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The Big Chill (1983)
Dir.: Lawrence Kasdan




I was expecting it to be serio-drama, tearjerker...
Honestly would have not been a priority on my watchlist.. I watched the trailer & it seemed interesting... Also, saw that many people compared it to Breakfast Club.
But I would compare it more with St. Elmo's Fire.

There's no need to mention anything about the performances, they were all over the top & perfectly cast..
There were lot of things I wanted to learn more, especially about their past.. since there are no flashbacks, the only way to get it is by their interaction.. I think I might have to watch this movie again someday.

I can't say much about the ending, there were bits of it that didn't please me.

Good recommendation though, especially coz normally I might have avoided it. Also, I would recommend it to most people..

Well, I finally finished watching the movie mark f told me to go see: The Young in Heart (Wallace, 1938), a movie recommended to me as a sentimental classic. I can see that it is in some degree both of those things. First a brief synopsis.

A family of four down-on-their-luck con-artists hit some good fortune when they "rescue" a kind-hearted old heiress from a train wreck. When they're invited to stay at the old woman's stately home in (or outside of?) London they decide to try their luck "playing it straight"; finding jobs to appear on-the-level, so that they can insinuate themselves into Miss Fortune's heart and her will. In other words this is a movie about people pretending to be something they're not, who end up ironically catching what it is they pretend to have: self-respect and true love. As a final self-referential nod the patriarch of the family is a former stage actor who specialized in playing a pompously exotic British stereotype and humorously attempts to "live" the role. That character is a lot of fun.

Anyone who's seen a rom-com from the last 10 years or so should be familiar with this formula. The only thing that's missing to make it fully modern is the dénouement where-in after the deception gets revealed, the characters confess their "real" feelings in front of an on-screen audience, leading to the inevitable reconciliation in which the boundary between the theatrical and the genuine (theoretically) collapses. This movie seems odd now in how it offers an alternative to this form, perhaps because the formula hadn't become set in stone at the time this was made, though it does feature the old "tell the message of the story through a speech" device.

Overall I found it pretty sweet and (perhaps more importantly) interesting so would recommend it on those merits and wouldn't mind seeing it again. The movie features two romances with charm and chemistry. I particularly enjoyed Fairbanks' and Goddard's tête-à-têtes, though as I think about it now perhaps the most important character for the audience to understand is the old woman, who gets relatively little of the screen time but is nevertheless the "p.o.v." who observes and judges the other characters for us. The cinematography is nice with some cinematically exaggerated sets (even the desk that the son gets as an entry-level employee is wonderfully huge and opulent) and lots of shadows and reflections. There are also a couple book-end scenes where all the leads are gathered together that I found cleverly conceived and staged, and an exciting train crash, so there's plenty of entertainment.

My rating for now: -

What did you think of the Flying Wombat?

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I don't have to think, it thinks for me

Apparently not very well though, I just looked up The Phantom Corsair myself, I thought it was a made up car for the movie. Do you know if it was a marketing attempt or something they thought was a groovy and striking image to use in the car-salesman bits, or something else? Pretty cool car though, it definitely seemed to fit the overall design of the movie, to me.

THE PIANIST
Roman Polanski, 2002

Now I feel stupid for making Suspect watch Repo Man in exchange for this.

One thing about my viewing was that due to the DVD player's unusual configurations, I ended up watching the first hour of the movie without English subtitles for the German dialogue (at first I thought it was intentional). I find it interesting that I didn't find it a problem at the time, if only because of the strength of the imagery and performances. The whole film was visually arresting, supported by strong performances...the works. I think my first sentence sums it up - it was so good I feel ashamed about recommending a weird little piece of trash in exchange.

haha! well, there wasn't really that much, was there?

anyway, sometimes i feel as if i'm the only person who didn't 'get' what was so great about The Pianist. it may be because as a rule, i won't watch movies to do with the Holocaust. but either way.

No, there wasn't that much. If it happened more often I might've clicked, but nah.

The Hill (1965, Sidney Lumet)

A good, early feature from director Sidney Lumet and while it's not my favourite of his (those were released in the seventies) I would still recommend this film about a British military prison in North Africa and the usual hypocrisy and distinction of class found within institutions of authority.

