Thanks.

That was a good scene.

Ever notice that Peggy, as a grown-up, looks almost like a twin of Bill Bufalino's daughter in her wedding scene?

FREAKY

A horror take on the old FREAKY FRIDAY where Millie (played by Kathryn Newton) and the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn), swap bodies. They have only 24 hours to switch back or else the change will be permanent. I love Vince Vaughn and I still remember when he made good comedies. It wasn't all that long ago. Sadly, this is not one of them. The jokes are flat and juvenile that seemed like they were written for a PG-13 audience (which is a bit odd considering the film is rated R for violence and language). Besides that the film attempts to be too multilayered and woke. Not in a heavy handed sort of way, but more in terms of gaslighting (just enough to let you know that they're there). In addition the film is quite misandrynistic towards every white, male character with the exception of course of Millie's love interest. The only theme that does a decent job at preaching a positive message is at the end where *surprise* Millie finally finds her strength. 4/10

1934 Treasure Island

Really good, Jackie Cooper.

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

I've been on a Philip Seymour Hoffman kick lately and this is a fabulous morality tale with noir elements that also features memorable performances from Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney. Very hard-hitting, impactful, stuff, and it never lags.

Happiness

Another excellent movie that I cannot recommend enough. The lives of three sisters intersect in morbidly hilarious ways. Grim subject matter. Almost like an indie black comedy version of Pulp Fiction. Again, Philip Seymour Hoffman is masterful. And Dylan Baker is superb as the father carrying a terrible secret.

Did you check him out in "Capote"?

That is on my rotation. Do you recommend it?

Flawless with Robert De Niro is another one I saw many years ago. From what I can recollect, it's a nice little movie that flew under the radar at the time. Hoffman, again, displaying his versatility and De Niro is, well, De Niro.

Definitely! He's brilliant as Capote. A very well rounded performance. Chris Cooper is excellent, too.

Watched Capote. Another bravura performance from PSH, and Clifton Collins Jr, who I've always rated as an actor. The scene where Collins character confesses to stabbing the father and shooting the rest of the family was spellbinding.

It reminded me of Dead Man Walking

Glad you liked it, Moe. Hoffman is Capote. I loved how the movie showed him as ultra-manipulator, especially how he name-dropped his way into the lawman's home, and how he strung along the killers by paying for appeals.
Have you seen "In Cold Blood"? A truly memorable film.

THE GLASS HOUSE (1972)

This TV movie pioneered the ugly, realistic depiction of prison life, complete with rape, sadism shakedowns, crooked guards and murder. Shot in a Utah prison with real convicts as extras, it stars Alan Alda as a college professor in for accidental manslaughter; Dean Jagger as the warden who won't reform the system; Clu Gulager as a new guard who does want to change the system (and fails); Billy Dee Williams as leader of the politicized black convicts and the one, the only Vic Morrow, Nabob of Nastiness, as the boss con running all the rackets. Although it has some rough edges, this is a near first-class film.

I haven't seen that, but it's on my list.

I watched Get Shorty. It was an interesting diversion. Carried the same momentum all the way through. Lacked a bit of spark or urgency. But even middling movies back then had so many charismatic actors on screen to make it worthy of a watch - this one had John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Danny De Vito and Dennis Farina, plus the likes of Delroy Lindo, James Gandolfini and David Paymer in smaller roles. Harvey Keitel's cameo at the end cracked me up as well.

KISS ME DEADLY (1955)

I tuned into this movie because Ralph Meeker, one of my favorite actors of that era, plays Mike Hammer in this Mickey Spillane tale. He picks up an escapee from a nuthouse (Cloris Leachman in her screen debut) running on a highway, is nearly killed because of her, and pursues the case, unpaid. Plenty of the usual Hammer violence (tame by today's standards) along the way. This movie gets rave reviews as "an American Film Noir classic." I don't know why--Meeker and his gal Friday (Maxine Cooper) are good, but the plot creaks along, the dialog is awkward, and the bad guys' objective is never really clear, except that the "prize: is some radioactive material, toward what end is never made clear. The cast includes a complete set of extras that no fan of Fifties B-movies could possibly resist: Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Juano Hernandez, Wesley Addy, Strother Martin, Nick Dennis, Robert Cornthwaite, Jack (The Evil Eye) Elam, and Percy (Eternal Victim) Helton. I stuck with it only for the cast.

COME PLAY

A modern day social commentary mashup of THE RING and PULSE, showering the audience in "horrifying" ways, our reliance and dependency upon technology. COME PLAY deals with a monster named Larry (I know, how terrifying), scaring but wanting to befriend young autistic Oliver (Azhy Robertson). The film jumps right into bringing Larry and Oliver together and piecing the backstory of Oliver and his family during the duration of the film. I'm not much for child actors but Robertson gives the only worthwhile performance and his range is quite impressive for a 10-year-old. Gillian Jacobs is wasted as the overprotective mother of Oliver, but in her defense, anyone would be wasted as Oliver's mother Sarah due to the lack of depth given to this character. As a horror movie, this does not work. Suspense maybe, but definitely not horror. Very few scares and by less than the halfway point, I was bored with it already. 3/10

Just saw 'I love you Alice B. Tolkus"...an interesting comedy in the late 60s about the "freaked out " Peter Sellers..TCM on demand...& after all these yrs. finally gave in to"Dead Man Walking"..very good, but saddening ending.

