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Family drama was the nice way of putting it...you could also call it a narrative crutch if you like
The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame
There's a possibility that The Wailing would've made my horror ballot if I'd seen it beforehand, despite all my bitching about recency bias during the countdown. I thought it was an incredible film. I never felt its length. I thought it escalated perfectly, starting out somewhat comedic and getting darker and more foreboding until that edge-of-your-seat climax. I've seen a lot of great South Korean flicks, and The Wailing is probably my third favorite behind I Saw the Devil and Bong Joon-ho's Mother.
I feel asleep watching it...it was fine but if you are going to do a detective story you don't also make it a family drama. It's becoming my biggest pet peeve in horror in that the family has to be tied into the plot. Jaws had one scene
The more Jaws tied into the family the worse the films became
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About Chinatown and Jack Nicholson
I was going to write in my review that I thought NichoIson was very realistic in his portrayal of a 1940s noir detective. I'm surprised & glad the role wasn't done as a overly colorfully, 40s lingo talking, Bogie style detective. So yeah, he did a great job in that role.
When I say I'm not a big fan of Nicholson, I don't mean that I don't like him. I'd consider him an 'A'level actor, I'm just not a big fan.
I think people are reading my review which focused on what I thought were flaws, but not taking into account that I gave it a I was entertained and thought it was a solid movie, except for the ending. I love noir, but classic American noir of the 40s-50s.
I don't get why Faye was such a big star at the time. I guess I need to see her in a few more movies to gauge how I feel about her. Regarding the pacing of Chinatown, I didn't find it sluggish I thought it was perfect, except the ending felt like it needed a few more lines and 60 more seconds to deliver the punch.
I also thought going in that would be a sure nomination for you. Jack is my favorite actor, and that might be my favorite performance of his because he doesn't overdo it. I also think Chinatown is in the running for the best movie ever made.
When I say I'm not a big fan of Nicholson, I don't mean that I don't like him. I'd consider him an 'A'level actor, I'm just not a big fan.
I've never been a fan of the movie Chinatown, but I thought that you would have liked it more. It seemed more like your type of movie..
My feelings exactly. I'm not a big fan of Faye but Jack is one of my favorites and this is one of them classics that just misses the mark for me. It's been a long time since I watched it but I remember the pacing felt sluggish.
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The Long Goodbye
(1973)
The Long Goodbye is a film about private investigator Philip Marlowe, who gets in trouble after helping out a friend. Elliot Gould’s performance of Philip Marlowe carried this film. He manages to make the character seem as someone who is cool, which is difficult for someone who starts the film by driving to a store in the middle of the night just to make his cat happy. He achieves this by playing Philip Marlowe as someone who stays confident enough to joke in situations where you’d expect him to be scared. The supporting performances were good too, especially Sterling Hayden's, who played the role of the alcoholic writer Roger Wade convincingly.
My favorite parts of this film were the scenes between Philip Marlowe and the police, the scenes with Philip Marlowe and Marty Augustine and his group and the scenes with Harry, one of Marty Augustine's helpers. Philip's jokes and the fact that he made it seem like he wasn’t impressed at all with so much confidence was very funny to me in these parts. On the other hand, The subplot with the Wades and Dr. Verringer didn't make a lot of sense to me while I was watching and although most of it got clearer throughout the film, I'm still not entirely sure how relevant Dr. Verringer was to the story.
I can think of many cases where a film's ending made me feel a lot worse about the film as a whole, but not that many where the opposite is true. The Long Goodbye, however, is an exception. I did not expect the ending to go down the way it did at all, but when it happened it immediately made me feel a lot better about the entire film.
The long goodbye is a very fun movie, due to the wisecracking main character, with great performances and an, at least to me, surprising ending.
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Totally disagree with this. That scene only heightened his devotion to his family and his fear of losing them. It was a huge part of why I enjoyed the film.
It worked because it was just the one powerful scene...once the Shark starting chasing the family you ended up with this.
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Babel (2006)
I don't know why I wasn't in a rush to see this because I've loved everything from director Alejandro Iñárritu except for 21 Grams, and I saw that movie 17 years ago when my taste was very different. This movie is the finale in his death trilogy, after the equally brilliant and similarly constructed Amores Perros and the aforementioned 21 Grams. While he has hit home runs with his later films Biutiful, Birdman, and The Revenant, I think it's his earlier stuff that really shows off his brilliance.
I loved every minute of this, and I do tend to enjoy movies that feature interconnected storylines. I believe the theme is to show how every action can have far reaching consequences, and it transfers to reality and makes the viewer think. This movie shows how far reaching those consequences can be by showcasing people in multiple countries who are part of different cultures. It's sort of a more expansive Magnolia. It's often times heart wrenching and I was completely riveted. Great filmmaking in every way I thought.
This was a great nomination for me. Who picked it? And for the person who picked it, why did you?
