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I forgot the opening line.

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Hounds of Love - (2016)

David and Catherine Birnie were couple of serial killers who operated not far from where I lived growing up - by the time they were caught they were torturing, raping and killing a woman (or girl) a week. Needless to say, they received much attention at the time - 1986. I have mixed feelings about a film being made which is based on their crimes. On the one hand, this is actually a really good film - it played at the Venice Film Festival where Ashleigh Cummings won the best actress award. It's extraordinarily tense and gripping, and is unflinching in the horrors it lays out in a very period-correct suburban home of the time. I would have been fine with it, if it had of stuck to the true story to the end - but Ben Young obviously wanted a more cinematic kind of climax, and it's his right to choose that path. I was just a little shocked, probably because the story is kind of sacrosanct to me. I can tell you what really happened without spoiling the film - the Birnie's last victim used cunning and wiles to set one against the other (David had a tendency to fall for his victims, an aspect of their depraved crimes which Catherine didn't like) which granted her a little more freedom, which she used to escape. At first the police didn't believe her story - but one female officer was impressed with the details, and long story short the Birnie's were sent to spend the rest of their lives in prison (David hung himself after 20 or so years behind bars - or at least, that's what I hear.) If you're up for a great horror/thriller, and have strong nerves - Hounds of Love is exceptional. I didn't like it as much because the altered ending turned this into an exploitation film which tramples the memory of some poor souls, and survivor Kate Moir did come out against the film.

7.5/10


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Good Will Hunting - (1997)

Being cocky and showing a lack of respect for others is a bad trait, but in someone with the gift of an incredible mind, good looks and youth - well, there's nothing more annoying. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) isn't a likeable person, and when he disrespects counsellor Dr. Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) you really want him to knock the kid's block off (which he almost does.) Good Will Hunting really gets underway when Maguire sits Will down in the park and delivers a devastating monologue which finally cuts this snot-nosed brat like a knife - and we learn that beneath the too cool for school aura is a frightened boy who's still imprisoned by the trauma he went through growing up being abused as a child. I think perhaps Ben Affleck and Matt Damon might have gone a little too far in making Will the next Einstein times a thousand (really) but there's still a lot to like about the screenplay they wrote and the characters they created, including Stellan Skarsgård's Professor Lambeau. This is a real Boston story, and Affleck would stick to the city a lot in his future films as Boston seems a unique place - a character in and of itself.

8/10
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Mission: Impossible 5 - Rogue Nation (2015)

This one is very close to being as good as MI3. Not much else to say except you should see this movie if you like action movies.

95/100



WOW! Someone finally saw my favorite love story on film. By my favorite director, Vittorio De Sica, who made a handful of movies with both of them, and they all are moving and unique.
Haven't seen all De Sica films yet but so far everything I have is exceptionally great.
My next Top 250 will probably feature two De Sica films. Great director paisan!



matt72582's Avatar
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Haven't seen all De Sica films yet but so far everything I have is exceptionally great.
My next Top 250 will probably feature two De Sica films. Great director paisan!

I'll just name my favorites in case you can't decide on a movie..


De Sica
-Umberto D
-Sunflower
-Shoeshine
-Bicycle Thieves
-The Roof
-Miracle in Milan (a bit of neo-realism fantasy - cute movie)
-A Brief Vacation
-Two Women


Visconti
-Beautiful (Bellissima)
-The Earth Trembles

-Rocco and his Brothers
-La Notti Bianche



Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)




Entertaining submarine film with a great cast including Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Jack Warden, and Don Rickles. It's not PC, so I'll avoid saying it's a great guy film.




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Hounds of Love - (2016)

David and Catherine Birnie were couple of serial killers who operated not far from where I lived growing up - by the time they were caught they were torturing, raping and killing a woman (or girl) a week. Needless to say, they received much attention at the time - 1986. I have mixed feelings about a film being made which is based on their crimes. On the one hand, this is actually a really good film - it played at the Venice Film Festival where Ashleigh Cummings won the best actress award. It's extraordinarily tense and gripping, and is unflinching in the horrors it lays out in a very period-correct suburban home of the time. I would have been fine with it, if it had of stuck to the true story to the end - but Ben Young obviously wanted a more cinematic kind of climax, and it's his right to choose that path. I was just a little shocked, probably because the story is kind of sacrosanct to me. I can tell you what really happened without spoiling the film - the Birnie's last victim used cunning and wiles to set one against the other (David had a tendency to fall for his victims, an aspect of their depraved crimes which Catherine didn't like) which granted her a little more freedom, which she used to escape. At first the police didn't believe her story - but one female officer was impressed with the details, and long story short the Birnie's were sent to spend the rest of their lives in prison (David hung himself after 20 or so years behind bars - or at least, that's what I hear.) If you're up for a great horror/thriller, and have strong nerves - Hounds of Love is exceptional. I didn't like it as much because the altered ending turned this into an exploitation film which tramples the memory of some poor souls, and survivor Kate Moir did come out against the film.

7.5/10


By Box Office Mojo, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56680216

Good Will Hunting - (1997)

Being cocky and showing a lack of respect for others is a bad trait, but in someone with the gift of an incredible mind, good looks and youth - well, there's nothing more annoying. Will Hunting (Matt Damon) isn't a likeable person, and when he disrespects counsellor Dr. Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) you really want him to knock the kid's block off (which he almost does.) Good Will Hunting really gets underway when Maguire sits Will down in the park and delivers a devastating monologue which finally cuts this snot-nosed brat like a knife - and we learn that beneath the too cool for school aura is a frightened boy who's still imprisoned by the trauma he went through growing up being abused as a child. I think perhaps Ben Affleck and Matt Damon might have gone a little too far in making Will the next Einstein times a thousand (really) but there's still a lot to like about the screenplay they wrote and the characters they created, including Stellan Skarsgård's Professor Lambeau. This is a real Boston story, and Affleck would stick to the city a lot in his future films as Boston seems a unique place - a character in and of itself.

