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I've got a hunch that my three year old nephew is not going to sit through Being There, Dark City, The Tree of Life or The Hunt and I'm not about to watch Quills with family of any age.
Could rewatch Pretty Baby





The Tree of Life was very divisive when the film first came out and watching the film at home on a small screen I think the film loses much of it's impact. Terrence Mallick is attempting to say something greater giving us a non-linear glimpses into the memories of a child from a middle-aged Sean Penn.


Brad Pitt is excellent in this as a young domineering father of three boys trying to raise them right while dealing with his own hypocrisy's.Watching this film I kept thinking is this a great film or a great collection of screen saver images. It looks beautiful, but a part of me wishes we wouldn't have had the jump in time to the Penn years.





The Tree of Life was very divisive when the film first came out and watching the film at home on a small screen I think the film loses much of it's impact. Terrence Mallick is attempting to say something greater giving us a non-linear glimpses into the memories of a child from a middle-aged Sean Penn.


Brad Pitt is excellent in this as a young domineering father of three boys trying to raise them right while dealing with his own hypocrisy's.Watching this film I kept thinking is this a great film or a great collection of screen saver images. It looks beautiful, but a part of me wishes we wouldn't have had the jump in time to the Penn years.
I guess this is tough movie to rate because I have no clue what ANYONE thinks (except neiba who seemed to love it).





The Breakfast Club(1985) Man I love John Hughes films, they just strip away all the BS and try and get at the heart of life. I think you learn more about human nature watching this than Tree of Life, it certainly moved quicker. Hughes takes seven people and locks them in a building and allows them to pontificate over their lives.



It's kinda crazy to watch this again years later and look at the performances. Judd Nelson gets the majority of the screen time but Anthony Michael Hall and Ally Sheedy do so much more with less. It's also interesting to watch Bender as a man in my 30's versus as a teenager as you realize Bender kinda sucks.






Moonstruck is shall we say "inspired" by 50's Italian melodramas, a widowed woman in her late thirties agrees to marry a man, the man has to go to Italy to be with his dying mother. His one wish to his fiancee is that she meets up and invites his brother a baker who is about 20 years younger than everyone else in the film. I appreciate that this is a romantic film that covers a group of people often overlooked by mainstream Hollywood, I suspect that is why the film received such a big award push.


Parts of the film were very strong, the "moon" scene is a classic that has real whimsy to it. John Mahoney is also a stand out it what is basically a cameo performance. It's somewhat unfortunate that the romance between Perry and Rose was less the focus of the story than the triangle of Loretta, Ronny, and Johnny. We sadly only get glimpses of these more interesting stories the main one was just a drag for me.


It's also sad when you look back and realize this film received so much award attention over truly great films and timeless genre classics because they were sadly "genre" films (Fatal Attraction, Leathal Weapon, Robocop). It's also something to be said when a Jewish guys makes an Italian film and loses BP to an Italian guy making a Chinese film. Hollywood is funny that way.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
The Breakfast Club



This was my second watch of this film. I wish this was one I had watched a lot growing up but for whatever reason I never saw it till like five years ago.

Anyways it's a really good teen movie character study. I always wished people who are different and have different backgrounds could still be friends. Seems like my high school always had clicks and there were divides everywhere. I imagine it to be very similar elsewhere too.

I liked the acting and characters although admittedly there really isn't a standout to me. The directing was really on point and a nice story was told. Like all things John Hughes, the screenplay is probably the ultimate highlight here.

It's one of those gems of the 80s that always will deserve a revisit.

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The question is, do they go back to ignoring each other on Monday, or are they all of a sudden "friends".
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



The question is, do they go back to ignoring each other on Monday, or are they all of a sudden "friends".

Well four of them are banging...I just want to see what Claire's relationship with Bender would end up looking like today. Because Bender is definitely a verbally abusive d.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Well four of them are banging...I just want to see what Claire's relationship with Bender would end up looking like today. Because Bender is definitely a verbally abusive d.
It's the classic question of what happens to the relationship after the rom-com is over. Do those relationships actually work out? My money is on...no.



Is Breakfast Club a Rom-com or Dramedy? I mean I think the heart of the film is a group of seven people at different stages of existential crisis.


Hughes definitely missed the boat by not having Wallace Shawn as the janitor



Well four of them are banging...I just want to see what Claire's relationship with Bender would end up looking like today. Because Bender is definitely a verbally abusive d.
He acts that way because he's abused. They all have issues and that's how they connect, and connecting through common inner pain often makes the strongest and most lasting relationships.



