GBGoodies 2015 Movie Logbook

No. I'm starting a new post for my February Movies list, and linking to it in the first post of this thread. I'm going to do this for each month so the first page doesn't get too long.

I'll try to remember to link each month's list to the rest of the months to make it easy to get to each list.

Oh....that makes good sense, I hadn't thought of that. So you're doing an index to your movie log. I could see how that's helpful as every time I go through my movie review thread to find a link it takes forever.

Yeah, I started doing it at the beginning just to keep a count of how many movies I watched, but I decided as long as I was doing it, I may as well include links to each movie's post too.

My friend who gets my DVDs for me watched That Funny Feeling, and she liked it a lot. I'll get it Friday night and watch it Saturday.

Foxcatcher (2014) - I watched this movie because it was nominated for several Academy Awards, and because I've read several very good reviews of this movie. Other than that, the only things that I knew about it before watching it were that it stars Channing Tatum and Steve Carell, and it had something to do with Olympic wrestling.

This is the story of how US wrestler Mark Schultz, (Channing Tatum), and his brother Dave, (Mark Ruffalo), met John du Pont, (Steve Carell). It's about how the two brothers joined Team Foxcatcher to train for the Olympics, and how their relationship with du Pont turned to tragedy.

I know this movie has been getting a lot of great reviews, and it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Screenplay, but I can't imagine why. With the exception of the last five minutes of the movie, this was one of the most boring movies that I've ever seen. The three stars of the movie were practically unrecognizable, but kind of in a cartoonish way. I felt like I was watching three gorillas acting in this movie. (And just for the record, I watched this movie with someone who watches wrestling, both WWE and Olympics, and he said it was extremely boring too.)

I have no idea what anyone sees in this movie, so if you have any interest in this movie, make your own decision if you want to give it a try, but I considered it to be a complete waste of time.

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I like that review! Because despite all of the films awards, you were gutsy and said what you though about it.

It doesn't sound like a film I want to watch either.

What'd you think of Carell's performance? Aren't people raving about it?

Downhill Racer (1969) - This is the second Olympics-themed movie that I watched today, and this was clearly the better of the two movies.

When a skier is injured, David Chappellet, (Robert Redford), has a chance to join the U.S. Ski Team. Chappellet is a loner who is so focused on becoming an Olympic Champion that he alienates the team's coach Eugene Claire, (Gene Hackman), and the other members of the team. Coach Claire is concerned because Chappellet is unpredictable, and his style can be dangerous to the other skiers.

This movie is great because it's not just about skiing. It's about the characters. It's about the ups and downs this arrogant man goes through to try to achieve his dream. It's about the tension he causes amongst his teammates, with his coach, and even with his girlfriend. There are some exciting downhill skiing scenes throughout the movie, and it all builds up to a dramatic conclusion. The movie is a bit slow at times, but both Gene Hackman and Robert Redford make this movie worth seeing.

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Steve Carell's performance was okay, but I don't think it's as great as everyone is saying it is. I don't know anything about the real John du Pont, but I read that Carell studied film footage of du Pont, so maybe that's why people are raving about his performance. Maybe if you know enough about the man he was portraying, it makes the performance more realistic, but without that comparison, I found him very cartoonish.

The makeup and prosthetics used to make him look like du Pont made him look more like a gorilla with a big nose. All three of the main character were bulked up and looked like they were on steroids. It gave them all an almost inhuman feeling while watching them, and it was very distracting throughout the movie.

Thanks. I'll try to catch the movie eventually.

Ouch, tough review on Foxcatcher, not that I've seen it, but I want to. I'm concerned what you'll think of my 6th HoF nom, not that it's like Foxcatcher, but I think I've got a decent read on what you like.

I wanted to see Foxcatcher because it was getting some great reviews, and I like all three of the actors who star in the movie, but I knew before I watched it that it had something to do with Olympic wrestling, which I don't like. But I watched it with hubby because he likes wrestling, and he hated Foxcatcher too.

I wouldn't worry about my opinion of your HoF nomination if I were you. If I don't like it, it will probably win the HoF.

Die! Die! My Darling! aka Fanatic (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movie list. It didn't sound like my type of movie, but it was recommended by a few people, and it has a good cast, so I decided to give it a chance.

