The Movie Weekend That Was

After a couple of dead movie weekends, I finally had a chance to spend a weekend doing nothing else. Granted, napping away a nasty cold robbed me of some movie time, but there was still ample opportunity. The weekend brought me a sports drama, two big budget efforts from 1976, a very unique documentary, a recent Oscar nominee, and a continuation of my struggle with Brian DePalma. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

March Madness took a little bite out of my movie weekend. There’s something inherently charming about being able to flip on the TV at any point during a weekend and see college kids trying to fulfill their dreams. That said, there was still time for movies. This weekend introduced me to a horrifying double feature about sex, made me face down a phobia, introduced me to a sports classic, and gave me a special Thrill. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

This weekend was a great one for themes. There were two films from 1999 in the mix, three Japanese Criterion films, two ghost movies (technically, one of those two had a lot more than just ghosts), and two films that dug deep into the psyche of the business of sports. For good measure, Elijah Wood made an appearance in a gimmicky Hitchcockian thriller involving a piano. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

Fighting a cold and watching movies can make for a perfect pairing. That was the case this weekend, as I bunkered down under some blankets with cold meds and a boatload of movies. Featured this weekend: two critical darlings of the last five years, a David Lynch oddity (even by David Lynch standards), a healthy dose of urban legend horror, some samurai, and a trippy British indie thriller. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

Just like in 2011, a World Series run by the St. Louis Cardinals meant that I punted on almost a month’s worth of movies this year. This weekend was my first shot at diving back into it. Along the way, I visited a Sight & Sound top 10 film, a French comedy classic (yes, those exist), a little-known horror/sci-fi classic, and more. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

This weekend brought me to the doorstep of an American legend, a satirical American legend, an American myth turned South African legend, a beloved science fiction franchise, and a horror movie that was oddly reminiscent of a delicious candy bar. Sa da tay, my damies! This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

This weekend’s docket included a critically acclaimed 90s documentary, one of the best theater experiences I’ve ever had, a heapin’ helpin’ of films that mix sex and violence, and a zombie that won my heart. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

If you hate summer as much as I do, then you bunker down in front of an air conditioner on the weekends and gobble up movies. This weekend was a great example of that. The selections for the weekend included the most recent film from one of my favorite directors, an introduction to a Dogme 95 director, more top-shelf fare from the 90s, and a French film for Bastille Day. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

Friday night, I went to the baseball game with my friend. At one point, we started to discuss what was on the docket for our movie weekends. I hadn’t really planned any sort of chicanery. There was no intention of having a bizarre, wild mix. And yet, it ended up being one of the more diverse, unholy movie weekend batches I’ve ever cooked up. On the docket: a 90s b-horror about an evil ice cream man, the wholesomiest of wholesome American musicals, two surrealist masterpieces (one about gay Nazi bikers), an indie film about serial killers, and an overlooked 90s indie classic. And that doesn’t even include my missed chance at seeing the popular kids movie-du-jour. This is the movie weekend that was.

The Movie Weekend That Was

Since my vacation time at work is “use it or lose it” by June 30th, I’ll have a lot of long weekends this month. This was the first, so my weekend was full of movies. Choose your own subhead for my movie weekend. It’s either “Holy shit, you’ve never seen THAT?!?” weekend, or “The Movie Weekend That Was: A Lot of Sequels”. Included: boldly tackling a sequel where I’d never gone before, two other sequels, three classics that I’d never seen, and a healthy dose of recent horror. This is the movie weekend that was.