Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I think I liked this better than the remake although I did keep repeating "Frawnch bread, frawnch fries, frawnch dressing and to drink...Peru" every few minutes.

The Two Popes (2019)


Starring two heavyweight venerable actors, Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, this is an absorbing character study-- a biographical drama of the relationship between a pope who retired (real life Benedict XVI) and his successor (Cardinal Joge Mario Bergoglio) who became Pope Francis).

Briefly, the Cardinal wants to retire due to personal convictions, but the Pope refuses his request, and will not entertain the Cardinal's reasoning. Later we find that the Pope is looking to give up the Papacy, and he has earmarked the Cardinal to succeed him.

As historical accuracy the main events were true. Naturally the conversations and some other elements were fictionalized. But in the main it follows the actual historical record.

It is the perfect acting and interactions between the two which gives the highest quality to this film. The natural portrayals, the understated expression, and the humor draw in the viewer to where one forgets that it's a movie. The two hour running time goes by very quickly.

These performances will undoubtedly be studied in acting classes now and in the future.

Doc's rating: 9/10

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Happy new year fellas!!

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My Favorite Films

Executive Decision (1996)

La Terrazza - 9/10
Wow. Ettore Scola is so underrated. Very original movie, excellent writing, themes, acting, exposition, narrative. This movie is a great critique of society. It's very original, and focuses in on a handful of men who are aging, and finding no happiness with the material world. Very good satire showing the phoniness with the younger generation, who are more interested in correcting brand names than the subject at hand itself. But it also shows the hypocrisy of one in particular, who produces garbage to make money, please the critics, and to please his much younger wife, who doesn't love him, because everyone ages, and eventually life beats a man, while she is not at the same stage in life.

While I was watching this, I noticed the movie was made in 1980, and it described the future decade. Then thought back to 1970, and thought of "Husbands" by Cassavetes. Again, about aging, but this time dealing with it with hedonism. 1960 - "La Dolce Vita" which also has Marcello Mastroianni, who is also very good in this movie. I realized 2020 is a few hours away. I guess I also love this movie because it confronts my dissatisfaction with life and society, and my yearning for the only nutrition I can get - the arts, and specifically - movies, music, and comedy. It's nice to hear a bit of the "Does anyone feel the way I do?". It's not about looking at a glass half-empty or half-full, but trying to point out to the world that the glass is full of piss and to stop drinking it, and revert to what worked, regardless if its called "traditional".

Please reply if you have seen this. I'd be very interested to read what you thik about this movie.



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I Lost My Body (2019) - 7.8/10. Simply mind BLOWN! What an amazing movie out if left field. Wonderfully crafted.

I watched this western because of it's very cool cast; Charles Bronson, Toshirō Mifune, Alain Delon, and Ursula Andress. If you're looking for a serious western, then keep looking. I mean, you've got a samurai on horseback fighting Comanches. But if you just want solid entertainment, you could easily do worse.

Klaus (2019) - 7.5/10. Gives a back story to all of Santa Claus' legends... Sort of! With a Yojimbo like backdrop. Delightful, charming and pulls the right strings. Loved it thoroughly!

On my watchlist for a while, and I finally got to it as it's eligible for the westerns countdown. It wasn't much of a western to me, but I thought it was greatly affecting. There's a lot of real life drama and tragedy around this movie which has some haunting omens. Marilyn Monroe's marriage to Arthur Miller, who wrote the screenplay, was coming apart and so was she. Of course she passed in 1962. Clark Gable wouldn't even make it to the premiere and Montgomery Clift only made it 5 more years. Director John Huston was boozing heavily. Also starring Eli Wallach and Thelma Ritter.

Bad Black -

Starting off 2020 right.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

Che ora è? - 7.5/10
Marcello Mastroianni plays a father coming to visit his son for a meaningful conversation. Very natural. I think most would like this.

Sat down & watched this for a second time. Loved it.

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

Doctor Sleep (2019) - 6.8/10. Quite liked it. I watched it during the daytime thinking I would be wetting my pants, but it wasn't that scary. It's a good story. To be fair, a decade on from watching the Shining, which I don't remember much about, it was hard to connect some of the dots. But just not sure if it's that great the way YouTube reviewers are going ga-ga over it.

Excellent movie. Really enjoyed it.

What I found interesting was nobody cared that 2 Welshmen played, respectively, a German & an Argentinian pope. Yet when Cynthia Erivo played Harriet Tubman huge flapdoodle because Cynthia is British & not a descendant of African-American slaves. Strange this.



Seen bits & pieces of this before, but finally saw the entire movie. Very entertaining though sadly bowdlerized for the censors back then. Homosexual references all removed which rather defeats the impact of the movie.

I wasn't interested in seeing this but I figured it'd make the westerns countdown so I tried it. Sure enough it's a bit quirky for my taste but I can't deny it's good qualities and I think I enjoyed it about as much as I could. My interest waned during some of the episodes but I didn't dislike any. There are moments of humor and excitement, and the performances, dialogue, and cinematography are all really good.

I saw this opening night and also read the book. I was really high on it at first, but my love for it has waned. If you haven't read the book (maybe you have) it would be difficult to connect the dots as you say

The Lighthouse (2019)

Didn't live up to the hype or my own expectations after The VVitch but still quite enjoyable watch. Visually it's gorgeous and sound is great as well but I think it's a little bloated (i.e. too long for what it is). I also didn't like how it tipped towards comedy at times almost like it didn't take itself seriously. So yeah, fine but could quite easily have been better.


...maybe .5 more, don't know yet

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Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly)


This is my second viewing, and overall my feelings toward this film haven't changed - still not a fan, and I still find it overrated (IMO). Don't get me wrong, it's an interesting movie, and it has its moments, but there's just something about Kelly's storytelling/directing style that doesn't quite work for me. He's using a whole bunch of cinematic techniques but they don't quite add up to create a strong cohesive whole, if that makes any sense.

Again, not bad - just not that good either.