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This weekend I went on a movie marathon covering 6 decades, 3 continents, 5 different formats, and just about every genre. I started with a pair of Kurosawa classics; Rashomon (1950) and Ikiru (1952). Rashomon is a crime mystery where four witnesses each have a different perspective on the same crime, each equally plausible. It was simple, with only three settings and six characters, yet still very smart. Ikiru is a powerful tale of a man’s life once he finds out he has cancer, the most personal and compassionate of the Kurosawa films I have seen. Both of these have me wanting repeat viewings.

After these two landmarks in cinema, it was time to turn off my brain for a little while and change the pace. I watched District B13 (2006), a French action flick that focused on the ‘sport’ of parkour. The stunts, action, and style are top-notch, and it doesn’t take itself overly serious. If the second one follows this formula, I can’t wait to see it. The last watch of the day was a repeat viewing of The Hurt Locker (2009). Action-packed, intense, and wonderfully acted, it is easily a front runner for Best Actor, Director, and Picture. Don’t watch with coffee like I did, might have a heart attack.

I kicked off Saturday seeing Up in the Air (2009) in a cool, old-school theater (San Marco Theatre, Jacksonville, built in 1938). The experience was perfect, and the film was very good too. Smart, funny, emotional, and as usual, a good Clooney performance. I picked back up with Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (1958). Two farmers meet a samurai, and eventually a princess on an journey that reminds me of a mixture of Star Wars and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. It is a very fun, epic, samurai adventure. Bringing me back to the present was 500 Days of Summer (2009). Two likable leads take us through a funny, hip (all they were missing was a twitter page), bittersweet love story. It is a non-conventional romantic comedy, and I found it very entertaining.

I woke up Sunday and watched Yojimbo (1961) and Sanjuro (1962) back-to-back, and wow did I love them. It is clear that these films influenced Leone’s Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More (two of my faves). Toshirô Mifune is the samurai prototype for Clint Eastwood. Filled with plenty of classic showdowns, sword fights, and witty humor, Kurosawa continues to amaze me. Ending the epic weekend, I had to do a complete 180°. It was Valentine’s Day after all, so I had no say in what movie we saw. Garry Marshall filled this film with as many A-listers, clichés, and eye-rolling moments he could find and called it – Valentine’s Day (2010). I almost laughed when the ‘Casting By:’ credit came on. I’ll admit it wasn’t as terrible as I was expecting. It was more tolerable than others of the genre, probably due to the star power and a couple laughs.