Rate The Last Movie You Saw

In the Mood for Love (2000)

Finally, a good movie. This Criterion movie is excellent.

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Apologies to everyone for not posting frequently as I used to. Things have been changing and I'm at a crossroads, been trying to get away from the internet in general because who really needs it aside from maybe finding a Job or paying your bills. But I just couldn't pass up talking about this one film I saw the other day...



You all know I'm not very good with my wording when I try my best to summarize my thoughts on a piece of spectacular or even bad cinema (my mentioning of that word alone, ugh… it's enough to trigger my OCD and send me into a frenzy *backspace backspace backspace*). And I know what I'm going to say next is going to sound incredibly cliche, but Martin Scorsese's newest and probably last Gangster outing (almost an Unforgiven-esc eulogy for the genre) is probably the most profound and impactful picture of the year.

You go through about 30 years of one man's life, a horrible man who's committed horrible things, and despite being 3 hours and 30 minutes of unremorseful violence and death, it goes by like a breeze which a lot of that you can chalk up to Scorsese's perfect direction (that old slugger just never quits being awesome) that brings absolute life to a desolate somber tale (with of course, thanks to that sharp script, which never has a single scene that feels pointless). It also helps that the film's lead, an aged Robert De Niro digitally de-aged to look younger, astounded and exceeded my expectations by giving probably his best performance since Taxi Driver. But it's during the film's last hour where it turns into a somber, meditative, almost poetic piece that delivers the humanity of it's real life crime characters stripped down and head-on. I don't want to spoil much, but I honestly felt like I was going to throw up, it got that tense. And what it all amounts to... is nothing. Not even living your life like a schmuck. Just loneliness, cold loneliness. It's sad, but maybe that's fine. How else was this going to end up?

It's a hell of a thing killing a man, and it's not easy being a gangster either. This isn't "Goodfellas", this is a tragedy. The Irishman is an absolute must-see, and I don't use that term lightly.

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Great ending!

The Irishman (2019)

This is a first rate production in nearly all aspects. It's chief detraction is the feeling of familiarity with the character types. There have been enough outstanding pictures where each of the main actors have played memorable Italian/Sicilian mob figures, that the tendency is to mistake the characters as cookie cutter versions of earlier dramas. The fact that neither Hoffa nor Sheeran were Italian can be lost on the audience, despite the film's title.

It would be helpful to viewers to first familiarize themselves with the Hoffa/Teamsters/mob events of the 1960s. I grew up with the Hoffa saga, and there simply was not a larger nor more familiar personality in the news, week in and week out. His press attention, his loud mouth, and his insistence on re-establishing his Teamsters authority resulted in his murder.

The tone and pace of the film were absorbing. Scorsese took Steven Zaillian's screenplay (from the book by Charles Brandt) and allowed ample time for the characters to develop their relationships-- a pleasing change from today's split second, short attention span action flicks. The cinematography by Rodgrigo Prieto --a veteran of films by Innaritu, Stone, and Scorsese-- captivated the viewers with perfect framing and lighting.

The heavyweight cast was a delight to watch: not only the 3 principals (DeNiro, Pacino and Pesci, along with Harvey Keitel), but a superb supporting cast including Bobby Cannavale, Ray Romano, and Stephen Graham.

Much was made of the "de-aging" of the principals. It was a detraction, more so in portraying their very early years. But from the time they were middle aged and older, the make up and styling were very effective. Granted, the scene where a 76 year old DeNiro thrashed a younger heavier shopkeeper looked fakey. However it didn't change the meaning of the action.

The period music was fitting, and helped establish the feel of the era. "In the Still of the Night", the doo-wop hit by The Five Satins was one of the best period specific songs, and is one of the all time slow dancing make-out songs. There were other memorable hits from the era, such as "I Hear You Knocking", "A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation", and "Cry", to name a few.

One gets the feeling that this will be Scorsese's last "mob" type picture, and if so it's a strong and fitting way to exit the style.

Doc's rating: 8/10

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Deliver Us from Evil (2014)

A possession horror that kinda tries to follow the recipe of The Exorcist III (i.e. mixing the demons with police investigation). Sadly the script is rather horrible; it's as basic and cliched as possible and has pretty severe pacing issues. I wanted to like it but just couldn't. Major disappointment considering the director's previous film was Sinister.

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The reason that this is one of my favorite holiday short films is that I had the book as a child back in 19 71. It was always a nice read. when I got older, Jim Henson created the Christmas short film after the book. Its always had some good songs as well. They were written by John Denver. I never listened to his music except when my parents had it on the radio. Its just a downright cute movie.

Irrational Man (2015)

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The Quick and the Dead (1995)

Blazing Stewardesses (Al Adamson, 1975)
Severely lacking in farts, punched-out hossies and, well, pretty much entertainment in general really

(Hopefully I'm not giving too much away if I say I already have a very good idea where this one will figure with regards my Westerns list)

Liked it for about an hour and fifteen minutes then came the Noe staple - the whirligig camera.

I wasn't expecting another Goodfellas but it is sort of like a geriatric Goodfellas with everyone older and slower. That includes Scorsese, whose best movies usually hit you like a bolt of lightening. This one is much more methodical, and there's a point where the tension lasts longer than some film's entire runtime.

I also wasn't expecting another great performance from De Niro or especially Pesci, but they both came through. Even Pacino, who I thought started a bit slow, made a huge mark. The whole supporting cast was excellent, although I could have used more Keitel. Only thing is that I'm sick of seeing the face of Jesse Plemons.

Technically the movie is superb. That's to be expected but it shouldn't be taken for granted. Nobody beats Scorsese when it comes to showcasing an era, and that's crucial for a movie like this. I guess there's a lot of talk about the de-aging that was used. I really didn't see a problem and thought everyone looked great. I did think Pacino looked a little odd but then maybe there was an effort to have him look a little more like Hoffa? I will say that at times De Niro seemed too old for the character, but I also think any small issues were worth it in order to get the band back together.

You have to wonder if this was a swan song of sorts for the director and some of the cast, and with the way the movie plays out there's a parallel. I'm probably biased towards the director and cast but I thought it lived up to the hype.

@ JessePlemmonsFace

Adrian Grunberg, 2019


First Blood was one of the few movies I had on DVD while I was a kid, and I saw it countless times, every scene was made to be remembered, you don't get often. I've also seen the others of the franchise more than once, so, I knew I had to keep an open mind, a great plot and acting was something I couldn't expect. We have to situate ourselves, in 1982, when the first movie came out, people didn't want the same as they want today, so, a different movie had to be made this time, and that explains the graphic violence. It's pure pornographic violence, and I can like that as well, entertainment sake. You could tell what the story would be just from watching the trailer alone, and there's nothing wrong with that, I accept and agree with it, it's not that important, the story, I wouldn't accept if they made it with right and left turns, it seems those are the movies the popcorn audiences, the mainstream, say are epic movies, "the best movies ever made", sadly. The Mexicans only looked Mexicans because we could see Mexico, they didn't made the audience hate them enough for the death they had, and the drama, poor quality, still, pleasant surprise to see Adriana Barraza in this movie, made it bearable, actress in movies like Amores Perros and Babel, what I didn't understood during the beginning of the film was the representation of the characters ages, I didn't knew exactly how they were related. Bring a classic, add the biggest cliché you could find with ordinary violence. That's it.

Fatal Attraction (1987)



Serious miscasting here. That makes you not buy into this. Glenn Close may be a fine actress but a smouldering femme fatale she is not.

My favourite of Kilmers, mugging it up to the maximum. The line "I got lotsa friends!" and the riposte was sublime.

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“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!” ~ Rocky Balboa