1990's Countdown Group Watch [Archive]

Miss Vicky

01-02-25, 11:30 PM

88859

SpelingError usually hosts these, but isn't up for it this time so I'm going to host it this time around (and because I'm lazy, I copy/pasted his opening post from the last Group Watch).

For the fourth time during a MoFo countdown, we're going to be having a Group Watch thread! Here's how this thread will work:

-The host will nominate a 90's movie and the participants will have 3 days to watch it, and to state that they watched the film in the thread (Nominations must be over 40 minutes in length and not longer than 4 hours. They must also have a release date of 1990-1999 as listed in TMDB (https://www.themoviedb.org/?language=en-US) and must have had a theatrical release. Limited theatrical release is okay). No shorts, television shows, TV movies or miniseries.

-You're not required to review the film. You can if you want to, but simply writing something like "I just watched XX and really enjoyed it" should suffice.

-Afterwards, the host will use a random number generator to pick the next person to nominate a film. People who participate in a round and have not yet nominated a movie will have a better chance at being chosen to pick the next nomination, but regular participants who have already nominated will also have a chance. Please click here for details on this rule change. (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2533639#post2533639)

-This thread will last till the deadline listed in the preliminary thread (or close to it).

-You can opt-in/opt-out of this thread whenever you want. You're not required to watch every film in this thread just because you watched one film in it.

In short, this is similar to a Hall of Fame, except it requires far less effort.

I'm sure many of us will be voting for some obscure films which not many MoFos have seen, so participating in this thread might be a good way to increase the likelihood of your film making the countdown.

PLEASE NOTE: If you want to discuss a currently nominated film but do not wish to be in consideration to choose the next nomination, please state that in your post. Anyone discussing a current nomination in this thread will be added to the list of potential nominators otherwise.

Once each movie's deadline is up and I choose the next host, I will post that person's name as well as send them a PM letting them know they have been chosen. Once chosen, they will have 24 hours to send me their nomination via private message. If no nomination is chosen after 24 hours, a new person will be chosen to nominate.

Miss Vicky

01-02-25, 11:30 PM

Nominations:

Current Round:

22. A Simple Plan (1998, Sam Raimi) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2546077#post2546077)
Nominated By WrinkledMind
Final Round, No Deadline

Previous Nominations:

1. Clay Pigeons (1998, David Dobkin) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2523284#post2523284)
Nominated By: Miss Vicky

2. Citizen X (1995, Chris Gerolmo) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2524363#post2524363)
Nominated By: Wrinkled Mind

3. Paradise (1991, Mary Agnes Donoghue) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2525608#post2525608)
Nominated By: Gbgoodies

4. Lawn Dogs (1997, John Duigan) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2526578#post2526578)
Nominated By Allaby

5. Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991, Anthony Minghella) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2527715#post2527715)
Nominated By Holden Pike

6. Une liaison pornographique (An Affair of Love) (1999, Philippe Blasband) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2528995#post2528995)
Nominated By Beelzebubble

7. The War Zone (1999, Tim Roth) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2529961#post2529961)
Nominated By cricket

8. Sleepy Hollow (1999, Tim Burton) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2530863#post2530863)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

9. The Mission (1999, Johnnie To) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2531668#post2531668)
Nominated By Torgo

10. Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2532666#post2532666)
Nominated By Thursday Next

11. The Last Boy Scout (1991, Tony Scott) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2533741#post2533741)
Nominated By John W Constantine

12. Hide and Seek (1996, Su Friedrich) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2534828#post2534828)
Nominated By Allaby

13. Election (1999, Alexander Payne) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2535788#post2535788)
Nominated By WrinkledMind

14. Defending Your Life (1991, Albert Brooks) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2536837#post2536837)
Nominated By Holden Pike

15. Clean, Shaven (1993, Lodge Kerrigan) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2538251#post2538251)
Nominated By SpelingError

16. Heart and Souls (1993, Ron Underwood) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2539388#post2539388)
Nominated By Gbgoodies

17. Arizona Dream (1993, Emir Kusturica) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2540476#post2540476)
Nominated By Citizen Rules

18. Romper Stomper (1992, Geoffrey Wright) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2541561#post2541561)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

19. Noises Off... (1992, Peter Bogdanovich) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2542563#post2542563)
Nominated By Gbgoodies

20. Gattaca (1997, Andrew Niccol) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2543611#post2543611)
Nominated By Takoma11

21. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993, Lasse Hallström) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2544757#post2544757)
Nominated By Citizen Rules

Miss Vicky

01-02-25, 11:35 PM

103970
Nomination #1

Clay Pigeons (1998, David Dobkin)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

Deadline to Watch It: January 5

SpelingError

01-02-25, 11:51 PM

Hey, I wanted to host! How dare you!!!

Jk, I'll give that a watch over the weekend.

Holden Pike

01-03-25, 12:02 AM

103971

SpelingError

01-03-25, 12:04 AM

103971

You should join this thread, too. I'm curious what you'd nominate :)

John W Constantine

01-03-25, 01:07 AM

I'm sure I could recommend stuff.

Miss Vicky

01-03-25, 01:12 AM

I'm sure I could recommend stuff.

If you wish to nominate a movie, you have to watch and post about the currently nominated movie. The thread is not for recommendations.

gbgoodies

01-03-25, 01:52 AM

I liked Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn in Return to Paradise, so I bought the DVD of Clay Pigeons a while back when I found it at a garage sale, but I don't think I've ever watched it.

I guess this will finally give me a reason to watch it.

Miss Vicky

01-03-25, 03:37 AM

http://www.angelfire.com/music6/walteregan/MoFoTop100/claypigeons.gif

Clay Pigeons
(David Dobkin, 1998)

Produced by Ridley Scott and directed by David Dobkin, Clay Pigeons is a comedy-thriller about a hapless mechanic in a small town who - following a series of crazy incidents that might have something to do with his new fishing buddy - finds himself the prime suspect in a series of murders.

I first watched this movie in the early days of my Joaquin Phoenix obsession and loved it immediately, but not for the reason that I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, this pre-Gladiator Phoenix performance is plenty strong - and full of bewilderment, rage, and trauma - but for me Vince Vaughn is the real stand-out here. He's charming, he's chilling, and he's hilarious as a killer who uses a dim-witted and amiable facade to disarm both his victims and his pursuers. This movie made me love him and I continue to have soft spot for him despite the many missteps of his career. Strong too is the (admittedly type-cast) 90s darling Janeane Garofalo as the smart and cynical FBI agent giving life to the strong feeling of "WTF" regarding the ineptitude and absurdity surrounding the case. She also gives balance to the small town's (and, perhaps, film's) "dim view of women" and to the other female characters who are either vapid or spiteful. The other supporting characters also bring plenty of laughs to the proceedings.

But there's more to the movie than just the acting. The film is also beautifully shot using angles and lighting that do well to enhance a sense of isolation and paranoia that remind us that the film is also a thriller while the rather whimsical soundtrack (that I love nearly as much as the movie itself) never lets us forget that it's primarily a comedy.

Clay Pigeons is a very dark movie that manages to both crack me up and creep me out. It has long been one of my favorite movies and tonight's rewatch only cemented its place in my heart and, of course, on my ballot.

4.5

Robert the List

01-03-25, 06:24 AM

Got told a couple of times I look like Vince Vaughan.
Can't remember who by but they were chicks.

Allaby

01-03-25, 09:38 PM

Miss Vicky

01-03-25, 10:49 PM

I watched Clay Pigeons tonight for the first time. I thought it was just alright, but the performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn were good and elevated the film. I've now seen four films directed by David Dobkin and I think this is his best. It won't make my ballot though, but I'm glad to have seen it. 3.5

I've seen three of Dobkin's movies - the other two being Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus. Clay Pigeons is my favorite by a lot, but I do enjoy the other two, mainly for Vaughn.

I expect this movie will be a little divisive. Comedy is incredibly subjective, especially something as dark and quirky as this, so I'm really curious what other people think.

John W Constantine

01-04-25, 01:31 AM

Clay Pigeons was a first time watch. I liked this quite a bit, the performances are solid and I found it really funny and smart. Also enjoyed that Vaughn came off as a serious threat with his slightly out there performance.

WrinkledMind

01-04-25, 04:30 AM

Will participate in this one.

I have watched Clay Pigeons couple of months ago. Somebody had uploaded it on YouTube for free. I loved it. I can see why Miss Vicky loved it though.

A bit Coen-esque, with both Phoenix & Vaughn putting a good performance, but it was Janeane Garofalo who was the best for me. She also looked so pretty in this one.

cricket

01-04-25, 05:03 PM

My wife and I watched this way back and liked it quite a bit.

cricket

01-04-25, 05:38 PM

I remember really liking Garofalo and then never liking another thing she did

Miss Vicky

01-05-25, 03:26 PM

Deadline if you want to participate in this round and be eligible to pick the next one is 7:30 p.m. PST. That's about 8 hours from now.

Miss Vicky

01-05-25, 11:35 PM

WrinkledMind will choose the next movie!

Takoma11

01-05-25, 11:50 PM

Clay Pigeons was a real favorite when I was a teen.

This was the second film from the late 90s where Garofalo tangled with a serial killer, the other being (sort of mild spoilers for the other film I'm about to name, but if memory serves you know the character is a killer from very early on) The Minus Man.

gbgoodies

01-06-25, 01:40 AM

I'm usually hit-or-miss with black comedies. but I liked Clay Pigeons more than I thought I would. I liked it more as a thriller with a great ending, than as a comedy, and I think Vince Vaughn was the main reason why. There's just something about him that makes him likeable in everything he's in.

Miss Vicky

01-06-25, 12:22 PM

104067
Nomination #2

Citizen X (1995, Chris Gerolmo)
Nominated By WrinkledMind

Deadline to Watch It: January 9, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

01-06-25, 12:32 PM

I remember watching Citizen X when I was a teenager and thinking it was really good, but I had completely forgotten about it until I got WrinkledMind's PM. I'll try to find time to watch it.

cricket

01-06-25, 01:00 PM

I have not seen that, I'll do my best

cricket

01-06-25, 01:03 PM

It's free on YouTube

Takoma11

01-06-25, 01:06 PM

Citizen X is so good, but a bit underseen. I hope people check it out and like it! (I might try to get to it this week).

Allaby

01-06-25, 07:11 PM

Does Citizen X qualify for the countdown? It's a made for tv movie, so I don't believe it does.

Edit: Captain Quint has confirmed it does qualify for the countdown since it did have a theatrical release in some places.

Captain Quint

01-06-25, 07:33 PM

From Wiki... "The film received theatrical release in some territories and was exhibited in the widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio." - IMDB and TMDB confirm this, so you're good to go with it.

John-Connor

01-06-25, 07:37 PM

Citizen X (1995)
4+
104083
Man what a heavy true crime case. Very compelling thriller, great storytelling. An amazing cast with solid performances by them all. Clever use of two antagonists, in the first half. One within the system and the serial killer on the outside. There was even a bit of a buddy cop element in the third act. Satisfying conclusion.

Favorite scene was when Sutherland tells the detective about all the praise he gets from his peers in the FBI. Described as a man with an iron will and is used as a good example in FBI training lectures.

What went wrong with the blood/semen analysis in 1984, and the different blood type claim is also a case in itself.

Allaby

01-06-25, 09:52 PM

I watched Citizen X tonight. I thought it was an effective crime drama with good performances. It won't be in contention for my ballot, but glad I checked it out.

gbgoodies

01-07-25, 01:57 AM

I liked Citizen X as a true crime movie, but the scenes with the killings and when they find the bodies are too gruesome for me.

Torgo

01-07-25, 01:28 PM

Citizen X - 4

I was initially drawn to this movie because of the award recognition it provided Donald Sutherland. He earned his Emmy for how convincingly sympathetic, yet cautious he makes seemingly the only honest authority figure in the Soviet military. Stephen Rea is no slouch either for how passionate he makes Burakov for the cause of the "killer department," nor is The Walking Dead's Jeffrey DeMunn, who reminded me of Peter Lorre in M for how well he makes Chikatilo's compulsion to kill a product of mental illness rather than desire. Speaking of that movie, you could describe this one as a real-life M, but with a different kind of horror in that those in power had to be cajoled to catch Chikatilo in the act. I also like how you can really feel how long it takes for Burakov and Fetisov to grease the wheels, cut through the red tape, etc. to bring Chikatilo to justice, mostly for how the movie reminds you that the killer was felling victims all the while. In other words, it's a movie that really drills into you how long and how much effort it takes for an institution to change, not to mention how much the Burakovs and Fetisovs of the world have to fight and sacrifice in the process. I would not say that this is on the same level as M, but it remains one of the great HBO originals and "dad" movies of the '90s (they're pretty much all "dad" movies, it seems, but I digress).

John W Constantine

01-07-25, 09:27 PM

Citizen X

Effective 90's thriller. Basically what Allaby posted above.

Miss Vicky

01-08-25, 02:18 AM

104124

Citizen X
(Chris Gerolmo, 1995)

I know I watched and enjoyed this movie at some point back in the 90s and it may well have been among the many movies my family recorded onto VHS (probably during one of HBO's "free preview" weekends). However, in the 30 or so years since then I had completely forgotten about it and so tonight's rewatch might as well have been a first viewing... and an impressive one at that.

I expect movies about serial killers to be creepy or at least really sad - and it was sad and maybe a little creepy, but the emotion I felt more than anything was frustration and in no way is that statement a criticism of the movie. This is because Citizen X is not really a movie about a serial killer. It's a procedural film about a detective who doggedly tried for many years to battle against the infuriating bureaucracy of the USSR and the incompetence of those in charge so that he could identify and stop a monster. This man is played by Stephen Rea, who gives a stellar performance that really kept me gripped to the screen - and who made me realize that I really ought to seek out more of his work. (I remember him in Interview With the Vampire and I know I need to rewatch The Crying Game since I barely remember anything about it, but I'm open to other suggestions). He really carries the movie. But Donald Sutherland as Rea's commanding officer (and one of the few competent men in the film) and Max Von Sydow as the psychiatrist who aides in the investigation are also excellent. Really though I don't think there were any weak performances and the story the movie tells is really quite compelling, so I'm really glad to have been reminded of this movie. Sadly its chances of making my ballot are slim, but only because there is a lot of competition and only 25 slots to fill. This decade just leaves me too spoiled for choice.

4.0

WrinkledMind

01-08-25, 04:20 AM

This movie is one of my favourites & will most probably make the list (most probably because it's a decade with a lot of my favourites & I might be forced to cut this one).

I place this flick alongside Seven, Silence of the Lambs & Memories of Murder when it comes to serial killer flicks. In some ways it is similar to Memories when it comes to dealing with a bad system, except in this case it's the superiors placing pressure on the investigating officer.

The performances from everyone are brilliant.

One aspect that gets least talked about this movie is it's cinematography. There are some stunning shots, & even clever ones (the one with the giant poster on the wall).
I understand this fact gets overlooked, because the overwhelming tone of the film is so grim.

cricket

01-08-25, 07:14 PM

I'm watching it tonight

cricket

01-08-25, 10:05 PM

Just finished Citizen X. Am exhausted, will do a summary tomorrow.

cricket

01-09-25, 10:55 AM

Citizen X

https://alexonfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/citizenx1.jpg?w=584

I'll pretty much watch any serial killer flick so this had me interested right away. Two things I noticed that aren't exactly criticisms but are also not positives. I don't watch a lot of made for TV films simply because I don't think they're as good. This is a very good one, but it never made me forget that it was a made for TV film. Secondly, it's essentially a Russian film but everyone speaks English, and when I say Russian, I don't mean whoever produced the movie. It's not necessarily a problem, I just think it'd be better if it were a true Russian film.