Christmas Cronicales 2018 Netflix, good light fun...... Kurt Russel plays a great Santa.

CC2 is out this week, will catch that later in the season as well.

https://youtu.be/YaeDa_Uempk

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

I must admit, I had never heard of this film before until recently. Unfortunately, the end was spoiled for me so I knew what the story was building to while viewing it. However, it was able to put things in perspective from the get go as this is definitely a film you'd want to watch a second time immediately after viewing it for the first. The film stars Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, and a young Ezra Miller. The film primarily deals with Swinton's relationship with her son Ezra. It's a parrell story told through present day as well as flashbacks. The story is given to the viewer in bits and I typically don't enjoy that style of filmmaking, however, it works in this case. Swinton and Ezra really bring out the best in each other and give wonderful performances. If you're able to track this down, I highly endorse a viewing. 7.5/10

2011?

That's the one!

We Need To Talk About Kevin

MANK

Netflix had me at David Fincher. His first film since 2014's GONE GIRL did not disappoint. From the opening credits, the viewer is transported to 1930's Hollywood. A wonderful and truly authentic homage, in the style of Quentin Tarantino, to Hollywood's golden years. Gary Oldman stars (and shines) as Herman Mankiewicz, who is the writer of CITIZEN KANE. The film is told through present day and flashbacks. Quite a bit of politics, backstabbing, and excessivism (which I applaud both Fincher and Netflix for not shying away from the excessive drinking and smoking due to today's cancel culture). Oldman plays a wonderful drunken writer who, towards the end of his career, writes his masterpiece. Set against the Great Depression, the film explores gluttony, greed, and corruption. Oldman is steller (and Oscar nomination worthy) in his performance as Mank and Amanda Seyfried assists him as Marion Davies, a woman who he's had to bail out of more than one situation. Seyfriend plays the role flawlessly and I daresay is worthy of an Oscar nomination herself. The final pillar to this film is Charles Dance. Always a shark in blood infested waters, he continues his domineering performance here going toe-to-toe with Oldman. The true scene stealers are any scenes involving Oldman & Seyfried or Oldman & Dance. Although the runtime runs a little long in the tooth (it clocks in at 131 minutes), I am rather looking forward to a second viewing. 7/10

Did you do a review of “ Sound of Metal” ?

Wonder 2017

Really good 7.5 / 10

SOUND OF METAL

Heavy metal drummer Ruben, played marvelously by Riz Ahmed, suddenly and unexpectedly losses his hearing. A former addict, Ruben leans heavily on his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) rather than substance abuse, to help him through this life changing event by distraction as opposed to confronting the problem. Lou, realizing the severity of the situation and being more pragmatic, encourages Ruben to go to a deaf community to adapt to his change in lifestyle. Director Darius Marder does a wonderful job putting the audience in Ruben's shoes while at the community. Immersing the audience into how it feels to not only be deaf, but being the newcomer in a foreign environment. Naturally, Ruben runs the gamut of emotions from frustration of not knowing sign language and being excluded from every activity upon his arrival, to isolation, anger, loneliness, and heartbreak. A gutting movie about self-reliance and self-sufficiency with strong performances all around. A shout out must also be given to Paul Raci, who plays Joe, the leader and mentor of Ruben at the deaf community. Definitely worth checking out on Amazon Prime. 6.5/10

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Certainly on the list..... thanks i12

Sounds like all u guy's pinpoint new stuff , but the thread is called "what u just watched"...therefore may I say that I just enjoyed an oldie but goodie from 1950 called " No Way Out" .....no..not the Kevin Costner movie of 87' ...starring Sidney Poitier & Richard Widmark...Widmark sparks a community race riot after his brother dies under a doctor's (Poitier) care who is the only black doc in the hospital..very stunning performances all around as well as 4 it's day , language...also stars Linda Darnell in a saucy but poinaint role ...a must see 4 anyone to see life in a microscope of that time at it's realist.

TCM on Demand

That's a good movie Hood, and it broke a lot of barriers for it's time.

I just watched Carlito's Way which is a good film with Al Pacino, Sean Penn, among others. I hadn't seen that movie for awhile and yesterday I was surfing the channels and watched South Park episode with Fishsticks. There is a scene in that episode that was a parody of Carlito's way, Viggo Mortensen character.

Watching The Usual Suspects right now.

Yes , I would imagine it broke boundries back in that time period...thanx Gio..

Hope you enjoy it DP