I don't know why I wasn't in a rush to see this because I've loved everything from director Alejandro Iñárritu except for 21 Grams, and I saw that movie 17 years ago when my taste was very different. This movie is the finale in his death trilogy, after the equally brilliant and similarly constructed Amores Perros and the aforementioned 21 Grams. While he has hit home runs with his later films Biutiful, Birdman, and The Revenant, I think it's his earlier stuff that really shows off his brilliance.
I loved every minute of this, and I do tend to enjoy movies that feature interconnected storylines. I believe the theme is to show how every action can have far reaching consequences, and it transfers to reality and makes the viewer think. This movie shows how far reaching those consequences can be by showcasing people in multiple countries who are part of different cultures. It's sort of a more expansive Magnolia. It's often times heart wrenching and I was completely riveted. Great filmmaking in every way I thought.
This was a great nomination for me. Who picked it? And for the person who picked it, why did you?
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Babel (2006)
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Babel is great, #166 on my all time list, better than Crash imo.
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I agree, although I thought Crash was very good. It seems to get a lot of hate.
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Babel is great, #166 on my all time list, better than Crash imo.
That alone shouldn’t detract from it. Now was it the best film that year? No, far from it. That honor goes to Brokeback Mountain and even Good Night and Good Luck. There may be even more if I ever get around to watching the bulk of them from that year.
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Babel (2006)
This was a great nomination for me. Who picked it? And for the person who picked it, why did you?
This was a great nomination for me. Who picked it? And for the person who picked it, why did you?
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This is my favorite movie of all time. No matter how many times I watch I still get sucked in emotionally. I think it's the best acted movie I've ever seen, top to bottom. The best supporting actor category that year could have been made up entirely from actors in this movie. Everyone is fantastic from Jack all the way down to Michael Berryman and this is my favorite performance from Jack. Forman balances the humor with the drama beautifully. The first group therapy session, drama, then comedy, then back to drama. It's perfect. Nothing feels forced, it's all feels very natural. It's also the scene that lets the viewer know who Nurse Ratched really is. After all the chaos, R.P is a little less than impressed with the group therapy, cut to Nurse Ratched staring at him, unmoved. It's a chilling look actually.
The final shot of Chief running away is my favorite scene ever. It's so simple. The music is so simple yet it's a very powerful scene. Gets me everytime.
Forman has done two of my favorite movies ever - this and Amadeus, another outstanding film and one that might be my top film of the 80's (there's always Raiders lurking around).
The final shot of Chief running away is my favorite scene ever. It's so simple. The music is so simple yet it's a very powerful scene. Gets me everytime.
Forman has done two of my favorite movies ever - this and Amadeus, another outstanding film and one that might be my top film of the 80's (there's always Raiders lurking around).
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The Thing (1982)
My guess: Siddon, he's the first person I think of obviously lol
It was only after some time after watching this that it dawned on me--The Thing isn't a silly tribute piece to 50s and 60s monster horror (including the movie it was a remake of). It was John Carpenter - in his own gross, body-horror, style - developing themes about human distrust and inner fears.
In that respect, it's very similar to something such as Lord of the Flies, William Golding's famous novel. In that book, a group of young boys are stranded on an island. Their fear of a "beast" on the island (which in reality doesn't exist) drives them all to mistrust and eventual madness.
Obviously The Thing and Lord of the Flies are different stories with relatively different themes. But I found The Thing to be incredibly more profound than I was expecting. It's honestly no wonder that this was terribly received in 1982 and practically ruined John Carpenter's career. It had this dark, moody vibe that had existed in other Carpenter movies but not like this. Not to the extent of looking the viewer in the eye and asking them "You tell me. Who is 'infected.' Who should die? Who should live?" And to add on top of that, as this mistrust between the characters develops, MacReady slowly establishes himself as the leader of the group. So now we have a layer asking questions about the morality of authority in this situation.
So it gets thick. And dark. And intense. And it doesn't end easy either. We're given no answers, no happy ending, but a grim look at what destroyed the station. In fact, that's the very question - what destroyed the station? The Thing? Or the researchers themselves? It's a chilling question, and of course left open ended. It surprised me how very little the thing itself had to do with the plot - other than of course being the root of the fear and mistrust between members.
Let's all remember 1983 as the year that Ennio Morricone got nominated for not one, but TWO golden razzie nominations for worst score. I mean, what?? The Thing isn't Morricone's best work but COME ON, it's still pretty stellar, suspenseful stuff. Besides, that was before Morricone had even won an Oscar (long before), but we can discuss my issues with that when I rewatch the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Okay, speaking of ugly, yes the Thing looks ugly. The entire film does, not just the special effects. I hated it at first, but I kinda started to dig the dark colors and weird blob shape of the thing. It made it all the more horrifying and a teeny bit more fun. And YES I honestly did have fun with this, even with all of the dark themes going on.
My first Carpenter, and it's a thumbs up. Screw those '82 haters.
