1970's Hall of Fame

Another moment I liked, was at the start of the movie when we see Meryl Streep sitting on the couch looking very nervous about something, but we don't know why? Then the door opens and she jumps! That startled jump said alot about the mental state of her character.

That scene was actually improv. Streeps reaction was genuine.

I thought the exact same thing. Didn't know about the makeup either.

I heard Dustin was going through a nasty divorce in real life and that caused real tension on the set. Glad you liked it, @Citizen Rules!

great reviews, @Citizen Rules and @rauldc14. Looking forward to BOTH of these movies. Never seen Kramer vs Kramer and its been about 3 decades since seeing Fantastic Planet.

The one thing I didn't like about that scene was how flippant and indifferent, even relaxed and nonchalant -- "Here is the _____, dry cleaning is ready on _____," etc..

Yeah, I do see what you're saying and I kind of thought that too. I guess we could say that he just didn't believe she was actually leaving him for good. I think he said something like that actually.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

I'm glad this was nominated as in all the years I've known about it, I've never gotten around to watching it. And now I have!...I liked it too and was blown away by the first 30 minutes, it was like 'you are there' for a botched bank robbery. I laughed too, I don't know if anyone else found a lot of the film humorous but I did.

Al Pacino is great of course, so was Charles Durning as the Police Chief. Those two made the movie. Sal (John Cazale) the other bank robbery was interesting as we never really learn much about him, and yet I could tell he had his own back story, which we learn only a little about, which keeps him a mystery.

I didn't know anything about the actual robbery before the movie, so when we see Sonny's other wife, I did a double take! I wasn't sure at first what was suppose to be happening. The actor who played his wife Chris Sarandon was extremely good. I looked him up on IMDB and that's a link, damn! He's done a lot of movie roles where I've seen him but never knew his name.

Loved the on scene street locations, so much nicer than in a studio and it allows a huge exterior set with lots of extras! It looked great and the ending while not a surprise, happened so fast that it was shocking.

I do wish the film was 30 minutes shorter, I did find myself getting restless during the middle of the film. But overall a strong movie.

in no way does kramer vs kramer portray streep as the villain

A documentary about the real story was made a few years ago - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_(2013_film)

Haven't watched it yet.

@HashtagBrownies says differently.

In my mind she was the 'heavy' and serves the role of an antagonist. Though she had clear motives for doing what she did, ultimately the film intends for the audience to cheer for Dustin Hoffman to win the court case.

Thanks, I was thinking about looking to see if there was a doc, and there it is. I'm going to watch the 1 hour back story of Dog Day Afternoon on the second DVD in the movie set.

A classic. It was kinda humorous when they called over the pizza guy to the bank.

that was the opposite of my opinion tbh. I think the court case is more for getting the emotions out there and feeling the pain of each parent more than rooting for a side which I didnt do

Ha! yup loved that scene.

My favorite was when Sonny puts the women into a bank vault and they all say they need to use the bathroom, so he hands them a trash can and tells them to use that, ha!

this quote from roger ebert is how I feel

""Kramer vs. Kramer" wouldn't be half as good as it is -- half as intriguing and absorbing -- if the movie had taken sides"

Ebert was wrong about that. He's just a person, like all of us are. He didn't like Blade Runner when it came out either. So while I respect the man, I don't consider his thoughts to be gospel.

While the film doesn't make Merly Streep's character evil....and it does give her motive for doing what she did...the film shows her as being the instigator, I mean she's a mother who abandons her kid, because she's messed up. It's not a 100% thing, but I'd say most people who watch the film will have empathy for Dustin Hoffman and scorn for Merly Streep's character.

well I think that is completely misinterpreting the film tbh but its all subjective

Whatever you think the film is trying to say Citizen is right about this at least. I mean Streep isn't on screen for the whole middle of the film and during that time we've gotten to know Hoffman and watched him bond with his son. Streep then comes back and wants her son back, all we've seen of her during the rest of the film is the argument and her seemingly abandoning her son at the start.

Most people are going to support Hoffman in that situation whether the filmmakers intended that or not. They outright redeem her in the end anyway if you didn't support her before that.

had saw the write up on that and read up on the actual robbery and what happened to "Sonny". Apparently, the person that "Sal" represented was only around 19.