GBGoodies 2015 Movie Logbook

Star Wars (1977) - This is one of my favorite movies, and I missed a lot of it during the commentary a few days ago, so I wanted to sit back, relax, and watch it in its entirety.

This movie has everything anyone could ask for in a movie. It's an exciting adventure with a classic good vs. evil story, but it has so much more. It's fun, it's suspenseful, it's dramatic, and there are so many great characters in this movie that it's hard to pick a favorite.

The story is great, and the music is perfect from start to finish. Some of the extras in the special edition are interesting, but IMO they're not necessary. The original version is still the best.

Attachments

 

The Words (2012) - This is another movie that I found while reading through the upcoming movie listings. I watched it mainly because it sounded interesting, and also because it stars Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Irons.

This is another movie that I think is much better than it's rating. It's an amazing movie that's basically a story within a story. It's about making mistakes, and learning to live with those mistakes. It's a love story with a twist, and it's a very emotional story. The ending is a bit weak, but the movie is so good that it's still worth watching.

I've recently started to notice how talented Bradley Cooper really is as an actor, and this movie is no exception. He does a terrific job in this movie. Jeremy Irons is also fantastic as the old man in the story.

I haven't heard much about this movie, but I highly recommend this underrated hidden gem.

Attachments

 

The Descendants (2011) - I saw this movie when it was released on DVD, but I was flipping channels and it was coming on, so I decided to watch it again.

This is a great movie about a man whose wife is injured in a boating accident, and while he's finding out that she's not going to survive, he also learns from his oldest daughter that his wife was cheating on him. He sets out to meet the man she was cheating with, and learn the truth about their affair.

This is an emotional movie, but it also has some fun moments too. The scenery is beautiful, and the acting is great. This is one of my favorite George Clooney movies. George Clooney and Shailene Woodley are great together as father and daughter. Nick Krause is also very good as Woodley's boyfriend.

Attachments

 

Couple of more movies to put on my list. Agree that Bradley Cooper is very good actor.

I never really noticed Bradley Cooper until recently, but I've been very impressed with his recent movies. I vaguely remember him in the TV shows "Jack & Bobby" and "Alias", but I may have to go back and watch some of his older movies to see what I missed.

My mum loved The Jazz Singer. I think that was the first film we owned after we got a video recorder.

Does the poster for Hit By Lightning make anyone think it'll be a good film? It looks truly awful to me.

__________________
5-time MoFo Award winner.

I thought The Descendants was very good, but I didn't enjoy it that much. I found it more upsetting than anything else.

I am a fan of Silver Linings Playbook and Bradley Cooper, although he'll always be Phil to me.

Fiddler on the Roof was torture for me.

Still haven't seen Schindler's List.

The Jazz Singer was one of the first DVDs I bought when I bought my first DVD player.


I didn't see the poster for Hit By Lightning before I saw the movie, but I didn't expect much from it either. I only watched it because it stars Jon Cryer.

Then I guess I'll cross Fiddler on the Roof off of my potential nominations list for the Musical Hall of Fame.

Doctor, You've Got to Be Kidding! (1967) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1960s movie list. It sounded like a cute romantic comedy, and it has a good cast, including Sandra Dee, George Hamilton, and Bill Bixby.

Sadly, this movie isn't very good. It doesn't work as a romance movie, and it's not funny enough to be called a comedy. It's more of just a goofy mess. None of the characters have any chemistry together, so we're left not really caring which man she ends up with at the end of the movie.

Attachments

 

Living in a Big Way (1947) - I try to watch Gene Kelly's movies whenever they air on TCM. This is one of his lesser known movies, and one of only a couple that were filmed in black and white.

This isn't at the level of some of Gene Kelly's more popular movies, such as Singin' in the Rain and Brigadoon, but it's a very good movie. The story is interesting, with Gene Kelly and Marie McDonald as a couple who get married just before he ships out to war, but when he returns, he finds that his bride isn't the woman he thought she was, and she wants a quick divorce.

However, the main reason to watch this movie is for Gene Kelly's dancing. The highlight of the movie is the song "Fido and Me", but whether he's dancing with a dog, a statue, or a group of kids, he's a pleasure to watch.

Attachments

 

Predestination (2014) - I watched this movie because Sarah Snook was nominated for the Best Actress MoFo Film Award. Prior to watching the movie, I had never heard of her, and I knew nothing about this movie.

This movie is an interesting twist on the standard time travel stories, but it has some plot holes that are big enough to drive a truck through them. It has several twists and turns, and every one of them just seems to create another plot hole that makes no sense if you stop and think about it. Some of the twists are predictable, but some of them I didn't see coming.

Having said that, this is a very enjoyable movie, and if you're willing to just go with the flow, and accept the things that shouldn't be possible, this is a fascinating movie. Sarah Snook and Ethan Hawke are both superb in this very unique movie.

Attachments

 

Interstellar (2014) - I watched this movie because it was nominated for several MoFo Film Awards. However one of those nominations is for Biggest Disappointment, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this movie.

This movie seems to be a "love it or hate it" movie for most people, but it fell somewhere in the middle for me. It's not the best movie of the year, but it's not a big disappointment either.

I liked the basic story, about finding a new home for everyone through the wormhole, although it was a bit confusing at times. I also liked the underlying theme about love being a force, just like time, space and gravity.



I'm not a fan of Matthew McConaughey, but I thought he did a pretty good job in this movie. Visually, the movie is beautiful, and the music is great, however, the music was so loud at times that it almost completely drowned out the voices. I think this is a movie that would benefit greatly from repeat viewings.

