Movies

This forum is to jibber and jabber
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
380 - Beloved (1998) - 7/10 - It's been over 30 years since I read Toni Morrison's Beloved, but this seems to be a decent adaptation of the historical/supernatural tale. Beloved is definitely not my favorite of Morrison's works, but it is the one that received the most acclaimed. Personally, The Bluest Eye is the one that I liked the most and I like Sula more than Beloved as well. I don't remember enough about Song of Solomon or Tar Baby to accurately compare.

:7510:
381 - Down Periscope (1996) - 7.5/10 - Kelsey Grammer stars as a naval commander who is given command of an outdated diesel submarine with a handpicked misfit crew in order to take part in a set of war games that are stacked against him. It's silly, but a lot of fun.

:6510:
382 - eXistenZ (1999) - 6.5/10 - A meeting where to try out an exciting new virtual reality game is disrupted by an assassin causing the game designer to go on the run. I thought that I would enjoy this more than I did. There are a few interesting things, but overall I expected more.

:7510:
383 - The Paper (1994) - 7.5/10 - Michael Keaton is the metro editor of a New York City newspaper that is always struggling financially. His wife is pregnant and expecting soon, he has a job interview at a rival paper, and a story hits about two out of town visitors found murdered in a parked car with two black teens as suspects. The film has a nice cast with Marisa Tomei, Randy Quaid, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, and others. I enjoyed it a lot in the theater and still like it quite a bit.

:7510:
384 - Gattaca (1997) - 7.5/10 - In the near future, many parents choose to have their kids genes cleaned before conception so that they only get the best traits. Prejudice against so called 'invalids' becomes prevalent. One such invalid uses samples from a paralyzed valid to get a nice job and a chance at a space mission. This is a nice science fiction film starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman.

:8510:
385 - The Truman Show (1998) - 8.5/10 - Jim Carrey stars as a man whose whole life has been a television show without his knowing about it, until one day when things start to make him curious. I still enjoyed this one a lot.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
386 - What About Bob? (1991) - 7/10 - Bob (Bill Murray) is a new patient of Dr. Leo Marvin (Richard Dreyfuss), a psychotherapist who is about to go on vacation with his family. Bob tracks Leo and his family down, inserting himself into their lives. I loved this film when it came out, but liked it a lot less this time around, sympathizing a lot more with the doctor.

:7510:
387 - While You Were Sleeping (1995) - 7.5/10 - A subway worker (Sandra Bullock) saves the life of a man (Peter Gallagher) who was mugged and fell on the tracks. She tries to visit him at the hospital and is mistaken for his fiancee. The man ends up in a coma and the woman falls in love with the man's brother (future President Bill Pullman). This is a nice romantic comedy. I liked Jack Warden's performance as family friend Sol.

:710:
388 - Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - 7/10 - The pressure is intense at a sales office where closing sales has been tough recently. A motivator arrives and announces a contest where the top two salesman get to keep their jobs and the rest are fired. Unfortunately, most of the leads that are being passed out are crap. The film has a pretty nice cast - Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, etc.

:7510:
389 - Cool Runnings (1993) - 7.5/10 - When an accident during qualifying costs a Jamaican sprinter his chance at going to the Olympics, he decides to form a bobsled team to try and compete in the Winter Olympics instead. It's still a fun watch.

:6510:
390 - Pi (1998) - 6.5/10 - Darren Aronofsky's feature length debut is about a number theorist who sees patterns in reality that are tied to math and he tries to use it to predict the stock market. A number of people/groups are after him in regard to a 216 digit number that came up in his research. The film is a pretty stylish psychological thriller, but I didn't really care for the story all that much.

:8510:
391 - La Haine (1995) - 8.5/10 - The film follows three young men from a poor suburb of Paris over a 24 hour period. There was rioting the night before after one of their friends was beaten by cops and is now in the hospital, but may not survive. They wander around, meeting friends and getting into trouble. One of them has a gun that was lost by the police during the riot and wants to use it for revenge. It's a pretty intense film at times and is very well done.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:8510:
392 - The Fifth Element (1997) - 8.5/10 - The film has a very nice cast with Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Chris Tucker, etc. There is plenty of humor and action and I still love it 25 years after seeing it on the big screen.

:810:
393 - Underground (1995) - 8/10 - This film is about two friends, Blacky and Marko, in Yugoslavia. The first section takes place during WWII and the German occupation, the second in 1961 during the Cold War, and the third in 1992 during the Yugoslav Wars. The movie is pretty crazy at times and entertaining. The band is playing through a good portion of the film. I liked the first section the most, but there were things to like in the other sections as well, especially the ending.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
394 - Morbius (2022) - 7/10 - Morbius was never a character that interested me much, but I went and saw the movie in the theater today and enjoyed it. I wouldn't rank it in the upper tier of Marvel films, but it had quite a bit of action, even if some of it was hard to discern because of the camerawork and effects. It was a bit disconcerting seeing Doctor Who as the friend/adversary here.

:910:
395 - A Brighter Summer Day (1991) - 9/10 - Zhang Zhen is a 14 year old boy from a good family in Taiwan in 1960. He is attending night school and is falling into juvenile delinquency, hanging out with members from two rival street gangs, though belonging to neither. There is romance and music, but also violence, including murder in this four hour film which I enjoyed quite a bit. It may be a long film, but it doesn't drag.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
396 - Satantango (1994) - 7/10 - The film has great cinematography and is interesting, but I think 7 hours is pretty excessive and it would have been just as effective in the 3-4 hour range. I liked seeing a few of the scenes from different perspectives and in a different context. Did we really need 8 minutes or so of cows? It's pretty bleak much of the time, but there is humor to be found here and there.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:8510:
397 - 12 Monkeys (1995) - 8.5/10 - Bruce Willis is sent back in time from 2035 to gather information on the origins of a virus that destroyed 99% of the population in 1996. Things don't go exactly as planned. The film still holds up very well and having seen La Jetée, I now see the connection there. Willis was good and Brad Pitt was pretty convincing as a mental patient.

:8510:
398 - Princess Mononoke (1997) - 8.5/10 - Ashitaka is cursed when he kills a boar god that has been possessed by a demon. He leaves his village in search of a way to find a cure and becomes involved in a battle between a town with people who have developed guns and the forest creatures who are trying to protect themselves and the land. Among the wolves of the forest is a young woman who was raised by them after her parents died. I saw the film in the theater and again when I bought the dvd upon its release, but it's been 20+ years and I still enjoyed it a lot.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:6510:
399 - Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) - 6.5/10 - The Master escapes and causes the Tardis to and emergency landing on Earth on December 30, 1999. This leads to The Doctor's death and resurrection and Paul McGann's briefly taking over the role. The film is a below average adventure and Eric Roberts really isn't that good as The Master.

:710:
400 - Waterworld (1995) - 7/10 - I liked this film when it came out. I didn't like it quite as much this time around, but it is still a decent and entertaining movie.

:710:
401 - Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) - 7/10 - It's a Bollywood film so there is plenty of music, dancing, and colorful outfits. Some of the guys act like jerks through a good part of the movie, but it is entertaining enough.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
402 - The Year Long Road (1958) - 7/10 - A town is filled with poverty and many people are out of work, just sitting around all day and planning and escape to America. One man is tired of this and starts a project of building a road to a neighboring town and pretending that the Town will pay for it. He is soon found out, but not until after many others have joined him. They decide keep building the road, even thought they don't have the permission or support of the Town leaders. The project brings the families of the Town together in a common purpose.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
403 - The Battle of Neretva (1969) - 7/10 - This is a decent epic about Yugoslav Partisans battling German, Italian, and Royalist forces in 1943 during WWII. A few of the deaths from extras were over-exaggerated, but it is a good film overall.

:7510:
404 - True Romance (1993) - 7.5/10 - Christian Slater stars as a comic book clerk who hooks up with a call girl on his birthday. They hit it off, get married, steal a bunch of coke, and head out to California. Lots of violence ensues as the gangsters he ripped off come looking for them. I thought it got better after they got to California.

:8510:
405 - The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - 8.5/10 - Dr. Mabuse has been institutionalized for a decade since his capture after his previous escapades. He has hypnotized others into setting up an Empire of Crime to terrorize the public and it is up to Inspector Lohmann to put the pieces together from various crimes and stop Dr. Mabuse. This is directed by Fritz Lang and is very well done.

:7510:
406 - The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939) - 7.5/10 - Kiku is the adopted son of a famous kabuki actor who is the fifth in a long line of successful kabuki actors. Kiku is praised often in public, though he realizes that this praise is due to his famous father and not his poor acting skills. He falls for his younger brother's nursemaid, Otoku, and decides to leave home and try to succeed on his own merits when the family successfully separates him from Otaku. He is eventually reunited with Otoku in Osaka where he acts with his uncle's troupe, but life soon becomes more difficult. I wasn't too into the movie at first, but thought it became more interesting after Kiku leaves Tokyo.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:810:
407 - The Last Metro (1980) - 8/10 - In occupied Paris in 1942, a small theater is barely hanging on. The Jewish theater owner/director has signed over the theater to his gentile wife (Catherine Deneuve) and is thought to have fled France. Instead, his wife is helping him hide in the cellar of the theater. Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu) is hired as the lead actor for the theater's new play and also secretly works for the resistance. Truffaut directed this film and I thought it was very good.

:910:
408 - The Twilight Samurai (2002) - 9/10 - Set a few years before the Meiji era in Japan, a poor low ranked samurai looks after his aging, senile mother and two young daughters after the death of his wife from tuberculosis. He works in castle stores and has many debts, but is happy with his life and the time with his girls. His life begins to change when Tomoe, a childhood friend, is divorced from her abusive husband and returns home to live with her elder brother. This leads to a duel and eventually the attention of his superiors. This is an excellent film.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
409 - The Flight of the Eagle (1982) - 7/10 - A fairly slow moving account of the ill-fated 1897 Swedish expedition to reach the North Pole by balloon. Luck was definitely not with them.

:610:
410 - Leviathan (2014) - 6/10 - A mechanic who can't control his temper lives in a seaside home with his teenage son and his second wife. The crooked mayor of the town is taking his property from him and paying him a very low price for it. The mechanic's friend is a lawyer and arrives from Moscow to try and help him. I didn't really enjoy this one, though it has decent cinematography.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:7510:
411 - Swades (2004) - 7.5/10 - Mohan is a non-resident Indian who works for NASA and has lived in the U.S. for 12 years. His parents died long ago, but he decides to take a break and return to India to find the woman who helped raise him and acted as a second mother to him when he was young and bring her back with him. He eventually finds her in a rural village with a woman who was a childhood friend and is now the local schoolteacher. He finds himself falling in love with her and with India, though he has some issues with their traditions. The movie can be kind of preachy at times and throws in a bunch of somewhat random music videos (it is a Bollywood film after all), but I enjoyed it and think it is a good film.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:7510:
412 - Strictly Ballroom (1992) - 7.5/10 - Scott Hastings is a competitive ballroom dancer who is bored with the strictly regimented steps and wants to dance his own way. However, just about everybody is against him, including his mother who pushes him to dance the 'correct' way so that he can win an important upcoming competition. He finds a new partner who wants to dance with him in new styles, but still faces pressure from others to conform. It's a nice film.

:710:
413 - Where is the Friend's House? (1987) - 7/10 - A young Iranian boy accidentally takes his friend's notebook home with him. When he discovers this, he wants to return the notebook so that his friend doesn't get in trouble, but the adults won't listen to him. He goes off on his own anyway, but has trouble locating his friend's house in the neighboring village.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
414 - Bread Day (1998) - 7/10 - The film starts with a train car being detached on a siding during winter in Russia. A small group of elderly people push the car for two hours to reach an old, somewhat abandoned workers settlement. The train car contains the bread supply for the week and we get to see the crotchety old woman who runs the store exchange the bread for pension money. We also get plenty of shots of people pushing the train and of dogs and goats allowed to roam free. At the end of the film, the people are pushing the empty train car back to the main track.

:710:
415 - And Life Goes On (1992) - 7/10 - A director and his son travel to Koker after a devastating earthquake to try and find out what happened to two of the boys from the earlier film, Where is the Friend's House?. The roads have been damaged as well and traffic is pretty backed up so they explore side roads in order to get there. I liked this one a little bit more than the earlier film.

:6510:
416 - Through the Olive Trees (1994) - 6.5/10 - This film takes place during the filming of And Life Goes On and features a behind the scenes look at the director and actors involved, focusing mainly on the newlyweds who were in one scene of the earlier film. In this film, the young man is trying to convince the young woman to marry him for real, but she won't give him the time of day. It's somewhat interesting, but I didn't think it was quite as good as the two earlier films in the trilogy.

:710:
417 - Bottle Rocket (1996) - 7/10 - Three friends decide to rob a bookstore and then go on the lam. The plan comes from Dignan (Owen Wilson) who seems less stable than his friend Anthony (Luke Wilson) who just got out of a mental hospital. Dignan has ideas of robbing lots of places and becoming master criminals. The movie itself is okay, though I did find Owen Wilson's haircut distracting since it is so different from his later work.

:510:
418 - The Fountain (2006) - 5/10 - Three stories intertwine here. A Spanish conquistador on a mission from Queen Isabella is looking for the Tree of Life, a surgeon in the present day is searching for a cure for his wife Izzy, who is dying of cancer, a man traveling on a spaceship in the future is searching for much the same thing. I didn't really enjoy this one very much.

:810:
419 - The Brothers Karamazov (1969) - 8/10 - I liked this Russian adaptation of the famous novel a bit more than the earlier U.S. version a decade earlier with Yul Brynner, William Shatner, etc. The characters are more exaggerated from what I remember of the other film, but it is probably more in keeping with the novel.

:8510:
420 - Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001) - 8.5/10 - The cruel British commander was overdone and the romance angle involving his sister was unnecessary, but I thought the movie was a lot of fun. Even most of the requisite songs/dances were pretty good and the cricket game was entertaining.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:8510:
421 - Wolf Children (2012) - 8.5/10 - A young woman in college meets a mysterious young man and the two fall in love. He turns out to be a wolf in human form and they have two children who are half human and half wolf. When he dies, she is left to raise the two children on her own. I enjoyed the manga adaptation when it came out here back in 2014 and the anime is also very good.
Last edited by Rusty on Wed May 04, 2022 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply