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Bostonian916 (449 KP) rated The Best of Enemies (2019) in Movies

Jun 29, 2020 (Updated Jun 29, 2020)  
The Best of Enemies (2019)
The Best of Enemies (2019)
2019 | Biography, Drama, History
I'm a huge Sam Rockwell fan and I was honestly nervous about seeing him portray this character after he was presented as so vile in the trailer. I'm glad I got over that. One of the best performances of his to date.

Taraji P. Henson is all but unrecognizable in her adaptation of a civil rights activist who's been drawn to the brink after a local school is damaged in a fire. The fire damage threatens to desegregate the schools as there aren't many options for the students, who are caught in the crossfire. What ensues is a mostly peaceful war of attrition that surprises everybody involved.

Stellar acting throughout. Based on fact. Definitely worth a watch. Without understanding our history, we are doomed to repeat it.
  
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Jim Jarmusch recommended American Psycho (2000) in Movies (curated)

 
American Psycho (2000)
American Psycho (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Drama, Horror

"My number one is American Psycho, 2000. A masterful adaptation of words to cinema by Mary Harron, an important American director, and writer. She made Alias Grace, The Notorious Bettie Page, I Shot Andy Warhol, et cetera. This is adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel that was set in the 1980s. And I think that the film resonates even more now than when it was made almost 20 years ago. Though at the time it was called sexist filth by some [laughs]. Christian Bale’s performance is brutally riveting, and the entire cast– Willem Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, and Jared Leto – are all just really good. There’s also an uncut ‘Killer Collections’ edition, which I would strongly recommend. It’s a great film."

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Erika (17789 KP) rated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Books

Nov 11, 2020 (Updated Nov 11, 2020)  
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Irving | 1820 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.2 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, watching the Disney adaptation of this, you kind of feel bad for Ichabod Crane. From what I can recall, he's kind of a lovable dope, right?
Book? Completely different. Ichabod is kind of an aloof d-bag, the new, local school teacher and scaredy cat. Of course, the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the Headless Horseman, thought to be a deceased Hessian soldier.
After being rebuffed by the chick he thinks is into him, at a dance, and terrified of this story that was told to him, he heads home, and was never seen again, Was it the chick's other suitor who killed him? Was he so embarrassed he just moved?
No one knows, and I kind of dug the ending for leaving it open ended.
  
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
2001 | Comedy, Drama
8.6 (10 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"The seemingly precious whimsy of Wes Anderson’s style masks a sensibility that is at once delicate and magnificently imaginative. The Royal Tenenbaums has been described as an adaptation of a great novel that doesn’t exist, and it is set in an upper Upper West Side that also doesn’t exist. Anderson literally creates a world of his own to explore the most primal emotions and family dynamics. There is so much to savor—the sweat suits, the enchanting music, Gene Hackman on a tricycle—and the DVD is also a world of its own, as beautifully packaged as, well, a Wes Anderson film, with Kent Jones’s lucid manifesto defining Anderson’s particular brand of genius, and a great gallery of production design drawings."

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The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
1988 | Drama, Romance
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"I think Philip Kaufman is one of our most underappreciated filmmakers. His films are funny and sophisticated and are often very insightful explorations into sexual interplay among adults. Having read the Kundera novel a couple of times, and having seen the film many more, I am astounded by the adaptation. Though some disagree, I think Kaufman did justice to the source (not that it matters in the slightest). And is there a sexier performance than Lena Olin’s? Wow. The film is one of my favorites, but the true reason it made the list is that this Criterion release has one of my favorite commentaries in the collection, featuring Kaufman, Olin, and the great Walter Murch. Unfortunately, the Criterion edition is out of print."

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