Rate The Last Movie You Saw

5th Re-watch...Felt like watching a classic today and somehow landed on this one. Still say Grace Kelly stole the Oscar that should have gone to the legendary Judy Garland for her enchanting performance in the second of four versions of this classic Hollywood story. Garland is so magical in this movie that it's easy to not notice how James Mason matches her note for note as faded matinee idol Norman Maine...he's heartbreaking in that scene at the Academy Awards. Garland's rendition of "The Man That Got Away" still gives me chills. It's also easy to forget how good Jack Carson is as the cynical studio publicist Libby

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The Sicilian - (1987)

This film was about as good as the above poster looks. I was interested because it was directed and co-produced by the infamous Michael Cimino. Remember Heaven's Gate? Not a bad movie by any means, but the movie that exposed the egotistical hubris Cimino was now saddled with after the critical success of The Deer Hunter. Executives found it hard to rein Cimino in when it came to his expensive demand for perfection, and some of his methods were verging on complete madness. Once United Artists had finally brought shooting to an end, Cimino screened a version of the film that ran around 325 minutes - the climactic battle in the film running 90 minutes alone, the length of most feature films. As word had been getting out about the struggle this movie had getting made, it bombed, and the incredibly expensive production helped push the studio into bankruptcy. Cimino (and most other auteur directors) was never allowed to helm a big budget epic film again, and his career never recovered.

Cimino did end up making more movies. I have a friend who's into these post-Heaven's Gate productions, and who loves Heaven's Gate itself. He is especially fond of Year of the Dragon, featuring Mickey Rourke - his next film, made 5 years after the Heaven's Gate disaster. The Sicilian came out in 1987, and followed Year of the Dragon. It's interesting, but there are certain aspects to it that are very off-putting. Most obvious the horribly miscast Christopher Lambert as Sicilian bandit and folk hero Salvatore Giuliano. Fortunately though, I watched the director's cut, otherwise (from what I hear) the film would have been near-nonsensical. It has a strange narrative structure - somewhat hard to follow in the way scenes follow one another without an absolutely clear story being told. You never quite know what's happening when a scene starts, but thankfully this is often addressed in a scene itself, so the audience will keep on feeling they don't know what's happening, but still "get it", if that makes any sense.

Lambert is terrible, but John Turturro as Giuliano's friend and partner Gaspare "Aspanu" Pisciotta, is really terrific in comparison. Joss Ackland features as Don Masino Croce, probably the most powerful man in Sicily. The movie takes place after the Second World War, in the somewhat lawless Mediterranean island region of Italy, with Giuliano and Pisciotta stealing from the rich and trying to empower the poor - but of course they end up getting involved with powerful people, and the violence gets out of control. It's very well shot, but the screenplay could have done with more work, and while it's an interesting failure it's still not a great movie. My curiosity is sated.

5/10

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That movie is called Evil Angels here, and I still remember all of what happened clearly, starting way back in 1980. The way the whole saga unfolded, many of us swore that Lindy Chamberlain had either murdered her baby, or been somehow involved in her death. When you look at the facts of the case, that's ridiculous, but the media had a certain way of colouring what happened. My mother, since passed away, never stopped believing Lindy was guilty. There were heaps of strange things about what happened, and although I don't think she murdered her baby, she was an extremely strange person.

Other than the line, “The dingo ate your baby” from Seinfeld I had no idea about any of this.

The movie shows you what happens and despite seeing it I still got caught up in all the rumors and started thinking there might have been something amiss. And yet the stunned me. Incredibly engaging story from every angle.

The Covenant

Virtual purgation of all that war guilt. This is the worst sort of comforting lie.

The Fifth Element - 1997

When ever this was on tv when I was young I'd watch a minute or two and thought it was too weird for me. So I've never sat down and gave it a chance. Free on YouTube so I figured why not. It was cool enough but I was right a little to fantastical for me. Story was fine but some weird character choices. What was Billy Oldman's motivation and why is he talking in a southernish accent. I appreciate the imagination and originality though. Jovovich's was obviously the stand out. She was crazy good in the flick, I see why her character is so popular. Bruce was fine doing his hero thing. It was a fun little flick but my first instinct about it was right....a little too weird and silly for me.

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I came here to do two things, drink some beer and kick some ass, looks like we are almost outta beer - Dazed and Confused

101 Favorite Movies (2019)

I was just watching a movie. I dunno what you were watching.

I was watching a movie with a function, a message, a purpose.

HINT: John Rambo and Col. James Braddock weren't just vacationing in Vietnam in the 80's.

sounds like you were watching the virtual purgation of all that war guilt. I’ve been told that’s the worst sort of comforting lie

Dead Shot (2023)

Didn't know what to expect from this. A film about revenge during the "Troubles" after an IRA members wife and unborn baby are killed when he was the target. Seems a decent premise but unfortunately the script and acting are sub-par ...there's no intensity in either. It descends in to soap opera. Whilst watchable, this film is beige in the extreme.

Yes, I thought The Limey was simple but very well driven Stamp was great and a very interesting character. Some scenes were plaintive but you can feel the bubbling under the skin aggression...some of the cockney rhyming slang was cringeworthy but you can tell he just wants to confuse them around him. Throw them a wobbly and get them off guard.

It is.


Most Americans can't find Afghanistan on a map, but they are still aware that we were there for a good long time and suddenly pulled out, leaving behind a lot of military equipment and people, both of which would be snatched up by the Taliban. Americans can't tell you what a "signature strike" is, but they do have the sense that we "goofed" in Afghanistan, that we didn't make good on our promise to "ride" with the Afghans who helped U.S. forces. Thus, this film is a nice soothing balm for our conscience. The cowboy returns to make good on his promise, a covenant kept. Maybe the bureaucrats are bad, but the soul of true America (always the soldier) is proved to be virtuous (we want to do good!). Instead of imagining that we did better in the last war, we would do better to think twice before entering the next one.

As opposed to all our other wars? You must be fun at parties.

Exactly. We keep having these misadventures. We are easily provoked, but our objectives are unclear (how do you win a war against a tactic like "terror"? how do you win "hearts and minds" with bombs?), and our pull-out game is weak (Fall of Saigon, Mission Accomplished?, our regrets to the Kurds, again and again and again). It's like we're not learning from history.

I'm a hoot. I invade the home, break things, set up a democracy less stable than a Jenga tower, and then unceremoniously leave when everything falls apart.

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Best performance from Nic Cage in a very long time, he's awesome! This movie is awesome

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

This is the sort of thing Cage was made for. I think this one MUST be paired with Kiss of the Vampire.