes

………………….

ALLISON’S POST

Friday’s Rear Window screening wasn’t anything out of the ordinary as far as Watch This goes. There were no shark-themed drinks or costumes, it wasn’t a milestone movie. With King Kong at Fountain Square the following night, our crowd at Take the Cake was a little thinner than usual. It was one of those nights that was just good. James and Doug had just returned from their vacation and opened up shop just for us on Friday evening – and it was pretty damn nice of them to do it.

Damn nice of them!

There were some new faces in the crowd as Alex and I gave our schpiel (is there an official spelling on that?) to kick off the movie, which was awesome. We settled in with our cupcakes (mine had raspberry filling inside, yum) and turned our attention to the movie.

Rear Window is one of those movies that grabs you and doesn’t let go until it’s over. It’s a wonderfully acted story with a kind of claustrophobic, stage feel. Has it ever been adapted as a play? It should be.

Looking out into the world

I never had a movie to associate with Grace Kelly when people would mention her name, and now I know her for more than living in Monaco. I loved the dynamic between her and Jimmy Stewart – I really believed them when they acted in love and I believed them when they acted like they were fighting.

The movie wraps up in a surprisingly neat little package – Jimmy Stewart (spoiler alert) doesn’t fall to his death, and as it turns out the two of them really do love each other. I liked it, I can’t have every movie I watch turn out badly for the main characters, especially when they’re as likeable as the characters in Rear Window.

Uh oh … things don’t look good for that dog.

We wrapped up our night at Northside Tavern with a few good friends, a little conversation and a little drinking. I’ll take fifty more like it. Or are we down to forty now? I’m losing count.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list? Yes

#43 - “King Kong”

ALEX’S POST

You only get a few perfect nights in your life – a time when everything goes exactly the way you want it to and you’re surrounded by friends to experience it all. Saturday was one of those nights.

Months ago, when I was into the heart of Watch This and searching for great places that might show our movie, I stumbled across a Facebook post from Fountain Square. They were looking for suggestions for movies they could show during their Saturday night series … I may have had a few.

I contacted them and explained what we were doing and how it was good for Cincinnati. They agreed and said they would help me out. In return, I did a little bit of volunteer work for them (I basically went through a long list of films and found out who owned the rights to screen it). It was win-win on both parts.

And when the final list of Saturday Night Movies came out, there was mine, the original 1933 “King Kong” – it was going to be on the big screen and it was going to be epic.

KONG, BABY!

They gave us a booth to advertise what we were doing, and Allison and I got there about 5:30. We laid down our blue tablecloth and put up our little signs and were ready to go.

Now… here’s something you don’t really know about Fountain Square in the daytime – it’s populated with the weirdest collection of people you’ll ever meet. This is basically the conversation I kept having:

(Person walks over)

Me: Hello!

Them: What’s going on here?

Me: Well, we are watching all of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Movies in a year, for free, all around Cincinnati.

Them: What! You’re doing what!

Me: We’re watching free movies.

Them: Free?

Me: Uh-huh

Them: I don’t believe you.

Me: No, we are, tonight we’re watching King Kong right here on the square. You should watch.

Them: I can’t.

Me: Ok, well, we have a website that has a list of all our…

Them: I don’t have a computer (walks away)

I think I had that one at least five times, heh.

Still, when the sun went down, the square cleared except for people there for the movies. Fountain Square started at 7 with Over the Hedge, which made me want to claw my eyes out (or have some cute, fuzzy, forest creature do it for me). God that was a terrible film.

Blah, terrible film. Nice statue though.

When that ended, we had about 20 minutes before King Kong began, and that’s when I really saw how many people had come out and were staying for the film. There must have been between 300 and 400 people on that square. I thought they’d live after Over the Hedge, but they stayed, excited for a piece of classic cinema. That was amazing. 

And of course, my group, which had clustered around my booth on the right side of the square to watch the movie. I counted and there was a hardcore Watch This collective (people who I knew or who had come to previous movies) of about 60 people. It was amazing and I was really touched they all came out.

Huzzah, Watch This!

Of course, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect night – it was warm but not too warm with a breeze coming through every now and again. It had rained earlier in the day, but never once throughout the movie. Even the moon was blocked by clouds, allowed the screen to be bright and clear. It was wonderful.

Also, friend of Watch This Kristi came back from Chicago, and she is missed!

Yay Kristi! Yay Tony for decking himself out in Yelp stickers!

