Rate The Last Movie You Saw

The Pride and the Passion (1957)

Champions - If you were asked to summarize this film I think all you'd have to say is that it's a Bobby Farrelly movie. It might be simpler than explaining that Woody Harrelson plays a hot tempered assistant semi-pro basketball coach. He loses the latest in a downward trajectory of jobs when he shoves his boss and head coach (played by Ernie Hudson). He then dots the "i" by rear ending a cop car while drunk. The judge then gives him the option of community service or eighteen months in jail. He takes the community service which entails him coaching The Friends, a team made up of players with intellectual disabilities.

If you're familiar with Farrelly's work you'll know he specializes in semi-lowbrow and tepidly comedic offerings. This is no exception and has a thrown together sort of quality to it where Harrelson delivers his lines like he was handed the script seconds before the cameras rolled. As luck would have it though he's exactly the kind of agreeable performer that excels at it. So that part is taken care of and they did find the right star. His costar is Kaitlin Olson and she also fits her role of unconventional love interest to a tee. The Friends all have distinctive personalities and truly make the movie.

It is a lightweight plot where nothing particularly heavy or untoward transpires. If you've seen any sports minded, underdog type film then you basically know what's going to happen. Harrelson is the big draw and I truly love to see Ernie Hudson in anything. As a fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia it's good to see Olson in a larger role. And pay close attention during the courtroom scene and you might recognize Mike Smith playing Harrelson's defense lawyer. He's better known to fans of Trailer Park Boys as Bubbles. It's not innovative or categorically inspiring but there's worse ways to kill a couple of hours.

75/100

The Glenn Miller Story (1954)

While a good movie about a music icon, he sure was a strange man that seemed to be lost in his own world, as the way he goes about things seems shocking. You get to see the classy culture of jazz and how jazz bands organized their business, showing that they were more of an upper-middle class lot, unlike modern rock bands which are usually of a lower sort. The mystery of Glenn Miller's disappearance isn't explored here and adds to the mystery. You wonder what happened. I got my own theories but will keep them to myself. The best thing about this biopic is that it was made a mere 10 years after his death, so it was fresh in everyones minds and played by the people who were there and listened to his music while it was fresh.

7/10

GRAN TURISMO

Two months ago, after being invited to see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the local theater with my grandmother, I made a solemn vow to myself: That I would watch one movie in a theater per week. See, for years my theater-going habits had dwindled to almost nothing, seeing as I was far more preoccupied with collecting older movies on Blu-ray and 4K. Plus, I was going through a rather lengthy period of not-quite-snobbish disillusionment about the current state of cinema, something I imagine older people such as myself who find themselves closing in on the half-century mark often go through. But since the price of a ticket on Tuesdays is a mere $7.62, I figured I was out of excuses. (So I guess my viewing of episodes of the FBI shows is going to be rather sporadic in the future - that is, assuming they continue to air on Tuesdays. Plus, nowadays we have DreamLounger Reclining Seating!! ) So after Indiana Jones, week by week, I then went to... Asteroid City... Oppenheimer... Barbie... Talk to Me... Lynch/Oz (a documentary)... The Last Voyage of the Demeter...

And now Gran Turismo! Full disclosure: This is what I would refer to as a B.T.P. (Blind Ticket Purchase). I only saw this because it was a Tuesday and there was literally nothing else I particularly wanted to see. Honestly, I've never really been into race car driving or even computer gaming. Like many young kids in the early '80s, did go to places like Aladdin's Castle or Chuck E. Cheese and did enjoy playing many old-school arcade games - y'know, Pac-Man, Galaga, Q*bert, Crystal Castles, Centipede, stuff like that - but I'd never even been all that good at it. (Egads, I feel old sometimes! ) I've certainly got nothing against professional race car driving or computer gaming, it's just not my thing. So, not really knowing anything whatsoever about Gran Turismo, beyond a vague mention seen someplace to the effect that it was doing pretty good at the box office, I went in a completely blank slate, hoping for my senses and gray matter to be sufficiently engaged.

