My Favorite Movies

this was the first film to make my jaw drop. i'd never enjoyed a movie that made me think about it's artistic merits before. when i saw this it made me into a mindblown tarantino worshipping freak. everyone that came to my house HAD to watch this. i wasn't taking no for an answer. and to most of my friends credit, they were thankful for it.

i don't think the word "perfect" begins to cover it. but it's a start. perfect.

this is one hard movie to describe, or critique. but at the imdb quite a few have done so. i can tell you i think it is the ultimate in cool, but would that make you wanna see it? i didn't think so. how about this---twin irish brothers have had it with the way the system caters to criminals, and decide to dish out justice in their own way. their way is quite effective. almost equal parts funny and violent. it has that in common with pulp fiction. also alot of violence, which always sets my toes a-tapping. if you hate violence in film, skip it. because though it irks me when people say this film is just violence and nothing else, they could HONESTLY say that there is a great deal of violence, but it is more than that, much more.

probably the only movie to ever truly scare me in the sense that it bothered me long after it was over.

martin scorsese was long ago crowned champion of the crime drama. he's earned it. with his first oscar winner, he attempts something previously undone, at least not by him. he shows the story equally from the cops and criminals points of view. it makes for an incredible watching experience. while many argue that the departed isn't among his better works, i think it is easily. it's very ambitious, and i, and many many others (including the academy) applaud him.

when the bloodbath from the first volume of kill bill is washed away, you begin to get to the heart of the story. and what a story we have in this one.

can anyone really explain this film? you just have to see it to get it. i promise it's worth it.

here's an academy award winning film, and deservedly so. it's main challenge was the aviator. i hate to pull against scorsese but i did it in this instance. this was the most personally affecting movie i have ever seen. to go into why would be to let you in on more of my life than you need to know. trust me when i say------this movie exceeded what i expected of it.

a fistful of dollars, for a few dollars more, the good the bad, and the ugly, high plains drifter, hang em' high. these are all CLASSIC eastwood westerns. this tops them all. why? because we see things as they must have actually been. what i mean by this is you don't just kill someone, and not feel at least a bit guilty. even if you're convinced you're in the right. there has to be a sense of regret when you take a human life. if there isn't, then you would actually be the bad guy of the story. william munny is the good guy. h has done some horrible things, and he does have a conscience about it. when the kid says "i guess he had it coming", and william answers "we all got it coming", that's one of the coolest things i could have heard at that moment. this was a western with not only a heart, but a soul as well.

i can't stand touching coming of age type pictures, but this is different. this one i absolutely adore. it's my feel good movie of all time. except MAYBE it's a wonderful life. and what a stellar soundtrack! it has a complete lack of violence. yet, i love it anyway. alot of comedic moments, but they never dumb it down for you.

excellent job tony scott. i don't THINK tarantino could have made it any better.

a film with something for everyone. battle scenes for men, and a great love story for women. mel with the movie that turned him from being a superstar to a megasuperstar. and deservedly so. it's hard to believe this is the same man who gave us drivel like "what women want".

while i must confess to liking the second part more, many consider this the greatest movie of all time. i am no one who has enough knowledge to claim that i would know. i will say........they could be right.

the carnage of kill bill volume one is so over the top one wondered how tarantino would ever top it. easy, he didn't. he went in a slightly different direction. but with this one you have more action than vin diesel's entire career

along with donnie darko, another contender for the "freakiest move to still be a masterpiece that i've ever seen".

there are 2 country singers i can stomach. the first is johnny cash. and he is more than a singer to alot of us. he's like a grandfather that we can look up to. in my case, much more than my own grandfather. so i knew they had better do an outstanding job with this one. or i would be literally furious. they did an outstanding job. it was brilliantly acted, scripted, directed, there is nothing bad to say about this one. the music parts are very well done, but you never forget you are watching the true love story of johnny and june carter cash. that's what the movie is about. the rest is garnish. the academy blew it big time by not nominating this one. the other singer? well, if they make a movie about him, i'll tell you. i'll give you a hint. johnny liked him alot. and he's in another of my favorite movies.

here is a fact for you. if you watch the usual suspects, you will want to immediately watch it again. this is another fact. the second time you watch the usual suspects, you are watching a different movie than you were the first time. after the first two viewings it loses a little bit. but not so much it would be deemed unenjoyable. also, it gets kudos for really making kevin spacey a household name.

september 19, 1997. on that day LA confidential hit theaters. at the time, my little sister acted like it was a birthday present for her. even though she was in her early twenties, and surely knew better. but let us pretend she didn't. for my sisters birthday russell crowe went into the stratosphere. guy pearce got his first serious recognition, and kin basinger came back to our planet earth. no word as of yet where she had been. i can only say when she came back, she wanted to be a star again. and she pulled that off with dignity, then topping on the cake please, kevin spacey showed up on the set as well, and showed everyone why he is an oscar winer. so on my sisters birthday, let's all remember how the planets aligned, and gave us an epic noir masterpiece done with an absolute star studded cast.

each year at holiday time, i get happy because i know it's time for "it's a wonderful life". this is my favorite of the "christmas" movies. though i don't think it should be classified as such. but it doesn't bother me that it has been. but i digress. the whole concept of seeing what the world would have been without this good upstanding yet unspectacular man resonates with me. if you've seen this, you know what i mean. if you haven't i can't fully explain it. it's a moving experience. i saw it for the first time approximately 10 years ago, and i haven't missed a season watching it since.