It was a very positive viewing. The filmmakers did a great job getting me to buy into the when and where, despite the language. Performances were good, and I appreciated the rare moments of humor. The basic hunt for a serial killer thing was solid, but what I really enjoyed was the added snags and corruption due to communism. That added a different level to the usual. I enjoyed it, my wife enjoyed it even more.

3.5

John W Constantine

01-09-25, 09:31 PM

Getting about that time...

Miss Vicky

01-09-25, 11:31 PM

gbgoodies will choose the next movie!

Miss Vicky

01-10-25, 12:13 AM

104208
Nomination #3

Paradise (1991, Mary Agnes Donoghue)
Nominated By Gbgoodies

Deadline to Watch It: January 12, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

01-10-25, 12:16 AM

I don't think I've ever heard of this one before, but I have a soft spot for Don Johnson so I'll try to check it out.

gbgoodies

01-10-25, 01:03 AM

I don't think I've ever heard of this one before, but I have a soft spot for Don Johnson so I'll try to check it out.

It's easily my favorite movie with Don Johnson, but I don't remember anyone ever talking about it on this site.

I hope you enjoy it.

Allaby

01-10-25, 09:03 AM

104208
Nomination #3

Paradise (1991, Mary Agnes Donoghue)
Nominated By Gbgoodies

Deadline to Watch It: January 12, 7:30 p.m. PST

I haven't heard of this one before, but it has a good cast and sounds like something I would like. I'm going to check it out sometime today.

Allaby

01-10-25, 04:25 PM

I watched Paradise today. I thought this was interesting with good performances from the cast. It won't make my ballot, but I enjoyed it. 3.5

cricket

01-10-25, 05:46 PM

I saw that for some reason eons ago. Not my type of movie but I liked it more than I thought I would.

Miss Vicky

01-10-25, 10:09 PM

104301

Paradise
(Mary Agnes Donoghue, 1991)

For a movie that is about what this movie is about, I was really expecting a much bigger emotional impact than what it had to offer. Don't get me wrong, I thought the performances were all fine and the basic story was good, but I really struggled to connect with its characters. In particular, I found Ben a difficult man to root for (which I was not expecting, given the casting). So I wasn't exactly pulling for him and Lily to work things out, which made it difficult to be invested in their story. The scene where a drunken Ben nearly rapes Lily didn't exactly help matters either.

Willard's story and his friendship with Billie was a little better, but I still felt mostly detached from what was going on. Which is a shame really, because the movie does have a good cast and a decent premise. Perhaps if I ever give it a rewatch it might grow on me, but as it stands there's no way this gets my vote.

2.5

gbgoodies

01-12-25, 12:47 AM

WrinkledMind

01-12-25, 10:20 AM

I watched Paradise yesterday.
Thought it was an interesting premise to set a coming of age/summer movie, & the issues were quite sensitive. To be fair it does a great job in first 3/4 quarters of the movies, & slightly derails in the end.
Still it was quite a good film.
Everyone did a good job, but shout out to little Thora Birch, who I thought was really good, especially in that skating rink scene.

Overall enjoyed watching that.

Citizen Rules

01-12-25, 01:37 PM

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Foriginal%2Fc18bq6rmBHYaL8nqoo0ldnh6x7j.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=8de132ca0eaf2e323283542dbd711be2c8f0bf2909568480e4c7794965ccbe12&ipo=images
Paradise (1991)
Dir. Mary Agnes Donoghue

I liked this much more than I thought I would. I thought this might be like a Hallmark movie, sweet and sappy, but nope it wasn't. Paradise is a serious look at what happens to a married couple when their only child dies. When a couple loses a child it often destroys their relationship as the pain of their loss causes them to retreat in ways very much like what happened in the movie. When we meet Ben (Don Johnson) he's a jerk, he's full of anger and keeps people at bay by being bitter and in that way he has an 'anger shield' that protects him from future hurt.

When I seen this was written and directed by a woman I knew it had a good chance of being an intelligently told story that explored the inner psyche of people suffering from loss. I thought Don Johnson did a good job at playing a bitter man and at the same time reaching out to Willard (Elijah Wood) as he would've to his own son and in that way helping to heal himself and resolve his inner conflict. Melanie Griffith seemingly was the 'nice lady' but as the film progresses we see that she's frightened to feel anything, especially for her husband who she drives away as she's full of guilt believing that she was responsible for her son's death. She gives a good performance especially in the tense bedroom scene when she breaks down and tells her husband she's afraid to feel anything and needs to protect herself by feeling numb to the world, that was a strong scene and it rang true. The entire story arch of the couple to me is what powers the movie even though much of the scenes are focused on the two small kids.

The kids themselves are not just there to be cute, they're dealing with abandonment and self delusion with finally accepting the truth that their fathers are deadbeats and won't be in their lives. Thora Birch as the little girl was one heck of an actress. Solid acting by everyone in the movie.

I loved the shooting location in rural South Carolina. That's the reason I decided to watch this as I love movies set in out of the way places as the setting can add alot of character....Sorry this is so long, Paradise is one of the few movies that makes me think alot and hence I wrote a lot.

rating_4

Miss Vicky

01-12-25, 11:30 PM

Allaby will choose the next movie!

Allaby

01-13-25, 06:56 AM

Allaby will choose the next movie!

Hooray. Selection sent!

Miss Vicky

01-13-25, 10:35 AM

104351
Nomination #4

Lawn Dogs (1997, John Duigan)
Nominated By Allaby

Deadline to Watch It: January 16, 7:30 p.m. PST

Holden Pike

01-13-25, 12:03 PM

I like Lawn Dogs. A lot. It was the second movie, after the previous year's Box of Moonlight, to start making me the rabid Sam Rockwell fan that I am. That being said, there is no way it would make anywhere close to a Top 25 pick for the decade. It is a quirky dark comedy, but it lacks the kind of energy or cinematic innovation that would make it a true stand-out. The Coen Brothers it ain't.

Anyway...enjoy Sam Rockwell's penis!

104357

cricket

01-13-25, 05:07 PM

Not familiar with Lawn Dogs, will try to watch.

Looks like it's on Prime and YouTube.

Allaby

01-13-25, 06:31 PM

I watched Lawn Dogs earlier this month and really enjoyed it, so I knew when it was my turn to pick, I would nominate it. The two lead performances are what elevates the film. Mischa Barton is fantastic in a complex and engaging performance and Sam Rockwell is excellent too. It's a really well written and interesting film. I hope more people check it out and enjoy it as much as I did.

gbgoodies

01-14-25, 12:45 AM

I've never heard of Lawn Dogs, but it sounds interesting and it has a good cast.
I'll try to watch it tomorrow.

honeykid

01-14-25, 11:16 AM

gbgoodies

01-14-25, 11:15 PM

I'm probably going to be in the minority, but I didn't like Lawn Dogs. I didn't find any of the characters likable, and I just didn't care what happened to them. Trent (Sam Rockwell) got better as the movie went on, but it wasn't enough to save the movie for me.

Miss Vicky

01-15-25, 01:06 AM

104376

Lawn Dogs
(John Duigan, 1997)

I really don't have a lot to say about this one. I really strongly disliked Mischa Barton's character and was pretty apathetic to everyone else. I think movies about classism can be really engaging and well made, but I didn't feel much of anything watching this one and nothing about it stood out to me as anything special.

2.0

WrinkledMind

01-15-25, 04:11 AM

Just finished watching Lawn Dogs.
Felt like a David Lynch movie in a suburb built by Tim Burton. & because I love both those filmmakers, I could get on board with the weirdness of this movie.

It felt like a dark novel, centered around or maybe even narrated by a kid. It felt creepy at times with the way Barton's character or her relationship with Rockwell was portrayed. In the end it made sense.

That's the beauty of this film. In the end it all made sense. Barton's character made sense. She is just a kid, who couldn't connect with the kids of her age & simply wanted to be friends with Rockwell. But she is just a kid, who didn't understand many things or what the consequences of her actions would result into.

Rockwell is just a nice lad, who sees the problems, but somehow still gets pulled into the very things he knows he should avoid.

I thought Kathleen Quinlan was wasted. I thought the little boy's character was hilarious & used well.

It is ambitious. Has a lot of symbolism in it.
I liked it overall, despite the (sort of) happy ending. I say despite, because even a darker sadder ending could have felt perfect.

Very interesting choice Allaby

Holden Pike

01-15-25, 06:54 AM

104378
104379
104380
104381
104382

Holden Pike

01-15-25, 09:50 AM

Lawn Dogs was written by an American but directed by an Aussie, John Duigan, who is still best known for the Down Under coming of age flicks The Year My Voice Broke (1987), one of the earliest films for stalwarts Noah Taylor and Ben Mendelsohn, and Flirting (1991) with Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton. The period pieces Wide Saragasso Sea (1993) and Sirens (1994) (with Hugh Grant, Sam Neill, Tara Fitzgerald, and Elle Macpherson) followed. Sometimes having a foreign-born director can bring new insight to an American-set production, and though there is an intentional layer of artifice with Lawn Dogs trying very hard to set itself up as a fairy tale, there is an overall lingering lack of authenticity in the dynamics, even with the characters mostly set up as archetypes rather than something resembling reality. The tone never quite comes together.

Rockwell is magnetic, as always, and I appreciate that it doesn't cop out on its darker impulses throughout, which is why I have always liked it as an odd little flick. It simply isn't any more than that.

*the above screencaps are from my DVD copy

gbgoodies

01-16-25, 01:08 AM

Miss Vicky

01-16-25, 11:37 PM

Holden Pike will choose the next movie!

Holden Pike

01-17-25, 04:50 AM

I choose...

104422

Miss Vicky

01-17-25, 11:46 AM

104438
Nomination #5

Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991, Anthony Minghella)
Nominated By Holden Pike

Deadline to Watch It: January 20, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

01-17-25, 12:10 PM

I've heard of this movie before (though I associate the title with the Savage Garden song more than anything else), but had no idea what it was about. I just watched the trailer and now... I have my reservations.

But we'll see. I don't work again until Tuesday so I'll get to it soon.

Miss Vicky

01-18-25, 07:51 PM

104470

Truly Madly Deeply
(Anthony Minghella, 1991)

If there's one thing that can reliably take me out of just about any live-action movie or television show it's ghosts or the resurrection of any dead character. So when I watched the trailer for this and saw that Alan Rickman plays a ghost, I had reservations. A lot of reservations. Having now seen the movie I can say those reservations were well founded. It's nowhere near as egregious as something like 2017's A Ghost Story (Sheet Affleck :rolleyes: ) or that part of the show Grey's Anatomy where Izzy was having sex with her boyfriend's ghost, but I was never able to get past my aversion to the spirit BS and actually engage with the movie and its characters. Weirdly though I don't mind Ghost from 1990 (probably because Patrick Swayze was hot. Alan Rickman is no Patrick Swayze).

Which is not to say there's really anything wrong with it. The performances were fine. If this sort of story was my kind of thing, I would probably like it, but it isn't my thing and I didn't like it so here we are.

2.0

gbgoodies

01-19-25, 02:08 AM

Truly, Madly, Deeply is a good movie, but the main issue for me was that I never got the feeling that Jamie (Alan Rickman) was a ghost.

Nina (Juliet Stevenson) can not only see him and talk with him, but she can touch him and even hug him. Plus, he doesn't just appear and disappear. He goes in and out of the room through the door, just like living people do. Nina even acts like he's real, by not allowing anyone into her house, as if she's worried that other people might see him too.

I might not have noticed this, but this movie is similar to the movie Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), (which is one of my favorite movies), which has Jolly (played by James Caan) as the ghost who comes back to help his widow Kay, (played by Sally Field). In that movie, I had no trouble believing that Jolly was a ghost.

But aside from that minor issue, I liked Truly, Madly, Deeply. Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson were both terrific in this, and they had great chemistry together.

beelzebubble

01-19-25, 03:35 AM

I love Truly, Madly, Deeply! This is one of my favorite romances. Alan Rickman and Juliet Stephenson are perfect together. Their chemistry is off the charts. What a wonderfully written movie about loss and love and moving on.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

cricket

01-19-25, 12:16 PM

WrinkledMind

01-19-25, 03:51 PM

Watched this earlier today. Felt more like a play than a movie.

Thought it was decent, but kinda hollow. The reason for it was the thin plot in itself. They spent ages setting up Juliet Stevenson's lonely life, but gave very little time for her thing with Mark, with whom I thought she had a great chemistry.
In fact I thought Stevenson was fantastic.

The resolution in the end was rather quick.

On a side note, I must mention the dialogues. Loved loads of them. Which is also why it felt more like a play.

I've heard of this movie before (though I associate the title with the Savage Garden song more than anything else), but had no idea what it was about. I just watched the trailer and now... I have my reservations.

But we'll see. I don't work again until Tuesday so I'll get to it soon.
Same. Band was big here during my school days.

Citizen Rules

01-19-25, 04:15 PM

Watched this earlier today. Felt more like a play than a movie. I tried to watch this last night but only made it 12 minutes. It did feel like a play. Is that a British movie thing?

WrinkledMind

01-19-25, 04:27 PM

I tried to watch this last night but only made it 12 minutes. It did feel like a play. Is that a British movie thing?

Think it was creative choice, which is down to the writer & director (same person in this case).

Like His Three Daughters (American film I watched this year) was handled, which I also felt was more like play than a movie. Down to the filmmakers.

Miss Vicky

01-20-25, 11:34 PM

beelzebubble will choose the next movie!

Holden Pike

01-21-25, 02:04 PM

104526

I always find it strange when fantasies are written off because they aren't realistic enough. I guess by some of the above reactions, if there had been a scene where Jamie, or even better yet some ranking Angel or other authoritarian exposition-giver, would have detailed ghost rules it would somehow have been a better movie for some audiences? Jamie isn't a Gremlin. You don't need a set of rules for advancing the plot.

104527

Truly Madly Deeply works for me and it is so simple, funny, and emotionally effective. Nina (Juliet Stevenson) is stuck in anger, sadness, and moving ever closer and closer toward utter despair. Her boyfriend Jamie (Alan Rickman) died suddenly and unexpectedly and she can barely function. She is surrounded by people who care about her, but this sadness overwhelms her. Then, suddenly, miraculously, he returns to her! She has thought she felt his presence or even heard his voice in the months since he died, but now here he is! Other than his constantly feeling cold, he is essentially back, resurrected by her grief and love. At first she is ecstatic, this is more than she ever even dreamed possible! But after that initial relief washes over her she begins to be annoyed by little habits of his. Of course these were habits he always exhibited, but in her grief she has conveniently forgotten any flaws or points of friction for an idealized memory that nobody could ever live up to. In fact, not even Jamie himself.

Once she has gotten what she wished for she slowly realizes that, as much as they loved each other, it is no reason to never love again. Finally she lets herself begin to see the world again, and to fall in love again. When at movie's end she is able to choose life over despair, Jamie has completed his mission. It is a bittersweet mission, of course, because it is wonderful to be loved so very much, but it would be selfish and pointless to let her continue to love something that is gone. The message is beautiful, the acting is superb, and the tone is one that I respond to in spades.

104528

Filmmaker Anthony Minghella died too young himself, after directing only six feature films. He won Oscars for The English Patient and many cinemaniacs love his Talented Mr. Ripley, but for me he never made as sweet, funny, nor emotionally compelling a film than his debut, Truly Madly Deeply.

Miss Vicky

01-21-25, 08:42 PM

104543
Nomination #6

Une liaison pornographique (An Affair of Love) (1999, Philippe Blasband)
Nominated By Beelzebubble

Deadline to Watch It: January 24, 7:30 p.m. PST

gbgoodies

01-22-25, 01:31 AM

I always find it strange when fantasies are written off because they aren't realistic enough. I guess by some of the above reactions, if there had been a scene where Jamie, or even better yet some ranking Angel or other authoritarian exposition-giver, would have detailed ghost rules it would somehow have been a better movie for some audiences? Jamie isn't a Gremlin. You don't need a set of rules for advancing the plot.

