Leon: The Professional (1994) Luc Besson Hadn't seen this for a long time ( third viewing, I think ). Jean Reno is Leon, a hitman in NYC for an Italian concern. Mathilda ( Natalie Portman ) is a waif whose parents were murdered because her dad stepped on some drugs that he had been holding for a group of corrupt cops. Mathilda escapes being gunned down and seeks asylum with Leon, who takes her in and begins to teach her the ropes. The charm of the movie resides in the quirky relationship btwn Leon and Mathilda. Gary Oldman plays a corrupt DEA agent who is about as wacked out as one can be. A French action cult classic.
Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020) Dir. Matt Peters & Christina Sotta With Apokolips emerging at the edge of the Solar System, the heroes of the Justice League are expecting an imminent attack from Darkseid. Instead, Superman proposes a bold first strike on Apokolips, before Darkseid can bring the fight to Earth. Whilst some heroes have serious misgivings about the plan, none more so than reluctant League member John Constantine, it still goes ahead... With disastrous results. Two years later, what remains of the League is scattered and diminished and Darkseid is putting the final phase of his conquest of Earth into effect. John Constantine gets an unwelcome visit from the now powerless Clark Kent, asking for Constantine's help in a last-ditch, low-odds plan to defeat Darkseid after all and saving humanity in the process. This was very enjoyable, probably my favorite of the DC Animated Universe in the last three or four years. This is a big ensemble, with most of the Justice League and Teen Titans involved in some capacity. But it's primarily about the tension between Constantine and Superman and how the two very different men are both needed to save the world. The voice cast is primarily a return of many of the same people who have voiced these characters in previous movies (including the real-life couple of Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn as Superman and Lois Lane respectively). Lots of fun.
Charlie's Angels (2019) Dir. Elizabeth Banks Sabine and Jane are two Angels who have a complicated relationship due to their very different styles and personalities. On yet another mission where they are paired to work together, they meet a young systems engineer who is one of the lead designers on what is to become the new revolution in energy creation and distribution. Only she has discovered a design flaw in the device that might have dangerous and deadly repercussions. When she tries to send her findings up the chain within her company, she is ignored. Using the Angels to get a direct sit-down with her company CEO, she is instead the victim of an assassination attempt and is brought under the direct protection of the Angels until they can figure out what is going on. This is another reinvention of the old franchise, one which consciously references both the original TV show and the movies of the same name from the early 2000s. I had primarily read about this movie in relation to Elizabeth Banks' reaction to it tanking at the box office: essentially accusing the movie going public of sexism, as they wouldn't support a female-led action movie. Whilst sexism is definitely still a thing in Hollywood, I would say that both the original success of the Cameron Diaz-Drew Barrymore-Lucy Liu movies, as well as more recently successful female actioners (Wonder Woman & Captain Marvel to name just two) proves that there is definitely an audience for these films. I think the main issue with this one is the mediocrity of the screenplay. The three leads are all enjoyable and charming in their own way. Stewart is goofy, Scott is quirky and Balinska is convincingly fierce. Yet it is hard to think of a less original take on this old franchise, the screenplay is the safest & most paint-it-by-the-numbers effort imaginable. I suspect that Banks' strong reaction was mostly linked to the fact that as a writer-producer-director, she was heavily invested in this film and thought of it as her baby. So seeing it fail the way it did at the box office (a domestic take of 17 million USD against a 48 million budget is pretty grim) must have hurt.
