|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Feb 16, 2009 10:14:22 GMT -5
TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983)
As has been pointed out, there are no bodies blasting apart, nothing blows up and no one gets naked. What you get instead is a human drama, that focuses on the strained relationship between a mother, Aurora (Shirley MacLaine), and her daughter Emma (Debra Winger). Subplots include Emma's relationship with her husband (Jeff Daniels) and Aurora's neighbor, a womanizing ex-astronaut (Jack Nicholson) who sets his sights on her.
MacLaine, Winger and Nicholson all give performances definitely worthy of their Oscar nominations, and wins, in the case of MacLaine and Nicholson.
Sentimental, but also has enough humor to not get too bogged down in seriousness.
7.5/10
These are the four films that TERMS OF ENDEARMENT beat that year:
THE BIG CHILL
THE DRESSER
THE RIGHT STUFF
TENDER MERCIES
Personally, I'm a much bigger fan of THE BIG CHILL.
ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980)
Robert Redford's directorial debut is about an affluent family, who has suffered the accidental death of their oldest son, and how they deal with it and each other.
Younger son, Conrad (Timothy Hutton) suffers from survivor's guilt to the point of a suicide attempt. Mother, Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), who always favored the older son, is disconnected from Conrad. And the father, Calvin (Donald Sutherland), is just trying to keep the family from completely falling apart.
Judd Hirsch of the tv series "TAXI" does a good job in a supporting role as Conrad's therapist.
Not a great film imho, I find it a bit slow moving, but the performances and dialog are strong enough to keep it from getting completely dull.
6.5/10
These are the four films that ORDINARY PEOPLE beat that year:
COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER
THE ELEPHANT MAN
RAGING BULL
TESS
RAGING BULL was robbed. Preferred THE ELEPHANT MAN too. Haven't seen COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER in a long time, but I remember enjoying it.
|
|
raina
Junior Member
Posts: 77
|
Post by raina on Feb 16, 2009 12:29:08 GMT -5
LOL! Yeah, I can't stand when actors just "act" either. ;D. LOL....  I love Terms of Endearment....I even made my husband watch it, much to his dismay....  I absolutely adore this movie, its actually one of my favorite movies. But I completely agree that it shouldn't have won best picture. I don't think the direction is exactly outstanding and it IS slow, I do however think most of the performances are just great. Timothy Hutton, Judd Hirsch, Donald Sutherland and (maybe surprisingly) Mary Tyler Moore were all really, really good I thought. For some reason, its just one that breaks my heart. This is why I still love Timothy Hutton to this day. |
|
|
|
Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 18, 2009 11:09:37 GMT -5
The Godfather-1972
No, don't adjust your eyes, that's right. I finally, finally, finally caught this one (censored, but still, I think it should count) and, well, I'm not too sure what to think of it. Sure, the thing is a bladder-buster for me (especially with a 4-hour run time since it was censored for TV) and that left a lot of times in the middle where it just wandered around forever 'acting,' and you all know what I feel about movies like that. However, I have to say that the moments when the two families are at war is just a lot of fun and made me feel right at home. Great gunfights, some explosions and even some blood here and there, along with a few surprising twists as to who got knocked off at completely unexpected moments were some bright spots here for me.
Would I watch it again in an uncensored form? I think I would, or at the very least would be something that, if I didn't have any plans to watch anything when it came on, I would remember it was on. At the very least, to see what got cut out as I did get somewhat interested in what happened and to see what got left out. Would I own this? Not under my own power, but if my spouse happened to like it, having it in the collection wouldn't make me want to rip my eyes out, like other films I've seen.
8/10
These are the four films that THE GODFATHER beat that year:
CABARET
DELIVERANCE
THE EMIGRANTS
SOUNDER
|
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Feb 20, 2009 13:29:04 GMT -5
The Godfather-1972 Sure, the thing is a bladder-buster for me (especially with a 4-hour run time since it was censored for TV) and that left a lot of times in the middle where it just wandered around forever 'acting,' and you all know what I feel about movies like that. 8/10 That's the problem, other than the censoring, with watching movies like this on commercial tv, all the commercials that make the films even longer than they already are. THE GODFATHER in its original running time is less than 3 hours, but add in all those commercials and you have a 4-hr flick. Definitely see it again in it's uncut/uncensored form if you ever get the chance. A much more satisfying movie. Also, see Part II if you ever get the chance. Both are 10/10 for me. |
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Feb 20, 2009 13:57:17 GMT -5
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
When R.P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is transferred from a prison work farm to a mental institution, his rebellious nature kicks in as he challenges the oppressive head nurse, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), and starts getting through to his fellow patients far more effectively than she ever did. Nicholson makes being locked up in an insane asylum look like a ton of laughs. He plays cards with the other patients, teaches them basketball, sneaks in women and booze, and in one classic sequence, even takes them on an unsupervised fishing trip. In other words, he treats them like human beings and more importantly, men.