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Casablanca (1942)
My guess: Citizen Rules I KNOW I GUESS YOU FOR LIKE EVERY PICK but I just don't know, you gave this five stars though.
When a movie is mentioned as "iconic," I think of Star Wars. I think of the Godfather. I think of Pulp Fiction. And I certainly think of Casablanca. Yet I had never seen it. Maybe it was fear? Fear that a movie like Casablanca - with a premise that simply didn't interest me like the movies I mentioned did - would be one of those film classics that I just never vibed with.
But holy ****. I was drawn in from the first minute, the very first narration as we follow the map of refugees trying to escape Nazi-occupied France. And from there, boom, we get one of the most consistently amazing movies I've ever seen. It absolutely floored me across the board. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are two more "icons," actors who have transcended their fame and became Hollywood legends. And I'm thinking it's gotta be because of Casablanca. We get this lovely zoom in shots of their faces, especially when they're listening to Sam playing "As Time Goes By." And for 10 or more seconds, we see them staring off into the distance, thinking. That's acting. Not any memorization of lines, not even the emotion those lines are delivered with. Ingrid and Humphrey totally understand the characters they're playing - you can feel the sorrow and pain that Ilsa must be going through. And as for Bogart, his acting may often come off as "stiff," but remember, that's the character he's playing, and in the end he's really a likable softy.
I didn't realize how much the Nazis/World War II plays into this movie, as usually it's discussed as a Romance. Yet the themes tie in very closely with the themes about loss and regret. It's interesting thinking about when this was made. 1942. Damn, that was three years before World War II was over, and only a couple months after the United States had entered. As much as much of the "American patriotism and pat-on-the back" propaganda from the 1940s have become cringe-worthy and boring, Casablanca transcends that. Yes, the protagonist is an American, and an American saves the day so that a revolution leader can escape to a better life in America. In fact, the external conflict of this whole movie is getting to America. However, Casablanca chooses to celebrate all the good in the world (we hear the French national anthem for instance), especially in the face of evil.
There's so much to talk about with Casablanca, but another thing that incredibly impressed me was the screenplay. It has legitimately one of the best scripts I've seen/heard in a movie, and literally every other line is ICONIC. There were so many quotes that I already knew, and between those famous moments we get witty, often funny dialogue that never gets boring.
Michael Curtiz - director of Adventures of Robin Hood - did a fine job with this, but as I was told it was more of a studio effort. Still, it's not like Michael Bay could have pulled off the same thing. The cinematography is pretty great - although not the highlight of the film - and we get sweeping shots of the cafe and the terrain outside. Some of the movements almost reminded me of the zoom shots Scorsese would develop much much later. Impressive.
At the heart of Casablanca, though, is the warm grip it took on me. I want the characters to succeed so badly. I want all of them to be happy. No character is truly "happy" at the end, and that's why the bittersweet finale was so perfect. "I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." That's one of the last lines, and it's Rick's farewell to Ilsa. In the end, he's a great character not because he changes - I don't think his character is actually dynamic in the same way as, say Chihiro in Spirited Away or Michael in the Godfather - but because he does something that he's been wanting to do for years. Rick was never a cold "I stick my neck out for nobody" type of person. He suppressed his warmth, love for humanity, and goodness when Ilsa left him, and her return gave him the opportunity to bring that out again.
So if there are any real flaws in this movie, I can't see them and honestly I'm not sure I want to. The rewatchability level of this must also be crazy high, I feel like I could start it again right now...
Anyways, it's going to rank very highly in my list. This movie hit my soul, and I'm glad it did.
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I love The Thing(1982) it's in my top five, I did not however pick The Thing for you. As for what happened in 1982...basically the market got saturated this movie that should have had legs got it cut off from underneath it.
May 14th - Conan
May 28th - Rocky III
June 4th - Poltergeist and Star Trek II Wrath of Khan
June 11th - ET
June 25th - Blade Runner and The Thing
July 9th - Tron
Had The Thing come out in the winter it would have done better (Amityville, Friday the 13th, Creepshow) all managed to survive the ET onslaught. ET was in the top five from June 11th till December 17th, also that jerk Spielberg re-released Raiders of the Lost Ark and that did well in the Summer.
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-offi...end/1982/06/25
May 14th - Conan
May 28th - Rocky III
June 4th - Poltergeist and Star Trek II Wrath of Khan
June 11th - ET
June 25th - Blade Runner and The Thing
July 9th - Tron
Had The Thing come out in the winter it would have done better (Amityville, Friday the 13th, Creepshow) all managed to survive the ET onslaught. ET was in the top five from June 11th till December 17th, also that jerk Spielberg re-released Raiders of the Lost Ark and that did well in the Summer.
https://www.the-numbers.com/box-offi...end/1982/06/25
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Casablanca (1942)
My guess: Citizen Rules I KNOW I GUESS YOU FOR LIKE EVERY PICK but I just don't know, you gave this five stars though.
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