Well I wouldn't consider it the average triumphant ending, considering what Max was put through, his views are changed, he actually sympathizes for Vincent, and he doesn't just ride off in the sunset like a western hero, but stumbles into the dawn confused, not knowing what he's gonna do.

But whatever, that's how I see it.

^^That pic makes me want to see OUATITW again

It should be noted Claudia Cardinale is the only woman Rock Hudson ever went after, but she supposedly didn't like him.

At least the only good was a good looking one.

(Anyone see Elton John's first and only wife? :p )

Attention film fans, Welles' Touch of Evil is playing at 4 PM today on TCM.

After that Sunset Boulevard will be played at 6 PM.

I missed the Brando marathon... I'm not missing this.

----
K-Pax (2001) ***1/3
Director: Iain Softley
A mysterious mental patient shows up in a Manhattan mental facility, claiming to be from a far away planet.

Interestingly done. Without spoiling the end, Softley manages to put this film together allowing the viewer to make up their own conclusion. Kevin Spacey plays Prot, a mental patient under the impression that he is from another planet, who manages to supply convincing evidence to his peers. Jeff Bridges plays Prot's phsyciatrist, slowly falling under the belief of Prot, but always looking for an alternate explanation. Together the two work great together on screen. The script, cast, visuals, every aspect of the film is great.


L.A. Confidential (1997) ****
Director: Curtis Hanson
Several cases lead by seperate members of the Los Angeles Police force seem to weave together.

This is the modern day revival of classic film-noir that Sin City tried for (in which Sin City was very successful at, may I say). Set in a 1953 L.A., Kevin Spacey plays a Hollywood-suave detective who works as a consultant on a hot polic-drama and excepts payouts from local news-paper head (Danny DeVito) in order to provide him with great headlines. Guy Pearce plays a rookie and straight cop, a rarity on the LAPD. Russell Crowe plays a hater of women-beaters and hot-head (what an amazing range he has :p ). Together, they bring this brilliant police drama to life. With the few films I can think off of the top of my head that debuted in 1997, this is by far one of the best. The characters are wonderful, the story is beautifully constructed, and the performances are gem's. Any fan of film in general--as well as film-noir and those involved in the film--should put this atop of their list.

If I didn't have my family over I'd watch them! Damn.

Any idea if those movies will be playing again anytime soon?

Finished watching the first Season of The Sopranos on DVD and Im just...wow This has to be the greatest TV Series Ive ever seen. A great Cast, clever, interesting and entertaining episodes with a great humor. Can't wait for the next Seasons, especially since Ive read that the Show gets better with the seasons...

With Casino Scorsese created another damn good movie I was finally able to see. Again, we have a great Cast and even if it has moments which remind you of Goodfellas, both movies are very different. But I can't see how some people rank this over "Goodfellas", I thought Casino was superior. And "Mean Streets", "Taxi Driver", and "Raging Bull" are all better movies, IMO ("The King of Comedy" is still on my To-Watch-List). I give Casino a 8/10 after the first viewing...

Then I saw Memento on DVD last night. It was my second viewing (I missed the first 15 minutes on my first watch)...What can i say now, A MASTERPIECE. Nolan brought us something really fresh, intelligent and just a movie, which keeps your attention every second. Guy Pearce wa the perfect cast as Linard. Carrie-Ann Moss was okay... 9/10

If I didn't have my family over I'd watch them! Damn.

Any idea if those movies will be playing again anytime soon? [/b][/quote]Touch of Evil
PLAYING ON TCM: 11/02/2005 12:15 AM
PLAYING ON TCM: 12/10/2005 08:00 AM

Sunset Boulevard
PLAYING ON TCM: 10/01/2005 11:30 PM
PLAYING ON TCM: 11/02/2005 08:00 PM
PLAYING ON TCM: 12/26/2005 10:30 AM

Cool, thanks a lot!

HA! It's 5:30 and my family just left. Now I have time to watch Sunset Boulevard.

Citizen Kane (1941)



This was my second time watching it the whole way through. Fantastic film. It's no surprise many consider it the greatest film of all time. The direction, the lighting, the acting, everything was incredible, and way ahead of it's time.

**** out of ****

Sunset Boulevard. 10/10

Quite simply one of the greatest movies ever made. I absolutely loved it.

Tootsie #62 on the AFI Top 100 List **

I wasn't expecting a great movie and I wasn't disappointed. It had a few funny parts but there were a few times I was afraid of watching Dustin Hoffman on the screen like that

The Seven Samurai

First viewing. I'm blown away. This movie is pure perfection. I can't find any more words to describe this movie at the moment. IMO it doesn't have any flaws, everything is great about it. What a good way to start watching my Kurosawa DVD's. Definetily in my Top 10 ever, maybe top 5? Wow.

10/10

Glad you enjoyed it! It is the only film that I hold in as high regard as The Godfather. Seven Samurai is a masterpiece that has stood the test of time.

I watched Collateral for the first time today. Great film! I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of Michael Mann.
***1/2 out of ****

I also watched The Freshman for the first time today. Any Godfather fan must see this film! Brando is incredible! Eighteen years after he played the role of Don Vito Corelone, and he is still able to pull it off! Simply brilliant! I'd score it higher if I were a fan of Matthew Broderick, but I just don't like him very much. He's not a bad actor by any means (I love Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Cable Guy), I just didn't like him much in this role.
***1/2 out of ****

Glad you liked Collateral, it's one of my favorites. Yesterday I found a torrent of Last Days, and finally saw it.