You know, sometimes low expectations can be a good thing...

Anyway, this movie is the true story of Jann Mardenborough (well-played by the very talented Archie Madekwe), a young man from Wales with mad gaming skills who gets recruited into the Nissan GT Academy in order to compete with other young hopefuls, with the prize being the possibility of competing as a professional race car driver. (BTW, does this idea remind anybody else of 1984's The Last Starfighter? ) As the movie progressed, I became very much aware that it was rather closely following the post-Rocky underdog sports genre story structure. We follow a young person from a humble background as he is plucked from obscurity to be given a chance to follow his dream, become a contender, go the distance, etcetera, etcetera. And we get the inevitable conflicts internal and external, as our protagonist must deal with the scoffers and skeptics and those who would crush him before he even gets to the starting gate, as well as his own inner doubts and fears and bewildered sense of "Do I even belong in this picture?" And there is also the character of the crusty old trainer, in this case former pro driver-turned-mechanic Jack Salter (played by David Harbour), who starts out not believing that these nerdy gamer kids could ever develop the athleticism and physical skills required to compete in the real world, and little by little becomes the young man's friend and champion. We even have ourselves a super-nemesis, in this case arrogant hot-shot professional Nicholas Capa (Josha Stradowski), who is there at every turn to undermine and take down the young upstart any underhanded way he can (and although the film has a couple of tense confrontations on and off the track, it's rather mercifully sparing with the "I'm gonna bust you up!" melodramatics). And inevitably, we get a lot of training montages.

So... story-wise we're in kind of familiar territory, right? Throughout most of the movie, I was able to more or less anticipate what the next plot development was going to be, and more often than not I was right. But you know something? That didn't bother me. I found myself caught up in the story regardless of its familiarity. I found myself enjoying the movie greatly, even though I didn't feel like I was experiencing anything really novel.

And then... it happened. And without giving spoilers, by it I mean the "freak accident"! This was the point where I realized that the stakes had been raised. That this wasn't just another in a long line of underdog sports dramas that have come along at least since Rocky. This was something real, something that had real-world consequences. And we are brutally reminded, once again, that this was based on a true story.

Throughout most of the movie, we have a sense of inevitability, of "onward and upward" as our man Jann wins the competition against other gamers at GT Academy and then goes on to compete in Spain and Dubai, after which he earns his professional racing license and then moves on to compete in Tokyo. One thing the movie gets absolutely right is that although Jann makes great progress very fast, he also experiences great setbacks and defeats. But you have a sense that these are the inevitable bumps and bruises and growing pains that one goes though in this sort of competition, and it more or less feels authentic. Like I said, the story archetype is very familiar, but watching one feels grateful that his progress is a messy one.

And then... we get to the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany, and we're completely blindsided when... y'know, it... happens. All I will say is that although there is no permanent physical damage resulting from the incident, there are tragic results and this is definitely a make-or-break moment. Does our man Jann allow the horror of this to define him? Or does he pick himself up and move on? By the time the credits rolled at movie's end, I felt like that the whole genre had been kicked up a notch, that this wasn't just another story in the Rocky mould. I felt like this could possibly be the new Rocky for a whole new generation of filmgoers!

