Watch List

A few of the movies on my "to watch" list because...

Because they are sitting on my desk.  I go to the library frequently and I'm always scrounging in the DVD section for something good.

Sometimes I check out movies that I'm fairly certain I'll not watch, or others that I know I may not like but feel obliged to view because I've heard good things about them.

Thus, the television mini-series "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" is sitting in front of me. Will I give it a try?  I likely will, but if it tests my patience too much I'll abandon it early.  Alec Guinness has tested my patience a couple of times in the past, so who knows?

I also have "The Pinochet Case," a film by Patricio Guzman, which The Nation,  my favorite lefty publication, calls "a gift."

Pinochet, the great friend of the American oligarchy, was brought to justice in 1998.  One can assume he is still guilty of his crimes against the Chilean people.  I think I'll watch this one and treat it as a brush-up on my SA history curriculum.

On rare days I find really good stuff that I can't wait to dig into.   This is the stuff I know is good because I've seen it at least once and been blown away.

Consider the pile on my desk now.  I have a couple of movies that I've seen in the past, liked a lot, and decided to give another go. The first is Polanski's "The Pianist."

Forget about the auteur's trouble with US authorities, I don't care.  Roman Polanski is simply one of the great filmmakers, one truly worthy of the title genius, and "The Pianist" is one of his greatest works.

I've seen it just once.  It is hard for me to watch any movie twice, but I think I'll be fine with this particular work.

The second movie on my "will do" list is Terrence Malick's "Badlands," which I saw, again just once, in its initial run.  I wonder if it will be as good as I remember it being?

The rest of what awaits me falls into a mixed category of haven't-seen-films, documentaries and television.

I have "Luzon," the History Channel production; "Girl, Interrupted," which earned Angelina Jolie her Oscar in 1999 (I'm not a fan, but again I'll try anything once); the fifth season of "Dexter" which I'm sure will disappoint me if it is like most of television's popular fare and becomes a cartoon.  I haven't seen any of this series, so perhaps I should begin at the beginning when I can find season one.

I have the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami's "Ten," which I haven't seen.  I've enjoyed what I've seen of his work, so this is a no-risk exercise.

Finally, I will at last get around to watching a documentary I once heard a great deal about. It is nothing short of shocking to me to realize I haven't seen this--"Hoop Dreams."

I once had hoop dreams myself, so perhaps my avoidance of the subject is understandable.


TS