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Miguel Arteta recommended Something Wild (1986) in Movies (curated)

 
Something Wild (1986)
Something Wild (1986)
1986 | International, Comedy, Drama
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Something Wild made me fall in love with Melanie Griffith and with the idea of making movies. Like Jeff Daniels’s character, I wanted to be taken on a wild ride and to take people on one. There’s both such joy and terror in here, hardness and frailty. It made me appreciate that contradictions in characters are what make us sit up in amazement at the movie theater. There’s a Ray Liotta inside all of us"

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Lost In Translation (2003)
Lost In Translation (2003)
2003 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

"I loved the mood of it, I loved the dialogue, I loved the relationship. Every aspect of that film, and I didn’t want to leave the mood of it for hours after leaving the theater. I watch that movie over and over again just because of the mood. I feel like it’s so hard to put poetry into a movie, but Sofia Coppola did that. The ending is one of my favorite endings ever."

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Andrew Ahn recommended Opening Night (1977) in Movies (curated)

 
Opening Night (1977)
Opening Night (1977)
1977 | Drama
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Gena Rowlands is a goddess. I almost don’t know what else to say beyond that. I love the scene when her character, an actress named Myrtle Gordon, shows up to the theater drunk beyond belief on opening night. The physicality of Rowlands’s performance is brilliant: the tension in her mouth, the heavy breathing, her limbs rigid one moment, limp the next. Watching her gain her composure is harrowing and hilarious at the same time."

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Andrew Ahn recommended Days of Heaven (1978) in Movies (curated)

 
Days of Heaven (1978)
Days of Heaven (1978)
1978 | Drama

"This film is as much about the landscape as it is about the people. It achieves such a delicate and alluring balance; watching Days of Heaven feels less like watching a screen in a theater and more like looking out a window in this farmer’s home. It’s an experience, not a tale. I remember watching this film for a class in college. When that train crosses the bridge against the bright blue sky, I gasped."

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tick, tick...Boom! (2021)
tick, tick...Boom! (2021)
2021 | Drama, Musical
8
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
A Love Letter
If you ever worked on a live theater performance, whether as a performer, tech crew, make-up, costumes, box office, etc…the Netflix Original film tick, tick…BOOM is for you.

If you are a theater lover, the Netflix Original film tick, tick…BOOM is for you.

If you are not interested in live theater at all..then, perhaps, tick, tick…BOOM might be a little too “inside baseball” for you.

Based on the one man concert/show/performance by the late Jonathan Larson, the writer of the the Pulitzer Prize winning musical RENT, tick, tick…BOOM expands this performance piece and turns it into a biopic of the artist who passed as his hit musical was just about ready to debut.

As written by Steven Levenson and Directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, tick, tick…BOOM is a love letter to Broadway, to artists struggling to make it in the Great White Way, to the community of disaffected peoples in 1990 and, mostly, to Jonathan Larson himself.

Andrew Garfield is transcendent in his portrayal of Larson. He embodies this character with love, ambition, focus, flaws and a surprisingly strong singing voice. It is an Oscar-nomination worthy performance.

He is joined, lovingly, by a strong supporting cast starting with Alexandra Shipp (as Larson’s girlfriend), Robin de Jesus (as his best friend) and Vanessa Hudgens (as a performer in the show, called Superbia, that he is trying to get up on the boards). These young performers are joined by a couple of wily veterans including Judith Light (as his Agent) and Bradley Whitford (as the late Stephen Sondheim). They bring energy, star power and…yes…love…to the screen.

And that is what this film ultimately is, a love letter to all of the artists (both on-stage and off) that try, despite immeasurable odds, to get a show on it’s feet. Director Miranda infuses this film with homages to theater - and theater people - and sprinkles in some very good songs that drives this point home.

None of the numbers hit home as hard as the “Diner” song - a song that features many, many Broadway performers, both new and old, that were either inspirations to Larson - or were inspired by him (including Miranda himself).

Come for the musical, stay for the outstanding performance of Garfield, and immerse yourself into the world of struggling artists in NYC in the 1990’s. You’ll be glad you did.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Midnight Sun (2018)
Midnight Sun (2018)
2018 | Drama, Romance
Moviepass strikes again, taking me to a film I'd never, ever pay to see in a theater.

Surprisingly, Midnight Sun was competent. It is a reasonable movie aimed square at teen girls, and guess what? Since my daughters were once teen girls, I think that I can say that this would have hit them square in the feels.

Was the movie for me? No. Did I actively hate it? No. Will the target audience rave about it? Likely.
  
Christopher Robin (2018)
Christopher Robin (2018)
2018 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Beautiful
Wow. I went into this movie with very low expectations. I had absolutely no idea what to think of it. I came out of this movie and I was so incredibly happy. I think I teared up several times while I watched the movie. It was very well done. The cinematography was gorgeous and I really loved the story. I would highly recommend to go see this film in the theater. It is so worth it.