So as you can gather... I really, really liked Gran Turismo! Perhaps you'll find my response to the film just a tad hyperbolic. I dunno, maybe it is! And like I said earlier, I had absolutely no expectations going in, and when that happens you can always end up easily impressed. But I really do feel like it's a superior movie, and that it's worthy of whatever kudos get thrown its way. Not being familiar with the work of director Neill Blomkamp - beyond the fact that his previous films have been mostly sci-fi - I was blown away by what he did here. All the cast does exemplary work here, in particular the aforementioned Archie Madekwe as Jann. Orlando Bloom - a bit older and portlier than when he played Legolas in The Lord of the Rings! - plays Danny Bloom, the marketing executive with a crazy dream. His character has moments of being less than sympathetic, especially at a point where it's unclear as to whether or not Jann has actually won the academy competition, but Bloom always plays him as real, never as villainous or indeed purely virtuous. And the aforementioned David Harbour is magnificent and affecting as the trainer Jack Salter, a man who at one point could have been a racing contender himself and had been derailed by his own tragic accident.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention the brilliant Djimon Hounsou as Jann's father. Their relationship is an extremely affecting one, the father starting out as being a pragmatist and a realist who wants his son to be practical and put the computer games away and do something with his life, as one imagines all good fathers do. When it happens at Nürburgring Nordschleife, and Jann's mother and father - the former played by former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell - are watching on TV at home, it's a brutal moment where they are absolutely fearing the worst and not even knowing whether their son is even alive or dead. Eventually there is a joyously tearful reunion and reconciliation between father and son later on, and it is decidedly not sentimental or sappy. Like everything else about this movie, it feels real. You know, much of what we consider clichéd or overly familiar only seems that way because they're rooted in greater truths. Such is the case with this movie.

There are also some great visual FX, incorporated into the movie in such a way as to give a kind of metamorphosis of perspective as Jann in a game simulation imagines himself actually driving, and also vice versa later in the film. These sequences feel completely organic and almost never gratuitous. Sure, it's a very high-end, tech-y, flashy kind of filmmaking, but everything feels very much earned.

A very entertaining soundtrack as well: When Jann is chilling out, he listens to Kenny G. and Enya on his digital player! I always did have a soft spot for Orinoco Flow (a.k.a. Sail Away). The older Jack Salter, on the other hand, is more of a Black Sabbath man (in particular Paranoid)! It's a really cool moment when Jann buys a CD Walkman in Tokyo as a present for Jack, in order to give his mentor a technological upgrade. And any movie which uses Iggy and the Stooges' Search and Destroy has got to be considered cool by definition! ("Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology / Ain't got time to make no apology!")

A very satisfying cinematic experience overall. I was very glad to have picked Gran Turismo as my "B.T.P." this week.

Shane Gillis: Beautiful Dogs
This is the comedian who is famous for getting canceled from SNL for saying slurs. I'm not sure which ones. I think it was the r-word and maybe the f-word. Anyway he says the r-word a number of times and says gay instead of the f-word. He really skirts around getting re-canceled, but he has built his fan base up and they are basically the same kind of guy who was a fan of Bill Burr back in the day, before he went as these guys woudl say "woke." Yes, getting laid has softened old Billy ginger balls. In fact, Bill Burr is one of the Executive producers of this special. Doh! Gotta go. I will finish tomorrow.

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George Harrison : Living in the Material World - (2011)

The best compliment I can give to a film that goes over the 200-minute mark is that I simply couldn't stop watching until the end. George Harrison was a wonderful enigma, because he was eminently famous but lived such a rich inner life - concerned more with his spirituality than accolades or adoration. He fully matured as a songwriter just as The Beatles were breaking up, and although it's a shame that his greatest works weren't adorned by what John Lennon and Paul McCartney could have added to them, they're wonderful to listen to regardless. I have to add, concerning his later life, that every time I hear a Traveling Wilburys song, it takes me back to a specific time and place in the late 80s and early 90s. Martin Scorsese has done a marvelous job fusing the many interviews, music clips and moments caught on film together until they flow with the natural rhythms of a man's life. By the end I had a lump in my throat, because everything that's special and unique about George is on full display, and with that it's harder to say goodbye - even though we already did a few decades ago. 58 was way too young, but I've never seen a famous person more prepared to meet his maker than George Harrison was.

9/10


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Ice Age - (2002)

When it comes to animated films I really like and have seen multiple times, Ice Age is in the upper echelons of that medium-sized group. It makes me happy every time I watch it, and I'm sure it would have been a huge favourite if I'd seen it as a kid. One thing I'd never stopped to consider before is how much the plot resembles that of Three Godfathers - a film John Ford had adapted from a novelette twice. Anyway, I think it has a great mix of characters. Ray Romano has the perfect voice for Wooly Mammoth Manfred, and John Leguizamo is a hoot as Sid. It's short, fun, funny and warm - I don't know how many of the sequels I've seen, but I might start watching 'em.

