Author: bernardovillela

Birthday Movies

Posted on by bernardovillela

As someone who is fanatical about films what better way to celebrate one’s birthday than by taking in a film. I have been doing so for quite some time watching a film on or near my birthday and while some have been better than others many stayed memorable because they became one of my birthday films. Below are some which I have seen. I suggest that if you have not started this tradition you should do so now. With each of these films I seem to remember something about the viewing experience because the screening was on or near a momentous date and thus made the experience somewhat elevated.

I usually seek to go to the movies but there are some streaming and physical media selections here as well.

2025 Relay

This is a major winner. Cue the Scorsese meme: Absolute cinema.

2024 No movie watched

2023 Nomovie watched

2022 Zoolander 2 (2016)

2021 Candyman

2020 The Kissing Booth 2, Seven Rooms, Kitchen, Bathroom, for Sale (1984), Captain Sparky vs. The Flying Saucers (2013), Dragon Around (1954), Don’s Fountain of Youth (1953) and Black Panthers (1968)

2019 No movie watched

2018 No movie watched

2017 Wind River

Gil Birmingham and Jeremy Renner in Wind River (2017) CR

2016 Don’t Breathe 

Jane Levy;Dylan Minnette;Daniel Zovatto

2015 Sinister 2

Sinister 2 (2015, Universal)

NOTE: Was viewed on 8/28 as I couldn’t get to the movies on 8/27.

2014 No movie watched

2013 Blue Jasmine and Twixt

Blue Jasmine (2013, Sony Pictures Classics)

Twixt (2011, American Zoetrope)

2012 The Apparition

The Apparition (2012, Warner Bros.)

I could’ve had an honorary selection, but then I saw this on the actual day of my birth, and it’s the worst thing I’ve had the displeasure of seeing on this day.

1/10

2011 No movie watched

2010 Nanny McPhee Returns

Nanny McPhee Returns (2010)

This is yet another one of the rare sequels that is more enjoyable than the original, a fact I elaborated on in my initial review. This was a film that also made a dent in my annual BAM Awards. It continued my tradition of strong films on my birthday.

8/10

2009 Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds (2009, The Weinstein Company)

This is without question the best film of the bunch and went on to quite a few BAM wins including Best Supporting Actor. It is a throughly enjoyable moviegoing experience made more special by knowing the time and place where I saw it.

10/10

2008 No movie watched

2007 Mr. Bean’s Holiday

Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007, Universal)

It seems as if Rowan Atkinson is being true to his word and that this was, and is, Mr. Bean’s swansong and if that is so what a way to go. This movie absolutely cracks me up and not only is everything that Bean should be but also has some cinematic commentary to it. Fantastic stuff and still vastly underrated I feel.

10/10

2006 How to Eat Fried Worms

How to Eat Fried Worms (2006, New Line Cinema)

How To Eat Fried Worms is another one I’d put in the underrated category. It embraces a child’s love of the grotesque with unbridled glee yet also tells what could be a very trite tale with enough sincerity to escape the commonplace and be something a bit more.

8/10

2005 The 40 Year Old Virgin

The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005, Universal)

The 40 Year Old Virgin is one of those movie whose reputation preceeds it when it shouldn’t. It’s not a bad film, it’s not a great film. It’s just fine but is often touted as being much more. While not the prime example it’s in the Judd Apatow mold of not knowing when enough’s enough and it’s also not Carell at his best and I am a big fan.

6/10

2004 Mean Creek

Mean Creek (2004, Paramount Classics)

This is a film I included in my favorite films of the decade and clearly it was a BAM winner as Best Picture. It’s a film that not only treats its young cast as real people but also isn’t afraid to make them imperfect in an unsensationalistic way. It’s also a film that with its conclusion is unafraid of embracing ambivalence making the one villainous character more gray than black in the end.

10/10

2003 Jeepers Creepers II

Jeepers Creepers II (2003, MGM)

Jeepers Creepers is a horror phenomenon I never quite understood. I appreciate what made the original work for people on an intellectual level but did not enjoy it and this one is worse still. It was slim pickings this year and I was better off skipping the cinema.

4/10

2002 No movie watched

2001 No movie watched

2000 No movie watched

1999 The Muse

The Muse (1999, October Films)

It’s most definitely not Albert Brooks at his best it almost seems like a riff on Woody Allen that loses steam but it’s not nearly as bad as the IMDb would have you believe. There was a time where Sharon Stone had a string of tremendous roles. Considering what a minor note it was, you can still get a taste of what she was like at her peak.

7/10

1998 No movie watched

1997 No movie watched

1996 A Very Brady Sequel

A Very Brady Sequel (1996, Paramount)

This is lovingly satirical adaptation at its finest. It set a precedent that other films have tried to emulate but failed in doing so quite badly. It’s a sequel head-and-shoulders better than its predecessor, compulsively watchable and hilarious stuff.

