Movie week

I've been on a rampage of movie-watching over today and yesterday, especially after I discovered Movie Madness rents their stuff out for $2 apiece. What a deal. I'd keep watching today, but the Oscars are on, and then I'm going to try to get to Why We Fight tonight (Fox Tower at 10:05 baby).

They had Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb on Turner Classic Movies yesterday, which just about made my day. One of the funniest movies ever made.

Last night I watched Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train which had me so completely hooked, even when they take a major liberty with physics as the third act picks up, but the ending it just sort of bizarre (in that the final showdown takes place on a merry-go-round). Still, very solid thriller, great performances. Then I popped in Secret Honor, which is basically a one-man show about Richard Nixon. It was interesting, but I ended up switching it off at the half-hour mark, which for now will close off any interest I have in director Robert Altman (who's getting the Lifetime Achievement Award tonight at the Oscars).

Luckily, The Graduate saved it. The Graduate is one of many movies you hear a lot about, but a ton of people from our generation haven't seen. Anyway, it's a damn good movie, and even though the entire ending was copied almost exactly in Wayne's World 2, it still had me hooked.

Then Natalie Portman was hosting Saturday Night Live, and damn if I can ignore Natalie Portman.

And this morning I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I read the book years ago (I know, weird right?), loved it, and the movie changes a lot in terms of the narrative (the book from the point of view of the Indian, who in the movie is a small supporting character), but I still dug it. Doesn't hurt that I love Jack Nicholson (who doesn't?).

Anyway, that was my weekend. Oscar party tonight, reactions here tonight or tomorrow, depending on if I go see Why We Fight.

Other flicks I wanna rent this week...Touch of Evil, Network, All the President's Men, The Godfather Part II (long overdue), Full Metal Jacket, Lawrence of Arabia, Sunset Boulevard, and Kiss Me Deadly. Then I gotta catch 16 Blocks and Ultraviolet in theaters (if you're wondering why anyone would want to see Ultraviolet, it's the same director who did Equilibrium, so there).