7.5/10


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Total Recall - (2012)

I don't like to turn a movie off and abandon it at any stage - I would have missed quite a few surprises if I did - but I came so close with this 2012 version of Total Recall, and I really should have. I can see what the makers of this version were going for - the 1990 Paul Verhoeven version is tremendously silly and often quite loopy, and here Len Wiseman et al has remade this with an ultra-serious tone and grounded the story. It's been turned into a grey (literally grey - the dominant colour of this film) mundane, unfunny and grave science-fiction movie. I admit that the 1990 version is easy to pick apart - but man, is that movie a whole lot of gory and outlandish fun, with typical Schwarzenegger film comedy and many bizarre, head-turning moments. This film, however, gives you little reminders of that version, and then turns and goes for the toned down serious option instead. Everything is so dull in this movie - there's no more Mars, or mutants - just drab sci-fi exteriors and bland interiors. I never read Philip K. Dick's "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", so I don't know if this stays truer to the source material, but regardless - I don't know why you'd take such a movie, suck all the fun and colour out of it, and expect us to be happy with it.

3/10

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Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

A movie about a cafe playing indie folk singer in 1961. He screws himself with some bad acting out and stretches the patience of those he imposes upon. He also screws up his big breaks due to his negative short sightedness. The film is alright till about halfway through but much like the main character it doesn't peak or progress into something more compelling, fizzling out much like him.

6.5/10

Performance (1970)

Off to a confusing start you don't know why this gangster is in trouble, but after a while the movie gains focus and you slowly begin to understand what it is all about. Mick Jagger can act and that makes this movie exceed my expectations. They play the old cloak and dagger routine but you don't see it coming. Sex and nudity, drugs, a music video in there somewhere. I sincerely thought it was going to be a drag but it was better than that. If you like rock n roll and excess you might like this if you like getting stoned.

8/10

Jaco - 9/10
You don't even need to be a music fan to appreciate this. I heard about him decades ago because the bass player in my band was a fan. Very unique and interesting guy - interviews, etc..

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New film from Christian Petzold. Centres around two friends Leon and Felix who stay at a retreat on the Baltic coast. Writer Leon tries to finish his latest book as his publisher is due to visit. There are forest fires near but should avoid them. Meanwhile, Nadja a carefree lady is also staying with them.

Resembling a dream at times, it is essentially about the flaws of the struggling artist, but the line between fiction and reality blurs somewhat due to a nice little plot mover, and there are many metaphors to be found in the script and the beautiful landscape. Slightly meanders in the middle section, and the literature references are way over my head- but the last 30 minutes are terrific. Comparisons to the films of Eric Rohmer are spot on.

7.2/10

Day Shift - I never really held Jamie Foxx in high regard even after he won the Best Actor Oscar for Ray. But he's put together some fine, A-list type of work including Collateral, Django Unchained, The Kingdom, Baby Driver and just recently They Cloned Tyrone. Here he plays Bud Jablonski, an ersatz pool cleaner who in reality hunts vampires in modern day Los Angeles. The San Fernando Valley to be exact. But since he's run afoul of the local union he's having to operate under the radar and relies on his business acquaintance Troy (Peter Stormare) to buy the fangs that he pulls from his kills. The script does attempt some world building with different classes of bloodsuckers and the weapons employed against them.