If this is in reply to my review, it had nothing to do with "ghost rules" or the fantasy not being realistic enough. In my opinion, the fantasy was too realistic. It didn't feel like Jamie was a ghost. It just felt like Jamie (and his ghost friends), were just a bunch of obnoxious people who were living with her.

I would have liked the movie more if it felt more like a fantasy, and less realistic.

Allaby

01-22-25, 08:29 AM

104543
Nomination #6

Une liaison pornographique (An Affair of Love) (1999, Philippe Blasband)
Nominated By Beelzebubble

Deadline to Watch It: January 24, 7:30 p.m. PST

Searching online for this one leads to some interesting results... ;) But I did find a link and will watch it later today after work.

Holden Pike

01-22-25, 09:39 AM

If this is in reply to my review, it had nothing to do with "ghost rules" or the fantasy not being realistic enough. In my opinion, the fantasy was too realistic. It didn't feel like Jamie was a ghost. It just felt like Jamie (and his ghost friends), were just a bunch of obnoxious people who were living with her.

I would have liked the movie more if it felt more like a fantasy, and less realistic.
This is by design, of course. Jamie returned to help her move on and get past her grief, and one of the ways he does this is to remind her that he was not some perfect being made of light but a person who she loved who also had plenty of normal, annoying traits that she has been glossing over in her extreme sadness. By contrast, in Ghost Patrick Swayze sticks around this world so he can heroically save his girlfriend from being murdered over a real estate deal, the prize for which is a magical single kiss before he goes to the bright light. Believe me, I totally get that the thriller story undercut with the comedy of Whoopi Goldberg was a huge, gigantic hit. But to me what Ghost has to say about grief and love is absolutely nothing, it is only there for the sake of the plot mechanics. What Truly Madly Deeply has to say is true and resonant.

But, of course, your mileage may vary.

104554

Miss Vicky

01-22-25, 10:39 AM

Searching online for this one leads to some interesting results... ;) But I did find a link and will watch it later today after work.

beelzebubble sent me a DailyMotion link for it, if anyone needs it.

You can also find it on Amazon Prime with a free trial of France Channel (I know people hate free trials, but just sign up then immediately cancel and click the option to keep watching but not renew).

Allaby

01-22-25, 05:48 PM

I watched Une liaison pornographique today. I thought the acting was fine, but I didn't find the story very interesting.

gbgoodies

01-23-25, 01:54 AM

This is by design, of course. Jamie returned to help her move on and get past her grief, and one of the ways he does this is to remind her that he was not some perfect being made of light but a person who she loved who also had plenty of normal, annoying traits that she has been glossing over in her extreme sadness. By contrast, in Ghost Patrick Swayze sticks around this world so he can heroically save his girlfriend from being murdered over a real estate deal, the prize for which is a magical single kiss before he goes to the bright light. Believe me, I totally get that the thriller story undercut with the comedy of Whoopi Goldberg was a huge, gigantic hit. But to me what Ghost has to say about grief and love is absolutely nothing, it is only there for the sake of the plot mechanics. What Truly Madly Deeply has to say is true and resonant.

But, of course, your mileage may vary.

I wouldn't compare Truly Madly Deeply to Ghost because they're not the same. While both of these movies are about a woman who is grieving the death of a loved one, one movie is about a ghost coming back to help her get over him, but the other is about the ghost coming back to protect her.

A better comparison would be comparing Truly Madly Deeply to Kiss Me Goodbye (1982). In this case, while Kiss Me Goodbye is a much more light-hearted movie because it's less about the grief itself and more about her moving on with her life and not comparing her fiancé to him, both movies are about a ghost coming back to help her get over him, but in Kiss Me Goodbye, it was much more obvious that he was a ghost, whereas in Truly Madly Deeply, it just felt like he somehow came back to her. Other than the fact that we knew he had died, nothing in the movie made it feel like he was a ghost.

Having said that, I liked the movie a lot. I just wished the movie had done something to make it feel more like he was a ghost of someone who died, rather than just an ex-lover who came back to her after a bad breakup.

Miss Vicky

01-23-25, 12:04 PM

104593

An Affair Of Love (Une liaison pornographique)
(Philippe Blasband, 1999)

I really liked the look of this movie. The use of color, the angles, and the way the shots were framed were all quite impressive. However, if I notice and remember these sorts of things in a movie, it usually means I was bored - and that was very much the case here. I hated the structure of this movie. It was like a mockumentary without the comedy - it kept going back and forth between scenes of the two characters together during the affair and separate interviews with them some time after it had ended. It also had very little story to tell and we the audience never really get to know the characters. In fact, the characters don't even get to know each other, at least not until near the end of movie. We don't even learn their names and they don't learn them either. And the first act of the movie is a whole lot of talking. For a film with a title that literally translates to "A Pornographic Affair," it's incredibly tame. The characters kept alluding to some sort of really kinky/unusual sexual act, but they never name it or describe it and we never see it - just repeated scenes of them entering and exiting a hotel room. There are some sex scenes, but it's all pretty vanilla love-making. And I'm not saying that I needed to see some crazy sex act, but a movie needs to give me something - something to watch or something to feel - and it did neither. I think I was meant to feel something at the very end but the movie had so completely alienated me by that time that all I felt was relief that it was over.

2.0

cricket

01-23-25, 05:56 PM

Watching it now

cricket

01-23-25, 08:49 PM

An Affair of Love

https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/images/newsite/liasion_600.jpg

I had never heard of this before and it's short so I threw it on while my wife was ignoring me. The acting and technical aspects were not spectacularly strong but strong enough. I liked the ambiguity. I believe had we known what the fantasy was, it would have been less interesting and exciting than what it was in theory. Not much story so we are forced to imagine, and that's a good thing. I almost feel like we get to know the characters better with knowing nothing about them as we judge by how they treat each other, and to a lesser extent those around them. On a side note, it didn't seem like they had much chemistry when they first met. For this to really work for me there needed to be an emotional impact. Sometimes I think I missed it but I'm not so sure it's there in this case. I very much liked it but I can't help but feel like I've seen similar films that were better.

3+

Miss Vicky

01-24-25, 11:47 AM

Just a reminder to anyone considering participating in this round, the deadline is just under 12 hours.

Miss Vicky

01-24-25, 11:31 PM

cricket will choose the next movie!

cricket

01-24-25, 11:34 PM

I was just about to go to sleep

My pick is on YouTube, you want to watch the version that is 139:06 long

That is, if you want to watch it

Sensitive viewers beware

Miss Vicky

01-25-25, 05:15 AM

104643
Nomination #7

The War Zone (1999, Tim Roth)
Nominated By cricket

Deadline to Watch It: January 28, 7:30 p.m. PST

Holden Pike

01-25-25, 07:11 AM

Well, that'll cheer us all up.

Thursday Next

01-25-25, 07:31 AM

I thought I might finally be able to join in with this this weekend...but then I saw the nomination! I watched The War Zone twenty years ago at least and parts of it are still seared onto my brain, I definitely don't feel the need to watch it again. Not that it isn't a good film. I was quite surprised to find that it is the only film Tim Roth has directed.

cricket

01-25-25, 06:54 PM

The War Zone is a very personal movie for Tim Roth so obviously there's a sad story that comes from his life. I would have really liked to have nominated this for a HoF, but it would take indecency or at the very least bad judgment to force people to watch it. I've been keeping a running list of the most disturbing films I've ever seen in case I ever do a top 100. Most of them are horror or exploitation films, but there are a few "regular" films. Tilda Swinton stars in 2 of them, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and then this one which is on a whole different level. It's complete misery porn. It is slow paced and has that great bleak British cinematography. But then the actual content will leave many viewers shook. Not for everyone but I love to feel something and with that The War Zone is a massive success.

Allaby

01-25-25, 08:49 PM

I watched The War Zone today. I thought it was a feel good family comedy. No, not really. It was actually a very well made, dark and disturbing drama. Lara Belmont was excellent in what must have been a difficult role. I thought the brother character was strange though and that part of it didn't completely work for me. His relationship with his sister came across as weird and creepy, not like a protective or loving brother, but almost like he was sexually interested in his sister. I didn't fully buy their relationship because of him and his interactions with the sister. Also, I wanted more development of the father. His background, history, motivations could have been explored and I think it might have worked better if he was more layered. He came across as a stereotypical abuser character and I was interested in seeing different sides to him. I had mixed feelings on the ending. I can understand why he stabbed his father, but it felt a little too predictable and an easy/safe way to end the film. In spite of those objections, I really liked the film (well, as much as you can "like" a film like this). There were some powerful and effective moments. It won't make my ballot, but I'm glad (well, as "glad" as you can be) to have watched it. 4

Miss Vicky

01-26-25, 09:54 PM

104671

The War Zone
(Tim Roth, 1999)

This was a really challenging watch. After cricket's content warning, I did a little reading about the movie before committing to watching it so I had some idea of what I was getting into - or at least I thought I did. I was expecting a movie that would make me feel for its characters but this did not. Instead all I felt was revulsion - and not just because of the abuse that is shown and fully acknowledged or the even more disgusting abuse that is implied near the end - but because of the interactions between its two young stars. The relationship between Tom and Jessie bothered me immensely and it served as an obstruction to my ability to connect with them and feel for their situation. My revulsion to this film was so strong that I had to take repeated breaks which, while it gave me relief, only furthered my disconnect.

So ultimately I can't say that I liked it. I do think the performances were all very strong and the way that it is filmed certainly captures the bleakness of its story. I also think as a piece of art, the movie probably deserves a higher rating than I am giving it, but my rating system reflects my viewing experience more than anything else and it is for this reason that I settled on the rating that I did.

3.0

Miss Vicky

01-28-25, 11:31 PM

104716
Nomination #8

Sleepy Hollow (1999, Tim Burton)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

Deadline to Watch It: January 31, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

01-28-25, 11:35 PM

Well since Allaby and I were the only ones to watch The War Zone it meant that one of us was going to get to pick the next nomination and the randomizer chose me.

I originally had a different movie in mind for my next pick but decided to go with something a little lighter after the heaviness of the last nomination. It's Tim Burton so it's pretty macabre, but it's got a fair amount of whimsey too. It's been quite awhile since I watched it though and it's not a lock for my ballot so I will be watching it again in the next couple of days.

gbgoodies

01-29-25, 01:59 AM

104716
Nomination #8

Sleepy Hollow (1999, Tim Burton)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

Deadline to Watch It: January 31, 7:30 p.m. PST

I'm hit or miss with both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, so I'll watch Sleepy Hollow tomorrow and see how it goes.
(I'm pretty sure I have it on DVD.)

cricket

01-29-25, 04:33 PM

I've seen Sleepy Hollow and it wasn't for me

gbgoodies

01-30-25, 01:00 AM

Sleepy Hollow was okay. It's not really my type of movie, and it goes a bit too far on the bloodiness for me.

Miss Vicky

01-30-25, 02:12 AM

104734

Sleepy Hollow
(Tim Burton, 1999)

Love him or hate him, I think one has to acknowledge that Tim Burton knows how to make a good looking movie and Sleepy Hollow is no exception here. The color palette and costuming are absolutely gorgeous. That the film stars Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci - two gorgeous people - adds a lot to its visual appeal. The film also features Christopher Walken and Miranda Richardson - a couple of oddball actors that I also enjoy (unfortunately the cast list includes Jeffrey Jones as well, but I'm willing to overlook that), so I'm quite happy to look at it.

As for the story and other aspects, it's a little up and down. The movie is... a lot. Tim Burton takes great liberties with Washington Irving's original work, but the basic idea of a headless horseman terrorizing people lends itself well to Burton's style. Having said that though, this is a much darker movie than I remembered it being and also darker than I typically expect from the director. It's more violent and gory than I had remembered as well, though it retains plenty of the whimsey and (perhaps too much of) outright silliness that is typical of Burton's movies.

While an earlier Tim Burton/Johnny Depp 90s collaboration is certainly a lock for my ballot, this remains firmly in the "maybe" category. I did have a good time though and I'm happy to have seen it again. Also I now have a really strong urge to rewatch 2002's Brotherhood of the Wolf, which has very similar vibes.

3.5

Torgo

01-30-25, 12:38 PM

Sleepy Hollow - 3

Did I have a good time watching this? Sure, but having never read Irving’s short story, I'm going to be that guy and wonder out loud why it's a classic. If he defined the standards of the supernatural murder mystery genre with it, that would explain it because if you could say anything about the movie, it is conventional. One thing it's not, though, is dull to look at. Even when I'm not really into what's going on in a Tim Burton movie, there's the joy of taking in his unique Gothic look and feel - especially in the witch's lair - to fall back on. I also enjoyed the work of Depp, of course, especially for how amusingly neurotic he makes Crane, and Ricci, who I'm surprised hasn't worked with Burton more because she's as good a fit for his way of doing things as Depp is. Walken, on the other hand, does not amount to much more than stunt casting to me. Sure, his kills are delightfully bloody, but he barely gets to exhibit what makes him one of my favorite character actors here. Again, I walked away from this reasonably entertained regardless. For what it's worth, this has been my reaction to all of Burton's movies not based on an existing property except for Sweeney Todd.

Miss Vicky

01-30-25, 01:29 PM

Sure, but having never read Irving’s short story, I'm going to be that guy and wonder out loud why it's a classic. If he defined the standards of the supernatural murder mystery genre with it, that would explain it because if you could say anything about the movie, it is conventional.

I've never read it, but I did read about it. From what I read it's about a superstitious schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane who attempts to woo a girl but is rejected. One of her other suitors, Bram, then freaks Crane out by telling him about the headless horseman who rides around at night in search of his lost head. When Crane is riding home, Bram pranks him by dressing up as the horseman and throwing a flaming jack-o-lantern at him. As far as I can tell from the description I read, there's no murder at all.

Torgo

01-30-25, 02:01 PM

I've never read it, but I did read about it. From what I read it's about a superstitious schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane who attempts to woo a girl but is rejected. One of her other suitors, Bram, then freaks Crane out by telling him about the headless horseman who rides around at night in search of his lost head. When Crane is riding home, Bram pranks him by dressing up as the horseman and throwing a flaming jack-o-lantern at him. As far as I can tell from the description I read, there's no murder at all.The scene where Casper Van Dien pranks Depp is a nod to the short story, then.

Whoa, there's a version from 1980 that more closely follows the original story with Jeff Goldblum as Crane! Dick Butkus is also in it, of all people. It is on YouTube if anyone is interested.

Allaby

01-30-25, 06:02 PM

Sleepy Hollow is an entertaining film that delivers what most viewers would expect from Burton and Depp. It's not their best collaboration, but it has some fun moments and looks great. I liked Depp and Ricci in this and the atmosphere/vibes of the film are effective and well done. It's not going to be in contention for my ballot though.

Citizen Rules

01-31-25, 01:03 PM

104769
Sleepy Hollow (1999)

I was hellbent to rewatch this before the deadline. So I sat down last night with dinner and turned on the movie. As the credits rolled I'm not recognizing any of the actor's names, but I figured maybe the big stars of the movie decided to have their names at the end of the credits. So the movie starts and it looks good, but it does not look anything like a Tim Burton film and after Ichabod Crane shows up I'm thinking bloody hell that sure ain't Depp. Well, for the second time in a MoFo movie watching event I ended up watching the wrong movie! It was a Hallmark movie called The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1999) actually pretty good, but not the movie I was needing to watch.

