Let the viewings... BEGIN!

As a "Classic Films" fanatic, I've always been trying to watch all of the movies that I can. Over winter break, I watched a Cary Grant marathon on TCM since it was his birthday. One of my favorites of his is Arsenic and Old Lace. I mean, how can you not just swoon over that face?!

So to continue on my quest to have seen all of the "classics" I've composed a list of movies that I'm determined to watch by the end of the semester. Is it way to long? Probably. Will I even watch all of them? Hopefully. But hey- that's what weekends are for, right?

And here it is: LIST OF MOVIES I NEED TO WATCH (in no particular order)

• Death Proof
• Grindhouse
• Kill Bill I and II
• Reservoir Dogs
• How The West Was Won
• Grapes of Wrath
• Citizen Kane
• The Godfather
• Casablanca
• Raging Bull
• Singin' in the Rain
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Shindler's List
• Vertigo
• North by Northwest
• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• To Catch a Thief
• Rear Window
• Dial M for Murder
• Notorious
• Mr & Mrs Smith (1941)
• High Anxiety
• Silent Movie
• The Twelve Chairs
• Monkey Business
• I Was A Male War Bride
• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (I've already seen this one but I just love it so much!)
• Bringing Up Baby
• Alice in Wonderland (1933)
• Nosferatu
• Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
• A Doll's House (1917)
• The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
• The It Girl

*Phew* Well then... That's a lot of movies... and a bunch of random ones at that. Hitchcock, Lon Chaney, Tarantino, Brooks... I guess I'll be having marathons in my bed every night! 

Addiction to The Office

An addiction is defined as a persistent, compulsive dependence on a behavior or substance. For me, this substance is The Office. I spend most nights before going to sleep watching this show, but now it's getting to the point where I skip class jus to watch a few episodes. (Don't worry Arturo never your class). I even had a dream about The Office. 

I love this show because of the uniqueness and sense of humor this show has. The show is filmed in a single-camera set-up and shot sort of like a mocumentary. There are "confessionals" where the character's tell the cameras their personal opinions or thoughts about a subject, or just tell a story. For me these confessionals make the show. There will be cutaways during these to demonstrate what the character is talking about, or the facial expressions will show all that needs to be said. The characters on this show obviously are aware that the cameras are there, and the slight looks they give to the cameras directly make this show work so well. 

Although the U.S. version of the Office is a recreation of a british show, there have been many shows that base their camera style and show set-up like the Office. Currently, Parks and Rec is a very popular show that uses the same single-camera set-up with confessionals. Clearly this style seems to work, and I'm sure new shows are in the making working off of this style. Another popular show, although cancelled but being brought back next year with a similar style is Arrested Development. This show does not have confessionals but uses the single-camera method that makes you feel right there with the family. The Office is a great show for a good laugh, although there isn't much depth or complex stories. 

How Comedies Can Make an Important Case

So after my last post about animation and, by extension, comedy, I received a response saying that comedy is not only used in kids movies and animations, but can also be used to get across some really serious points  that make the audience think. The first movie I thought when considering this was one of the more recent films I've watched, The Invention of Lying. This movie was honestly hysterical, but at the end of the movie my roommate at the time and myself sat down and just stared at the screen when it was done. After a few awkward more moments of silence I turned to her and said,

"What if life was really like that, where nobody lied?"

And just now it's hitting me, that's the purpose of the film. To make people stop and think about if the world actually could not lie. And it's a valid point. People say all the time, "I wish people just didn't lie." And this movie is pretty spot on about portraying that. But it raises another question, if it was socially accepted to not lie, rather, if lying did not exist at all, would we even care about the horrible bluntness of harsh statements?

So I guess I've been shown an important point, Even comedies have the capability to present deep thought-provoking topics to the general public, that not only makes them laugh, but also makes them think.