8/10
Love both of those, obviously







SF = Z


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it



I forgot the opening line.

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Cat People - (1982)

It's a little all over the place, but I'm somehow drawn to Cat People despite it's flaws. It's the kind of film that has certain moments, visual images and sounds that stick with you, and I'd place any blame as to why it's not better with Alan Ormsby's screenplay. Nastassia Kinski plays Irena Gallier as the film's focal point, descendant of a line of people who have merged their beings with black panthers (it's worth noting that the "panthers" in this film are cougars with their fur dyed black.) Malcolm McDowell plays her incestuous brother Paul, and while he tries to consummate some kind of "panthers can only do it with panthers" union with her, the two frequently turn into panthers when situations become sexually charged, and maul unsuspecting suitors. In the meantime Oliver Yates (John Heard) falls for, and pursues, the dangerous Irena. Like I say, the score, along with David Bowie's better version of Cat People (Putting Out Fire), sounds great and there's some nice cinematography and imagery. It all helps to build an atmosphere which the screenplay couldn't match. Malcolm McDowell can play a creepy incestuous brother quite well. I don't know if it makes much sense for me to give this a low score yet say that I like it - but that reflects the mixed feelings I have when it comes to Cat People.

5/10



TWENTY SOMETHING
(2021, Corbin)



"Ever since I became an adult, everything's been a mess. I don't know what I'm doing. And I'm worried I never will."

Twenty Something follows Gia, as she deals with the insecurities of becoming an adult on her 21st birthday. When she goes to a club to celebrate with her older sister Nicole, Gia personifies her feelings in the form of three children of 16, 10, and 1 year old hiding inside a trenchcoat.

Twenty Something is probably one of the most adult-oriented of these Pixar SparkShorts, which I thought was refreshing. The 2D animation is pretty cool and, like I said, the way to tell this story was creative and cool. Maybe as adults, we don't know what we're doing, but as far as this short goes, director/writer Apthon Corbin surely knows what she's doing.

Grade:



Full review on my Movie Loot
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Following - rewatch

The ending is either brilliant or Chris Nolan conveniency weak sauce.




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m3gan
(7/10)
The fear of IA has been around since 2001: A Space Odyssey (and maybe even before that), and it's even more relevant today.
The movie's biggest drawback for me was Violet McGraw's performance (she played the little girl who befriends M3gan), as she showed less emotional expression than the robot. I get that she shut down after the emotional trauma she suffered, but even in a fight sequence at the climax, she barely seemed bothered at all or even out of breath.

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matt72582's Avatar
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Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - 7.5/10
There aren't too many "Angry Young Man" movies, are there? Albert Finney is probably my favorite English actor, although I can't say I like too many. If there's no director and/or actor I know, I probably won't see it, but this is a re-watch. I remembered most of it, but it was on TCM (and YouTube) and thought I'd give it another go. I've tried to avoid seeing movies I've already seen, but I think "I can roll a few days worth of joints" since I don't have to see and hear every second of a movie I already know.






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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Spiderman Across the Spiderverse (2023)


The animation in this is fantastic, truly. The story isn't quite in the same tier. There are interesting bits in terms of the multiverse but for me it lacked some of the energy and humour and general fun of the first film. There was a lot of parent teenager angst which I felt like I'd seen before (maybe it's a fixed point in canon). I felt a little short changed by the ending after nearly two and a half hours and so did a lot of other people in the cinema judging by the groans at the end.


Still, despite those gripes it's a good sight better than anything from the MCU in the past 3 years. Hobie is a good new character and there are some really fun multiverse bits which I won't spoil. The voice acting is excellent. And the animation is inspired.


-



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matt72582's Avatar
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Crisis - 7/10
Early Bergman. I was very distracted, and had to rewind several times, and will watch it again one day. I wish they would have explored Jenny more. Especially to humanize her. Jack was of no interest, and just a conduit for one scene, but took up so much screen time for nothing.



YouTube also has the full movie for free. Remastered and all that jazz. Looks great for 1946.






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Ace In The Hole 1951
+

It seems like everyone who sees it likes it.

So many have seen the movie "Network", but not this one, despite Kirk Douglas starring in it. The alternative titles don't help. I really hope more folks on this board would watch this movie, because it's aligned with the current day, of yellow journalism. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" and "A Face In The Crowd" are other movies that fit. "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" another American microcosm.



Sole Survivor (1984) FTV

Ultimately, I think I kind of dug it.



Spiderman Across the Spiderverse (2023)


The animation in this is fantastic, truly. The story isn't quite in the same tier.
I know it might not fully hit the magic of the first film, but I am SO excited about this movie.



Lights dimmed, phone down.
STALKER (1979)


One of Tarkovsky's two Sci-fi films, based on the novel Roadside Picnic (the novel also an inspiration for the novel Annihilation)
This slow and meditative film about desire and faith wormed it's self into my brain. This film uses symbolism to zig when you think it will zag. It's a film where nothing happens, and everything happens.
Criterion Blue-Ray transfer is gorgeous!



9 out of 10.