Rate The Last Movie You Saw

2nd Rewatch....This is sort of distaff re-imagining of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest that takes place in the female wing of a mental institution during the 1960's. Based on a book by the real life central character, Winona Ryder plays Susanna Kaysen, a recent high school graduate and aspiring writer who gets committed to an institution after a suicide attempt (which she vehemently denies was a suicide attempt). This blistering drama rivets as it shows the varied masks of mental illness, not to mention those who don't know they have a problem and those who think they are cured but they're not. It's been a good decade since I've watched this film, but it still had my stomach in knots. Ryder delivers one of her best performances and has excellent support from Clea Duvall, the late Brittany Murphy (superb), Elisabeth Moss, Whoopi Goldberg, Jared Leto, and an explosive and frightening performance from Angelina Jolie that won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Doesn't answer all the questions it poses, but it manipulates the hell out of the viewer.

1st Rewatch...This black comedy starts off very innocently but goes some directions we really don't see coming, but the performances keep us invested in what's going on. John C Reilly plays a sweet-natured divorced guy who thinks he's hit the jackpot when he meets a vivacious woman (Marisa Tomei) at a party and falls in love with her instantly. A couple of days after their meeting, Reilly meets Tomei's 21 year old son (Jonah Hill), who lives with Mom and who doesn't take too long to let Reilly know that he is going to make sure nothing will ever happen between him and his mother. This movie frustrates because of the way Hill's character manipulates Reilly and the whole story makes Tomei's character look like a moron, but the performances are so good, especially Hill, that we just have to see how this going to play out.

1st Rewatch...From the "Valley of the Dolls" school of filmmaking comes one of the funniest dramas ever made anchored by what I believe to be is the worst performance in the history of cinema that actually won an Oscar. This film is based on a John O'Hara novel and the only reason Elizabeth Taylor agreed to do it was get out of her contract with MGM so that she could play Cleopatra at 20th Century Fox. Taylor plays Gloria Wandrous, a fashion model who lives with her mother and thinks she has found the love of her life in a wealthy businessman (Laurence Harvey), who sets Gloria off on a tangent when after they spend an evening together, he leaves he $250.00 and she retaliates by stealing his wife's mink coat. This overheated melodrama provides pretty consistent laughs throughout even though that wasn't the intention. Taylor's husband at the time, Eddie Fisher, once again gets to prove that he was a terrible actor, though Dina Merrill and Susan Oliver manage to maintain their dignity. The only reason Taylor won the Oscar for this film was because she had a serious illness a couple of months before the ceremony requiring an emergency tracheotomy and everyone thought she was going to die. This has to be seen to be believed, but hardcore Taylor fans will love it.

5th Rewatch...I love this enchanting rom com about a 30 year old woman of Greek ancestry who is tired of the trap being Greek has created for her life, or lack thereof, and decides to get a career for herself and, in the process, falls in love with a charming, non-Greek teacher (John Corbett). It's a little on the predictable side, but the look at Greek culture is often so funny. Love when Tula is walking down the aisle and the guests are spitting on her wedding veil. Nia Vardolos gives a star making performance as Tula and John Corbett brings the same breezy sexiness to Ian as he did to Aiden on Sex and the City. And you can't help but love Lainie Kazan and Michael Constantine as Tula's parents. There have been two sequels but I'm afraid to watch of them out of fear of them ruining my love for this film.

Bog, 1979

A poacher using dynamite for illegal fishing disturbs a monster in the lake, which not only kills the poacher but goes on to kill the wives of two couples out for a weekend vacation. Local biologist Ginny (Gloria DeHaven) is called in and soon deduces that the creature is something insect-like, but also capable of draining the blood out of a body. Ginny teams up with police officer Neal (Aldo Ray)---both professionally and romantically---to get to the bottom of things before the creature’s killing spree gets completely out of hand.

While it’s a bit too tepid to become a favorite, this was better than I expected and actually quite fun at times.



FULL REVIEW

Hannah Berner: We Ride at Dawn (2024) Watched this comedy special on Netflix. I had never heard of Hannah Berner before, but she is pretty funny in this. I laughed a lot.

The Lady Eve (1941, Preston Sturges)

Barbara Stanwyck is fantastic in this, Charles Coburn (Jean's dad) is wonderful as well, and the film in general is quite a bit of fun.. if you manage to suspend your disbelief when required. If you ask me, the annoying naiveté and gullibility of Henry Fonda's character went a stretch too far, to the point where I slightly struggled to stay fully invested in the film. Still enjoyed it overall.

Agreed 100%. I gave it the same score and had exactly the same reaction, particularly to the character of Charles. Here is what I wrote about it when I watched it.

Barbara Stanwick was always fantastic in everything, period and end of discussion.

Haha, yes, that was one of my favorite (and funniest) scenes

Sing Sing (2024)



Yeah I almost walked out of this one. This was a screen unseen program with AMC. This was an utter bore and frankly pedantic...I didn't find a single thing in this film to be interesting.

Robot Dreams (2023)





A little uneven with some pacing issues but it was heartfelt and imaginative

Yup, you got that right! Though there's something ironic in your post...https://www.movieforums.com/communit...21#post2472621

Great movie, but no matter how much I look, I haven't found anything close to it (voyeurism)

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https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition

In 1967 practically no one in the public knew anything about the real life Bonnie & Clyde. They were vaguely thought of as criminal legends much like Jesse James. Despite their heinous nature, people like these tended to be turned into folk heroes.

So when audiences of the day viewed the movie, as it was presented they tended to relate to the outlaws from the beginning. Therefore when the story turned from light to dark it seemed like a tragedy.

In real life B & C of course were psychopathic criminal killers, so they got what they deserved.

Looks like a good one. I really enjoyed the '96 Twister, so will look forward to this movie.

A collection of movie clichés told along with some pretty pictures, Dandelion is less than the sum of its parts.

KiKi Layne is very good in the title role, and she seems to have a nice singing voice (I'm being generous and assuming there wasn't a lot of electronic enhancements made to her singing).

But the whole story is one cliché after another about the life of an up-and-coming performer and the mistakes they make along the way - especially of the romantic variety.

The whole cast is very good, and they deserved a better movie.

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

1st Rewatch...Despite some logistical issues, this film is still worth watching for the thunderous performance by Jennifer Jason Leigh.