So I pulled a back to back movie night and staid up late and for the second feature I watched the correct Sleepy Hollow (1999). I liked it, in fact I'd seen it many years ago. I'm a fan of Tim Burton and it's always a treat to look at the visual world that he envisions on screen. In Sleepy Hollow he creates the look of another world, like a town that's out of time and perched on the edge of midnight. Loved the monochrome lack of colors and the set oozed dread, very cool. Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors and I liked the way he played his character. He never went too big or over the top, he gave a very controlled, metered performance, I liked that. I liked everyone else too especially Christopher Walken who I wish had more airtime. I read that Depp did all of his own stunts including the horse carriage chase fight scenes, impressive as some of those were dangerous looking.

WrinkledMind

01-31-25, 03:16 PM

I had super busy few days at work. I was finally free today. So took a peek in the morning at the noms I missed, & spent the day catching up with them.

Une Liaison Pornographique
I loved this. Maybe becuase I love similar kind of romantic movies, where people just spend time with each other & discover things about one another (Before Series, Blue Jay, etc).

While one can argue that they don't really get to know a lot about one another, but I put that down to the premise. I actually liked when they didn't show the sex scenes during the first few encounters. Wouldn't have minded if they had continued it that way, by making them describe the sex rather than showing it.

In a way it was the unfolding of an entire relationship. & it centered around sex. & how things/incidents around them affected their sex. When she says, 'Why can't it (sex) be love,' it brought a smile on my face.
I am glad their details were never revealed. That worked for me.

I thought Nathalie Baye was really good. & it took me a bit of time to recognise Sergi Lopez from Pan's Labyrinth.

The War Zone
I swear for the first 30 minutes I was so confused by the bizarreness of the family. I really didn't know what to make of the movie.

It was only when the lad finds the photos, that I began to really get into it. & it wasn't a pleasant watch, which is a comment on the subject & not the movie.

It's brilliantly acted & very depressing. If the core issue wasn't bad enough, the bit of reveal before the end just made my stomach turn.

I would have preferred a different ending. It almost felt like justice done (in a way). For a movie that was so dark & uncomfortable to watch, I would have preferred a different ending.

I would have preferred the dad getting away it, with Tilda & the elder daughter accepting him or the boy running away or being thrown out of the family.

Sleepy Hollow
A darker, grimmer Tim Burton movie with less of quirks & copious amounts of gore.

Otherwise it had all the ingredients of a typical Burton flick. Beautifully shot, gorgeous sets, immersive storytelling & strong characters. All with a lovely old school mystery for a story. Felt like reading a cozy teen horror book. Loved it.

Miss Vicky

01-31-25, 11:35 PM

Torgo will choose the next movie!

Miss Vicky

02-01-25, 09:11 AM

104792
Nomination #9

The Mission (1999, Johnnie To)
Nominated By Torgo

Deadline to Watch It: February 4, 7:30 p.m. PST

Torgo

02-01-25, 09:24 AM

Yeah, I know. Another movie from 1999. Hey, it was a good year!

This is a very entertaining and accessible Hong Kong gangster movie about the lives of bodyguards. It's in the same vein of "people who don't know each other gathering to do a job" movies like Reservoir Dogs and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3. It's under 90 minutes, you can rent it on Amazon or just watch it for free on YouTube here (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fJhRu5odNRI). There are English subtitles. Oh, and good luck getting the musical theme out of your head.

iluv2viddyfilms

02-01-25, 09:29 PM

Sleepy Hollow - 3

Did I have a good time watching this? Sure, but having never read Irving’s short story, I'm going to be that guy and wonder out loud why it's a classic.

I didn't really care for Burton's take on Sleepy Hollow. Not a bad film by any means, but it's not in the tone or even on the same wave length of Washington Irving's story which like many of his other great works... The Devil and Tom Walker or Rip Van Winkle, is a hilariously dry and satirical local flavor piece that puts together some of the legends and lore of 1600s and 1700s upstate New York (Hudson River valley) and plays into that as well as poking fun of small rural communities, town gossips, and hen pecking shrew wives of the era.

Washington Irvings short stories are subtle comedies which supernatural twists, but the supernatural elements are more for flavor and mood than they are the point of his stories.

Miss Vicky

02-02-25, 03:19 AM

104826

The Mission
(Johnnie To, 1999)

Gangster movies are not my cup of tea. It's very rare for me to enjoy one, mostly because they tend to fall into that subset of movies about shitty people doing shitty things to each other - which usually makes me just not care. Unfortunately, The Mission was not an exception to that. Which is not to say that there's anything wrong with the movie. It looked good, the performances were fine, and I did like the shootout that started on the escalator as well as the final sequence, so I'll give it credit for that. But that's just not enough to earn any consideration from me for the countdown.

3.0

WrinkledMind

02-02-25, 09:41 AM

The Mission

I will get the bad out of the way first. Not much of a plot. Emphasis was more on style than substance. Even some of the shootout scenes look, well, weird. I mean who stands in the open while shooting at people you can't see (the Mall scene). Or the bit where they just stand behind a shooter in the building, staring at him while he is shooting at their people. WTH was that?

Now for the good. Yeah stylish. Most times in a good way. They presented the set of guys as cool. I will give them that.

I also liked the little bits like the game of paper football or the cigarette prank. The ending was well done.
Above all the music was brilliant. So brilliant that this tune is now my current earworm.
https://youtu.be/Fp0KiMQ9ock?si=VXayugFwW-R3Qfi-

I did enjoy this. I am tempted to look up the director's movie Exiled. Apparently takes things from this movie & excels.
& that tune. Yeah I am gonna keep hearing it on a loop for the next few weeks.

Thursday Next

02-02-25, 01:13 PM

I watched The Mission. It was a fun watch, a stylish shoot out movie with a string camaraderie between the variously assembled bodyguards. I probably would never have heard of this let alone watched it if not for this thread, nice pick. No chance it will make my list over the 90s movies I have watched dozens of times but I liked it.

That tune will be stuck in my head all week!

Miss Vicky

02-04-25, 11:33 PM

Thursday Next will choose the next movie!

Miss Vicky

02-05-25, 11:37 AM

104876
Nomination #10

Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson)
Nominated By Thursday Next

Deadline to Watch It: February 8, 7:30 p.m. PST

Torgo

02-05-25, 12:40 PM

Glad those who watched The Mission enjoyed it. If you like the director's style, but not the whole gangster thing so much, check out his superhero movie The Heroic Trio and its sequel, Executioners.

Ooh, Heavenly Creatures is excellent. Enjoy.

Miss Vicky

02-05-25, 01:39 PM

Haven't seen Heavenly Creatures. I'm not usually into lesbian flicks, but we'll see how this goes. Looks likes it's on YouTube.

If you like the director's style, but not the whole gangster thing so much, check out his superhero movie The Heroic Trio and its sequel, Executioners.

I like superhero movies even less than gangster movies. :laugh:

Thursday Next

02-05-25, 06:27 PM

Heavenly Creatures was my nomination. I hadn't watched it for 20+ years so took the opportunity to rewatch and re-evaluate it. I actually think I like it better now than I did before. It's odd and dark, right from the start; the story of two imaginative misfits whose obsessive friendship leads to murder. I like that while the film has tremendous empathy for the two girls, it doesn't in any way justify or romanticise the murder - it's the horrible, tragic culmination that ends everything.

It's always interesting watching a film after a long time - there were whole scenes I'd entirely forgotten while at other times I could anticipate the next line. I'm glad I rewatched it, it has a good chance of making my list.

John W Constantine

02-05-25, 07:15 PM

Heavenly Creatures

Having of course seen some of Peter Jackson's offerings outside of LoTr, I had passed this one a few times to watch something else. Today was different as I was in the mood to take this one in. I have to say not having seen even a trailer for this but had read a very short description I was pleased to see some of Jackson's fantasy elements make appearances throughout but not to the point of being too much. It provided a nice mix for telling an account of a true story. I found the main girl to be very engaging telling the story as things played out while everyone else were good also. I agree with the sentiments above about giving sympathy to these characters but not romanticizing their ultimate actions. Would definitely like to visit this again sometime down the road and will keep it in mind for ballot time.

cricket

02-05-25, 07:44 PM

I've seen Heavenly Creatures and liked it.

Citizen Rules

02-05-25, 07:57 PM

I've seen it too, like 20+ years ago. I remember thinking it was well made and dark, that's all I remember.

Allaby

02-05-25, 08:08 PM

I first watched Heavenly Creatures on dvd in 2021. I liked it and rated it an 8/10. I rewatched it today. This is a well written film with very good performances. There isn't enough room on my ballot to consider it, but it was nice to revisit the film.

beelzebubble

02-05-25, 08:21 PM

Une Liaison Pornographique
I loved this. Maybe becuase I love similar kind of romantic movies, where people just spend time with each other & discover things about one another (Before Series, Blue Jay, etc).

I am so glad you enjoyed it! :)

beelzebubble

02-05-25, 08:28 PM

I loved Heavenly Creatures. It is my favorite Peter Jackson movie. It made Kate Winslett a star. I don't think there are a lot of movies that explore a friendship between two girls and acknowledge the dark side of young women. Maybe someone will make a movie about the Slenderman murders. It is a similar story of two teen girls. One kills the other and blames it on the Slenderman.

gbgoodies

02-06-25, 01:04 AM

I watched Heavenly Creatures, but it's not my type of movie.
I love Melanie Lynskey as Rose on "Two and a Half Men", so I was looking forward to seeing her in this movie, but it was just too weird for me.

WrinkledMind

02-06-25, 04:10 PM

Watched Heavenly Creatures
I agree with what the others have said above that Jackson does a good job in presenting the girls' side without romanticising their act.
The fantasy sequences were typical of Jackson's movies.
I thought the acting was good. Especially Winslet who puts such an assured performance in her first flick. Doesn't feel like a debut performance at all.

I also watched videos of the two women on YouTube. Really mad case. Apparently one of the conditions of their eventual release from jail was that they both would never meet each other. & interestingly both became religious later.

Miss Vicky

02-08-25, 01:03 AM

104945

Heavenly Creatures
(Peter Jackson, 1994)

I'm a bit torn on how to rate this movie. On one hand, pretty much everything about this movie is done well. The performances, the story, the representation of obsession and with losing touch with reality - I have no complaints, at least from as close to an objective perspective as I am capable of getting.

But I'd be lying if I said I actually liked it. I realize that it is based on a real life case, but I found everyone in the story to be really off-putting and so when the girls commit their crime, I didn't really feel anything. Also, while I thought the Plasticine characters coming to life worked well in terms of what they represented, I became more and more disengaged from the movie every time they appeared. I think the simple reality of it is - with Lord of the Rings, Meet the Feebles, and now this movie - Peter Jackson simply isn't a director for me.

3.0

WrinkledMind

02-08-25, 03:04 AM

Peter Jackson simply isn't a director for me.

I am really tempted to nominate Braindead on my next chance. :p

Miss Vicky

02-08-25, 09:59 AM

I am really tempted to nominate Braindead on my next chance. :p

Oh jeez, I actually own that on DVD (though mine is titled Dead Alive). It was given to me. It’s been ages since I watched it but I remember not liking it. Didn’t realize that was his movie too.

Miss Vicky

02-08-25, 10:41 PM

Announcement

Starting after the next round, the pool of potential nominators will not be made up of only those who haven't nominated yet, but instead will include all participants (with the exception of the person who nominated most recently). I had previously been only including those who hadn't yet nominated because that was how it's been done in previous Group Watch threads.

However, it doesn't seem quite fair to me for someone who hasn't participated in any of the previous rounds to come in, watch and comment on one movie, and automatically get picked to choose the next movie while other people have watched all or most of the nominations but don't get included in the pool because they've already nominated once.

So round 11 will proceed the same as the previous rounds, but when it comes time to choose the person to pick nomination #12, everyone who participates in round 11 but has already nominated once will be added to the randomizer one time. Anyone who participates in round 11 that has not yet nominated a movie will be added to the randomizer 3 times. This way those who have not nominated yet have a better chance at getting picked, but those who have been regularly participating still have a chance to get picked again. I will not include my own name in the pool again until the other regulars have also nominated twice each. I'll adjust how I do this as the thread progresses.

Miss Vicky

02-08-25, 11:30 PM

John W Constantine will choose the next movie!

honeykid

02-09-25, 08:47 AM

I am really tempted to nominate Braindead on my next chance. :p
At least give MV a shot at films she might like. :D I liked Bad Taste when it came out, but I've not watched it in about 30 years and I don't know if I would like it anywhere near as much as I used to.

The only one of his I can think of for MV is The Frightners, which I always enjoy but think might have elements that MV struggles with. Or, at least, :rolleyes: I don't know, as it's supernatural it might work ok with the story for her?

Miss Vicky

02-09-25, 11:09 AM

104999
Nomination #11

The Last Boy Scout (1991, Tony Scott)
Nominated By John W Constantine

Deadline to Watch It: February 12, 7:30 p.m. PST

Allaby

02-09-25, 11:13 AM

I just watched The Last Boy Scout on January 21st. It was pretty fun and entertaining. Willis and Wayans are good together. I rated it a 7/10.

Miss Vicky

02-09-25, 11:21 AM

I know I've seen The Last Boy Scout before, but it's been like 30 years and I remember nothing about it. We'll see how this goes.

John W Constantine

02-09-25, 01:22 PM

I just checked and this was one to keep me company during covid. I wouldn't call myself a Shane Black fanatic but Lethal Weapon(s) and particularly this joy ride with Bruce in his prime and Tony Scott at the helm just keep me having a fun time. It's definitely a product of those late 80s / early 90s action flicks. Excited to rewatch this one.

Miss Vicky

02-09-25, 09:44 PM

105006

The Last Boy Scout
(Tony Scott, 1991)

I've seen this movie before, at least a couple of times, but not since the 90s. It's precisely the sort of violent, smart aleck-y, not at all PC type of thing my older brother enjoyed watching back then and since he often had control of the family TV, I got stuck watching that sort of thing too. And back then I didn't really mind. But now that several decades have passed and I have developed my own tastes, this just didn't work for me. Now there's nothing wrong with it. The story was fine. The look of it was fine. Willis and Wayans had decent chemistry, but I just wasn't really into their characters. Willis's character especially just kind of felt like he was trying too hard to pass off that "I don't give a f***" kind of cool, which is a little odd since I think he does just fine with that sort of portrayal in other movies like Die Hard and The Fifth Element (but maybe it's just that I have too much nostalgic appreciation for those other movies that I don't have for this one). Whatever the reason, I found myself a little bit bored with this at times.

As an aside, I had unknowingly been thinking about this movie recently when one its scenes (with the football player and the woman in the hot tub) randomly popped into my head. I couldn't for the life of me place where the scene was from and it had been kind of driving me nuts. So it was a little odd and relieving to have seen that here, though I've no idea why I had thought of it in the first place.

3.0

gbgoodies

02-10-25, 01:45 AM

The Last Boy Scout is a bit too violent for me, but otherwise, it's a pretty good movie. Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans have good chemistry together and it has some fun scenes. It won't make my list, but it was enjoyable to watch.

John W Constantine

02-10-25, 11:34 PM

The Last Boy Scout

You know for a dancer he's one hell of a detective.

Outside of maybe two scenes, I had completely forgotten the rest of this movie. Which is good because seeing this again reminded me of all the things I found hilarious the first time around. Definitely in the vein of Lethal Weapon, just what I needed for a quiet Monday evening.

WrinkledMind

02-11-25, 10:51 AM

The Last Boy Scout
I hadn't seen the flick, but had come across the clip of Bruce catching his wife.

It's a typical 90s action flick. In the end it even felt a wee bit like The Nice Guys, what with two lads & a smart arse for a daughter tangled with the bad guys.
It was a fun action flick. Damon Wayans & Willis had good chemistry. Bruce's bit of distracting bad guys with jokes was well done.

It's a shame Wayans hasn't done a lot of action flicks. I only remember seeing him in Bulletproof apart from this (he had a guest appearance in BHC2 I know). He is a really good action star.

