Continuing my weekly series where I go through my impressively large collection (1,054 titles) of DVDs and Blu-Rays. I have been neglecting older movies for new ones, so I’m going through and re-watching everything from my vault. I have the films divided into categories: General, Series, Classics, Kids, Shakespeare, and Documentary. I’m starting with General.
In a fluke of alphabeticalness, this week was heavy on Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Ed Harris.
300 (2006)
Format: DVD Special Features: Commentary, Behind the Scenes, Interviews
Last Time Watched: Within the last five years
Originally Viewed: Theater (3x)
Comments After Re-Watching: I need to upgrade this to Blu-ray. Michael Fassbender has way more screen time than I remembered.
Why You Should You Watch This: One of the Spartans narrates the tale to a bunch of Spartans before a battle. Thus, the details are an exaggeration of what happened. A lot of people missed this point and thought the movie was unrealistic and not historically accurate.
50/50 (2011)
Format: DVD Special Features: Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Interviews
Last Time Watched: Within the last year
Originally Viewed: Rental
Comments After Re-Watching: The soundtrack for this movie is perfectly chosen, and Matt Fewer needs to do more movies.
Why You Should You Watch This: It’s based on a true story of one of Seth Rogan’s friends who had cancer. The movie does a great job at showing how everyone reacts to a cancer diagnosis while remaining a comedy.
500 Days of Summer (2009)
Format: Blu-ray Special Features: Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Interviews
Last Time Watched: Within the last year
Originally Viewed: Theater x2
Comments After Re-Watching: He is absolutely correct about what the best part of Los Angeles is, and I love seeing my favorite building, The Bradbury, in movies.
Why You Should You Watch This: Non-traditional romantic-comedy with a great cast, fantastic soundtrack, and gorgeous shots of Los Angeles.
About Time (2013)
Format: Blu-ray Special Features: Commentary, Behind the Scenes, Interviews
Last Time Watched: Within the last three years
Originally Viewed: Theater
Comments After Re-Watching: More proof that the new Star Wars movies cast great actors and then didn’t allow them to do what they do best. This movie shows Domhnall Gleeson is likable and can give a nuanced performance.
Why You Should You Watch This: It is a fun boy-centric romantic-comedy that realistically uses time-travel to show you don’t have to use it to change the world.
Absolute Power (1997)
Format: DVD Special Features: None
Last Time Watched: Over ten years ago
Originally Viewed: Theater
Comments After Re-Watching: The movie is wall-to-wall score filled with the best character actors out there. Ed Harris is adorable in the film.
Why You Should You Watch This: It’s a solid crime story that focuses on character as much as plot and Ed Harris is always worth watching.
The Abyss (1989)
Format: DVD Special Features: Commentary, Behind the Scenes, Interviews
Last Time Watched: Over ten years ago
Originally Viewed: Rental and in class
Comments After Re-Watching: I need to upgrade this to Blu-ray. I know 10 minutes of this movie extremely well. In film school, we spent a whole semester re-creating all the sounds for the section when the crane falls. Then, I was a teacher’s assistant for the class. After all this time, I still can recite it and list every sound effect needed.
Why You Should You Watch This: While the effects are a bit dated, this remains an intense sci-fi thriller. James Cameron knows how to make films.
Another week’s selection with more randomness of the types of movies I own. Come back next week to see what I watched next.
Have you seen any of these movies? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!
The Questing Geek 