Nightmare Alley was decent. A rags-to-riches-gone-wrong story of a guy with a checkered past who stumbles into a job as a carney, and goes from there. 1940's Neo-noir-ish, in the setting of a traveling circus. Bradley Cooper was pretty good. Definitely one of the more plot driven nominees. 7.5/10

The first half of the movie felt like it was an extended movie cut of the original HBO show, Carnivale, which was only on air for two seasons in the early 2000's but was pretty rich in theme and got ended prematurely.


I don't know what to make of Licorice Pizza. Coming of age flick in the 70's about a couple kids doing a bunch of random stuff, really. Same kind of southern California hippie vibe as Inherent Vice, but without as much plot. Sounds like it was adopted mostly from stories of some guy Paul Thomas Anderson knew.

I guess it's a good exhibit of how hit-or-miss PTA is for me. LP oozed charm and style and both leads were really good yet at the end I was still disappointed overall. 7/10

Showed my GF Dog Day Afternoon in our ongoing 70s-era film watching. Two things that really stood out this time were the complete non-use of music throughout the whole film after the opening credits - none at all; and the pitch-perfect "real" acting by everyone in the cast. Literally everyone. It's like watching a documentary...people act and talk like, well people. Especially the hostages. And my GF noticed how completely non-judgmental the movie is about Leon and trans/homosexuality. Pretty remarkable for a movie from that time.

Such an amazing movie. It's perfect, really. Lumet was king.

ya good pick dom.

Watched DDA a few months ago for the first time since it came out and everything held up. Kinda surprised. There's another Pacino flick from that era where he's a serial gay-killer. I wonder if it holds up.

That's one of those John Cazale movies.

Spoiler? I think the movie you're referring to is "Cruising" (1980), but he plays the detective investigating the killing, and not the killer, unless there is a big plot twist. I'd prefer you not answer if he is though, I might get around to watching the movie at some point.

Dog Day Afternoon is one of my all-time favourite movies.

I'm not sure if Cruising was ever considered good, but when I watched it a few months ago, I thought it was terrible. Don't waste your time imo.

Rewatched The Prestige last night. Still holds up, great flick.

Watched Scary Stories to Tell In the Dark last night with GF. It was enjoyable and freaking damn scary for a pg-13 movie. I mean, some of the images in this film would give kids nightmares. There's a creature called the Jangly Man who can delimb himself and put himself back together again. My GF said it was like watching a butchered animal suddenly get up and walk. Crazy.

Then there's this other monster who's like a fat, pale woman with a foot long grin and stringy hair that gave me chills.

I know it's based on a series of books for teens...hence, the rating. But no way should anyone under that age of 14 watch this lol.

Hunt For Wilderpeople...

another lovely Taika Waititi (I found out that Taika Waititi is slated to Direct the live action version of Akira) film.

Found this streaming and showed it to my gal who had never seen it. Couldn’t agree more; so well done and was happy to see how well it’s held up

imo the prestige is Nolan's best film.

I rewatched The Prestige because I vaguely remember not caring too much for it the first time I saw it. Just didn't work for me but I appreciate why others like it.

Meanwhile, my wife was out of town so I decided to get my horror movie fix since she won't watch them. I enjoy serious as well as campy horror so I thought I'd give Freaky a try. Absolutely horrible. Not even good bad. Just bad. Don't waste your time since I've already done that for you.

I didn't think Freaky was horrible. It wasn't high-art or anything, but it was certainly watchable.

i've never understood horror films

they either totally fail and are comical or succeed and then i'm uncomfortable watching it

Generally, they’re very easy to write and have low production costs. So it’s almost a guaranteed two-threefold profit, and every once in awhile you get lucky with something like Blair Witch that becomes a spectacle. The whole product is easily scaled for sequel squeezes.

For audiences, it’s rollercoaster escapism. A collective entertainment experience that spikes the adrenaline and is quickly forgotten when it’s over.

Awhile ago people were talking about some movie that looked good, but they were just not going to put themselves through the torture of sitting through it. I think it was Marriage Story, but not 100% sure. Anyways that's the entire horror genre for me. Last horror film I watched was Get Out, I absolutely loved it, and still have no desire to watch another.

Dom posted a great review of a period piece horror film called The Blackcoat's Daughter. I put it on my "to watch" list, because Dom's review was great and it sounds like something I'd love, but it's horror so I'm sure it'll sit on that list unwatched for years.

It's hard for me to tell what is or isn't horror. Some of the classic Japanese and Korean stuff is good (Ring[u], Wailing). Are those horror? How about the Frankenstein movies on channel 9 that I loved as a kid? Mandy? Leaving Las Vegas (terrified me)? Throne of Blood?

Leaving Las Vegas is an incredible movie.

I've always loved Leaving Las Vegas, and for different reasons over time.

One thing I read in a review once that has always stuck with me is how Ben hates himself so much that he commits suicide in just about the slowest and most agonising way possible because he wants to suffer. I'd never really thought about it that way before, but how sad is that?

I also remember a long time ago asking a friend to pick that movie up from Blockbuster while he was there. I don't think I really sold it properly tho...

Leaving Las Vegas is the best movie that I've ever seen that I never want to see again.

Me too, but it may be in a tie with Sid and Nancy.

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YT delivers the goods - truly great little known movie from back in the day about a Jamaican singer and his troubles - starring Jimmy Cliff - tops in reggae before Bob Marley

fabulous soundtrack


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