Holden Pike

02-11-25, 11:12 AM

Definitely in the vein of Lethal Weapon...

It's a typical 90s action flick. In the end it even felt a wee bit like The Nice Guys, what with two lads & a smart arse for a daughter tangled with the bad guys.
Yes, all written by Shane Black.

105047

Torgo

02-11-25, 11:15 AM

The Last Boy Scout - 3

I'm convinced that no one is better than Shane Black at writing buddy relationships and quotable dialogue in action movies. Whether it's the first strip club scene or the bonding scene at down-and-out private eye Hallenbeck's (Bruce Willis) house, I appreciated how this movie took its time to develop the relationship between Hallenbeck and the equally down-and-out ex-football player Dix (Damon Wayans) instead of doing what other, lesser action movies usually do: truncating scenes like these in favor of ones with meaningless action. As much as I enjoyed Willis's and Wayans's performances and their chemistry, it's Taylor Negron (R.I.P.) who steals the show as the delightfully smug villain Milo. It's hard to believe that this production was disastrous, whether it be Willis and Wayans' contentious relationship or Joel Silver limiting Black and Scott's creative contributions. Even so, I'd still like to see the version of the movie in Black's original script, especially since Milo is apparently even crazier in it.

John W Constantine

02-12-25, 06:37 PM

Guys!

Pop some corn, and watch The Last Boy Scout tonight, enjoy yourselves and don't forget to put it on your ballots before you turn them in.

Miss Vicky

02-12-25, 11:34 PM

Allaby will choose the next movie!

JACKHICKS121

02-13-25, 05:52 AM

A fun way to discover some hidden gems from the '90s! I'm in! 🎬 Looking forward to watching and discussing everyone's picks.

Allaby

02-13-25, 07:34 AM

Allaby will choose the next movie!

I sent my nomination. It's an underseen gem with less than 300 votes on imdb.

Miss Vicky

02-13-25, 11:11 AM

105107
Nomination #12

Hide and Seek (1996, Su Friedrich)
Nominated By Allaby

Deadline to Watch It: February 16, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

02-13-25, 11:40 AM

Never heard of this movie. Reading the synopsis I can't say I have high hopes for it, but it's only just over an hour long and is on Kanopy. We'll see how this goes.

Allaby

02-13-25, 12:27 PM

I love this film because it is a beautiful, funny, sweet, and honest film that combines narrative and documentary elements in an unusual and engaging way. The interview segments are insightful and entertaining and the narrative scenes are compelling and very well acted. Hide and Seek is a really interesting look at lesbian adolescence.

WrinkledMind

02-14-25, 09:02 AM

Tried to find the movie here on my usual sites. It's not available anywhere. Kanopy doesn't work here. Allaby is it possible for you to PM some links.

Thanks in advance.

Miss Vicky

02-14-25, 09:57 AM

105141

Hide and Seek
(Su Friedrich, 1996)

At just over an hour in length, this should have been an easy watch even for my attention span deficient brain. It was not. I really disliked the structure of the film and I think I would've had a better time had this been either a straight forward documentary film or a narrative film, but this tried to be both (though the narrative elements had very little in the way of a story to tell) and that mish mash just didn't work for me. I'll give it some credit because I did enjoy some of the anecdotes from the people being interviewed, but overall I was pretty bored by this.

2.0

Allaby

02-14-25, 11:06 AM

Tried to find the movie here on my usual sites. It's not available anywhere. Kanopy doesn't work here. Allaby is it possible for you to PM some links.

Thanks in advance.

Yes I will send a link.

WrinkledMind

02-15-25, 03:12 PM

Hide and Seek
This was a breezy watch. It had three things going on at the same time: a fictional story of a young lass, real life Lesbians telling anecdotes from their lives & weird 50s sex education/moral values videos.

I felt the fictional story wasn't adequately developed. It had potential, cause the little girl was a really natural actor. But her story felt almost under developed.

I absolutely enjoyed the documentary aspects, where the Lesbians told anecdotes from their life. What made it beautiful was how relaxed, casual & undramatic those segments were.

I didn't really care for the third track of those weird old sex education clips. They should have shown them once nor not at all.

Overall this was quite a fascinating watch. Also thanks Allaby for providing the link to the movie.

Miss Vicky

02-16-25, 11:30 PM

WrinkledMind will choose the next movie!

Miss Vicky

02-17-25, 10:19 AM

105209
Nomination #13

Election (1999, Alexander Payne)
Nominated By WrinkledMind

Deadline to Watch It: February 20, 7:30 p.m. PST

WrinkledMind

02-17-25, 10:43 AM

Election is one my favourite satires. It's definitely my favourite Alexander Payne film, and will feature highly on my 90s list.

I watched it first as a teenager. Loved it. But absolutely hated Tracy Flick. I have watched this movie several times since. & as an adult I feel differently about her. I don't condone her actions, but I don't hate her. After all she was a child.
It also helps that I have seen deleted scenes which do add to her character.

I have also seen the alternate ending (meant to be the original ending), & I am glad they didn't go with it.

Citizen Rules

02-17-25, 12:07 PM

Good, I was thinking about watching Election, so I will.

cricket

02-17-25, 07:27 PM

Election is a good one, and The Last Boy Scout is a lot of fun. Never heard of Hide and Seek before.

Allaby

02-17-25, 07:29 PM

I have Election on Criterion blu ray. It's sharply written, entertaining and has good performances from a wonderful cast.

gbgoodies

02-18-25, 12:55 AM

I saw Election many years ago, but the only things that I remember about it are that I didn't like both Matthew Broderick's and Reese Witherspoon's characters, and something about a bee sting. I don't think I liked it, but I'm not sure about that. (I might just think I didn't like the movie because I know that I didn't like the two main characters.)

I'll watch it tomorrow and we'll see if I have a better experience with the movie this time. 🤞

Miss Vicky

02-19-25, 01:12 AM

105271

Election
(Alexander Payne, 1999)

I can't quite decide if I liked this weird little political satire about ambition, desire, and bad choices. On the one hand, the performances were all excellent, the story feels unique, and I did laugh a few times. On the other hand, I found pretty much every character to be pretty off-putting, including the ones that were portrayed as being good people, like Paul. I was never bored with the movie, but I also never felt fully engaged with it.

Ultimately, I think this is a movie that I need to revisit and that has the potential to grow on me. It's unlikely that a rewatch will happen before the deadline though and even if it did I doubt it would gain enough of my appreciation to make the cut for my ballot. But I do think I like this the best of the first time watches I've seen for the countdown so far.

3.0

gbgoodies

02-19-25, 01:53 AM

I rewatched Election, but I didn't really care for it. I usually like Matthew Broderick, but I didn't like his character in this movie, even though I agreed with him about wanting to stop Tracy Flick from winning the election. She's such an obnoxious person that I hated the idea of her winning. The only likable person was Paul, but he was so wishy-washy that it didn't feel like he should have won the election either.

That left the movie being about an election with nobody to root for, so in the end, I didn't care who won, and it felt like they all pretty much got what they deserved.

Holden Pike

02-19-25, 01:13 PM

105284

The characters are all unlikable, for sure. Very deliciously by design. But if you watch a movie like Election to see who wins the Carver High School student body presidency, I dare say you have completely missed the point. This isn't The Mighty Ducks or Legally Blonde. In the wise words of third-party candidate Tammy Metzler, "Who cares about this stupid election?" Election is a satire that uses human weaknesses and hypocrisies for its fodder, and it doesn't let anybody off the hook. I think it does so very effectively and with some terrific dark humor, which is director Alexander Payne's specialty: deeply flawed protagonists in uncomfortable situations, either due to or made worse by their own decisions or lies, rarely with any real triumphs. But what wonderful characters, and how delightful watching their struggles and failures.

Election won't make my MoFo ballot, but it is easily one of my Top Hundred of the decade, and while by its plot description it may seem in line with Clueless (1995), it is much more like To Die For (1995) or Welcome to the Dollhouse (1996).

Payne has a very strong filmography, and even though Election was only his second feature it remains right up there among his best work (Sideways, Nebraska, The Holdovers).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50K_XjdZyII

Captain Quint

02-19-25, 07:50 PM

Agree

Elections a goodie, with a lot to say, and stocked some well rendered characters. I saw it in the theater when it came out. But yeah, saying that, it won't make my 25.

(Though I was the opposite, in that I was more on Tracy's side, if you have to pick a side. Yeah, they are both unlikable and flawed, but Christ, she's a teenager, you're a teacher, you're supposed to be better than this, above these actions - and at the end, he's just going to continue on being a sexist ass, hating on girls or women for the sin of their ambitions - so 'bleep' that 'bleep-head').

But, in truth, this is not about who wins or loses - and I don't have to like a character to like a movie.

WrinkledMind

02-19-25, 10:36 PM

The original (alternate) ending of Election, which I am glad they didn't go with.
Excuse the poor video quality.

https://youtu.be/vhezOPupmj4?si=8S0WVOuVLI2SytXv

gbgoodies

02-20-25, 02:05 AM

The original (alternate) ending of Election, which I am glad they didn't go with.
Excuse the poor video quality.

https://youtu.be/vhezOPupmj4?si=8S0WVOuVLI2SytXv

This ending didn't feel right. Both characters seem out-of-character from the rest of the movie.

Thursday Next

02-20-25, 07:11 PM

(Though I was the opposite, in that I was more on Tracy's side, if you have to pick a side. Yeah, they are both unlikable and flawed, but Christ, she's a teenager, you're a teacher, you're supposed to be better than this, above these actions - and at the end, he's just going to continue on being a sexist ass, hating on girls or women for the sin of their ambitions - so 'bleep' that 'bleep-head').

Agree with this 100%.

Miss Vicky

02-20-25, 11:33 PM

Holden Pike will choose the next movie!

Holden Pike

02-21-25, 02:50 AM

105353

Miss Vicky

02-21-25, 10:43 AM

105358
Nomination #14

Defending Your Life (1991, Albert Brooks)
Nominated By Holden Pike

Deadline to Watch It: February 24, 7:30 p.m. PST

gbgoodies

02-22-25, 02:25 AM

I'm usually hit or miss with Albert Brooks movies, but Defending Your Life is easily my favorite of his movies. It's funny, thought-provoking, and it has a great ending. Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep have great chemistry together. I've seen it several times, and it has a chance of making my list.

Miss Vicky

02-23-25, 12:02 AM

105418

Defending Your Life
(Albert Brooks, 1991)

Oh boy here we go, another movie with dead characters only now it’s some weird mashup of romance, comedy, and courtroom drama set in a purgatory-like afterlife. Ugh. The “courtroom” scenes were tedious, the humor fell flat, I disliked Albert Brooks's character and never got invested enough in the romance to care if it worked out or not (and had to roll my eyes when it did work out in about the most predictable way ever), and I was just left bored and detached from the whole thing.

2.0

WrinkledMind

02-23-25, 05:56 AM

Defending Your Life
This was an interesting take on reincarnation & Moksha. I totally expect to go through that myself, though I don't se myself attaining Moksha yet. :p

As for the film it was enjoyable. Not all the humour landed, but the bits about misjusdgments, the Japanese restaurant, the food concept in itself, past lives centre were brilliant.

The biggest issue for me was that it didn't really push the boundaries. I can imagine this story in the hands of Woody Allen or Larry David & it would have been funnier or maybe even darker.
Streep was also under utilised.

Otherwise a nice little film.

Allaby

02-23-25, 08:12 AM

I really like this film a lot and have it on Criterion blu ray. The performances are wonderful and it's an interesting story. This is one of the 66 films that I'm considering for my ballot.

Thursday Next

02-23-25, 10:20 AM

I had never heard of Defending Your Life and I like this way of discovering films you otherwise would never have watched. It's not going to make my top 25 but I'm glad I watched it all the same.

It's an interesting premise. Having the afterlife look like early 90s USA might seem like an idea of hell but it's actually a neat trick to avoid the pitfall of being too wacky that afterlife films sometimes fall into.

I didn't completely invest in the romance (the lack of regrets or feelings for people back on earth make it a bit too easy) but it was quite touching in the end.

I wasn't so keen on the trial scenes - apparently he should have punched people in the face more and made better investments... It would have made more sense to me if fear had been his personal goal to overcome. The way it was written made it seem like overcoming fear was the only value in life, regardless of other moral considerations (people with anxiety are screwed when they die, then!).

It's not very visually interesting - for some reason, comedies are often quite ugly to look at which is a shame.

If you are interested in afterlife films of the 90s, After Life (1998) is a different take on it which I recommend.

Citizen Rules

02-23-25, 12:37 PM

105427
Defending Your Life (1991)
Dir. Albert Brooks

I really enjoyed this one. The highest praise I can give any movie is to say that it engaged me and made me think about the world that was being created right before my eyes. I often like these type of movie takes on an afterlife, which might seem odd for someone like me who's decidedly not religious and a nonbeliver. What I appreciated about Defending Your Life was that it didn't hit the viewer over the head with some mainstream religious ideas, that would've turned me off. Instead the film takes a sort of west coast-transcendental approach to the big what if.

I was interested about how Judgement City functioned, it's rules, it's customs and why there's so much food there and why nine pies?...Why did Brooks get a 2 star hotel when Streep got a 4 star accommodations. Brooks' character ponders those questions and so did I. I liked how the film never spelled out exactly what this afterlife place was all about but instead leaves the audience with enough information to be intrigued without dumbing down his script and explaining every last detail. We're shown enough of Judgement City to create an alternative world but not too much as to ruin the illusion.

rating_4

SpelingError

02-23-25, 01:41 PM

I watched Defending Your Life a couple months ago. It won't make my ballot, but I quite enjoyed it, in spite of rom coms typically not being my jam.

Miss Vicky

02-24-25, 11:30 PM

SpelingError will choose the next movie!

SpelingError

02-24-25, 11:51 PM

Sent!

Miss Vicky

02-25-25, 10:39 AM

105509
Nomination #15

Clean, Shaven (1993, Lodge Kerrigan)
Nominated By SpelingError

Deadline to Watch It: February 28, 7:30 p.m. PST

SpelingError

02-25-25, 11:55 AM

See if you can recognize the main character from Pulp Fiction when you watch it.

I'll post more thoughts later on, but I've really dug that film ever since first watching it several years ago. Not only does it have tremendous sound design which puts you in the headspace of the lead so well, I also think its treatment of mental illness is quite progressive.

I've seen so many films which portray people with schizophrenia as a danger to society and, though it seemed like this film was headed in that direction, I like how it ultimately portrayed him not as dangerous but rather victimized by other people's paranoia. It's such a refreshing take. Given the library scene, it's easy to understand why people had those suspicions about him and fair arguments can be made that he was still a danger to himself and wasn't ready to be released from the institution, but the fact remains that he's not a murderer.

cricket

02-25-25, 01:25 PM

I wouldn't mind giving this one a shot if I've got time

SpelingError

02-25-25, 03:18 PM

I wouldn't mind giving this one a shot if I've got time
Excluding credits, it's about 74 minutes, btw. It should be a pretty breezy watch.

gbgoodies

02-26-25, 01:29 AM

I'm not sure that Clean, Shaven is my type of movie, but I'll try to watch it tomorrow.

Captain Quint

02-26-25, 04:14 AM

Lodge Kerrigan certainly likes this subject matter (see, "Keane" from 2004). And yes, the sound design is exceptional, paired with the fractured visuals and it really takes you inside this disassociated mind. Best performance Peter Greene's ever given, I think.

A short film - disturbing, sure, but a very good one.

gbgoodies

02-27-25, 01:49 AM

Clean, Shaven was a difficult movie to watch. It was confusing at times, and a bit too graphic, especially when he was trying to remove the transmitter from his head and fingertips.