After his ex-wife informs Bud that she is in the process of moving herself and their daughter to Florida Bud must come up with 10,000 dollars in less than a week. He hits up his friend and local legend Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg) to arrange a second chance tryout with the local union chapter. Not wanting to insult Big John, the head of the chapter Ralph Seeger (Eric Lange) reluctantly agrees. But, in accordance with the rules, he sends union rep Seth (Dave Franco) to monitor Bud's activities. From there it turns into a mismatched-buddy-cops type film with the iconoclastic Bud gamely trying to earn a fat paycheck while keeping the persnickety Seth alive. But this being the second act an antagonist/big baddie has to put in an appearance. There are familiar beats to be hit before the requisite third act denouement.

This starts out promisingly and keeps it forward momentum going through the first act. Then it starts slowing down so that by the time the third act rolls around it's kinda running on fumes. But then this could describe a lot of the movies out there. Details that were supposedly established are thrown out the window or ignored for the sake of advancing the story. A character is introduced then seemingly forgotten about until it's time to bring them back as one of the stars? What? Anyway, it's hard to come up with something relatively new and original in a genre as well traversed as vampire flicks. Here we have a little more than half of a passably engaging flick with the remainder not being egregious enough to negate the good feelings it's engendered. If you like these types of comedic horror offerings and appreciate Jamie Foxx then by all means check it out.

80/100

The Pale Blue Eye (2022)

This mystery thriller, which has one of the most intriguing and alluring titles in recent times, is set in the winter of 1830, and takes place exclusively in and around the U.S. Military Academy, better known as West point, 50 miles up the Hudson from NYC. Yet the title taken from the short story, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, has little relation to the tale apart from setting the anticipatory mood. That anticipation is enhanced right from the start by the darkly lovely winter scenes photographed by Masa Takayanagi (Silver Linings Playbook; Hostiles).

There had been a mysterious hanging and mutilation on the grounds of West Point. Fearing backlash from the event which could effect the continued funding of the academy, the Superintendent (Timothy Spall) hires an experienced non-military detective, Augustus Landor (Christian Bale), out of retirement to investigate the case without fanfare.To help his investigation Landor soon enlists the aid of a young cadet, Edgar Alan Poe (Harry Melling) to provide insights into his fellow cadets and the academy’s administrators. We learn that Landor is a widower and that his daughter had gone off several years prior. Landor tends to melancholy, and drinks because of it.

Surprisingly while the investigation is advancing another shocking murder and mutilation occurs. Landor and Poe start suspecting that the institution’s physician, Dr. Marquis (Toby Jones) , who had performed the autopsy on the initial victim, may somehow be involved. In addition Dr. Marquis’ daughter Lea (Lucy Boynton) is afflicted with seizures, and Marquis was treating her using black magic. Both Marquis’ wife (Gillian Anderson) and his son (Harry Lawty) are both odd balls. Soon a third cadet disappears, causing everyone to suspect the worst.

The action and the course of the investigation evolve slowly, providing a few red herrings, and twists. Landor’s and Poe’s relationship solidify as they put their heads together to sleuth out the culprit. The result comes to a satisfactory conclusion, but yet one final major surprise presents itself.

There are several jumps of plot logic as if a hole or two were leapt over. It put me in mind of movies made in the 1940s where an important dramatic point suddenly appears which, although it doesn’t hold up to logic, the viewer simply accepts it and focuses on the next point. And too there were several minor detractions which lumped together weaken the impact of the film.

Bale did a journeyman’s job, and was fairly effective as the detective, but he seemed distant, as if he wasn’t giving 100%, which is unusual for this fine actor. Perhaps it was the writing (writer/director Scott Cooper). His co-star Harry Melling is quoted as saying that he didn’t think that Bale was employing his typical method acting technique. And to be sure, it was Melling’s superb portrayal of Poe that pretty well stood out in the picture. His casting was a masterstroke, as Melling’s face is hauntingly similar to Poe’s-- right down to the shape of is head and the slightly lower left eye orbit in relation to the right. He ended up with more lines than Bale had, and there was not a nuance left out. It’s surprising that he was passed over for award nominations.

