Anyway, onto the movie. I actually went in there thinking I'd rent a foreign film, which would address #36 on my list. However, the one I had in mind, Tokyo Gore Police, someone was already renting. Burning Paradise has a great selection of movies. They range from mainstream, to foreign, to independent, to the most offensive stuff you can imagine. While browsing the movies, which is and art all but lost in the age of digital media, I came across Chinatown. I had already pegged Chinatown as one of the movies I most wanted to watch from the AFI 100 list. So I took it off the shelf, worked my crutches over to Kurly (owner of Burning Paradise and genuinely cool dude) cashed in my once a month free rental, and headed home.
#35...1/20. Watch 20 films that I haven't seen from the AFI 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary) List
Tonight I watched the first of at least 20 films from the AFI 100 list...Chinatown.
Going into watching the films on this list, I found myself worrying that I wouldn't enjoy these films as much as you're supposed to. I thought there would be a good chance that I would find many of these films overrated. I have to say that I picked a good one to start off with.
Chinatown stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, and was directed by Roman Polanski. Personal life aside, Polanski is a brilliant director. In fact, I really want to see his new one, The Ghost Writer, which stars Ewan McGregor and Peirce Brosnan. Back to Chinatown...this was a great movie of the "film noir" genre. I don't have a lot of experience with this genre, but I do enjoy it. Nicholson plays a private eye who finds himself knee deep in the middle of a conspiracy. I found myself enthralled in all 2+ hours of the film. The mystery moved in all directions, and even with some revelations near the end, I am still trying to figure a couple of things out. I mean, I'm pretty sure I understand it all, but the conspiracy wasn't resolved. It may have been solved by Nicholson's character, but he wasn't able to do anything about it. I guess we're left to think that more can be done in the timeline following the conclusion of the film.
So I did very much enjoy this film. I think I'm going to rank the films I watch off this list. I don't know yet if I'll include the 25 or so that I've already seen in the past. We'll see. For now, it's ranked number 1...out of 1. I also gave it 8 our of 10 stars on IMDB. It may have received a 9 from me, but I don't think I care for the ending much.
Tomorrow I am going in for a bone biopsy on my foot. There's potential for me having to stay in the hospital for a few days. Let's hope that doesn't happen. I'll certainly share an update when the time comes.
Also, I've been continuing to work on sticker/pin logos for Team Zissou. Below are a few more I've come up with.
I am off to the hospital tomorrow. Please keep me in your thoughts and I'll be back soon!