It felt like we were supposed to think that Peter was dangerous, but I never really got the feeling that he was. I just felt sad for him. This might be because I know someone who is kind of like him. The woman that I know is very sensitive to light and sounds, so she always wears dark sunglasses to block out light and big headphones to block out sounds. She also has some mental issues, but they're not the same as Peter's mental issues. But because she has trouble seeing and hearing, she has trouble communicating with people, so most people just think that she's crazy. She's not exactly like Peter, but I think most people treat her similar to the way Peter was treated in the movie, so I kind of understood what he was going through.

This isn't the type of movie that I would want to watch again, and it won't make my list, but it was an interesting watch.

Torgo

02-27-25, 09:57 AM

Clean, Shaven - 5

As tense as it is heartbreaking, this may be the most accurate portrayal of schizophrenia I have ever seen in a movie. While it is specific to this condition, as someone who has bouts of anxiety and obsessive thoughts, the same could be said of how the movie portrays mental illness in general. Like he does in the also great Keane, writer/director Kerrigan provides a masterclass in how to walk in a character's shoes. The close-quartered cinematography and unique use of sound to indicate Peter's thoughts, especially the use of a car radio, are highlights. Regardless, it's the work of Peter Greene, who comes across like a man who would remove his own brain if he could, that I will remember the most. Just as worthy of praise is how the movie not only addresses common attitudes about the mentally ill, but also our own. Despite its lean running time, Kerrigan manages to fit in three thoughtful perspectives towards people like Peter, i.e. a parent, an authority figure/law enforcer and the typical bystander without making the movie seem overstuffed. As for the latter, I like how Kerrigan made me own up to my perspective without realizing it with the murder subplot. In other words, it made me wonder, “is Peter really a suspect or am I just ignorant to schizophrenic behavior?”

Finally, there's MacDonald's performance of Peter’s daughter, Nicole, which as just as instrumental to the movie's success as Greene's. Does she say or even emote that much? No, but the point that she's already experienced more trauma than the average person should in a whole lifetime, not to mention some of which could have been prevented, is made. The movie ends up being one that hit me like a ton of bricks - partly because it hits close to home and partly because it's so tragic - but it's worth noting that my reaction seems earned instead of feeling like the movie forced it out of me. Even so, I came out of it feeling like a better person for how it taught me about the schizophrenic experience in the process.

SpelingError

02-27-25, 12:55 PM

Miss Vicky

02-27-25, 10:47 PM

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Clean, Shaven
(Lodge Kerrigan, 1993)

I don't have a lot to say about this one. There wasn't anything about it that I felt was done poorly. Peter Greene gave a very strong performance. I thought the depiction of his character's mental illness was done well. The premise was good. The sort of grainy look of the film and the various sounds we hear suited the movie well as did the ambiguity of what was happening on screen. But I really struggled to engage. Short though it is, the slow pacing made it feel really long. I've watched 3 hour movies that felt shorter than this.

Anyway, suffice it to say that Clean, Shaven falls squarely in the category of movies that I respect but don't actually like.

3.0

gbgoodies

02-28-25, 02:05 AM

It felt like we were supposed to think that Peter was dangerous, but I never really got the feeling that he was.

Given the ending, I think we're actually meant to believe the opposite. It was more the case that he was victimized by other people's paranoias.

I don't mean after watching the movie. I mean while watching the movie.
For example, it seems like we're supposed to think that he kidnapped and/or killed the little girl at the very beginning of the movie. We see the look on his face, followed by off-screen screams that sound like they could be from a young girl. We even see a bag in the trunk that looks like it could be her body.

But at the end, we find out that it wasn't her body, so we were set up to think that he was dangerous, but that's really just our issue of the way we see people with mental problems.

SpelingError

02-28-25, 09:15 AM

I don't mean after watching the movie. I mean while watching the movie.
For example, it seems like we're supposed to think that he kidnapped and/or killed the little girl at the very beginning of the movie. We see the look on his face, followed by off-screen screams that sound like they could be from a young girl. We even see a bag in the trunk that looks like it could be her body.

But at the end, we find out that it wasn't her body, so we were set up to think that he was dangerous, but that's really just our issue of the way we see people with mental problems.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the clarification 👍

Miss Vicky

02-28-25, 11:35 PM

gbgoodies will choose the next movie!

gbgoodies

03-01-25, 01:34 AM

gbgoodies will choose the next movie!

I sent my nomination.
Thank you. :)

Miss Vicky

03-01-25, 10:46 AM

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Nomination #16

Heart and Souls (1993, Ron Underwood)
Nominated By Gbgoodies

Deadline to Watch It: March 4, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

03-01-25, 02:01 PM

Anybody have a link for this?

Citizen Rules

03-01-25, 02:04 PM

Anybody have a link for this?
I do, I'm acquiring it right now. I'll PM.

Holden Pike

03-01-25, 06:27 PM

Very sweet movie. Don't have a link, but I have it on LaserDisc and DVD, if you wanna come over.

Miss Vicky

03-01-25, 06:41 PM

Very sweet movie. Don't have a link, but I have it on LaserDisc and DVD, if you wanna come over.

Sure, we're only about 2,800 miles apart. No problem! :D

Miss Vicky

03-01-25, 08:55 PM

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Heart and Souls
(Ron Underwood, 1993)

Heart and Souls is a fantasy comedy that is corny and sappy and it features dead characters (yet again! This seems to be a popular thing with Group Watch participants) and WAY too much singing (something I thought I had left behind when I finished preparing for the last countdown!). It is, put simply, not my kind of movie. Which is not to say that I hated it. I did tear up a time or two and I thought Robert Downey Jr.'s performance was very good, particularly any time another soul took control of his body, but I don't think this is a movie I'll watch again and it definitely won't make my ballot.

3.0

gbgoodies

03-02-25, 01:40 AM

Heart and Souls is a fun and sentimental movie that feels like a roller coaster of emotions at times as Thomas helps four souls fix some unfinished business that was left behind when they died unexpectedly 30 years earlier. I love the entire cast, but Robert Downey Jr. really shows off his talent in this movie. It's one of my favorite RDJ movies.

Miss Vicky, Sorry about the music, but while it has some music in the movie, I don't think of this movie as a musical.

Miss Vicky

03-02-25, 02:30 AM

Miss Vicky, Sorry about the music, but while it has some music in the movie, I don't think of this movie as a musical.

I wouldn't really call it a musical either, but the characters sure sing a lot - more than enough to have qualified for the countdown.

WrinkledMind

03-04-25, 11:36 AM

Clean, Shaven
It was tough to watch. Especially the self harm scenes. But the movie is well made.

My perspectives about the illness have changed since one of my friends was diagnosed with it post Covid. There is a similarly made video on YouTube, which kinda feels like you are seeing the world through the eyes of the schizophrenic with the vision & voices.

Excellent performance by Peter Greene who will always be Dorian from The Mask for me.

Heart & Souls
I have watched this movie several times, cause it's a comfort movie & also because it comes on the telly here quite regularly. You have to appreciate Downey's ability to switch characters without ever really coming across as hammy.

The four of Grodin, Sedgwick, Woodard & Sizemore put equally good performances. Just a charming, chamening film.

Citizen Rules

03-04-25, 01:18 PM

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Heart and Souls (1993)

Well my wife really liked this movie and that's always a plus. I liked it two and was always interested in the story which is more than I can say for alot of movies. I thought the movie did sentimental well and it did touch me at times, but I wasn't always on board with the comedy. I guess you'd call the comedy slapstick and I'm not big on that. A big plus was the cast. I thought each of the four ghost were really cast well and I liked each of the actors, so much so I wish there was more backstory about the lives of each of the four ghost. Of course that would be a longer and different movie. Robert Downey Jr is always a fav of mine and he did a good job, too bad Elizabeth Shue didn't get to be in the movie abit more, and very cool to see B.B. King too. So overall I liked this.

Holden Pike

03-04-25, 04:36 PM

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Director Ron Underwood had a nice little run in the 1990s. Started his career in educational and industrial films in the 1970s, then moved his way into television in the 1980s. His feature film debut was Tremors (1990), everybody's favorite late 20th Century comedic monster movie, which was written by two of his friends. Got great reviews but didn't do much business, slowly building its cult reputation over years of cable and VHS and eventually DVD viewings. But he had a blockbuster in his second film. City Slickers (1991) is one of those where its impact hasn't been especially long lasting, having dated a bit, but at the time it was a smash, finishing fifth at the domestic box office wedged between Silence of the Lambs and Dances with Wolves (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Home Alone were the top three). Besides being very popular, it also had an extended pop couture moment when Jack Palance won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role with the film's star, Billy Crystal, hosting the Academy Awards. While fondly remembered by Boomers and Gen X, City Slickers is not the kind of movie that subsequent generations have kept at the forefront.

Hearts & Souls was Underwood's third movie. It did not duplicate City Slickers' success. It's receipts topped out at less than $17-million, putting it 85th for the year, a year dominated by Jurassic Park and The Fugitive. Sleepless in Seattle and Mrs. Doubtfire were the comedies that resonated with mass audiences.

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Heart & Souls is very old-fashioned, a gentle ghost story comedy. In 1959 San Francisco four strangers (Charles Grodin, Alfre Woodard, Tom Sizemore, and Kyra Sedgwick) die in a bus accident, but rather than ascending directly to the afterlife, their spirits are attached to a baby that is being born. Only he can see them, which causes problems as he ages. By grade school the ghosts decide to make themselves disappear, so the boy might have a normal life. They are still attached to him, but he no longer is aware of their presence. About twenty-five years later the boy has grown into Robert Downey Jr., an affable but ruthless lawyer with commitment issues. When the four ghosts are finally called to heaven, they realize there was a mixup. An angel was supposed to have given them instructions on how to use their human vessel to fulfill their most important unfinished business on Earth. They are given a brief reprieve and reintroduce themselves. Hilarity ensues.

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Elisabeth Shue is his frustrated girlfriend, and their relationship is tested further when he starts helping the ghosts with their earthly tasks. Has some of the similar humor and physical gags of Warren Beatty in Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Steve Martin & Lily Tomlin in All of Me (1984), but without being as good as either. It also hits some similar notes to another Robert Downey Jr. vehicle, Chances Are (1989), which was released four years earlier (and also under-performed with its similarly old-fashioned sensibility). But for all the things Hearts & Souls isn't, what is there is sweet and helped considerably by the strong cast. RDJ is charming, as always, but this was the year after his Oscar nominated turn as Chaplin (1992) and the same year he was in the ensemble of Robert Altman's excellent and much more interesting Short Cuts (1993), and by comparison is just fluff. Enjoyable as that fluff may be, on its own terms. Of course Downey's career was about to start skidding wildly with arrests and incarceration, before reemerging clean and sober to become one of the biggest stars around.

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Director Ron Underwood never had a second successful film. His next effort, Speechless (1994), was another RomCom, this one minus any supernatural elements, starring Michael Keaton and Geena Davis. That one is a bit better than its reputation, but another box office dud. He got one more higher-profile gig, a remake of Mighty Joe Young (1998), but it stalled at 20-million, less than half of its budget. He started the 21st century and ended his feature film career with one of the most infamous flops of all time: Eddie Murphy in The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002). Even more than twenty years later, it still remains one of the most expensive flops in movie history. Doesn't seem like much of it was Underwood's fault directly, but he took the hit for it. He has pretty much only done episodic television since.

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In my book Heart & Souls isn't in the same class as Defending Your Life (1991) or Truly Madly Deeply (1990), but it's hard to hate a movie whose only aim was to be a gentle trifle. I have the DVD and spin it from time to time, but can't say it is in regular rotation.

Miss Vicky

03-04-25, 06:48 PM

Notice:

The announcement of who will choose the next nomination will be late. I have family visiting from out of town and will be meeting them for dinner as soon as I get off of work. I will make the announcement as soon as I am home, but I don't know what time that will be.

Miss Vicky

03-05-25, 12:22 AM

Citizen Rules will choose the next movie!

Miss Vicky

03-05-25, 11:43 AM

105797
Nomination #17

Arizona Dream (1993, Emir Kusturica)
Nominated By Citizen Rules

Deadline to Watch It: March 8, 7:30 p.m. PST

Miss Vicky

03-05-25, 11:57 AM

I don't think I've ever heard of this movie. I do love Johnny Depp, but Wikipedia's description of it as an "indie surrealist comedy drama" gives me reservations. Of course it also describes my favorite 90s movie as "surrealist fantasy comedy drama" so maybe this will be great?

It's on Kanopy, but I may not get to it until the weekend.

Citizen Rules

03-05-25, 12:40 PM

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fm.media-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FM%2FMV5BZGU3NjllNDUtZjlhMy00YzYyLTk2OTMtYmFhZGY3ZjgzMDBkL2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXk FqcGdeQXVyMjI3ODYyNDU%40._V1_SX749_CR0%2C0%2C749%2C403_AL_.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=e4977991404340a0574ca35a7a5867622ac1a7e50f02a0f92b9afb3e2302ff37&ipo=imagesArizona Dream (1993)
Dir. Emir Kusturica
*Spoiler Free*

Very unusual movie, I was just now looking at screenshots and there are so many different things going on in the movie that it's hard to find just one image that represents the movie, so I guess that one up there will have to do.

I almost shut off Arizona Dream in the first few minutes when the indigenous Alaskan drove his dog sled team across the ice and they fell into the frozen ocean...I don't like animal cruelty in movies so I just about bailed but I'm glad I didn't, because in the very next moment the man jumps into the water to help the dogs get out and I realized the Bearing Sea is not waist deep! So I knew it was just a studio shot with ice floating on warmer water. So I'm glad I kept watching though I'm still not sure about the more surrealistic prologue and epilogues but the main story has staid with me, I found it haunting especially the last scene with a score by Iggy Pop.

Stand out performances by the entire cast (Johnny Deep, Faye Dunaway, Jerry Lewis and Lili Taylor). Jerry Lewis does not do Jerry Lewis, he plays it straight. I'd have to say this is my favorite Faye Dunaway performance. Johnny Depp is in his element here with this type of off beat indie film. Fascinating direction & script from Serbian direction Emir Kusturica. I'm not sure what I just watched but I'm impressed!

SpelingError

03-05-25, 12:47 PM

I haven't seen that film, but I should watch more from Emir Kusturica. He's simultaneously baffling, yet mind blowing at the same time. One of his films made my top 10 for my 90's ballot.

Holden Pike

03-05-25, 07:05 PM

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Holden Pike

03-06-25, 09:55 AM

105828

I own Arizona Dream on DVD, but I own lots and lots of things for the sake of my collection and for reference (OK, I probably have a problem). That being said, I don't really think much of the flick. Serbian director Emir Kusturica made a couple good movies (When Father was Away on Business and Underground, both of which won the Palme d'Or), but his American entry is a dull mess. It is trying way too hard to be quirky without any fun characters or energy. It always felt to me like indie movie Mad Libs. Give me six random nouns...Eskimo, Accordion, Cadillac, Turtle, Halibut, Flying Machine...and plug 'em in! We'll have a wedding and suicide and dream sequences and plenty of pretentious voice over narration! "'Good morning, Columbus.' These were my mother's eternal words, reminding me that America was already discovered and that daydreaming was a long way from life's truths. But what's the point of breathing if somebody already tells you the difference between an apple and a bicycle? If I bite a bicycle and ride an apple, then I'll know the difference." Oy.

105829

Comedies usually walk tricky lines of tone. If the tone is right you will go with the characters, even if they are types more than believable people. In Howard Hawks' classic Bringing Up Baby (1938), Cary Grant's paleontologist Dr. David Huxley and Katharine Hepburn's heiress Susan Vance are certainly not supposed to represent real human beings, but their Screwball misadventures are delightful, and even though exaggerated and stylized their banter and antics are akin to the kind of crushes six-year-olds have on each other, pulling pigtails and name-calling on the playground, even as it escalates to leopards and dinosaur bones. It is contrived, obviously, but has a streak of romantic relatability underneath, and the plotting is so fast-paced and outrageous it becomes infectious.