Other minor demerits were the music score by Howard Shore, and the unceasing dreary settings. Shore is an excellent composer/orchestrator, but his style of music which perfectly fits epic films --like The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit-- don’t perfectly fit a smaller scale mystery. The music is too busy, too grandiose, and almost bothersome-- another similarity to some ‘40s dramas. The continuous wintry and forlorn nature photography was appropriate given the mood of the movie, but an occasional bright or mirthful setting would have been a nice contrast.

The cast’s acting was first rate, which in some cases overcame the ineffectual writing. This was an American picture about an American suspense thriller, but practically the whole cast was British. In fact it took me awhile to realize that it was Timothy Spall as the superintendent, due to his well disguised English accent. Another surprise to me was that Edgar Allan Poe did attend West Point during that period for 8 months before he suborned a discharge of his enlistment.

In sum this is is a very watchable picture, but one that might have been improved with a little tidying up of the plot. Available on Netflix.

Doc’s rating: 6/10

I don't have much to add to this. It was pretty good. This guy is quite talented. I don't think he is outrageous for the heck of it, that is just the way he thinks. It's well constructed, but we, ladies, are not the intended audience. Dudes are. I am so not a dude.


He had a one joke that really stuck with me and that was describing being a history buff is a warning sign of late onset Republicanism. Its funny because its true.

I love Ice Age. I used to put it on all the time in the video store where I worked.

Be warned that the sequels fall off in quality pretty steeply, and I thought the third one was terrible.

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Step Brothers - (2008)

Modern comedians often take things to an extreme, and in comedies like Step Brothers the method seems to be mostly improvisational - it works often enough for me to really like the film, but I see that opinion is sharply divided. The movie bets everything on two men around 40 acting like children, and that sharply divides audiences, because if you like that you're going to get plenty of it, and if you don't like it you're going to grow more and more tired of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's antics. I think they add a lot of little touches that are inspired, and while some of their invention feels forced their general body language and tone are enough to keep me amused regardless. I know these two guys do it a lot, but in Step Brothers they took it as far as they could. Adam McKay has yet to make a film I actively disliked, from his earlier comedies to his more recent politically inspired movies - without him, Ferrell and Reilly often seem lost and directionless, but here they maintain what they're going for and I think it's genuinely funny. I very much like Step Brothers.

7.5/10


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Ice Age 2 : The Meltdown - (2006)

This all came back to me as I watched it - I've seen the second Ice Age movie before. It introduces a few new characters - Crash and Eddie are possums, and are annoying, while Ellie (Queen Latifah) is a mammoth and love interest for Manfred. Not quite as much really funny stuff here (I liked the bit with the dung beetles - an insect that is always good for a laugh.) I don't think Sid gets into enough trouble, but he's having attention stolen via the fact that a film series like Ice Age always adds characters as it goes along. Yeah, I don't know. Average.

6/10

I don't think my expectations for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs could get any lower at this point.


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Don't Worry Darling - (2022)

It sounds like Olivia Wilde had a terrible time making Don't Worry Darling, which is a shame - I really love Booksmart, and whenever I love someone's debut film I want them to go on and keep that trajectory aimed skyward. With a film like this, and this is especially true of contemporary movies, there's so much stock put into pulling off a twist or surprise. The whole audience is primed, because the film is constantly building up to "What is really happening with this Victory place? What's going on?" almost to the exclusion of everything else. When everything is revealed at the end, it happens at the same time the film's meaning comes into sharper focus - but those two aspects kind of trample each other. I could have done with a reveal at the halfway point, or closer to the beginning of the movie, so that we could focus more on what the film is about. For me the surprise was a complete anticlimax, and robbed us of the tension that had been building between characters Frank (Chris Pine) and Alice (Florence Pugh) - also, Alice's husband, Jack (Harry Styles) has a deep-seated, infantile issue with his wife and who she really is, which was interesting but is revealed too late to explore more. There was a really good movie here, but the execution way, way off.

5/10

Boy on a Dolphin (1957)

Today I watched my new favorite Kenneth Branagh film; Frankenstein. It's just so excellently made. I don't care if people don't favor it much. I loved it to pieces, in part because it broke me into a few pieces. He did such an awesome job with the story. I love it.

