Thursday Movie Picks: Father-Son Relationships (Biologically Related)

It’s another Thursday, which means it’s time for Thursday Movie Picks, hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves! There’s still plenty of time to join, so hop over to her site for the year’s set of themes! On the last Thursday of each month, she devotes it to a special segment entitled All in the Family Edition. This week’s theme are father and son relationships, with them being biologically related. I didn't pick father and son movies, but rather focused this week's picks on the relationship that the two people are trying to forge. Here are are my picks this week:

Fahrenheit 451

I think my soul just died a little. What would the world be without books? Any kind of books, novels, philosophies, poetry, short stories, manuscripts, screenplays? Without text to narrate to us different world, theories, ideologies? An adaptation of a novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 brings the audience to a world without text, and into a life of man whose world began to change when he began to read.

Double Feature: The Keeper of Lost Causes / The Absent One

As of writing, I realized the following things: 1. I have been writing double feature reviews for a year. 2. They didn’t serve the purpose of being condensed reviews. Rather they are still very lengthy - brevity isn’t my strongest suit. As a “celebration” of this one year feature (this is the only ‘feature’ I’ve tried in my blog that lasted this long), I decided to tribute it to my love of reading. The movies I picked for this feature are both book adaptations, written by Jussi Adler-Olsen. I have read both books, and immediately watched the adaptations, so it’s likely that my thoughts on the book carry over the adaptations.

Thursday Movie Picks: Oscar Winning Movies

With the Oscars coming up this weekend, it’s a fitting theme for this week’s Thursday Movie Picks, hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. I don’t forcefully watch a lot of Oscar movies; instead I tend to stumble upon them and discover they were nominated or they won for their year. I don’t like the pressure of having to see said film because it’s award-winning. So I try to watch most nominees before the actual nomination itself.  This week's theme doesn't only limit to best picture winners, but from the pool of animation and foreign film winners as well. Here are my picks this week:

The Theory of Everything

Making my way through the list of nominees, The Theory of Everything immediately screams ‘Oscar bait’. It’s a biopic about one of the most renowned minds of science wrapped in an emotional, personal basket as his life with his first wife was explored. It’s very worthy of its nomination, as it boasts a well-rounded film with wonderful performances from the leads, as well as their supporting characters.

Blind Spot: Annie Hall

I think most people consider Annie Hall to be Woody Allen’s masterpiece, among other films. This is certainly one of the films to come in mind when talking about the famed director. Do I consider it to be a masterpiece? There is some brilliance hidden in the form of the film, but as a whole I was not impressed. It was a solid, well put together film, but I haven’t felt so detached from the art as I did with Annie Hall. The film had me split into two, appreciating the technicality of the film, while leaving me disenchanted with its content and overall impact.

Thursday Movie Picks: Unrequited Love

It’s two days before Valentines Day, so if you’re planning to have any plans at all that involves going outside, you better get to it! Unfortunately for this week’s theme of Thursday Movie Picks (hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves), none of these characters get a happy ending with their chosen loved ones, as these feelings are either ignored, not reciprocated, or rejected. The only words I can tell them are ‘move on, and you’ll find someone out there’. It’s generic advice, but given the right time, I think anybody could find love. Here are my picks this week:

Whiplash

A movie recently hasn’t left me completely flabbergasted as Whiplash did. While I am jumping in the bandwagon of praising the film, there is complete merit to it. The moment the screen reveals Andrew Neiman practicing drums and encounters Terrence Fletcher, you know you’re in for something captivating.

Double Feature: Gone Baby Gone / God Help the Girl

When I write my double features I try to make them relevant to each other. Whether they be sequels, or have a familiar co-star or concept. In this case, it’s the directorial debut of an actor and a musician.

Thursday Movie Picks: Romantic Comedies

Love is in the air in this week’s Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. There’s a year worth’s themes ready and it’s never too late to join in the fun! Romantic comedies may be getting the short end of the stick when it comes to genre movies, but they can be enjoyable at times. Here are my picks for the week:

In With the New Blogathon

Wendell of Dell on Movies is hosting a blogathon! As the title suggests, we are to explain why a remake is better than the original. I had a hard time choosing on what movies to write on: either I’ve seen only the remake/original and haven’t bothered watching the original/remake, or I prefer the original movie. So for this blogathon, I decided to go with The Parent Trap (1998), and how it was a better movie than The Parent Trap (1961).  Note: my defense has spoilers, just in case you haven't seen any of the movies.

01/15: Nobody puts Baby in the corner.

How's 2015 treating you so far? January seemed like a fluid month, with some major ups and downs, but my optimistic self is hoping for better things to come as the year goes by. Sundance has also started, which means a new crop of films to look out for for limited/wide release. Awards season has begun; besides SAG, Critics and Globes, there's still the Oscars, which received a lot of backlash for various reasons. Even mid-season premieres started this month. Besides Parks & Recreation and Cougar Town (both shows are ending this year), I've started watching Galavant, though the musical-medieval bit charm is starting to wear off. There's also Backstrom, but I got annoyed with one scene because the sound of the rain was muffling any conversation that was transpiring. Still giving it a chance though. Any new shows you're watching mid-season?