Attachments

 

Into the Woods (2014) - I saw Into the Woods on Broadway many years ago, so I was thrilled when I heard that it was finally being made into a movie. However, Into the Woods is not for everyone, and it seems like many of the bad reviews I read were written by people who didn't know much about it before seeing the movie.

For those who aren't familiar with Into the Woods, this is not a typical Disney fairy tale. This is more like the darker Grimm's Fairy Tales, so don't expect all the characters to live happily ever after. This is also a musical, and most of the dialogue is sung, not spoken.

This is a pretty good movie, but it doesn't live up to the play. Unfortunately, the movie is missing the charm of the Broadway play. It seems like they toned down the humor for some reason, (probably to get a PG rating), so the movie is not as funny as the stage play, and it just doesn't work as well. One of the biggest problems in my opinion is the elimination of the Narrator/Mysterious Man. He was more than just a narrator in the play, and his character added an extra level to the play that was missing in the movie.

Overall, the casting was pretty good, with a few surprising exceptions. Meryl Streep was good, but I expected better from her. She doesn't live up to Bernadette Peters in the play. I also didn't care for Emily Blunt as the Baker's wife. Joanna Gleason was so much better in the play. I hated Johnny Depp's non-costume. I didn't care that it wasn't anatomically correct like in the stage version, but he doesn't look anything like a wolf. And sadly, his performance wasn't much better than his costume, but fortunately, he has very little screen time.

If you like musicals, the movie isn't bad, but if you're really interested in seeing Into the Woods, I would recommend skipping this movie and watching the 1991 American Playhouse version with Bernadette Peters instead.

Attachments

 

The Last Five Years (2014) - This is another movie that is based on a musical stage play. I didn't have the chance to see the play, but from what I had heard about it, I was looking forward to the movie version. This is not recommended for anyone who doesn't like musicals because most of the dialogue is sung, not spoken.

The movie follows the five-year relationship of a young couple, Cathy and Jamie, (Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan), however it has an interesting twist. We see both Cathy's and Jamie's sides of the story at the same time, but while we see Jamie's story from the beginning of the relationship to the end of the relationship, we also see Cathy's story backwards, from the end of the relationship to the beginning of the relationship. Their stories meet in the middle. It can be a little bit confusing if you don't know this before you watch the movie, but once you realize what's going on, it's fascinating to watch, as Jamie's story starts out happy and ends sad, but Cathy's story starts out sad, but ends happy.

Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan were wonderful together. Anna Kendrick starts off pretty bad in the first song, but she picks up quickly, and she's much better in the rest of the movie, so give her a chance. Jeremy Jordan is amazing. I became a fan of his when he was in the TV show "Smash", so I was really looking forward to seeing him in this, and he doesn't disappoint at all.

If you like musicals, I highly recommend this fantastic movie.

Attachments

 

The Best of Me (2014) - I watched this movie because it's based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. If you know anything about Nicholas Sparks movies, then you know that they will pull you in by making you care about the characters, and then they will rip your heart out. That makes them predictable, but they still get you every time, and this movie is no exception.

This is not the best Nicholas Sparks movie, but it's a very good movie. Parts of the movie are told in a flashback, so we flip back and forth between Dawson and Amanda's relationship in the past and present. The best parts of the movie are the story that takes place in the past, when the two characters meet, and we find out the most about them. The present day part of the story is pretty predictable, but it's still heartbreaking.

The actors who portrayed the younger versions of the characters, (Luke Bracey and Liana Liberato), were great together, and they carried most of the movie, but the actors who played the older versions of the characters, (James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan), didn't have much chemistry together. Luke Bracey, who plays young Dawson looks a lot like a young Heath Ledger, but unfortunately, he doesn't look anything like a young James Marsden, so it was hard to connect them as the same character.

If you can get past the poor casting in the movie, (not bad acting, just bad casting because the young and old versions of the characters don't look enough alike to be the same characters), then this is a very good movie about two people who get a second chance at love.

Attachments

 

Friday the Thirteenth (1933) - I watched this movie because it sounded like an interesting movie, and it seemed appropriate to watch it on Friday the 13th. This is not the popular horror movie. This is the classic British movie starring some of the top British actors and actresses from the 1930s.

A group of people are on a London bus just before midnight on a rainy Friday the 13th when lightning strikes a crane causing the crane to fall. and the bus swerves to avoid the crane, and it crashes into a building. Through flashbacks, we learn about the people, and how each of them ended up on the bus that night, but we don't find out who lives and who dies until the last few minutes of the movie.

The movie is a very well-written drama with some light comedy and suspense. There are several interesting stories and characters, and they eventually all meet up on the bus. There's even an interesting twist at the end.

Attachments

 

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1960s movie list, and because it was recommended by several people here on MoFo. I didn't know anything about this movie before watching it, except that it starred Jane Fonda. In fact, based on the title of the movie, I thought it was a western.

This movie is about a group of people who participate in a grueling dance marathon in the depression era 1930s. This is a very depressing movie. It is told in flashbacks from the point of view of Robert, (Michael Sarrazin), one of the participants. As the movie progresses, we learn about the tragic events that happen to some of the participants during the dance marathon.

The movie itself is interesting to watch, but it's so brutal on the participants that it's hard to watch everything that happens to them.


This movie is okay for a one-time watch, but I doubt that I'll ever have the desire to watch it again.

Attachments

 

Don't, I'm not going to join that Hall of Fame. I don't like most of the classic musicals; no need for me to crap on a bunch of other's favorites.

I really liked They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, but I thought it was flawed. It's definitely interesting, unique, and worth watching.

I'm probably one of few who have no interest in Interstellar.