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Sarah Paulson recommended Opening Night (1977) in Movies (curated)

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

"I would probably say A Woman Under the Influence [for my fifth movie], although it’s a deep, deep tie between that and the movie Opening Night. And A Woman Under the Influence was, I think, more celebrated, but Opening Night might resonate more with me. It is a story about an actress coming to terms with aging and her mortality. I think I’m also really drawn to the way those movies were made, and you can kind of feel the hammer and nail that was used to bring the whole thing together in this way that’s sort of extraordinary and that you can just almost feel the effort made by everyone involved – which is what happens when you make any movie. But sometimes [it affects you] when you know that everybody’s friends were there and they’re all making food for people to eat while they’re making this movie, to make this movie, to tell the story, not to serve any bottom line, or anything other than their creative interests. [In Opening Night, writer, director, and co-star John Cassavetes worked with Gena Rowlands, his then wife.] You don’t always have that luxury. And I just am always very moved by the way they made their movies and what a family they were and what places they could go because of it, because of that intimacy, because of that ease and that history between them. They were able to do things that I don’t know that you could achieve or accomplish in any other fashion, you know?"

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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
2008 | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Caroline is visiting her mother, Daisy, in the hospital while her mom is basically on her deathbed. We are in New Orleans and Katrina is well on its way to making landfall in the next few hours. Daisy tells Caroline to get a book out of the bag she brought to the hospital. This book winds up being the diary of a man named Benjamin Button; a man with an unusual condition of aging backwards. This is the extraordinary story of a man who wasn't expected to live to see his childhood, the people he met and grew to love, the challenging obstacles he had to face, his eventual adulthood, and beyond.

This was my favorite film of 2008. I found it fascinating from the very first frame. It has a running length of two hours and forty eight minutes, but it certainly doesn't feel that long. There were a few times when I wanted to look to see how long the movie had been going, but I'd put it off and then wind up forgetting about it. The film length is not a factor as the events that unfold go by rather quickly.

This film is magic. I don't mean that in the hocus pocus kind of sense. It made me feel things I wasn't aware could be felt after seeing a film. I almost cried. More than once. That's rare in itself, but on more than one occasion during the same film is pretty much unheard of for me. It was the first film I had ever seen that had made me feel better about myself after the credits rolled. On the way home, I wound up not turning the radio on or anything just so I could reflect on the movie for that much longer and keep this rare, warm, fuzzy feeling for as long as I could.

This is arguably Brad Pitt's best role, at least from the films of his I've seen. Making something like having the mind of a seven year old while having the body of an eighty year old man believable is probably not an easy task, but he pulls it off rather flawlessly. The make-up effects are something to behold, as well. The way these effects are used to show people aging in this film is just remarkable.

I've heard a lot of people compare The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to Forrest Gump. The truth of the matter is that other than both films being told in a narrative style and that characters sit on a bench at some point in both films during the time this story is being told, there really isn't much the two films have in common. I for one prefer Benjamin Button over Forrest Gump, but I'm not taking anything away from either film.

As superb of a film this is, its one downside is its length. That will probably turn a lot of people off. I was a bit weary when I first realized how long it was, but once I was finally in the theater watching the film, it all went by so quickly. My eyes were literally glued to the screen the entire time. The story is sad overall, but it moved me in ways no film has ever done before in the past. It's well worth whatever price you pay for the ticket and it's well worth sitting through the close to three hour duration. I wouldn't tell you it was the best movie of 2008 if I meant otherwise.
  
Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park (1993)
1993 | Adventure, Sci-Fi
The CGI (2 more)
The Special Effects
The Storytelling
The all time best dinosaur movie made so far....
This move is a great one and will hold up for many many years. They way the original king Kong holds up the groundbreaking special effects for the time are solid enough to fool people nowadays in a charming old fashioned way. Yes technology is evolving faster than dinosaurs ever did, but when something is made this well, it tends to age well, not poorly. Jaws is another example of aging well, yes we can see the flaws and the seems, but it doesn't matter. Yes I understand the science is flawed, but the premise is interesting, and the pseudo science is good enough to capture the imagination. And the imagination runs wild here like a T-Rex after a Jeep. It gobbled me up like a guy on a toilet. I still love to visit Isla Sorna. And plan to go back many many more times.

Fun Tidbit: All of the cast were given a Raptor model, signed by Steven Spielberg as a gift. It looked very frightening, and Ariana Richards has it in her house to shock anyone coming in, like a guard at the gate. Jeff Goldblum's model has a prime spot in his house and is a cherished object. Laura Dern put her Raptor model in her son's room near his crib. When he was older and saw it he screamed like never before. She had to put it in storage, but hopes one day, the two will be friends.


Here's 2 awesome movie posters:
  
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The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) Apr 5, 2018


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The Marinated Meeple (1848 KP) Apr 5, 2018


Despicable Me (2010)
Despicable Me (2010)
2010 | Animation, Comedy, Family
6
8.0 (64 Ratings)
Movie Rating
I've never really gone in for animation much, some people might find that hard to believe given the calibre of films that have been made over the years. So after everyone raved over this it was the glimpse of the army of yellow minions that first drew me in.

There are enough voice talents on show here to make this a must see film, Steve Carell, Jason Segel and Russell Brand all do a brilliant job of taking the two biggest villains in the world and putting them on a collision course with each other.

Gru (Carell) regards himself as the world’s greatest supervillain, but when he meets his match in the form of the overly exuberant Vector (Segel), Gru needs a new plan that will put him back on top of the baddie elite. The plan being to steal the moon, with the help of his band of very funny, and at times show stealing minions he also needs to enlist the help of three small orphans whom he dislikes the minute he sets eyes on them.

However, as with most animation the film has heart warming moments that will leave you feeling soft inside, and its a feeling that only this genre can muster up. The stand out oddly for me was Gru’s aging side kick Dr. Nefario (Brand) whose dry wit was right up my street, and made for a few decent laughs. It’s predictable but then what animated film isn’t, this one is yet again for adults and kids a like and both will enjoy it in their own special way.