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joeylinville
Reviews
Blood Simple (1984)
Nothing simple about this
I first saw this movie in 1985 or '86. My friend and I rented it based on some hype on the back of the box describing the promising debut of the writers and director (The Coen brothers). Blood Simple delivered. This film captivated me from its quiet beginning to its nerve racking end. It made me want to see if they could do even better films, and indeed they did with their next try, Raising Arizona.
There are scenes in this movie that are haunting -- scenes that pop up in your night mares from time to time. If you've seen the movie you know the scenes I'm talking about. However, the characters make this movie. M. Emmet Walsh was perfectly cast as the seediest of seedy private eyes. Frances McDormat was wonderful as the nervous cheating wife. That final confusing scene between the two of them is classic.
Don't miss this film if you like film noir, eye popping cinematography, or just a well conceived plot. If you enjoy other Coen Brothers movies (I.E. Fargo, Miller's Crossing, O Brother Where art Thou, et al), you need to see the movie that made Hollywood notice them.
Getting It On (1983)
Sucks on so many levels
Something has to be the worst movie ever. I believe this is a viable candidate. Humor that's not funny, sex that's not enticing, dialogue that's not coherent--the lack of inspiration makes one pause. Why on Earth would anyone make such a bad movie? I saw it in high school after being duped into it by friends. We all agreed to never tell we'd seen any of it, let alone sat through the entire thing. God! Did it suck! You should see just to see if I'm right about this or not.
Casablanca (1942)
Perfect
I first saw Casablanca on the big screen. It was around 1993. I was visiting a friend at the University of Missouri who had a load of work to do on her Master's Thesis. So, her boyfriend and I went to see it in the student union. It's a shame that, being a guy, I first saw this incredibly romantic love story with another guy, but it still jerked tears. I was most amazed with how the familiar and famous lines, so many of which were already part of my psyche, just kept coming and coming.
Now, I own the movie and have most of it memorized. I get a great thrill from introducing it to people, watching them hear those line for the first time in context. I teach English now and use the film as a study in plot, foreshadowing, and Freytag's Triangle (or Climactic Triangle).
As a list maker, i have for years made favorite movies lists. This went straight to number one after my first viewing and is so entrenched there that only an act of God would break it from that spot. If you've never seen it, try, by all means, to see it on the big screen first.