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I regret waiting so long to see this movie. Joe is a great companion piece to my all time favorite movie Taxi Driver.

In Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle is "God's Lonely Man." It is a film of loneliness of a man isolated in New York City. He is a Vietnam vet suffering from the effects of the war and he spirals into a deep dark place leading to a final act of violence.

Joe is kinda similar. Only now we got a duo. Joe and Bill are two older men. Bill is a rich ad exec and Joe is a working class stiff. Bill and Joe meet on fate and share a common bond. And that bond is a bond of the old school and a loathing of the new Hippie generation. And none of this peace and love stuff, the ugly side. The drugs, the pushing, the dope dealing, etc. And the two strike up an unlikely friendship.

Where Taxi Driver was one man versus the scum of New York City, this movie was generation against generation. And each generation had it's representatives. Joe and Bill on one side, and several young hippies on the other. And a young Susan Sarandon (Bill's daughter) and several hippie friends on the other side. One gets killed by Bill, his daughters boyfriend who has been stringing her out on heroin and speed. Susan finds out and runs away, Bill and Joe got to get her back.

Both films are a reflection of their eras, both deal with disaffected members of society, both are headed by great lead performances (De Niro and Peter Boyle respectively) and both movies are "slow burners." Movies that are real sticks of dynamite. Slow to burn, but end with an explosion. And both end with big acts of violence. One is more ambiguous on how to feel about the violence. Joe... not so much. You will see.

Now Mark F is on record as saying he prefers Joe to Taxi Driver. I can't say that. It is my all time favorite movie. But Joe is a great movie. I really enjoyed it. Thanks Mark!




Madness is the emergency exit…
Desierto (2015)



After their truck breaks down, a group of undocumented Mexican workers tries to cross the border but they get caught in a 'most Dangerous Game' scenario orchestrated by a psychotic American sniper (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan).




The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010)



Robert David Mitchell's debut doesn't aggrandize the cinematic youth so much as winkingly use it as a structure to house his keener, more interesting observations. With It Follows growing on me after a second viewing and this new understanding and appreciation of Mitchell's work, here's hoping he's not the next spry indie darling recruited for a heartless blockbuster. He should be sitting pretty in the era of Stranger Things and John Green adaptations, even if those comparisons don't quite do him justice.

My one caveat lies in his philosophy on promiscuity. The careful consideration he lends most core characters doesn't really extend to people who can enjoy sex without love. This is most heavily implied with the mean spirited closeup of the ink on the girl on the float's arm, the formerly "wise elder" type girl with the toe ring getting plowed senseless in the hatchback for her final spot, and the horror device that drives It Follows. This through line leaves kind of a sour taste in my mouth, but I'll reserve my judgment. Maybe it's for the kids.

http://boxd.it/bEA3T

I've been doing more watching than reviewing lately. How lazy of me.
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Frozen (2013)




Captain Fantastic - It's got mixed reviews but I thought it was very well done. The third act is a flaw as it doesn't seem in keeping with the rest of the film and at first I thought it may have even been a dream sequence. But there are some truly remarkable performances which captivated me throughout. 8/10




matt72582's Avatar
Please Quote/Tag Or I'll Miss Your Responses
Joe - 8/10

I read the comments here, so I saw it.
WARNING: "Joe" spoilers below
I was expecting a murder quickly, and something crazy at the end, but I didn't think guess it.


Another great overlooked movie from the 70s.. Speaking of the Taxi Driver stuff, Peter Boyle is in "Taxi Driver" - fine actor just comparing those two roles.

I knew I'd love this movie when the dad showed a liking to Joe when he asked him a question at the bar. I actually think the dad was starting to enjoy himself, but he got in this situation because of his daughter but met the wrong guy, a powder keg who brought the not so better parts of him. Reminds me of the line in "In Cold Blood" how neither one could have done it, but with the two of them, it created a new persona, etc..







The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

I read before hand that this film was an adaptation of a novel, which unfortunately really shows. Feels like a lot of details were left out, with the main protagonists just coming to a series of epiphanies in their investigation throughout the whole film, with no real sense of how they got there.

I will say though, the storyline is gripping, the main characters are intriguing and the darkness of the events that unfold is terrifying. Sometimes the gory and gruesome details are glossed over and you seem to not be as appalled as you think you should when retrospectively thinking, but other scenes will have your toes curling and wondering if the actor/actress ever had the guts to watch it back.

7/10 from me.
you should watch the original!
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Britney is my favorite



"I smell sex and candy here" - Marcy Playground
Your ratings system is the best! Love it.
I want to see what the .75 head looks like.
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Sergeant York (1941)

+


I'm starting to like Gary Cooper more. I don't think he has a lot of star power, but he plays the every man role very well. He's great in this movie, a true story, and won his first Oscar for it. The first half is kind of a western, and then it becomes a war film. I really liked that change of pace. Cooper plays a struggling hick from Tennessee who's great with a rifle, finds religion, and then has to go fight in World War I. If anything, I'm underrating this movie.



I have to return some videotapes...
Friday the 13th (1980) -
++

Something about this film makes it hard to get it to a positive review, it's a mixture of the writing and non-subtly Cunningham directs this with and the performances aren't much to ride home about either. I do love the score though.
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Vertigo (1958)
rewatch

Now, I have only one movie poster in my room and that's a Vertigo poster... I really prayed that I did still like this movie or I'd have to take it down.

Thankfully, Vertigo is still a masterful film. Don't know if it's Hitchcock's masterpiece, but it's great cinema for sure - not without flaws, but almost perfect. A few things here and there as well as the final 10 seconds or so is the only thing that bothers me (that ending felt forced, rushed, unbelievable and tacked on - not the final twist, I like that, especially because I had somehow forgotten it. A twist must be pretty good if the director can make you fall for it twice, huh? - anyways, it was the very last thing that happened, which I really didn't like).

Apart from that, pretty damn great still. And no matter the techical and "cinematically correct" aspects, I seem to just really enjoy this on a personal level. So.......