Good performances by all involved, most notably Sean Connery, Harry Andrews and Ossie Davis. Lumet's direction is what can be expected in a film of his from the sixties, the camera and editing almost following the emotions of each scene, either pulling right in to each face as it rages or dragging itself up the hill and coasting back down, shaking and stumbling with the prisoners as they reach the limits of what the human body can endure.

The scene in the last half of the movie, where the Sergeant Major is addressing the entire prison population in the corridor with all his staff on hand is a classic.

Good call on the recommendation, Dex.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Repo Man (1984, Alex Cox)



Suggested by: Iroquois

I must have been getting this filmed mixed up with Maximum Overdrive because I thought it was a horror movie. Repo Man is a cult film, whose status far exceeds it's actual quality. The film left more less than thrilled with the end results. The bits of comedy are misplaced and don't really jive with the sci/fi (or lack there of) bits to it.

Harry Dean Stanton and The Might Duck (I swear to god, I was like EMILIO!!!!!) make the film more enjoyable than what it should have been. I'm a fan of 80's and this film no doubt screams that, but I just got bored by it. Which is a shame because normally I would like a film like this and I should have. I also couldn't get pass the stupid earring he wears at the beginning. It looks like it should weigh down his head.

I can't say I essentially got it, the film is out there in terms of plot and story. But it didn't really grab me at any point. Point for Iggy Pop and the theme song.

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"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews

Glad you liked the Pianist, I'd give it a

Personally, I don't know if your rating surprises me or not.

How about impersonally?

Impersonally, no.

Snow Angels (2007, Green)



I didn't really know what to expect with Snow Angels mainly because I had never heard of it AND I hadn't even seen a David Gordon Green film yet. I know George Washington is considered one of the best of the 2000's by some and it even has a Criterion release so I figured DGG has some talent.

I learned that he does fairly quickly. Snow Angels is beautifully shot (though I tend to say this about a lot of movies filmed in snowy wintry settings) and directed. The film is intertwined with stories from several local characters that are all included in the story of the ugly side to human relationships, though a story between a girlfriend and boyfriend shows the joy and light all surrounded by the mess and problems the other characters deal with.

The acting is pretty great, even Kim Beckinsale does a good enough job. Though, Sam Rockwell is incredible in this film as the drunken husband who is trying to set his life straight again after a rocky past. I think the majority of the emotional depth created in this film is thanks to Rockwell even though the ending result of the film and characters are inevitable from the start.

I thought this was a lot better than your typical indie dramas that always feel the same to me, however, Snow Angels feels a lot more real and features dialogue that is simple enough to make the film seem authentic.

Overall, Snow Angels is a rough, and depressing watch but I found it to also be a very rewarding experience.

73/100

Awesome, I thought you would like it. I can't really find a bad Sam Rockwell performance, he has easily become one of my favorite actors over the years.

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If I had a dollar for every existential crisis I've ever had, does money really even matter?

George Washington (2000)
Director: David Gordon Green

I'd start off by saying that this movie has a brilliant combination of a Beautiful & Calm cinematography & a decent score to go with it, but that's not all. The narration makes it even more poetic.

The feeling I got while watching the movie was as if I was reading one of those novels that make you imagine the entire scene down to it's tiniest detail.

The performances were decent enough to help the story move ahead.
Through out the film I kept no expectations in the story, I didn't care if I was getting poetic twist ending or even an ambiguous one.

One just gets captured by the imagery of a dull town & the rather dull lives of it's residents.

A very immersive film.

The Silent Partner (1979)




Before getting to my review of this flick i have to air out one of my pet peeves. Why, oh why do studios insist on the bait and switch when it comes to DVD releases and cover art?

The above image is a cross between resevoir dogs and ocean 11.

Silent Partner couldnt be further removed from those "heist" flicks.

Having lived in the Toronto area for 20 odd years, the sight of Movie crews set up all over the place was a weekly occurance. Its weird to say, but it took a little getting used to the fact that Toronto was well .. Toronto.

Elliot Gould plays a geeky Bank teller who catches wind that a robbery attempt is forthcoming. It's christmas time at the mall, and his window services the cash deposits of the merchants. (for the youngsters , inter-ac wasn't born yet, and credit cards weren't that commen).