105832

In Hal Ashby's Harold & Maude (1971), again neither Bud Cort's young death-obsessed Harold Parker Chasen nor Ruth Gordon's aged carefree rule-breaker Maude Chardin are to be taken as real people, but the odd melancholy tone and dark humor make the characters appealing, and while suicide and concentration camps are on the surface not the breeding ground for humor nor romance, it all blends into an unlikely but beloved piece of cinema. The tone carries everything, no matter how seemingly incongruous or artificial.

105831

The characters in Arizona Dream have none of that. They are flat, dumb types going through the motions, given nothing real nor interesting nor layered to do, just dumb quirks. They are just weird for weird's sake. I disagree about the performances being good. Depp is sleepy and dull, Taylor seems brain damaged, and Lewis vacillates between trying very hard to be so very serious and falling back on pared down schtick. For a 1990s dark comedy featuring Jerry Lewis that actually works, I recommend Peter Chelsom's Funny Bones (1995), though I like Chelsom's debut Hear My Song (1991) even more. Dunaway does have some nice moments, but in between those moments she is forced by the script to act like a ninny, which negates the good stuff for me. Spano's character elicits a few chuckles, but those Andy Kaufman-like bits, including wordlessly acting out a scene from North by Northwest, have absolutely nothing to do with anything else going on in the narrative. There is no consistency in tone, comedic or otherwise. "Sometimes you have to crash and hit your head on a tree to know what to do, and realize the secret of anything is meaningless." Ugh. I would need to hit my head pretty damn hard to find this movie deep or amusing. There is more character development and resonance in the Tom Petty music video that Depp and Dunaway appeared in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqmFxgEGKH0

Arizona Dream seems like the kind of pretentious indie Tom DiCillo was making fun of in Living in Oblivion (1995), like a bad student film that happens to star famous people. David Atkins' script feels like he had a marathon watching the 1980s and early '90s work of Jim Jarmusch, The Coen Brothers, Hal Hartley, and the entire first season of "Twin Peaks" and the lazy takeaway was kooky = cool! It takes more than that.

Kusturica's sensibility seems to work when he stays closer to home, though I much prefer Aki Kaurismäki, but his American effort is dead inside and ultimately a chore to sit through.

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Miss Vicky

03-06-25, 10:51 PM

Notice:

Just a heads' up to anyone who is a regular participant or is considering participating: Daylight Savings Time starts this coming Sunday, so after this round there will be a slight change to the deadlines. It will still be 7:30 p.m. Pacific time, but it will be Daylight Savings Time instead of Standard Time.

Citizen Rules

03-08-25, 01:29 PM

https://www.movieforums.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=105797
Nomination #17

Arizona Dream (1993, Emir Kusturica)
Nominated By Citizen Rules

Deadline to Watch It: March 8, 7:30 p.m. PST
I'm hoping somebody else will watch this strange combination of dark comedy, surrealism and emotions run amok. Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars...you might not like it, but it won't bore you I promise!

Today is the last day to watch Arizona Dream and post about it in this Group Watch...then your name goes into an online randomizer and you might be picked to choose the next movie for the group to watch. How cool is that!

Robert the List

03-08-25, 02:36 PM

I haven't seen that film, but I should watch more from Emir Kusturica. He's simultaneously baffling, yet mind blowing at the same time. One of his films made my top 10 for my 90's ballot.
I'd never heard of him.
His work looks really interesting.
His ratings on RT are absolutely crazy, lol so up and down. He's got one film with 12% hahaha.

Robert the List

03-08-25, 03:04 PM

Jerry Lewis does not do Jerry Lewis, he plays it straight.

It's a brilliant nomination.

But this line!! He has just made his first appearance as I'm watching it, and he is wearing no pants and pink cowboy boots, as he walks round the room reading a script out loud to himself.

He's looking great though. Looks just the same as KoC 9 years earlier.

Faye on the other hand, who I love generally incidentally, seems to have hade an awful face lift that just is not working.

Edit: I suppose he does play it straight, in a comic role. I guess is what you were saying. Apologies.

Robert the List

03-08-25, 03:23 PM

Citizen Rules

03-08-25, 04:49 PM

this is a good film

it's very Chaplin.

Dunaway is miscast. She's just not attractive enough for this role at this point in her life. An older woman who used to be beautiful, is not the same as a beautiful older woman. Somebody misread the role description.

Who is the daughter though? She's brilliant.

Anyway, all the case seem to be having fun and enjoying each others' company which is nice.Glad you watched it:) Yeah I suppose it does seem like a Chaplin film in many ways, good call. You have the lighter off-the-wall comic elements coupled with an out-of-sorts type character played by Johnny Deep. But then under that surface comic surrealism you have a much more serious story line going on with the step daughter who's growing more suicidal as the film progresses. Grace (Lili Taylor) is brilliant like you said, she's such a sad, tragic character that despite her oddness one can see the desperate sadness in her eyes.

mrblond

03-08-25, 05:39 PM

Arizona Dream

I'm glad this title was included here.
Probably Kusturica's best work in the universal meaning, considering his other master works too local (South-Eastern Europe).
Remarkable film work. Vincent Gallo appearance in the movie is taken around here as absolute cult status.
As for the music...wow!
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Miss Vicky

03-08-25, 09:21 PM

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Arizona Dream
(Emir Kusturica, 1994)

Well, that was... something. Unfortunately it was not something I particularly enjoyed. It had a few moments that I found mildly amusing, but overall it just had too much weirdness for the sake of weirdness and not enough that I could really invest in. Depp looked great though so it at had that going for it.

2.5

Miss Vicky

03-08-25, 11:37 PM

Randomizer chose me. I'll give it a think and post something later.

gbgoodies

03-09-25, 01:59 AM

Arizona Dream felt like a movie that had potential, but it had too much stuff that didn't work for me. I kind of liked the relationship between Axel and Elaine, but I didn't like most of the other characters. I've never been a fan of Jerry Lewis in anything I've seen him in, and this movie was no different. Most of the surreal parts were too weird for me, and I disliked the North By Northwest scene.

Holden Pike

03-09-25, 04:15 AM

Who is the daughter though? She's brilliant.

Lili Taylor.

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Along with Parker Posey and Jennifer Jason Leigh, she is probably THE Indie actress in the 1990s, when the American Independent film scene was at its zenith. First known for two strong roles at the end of the 1980s, as one of the three female leads along with Julia Roberts and Annabeth Gish in Mystic Pizza (1988) and then as the perpetually depressed but supportive friend to John Cusack's Lloyd Dobbler in Say Anything... (1989).

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And then the 1990s hit, and she was an absolute superstar...in the Indie film scene. She has never been nominated for an Oscar but she was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, winning one, all in the 1990s. Right out of the gate she was strong in the road movie Bright Angel (1990), co-starring Dermot Mulroney (with Sam Shepard, Valerie Perrine, Mary Kay Place, Bill Pullman, Kevin Tighe, Delroy Lindo, etc.) and flat-out amazing in Nancy Sevoca's Dogfight (1991). In that one River Phoenix stars as a 1963 Marine recruit about to go off to Vietnam who is playing a cruel game where each Marine is supposed to bring the ugliest girl they can find as a date, the title "dogfight". But the girl's don't know that is the purpose. Taylor's waitress is who River chooses, though once he gets to know her better he has second thoughts about the mean trick. Terrific movie, two amazing performances. Got universally great reviews...and nobody saw it. Even for River it was eclipsed by My Own Private Idaho, released the same year. And of course River died in '93.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2aQbrQu1IM

Lili's character in Arizona Dream (1993) is just so two-dimensionally wacky. There is no even accidental reality at all in it, and Lili is so very excellent at portraying real, vulnerable, complicated, strong characters. A suicidal flake who wants to be reincarnated as a turtle is something from a bad round of improv class.

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Lily was in THREE other films released in 1993. I like all of them better than Arizona Dream, especially looking at Taylor's performances. Watch It is a slight but earnest piece with four twentysomething male friends (Peter Gallagher, Tom Sizemore, John C. McGinley, and Jon Tenney) who need to quickly learn to treat women as more than just sport, and Lili gets most of the best lines. Household Saints, directed by the same woman who made Dogfight, a multi-generational tale of an Italian-American family, starting with the wedding of Joseph & Catherine (Vincent D'Onofrio & Tracey Ullman), then Taylor as their teenage daughter obsessed with becoming a nun and then canonized as a Saint...only to have that challenged when a boy enters the picture (Michael Imperioli). Great, underseen movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSIkYwTv8uE
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But the masterpiece Lili Taylor was part of in 1993 was in the astounding ensemble of Robert Altman's Short Cuts. Altman's adaptation of several Raymond Carver short stories, re-set in Los Angeles with a overlapping characters. Lili Taylor's storyline has her and her husband (Robert Downey Jr.) involved with some neighbors (Jennifer Jason Leigh & Chris Penn) who are sort of new friends, but Taylor is also the daughter of Lily Tomlin's waitress who has a tempestuous relationship with her limo driver boyfriend, played by Tom Waits. THAT is the 1993 movie featuring Lili Taylor everyone should see at least once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK_PoMY0MOw

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After that banner year, Taylor continued to shine in another who's who ensemble in Alan Rudolph's Algonquin Roundtable pic Mrs. Parker & the Vicious Circle (1994), again with Jennifer Jason Leigh (as Dorothy Parker), then as a contemporary vampire in Abel Ferrara's stylish The Addiction (1995). In 1996 she had two more indie classics, the first Girls Town is a very honest and insightful look at four young women about to finish high school, with Lili playing the unwed mother of the group, and in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol she plays the real-life Valerie Solanas, a radical feminist who was briefly part of Warhol's (played by Jared Harris) Factory orbit who became angrier and angrier when she begins to irrationally focus on Warhol as the root of her problems. She did attempt to assassinate him in 1968, critically injuring him. The narrative is told from her frantic, fractured point of view.

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She got to play lighter comedy again in Stanley Tucci's throwback 1930s farce The Impostors (1998) starring Tucci and Oliver Platt with a truly all-star cast including everyone from Hope Davis and Allison Janney to Alfred Molina and Steve Buscemi to Cambell Scott and Tony Shalhoub to Billy Connolly and Richard Jenkins to Isabella Rossellini and Woody Allen! Seriously. One of Yoda's favorites, BTW.

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Lili also had a couple mainstream roles in the later part of the 1990s, a nice little supporting part as one of the kidnappers in Ron Howard's Ransom (1996) and then co-starring in the much-anticipated and very disappointing remake of The Haunting (1999) with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Bruce Dern.

I am not surprised you were drawn to Lili Taylor on screen, but I urge you to check out many of these other films where I think she is much, much better than the silly part in Arizona Dream.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sVIbCp7FLw

Robert the List

03-09-25, 04:36 AM

Lili Taylor.

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Along with Parker Posey and Jennifer Jason Leigh, she is probably THE Indie actress in the 1990s, when the American Independent film scene was at its zenith. First known for two strong roles at the end of the 1980s, as one of the three female leads along with Julia Roberts and Annabeth Gish in Mystic Pizza (1988) and then as the perpetually depressed but supportive friend to John Cusack's Lloyd Dobbler in Say Anything... (1989).

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And then the 1990s hit, and she was an absolute superstar...in the Indie film scene. She has never been nominated for an Oscar but she was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, winning one, all in the 1990s. Right out of the gate she was strong in the road movie Bright Angel (1990), co-starring Dermot Mulroney (with Sam Shepard, Valerie Perrine, Mary Kay Place, Bill Pullman, Kevin Tighe, Delroy Lindo, etc.) and flat-out amazing in Nancy Sevoca's Dogfight (1991). In that one River Phoenix stars as a 1963 Marine recruit about to go off to Vietnam who is playing a cruel game where each Marine is supposed to bring the ugliest girl they can find as a date, the title "dogfight". But the girl's don't know that is the purpose. Taylor's waitress is who River chooses, though once he gets to know her better he has second thoughts about the mean trick. Terrific movie, two amazing performances. Got universally great reviews...and nobody saw it. Even for River it was eclipsed by My Own Private Idaho, released the same year. And of course River died in '93.

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Lili's character in Arizona Dream (1993) is just so two-dimensionally wacky. There is no even accidental reality at all in it, and Lili is so very excellent at portraying real, vulnerable, complicated, strong characters. A suicidal flake who wants to be reincarnated as a turtle is something from a bad round of improv class.

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Lily was in THREE other films released in 1993. I like all of them better than Arizona Dream, especially looking at Taylor's performances. Watch It is a slight but earnest piece with four twentysomething male friends (Peter Gallagher, Tom Sizemore, John C. McGinley, and Jon Tenney) who need to quickly learn to treat women as more than just sport, and Lili gets most of the best lines. Household Saints, directed by the same woman who made Dogfight, a multi-generational tale of an Italian-American family, starting with the wedding of Joseph & Catherine (Vincent D'Onofrio & Tracey Ullman), then Taylor as their teenage daughter obsessed with becoming a nun and then canonized as a Saint...only to have that challenged when a boy enters the picture (Michael Imperioli). Great, underseen movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2aQbrQu1IM

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But the masterpiece Lili Taylor was part of in 1993 was in the astounding ensemble of Robert Altman's Short Cuts. Altman's adaptation of several Raymond Carver short stories, re-set in Los Angeles with a overlapping characters. Lili Taylor's storyline has her and her husband (Robert Downey Jr.) involved with some neighbors (Jennifer Jason Leigh & Chris Penn) who are sort of new friends, but Taylor is also the daughter of Lily Tomlin's waitress who has a tempestuous relationship with her limo driver boyfriend, played by Tom Waits. THAT is the 1993 movie featuring Lili Taylor everyone should see at least once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YK_PoMY0MOw

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After that banner year, Taylor continued to shine in another who's who ensemble in Alan Rudolph's Algonquin Roundtable pic Mrs. Parker & the Vicious Circle (1994), again with Jennifer Jason Leigh (as Dorothy Parker), then as a contemporary vampire in Abel Ferrara's stylish The Addiction (1995). In 1996 she had two more indie classics, the first Girls Town is a very honest and insightful look at four young women about to finish high school, with Lili playing the unwed mother of the group, and in Mary Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol she plays the real-life Valerie Solanas, a radical feminist who was briefly part of Warhol's (played by Jared Harris) Factory orbit who became angrier and angrier when she begins to irrationally focus on Warhol as the root of her problems. She did attempt to assassinate him in 1968, critically injuring him. The narrative is told from her frantic, fractured point of view.

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She got to play lighter comedy again in Stanley Tucci's throwback 1930s farce The Impostors (1998) starring Tucci and Oliver Platt with a truly all-star cast including everyone from Hope Davis and Allison Janney to Alfred Molina and Steve Buscemi to Cambell Scott and Tony Shalhoub to Billy Connolly and Richard Jenkins to Isabella Rossellini and Woody Allen! Seriously. One of Yoda's favorites, BTW.

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Lili also had a couple mainstream roles in the later part of the 1990s, a nice little supporting part as one of the kidnappers in Ron Howard's Ransom (1996) and then co-starring in the much-anticipated and very disappointing remake of The Haunting (1999) with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Bruce Dern.

I am not surprised you were drawn to Lili Taylor on screen, but I urge you to check out many of these other films where I think she is much, much better than the silly part in Arizona Dream.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sVIbCp7FLw
Very helpful and interesting post, thanks.

Although I do recognise her now, this does identify a blind spot in my viewing, and it's a particular oversight that I haven't watched Short Cuts, not least because I do like Altman's films. Am watching it now.

