20th Hall of Fame

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With the movie for the album, The Wall, that it comes from coming out in '82, we did get some radio airplay for this and a couple of others - especially Another Brick in the Wall that was on heavy rotation, here in the Detroit, MI area. The album itself came out around '79 so for a lot of us in high school at the time, it was a staple album to get high to. And a film to get REALLY high to. lol
See that's what I though. I mean Hey You is still being played on classic rock stations all the time. Well, you'll get why I asked after you've seen the movie.



I liked The Florida Project, because - as messed up as they were - those characters felt real to me. Hated Raging Bull.
How were the characters in the Squid and the Whale real and incomplete? To me they all seemed like pretty interesting and complex characters (besides Frank).



Blood Diamond



This was my second time seeing this after first watching it about 3 years ago with my wife. We both liked it a lot, but it didn't really stick with me. We all watch a lot of movies though and not every good one will stay in our minds. Falsewriter had recommended it to me as he was a big fan of Director Edward Zwick (Glory, Courage Under Fire).

Hollywood action/adventure/thriller meets real life horror can be tough to pull off but this movie does it well. Cheesy moments were few and far between. Leo DiCaprio's accent was distracting at first but I easily got used to it. He's the star and he was good, as was the rest of the cast. The best part of the movie to me is Solomon trying to make his family whole again. This movie would never be a big favorite of mine but it's well made and entertaining. It should do pretty well.

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How were the characters in the Squid and the Whale real and incomplete? To me they all seemed like pretty interesting and complex characters (besides Frank).
They all struck me as being very one note/one dimensional. Linney's character had no discernible personality at all and Daniels was just an arrogant prick from start to finish. As for the kids, the older one did little more than try to emulate his prick father and the younger one just seemed off. I suppose the older one did exhibit some growth by the end (though it was too little too late for me to care) but the others just seemed to stagnate where they were.




How were the characters in the Squid and the Whale real and incomplete? To me they all seemed like pretty interesting and complex characters (besides Frank).
They all struck me as being very one note/one dimensional. Linney's character had no discernible personality at all and Daniels was just an arrogant prick from start to finish. As for the kids, the older one did little more than try to emulate his prick father and the younger one just seemed off. I suppose the older one did exhibit some growth by the end (though it was too little too late for me to care) but the others just seemed to stagnate where they were.

Interesting. I don’t see that, but to each his own. To me both parents are static but still complex and believable characters.



Maybe we should wait on Music Man for next week . I ordered it from my library but I'm 7th priority so it might take a while.
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Maybe we should wait on Music Man for next week . I ordered it from my library but I'm 7th priority so it might take a while.
We could wait forever. I’d be fine with that. My library already has it on hold for me but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick it up.





Ghostbusters (Ivan Reitman, 1984)
Imdb

Date Watched: 10/08/19
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: 20th MoFo Hall of Fame, nominated by Siddon
Rewatch: Yes.


I don't really have a lot to say about this one. I watched it a lot as a kid and so it's heavy on the nostalgia factor for me. It's a very entertaining movie - though in a rather different way than it was back when I was too young and innocent to get the innuendo - and it features some very memorable scenes.

The trouble is that, now that I'm not so young and innocent, I want more out of my movies than just some good laughs. I want an emotional connection with the story and its characters and Ghostbusters just doesn't deliver that. It does, however, deliver a very fun movie watching experience and I can't find any real fault with it.




The Squid and the Whale



I don't know what to make of this. I didn't like it but I didn't hate it either. My biggest problem with this is that the Dad was such an insufferable, contagious pri*k that he's teetering on being cartoonish. Having a character like that is fine if something happens to him later that either reinforces his prickishness or has some kind of redemption. Nothing like that really happens so we're just left with a pri*k with a bad ticker at the end of it. I actually didn't mind Laura Linneys character. I could at least sympathize with her. Sure, she cheats on her husband but I don't blame her. She needs some sort of escape that family. She's the only one that has anything going for them and I think she genuinely cares about the kids but she's essentially alone. The kids... not too good. Eisenberg does his "I'm the smartest guy in the room" thing for most of the movie and the youngest...jeez. There's a time and place for that. At least the youngest shows some growth by attempting to deal with his issues like an adult - get drunk and masturbate.

Baldwin was annoying.... brother (ugh)

There isn't much technically to talk about. It doesn't screw anything up but there isn't much to screw up. It's pretty straightforward. Other than the songs there was nothing about this that made me think of the 80's. The Levis shorts worn by Anna were kind of 80's but Jordache would've been better.

Like I said, I kind of liked it but I don't know why. Glad it was short. If it went any longer I would probably drop the rating as 80 minutes is all I could really handle with this group. Probably (most likely) will not watch it again but I don't feel cheated. I managed to watch the entire film without looking at the phone or messing with the cats so it didn't bore me which means this is at least a
.



Maybe we should wait on Music Man for next week . I ordered it from my library but I'm 7th priority so it might take a while.
Yeah we'll wait. The next movie I'll be watching is Blood Diamond because it's the only nom that I have ready to go.



Yeah we'll wait. The next movie I'll be watching is Blood Diamond because it's the only nom that I have ready to go.
I think I'll be focusing on slashers for a little bit since I still have quite a few films to knock off there.



The Squid and the Whale
I actually didn't mind Laura Linneys character. I could at least sympathize with her. Sure, she cheats on her husband but I don't blame her. She needs some sort of escape that family. She's the only one that has anything going for them and I think she genuinely cares about the kids but she's essentially alone.

I managed to watch the entire film without looking at the phone or messing with the cats so it didn't bore me which means this is at least a
.
I like what you said about the mom (Laura Linney). What you said makes sense, as even though she's the cheater she's also the most likeable character and she's stuck with the family from hell...so I guess she was just looking for an escape. Oh, I official checked the remaining time on the movie 3 times, though I almost always check the time even if I love the movie.



Blood Diamond 2006 Directed by Edward Zwick (Re-watch)
Great action thriller drama about the child rebel soldiers problematics and the conflict diamonds trade in Africa.
The two leading roles were performed very well and their individual backstories and story lines were interesting and engaging. The characters and their individual stories blended together quite well at the end*. (*Spoiler. Personally I would have rolled the credits after the conversation dying Archer has on the mountaintop, with the plane fading into the sunset as the final shot.)
The cinematography is on point and so are the action sequences.
Always pleasant to see Jennifer Connelly, who did a solid job in a supporting role.
Overall good entertaining re-watch, enjoyed it slightly more the second time around.

Other films about this subject that I believe are worth a watch are Johnny Mad Dog and Beasts of No Nation.



Glad to see Blood Diamond getting a positive reception so far. It’s a big personal favorite but itwas actually my second choice for a nomination. I was originally going to nominate Hotel Rwanda, but decided I couldn’t bear to obligate myself to watching something that depressing again. Not that Blood Diamond is cheery.



Glad to see Blood Diamond getting a positive reception so far. It’s a big personal favorite but itwas actually my second choice for a nomination. I was originally going to nominate Hotel Rwanda, but decided I couldn’t bear to obligate myself to watching something that depressing again. Not that Blood Diamond is cheery.
Haven't seen that but I was always interested. I like Don Cheadle a lot.