Thursday Movie Picks - Underground

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. You can play along by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing about them!

This week on Thursday Movie Picks, we're going underground! Which either means literally below ground OR "under the radar". I'm going with the more direct interpretation this time, but only so I can include...

Journey to the Center of the Earth (Henry Levin, 1959) This Jules Verne adaptation is tons of fun, especially if you can deal with the slightly cheesy 1950s special effects... although, honestly, they're a large part of the fun! James Mason is a delight as he leads a team of intrepid explorers into a volcano and to the center of the earth, encountering all manner of prehistoric goodies along the way. Remade in 2008 with Brendan Fraser, and that version isn't too bad either, but I prefer this one.

The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005) Exploring caves can be fun. But not after you see this movie. After you see this movie, you'll never want to go underground ever again. The Descent is horror at its finest, using the screen to trap us right alongside our poor heroines as they find themselves in a cave they can't get out of.

Buried (Rodrigo Cortés, 2010) Another movie you shouldn't watch if you get at all claustrophobic, even if it does a lot with the restrictions of having your entire movie take place in a coffin. And even if it does feature a terrific performance from Ryan Reynolds. This is a one man show, and Reynolds is pretty damn great in it.

Thursday Movie Picks - Addiction

Written as part of the weekly blogathon hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Join in the fun by picking three movies that fit the week's theme and writing a bit about them!

I'm gonna be honest, guys. Tuesday night wrecked me. Wednesday has been a haze; even my office, usually abuzz with activity and chatter, was dead silent. My voice is horse from all the screaming. My eyes are dried out from all the crying. My feet are sore from all the marching in protest. And my spirit is somewhat defeated from not knowing what to do. I don't have it in me to write a whole lot about this right now, so please, forgive me.

Let's just dive right in, shall we? The subject is addiction. The movies are:

Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011) Pretentious, only occasionally involving twaddle about sex addiction. Fassbender and Mulligan are the only reasons to see it and even then, I'm not sure they're worth the slog through every single goddamn well-trodden trope about addiction.

The Lost Weekend (Billy Wilder, 1945) Perhaps a bit over the top, but still powerful look at alcoholism. Ray Milland gives one of the best Best Actor Oscar-winning performances.

Bigger Than Life (Nicholas Ray, 1956) The best of these three, with the best lead performance, this time from James Mason as a schoolteacher who becomes addicted to cortisone. Nick Ray was a genius filmmaker, and this is well within his typical florid wheelhouse, which he turned into a sort of house of mirrors to critique the male-dominated American society of the 50s. Mason is nothing short of brilliant in the lead.