TheMovieman

Diva (1981) — Despite the ridiculous premise, namely the idea of Taiwanese gangster trying to get a hold of a bootleg recording of an opera singer (to blackmail her to signing a contract with them), the movie is better than I thought it would be going in.

There are a couple big downsides that keeps me from giving it a higher rating. One is that this opera singer (Cynthia) finds solace with a young postman (Jules) who is pretty much a stalker (who stole her dress after a performance). The other bigger issue, is one dubious hero is a child predator who has a girl, easily only 13-14 years old, living with him. They don't explicitly show a sexual relationship but it's implied. I know this is France in the early 80s, just made me uncomfortable.

Still, some decent scenes, one a chase through Paris and the Metro, that makes it worthwhile and oddly, the relationship between Jules and Cynthia still works in spite of how they meet.

Also noteworthy is the beautiful cinematography, some wonderful images. ***½/*****

JANK

I don't agree with your negative assessments since I love this film and find the issues you have with it part of the charm and attraction. It makes it rather unique.

JANK

On Disney+
- That Darn Cat (1965)
- The Moon-Spinners (1964)

A Haley Mills love-fest for me

TheMovieman

To each their own. The whole Gorodish/Alba relationship is a bit uncomfortable. Course, also a cultural thing. (I will say, liked the scenes with Jules and Alba).

JeffTheAlpaca

Netflix streaming

Joel Edgerton another underrated actor that does not get a lot of credit for his work.

mwbmis

Gambit - Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, and the late Alan Rickman star in this caper comedy written by Joel and Ethan Coen. And it's bad....it's really bad. No one distinguishes themselves, but Diaz is especially terrible. (VUDU)

Casino - Decided to re-watch this for it's 25th anniversary. When I first saw it in the theater, I felt it was so similar in tone and structure to Goodfellas that I wasn't really able to separate it. Through the years I've actually grown to enjoy this movie more than Goodfellas. (4K UHD)

B5Erik

Spectre

Better than I remembered. When it came out I thought it was a little blah, but watching it again after several years I really liked it. A lot. It maybe Skyfall's little brother, but it's still a good movie.

dom56

Star Wars - The one that started it all. Despite hokey dialogue and hammy acting by Harrison Ford he did get better in movie like Witness the movie still fun to watch.

mwbmis

Hyde Park on Hudson - Movie tells the tale of FDR's serial infidelity against the backdrop of King George's visit to the US in 1939. i thought the stuff with King George was pretty interesting and makes the movie almost worth watching on it's own. George is really the only fully formed character. In contrast the FDR infidelity story line never really connected for me. As for Bill Murray as FDR...I've been a Bill Murray fan for nearly my entire movie going life. The issue with Murray is that it's difficult to separate him from his characters so having him play a real life person just didn't really work. He has his moments...especially the scenes between FDR and George, but I wouldn't call it an effective performance. (VUDU)

Truth - This week's Redford is about the CBS reporting on George Bush's time in the National Guard. I thought the acting at the top of the call sheet was very good, but the movie itself never really fully connected for me. Given that this was adapted from Mary Mapes' book, the movie takes a certain point of view. (VUDU)

OldBoy

Moonstruck...I haven't seen a Criterion Blu-ray in a long-time (sure i buy the ones i love, but haven't, for reasons i have yet to discern, actually watched them) and I am so sorry I didn't.

Moonstruck is a revelation. It looks so fucking good and sounds so fucking amazing. It is a sublime movie that got a sublime treatment. If anyone who doesn't have this and loves this movie, this is the version to get. Short of 4K, obviously, this movie looks stunning. Absolutely stunning for a 33 year-old movie. Just glorious. I'm going to make it a point to watch more Criterions if the transfers are this fantastic. I saw the movie in a whole new light and loved it all over again.

It is a sublime movie that that gave me chills by the end. Back-ended with Dean Martin's "That's Amore", it was just perfect. The whole movie, i think, is a perfect romantic comedy that transcends decades and i believe it is in and certainly deserves to be in AFI's top 100 or whatever.

I know it was nominated for 6 Oscars and won 3. 3 deserving Oscars for Dukakis, Cher and John Patrick Shanley, the writer. every part, no matter how small, were perfectly cast. Jewison perfectly directed a masterpiece that all rom-com's should aspire to. I hate to even categorize as rom-com, but when it comes down to it, it is and it is absolutely fantastic.

What a movie. Simply joyous that had me smiling, literally, from ear to ear, throughout the entire 1:42 run time, including credits. Just wonderful.