Mississippi Burning (1988) Dir. Alan Parker Following the disappearance of three civil rights workers in Jessup County, Misssissippi, two FBI agents are sent down there to investigate. Agent Ward isn't so much idealistic as he is eager to do things by the book. Anderson, a Mississippi native and a more experienced agent than Ward, realizes the complexity of conducting such an investigation in the Deep South, meaning that he sees the value in occasionally bending the rules. The missing persons investigation soon turns into a de facto murder investigation when the three young men's car is found, with no trace of them in it. Yet the open hostility of the white townfolks combined with their intimidation of the local black community means that the investigation does not yield any immediate results. Decided to revisit this. I don't think I have seen this in its entirety since the 1990s though I have occasionally caught five or ten minutes of it whilst channel surfing. Whilst this boasts a very good ensemble cast, it's hard to associate this film with anything other than Gene Hackman's powerful performance. This is very loosely based upon the Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner investigation of course, controversially so a certain extent, since the family's of the deceased objected to the fictionalized nature of the story as told in this movie.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Director: Charlie Kaufman This movie is so in my wheelhouse I am surprised I never saw it before. Very neat screenplay concerns a couple who both have an experimental procedure that wipes your memories. Perfect for a broken heart. Get your memory wiped and be happy. Spoilers lie ahead! (Move your mouse to reveal the content) Spoilers lie ahead! (open) Spoilers lie ahead! (close) Of course everything goes wrong from that setup, but I think what is truly cool about the screenplay is the way the narrative is constructed. I knew the basic story, but was initially fooled into thinking he had the procedure maybe for a different woman, and then was meeting clem for the first time. Then things started getting strange when we jumped timelines. Maybe the chase through his memories was a bit hamfisted but i kind of liked the quirk.
The Turning (2020) Dir. Floria Sigismondi Kate is a young teacher who takes a new posting as a governess tasked with teaching young Flora, a girl living alone with a housekeeper in a large and remote mansion. From the first day that Kate arrives there, she has a strange feeling about the place, one which increases during her stay, especially after Flora's older brother Miles also returns home after having been suspended at his boarding school for starting a fight with a fellow student. As Kate's feeling of unease grows, it isn't clear who or what is responsible for the strange and scary things she is witnessing and experiencing. A modern adaptation of "The Turn of the Screw" that cannot hold a candle to "The Innocents". If anything, this once again confirms what a great film that earlier adaptation is. It also made me realize how much the black and white photography of the original helped to create the atmosphere. The first sounds in the night scene here only packs a fraction of tension that its equivalent in "The Innocents" does. Finn Wolfhard's take on Miles is also too gleefully sardonic, a more subtle performance would have been preferable. MacKenzie Davis is a great actress but even she cannot really sell the choices made in the third act. If you want to see a movie version of Henry James' classic novel, go back to Jack Clayton's 1961 classic.
McBain (1991)-I only watched it because of The Simpsons' McBain. Ludicrous film in which a bunch of middle aged guys take over Colombia. Christopher Walken stars.
Close Your Eyes (2017) Dir. Sol-mae Kim Hyeon-woo is a blind street musician who performs most days in an underground shopping center. Between his looks, good voice and the air of mystery his sunglasses seem to give him, he has a small but loyal fanbase of local young women, none more devoted than Mi-rim. One day, Hyeon-woo has a strange encounter at the shopping center during one of his breaks. An unknown man briefly strikes up a conversation with him and claims that he had just committed a murder, describing the crime in some detail. Initially assuming he has merely met a weirdo with an active and morbid imagination and a sick sense of humor, he is horrified to learn later that day that a local woman has indeed been murdered and the M.O. corresponds to what the man told him. Only Hyeon-woo has no means to identify the stranger and even if he did, does he really want to get involved in something like that? Yet fate forces his hand when Mi-rom attracts the killer's attention... Not the best South-Korean thriller I've ever seen by any means, but not bad either. Most of its appeal is in the endearingly earnest, borderline sweet lead performance by Baro (an apparently super-popular Korean pop star).
Last Moment of Clarity (2020) Dir. Colin Kresel & James Kresel Sam is a young man living a solitary life in Paris, France. It is revealed that his lonely existence is partially forced upon him by a dark incident in his past he is still running away from. He is forced out of his quiet existence when he recognizes his girlfriend in an actress who has a small supporting role in a movie he watches at the theater. The same girlfriend whom he believed to be dead. Knowing that it's impossible and even insane to consider that the woman he loved might be alive in the form of a Hollywood starlet, he cannot help himself from flying back to the States to try and track her down in Los Angeles, setting in motion events far exceeding his expectations in the process. They were obviously aiming for "modern day Vertigo" with this, but they ended up somewhere closer to "a mess". I only gave this a chance on the strength of the cast, with Samara Weaving, Carly Chaikin and Brian Cox all performers I have greatly enjoyed in other projects. But their good work here does little to elevate the movie beyond the many weaknesses of the screenplay.