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Blue Steel -

This is a tense and uncompromising police thriller featuring Jamie Lee Curtis's rookie Megan’s not-so-welcoming entry into the world of men. On her first day on the job, she uses - and loses - her gun during a robbery, its new owner being day trader Eugene (Silver), who is part Patrick Bateman and part Chip Douglas from The Cable Guy (but a lot less funny). The more he makes Megan's life a living hell, the less helpful and trusting her all-male superiors are. She finds an ally in veteran detective Mann (Brown), but will he be enough?

What makes this movie stand out from others like it is in one thing it does that similar ones don't: let Megan do more showing than telling to answer why she became a cop. You see it in her response to a sexist would-be suitor, her relationship with her father, etc., so when we get her one-word response when someone else asks why, it’s all we need. The way director Bigelow "shows" may be why I keep coming back to her, especially how she makes everything from faces to the streets of Manhattan make you wish you were watching it on a big screen instead. How she depicts the man’s world is another reason, such as how she presents the heated stock exchange floor as a breeding ground for guys like Eugene. There’s also how small she makes Megan seem whenever her captain (Dunn) or Eugene's lawyer (Jenkins) question her credibility and sanity. Silver (R.I.P.) is terrifying as Megan's stalker, and with this movie and his work as Alan Dershowitz in Reversal of Fortune, it was a banner year for him, and Curtis also deserves credit for how well she exudes confidence in one moment and abject fear the next. I also like Clancy Brown's cynical veteran detective for how he conveys that he's helping Megan against his better judgement and that he'll pay for it sooner or later.

So, a female cop whose male superiors don't trust her? When it comes to revealing the dark side of the patriarchy, isn't that a bit on the nose? Probably. Also, as good as Dunn and Jenkins are at making you love to hate them, their disbelief about Megan's story sometimes strains credulity. This is still another feather in Bigelow's cap, and the effectiveness of its commentary notwithstanding, what’s important is that this a thriller that keeps you on edge until the very end. Just be prepared to feel as much anger as excitement due to the persistent feeling that if one person believed Megan, so much of what happens could have been prevented.

Re-watch. Written & directed by Gary Oldman. Dark & grim, but a very good movie.



Excellent movie. Very strange & these two are the only actors on-screen. They’re both excellent.



Chrissie Metz is so very obese I could not focus on this movie at all. Talk about “Stay Awake”: It was so boring I couldn’t keep from nodding off.



Very good interesting movie.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

The Blue Gardenia - Maybe it's because I've never been a fan of Anne Baxter but I didn't pick this and it did turn out to be a bit of a potboiler. Something about Baxter always struck me as contrived. I've watched her in a handful of movies and she just wasn't what you would call a naturalistic actress. There are several other reasons to avoid this besides the soap opera quality of the script. The zero chemistry between Baxter and her leading man Richard Conte. Or maybe it was the lack of any agreeable characters. The women are there to either be ogled or preyed upon. The men are either predatory or creepily obsessed with their "little black books". It seemed dated even by 1953 standards.

Norah Larkin (Baxter) is rooming with two other women and pining away for her GI sweetheart who's in Korea. The three roommates are telephone switchboard operators and in the opening scene are fending off the unwanted advances of artist Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr). He's the yardstick against which most of the guys in the movie are measured. As in, if you're not as big a scumbag as this guy then you are, by default, a nice guy. Norah gets some bad news and decides to go out and celebrate her birthday with Prebble. She gets blackout drunk and 50's noir stuff happens. Conte plays newspaperman Casey Mayo and Ann Sothern her pragmatic roommate Crystal. A barely recognizable George 'Superman' Reeves rounds out the cast as Police Capt. Sam Haynes. Fritz Lang directs this and he and his cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca do a good job of capturing the vibe and look but the banality of the script and miscast stars fail them. I wouldn't bother.

60/100