Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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Not a fan of musicals, however, when I saw this thread had updated yesterday the last post I could see was mine. Maybe it was the same for others?
Yah, that's true. It was a temporary glitch, caused by me using 2 tabs to make 2 different post simultaneously on this thread. I believe Yoda has fixed it.

Anyway, The Innocents is a wonderful film. So atmospheric and I love that with a horror/creepy thriller.
As much as I really liked that film. I thought the scene where the Governess looks behind some shrubbery in the garden and sees an old statue with a bug crawling out it's nose to be laughable.



The Man in the Moon (1999)

Reese Witherspoon's first movie, she was only 15 in this film. A warm yet bittersweet coming of age film, about two sisters who both fall in love with the same guy. Set in the late 1950s on a rural farm in Louisiana. Reese plays Dani, a tomboyish 14 year old girl who befriends the new boy in town, named Court, played by Jason London. Problem is, Court has eyes for her older and prettier sister, played by Emily Warfield. The love triangle is soon tested when tragedy strikes.

Reese Witherspoon and Jason London both give fine performances as does the father played by Sam Waterston. The cinematography and music score is well done and enhances the subject matter. The Man in the Moon is a likeable film, albeit heartbreaking at times.





You should try coming up with some kind of theme when watching a bunch of films. Thanks for the write up, unfortunately I haven't seen any to comment.
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Letterboxd



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Just some quick reviews of a few movies I seen recently & enjoyed.

The Man in the Moon (1999) Reese Witherspoon's first movie, she was only 15 in this film. A nice film about 2 sisters who both fall in love with the same guy. Set in the late 50s in the rural south.




Destination Moon (1950) and in Technicolor too. An intelligent attempt to show actual travel to the Moon to a 1950s audience. The story is rather dry, but what's impressive is the amount of accuracy about space travel that the movie get's right.


I haven't seen First Men on the Moon, but I've seen the other two movies.

The Man in the Moon was a very good movie, but it was also very sad at times. I saw it years ago, and as I recall it's kind of hard to watch because of the heavy drama involved, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes coming-of-age dramas.

I watched Destination Moon a while back on the same night with a couple of other similar movies, so I may be mixing it up with another movie, (probably Countdown or Marooned), but as I recall it was a good sci-fi movie that tries to make you feel the danger that the astronauts are in, so you can really relate to the characters. I remember it got off to a slow start, but it was worth the wait because it got more exciting, and felt more dangerous as the movie went on.

If you're looking for a movie with high-end special effects, this might not be the right movie, but if you're just looking for a good sci-fi story about the dangers of traveling to the moon, than this is worth a watch.



I haven't seen First Men on the Moon, but I've seen the other two movies.
There's a version of that silent film where an actor does an off screen reading of the original working script. This is done while the original silent movie plays.

I found that very interesting as I had no idea what many of the scenes were representing.



Dead Man


I like Depp. He's good in most anything he does, even if the film itself doesn't work so well. Luckily Dead Man does work.

Depp was on a roll in the mid 90s. Following his success with: Edward Scissorhands (1990), What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Benny and Joon (1993) and Ed Wood (1994), he made this avant garde western, Dead Man (1995).

Filmed in glorious black & white by director/writer Jim Jarmusch. Dead Man tells the off beat tale of William Blake, a young man jilted by his fiance who hops on a train and heads to a desolate western town called Machine. There he finds himself without a job, without any money and with a murder wrap hanging over him...for killing the son of the town boss and bully, Robert Mitchum. And heaven help the man who messes with Robert Mitchum!

What follows is a uniquely different type of film as Depp is forced to go on the lamb, where he meets a Native American Indian and is mistaken for the poet William Blake.

What makes this movie unique is it's use of ecliptic symbolism and atypical story narrative, which suits Depp's style of acting to a tee.


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Dead Man has been in the Netflix que for months. I need to get to it. I have watched a couple Jarmusch this year and have enjoyed them both. Love hasn't taken hold yet though.



The only negative thing I can say about Dead Man is that the music score consisted of a electric guitar that played the same notes over and over and over, very loudly too. The guitar score was at least twice as loud as the actors dialogue and became grating on my nerves.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I'm not a big Johnny Depp fan, but I watched Dead Man a few months ago for the Movie Tournament. I don't remember a lot about it, but as I recall, I liked the movie, and I thought the music was a good match for the tone of the movie. I'll have to re-watch it when I get a chance.



Never Let Me Go


What a beautifully made movie Never Let Me Go is. The art direction, the lighting and the scenes are stunningly beautiful. The cinematography is carefully controlled, sublime. The color pallet of the film is soft pastels, filmed in soft diffusion. Like a work of art from the 19th century French Impressionist, Never Let Me Go (2010) is minimalist cinema fused with art.



Based on the best selling novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. The film tells the somber story of a group of children raised in isolation at a British boarding school in 1975. The students are clones, whose only purpose in life is to be organ donors for others. As they graduate from school and enter adult hood they are moved to communal living quarters, where they await their assignments as organ donors.

The director Mark Romanek does a superb job of delivering a subtle, somber story, done with ambiance and self reflection. From the cinematography to the haunting music score, every element of the film is in harmony with the soulful storyline.



Academy nominated, Carey Mulligan plays a young woman-donor clone, coming to grips with the meaning of her short life. Academy nominated, Keira Knightley along with Andrew Garfield make up the fine cast of talented British actors, who make the film so believable.

Don't think for a moment that Never Let Me Go, is sci fi, it's not. Don't think it's about people fighting back and escaping their fate, it's not. The film, like the book is a metaphor for what we strive for, a meaning to our existence.




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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I've never even heard of Never Let Me Go, but from your review, it sounds like it could be interesting. Not too many movies get a 5-star rating and review, so based on your rating, I'll definitely look for this movie.



I rarely give a movie 5 stars. This movie impressed me. It touched me.

It's not for everyone. It's not action. It's not CG. It's not fast paced.

It forces the viewer to dig into the story and to reflect on our own existences. It's a minimalist work in all ways.

I would hope those who appreciate cinema as art, would watch Never Let Me Go.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I rarely give a movie 5 stars. This movie impressed me. It touched me.

It's not for everyone. It's not action. It's not CG. It's not fast paced.

It forces the viewer to dig into the story and to reflect on our own existences. It's a minimalist work in all ways.

I would hope those who appreciate cinema as art, would watch Never Let Me Go.


I watched Never Let Me Go last night based on your recommendation, and it was amazing. I can certainly see why you gave it a 5 star rating.

It's a wonderful drama that feels more like a romance than a sci-fi. There's no action in this movie. Just an amazing story to focus on, and it has great acting from a young cast. This movie will definitely pull at your heartstrings.

I highly recommend this movie for anyone who likes good dramas. Great pick Citizen Rules. Thanks for the recommendation.



GBG, I only found the Never Let Me Go by browsing the Library shelves. I almost left it on the shelf too as I had never heard of it and the title didn't grab me.

The script was written by the same person who wrote Sunshine. Which was another poignant, somber movie, sans the silly horror scene that was tacked into the film.

I need to find more films like this one.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
GBG, I only found the Never Let Me Go by browsing the Library shelves. I almost left it on the shelf too as I had never heard of it and the title didn't grab me.

The script was written by the same person who wrote Sunshine. Which was another poignant, somber movie, sans the silly horror scene that was tacked into the film.

I need to find more films like this one.


I think I saw Sunshine a while back. As I recall, it was a pretty good movie for about the first 2/3 - 3/4 of the movie, until they started with that garbage about Pinbacker.



Exactly, Pinbacker scene blew! I bet a producer wanted that scene included for my ticket sales. I would rate Sunshine a solid 4 but that scene I give a 0. I still think about that movie sometimes though.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Exactly, Pinbacker scene blew! I bet a producer wanted that scene included for my ticket sales. I would rate Sunshine a solid 4 but that scene I give a 0. I still think about that movie sometimes though.

I don't think I would give that movie such a high rating. Maybe without the Pinbacker scene, but with it, it's barely a 3 rating for me.