Miss Vicky

03-09-25, 05:08 AM

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Nomination #18

Romper Stomper (1992, Geoffrey Wright)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

Deadline to Watch It: March 12, 7:30 p.m. PDT

Miss Vicky

03-09-25, 05:20 AM

I first watched this movie like 25 years ago when I was exploring Russell Crowe's work after being mesmerized by him in Gladiator. He did a lot of movies in the 90s and I'm sure will make an appearance on the countdown with L.A. Confidential, but I think this movie showcases his best work of the decade.

Here's what I wrote when I rewatched it a few weeks ago:

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Romper Stomper
(Geoffrey Wright, 1992)

I've seen a fair number of movies that deal with racism and several that specifically depict Neo-Nazi skinheads, but - outside of holocaust movies - none stand out to me the way that Romper Stomper does. It is unrelentingly, realistically brutal. It is gritty, it is chaotic, it is bloody, and it feels authentic. I also really appreciate the way that it never comes across as preachy or even particularly critical of its characters - it merely allows us to observe them in all their monstrosity as the natural consequences of their actions unfold and none of them are ever truly redeemed.

But of course what stands out the most to me are its performances and none moreso than Russell Crowe - who all but disappears into the role of the mesmerizing, terrifying, and charismatic skinhead leader Hando. He is absolutely chilling and this has always stood out to me as one of his greatest performances.

This movie has also long stood out to me as one of the best that the decade has to offer and it will no doubt earn itself a spot on my ballot.

4.5

gbgoodies

03-12-25, 01:28 AM

I suspected before I watched it that Romper Stomper wasn't going to be my kind of movie, but I didn't realize how much it wasn't going to be my kind of movie. It was way too violent and offensive. The skinheads were just beating people up for no reason other than that they were different from them.

I thought it might not be too bad because I vaguely remember watching American History X for a HoF a while back, and even though that wasn't my type of movie either, it was at least a movie that I could respect, and even kind of liked. But Romper Stomper was just brutal to watch.

Miss Vicky

03-12-25, 02:04 AM

gbgoodies

I applaud you for giving it a try, at least.

Miss Vicky

03-12-25, 11:28 PM

gbgoodies will choose the next movie.

Hopefully we actually get some participation in the next round.

gbgoodies

03-13-25, 01:35 AM

gbgoodies

I applaud you for giving it a try, at least.

I was hoping that more people would have watched it so there would have been some better reviews for you, but I guess people were too busy this week.

gbgoodies

03-13-25, 01:37 AM

gbgoodies will choose the next movie.

Hopefully we actually get some participation in the next round.

Thank you. I sent my nom. I picked a movie that's filled with laughs and a lot of fun. :)

Miss Vicky

03-13-25, 10:43 AM

106052
Nomination #19

Noises Off... (1992, Peter Bogdanovich)
Nominated By Gbgoodies

Deadline to Watch It: March 16, 7:30 p.m. PDT

gbgoodies

03-14-25, 02:01 AM

Takoma11

03-15-25, 09:08 PM

I chose Noises Off... (1992) because it's a very funny movie with a fantastic cast. My favorite scenes are the backstage scenes, after we've seen the first act from the audience's point of view, when we get to see the cast really shine as the characters deal with their issues backstage while the play is being performed on stage. They have to keep quiet so they don't disturb the performance and it just becomes complete chaos. :lol:

I really hope that I can find room for this movie on my list. It's one of my favorite comedies.

Ooh, I love Noises Off. The cast is excellent. I'm not the biggest fan of the framing device and the voiceover, but the dedication to the physical comedy makes it such a fun watch.

Here's my review from a little while back:

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Famblin.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F05%2Fnoises_off_1992_hero-1920x1080.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=bbd430201b23bc61aa62b3f047f33bf5db336112ba47d8fae15ee4ca422ccc11&ipo=images

Noises Off!, 1992

In this adaptation of Michael Frayn’s stage play, director Lloyd (Michael Caine) must try to salvage a disastrous farce starring a former star (Carol Burnett), her current flame (John Ritter), a spacey actress (Nicollette Sheridan), a sensitive actor (Christopher Reeves), an elderly alcoholic (Denholm Elliott), and more. Assisted by an overworked stage manager (Julie Hagerty) and an under-rested handyman (Mark Linn-Baker), every attempt at a run-through is met with one disaster or another.

A bit cramped by an unnecessary voice over, the performances and mile-a-minute physical comedy make this a winning comedy.

Adapting a play into a film can sometimes leave you with something that sounds overly written and “stage-y”. That is a bit of a problem here---and particularly in the unnecessary voice over that runs through the whole film---but the game cast and a steady stream of quality comedy takes the edge off.

The actors are what really make this film work, and it’s hard to pick out just one person because they are all fantastic. I’m not the biggest fan of Michael Caine, but for the most part he captures someone who is both completely exasperated with a shambles of a play, but also appreciative of the humor and talent of his cast. John Ritter is probably the best in terms of having a distinct character who we then see ACTING in the play. As far as portraying someone acting, it’s pretty interesting. Hagerty is great as the put-upon Poppy, and Linn-Baker’s exhaustion-delirious Tim--who is also called on to work as a stunt double--gives another level to the on-stage madness. Reeves, whose character has just been left by his wife, brings a vulnerability and sweetness to his role that balances the ego-centrism of some of the other characters. And while she doesn’t get as many punchlines, Marliu Henner grounds the action as the in-play wife of Reeves’ character.

There’s a whole subgenre of “plays gone wrong”---there’s even a “Goes Wrong” TV show---and this film gets the mix just right in terms of prop failures, cast errors, and real life intruding into the on-stage dynamics. The film cleverly structures what we see, so that we know how scenes are meant to play out and then can fully understand the various mishaps and how the cast adapt to them in the moment. The play-within-the-play is decently funny on its own, so even when there isn’t anything going wrong it’s entertaining. There’s physical comedy built into the play (like Reeves accidentally gluing himself to a plate of sardines), and then layered on with the comedy of errors as things go on.

I’ve already mentioned the unfortunate voice-over, which feels intrusive and overly expository. The other downside for me was the relationship between Lloyd and Poppy. Caine is 22 years Hagerty’s senior, and in the context of the film he’s also her boss. This isn’t terrible when they have a winking, co-conspirator thing happening at the beginning. But as the film goes on, Lloyd just outright yells and belittles Poppy in a pretty nasty way, not caring when she’s physically injured trying to follow his directions. It feels, you know, abusive. And while it’s true that there’s this arc about Lloyd realizing he needs to be nicer to Poppy, I never felt great about their relationship and the power dynamics around it. There’s also something kind of bland and predictable about mainly using Sheridan’s role to have her running around in lingerie for the whole time. She doesn’t feel like a real character, even with how exaggerated some of the other characters are, and it feels like pandering to the male gaze in a way that’s a bit sad. Sheridan makes the most of it---including some good physical comedy around a lost contact lens---but on the whole it feels like the character is grossly underwritten.

For me, this is a great film to put on when I just need something silly. A great effort from the cast building on a solid script makes for a good time.

4

Holden Pike

03-16-25, 01:10 AM

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Peter Bogdanovich's Noises Off!, adapted from the 1982 play, is a classic farce, deconstructed. Farce is a stage genre unto itself, not just a comedy but one full of physical gags built around mistaken identities and misunderstandings, all played at an exaggerated, over-the-top pitch. Most of the early classic Marx Brothers movies are all farcical plots, Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not To Be (1942), Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959), and perhaps the easiest, purest example is Frank Capra's Arsenic & Old Lace (1944). The play-within-the-play in Noises Off! is a fictional British piece called Nothing On, a single-set bit of mayhem at a cottage involving an old housekeeper, two different sets of couples, and a burglar, all of whom initially believe they are the only ones in the house, with nearly identical sets of luggage and plates of sardines being the props that keep disappearing and reappearing. It is all about fast-paced timing, with essentially each time a door closes and a character exits another one opens bringing somebody else back on stage.

We see only the first act of this play performed, but three different times. The first is the final dress rehearsal, the night before the initial out-of-town opening in Des Moines, Iowa. Michael Caine plays the director of the play and we meet the cast as their on stage and off-stage characters. Carol Burnett is the veteran star, playing the housekeeper, John Ritter and Nicollette Sheridan play the first couple, a real estate agent pretending the house is his for an illicit afternoon rendezvous, Christopher Reeve and Marliu Henner are the second couple, the rightful owners who are attempting to lay low as they dodge a large tax payment, and Denholm Elliott is the burglar. There is also a stage manager, Julie Haggerty, and a stage hand, Mark Lin-Baker. As they suffer through the dress rehearsal we also learn that Burnett and Ritter's characters are having a backstage love affair, and Caine is trying to woo Sheridan, though Haggerty is his ex. Oh, and Elliott's character is a notorious drunk.

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That first time through the first act we learn the basic moves each character is supposed to make on stage, as well as the personality flaws of each actor that may prevent them from performing well. The second time through it is months later in Miami and we watch things unfold mostly backstage, but the various romantic entanglements have shifted causing tension and outright sabotage, leading to a performance that mostly seems to come off if you were an audience member but is a mess behind the set, with all of the jealous actions having to be done almost entirely without dialogue, since the play is running. Our third time through Act One is in Cleveland, the final stop before the Broadway opening, and we watch mostly from the audience perspective. But this time absolutely everything goes wrong.

Farce is intended to be played way over-the-top, and especially in the Miami performance it is cranked up even higher due to the condition of silence backstage, with even more cartoonish miming. If you like this style of comedy, which in its distilled, dumbest-down form would be a typical "Three's Company" sitcom episode, you will likely go with it and find the sight gags and frantic pace to be amusing. If you require a more modern sensibility this will likely be torture. Each character, by design, is only a two-dimensional archetype, and that goes for both the on-stage and off-stage versions of each character. There is more mugging going on than a New York City subway car in the 1970s.

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Peter Bogdanovich had one of the most impressive beginnings to a career in Hollywood history, starting with his sly and clever Targets (1968), a Roger Corman quicky that is much more than the sum of its parts, then the back-to-back-to-back smash successes of The Last Picture Show (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972), and Paper Moon (1973), three masterpieces. As seemingly easy and surefire as those three projects had been, his next three were unmitigated disasters - financially, critically, and artistically. While he never again matched the success of those first three flicks, he had minor ups and downs in the 1980s and into the 1990s, interrupted by a tragedy when his girlfriend Dorothy Stratten was infamously and brutally murdered.

Noises Off! is nowhere near the bottom of his filmography with the true duds like Daisy Miller (1974), At Long Last Love (1975), or Illegally Yours (1988), but it sure ain't Paper Moon, either. The deconstruction element of Noises Off! is very clever and fun if you see it performed live, but the film version is a bit doomed to be flatter, with things like cutting to close ups distracting from the pace, not quickening nor enhancing it. Which isn't to say it isn't fun, it just isn't the kind of sustained insanity of What's Up, Doc? or the classic farces and bygone Screwball comedies.

106132

Holden Pike

03-16-25, 09:46 AM

Some more screencaps...
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Yoda

03-16-25, 11:03 AM

Noises Off is great fun. Cannot recommend it enough.

And if you love that, you should definitely checkout "The Play That Goes Wrong" in one or all of its various incarnations. It's a stage play, setup like a bog standard locked room murder mystery, except that's only the ostensible premise: the actual premise is that the production-within-the-production goes horribly awry in lots of creative and inventive ways. Some you'll see coming...some you definitely will not.

You can see it live off-Broadway (fantastic in person), or you can find videos of various television adaptations. Not of the play directly, but the same idea across other faux plays. You might want to start with the initial special, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, which is free (!) on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H1UjfpPf48
(It will probably make you watch it on YouTube directly, in which case, you can click here (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6H1UjfpPf48).)

This was such a hit they ordered a show based on the premise, naturally titled The Goes Wrong Show, which ran for 12 episodes over two seasons. All the episodes are good, and some (like the courtroom drama) are actually better than the special that spawned them.

Robert the List

03-16-25, 02:52 PM

I'll probably get a telling off for this, but other recommended films involving plays:

A list
Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
Floating Weeds (1959)
The Travelling Players (1975)

B list
Twentieth Century (1934)
Les Enfants du Paradise (1945)
Le Dernier Metro (1980)

Miss Vicky

03-16-25, 05:13 PM

106147

Noises Off
(Peter Bagdonovich, 1992)

Comedies in general are not really my thing. Sometimes they can work. If there's a good romance involved or some other kind of emotional glue holding it together or even if it's just so out there and bizarre that it can't help but be amusing, then it's got a chance at working for me. But slapstick? No. Just no. It's not for me and neither is this movie.

1.5

Miss Vicky

03-16-25, 11:31 PM

Takoma11 will choose the next movie.

Miss Vicky

03-17-25, 10:36 AM

106167
Nomination #20

Gattaca (1997, Andrew Niccol)
Nominated By Takoma11

Deadline to Watch It: March 20, 7:30 p.m. PDT

Thief

03-17-25, 12:02 PM

Gattaca is pretty good, but could've been so much better. I feel that the conflict between Ethan Hawke and his brother is never properly fleshed out, as opposed to his relationship with Jude Law (plus Law is terrific in his role). Once they pushed JL aside to dedicate the last act to the brothers, it sorta fizzles out. I had it in the periphery of my list, but there are too many great films with no issues for me to include one that I struggle with.

Thief

03-17-25, 12:17 PM

Ok, I know I'm not participating in this, but since I already shared my thoughts on Gattaca, why not some of the others?

1. Clay Pigeons (1998, David Dobkin) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2523284#post2523284)
Nominated By: Miss Vicky

This the Vince Vaughn one? I know I saw it, remember liking it, but it's been 20+ years. I don't remember it at all.

2. Citizen X (1995, Chris Gerolmo) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2524363#post2524363)
Nominated By: Wrinkled Mind

I think I might've shared my thoughts on this one, if not here, somewhere else on MoFo, but here's my Letterboxd review (https://letterboxd.com/thief12/film/citizen-x/). I'm a fan and who knows? It might or might not pop up on my list.

8. Sleepy Hollow (1999, Tim Burton) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2530863#post2530863)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

Saw it back in the day but didn't really resonate with me. Haven't seen it since.

10. Heavenly Creatures (1994, Peter Jackson) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2532666#post2532666)
Nominated By Thursday Next

This is the other end of the spectrum. I saw this back in the 90s, even before Jackson did Lord of the Rings, and I loved it. It's a film that has really stuck with me and I recommend it often. I haven't seen it in a long time and I can still feel it under my skin. I should really revisit it.

11. The Last Boy Scout (1991, Tony Scott) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2533741#post2533741)
Nominated By John W Constantine

Big fan of this one. Saw it in theaters back in the day and remember I was blown away by the opening (no pun intended) and the film overall. I used to see it often back then, but then sorta drifted away. Revisited it a while ago and thought it held up nicely.

13. Election (1999, Alexander Payne) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2535788#post2535788)
Nominated By WrinkledMind

Big, big fan of this one. Another one that I saw back in the day and I liked it a lot. Revisited it a couple of years ago and whoosh! I was surprised how much it improved, even though I already liked it; not only as far as the comedy goes, but as far as the tragedy and the drama it presents. Here's my Letterboxd review (https://letterboxd.com/thief12/film/election/), but this one has a high HIGH probability of featuring on my list.

18. Romper Stomper (1992, Geoffrey Wright) (https://www.movieforums.com/community/showthread.php?anchor=1&p=2541561#post2541561)
Nominated By Miss Vicky

I own this one on VHS. Remember it was a blind buy back in the 90s, mostly because Crowe was the talk of the town after L.A. Confidential, and people kept bringing up this film. I'm not as big a fan of it, which you can see on this review (https://letterboxd.com/thief12/film/romper-stomper/) from when I last rewatched it, but Crowe is pretty good in it.