Well, been watching tons of movies lately and this weekend is looking to be one for the books. Last weekend I saw Pan's Labyrinth, Oldboy, The Cat Returns and My Neighbor Totoro.
Pan's Labyrinth was not the completely mindblowing cinematic masterpiece I was promised but it was still a unique and interesting film and my pick for Best Foreign Film of this year (its also the only foreign film I've seen this year).
Oldboy, on the other hand, was far closer to warranting the descriptor "mindblowing" as it was extremely well made, unique and had some crazy plot developments that I didn't see coming. Granted, it was disturbing but something about it all just made it work. I had to search many video stores before I finally found a copy (checked six video stores scattered across much of the city) but it was worth it in the end.
Then there were some great animated films, My Neighbor Totoro and The Cat Returns. Granted they are children's films in a lot of ways but they are some of the finest kid's movies ever. Japan knows how to make top-notch entertainment for all ages and I really enjoyed both of these movies. Being a huge fan of cats I probably enjoyed The Cat Returns the most out of the two. The whole idea of an entire kingdom filled with talking cats was just the greatest concept ever so I thorougly enjoyed the film, even though it wasn't very long. Looking forward to seeing more films of this nature (Miyazaki's particularly) in the near future.
As for this weekend, I have three films from my college library which are due back on Monday so I will certainly have to watch those. Those films are Glengarry Glen Ross, Yojimbo and Wall Street. I'm also borrowing Fight Club and Manhunter from a friend so will need to see those in the near future as well, possibly all this weekend if I find the time. Yojimbo will be my first Kurosawa film so I'm rather looking forward to seeing it. The others are films I've been meaning to see for awhile or have heard good things about. Well, better start watching something pretty soon. This weekend looks promising.