He acts that way because he's abused. They all have issues and that's how they connect, and connecting through common inner pain often makes the strongest and most lasting relationships.

Most criminals typically are...he also sleeps around, carries weapons, body shames her and slut shames her.


We might have empathy for him because of his youth but we don't know if he doesn't end up still being a terrible person.



Most criminals typically are...he also sleeps around, carries weapons, body shames her and slut shames her.


We might have empathy for him because of his youth but we don't know if he doesn't end up still being a terrible person.
Sure but he's still in his youth before many people even find their direction.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
Is Breakfast Club a Rom-com or Dramedy? I mean I think the heart of the film is a group of seven people at different stages of existential crisis.


Hughes definitely missed the boat by not having Wallace Shawn as the janitor
I wasn't insinuating that it was a rom-com, my bad. I was simply stating that most rom-coms have people "get together" and end the movie right there. We don't get to see if the relationship actually succeeds or not.

I was using that logic in that genre and applying it here.



The trick is not minding
Moonstruck 🌙

I saw this film for the first time about 4 years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m old enough to remember when it was first released and can recall the trailers that played on TV. But I hadn’t ventured into watching movies as I do now at that time, when I was about 10 I think?
Reading everyone’s reviews made me wonder if hadn’t aged so well. Ebert has added it to his list of Great Films, which is usually high praise. So, I figured I’d start with a rewatch tonight and see how it holds up 4 long years later.
Turns out I needn’t have worried. It is still just as funny and just as fresh as when I first saw it, and probably since it’s first release.
The performances are great here, even if they are caricatures. But that’s the point! It’s a comedy after all, so why play it straight? Broadcast News took itself too seriously and it was fatal to the product. Nic Cage, the tortured estranged brother, dances along the lines of over acting, but again, that’s the point. He’s supposed to be over the top.
The real star here, however, is Cher. She’s delightful in this film.
And of course, there’s New York. The night skyline perfectly illuminated by the moon that’s apparently making everyone a little more lustfull then usual. It’s during the full moon Cher and Nic first spend the night together after all.
But of course, it’s more then just the moon. It’s amore.




Being There (1979)

I'd never seen Being There before, it wasn't even on my radar and yet I was amazed by the film. I really enjoyed it. Big thanks to Siddon for nominating it and this is why I join HoFs!

Peter Sellers is just amazing in this and I loved the story of how a simple minded man was able to wow those rich & powerful people, including the President. Gives me hope I might do the same someday

I don't have a lot of critical analysis of the film. All I know is the story hooked me from the start and kept me fascinated throughout the film. Gosh, I loved seeing the Biltmore Estate, not only from the outside of the mansion but also the stunning decor inside...as well as the vista views from the window (as shown in the photo above).

There's a couple of things the director did that I didn't like: I wasn't a fan of the outtakes during the film's credits and I read that Peter Sellers himself hated those and blamed the outtakes on him not be nominating for an Oscar. I'd tend to agree. I wasn't a fan of the revised theme from 2001 A Space Odyssey being used, it was overbearing. Shirley MacClaine's self exploration while funny, didn't seem to fit the theme of the movie which was much more quiet and understated. And lastly I really disagree with the director's idea of having Peter Sellers walk on water in the last scene. For me that ruined the vision that a simple minded man could achieve happiness and greatness.

But I still really liked this, so rate it at a solid

Good nom!

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Wedding Crashers might not be a great film, but the sum of it's parts makes it an enjoyable 2 hours.The film has a lot to unpack and everyone is "funny" which is a bit of a problem in the sense that the humor is rarely grounded. However I have to say I enjoyed it, Bradley Cooper is a fantastic douche in this, one for the all-time. Christopher Walken plays the secretary of Treasury and patriarch of the family and what ends up being a surprise he's actually mentally stable(though still weird guy). Jane Seymour plays a cougar who's also crazy, though sadly her arc comes to a very quick ending.


Really the only problem with the film is the gay panic scene "tummy sticks" which has aged horribly. I wish we would have been given more of an arc with Isla Fisher as she easily steals every scene she's in. Also props to Will Ferrell for his cameo that is hilarious and the zenith for where these characters are heading.


Good nomination, I think I'm going to score this highly.