the incident (1967) - two loud hoodlums terrorize a group of people on a new york subway. it maybe felt a touch long at about 105 minutes, but still a very neat, tight little film. 3.5/5

.

filled with a good number of people who went on to have a fair amount of fame. martin sheen's first film. donna mills is there (the 14 year old damo fancied her quite a bit). beau bridges, ed mcmahon, ruby dee are all along for the ride too.

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Girl On The Train (2016) I really enjoyed this because it left me guessing right til the end who killed Meagen, and Emily Blunt was amazing as Rachel. I give it a 4 out of 5

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Live By Night 8 / 10

Lion 8 / 10

Passengers (2016)

It had its moments. I wish the small cast had been given a little more to work with.

.5

The Killing Joke (2016)

The animated version of the highly controversial comic was underwhelming, and at times, gratuitous.

.5

Ash Wednesday: Stars, **

Ash Wednesday was the last movie Ms. Taylor was ever nominated for an Oscar.

Synopsis: A 50 plus year old woman ( Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Sawyer) goes to France for 6 weeks (husband (Henry Fonda, Mark Sawyer) for a face lift... in hopes of saving her marriage. Barber Sawyer tell her husband of 25 years she needs recharge her batteries in France. Instead Ms. Sawyer goes under the knife for a chin, face, and eye lift. Barbara plans are to meet up with her husband Mark's in the French Alps... in hopes of rekindling, recapturing his love. Needless to say things don't work out that smoothly.

I thought the premise was thin. Ms. Taylor was only 40 when she we suppose to be a 50 plus year old woman with a 30 year old daughter. Henry Fonda is old enough to be Ms. Taylor daddy but yet he's cast as her husband. Mark / Fonda and Barbara/Taylor scenes are towards the end of the movie... Barbara and Mark spend most of their time missing each other calls and/or suffering from bad connections. Taylor acting is acceptable, she saves this melodrama from being a total joke.

The Only Game In Town: Stars * 1/2

Horrible movie: Warren Beatty and ElizabethTaylor have no chemistry what-so-ever. The script had potential but goes no where. Taylor plays a lonely Las Vegas Show girl, who lives in a one bedroom apartment near the Las Vegas airport. Warren Beatty is free llounge piano/singer. They (Taylor & Beatty) meet by happenstance, Taylor walks into the lounge for a bite to eat. Beatty strikes up a conversation with Taylor and later they end up at her apartment in her bed. He tells her his attempting to win 20,000.00 dollars gambling so he can move to Los Angels. Taylor tells Beatty she waiting for her lover to divocre his wife so they can get married. Beatty ask if he can move in, sharing rent is cheaper than living alone. Taylor agrees, "She explains she can know smoke late at night in bed because someone in laying on the other side. As the weeks go by Taylor and Beatty characters develop feelings for one another. Both only discover this when Taylor lover shows up with an engagement ring.

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La La Land

If I were a film reviewer, this would be my capsule review:

"An enjoyable trifle aided greatly by the charisma of its two leads. The generous helping of 'magic hour' photography lends a beautiful glow to the City of Dreams."

I already saw La La Land, in case you were worried about it. I love the film, i enjoyed it all throughout the movie. But having said that, once again the story plot is weak, the performances for me, are not great, just fine; visually is just marvelous. Love the songs, and i'll be watching it again. I don't think it deserves the nomination for Best Picture neither Best Actress nor Best Actor. Weak story, just fine performances, visually awesome.

seconds (1966) - strange mix of twilight zone-ish sci-fi & film noir, with a hint of body horror thrown in along with a very bleak ending. definitely interesting as a period piece & i absolutely think it's a good watch for people who seek out cult-ish films. 3.5/5

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214 said:

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

214 said:

I already saw La La Land, in case you were worried about it. I love the film, i enjoyed it all throughout the movie. But having said that, once again the story plot is weak, the performances for me, are not great, just fine; visually is just marvelous. Love the songs, and i'll be watching it again. I don't think it deserves the nomination for Best Picture neither Best Actress nor Best Actor. Weak story, just fine performances, visually awesome.

Best movie of the year by far for me. The only one released this year people will know and care about in 10 years in my opinion.

Really? well ok. Moonlight is considered for many as the best of the year.

214 said:

Garbage, no stars.

I don't have an issues with dark or black drama/comedies. I don't have to like or empathize with the characters... in many instances, the more a movie plot is twisted the better. But this move "Elle" was an insult on anyone who has half of a brain cell working. Sadly it appeas movie critics can't distinguish bulllshit....how people repsond act, and/or feel. Everthing about this movie is false and dumb.

"Split" - 2.5

20th Century Women (2016) - The story of three women who explore love and freedom in Southern California during the late 1970s.

Like the setting, love the cast, LOVE the soundtrack. A pleasant snapshot of the point where these characters' lives intersect under one roof. 4/5

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damosuzuki said:

obvious child - generally speaking, i'd rather do almost anything else in the world than watch a rom-com (i'd say this movie qualifies as that if you use a loose definition of the term), but i completely fell for this, and i now may be a little bit in love with jenny slater. 4/5

[Edited 2/2/17 9:29am]

I've heard only good things about this movie and plan on seeing it soon. I have to get through some bad Oscar-nominated films first though.

Snowden 3/5 Definitely humanized the man. I've gotten to know him better through his interviews though.

Ugot2shakesumthin said:

214 said:

Really? well ok. Moonlight is considered for many as the best of the year.

I think Moonlight is great as well. Amazing cinematography and acting. Awesome movie. But it felt like I was emotionally brutalized. By the time it was over I was relieved. As good as it was, I will never see it again. It was not a great experience. As I was sitting there admiring how the camera moves and the acting and the color, it's obviously a work of art. But not an enjoyable time at the movies. I was happy to leave that and go home. La la Land on the other hand had me feeling all those same things, the camera work, how tightly knit the story was the music. The difference was I couldn't wait to go home and add the soundtrack to Spotify. It's a movie I want to see again and listen to the music at the gym. Two completely different movies. Both great but I give the nod to la la Land because I could see how difficult it was to make and how original and daring the whole thing was.

I haven't yet seen Moonlight, but i do understand what you say about La La Land, is veru enjoyable film, beautiful to watch, and that music... just a beautiful experience. I love City Of Lights, Another Day Of Sun and... i love the whole soundtrack.

Tree Of Life- I downloaded this film like 2 years ago, and i just watched it this weekend. Once again, visually astounding, beautiful. But the story is a little weak to me, if not a little pretentious; as though they had tried very hard. But quite interesting and enjoyable.

sexton said:

damosuzuki said:

obvious child - generally speaking, i'd rather do almost anything else in the world than watch a rom-com (i'd say this movie qualifies as that if you use a loose definition of the term), but i completely fell for this, and i now may be a little bit in love with jenny slater. 4/5

[Edited 2/2/17 9:29am]

I've heard only good things about this movie and plan on seeing it soon. I have to get through some bad Oscar-nominated films first though.

funny you should say that. just the other evening, i had the notion that i could actually pull off your annual tradition of catching all nominated releases this year (probably excluding the shorts, unless they get screened here).

.

i don't have a burning desire to see florence foster jenkins or silence, but i've seen enough of the nominees at this point that i'd be able to see the balance without too much fuss.

.

what do you have left to see?

214 said:

Tarzan the newest version 2/5 Where to begin?

Hacksaw Ridge (2016) - WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.

The first half was kind of corny. The battle scenes though were amazingly shot. 3.5/5

damosuzuki said:

sexton said:

I've heard only good things about this movie and plan on seeing it soon. I have to get through some bad Oscar-nominated films first though.

funny you should say that. just the other evening, i had the notion that i could actually pull off your annual tradition of catching all nominated releases this year (probably excluding the shorts, unless they get screened here).

.

i don't have a burning desire to see florence foster jenkins or silence, but i've seen enough of the nominees at this point that i'd be able to see the balance without too much fuss.

.

what do you have left to see?

Of the major categories, the only movies I haven't yet seen are Florence Foster Jenkins and Captain Fantastic which I plan on watching over the weekend. All the short films get screened here so seeing those won't be a problem. As for the rest, there are still quite a few--like all of the animated and documentary features, yikes. I anticipate posting a review on here daily until the Academy Awards at the end of the month.

The classic mini-series Lace (1984) and Lace 2 (1985) starring Pheobe Cates. Its campy, the acting is over the top, it has great locations and its really melodramatic.....what more could I want? Plus it has one of my all time fav lines from the 80s "Incidentally..... Which One of You Bitches Is My Mother?" I give them both 4 out of 5

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[Edited 2/2/17 23:17pm]

The African Doctor 3.5/5 Based on a true story. It was cute as hell.