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Wild Wild West (1999)
Wild Wild West (1999)
1999 | Action, Comedy, Western
I hate the late 90s blockbuster, man... I really do. This era's tongue-in-cheek manufactured spectacle coated with pause-for-laughs cringe 'jokes' and standard-to-crappy action makes my skin crawl. This is actually much, much better than 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘺 but otherwise they're the exact same formula in tiring popcorn slogs though this one dared to actually have a bit of fun sometimes unlike ID so truthfully I have no idea why this one is more reviled - it just seems random to me. Yeah I have no idea why this source material was turned into confusingly sexual, boring one-note tripe but the last twenty minutes is actually kind of exciting and the effects are top-notch. Don't even lie, you think that giant steampunk spider is fucking cool too and the gadgets/costumes/sets/makeup are eye-catching too - I only wish they were all in a better movie. The two perfunctory performances from Smith and Kline are canceled out by the religious scenery-chewing of Ted Levine and this movie's MVP Kenneth Branagh but besides the title song that I'm tired of pretending doesn't slap -because it *does* - that's about where the positives end. Its only personality traits are being dumb, looking cool sometimes, and misogyny.
  
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1991 | Horror, Thriller

"Second I would say came out roughly around the same time but probably, The Silence of the Lambs. I just loved that movie. That too, me and my buddy Dougie Thornel… We actually were too young to get into that movie, but I remember one time we weren’t allowed in and then we snuck in anyway, and again, it was one where we went back and back and back. I think Ted Levine’s performance as Buffalo Bill is one of the most haunting performances that has ever happened on film. He’s an actor that I admire so deeply and I really love… Especially in the last few years, I’ve gotten to take these parts that are only in a few scenes and really create as rich a back story and history for the character as possible, and I thought he did that so cogently and so beautifully in that movie. Its not just that there are so many quotable lines, but you really see the depths of the torture that’s going through him. It’s such a meditation on serial killing and psychotic murderers, and I love the fact that Hannibal Lecter — obviously one of the great characters of all time — but I just love the fact that you don’t know whether to root for him or against him. I think it’s the ultimate anti-hero character, and the fact that they were able to achieve him being able to… you know, at the end of the movie, you’re actually rooting for him, that he got out and that he’s going to go eat people. I think that’s just so f—ing awesome. And obviously the scene with Levine and Jodie Foster with the night vision. It’s a book that I loved and I think its one of those rare times where I think the movie totally even outshines the book. Wow, what a film. It will always be one of my favorites."

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The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
1991 | Horror, Thriller
The acting is 100% (2 more)
The story is fantastic
The way it is shot is genuinely awesome.
Have the lambs stopped screaming?
Okay so this is one of my favourite films because it just ticks every box.
Acting - Anthony Hopkins won an oscar for best actor because of this film. He is excellent, he is so creepy, elegant, scary, inviting, chilling, intriguing and he just oozes the sophistication, intelligence and depth of the character. He delivers his performance in this with a real passion. He is also so limited with what he can do physically (usually locked up) but he owns the set when the cameras are rolling.
Jodie Foster - I haven't seen her in anything else which I am actually embarrassed about because I loved her in this. No surprise, she won an oscar for best actress in this film. I genuinely feel like (towards the end mainly, as she has said in an interview that Anthony Hopkins did actually frighten her) she was terrified for her life. She could have been in the situation irl and i wouldn't be shocked. The character could have been played so many ways but Jodie played it perfectly. A clever, naive, strong, determined woman.
All other supporting actors were fantastic, such as Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill (my goodness he is so creepy he makes your skin crawl) and Scott Glenn as Jack Crawford (definitely feel the underlying tones of an unsavory character).
It is shot in such a way you dont see often, the talking to the camera shots, showing you things in Bills house like the pictures are all such subtle things but make it even more chilling. They also don't shy away with language(a word is said in this film atleast twice and it's so rare to hear on film) which sometimes, as not very nice this word is, the situation calls for it in this unnerving thriller, gross words and scenes need to be real to feel uneasy which you do in this.
Hats off to the wonderful Thomas Harris for writing such a gripping, interesting story that we were fortunate enough to see made to this magnificent film.
  
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Andy K (10821 KP) Nov 7, 2019

One of my favorites!

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Versusyours (757 KP) Nov 7, 2019

My dad had this on repeat in my childhood and it still holds up today.

Bleed For This (2016)
Bleed For This (2016)
2016 | Drama, Sport
9
7.1 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Bleed for This is the true story of boxer Vinny Pazienza (Miles Teller). Vinny is the type of person that in and out of the ring goes all out to the point he can go no further. This mindset puts him on the verge of being out of boxing after losing three straight fights, which he drastically cuts weight to fight. As he searches for one last chance, he is paired with a new trainer, Kevin Rooney (Aaron Eckhart), who is also seemingly given his last chance to revive his career. Rooney sets out to change the way Vinny trains and convinces him that fighting at a heavier weight will help his body, he previously was taking drastic measures to cut weight for fights. The pair are committed to success even with Vinny’s head strong father’s (Angelo Pazienza played by Ciarán Hinds) disapproving of the change, his mother (Louise Pazienza played by Katey Sagal) not wanting Vinny to get hurt, and his own Manager (Lou Duva played by Ted Levine) saying he should quit boxing all together. After some convincing and a lot of hard work Vinny gets his chance at one last fight. But he is moving up two weight classes and is put into a title fight against a seasoned opponent. Vinny shocks seemingly everyone by overcoming these obstacles and knocking out his favored opponent to become a World Champion.

After the biggest win of his career when everything appears to be going Vinny, his families and Rooney’s way, there is a terrible car accident and Vinny suffers a broken neck. The doctor tells him that he may never walk again, let alone box. With everyone telling him that his boxing career is over, Vinny is single-mindedly determined to do everything he can to get back into the ring. He opts to not have surgery in hopes that his neck can heal on its own and he can return to champion ship form. He has to convince Rooney to train him, find someone willing to fight him, and has to overcome his once over bearing father being unwilling be in his corner for the first time in his life. Even with a mountain of obstacles in his way, he begins his quest to get back into the ring and show everyone that he can do the impossible and regain his past form.

Writer and Director Ben Younger (Prime and Boiler Room) does an excellent job with this inspirational true story. The supporting cast provide solid performances, especial Eckhart and Hinds, but Miles Teller’s performance is what really makes this a fun film to watch. He really seemed to fit into this role really well. His performance was both compelling and fun. There were several times that the film showed actual old footage and footage just made to look old and you really couldn’t tell if it was Teller or the real Vinny Pazienza on the screen. I liked how the boxing sequences were not over dramatized, no mouth pieces flying across the ring, it looked like there was an effort to just keep them as true to the actual fights as possible. I also enjoyed the moments of comedy. For a story full of drama there was a good amount of well-timed comedy, mostly provided by Teller. Visually they did a good job of making the film feel like you were in late 80s and early 90s. There were a couple of slow scenes but overall the film flowed really well.

Overall this was a well done boxing genre movie. Good story, great acting performances and solid directing.