natalie portman made her debut count. she plays a young gir named mathilda. mathilda isl orphaned by drug dealing corrupt cops. enter jean reno as leon, a hitman. in a strange twist of fate he winds up playing caretaker for mathilda. doesn't sound necessarily heartwarming, but i swear it is. also, gary oldman is superb as the lead corrupt cop.

in the year of our lord 1992, the academy awards were dominated by the film "the silence of the lambs". if you care to keep score it won best picture, jonathan demme took best director, jodie foster took best actress, and anthony hopkins won best actor. it also won one of the writing awards. and it was moninated for 2 other awards it didn't win. so when i say it dominated, it's not an exaggeration. if you don't know the reason it dominated, i suggest you see this one. you are one of only 221 people on the earth that haven't. and you'll see the rest of us are right. the chemistry between hopkins and foster is phenomenal. you can't quit watching these two. when they aren't in scenes together, you're on edge until they are, it actually seems they belong together. and even though they aren't together in that much of the movie, you walk away feeling the whole movie was them. and i could be wrong about this, but i do believe it was the first horror film to win best picture. it's pure excellence.

okay, i'm in the mood to defend casino. this is a movie that takes way too many shots, because of one thing. the running time. waaaa, it's too long. i don't have that much attention span. then there's always" goodfellas was a much better movie". well no, goodfellas wasn't a much better movie. i much prefer casino. but then again i can pay attention for 3 hours. maybe it's just me. a big advantage this has is no ray liotta. nothing against him, but he was the lead character in goodfellas, in a movie that had de niro, and pesci, liotta should never be the lead character over those two. casino only needs them to carry the movie. then, to top it off, somewhere along the way, sharon stone learned to act. and act she did. lastly, casino had enough rolling stones songs featured to do an anthology album. i really loved casino. i loved goodfellas. just casino more so.

why can't all chick flicks be like this?

there are dozens of adjectives that could be used to describe requiem for a dream. let's go with this one----harrowing. this film had me sucked in completely. i couldn't have turned away if i had wanted to. and the fact is there were several times i wanted to. but i stuck it out. and i will say it's an absolute work of genius. i doubt director darren aronofsky will ever top it. he may have things that are more financially successful, but actually better........don't believe so. and the acting tour de force of requiem is easily ellen burstyn. your heart truly goes out to her character. and speaking of ms. burstyn, no way did julia roberts deserve the oscar over ellen in 2001. the other main characters don 't generate nearly as much compassion, but you don't hope bad things for them either. they just don't resonate with the viewer as much as ellen burstyn does playing sarah goldfarb. this is however the most impressive jared leto has ever been. the other two main characters are played by jennifer connelly, and marlon wayans. ms. connelly, as always, does an outstanding job. while mr. wayans stretches beyond his comedian roots. he also gives the performance of a lifetime. everyone involved with this picture really impressed me so much. it would be much higher on my list of favorites, if it weren't the most down movie i've seen in recent memory. still, life isn't all butterflies, and flowers. this drives that point home with a sledgehammer.

ah, the tarantino debut......a fabulous beginning to a career. while it isn't the classic "pulp fiction" is, it is easy to see the progression from this to that.

we human beings tend to overuse words a great deal. we must discuss one of these words. that word is underrated. we throw it around like confetti. kind of loses the weight of the word when we use it so freely. but that is the word that my brain latches onto when i think of "Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead'. a movie rarely dicussed, and not seen by nearly enough people, the film lacks the violence of latter day gangster flicks, but more than makes up for it in character development. and there are some outstanding characters. andy garcia takes the leaqd as jimmy "the saint" tosnia. he is probably the reason the movie wasn't bigger than it was. he's not bad, but these days we know something that wasn't known in 1995. and that something is the name andy garcia cannot carry a film at the box office. however, i do think that much of the cast turned in better performances. i am a christopher walken nut......and he's never been creepier than he is in this, as a quadrapalegic mob boss, he is truly menacing. william forsythe also did a great job as jimmy's associate in crime. treat williams was hilarious as critical bill, muscle for hire. i also must give kudos to christopher lloyd who plays olden "pieces" palmiero. the main negative in the film is gabrielle anwar, who portrays dagney, jimmy's love interest. not much of a performance on her part. but then again, there isn't a whole lot for her to do. so she really can't be held accountable. all in all it's not scorsese, or tarantino but it's highly enjoyable. AND UNDERRATED.

okay, we've all seen that adam sandler has pretty much invented his own genre. but it's really fun to watch him to step out of it. it's great see him not being the really sweet, yet incredibly goofy guy. the first glimpse we got was punch drunk love. that movie was far too big a downer. yes, he showed some chops, but the movie........could i be sleepier? then we get spanglish. he is once again sweet, yet goofy. but he's not incredibly goofy. this allows you to like him, and not be ashamed of it. i love this movie. the idea of always doing what's best for your children is a concept that everyone should embrace. bravo!

taking you back to an era when horror movies were allowed to take their timeto build up to a frightening point. nothing tries to jolt you out of your chair every 30 seconds. if you require non stop BOO! moments, skip this one. but if you can appreciate this for what it is, get it! found my copy for the low low price of 5.50. money well spent.

i know this isn't a "good movie". but the truth is sometimes i like movies that have that "stupid equals funny" mentality. and if american pie could be as well recieved as it was, why can't people enjoy this as well? the answer is they can. if only more people knew of it........

not normally my type of movie, and yet it is one of the best "triumph of the human spirit" movies i have ever had the pleasure of seeing, to top it off, it's mostly factual. an example of how we really can do almost anything.

okay, so in reality the movie sucked, but it did spawn my favorite tv show in the history of tv shows. so i have to be thankful that it did see the light of day.