I had never seen King Kong before (at least the original – I saw Peter Jackson’s remake in theatres. Because I’m a geek. That’s what geeks do). I was asked by Chuck later that night to describe what I thought of the five in five words or less. This was my review:

Cheesy, yet epic.

Those chains will surely hold him, or my name isn’t Liar McWrongington.

That really does some it up. This movie was a campy b-rated monster film that somehow was filled with real suspense and actual emotion-filled scenes. When (spoiler alert) King Kong dies, and he does, I actually got choked up! He was so sad on top of the Empire State Building with planes trying to kill him. He only wanted to love Fay Wray! Why! Why I ask you! Why!

WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s 1933, and the famous film producer/director Carl Denhem (Robert Armstrong) is going to an uncharted island to film his latest movie. He finds Ann Darrow (Wray), a poor somewhat-actress on the streets and wants her for his film. She agrees to come on the adventure and they travel to the island where they find a race of men who worship a beast in the jungle – the monstrous ape, King Kong. All goes wrong when Kong falls in love with Ann and steals her away.

I was shocked at just how beautiful this movie was. Yes, the special effects are bad (Kong often looks like a jerky pile of clay), but there’s a greatness in their terribleness. It makes it feel like this is a creature out of time – he couldn’t exist, he has to be fake, and yet, there he is, grabbing Ann and fighting snakes. It makes you feel like a little kid, watching the giant monkey smash things and step on people and getting all kinds of excited over it.

In fact, when Kong killed the dinosaur he was fighting, the crowd at Fountain Square cheered! They went wild! That is not a reaction you get with a movie where everything is so fake you can’t believe in it. That is a reaction you get from a film that people love.

Smash! Kill! Boom!

The cinematography was amazing. There were tight shots on both people and Kong and long epic shots to give you the feeling of just how grand this monster really was. When he was climbing up the Empire State Building and they pulled far, far, far away from the building, and you could just see the shadow of the giant ape working his way up, it was breathtaking.

The acting? Eh. Again, it was a b-grade horror movie. Everyone overacts, but you don’t care because it’s just so much fun (plus, let’s be fair, you’re not really watching the people. You’re watching the monster).

When the movie ended with the best end line of any film, people stood up and clapped, whistled and made a ruckus. What a reaction to a film decades old! You didn’t see that for for Over the Hedge, now did you? Maybe Fountain Square should rethink its choices next year – because if they had more movies like King Kong, Cincinnati would clearly be happier (I know I would.)

Rating: 5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list: No question. I’m not monkeying around here.

…………………..

ALLISON’S POST

Our screening of King Kong was kind of a roller coaster. First, we were thrilled when we got the news that we could watch one of our movies on Fountain Square. Then, we had to wait months in anticipation of the event. Then movie night arrived, and Alex and I packed up some lawn chairs and headed for the square on Friday night.

Then it started to rain – and then suddenly it wasn’t raining. Would it rain again? Fountain Square ran a poster for the wrong King Kong movie before the first feature started – aw crap, are they going to show the wrong movie? No, they reassured Alex it would be the original.

We sat through Over the Hedge (I guess the tie-in between the two movies is… critters?) impatiently as more and more of our friends showed up. I think almost all of our friends showed up, actually. So picture this scene:

It quit raining, the weather is unbelievably cool for a night in late July, the square is packed and you’re watching the original King Kong with forty of your friends as it plays on the side of a building. Oh, and there’s Skyline, beer and kettle corn too.

I keep saying this, but it just doesn’t get any better. This movie project hasn’t just been about us watching a lot of movies, it’s been about us experiencing a lot of different movies in different ways. Watching King Kong on a massive screen? Definitely a cool way to watch a movie.

Very cool.

I’m embarrassed to say that I maybe, sort of, spent a good chunk of the movie socializing. It couldn’t be helped! So many people that I love to see showed up and I wanted to catch up with them! I did tune in for all of the dinosaur fights, and of course, when Kong is imported to New York. That was quite the fiasco.

As you’d imagine, some of the special effects got some laughter since they look pretty dated. But keeping in mind what was possible at that time, it’s pretty amazing what King Kong achieves. The camera angles, the giant monkey paw squishing people into the mud – it’s pretty elaborate for the time it was made.

Holy cow, what a show!

We closed up our little Watch This booth after the movie, said goodbye to some friends, and walked up to Neon’s with other friends. If you missed King Kong, get to Fountain Square for one of their movies before the summer’s over. It doesn’t get much better than a movie on the square.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Does it deserve to be on the list: Definitely