An anti-establishment classic. My favorite Nicholson performance and film and one of my favorite films in general.
10/10
These are the four films that ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST beat that year:
BARRY LYNDON
DOG DAY AFTERNOON
JAWS
NASHVILLE
JAWS is in my top 3 films of all time, and DOG DAY AFTERNOON is a classic too, but I can't take anything away from ...CUCKOO'S NEST. If any film that year deserved to beat JAWS it was this one. I thought NASHVILLE was kind of "meh" and I've never seen BARRY LYNDON.
|
|
|
|
Post by slayrrr666 on Feb 22, 2009 11:32:03 GMT -5
Unforgiven-1992
When I can find them, I'm actually a fan of the Spaghetti Western genre, and I even liked Eastwood's American attempts during the time, so I figured this one would be good. In the end, I was incredibly disappointed. I really wanted this one to follow in the foot-steps of those violent shoot-em-ups, but instead I got a melodramatic, preachy film about what a life of violence takes on a person. It's not what I want in a film, that tends to take me out of film quite easily, and this was no exception. I wanted more gunfights, more double-crossing, more of the usual motifs found in these films, as the ones we got in here were a lot of fun and kept my interest, but it's just surrounded by stuff I don't care for at all.
5/10
These are the four films that UNFORGIVEN beat that year:
THE CRYING GAME
A FEW GOOD MEN
HOWARDS END
SCENT OF A WOMAN
|
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Feb 23, 2009 11:58:57 GMT -5
I think UNFORGIVEN is one of Clint's best movies, but whatever.
Watched a few days ago, this year's Oscar winner for Best Picture...
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008)
A teen who grew up in the Mumbai slums becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?". He is arrested and interrogated because he's suspected of cheating, and, in flashbacks, we are shown the real reasons why he knows the answers to the Millionaire questions.
Neat gimmick and it's entertaining, but like most of this year's Best Picture nominees, it's slightly overrated. I enjoyed this one and the other 4 nominees, but none of them really blew me away.
MILK and SLUMDOG are probably the best of the bunch, but I think none of the nominees were as good as non-Best Picture nominees like THE WRESTLER, THE DARK KNIGHT, IRON MAN and a couple of others.
8/10
These are the four films that SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE beat this year:
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
FROST/NIXON
MILK
THE READER
|
|
raina
Junior Member
Posts: 77
|
Post by raina on Feb 24, 2009 20:31:37 GMT -5
I think UNFORGIVEN is one of Clint's best movies, but whatever. I agree 110%......  A Man For All Seasons (1966) I find the story of King Henry VIII (and the several unlucky women that happened to catch his interest) fascinating. It is a very interesting period in history, full of political intrigue, ambition and betrayal. So not much of a chance I wouldn't like this film. This focuses on the story of Sir Thomas More, who happened to hold the office of Lord Chancellor for awhile and was also one of the unfortunate people to get swept up in the King's desire to do pretty much whatever he wanted, while simultaneously trying to justify his actions to his own conscience. In the film, More is portrayed (and portrayed very well by Paul Scofield) as a man that certainly wants to live, but not at the expense of his soul.....he refuses to acknowledge the King as the head of the church after his break with Rome or his divorce from his first queen, Catherine of Aragon . The first half drags in places, but the second half is quite good, its well acted, quite beautiful at times and the dialogue often wonderful. I do wish that Robert Shaw would have had more time on screen, his Henry struck me as pretty accurate; a loud, amusing man that could draw people to him, but who was also quite insecure and given to childish outbursts of temper when he must hear something that he just doesn't care much to hear. It was hell when that man didn't get his way. This came across loud and clear in Shaw's few minutes onscreen. 8.5/10 Here are the films that A Man For All Seasons beat that year: Alfie
The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming
The Sand Pebbles
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
As good as this one is, I personally prefer Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? I haven't seen the others. |
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Feb 25, 2009 8:18:49 GMT -5
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
Depicts life at Schofield, the Hawaiian army base, in 1941 in the months preceding the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Intertwines several storylines, and gets a little melodramatic at times, but overall, it's very entertaining, features some fine performances by Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Ernest Borgnine, and climaxes in the Japanese attack.
8/10
These are the four films that FROM HERE TO ETERNITY beat that year:
JULIUS CAESAR
THE ROBE
ROMAN HOLIDAY
SHANE
Probably enjoyed this one about as much as SHANE, the classic western.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Mar 1, 2009 11:05:59 GMT -5
Between Friday and Saturday: AMADEUS (1984) The story of musical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce), a rock star in his day, is told in flashback by Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham), a court composer who was envious of Mozart's talent, but couldn't understand why God would choose to bestow such amazing ability on one who was seemingly so vulgar and undeserving. Both actors give topnotch performances and the costumes, sets and production design are fantastic. And of course the music's pretty good too. Historically inaccurate, but pretty damn entertaining. 8.5/10 These are the four films that AMADEUS beat that year: THE KILLING FIELDS
A PASSAGE TO INDIA
PLACES IN THE HEART
A SOLDIER'S STORY AMADEUS is easily my favorite of the nominees that year. GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT (1947) A magazine reporter (Gregory Peck) is given the assignment to do an exposé on anti-Semitism and he decides to pretend to be Jewish to see if he's treated any differently by people. Of course he is, or there would be no movie. He's turned away at an exclusive hotel, his young son is verbally attacked by other children and he notices subtle prejudices by some people. Good performance by Peck. I thought the pacing was not boring, but a bit slow, and the ending was a little too neatly wrapped up, but overall, I thought it was a decent film with an important message. 7/10 These are the four films that GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT beat that year: THE BISHOP'S WIFE
CROSSFIRE
GREAT EXPECATIONS
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET Only other one I saw was MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET so my pick would be GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT. AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999) Sam Mendes' black comedy about the dark side of the suburbs. Kevin Spacey, in one of his greatest performances, plays Lester Burnham, a bored guy in his forties who no longer gets along with his frigid wife (Annette Bening) and can't connect with his daughter (Thora Birch). Two teenagers inadvertently cause him to start making drastic changes in his life. His daughter's girlfriend, who Les lusts after, and the new neighbor's son, who sells him pot and whose lifestyle Les admires. Funny, dark and surprising. 9/10 These are the four films that AMERICAN BEAUTY beat that year: THE CIDER HOUSE RULES
THE GREEN MILE
THE INSIDER
THE SIXTH SENSE Good year for nominees. I'm probably torn between AMERICAN BEAUTY and THE SIXTH SENSE as the best, but I enjoyed them all. |
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Mar 1, 2009 13:39:25 GMT -5
The genre/category for March is...
ALIEN ENCOUNTERS
Films where human characters, ie: earthlings, encounter aliens from other planets.
Some rules or guidelines, if you will:
1. All films have to include both human beings and an alien being or beings, or at least their vehicles or civilizations if the actual alien is never shown on screen. The aliens can be friendly, hostile or indifferent to the humans. They can be of the bug-eyed monster variety or look human. As long as they're not from Earth their appearance doesn't matter.
2. Films can be set anywhere, Earth, other planets, outerspace, etc., but if the human characters are not actually from Earth, it doesn't count. For instance, the human characters in the STAR WARS films encounter alien beings all the time, but those humans are not from Earth. (Ya know, a galaxy far, far away) On the other hand, STAR TREK's humans are from Earth and would count.
3. Obviously these films will for the most part, except for documentaries, fit into the genre of Science-Fiction, but can fall into any other secondary genre as well, ie: Horror, Comedy, Drama, Action, etc. Try to see a variety.
4. All movies have to have been theatrical releases. No made for tv or made for cable movies, ie: HBO, Sci-Fi Channel, etc., are not eligible. No television mini-series either.
5. Whenever you watch one, feel free to post it in "Just Watched Movies" like you normally would, or even write a review for "Review Hell" if so inclined, but post here also, so we can see what everyone's watching within the genre. Feel free to tell us what you thought of the film and score it using the 1 to 10 system, ie: 1 being awful, 5 is average and 10 being perfect. Half points, ie: 8.5/10 are also allowed.
6. You have until March 31st, and then on April 1st I'll announce the next genre or category.
7. Like I mentioned in the original post, try to watch at least four, one per week, but watch as many, or few, as you feel comfortable with.
Hopefully at the end of it all, you'll feel like you saw some movies you might not have watched otherwise and actually enjoyed some of them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Mar 2, 2009 8:41:09 GMT -5
FIRE IN THE SKY (1993)
Probably one of the only films I'll see this month that will be "Based on a true story".