Seeing an opportunity to escape his hum-drum existance, he squrrels away the majority of the cash from his drawer , so when the bandit appears (a menacing Christopher Plummer in a Sally Ann Santa outfit) he gives him a couple grand, before pressing the silent alarm.

The next hour and a half is a cat and mouse between the downright scary Plummer who wants his money, and will go to any lengths to get it, and Gould.

I don't want to give any more away, as this is reccomended viewing for any fans of heist genre.

Thanks Mark.

Also i should mention when Mark first suggested this, the only name recognition that i had was of a young John Candy in a dramatic role, , that i had caught during a biography segment on him.

The Candy role is small, and quite frankly inconsequential, still was neat seeing him in his pre-SCTV days.

The film was written by Curtis Hanson, who went to great success with LA Confidential.

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"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." - Michelangelo.

OK Dex, After Innocence (Jessica Sanders, 2005) arrived and I watched it twice. It's a well-made Showtime documentary about prisoners who have been convicted of srimes which eventual DNA testing proved they never could have committed them. Most of the crimes seem to involve rape and the victim eyewitness. However, there are about 150 "convicts" who have been released, in one case after 22 years in prison, and although their prayers have been answered in that regard, most all still have not had their criminal records expunged and have not been given any recompense from the states for being wrongfully incarcerated and taken away from their families and a chance at normal life.


The film tells an important story and is compelling although it's mostly done in a no-frills presentation. Barry Schreck, who is co-founder of Project Innocence, was O.J. Simpson's DNA attorney at his murder trial, so I'm not sure if that will affect anyone's feelings about this film, but he seems very sincere here. The prosecutors and judges shown are mostly good people and willing to do what's right, but one prosecutor in Florida seems to believe that the DNA proof shouldn't matter if an eyewitness identified the accused. He seems pissed that he has to remove a head from his office wall and admit that he was wrong.

What you mostly take away from the film is that this kind of nightmare could happen to anyone and that there are undoubtedly hundreds or thousands more innocent people languishing in jail because they either never had any DNA evidence available or it's been somehow destroyed or lost. These people are a sobering slap to reality to every serious person who deals with the justice system, and that's basically everybody. Another thing to remember is that some of these cases involve a kidnapping or murder so that some people have probably been put to death because there was no testing available which could have exonerated them.


As far as my rating goes, I give it , but it's an important film so I can easily understand why others would rate it much higher if only for the social significance of what it presents.

Suicide Kings (1997)
Peter O'Fallon

sorry for the delay. i honestly forgot who told me to watch this. was it you, Dex? i know i could go and look, but i can't be bothered.

i had high hopes for this film. it's got an excellent cast, afterall. however, i've gotta admit it - i was pretty disappointed. it starts off awesome. the opening scenes were intruiging and intense. but once the plot was revealed, i slowly started to lose interest. not because the premise was weak, but i found the execution to be on the bland side. Suicide Kings tries to come off as a playful drama (wikipedia describes it as a "neo-noir/comedy-drama film"), but the dialouge seemed forced. i think they skipped the part where you're supposed to build character development - instead, they throw in a couple extra lines of back-story and all the scenes that try to show a group of guys who have a bond unique to kids who grew up together and shared their childhood together wasn't appreciated, at least not by me. it got lost on me. most disappointing of all was Christopher Walken's character. he truly seemed bored to even be there.

is the movie all bad? no, not really. i lol'ed a few times, and the fast pace is consistent and keeps you moving right along. i also can't say that i was bored. despite my disappointment, i was interested enough to wonder how it'd all turn out - but that ended up being the biggest disappointment of all.

anyway, overall, i'd say Suicide Kings is entertaining and mindless, which most would say isn't a bad thing. i don't want to be nitpicky, but i'm afraid i am being just that when i take issue with a movie like this.

good try, Dex (Dex? you are my partner this round, right? lol), and don't feel too bad, because i've been wanting to see it, anyway.

geez i went 0-2 in suggestions this week.

also, i'll have my review up in a few days. There was a SNAFU with the copy I rented.

apparently the guy before who had the copy before me pulled a fast one by switching the disc with a different region disc, anyways they said it will be a couple of days.