Movies Watched -- It Could Happen To You (1994)

101 minute running time so a perfect length … movies from the early 90s are the end of an era, right before cell phones and the internet destroyed everything … this is really cute, Nic Coppola playing a doofus (again) and skinny-assed Bridget Fonda (nepo babies both) along with Rosie Perez, who was annoyingly fun, not unlike the role Luis Guzmán played in Out of Sight … the undertaker from Six Feet Under, also co-starring NYC and the old coffee cups, I don’t know who else I recognized… this was not from John Farr, but from the same person who recommended The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, which I also really liked. I tried to send “Elizabeth Ervin” an email and a tweet in thanks, but received no response.

This is feel-good stuff, wholesome fun for the whole family, green-go, recommended. No swearing, no tattoos, no cell phones, plus goofy, often slightly racist humor is a win!

You want a sick day, get sick.

Movies Watched -- The China Syndrome (1978)

122 minute running time so 22 minutes too long … Hanoi Jane (she’s a good actress), long-haired Michael Douglas and old Jack Lemmon playing a serious role (very well) … nuclear power (a pity Douglas says nuke-you-ler, but Fonda pronounced it perfectly), women’s lib, corporate greed and bad guys, public safety … don’t forget that Three Mile Island happened on March 28, 1979 and Chernobyl happened April 26, 1986, so this movie was pretty timely! I guess everybody should see this one and John Farr also recommended it, so I’ll make it a green-go even though it’s 22 minutes too long.

Don’t worry your pretty head about a nuclear meltdown.

Movies Watched -- Taxi Driver (1976)

114 minute running time so 14 minutes too long … Martin Scorsese has made only a couple of great movies and this is one of them, a green-go for sure. Robert De Niro is so good, Cybill Shepherd, 12-year-old Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, they’re all good… the story is good (though 14 minutes too long) and well told (Paul Schrader script), holds up great nearly 50 years later … America in the early 1970s was about as low as it got in modern times, just brutal … I liked the fantasy ending, I think that was a Scorsese joke on “happy” Hollywood endings, because Travis is in hell for sure. John Farr recommends it too: “alienation in an urban wasteland.”

Taking me to a place like this is about as exciting to me as saying, “Let’s f*ck.”

Movies Watched -- The Illusionist (2006)

110 minute running time so 10 minutes too long, but I enjoyed this one, green-go. It stars Eddie Norton and his lisp, Paul Giamatti and his pimply forehead, and Jessica Biel and her great bones. I fell in love with Biel because of Season One of The Sinner. She’s both smart and beautiful, a rare combo in Hollywood.

Anyway, this is a fun story, well told. I had heard nothing about this movie, so went in with no expectations, which is always best. John Farr recommends it too.

Movies Watched -- The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

110 minute running time so ideally I could have cut out about 10 minutes, but I thought this movie was GREAT and I enjoyed every minute of it … I have no idea how it got into my queue, it’s not a John Farr recommendation, but I’m glad that it did … it’s a green-go for sure. Good story, well written, good acting, attractive people … loved it. Bitchy Julianne Moore with her bob cut smoking up a storm and driving a big Beemer. Surprised that I’ve never heard of this movie before.

Don’t f*ck with me, retard.

Movies Watched -- Body Heat (1981)

113 minute running time so 13 minutes too long, but this was good, a green-go for sure. Alan Ladd had the good sense to underwrite Larry Kasdan in his first W.D. By movie … William Hurt with his 70s porn ‘stache, young Ted Danson with black hair … good dialogue, well written, film noir brought into the 80s … Hurt drives a ‘64 Corvette Sting Ray convertible … and I think Mary Ann Simpson drives a TR6, but I couldn’t really tell … lots of smokin’ and drinkin’ … “Please, Ned, do it.” He doesn’t ask, “Are you sure?” like I would have, ruining more than the movie … jogging and smoking, Pete Suttmeier style … young Mickey Rourke with earring (non fag ear) … look at the size of the rock that crooked bastard bought her … good story, well told, I enjoyed it though I definitely could have shaved 10 minutes off … John Farr recommends it too.

I can't stand the thought of him... He's small and mean... and weak.

Movies Watched -- Deliverance (1972)

109 minute running to so 10 to 20 minutes too long … this is a classic though which everyone should see for the “squeal” scene alone, green-go … gorgeous Burt Reynolds may have been the sexiest man alive at age 35 and there’s young Jon Voight (Angie’s dad, talk about a nepo baby) … a “game of survival” in Northern Georgia, that’s southern Appalachia… John Farr also recommends this.

Where’s the law?

Movies Watched -- Duel (1971)

90 minute running time … this was a made-for-TV movie shot in 12 days and I think 90 minutes is actually too long, it would have been better at 60 or 75 minutes … this is early Spielberg, his first full-length movie. It’s a classic in a way and deserves a green-go, I suppose. Dennis Weaver is well cast as the every man and he drove a 1970 Plymouth Valiant. John Farr recommends this movie too.

Get that fat-ass truck out of my way.

Movies Watched -- Single White Female (1992)

108 minute running time so at least 10 minutes too long, but this is a classic, a psycho roommate tale, and I’m shocked that John Farr didn’t include it on his Best Movies list, it’s certainly a green-go. Maybe the gay neighbor getting smacked with a golf club put John off?

Scrawny Bridget Fonda (Peter’s daughter, talk about a nepo baby) and the wonderful Jennifer Jason Leigh both look great in their twenties … Barbet Schroeder said they had to tone down the sexiness to get nationwide release, but there’s still plenty of nudity.

Loved the cutting edge technology on display here, with an old Apple Macintosh and Compuserve getting a plug. Schroeder said he had a friend who lived in The Ansonia (2109 Broadway) so as he read the script he could picture all the scenes in the building (of course it was all filmed on set). I forgot how graphically violent it gets at the end, pretty over the top girl fight.

Movies Watched -- Onibaba (1964)

In Japanese. 103 minute running time so a good length. This was an unusual one and I sort of enjoyed it .. it’s true that I fast forwarded through the endless rustling grass shots, but I liked the honesty of portraying these savages during wartime and the raw sexuality and the triangular relationship and the female jealousy and bare breasts and the demon mask. I guess I’ll give it a green-go, as did John Farr. I didn’t know at the time I got it that Farr also recommended it, so I was suprised when I saw that he did.

Laundry day

Movies Watched -- Maria Full of Grace (2004)

In Spanish. 100 minute running time so a perfect length … sort of a scared straight movie, you don’t want to be a drug mule, kids … starred a beautiful Colombian girl … it wasn’t a perfect movie, but it’s good enough to get a green-go, I enjoyed it and loved the ending. The girl had guts and should become a solid Murkan citizen in time. This was a John Farr recommendation, and I second it.

Movies Watched -- