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Your Honor (2020)
Absolutely Terrible
Only made it through the first episode. Already there are way too many holes to continue to watch this mess. Both lead characters are incredibly inept and neither deserves an ounce of sympathy from anyone. I gave it 1 star for the glimpse of the streetcar going down St. Charles Avenue. That was nice. FYI, if this had actually happened in New Orleans, both Your Honor and his son would have been dead by 11:59 PM on the day of the accident!
Kidding (2018)
No Third Season? Really? Why?
This show is so perfect. Very creative and unique. Reflects real life but in a funny and somewhat warped dark way. Makes one think deeply as to what is truly important in a totally new and different way. Jim Carrey is at his very best. The entire cast is great. In short, I am in awe of everything associated with this series. It should NEVER end.
La grande bellezza (2013)
This movie is beautiful.
This movie is NOT about Rome's nightlife. That's just the beautiful, whimsical and surreal package (the shiny red Ferrari distraction if you will) the real story finds itself in. The REAL story is Jeb's story; a 65-year-old man who FINALLY realizes that The Big/Great Beauty in his life - the true love of his life - was his first love Elisa who loved him back dearly but early-on dumped him. But he chose the crazy nightlife of his youth as his life's "work" after his early success in writing a prize winning novel and sadly never matured. Elisa needed an adult and a normal life even if she didn't marry for love. A true lose-lose of sorts. Life can "trick" all of us sometimes.
1917 (2019)
1917 Best Picture 2019
A masterpiece of cinema. Not an easy watch but everyone 16 years old or older should see it. The members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences really should be ashamed of themselves for picking the very flawed Parasite as Best Picture and not this incredible brilliant film experience.
Gisaengchung (2019)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Good: all the actors, most of the acting and directing, hearing the beauty of the spoken Korean language, the sets (in particular, the first floor and yard of the award winning Namgoong Hyeonja designed house), the cinematography and the first half of the film.
Bad: the second half of the film.
Ugly: the overflowing toilet.
The first half of the movie was magical. The storyline and setup were unique, credible and crisp. Then, it all fell apart. The punchline was a low blow at best. Too many pratfalls, way too surreal, overly silly and sadly pretentious. As a member of the (target?) audience I felt cheated. It should have been so much more and could have been with very little tweaking and tightening. Bottom Line: Parasite does not deserve the Best Picture Award or the Best Director Award from the Academy, period.
La La Land (2016)
A Great Piece of Art
Saw it again tonight. Wow. From the very start - and I mean from the time you press the button to begin the movie until the end of the credits - it is phenomenal. Everything and everyone. In a class by itself. A keeper.
Bird Box (2018)
Made Me Cry
This movie reminded me of current events and a particular person in an authoritarian position. Think about it. A mysterious evil force literally blows into the United States from Russia. When normal minded people (the majority) see it they immediately want to commit suicide. When crazy minded people (the minority) see it they immediately fall in love with it and want the normal minded people to see it as they do; even if it means they all die. Really scary stuff!
I, Tonya (2017)
Best Film of 2017
What a great movie. Purchase or rent it today. This film tells a story that is so rich and meaningful on multiple levels. Whether you like or dislike Tonya Harding or even if you don't know who she is/was just see it. Need I say more?
Wonderstruck (2017)
Nice Title and That's About it!
Terrible waste of time and money. Boring, flat and uninteresting plot. Go stare at a bowl of Rice Krispies for 2 hours and THAT will be a better mind expanding experience. In short, I was not Wonderstruck.
The Comedian (2016)
Just Say TERRIBLE
What an embarrassment! Oh, the actors are all really great but their acting really (literally) sucks here. It's not their fault. The director and writers should be flushed down toilets; the toilets they obviously sprang from. Now, to cleanse myself after watching this puke, I must seek out every one of the actor's best movies and watch them all again. Also, I am now dying to check out actual comedy performances by Jessica Kirson whose 15 seconds of screen time was actually very funny. Too bad the truly usually great Robert De Niro didn't learn a thing from her in his preparation for his "comedy" role in this movie. FYI, the ONLY good acting in the film was from Danny DeVito who actually conveyed true emotions throughout. He should receive a special Oscar for rising above this horrid material.
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
Extremely Thought Provoking
Tom Ford delivers. Wow. VERY real. A diverse group of stereotypical and non-stereotypical human beings both physically and emotionally exposed for all of us to clearly see and easily use to self judge. All seven deadly sins wonderfully portrayed and beautifully played out. 21st addictions toujour. In front and behind the facades; whats not to like? Yum!
Beyond the Sea (2004)
An Artistic Masterpiece
Yes. I knew who Bobby Darin was before seeing this movie. Yes, I liked his singing and thought he was a cool smart guy. But that's about it. I never bought any of his records and didn't remember that he was ever married to Sandra Dee or died at a relatively young age.
This movie is much bigger than Bobby Darin or any one actor in it. Oh, Kevin Spacey gives a killer performance (as he usually does) and deserved a Golden Globe and a Oscar for his efforts, neither of which he received. In fact, this fantastic movie was practically shunned. This is a complete mystery to me because seldom has a movie really grabbed me like this one from start to finish and beyond.
In similar contrast, it's fun seeing a Van Gogh painting and knowing all about the artist but the Van Gogh painting stands on its own without one knowing the "backstory" first. Beyond the Sea will thankfully be seen by people decades from now who hopefully know little or nothing about Darin or Spacey beforehand. They will be the lucky ones who can simply enjoy the movie on its own merits - part biopic, part fantasy, part romance, part happy, part sad, - but all wrapped up in love and the art of the craft of movie making.
PLease. Just see it and enjoy one of Hollywood's very best creations.
Cop Land (1997)
Stallone Was Robbed!
I just saw Cop Land for the first time this evening. I watched the "Exclusive Director's Cut" DVD.
This is one of the greatest films I have ever seen. Sylvester Stallone, who I've never thought was much of an actor, gives the performance of his career - a performance that deserved the Academy Award for Best Actor. Incredible. I owe the great Stallone a big apology for not seeing his gift of acting before now.
Everyone in this film, including Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel, Janeane Garofalo, and Ray Liotta, gave stellar performances as well. I guess paying all the actors just scale brought the best out of everyone. Why this modern day "High Noon" doesn't have a higher rating from the IMDb voters like me is way beyond my comprehension. Cop Land deserves, at least, inclusion in the Top 250 films. Perhaps this cut that I just saw is much better than the original theatrical release.
Be Cool (2005)
Be Very Cool Comedy
What's not to like? This is a funny movie! Everyone's acting is great. The story is great. The photography is great. The dancing is great. The sound is great. This IS LA. How can anyone criticize this film? It is everything that it should be and more. It Be very Cool!
This film is not Get Shorty. It isn't supposed to be. It is another later chapter in the life of Chili Palmer - pure and simple. If Travolta (who is fantastic and ages better than a French Grand Cru) hadn't danced with (Really Cool) Uma Thurman in this film we all would be talking about THAT. Give it up!
The entire subplot of The Rock playing God only knows what is a classic comedy masterpiece. Vince Vaughn actually and convincingly plays someone other than himself. Cedric the Entertainer is entertaining here. Christina Milian is beautiful and talented. Even "The Cleaner" himself, Harvey Keitel, is funny and unusually vulnerable. And Andre Benjamin as Dabu you will never forget! But even the cameo moments of James Woods, Steven Tyler, Danny DeVito, and others are all priceless.
I predict that in less than 50 years people will still be laughing out loud watching Be Cool and Get Shorty will pale somewhat by comparison.
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Schindler's List - Part Deux
I saw Hotel Rwanda last evening on DVD. Scary but realistic depiction of real historical events and the accompanying horrors from one great man's perspective. I then went to bed and had really bad dreams all night.
Spoiler Synopsis: Basically, a group of normal people are split into 2 poorly defined different groups at best, kinda like everyone in the country counted off 1,2,1,2,1,2 and so on. The foreign power put the 1s in control and pretty soon they think they are really superior to the 2s. The 1s kill a million of the 2s (calling them cockroaches) before the 2s rise up and push out the 1s.
While all of this is going on, a particular 1, played magnificently by Don Cheatle, becomes a Schindler of sorts and saves not only his family and other 1s but a bunch of 2s as well from the militia/military 1s before escaping behind the approaching "rebel" line of the 2s.
Unbelievable? Can't happen when/if the "multi-national" foreign troops pull out of Iraq, for example? Couldn't happen here at home - the land of the free - someday? Why not?
Spanglish (2004)
Destined to become a classic
This IS James Brooks best movie to date. In fact, this is a great realistic film. The acting, direction, dialog, pacing, lighting, editing - ALL is excellent. An extremely entertaining and thought provoking film.
I simply do not understand why this film did not receive more nominations and win more awards than it did. Is it just too uncomfortable for us Americans to see ourselves up on the big screen?
Almost from the very beginning of the film I felt EVERY character was overly obsessed with themselves and treated everyone else as pets, except the pet dog. (The setting IS Los Angeles!) Every character lacked something or had lost something but wanted everything without real responsibility - until the very end. Then, one night, all the characters over 25 suddenly took responsibility for their actions and "grew up." At my age (mid 50's) you realize these "gang" realizations in families (although somewhat rare) really can happen!
See the movie for yourself. Then, maybe you will become the catalyst for change in your own family.
Update June 2019: Watched Spanglish again; probably the 8th time - every other year or so. Every time, as this time, the movie seems better than ever on all levels. Perhaps it is more relevant today than ever. A great masterpiece of a movie. The movie looks and feels like it was made yesterday. It is like a fine wine; it gets better with age. James L Brooks is a genius and this is his crowning achievement!