Details the events of a supposed alien abduction that occurred in 1975, when logger, Travis Walton (D.B. Sweeney) went missing for five days, and his friends and fellow loggers were suspected of possibly having murdered him.
The overall movie is kind of "meh" as it mostly focuses on the other loggers and them trying to convince others that there was an actual abduction and not a murder. But late in the film, there is a cool 15 minute or so segment that supposedly details what happened to Walton while inside the spaceship, including one of the creepiest sequences of aliens experimenting on a human.
Overall movie: 5.5/10 Alien experiment scene: 10/10
CONEHEADS (1993)
Based on the 70's Saturday Night Live sketch about an alien couple (Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin) from the planet Remulak, who are accidentally abandoned on earth. While awaiting rescue, which takes years, they adapt to earth customs, have a daughter and avoid government authorities, who suspect something might not be quite right with this family.
The humor is hit or miss with a few laugh out loud moments and almost as many scenes that just fall flat. Lots of site gags and tons of cameos, including more SNL regulars than probably any other SNL-based film.
6.5/10
|
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Mar 5, 2009 8:57:32 GMT -5
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) A doctor (Kevin McCarthy) discovers that large pods from outer space are slowly replacing humans with emotionless doubles. Skeptical at first, he then has to run for his life as everyone around him is slowly replaced. Great fifties sci-fi classic, still creepy as hell for being as old as it is, and a sly metaphor for the "commie scare" and the McCarthyism of the day. 8/10 Has been remade three times with the latest version being: THE INVASION (2007) Follows the same basic plotline of previous versions, with the main differences being that this time the lead (Nicole Kidman) has a young son who might hold the key to defeating the invasion (Bleh!), and the takeover of the earth is spread as a flu-like virus (Double-bleh!). Weird casting as Nicole Kidman acts so cold and emotionless most of the time that she's probably already a "podperson". The real Kidman was probably "replaced" back when she was with Tom Cruise, another well-known alien. I missed the pods and don't even get me started on that happy ending. Watch any of the previous versions instead. 4/10
|
|
|
|
Post by slayrrr666 on Mar 5, 2009 11:09:03 GMT -5
Enemy Mine-1985
An Earth-pilot crash lands on an alien world while both sides are involved in a deadly war against each other, and discovering the threats on the planet, try to put their differences aside to escape. Pretty much a more heavy-handed friendship story than an all-out sci-fi flick which this initially sounded like, which leads to a lot more emotional moments that really weren't my thing, but at least there's some nice space battles and the encounters with the creatures on the planet allow for that 80s-era cheese to shine through nicely. Wish there was more of them, but watchable still.
7.5/10
|
|
|
|
Post by Heineken Skywalker on Mar 7, 2009 13:12:10 GMT -5
PREDATOR (1987)
Future Governor Schwarzenegger and his team of commandos, which includes future Governor Jesse Ventura, are dropped off in a Central America jungle on a rescue mission. Things go from bad to worse and they find themselves being hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior that starts picking them off one by one.
This movie is essentially, THE DIRTY DOZEN meets ALIEN. It's fast paced, suspenseful and violent.
The movie is good for what it is, but extra credit for the film's success has to be given to the late great Stan Winston, whose design for the title creature is the coolest looking alien since H.R. Giger's monster terrorized Ripley and the crew of the Nostromo in the original ALIEN.
8/10
PREDATOR 2 (1990)
In a slightly futuristic, violence-riddled L.A., the drug lords and their gangs seem to be taking each other out in extremely gory fashion. Nothing wrong with that except that now cops are being targeted too. Upon closer investigation, Lt. Harrigan (Danny Glover) discovers that the real culprit is an alien hunter who is killing the gang members and keeping their skulls as trophies.
Sounds better than it is.
Whenever the predator, who is still way cool looking, is on-screen doing his thing, the movie is great. Unfortunately, whenever he's not on-screen, which is often, the movie is truly awful. Human characters are really over the top, especially Bill Paxton, who hams it up so much and whose character is so loud and obnoxious that you can't wait for the predator to rip out his skull and spine.
I think the writer's were going for a ROBOCOP feel with the ultra-violent city and some social satire, but their efforts fall flat. The movie's just loud.
Best sequence by far is near the end when Glover and the alien face-off aboard the predator's ship. Here we see the predator's trophy room, which includes a skull from the title creature in ALIEN, hanging among the prizes. Glover also encounters several other predators on-board and one of them hands him a pistol dating back to the 1700's. That sequence hinted at what could've been some cool entries in this franchise, but alas...
4.5/10
|
|
I love Terms of Endearment....I even made my husband watch it, much to his dismay.... 
