Casablanca

Casablanca

Have no fear, I am jumping to classics right away.  For years Casablanca had been on the top of my list of classic films that I need to watch.  My parents had a special edition VHS copy when I was a kid and I had always wondered what the movie was about.  Whether it was my lack of interest in black and white films, or my desire to watch Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles: The Movie one more time, I never watched this classic film until this past year.  It was a really great experience.

I'll admit that I was expecting a lot from this film.  I had heard about it from podcasts, classmates in university, and various "Top 100 Films Of All Time" list that Casablanca is the movie that you must watch if you truly love movies.  With all the hype that accompanied my first viewing of the film, I had become afraid that this 70 year old film would leave me disappointed and deflated.  I thought that I would be bored and then realize that I could never be a true film fan if I did not shout out accolades for this Bogart-Bergman masterpiece.

Well, let me start shouting my accolades:

Casablanca is everything I wanted it to be.  I was swept off of my feet by the experience I had watching it.

My wife and I had located the DVD of Casablanca in a discount bin for $8.  When I found it I was thrilled to finally locate a physical copy of such an assumed classic.  It stayed in our collection for at least 6 months while I waited for the right situation to view it all in one sitting.

That situation never happened, so I watched it in 3 or 4 parts.  That is the life of a dad.

Casablanca is one of the best paced movies I have ever seen.  I grew up on classic movies such as, The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, and Fiddler On The Roof.    These are great movies, but they are very, very long.  The VHS versions came on 2 separate tapes.

Casablanca is a one-cassette movie and it still covers a lot of ground. The credit for this goes to the pacing.  I will refer to pacing quite a lot in my reviews for a couple reasons.  The first being that I have a limited window to watch movies and if a movie doesn't catch my interest and move quickly, it is not worth my time.  Secondly, pacing shows a respect to the audience that says, "hey, you are smart and quick enough to catch what is going on despite an rapid passing of elements in this film".

There are elements in Casablanca that I did not understand during my viewing, but it inspired me to do some research and learn more about it.  I know that I have experienced a good film when I search for more information about it and Casablanca is a good film.

To be short, I really liked this movie.  It is a definite classic.  I was surprised by the revelations made throughout the film concerning the back stories of the main characters, but those revelations made sense.  I was intrigued at the start and satisfied with the ending.  I enjoyed every minute of it!

I recommend this Classic!  5/5 Stanley cups.  A dynasty!

Format: DVD

Viewing Period: A couple 5 minute false starts followed by an hour in the evening and the rest the                               next morning.

Inspired me to: Find out more about Ingrid Bergman.  I developed a crush on her while I watch the                              film.  She has a simply beautiful face.

Romeo + Juliet

Romeo + Juliet

I have seen many movies and I could begin this blog strictly with some classic such as Chinatown, Star Wars, or Casablanca; but I wanted to start with the first movie that happened to be next in line on my Netflix list.  It is a random movie.  Random is how I view movies as a dad.

First of all, let me tell you about the circumstances of my viewing.  Since I have a difficult time finding any time to watch films of my preference, I watched William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet in 3 pieces.  Most of my viewing was in the early morning hours and although I do not rate this film as a "classic", it does bring to my mind memories of my late pre-teen days when I was overcome with jealousy when my older sister's class took a field trip to watch Baz Luhrman's adaptation during the school day.

Romeo +Juliet pushed Leonardo Dicaprio into the forefront of the dreams of every teenage girl on the planet.  Before his Shakespearean portrayal, Dicaprio was the kid from What's Eating Gilbert Grape? that everyone thought was mentally handicapped due to his great performance.  After he resurrected the sonnet, he was a heartthrob that struggled to be taken seriously as an actor.

What Mr. Dicaprio has become 19 years later helps propel this film into my nostalgic category.  While I was watching this movie I thought about his performance and I felt that his acting got better as the movie continued on.  It was entertaining for me to see an Academy Award nominated actor at the genesis of what he was to become.  I might be watching The Aviator or Catch Me If You Can in the next couple months to remind me of his talent.

Aside from Dicaprio, this film is filled with really fascinating performances that were overshadowed by the media buzz around the two stars.  The Nurse, played by Miriam Margolyes is my favorite character in the film.  Her Hispanic accent helps to overcome the oddity that accompanies speaking in iambic pentameter.  She is passionate; her emotions are easily read and understood.  This helps to keeps the stakes raised as her ward, Juliet, faces a life and death dilemma of love over family.

Other performances that should be noted are John Leguizamo as Tybalt and Harold Perrineau  as Mercutio.  They are so committed to their characters that I would expect them to speak in couplets in all of their subsequent productions and in interviews.

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet is a ride into a strange world of crime, eloquent language and custom cars.  This movie is an exercise in visual entertainment and cinematic experimentation.  

For the nostalgic and "out of this world" voyage is takes me on I give it 3.5/5 Stanley cups.

Format: NETFLIX
Viewing Period: two early mornings and one evening
Inspired me to: Look up the official soundtrack.  I found it.  I only like 2 songs and I bought                             those 2 songs.

Rating System

The Rating System

Every review has a standard.  IMDB.com uses a numerical rating out of 10, Leonard Maltin uses a 4 star rating, and Rottentomatoes.com uses a percentage.  My system will be out of 5 Stanley Cups. (I am a hockey fan, and my favorite team, the Edmonton Oilers have won 5 Stanley Cups)  I will also add an addition rating that is a little more arbitrary due to my emotional connection to a number of films.  This is the list of arbitrary ratings:

Classic

Nostalgic

Enjoyable

Ridiculous
Well Made

This list will change and evolve over time because some films defy all categorization.