The Nightingale (2018) Dir. Jennifer Kent Clare is a young Irish convict living in Tasmania in the first half of the 19th century. In spite of being married to a fellow Irish settler, she has yet to get her freedom from the officer in charge of her settlement, a man who instead takes sexual liberties with her she has to hide from her husband. When her husband overplays his hand one night in his harsh demands to see his wife released of her bond, the consequences are terrible. Now hellbent on getting revenge for the wrongs inflicted upon her by the officer and his men, Clare along with a native guide pursues the men on a trek through the wilderness. Very good drama with a screenplay that never takes the easy path or the obvious choice. It reminded me a lot of "Lore", one of my favorite movies of the 20th century. Both movies feature unlikely pairings that have to face a hostile environment. Both are essentially movies about evil, in the case of Cate Shortland's movie, fascism, in this case, colonialism. All of the main players are great, but Sam Claflin's turn as the sociopathic villain is the best performance I've seen of him. Very good and surprising follow up to Kent's first feature, "The Babadook", especially in its desire to do something entirely different.
Inheritance (2020) Dir. Vauhgn Stein Lauren Monroe is the eldest child of Archer Monroe, a wealthy and powerful business man with whom she has a strained relationship. Lauren herself is a district attorney whilst her younger brother William is a congressman and also their father's not-so-secret favorite child. When Archer suddenly dies of an apparent heart attack, Lauren is not too surprised when the bulk of the inheritance goes to William. She is surprised when her father's lawyer leaves her an envelope from her father, containing a cryptic video message on a thumb drive. This message leads her to discover a dark secret of her father's, one she tries to deal with herself, to spare her family the embarrassment, but is she really up to the task considering the nature of her discovery? Ultimately the writing in this drama/thriller leaves a lot to be desired but Lily Collins and Simon Pegg are just good enough in their shared scenes to keep this watchable for the most part. Their performances still don't save this film from a rather horrendous third act (nor a "twist' unworthy of that name).
Invincible (2006)-The tale of Vince Papale, who played three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. Decent sports movie. Mark Wahlberg stars.
Downsizing Somehow, contrary to the law of conservation of mass, humans can be made "small". About 5" tall is all. Since a palatial mansion can be made for a 5-incher for $20,000 lots of people can be fabulously materially wealthy in the lands for the small. So Matt Damon and his wife, who are struggling to move out of the bottom of the middle class and want a nice house, decide to reduce and live life large. Except that the wife chickens out mid-procedure and Matt goes into the Holy Land alone. The movie really could have been savagely satirical and yet it turns out to be by-the-numbers romance. The original premise for shrinking was that the earth is getting used up and people too numerous and the planet could best support our numbers if people were just smaller. That could have made an interesting movie. Or, repressive regimes used shrinking as punishment and the movie features a prominent dissident who was so punished. Or a movie could be made about the squalor of the idle nouveau riche. Instead what we get is a lot of sermonizing white guilt. And yet another anonymous Christophe Waltz performance. I'm beginning to think that Inglorious Basterds was a fluke.
Gene Hackman is the POTUS. He is a philandering pig. He goes with his most powerful supporter's wife to the supporter's mansion and things get nasty. The Secret Service ends up having to take action and the President's Chief of Staff leads the coverup. The rub is that Clint Eastwood's character (Luther Whitney) has broken into the mansion to steal jewelry and is hiding in a room off the bedroom that has a two way mirror. He sees the entire debacle. The rest of the movie centers around Ed Harris's detective character trying to solve the mystery and the Secret Service trying to locate Luther. The movie is Absolute Power (dir. Eastwood)
Thunder on the Hill (1951) Dir. Douglas Sirk Sister Mary Bonaventure is a well-respected nun at her convent, a woman who has quickly risen through the ranks after her late calling and noviciate. After flooding hits nearby Norwich, many people seek refuge in the convent on the hill. Among them, a condemned prisoner on her way to be executed, accompanied by her two police guards. From the first moment sister Mary meets the young woman in question, Valerie Carns, she had a strong belief that she is innocent of the crime she was found guilty of: the murder of her older brother Jason. With many of the protagonists of the court case also holed up at the convent, sister Mary starts her own investigation into the crime, hoping to prove Valerie's innocence before the convent becomes accessible to the outside world again. Old-fashioned entertainment in the form of a detective story set almost entirely within the isolated convent. Claudette Colbert is very good in the lead role. Reminded me somewhat of the similar "Green for Danger".