10/10

Music Video Monday: Stan – Eminem

Posted on by bernardovillela

The cultural impact of Eminem’s “Stan” is already indelible what with the word becoming synonymous with obsessive fandom, even being added to the dictionary. However, while that cultural artifact comes from a misapropriation of the intent of the song, the music, lyrics, and video still stand as a tremendous fusion of creative power. One of the rare 21st century tracks to even offer an extended video that expands on the story of the song, and stars Devon Sawa when he was in the midst of making some of his most popular works. Enjoy!

Short Film Saturday: Invincible (2023)

Posted on by bernardovillela

The films I share in my 31 Days of Oscar lists tend to get lost in the shuffle, so I’ll be featuring them on Short Film Saturday to give them their due. Directed by Vincent-René Lortie Invincible dramatizes a harrowing ripped-from-the-headlines tale in a sensitive, empathetic, and moving way. It’s a film that was most deserving of its nomination, but sadly overlooked in voting. You can watch it below.

Film History Friday: Nanook of the North (1922)

Posted on by bernardovillela

Despite having mentioned the film on a few occasions, first, in A Cinematic Trip Around Canada then in the Mini-Review Round-Up Late August/September 2013, I have never featured Nanook of the North on this page. Both those passing references to this film discuss its imperfections: the cultural perspective the story is told from, the casual racism of some intertitles, and the methods employed in the making of this film some documentarians find controversial (Flaherty lost footage and recreated it via dramatization; he also created half-igloos to shoot in order to solve lighting concerns).

I, myself, can’t blame a filmmaker dealing with the limitations of his equipment doing all he could to present the images he captured to the world. Especially, when the alternative was yet another lost film. Despite the built-in concerns that one must acknowledge, it doesn’t discount the importance of this early documentary feature.

It is viewable below. Enjoy!

 Make Your Own Film Festival: Étienne-Jules Marey

Posted on by bernardovillela

Pioneer Intro

The film festival post, both yesterday and today (and perhaps those to come) came to me by accident after falling into YouTube rabbit holes. I don’t fall into them often and rarely with such delightful results.

This happened about a year ago, so the deatils are a bit fuzzy, but I think a repeat viewing of Nope, and discovering a book of his studies in motion had me looking up Eadweard Muybridge again.

Lore has it he photographed a man riding horse as part of a bet to see if all four hooves are ever off the ground at once (spoiler: they are). The story goes on to purport the 24 cameras set up created a happy accident. Still images that appeared to move when shown in rapid succession.

That’s true enough, but that makes it more of a “eureka moment” than it really was. Having discovered the book, I saw Muybridge assiduously used film to study motion over many years. Also, Nope, was correct. While many Muybrdige’s subjects (even horses) where named in intertitles, the horse’s jockey in his most famous film, was not. But it is noteworthy that while the horse ride sets motion pictures off. There were quickly many disparate experiments with motion pictures that are fascinating, even exciting to see now, so many years later considering their early vintage.

Films

Here are some works by Étienne-Jules Marey another pioneer.

Make Your Own Film Festival: Eadward Muybridge

Posted on by bernardovillela

The film festival post, both yesterday and today (and perhaps those to come) came to me by accident after falling into YouTube rabbit holes. I don’t fall into them often and rarely with such delightful results.

This happened about a year ago, so the deatils are a bit fuzzy, but I think a repeat viewing of Nope, and discovering a book of his studies in motion had me looking up Eadweard Muybridge again.

Lore has it he photographed a man riding horse as part of a bet to see if all four hooves are ever off the ground at once (spoiler: they are). The story goes on to purport the 24 cameras set up created a happy accident. Still images that appeared to move when shown in rapid succession.

That’s true enough, but that makes it more of a “eureka moment” than it really was. Having discovered the book, I saw Muybridge assiduously used film to study motion over many years. Also, Nope, was correct. While many Muybrdige’s subjects (even horses) where named in intertitles, the horse’s jockey in his most famous film, was not. But it is noteworthy that while the horse ride sets motion pictures off. There were quickly many disparate experiments with motion pictures that are fascinating, even exciting to see now, so many years later considering their early vintage.

Below you’ll find a small sampling of his experiments. This final channel has the most complete playlist of his films that I’ve found, if you want to explore further. Enjoy!

Short Film Saturday: The Censored Eleven

Posted on by bernardovillela

I don’t believe I was fully aware of the Censored Eleven before now. I have previously discussed some Looney Tunes being pulled by specific cable providers as is the case with Hillbilly Hare, but these films are of older vintage and have been kept mostly out of circulation by the studio itself. They haven’t even been presented recently with their now (in)famous disclaimer.

These shorts stand out not die to an off-color intended-for-adults comment here or there, but because they’re thematically racist and problematic to varying degrees, even more so than their propaganda films.

As such I modified my original intention of posting these films over the course of three months as many people will not have an appetite to watch more than a few.

Most of these shorts are available in one convenient Internet Archive playlist (linked to below). The Internet Archive swaps out Hallelujah Land for a Bosko title. The shorts do get increasingly more difficult to watch, so buyer beware. Hallelujah Land is one of the tamest titles of the bucnch and the one I saw first.

These films also made worse when you consider Warners released about one of these a year in a short period of time.

Censored Eleven playlist.