Patricia Carroll, (Stefanie Powers), goes to London to get married, and while she's there, she visits Mrs. Trefoile, (Tallulah Bankhead), the mother of her deceased former fiancé Stephen. Once she's there, she finds out that Mrs. Trefoile is a very religious woman who blames Patricia for her son's death, and won't let her leave because the "second" marriage is a sin.

The movie is okay, but it's nothing special. The story has potential, but it never really feels as suspenseful as it should. In addition to Mrs. Trefoile being insane, the servants who help her, and the gardener, (Donald Sutherland), who Patricia tries to get help from, all seem to be "slow". The only normal people in the movie are Patricia and her current fiancé, Alan, but he's not in most of the movie. This causes the movie to lack any feeling of real danger.

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Nightmare Castle (1965) - This is another movie that I watched for the upcoming 1965 movie list. It didn't sound like my kind of movie, but again, it was recommended by a few people, and after watching the previous movie, it seemed like it would make a good double-feature.

A sadistic man, (Paul Muller), tortures and murders his unfaithful wife, (Barbara Steele), and her lover, (Giuseppe Addobbati). After he remarries, his new wife, (also Barbara Steele), experiences nightmares when the ghosts return to seek revenge.

This is an Italian movie, but the version that I watched was dubbed. As expected, it wasn't really my kind of movie, but it's a pretty decent horror movie. It has some scary moments, and the music gives the movie a haunting feeling.

While it's not my cup of tea, I would recommend this movie for most horror movie fans.

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Wow, gbgoodies, I saw Die! Die! My Darling! at the drive-in when I was a kid. I've not seen it since but some things still remain fixed in my mind, especially Donald Sutherland as the "slow" gardener, and of course the ridiculously hot Stefanie Powers. I may have been a kid but I wasn't immune to her, um, "charms."

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3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) - I watched this movie because Honeykid challenged me to watch one film made by each of the six main Friends, and because Citizen Rules recommended this movie for the Courtney Cox film.

A group of Elvis Presley impersonators, including ex-cons Michael, (Kurt Russell) and Murphy, (Kevin Costner), plan to rob a Las Vegas hotel during an Elvis convention. On the way to Vegas, Michael meets Cybil (Courteney Cox), and her son Jesse, (David Kaye). The plan goes awry when the group of robbers start to argue about how much each person will get from the heist, and eventually Cybil and Jesse get involved, throwing a bigger wrench into the works.

This is one of the movies with a great cast that makes you think it will be a good movie, but in the end, it lets you down hard. It's not really a bad movie, but it's not good either. It's a very violent movie, but that's to be expected from this type of movie. It has some good action scenes, some interesting plot twists, and some very funny stuff to watch during the end credits, but overall it's not one of the better heist movies.

If you're looking for a good heist movie, look elsewhere, but if you're just looking for a silly, guilty pleasure type of movie, then you might want to give this a try.

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Whoops, I didn't know it was a really violent film, it didn't seem like it would be.

It wasn't a lot of graphic violence, and I watched it expecting to see some violence, so it wasn't too bad. I don't even think the amount of violence actually skewed my rating at all. It's just not a very good movie.

Not surprised that you didn't like 3000 Miles to Graceland. I loved it when I saw it at the movies, and liked it a little less when I saw it a couple years ago. So you have to watch a movie that stars each cast member from Friends?

Kissing a Fool (1998) - This is another movie that I watched because Honeykid challenged me to watch one film made by each of the six main Friends. This movie with David Schwimmer sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try.

Jay, (Jason Lee), is a neurotic novelist who has been best friends with Max, (David Schwimmer), a womanizing sportscaster, since childhood. Jay sets up Max with his editor Samantha, (Mili Avital), and they quickly get engaged. When Max starts to wonder if Samantha will be faithful, he decides to test her loyalty by asking Jay to hit on her, and see what happens.

This is a cute romantic comedy, but it's very predictable. Anyone who doesn't see the ending coming from the very beginning of the movie just isn't paying attention. Having said that, it's not a bad movie, but it's not a good movie either. David Schwimmer is not believable as a womanizer, and none of the characters have much chemistry together.

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