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)-A Wes Anderson directed tale of a family of child prodigies turned ne'er do wells. Gene Hackman and Ben Stiller star. Pretty good flick.
It was a very bad weekend. My god daughter ran away. She's safe. Ish. We sort of know where she is but know that she won't be coming back. So, we needed mega distraction and spent most of the weekend bingeing on Brooklyn 99. My son loves the show and has tried to get us watching for years, in fact he thinks it's better than Scrubs or Black Books, his other two favorite comedies. Meh. It was diverting, and Lord, we needed the diversion. But it's rarely funny. And millennials have dubbed the opening snippet before the credits as a "cold open" and furthermore have called Brooklyn 99's cold opens the best ever. Well, they're not. I will say, though, that the casting of Andre Braugher as the precinct captain was a genius move. And the gravitas he brought to the first couple of seasons was a great counterpoint to "hilarity" of the rest of the cast. It is wearing off, though.
Never Look Away. Strong thought provoking movie of a young german artist from a child in pre war Nazi Germany, growing up though the war and East Germany post war. Then escapes to the West. Falls in love with the daughter of an ardent Nazi doctor who worked Hitler’s program to euthanize the mentally challenged. A movie I’ll probably watch again some time.
"The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County" is a comedic Western film with a great voice cast. Designed as a vehicle for Dan Blocker (touted on the poster above with his most famous character, Hoss of "Bonanza" fame), it centers on the interwoven efforts of the town blacksmith (Blocker) to find love in the form of a mail order bride, and the townsmen to keep the blacksmith from moving away when his bride fails to show up (because what is a town without a blacksmith?). The voices . . . Jim Backus (Mr. Magoo) is the mayor and sheriff who comes up with the scheme. Wally Cox (Underdog) plays a shopkeeper and main married guy in the group. Mickey Rooney (Mickey Rooney) is part of the gang. Jack Elam (Western archetype) is a myopic bounty hunter. Lots more besides (including the world's fakest NDN, Iron Eyes Cody). The scheme centers around having the popular dance hall girl leave town and then ride back in on the stage as if she was the mail order bride, re-imagined as a good girl. I appreciate Nanette Fabray in the role; she was a Tony Award winning actress who was 50 years old when the movie came out, which is decidedly not how most Westerns portray the dance hall girl. Of course she quickly falls in love with the blacksmith, but can't marry him on the pretense of a lie. In a way, I think the whole movie was a set up for the final line in the movie. The men are all gathered right after the wedding, feeling satisfied that the scheme worked and the blacksmith will stay. Then Spoiler (Move your mouse to the spoiler area to reveal the content) Show Spoiler Hide Spoiler they realize the mayor/sheriff just married off the only single woman in the whole county, and they begin chasing him to beat him up. EDIT to add that both Blocker and Cox dies soon after, in their late 40s, while Mickey Rooney lived and lived and lived. Coincidence? Hmmm . . .
Black Sunday (1977)-Tale of terrorists attacking the Super Bowl. Robert Shaw stars as the agent who tries to stop them.
Watched this with my almost 17 year old daughter. We like to watch all the stupid sci-fi, action movies from the 80s and 90s. Other than the Jamie Lee Curtis dancing in her underwear scene, we loved it.* I probably hadn't seen it in 10 years, at least. My daughter is super "woke" , but still thought the movie was a riot. Tom Arnold, he was a thing that happened! * oh my god that scene felt like it was 30 days long.
it occurred to me that it might have been uncomfortable for both you and her to watch JLC dancing in her underwear. i don't remember that scene in the movie, but, on the surface, it might have been a scene that was, at least in a limited way, sexualized. watching with a teenage daughter might have a sort of creepy feel to it, regardless of any other factor. watching with a son might have had a different feel to it. i have a granddaughter the age of your daughter and i wouldn't want to watch a movie scene with just her in the room with me that was "sexy". why? because those kinds of scenes appeal to our most carnal instincts and sharing that with a girl that age seems edgy.