Absolutely and without hesitation...

mwbmis

Skyscraper - The Rock stars in Diehard in the Towering Inferno. As I've grown older I've become increasingly sensitive to heights so at times watching this was like watching a horror movie; otherwise it was mindlessly entertaining. Neve Campbell costars in the Carla Gugino role. (VUDU)

TheMovieman

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) — Entertaining if not also flawed monster horror film that excels in large part for Peter Cushing and Robert Urquhart, with the gothic atmosphere. Dialogue is a bit lackluster but liked the change up with the classic story and fun to see Christopher Lee as the "Creature". ***½/*****

Nick Danger

I read the review in The Atlantic that said the same thing. The review also argued that it was a anti-war movie because it portrayed eight men being sacrificed to save one man for what was essentially a public relations exercise. I take the view that generals are aware that public relations is an important part of fighting a war. I figure that Private Ryan spent the next half year of his life doing stage shows to sell war bonds, like those guys who were photographed raising a flag at Iwo Jima.

Diva is also one of my favorite movies.

JeffTheAlpaca

I thought it would have a supernatural horror element though it was real life horror

mwbmis

A Ship to India - The next Bergman.

JeffTheAlpaca

I only gave it a shot since Brian Cox was in it

DWilson

Ava Netflix

Jessica Chastain seems to be pushing herself towards Action roles these days, and this feels like a bit like a Luc Besson knock-off film while trying to provide characters with at least two-and-a-half dimensions. Interesting to watch Chastain and John Malkovich executing Jeff Imada-staged fight choreography. Not a bad film, -the performances are good, -but the material is very familiar and it struggles to find a satisfying ending.

mwbmis

Bringing Up Baby - Early screwball comedy with Hepburn as a flighty heiress and Grant as a scattered zoologist and their dalliance with a domesticated leopard. Funny for a while, but it all got to be a little too much for me. (HBO Max)

Man of Steel - I've enjoyed the recent batch of DC films more than many. (MA)

JeffTheAlpaca

DiCaprio's current squeeze has a leading role.

OldBoy

The Nolan Batman trilogy. 3 nights, 3 fucking incredible movies.

mwbmis

Marathon Man - A few years ago I was having two wisdom teeth pulled, and I was alone in the room when as if shot out of a cannon the oral surgeon and about five technicians burst into the room en masse and started buzzing around the room. It was actually a little disconcerting, and what immediately popped into my head was, "Is it safe?". No one knew what I was talking about. (Blu-ray)

Nick Danger

The Mist. People are trapped in a supermarket by monsters in the mist. I loved the first half, but I lost my willing suspension of disbelief about 3/4 of the way through. It offers a bleak view of humanity, that we will be making blood sacrifices just two days into a disaster.

DWilson

King Cohen Amazon Prime

A documentary about filmmaker Larry Cohen ("Q The Winged Serpent", "God Told Me To", "It's Alive"). Cohen was a terrific idea man, a terrific writer, and a quirky Independent filmmaker. It's very entertaining if you're into low budget exploitation films, and filled with terrific anecdotes. If you're not already familiar with the man's work, it'll give you a huge list of films to look up.

Goonies85

Ford v Ferrari - Not much interest in the subject matter, but obviously being a fan of Mangold, Damon, and Bale, I had to watch this eventually. Finally scrounged up enough coin to buy it, so I viewed it last night. I was pretty blown away. While I wouldn't necessarily saying it's the best film of 2019, I'd say it would definitely be in my top ten, and possibly top five, to be honest. Bale was especially impressive, although you can pretty much say that for all of his performances (and man, does him and his agent know how to pick roles and which filmmakers to work with). Damon's just as solid as he always is; just a reliable presence. And Mangold does a great job directing and making the movie appealing even to "non-racing" fans. And I'll say this, which I think is a high compliment, I kind of wish I saw this in theatres. I hate going to the theatre, the last time actually being Star Wars: The Force Awakens, cause of all the kids talking, and people constantly texting throughout so phones are constantly lighting up, etc, but this one would've been special. It looks great as is but I can only imagine what it would've been in Imax...

Hoop Dreams - Still a great, great movie, but I've never been as enamoured with it like Siskel and Ebert. It's a great movie, and the pacing actually works really well for the film. The three hours just kind of breeze by...And I finally checked out the bonus features and would highly recommend people watch them. There's actually quite a bit of tragedy that occurred after the documentary that I just didn't know about, and it's pretty rough. I also listened to the commentary by the three main guys in charge, and it was a great listen. Really, it's one of Criterion's best releases. But again, while it would probably make my top 50 films of the '90s list, I have a hard time putting it in my top ten, unlike Siskel and Ebert (who rated it the best movie of the '90s). I do, however, agree with their viewpoint that when it comes to "Best Picture", there's no reason to exclude a movie just because it's a documentary (as they accurately point out, the category is not "Best Fiction Picture", it's "Best Picture"). And even then, I could NOT believe it was not nominated in the "Best Documentary" category. That's just mind-blowing, and I don't think I knew that before watching he bonus features.

JeffTheAlpaca

It was not bad though the ending kind of dragged and maybe not necessary?