Last Days - (Gus Van Sant;2005;USA) - ****
The final days of a burnt-out rock musician as he's hassled by groupies who could care less about him.
A fascinating character study. Van Sant's best so far and the best film of this year. He avoids the controversy surrounding the death and only leaves subtlety surrounding it. Like Elephant we feel as if we're observing something genuinely real, only this time we connect more with the main character. "Death to Birth" should get an Oscar for Best Original Song, but it won't. The cinematography is also beautiful, and one of the main highlights. One of the best films I've seen within the last several years. If it's near you, I highly suggest you see it. Minimalism at it's best.
#11

Sounds quite damn awesome Vercetti...I'll check it out on DVD.

THE POSTMAN - **/5

I finally witness the infamous Kevin Costner starring/directing big-budget flop that swept the Razzies(yearly awards for worst of the year) and...its not THAT bad. Its just a meh film stuck with somehow a wrong approach of storytelling, combined with rough editing and some hokey moments that I could have lived without. Not a terrible film, but definately a flat movie inbetween Costner's actual-good directorial films DANCES WITH WOLVES and OPEN RANGE.

THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE - **1/2 out of 5

From Taylor Hackford, who somehow squeezed himself a Best Director and Picture noms for his decent but really overrated-as-hell RAY, this decent and watchable supernatural thriller with Al Pacino entertaining as hell as the one and only Prince of Darkness. Nice if nothing extraordinary work from the rest of the class, including ole Keanu Reeves being his stoic-self. Then again, maybe he is a good counter-weight to Pacino going all over the place.

Chris Rock Never Scared **

Last Days - (Gus Van Sant;2005;USA) - ****
The final days of a burnt-out rock musician as he wanders around his secluded home and gets hassled by groupies for favors.
Van Sant's best, and the best film of 2005 so far. Michael Pitt does a great job in his role from writing the music to using mostly his body language rather then dialogue. Van Sant may have a few subtle things happen but overall he ignores the cause of death, focusing on the protagonist's mental death rather then physical. One of the best films in recent years and a must-see. "Death to Birth" should win an Oscar.
#11

Elephant - (Gus Van Sant;2003;USA) - ****
On the day of a school shooting, we follow several different students as the day progresses.
The best film of 2003. Van Sant doesn't explain, but only shows the events that follow just as a slice of life. The tracking shots for all the characters work and make the audience feel closer to the story. The music is great, and for once a high school actually looks like one, rather then a bunch of perfect looking people. The film also proves to be both shocking and depressing.
#19

That's cool DV, I'm glad you liked Last Days after being excited about it for so long. That would have been a major disappointment if it turned out to be lame. I haven't seen it yet, but I'll let you know when I do... my theater's not playing it anymore, I guess I procrastinated way too much. It comes out next month on DVD though, right? I guess I'll see it then.

Yeah it does, although isohunt.com has two versions. (I picked the one with the most DL's) And really, it was an amazing film, and although it wasn't an actual biopic, it works as the anti-biopic as some put it. Forget films like Ray where the best thing is only the performance. Last Days glows in all areas. Many complain because they expected an actual Cobain biopic and got a film where the camera just seems to watch life happen (most people find it boring). I found it to be a fascinating character study. I'm trying to write a review on it now, and I should be finishing my Elephant review after, maybe tomorrow.

Here's the best of the year so far (ones rated ***1/2 and up)
1) Last Days - ****
2) Broken Flowers - ****
3) Crash - ***1/2
4) Batman Begins - ***1/2

The DVD will be coming out next month.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=58142

JoBlo.com, one of the shitty internet critics gave it a 2/10, and a poorly written review that's worse then some of Ebert's bad reviews.

I watched a charming sleeper of a movie this afternoon - "Two Family House". I unfortunately missed the first ½ hour but saw enough to realize this is a wonderful story about life, expectations and hopes.

It takes place in 1950's Staten Island (NY) and the story revolves around a married Italian guy with dreams to be a singer (Michael Rispoli) and his somewhat "tough" wife (Katherine Narducci of "The Sopranos").

You'll see some other familiar faces (Big Pussy and Vito Spatafore from "The Sopranos").

Michael Rispoli did an absolutely awesome job in his gut wrenching role of a man making a big decision.

If you come across it at your rental library or while channel surfing on cable CHECK IT OUT!

Hello SC!


Michael Rispoli sounds familiar. I know the name but can't place him. I wanna say he's been on Law & Order before. Anything he was in that I might know?


TIS

He was Jackie Aprile in "The Sopranos". Dunno if you ever saw "While You Were Sleeping" but he played Sandra Bullock's neighbor who liked to wear her shoes. After seeing him in this I'd say he's a wonderful actor!

When Will I Be Loved **

A better movie that I anticipated with a deep meaning which I found to be pretty good.

ALIEN RESURRECTION - **/5

While not as big of a mess in terms of direction or editing as ALIEN 3(which FOX took away from David Fincher in every way possible), its really just a inferior rehash of all the previous ALIEN flicks in a garbage movie. Thing is, its CITIZEN KANE compared to the recent travesty AVP...

Serpico (1973; Lumet) ***

A very good film about real life hero Frank Serpico. Al Pacino gives a fine performance, and Lumet directs your typical 70's cop drama, though this one is exceptional.

Michael Rispoli played Jackie Aprile in the first season of The Sopranos, the head of Tony's family who was dying of cancer.

Pulp Fiction (1994; Tarantino) ****

Four tales intertwined with each other. The characters we all know and love: Jules and Vincent, two lowly Hitmen. Marcellus Wallace, their boss. Mia, the Boss' wife. Butch, the never-was-been prize fighter. Four tales intertwined into one full fledged explosion of a film. The soundtrack is great, the cinematography is excellent, an all around amazing film. The dialouge is extremely well-written. This film is flawless, and most definitley Tarantino's masterpiece.