State of Grace (1990)
Not a first date kinda film
Hey, I love this gem of an overlooked major motion picture. I just saw this 15 plus-year-old film for the first time today. All the big and little name actors were credible and believable. The story and relationships rang true.
Sure, a lot of blood is spilled but really no more than any other gang film. And there is hot romance, partial nudity, deep betrayal, lethal weapons of all types and sizes, highly manic and inappropriate anti-social behavior, dark shadows, old rooftops, bad language, slow motion gun fights, fierce fist fights, yucky dead bodies, severed body parts, things blowing up, screeching tires, dingy subways, lots of alcohol, several funerals, a grand parade - what's not to like here?
If you liked Mystic River, Reservoir Dogs, Goodfellas, Godfather I & II, and various cop & robber shows on TV over the past 50 plus years you'll love seeing this realistic portrayal of a little self-destructive crime family that could be operating in any ethnic neighborhood in any larger city at anytime in history.
The Last Samurai (2003)
Chopsticks & Cruise - A Good Mix
Saw this film for the first time last night on full screen VHS at home. Had no great expectations (bought a previously viewed copy yesterday at video store for only five bucks) but friends who saw it in the movie theater had mentioned its powerful energy and vision. Turned out to be a very enjoyable way to spend two and a half hours. A near perfect spiritual journey of a damaged soul to enlightenment. Beautiful photography full of colorful and meaningful images. Well directed and paced by Edward Zwick. Tom Cruise should have been nominated by the Academy for Best Actor and was a great pick for his role. Ken Watanabe truly deserved his Academy nomination for Best Supporting Actor. My Bottom Line: Could have cared less about film's level of historical accuracy but film makes me want to travel to Japan to learn more of the country's and its people's traditions and spiritual teachings. Everyone should see and feel this epic movie.
Lost in Translation (2003)
Found in Translation
A Great Movie. Bill Murray deserves the 2004 Academy Award for Best Actor in a "Comedy" for his dead-on performance of a 50-something American male searching for himself and the true meaning of life.
Brilliant real-life Writer and director Sofia Coppola has made the movie Peter Sellers' character Aldo Venucci, posing as a film director, was trying to make in "After the Fox", a wonderful 1966 slapstick comedy actually directed by Vittorio de Sica and written by Neil Simon. Even the Gold of Cairo on the beach of an ancient small town in Italy has been translated into the $2 million the Japanese are paying Bill Murray's character Bob Harris, an aging egotistical actor, in order to do a whiskey endorsement in the ultramodern huge city of Tokyo. FYI, in "After the Fox" the aging egotistical actor was played by Victor Mature and the "romantic" interest was played by a young Britt Ekland, who here looks uncannily like today's young Scarlett Johansson who plays Charlotte in "Lost in Translation." Whether these weird similarities were conscious or subconscious on Coppola's part really doesn't matter - the movie within the movie as shown in "After the Fox" was purposely an unintentional and laughable silly mess and "Lost in Translation" is intentionally bittersweet, serious, and perfect. However, I would enjoy hearing Coppola's and Simon's take on this sometime.
Everyone should see "Lost in Translation" - especially all us American males 50 or over.
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
True Picture of True Love
Romantic Comedy doesn't get much better than this. A well plotted, captivating, and 21st century mature idealism of blossoming true love. A film in the same vein as Sleepless in Seattle to which this movie pays homage. Kate Hudson is simply great and more beautiful than ever. Matthew McConaughey really surprised me because he has played this role before without conviction. Also, it was fun watching both Bebe Neuwirth and Mr. "Sun Spit Morning" himself Robert Klein in their small but important "boss" roles. This wonderful chick flick (for chicks who love movies and guys who love chicks) is a real keeper.
One Tough Cop (1998)
One Tough Movie
This is a very good and much overlooked police drama. It held my attention from start to finish. Chris Penn and Steve Baldwin were great believable partners together. I don't really care if any of it was "true" or "accurate;" it was true and accurate enough for me as to what goes on in the streets of a big American city and within a large metropolitan police department/organization. Way underrated!
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
No Way a Dog
A perfect movie. Hard to watch sometimes because of all the blood but one must get beyond all of that. I feel Shakespere would have loved watching this film. Freud too. All the actors were fantastic and really told a story of life, death, friendship, revenge, greed, and great sadness. You think your day has gone bad? Watch this movie.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Crisp, Neat, and Real
This movie is almost perfect. The dialogue is second to none, the stories are crisp and neat, and the characters are real. This is a must-see for all beings who want to better understand human life in Los Angeles at the end of the 20th Century.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Worst Ever
Almost 30 years ago while in college I saw Zabriskie Point by Michelangelo Antonioni. It was the worst film I had ever seen up until this weekend. Actually, in a drug zonked-out way, they are very similar. So, if you are one of the degenerates that actually liked Fear and Loathing run to your nearest video store to rent Zabriskie Point. You will love it!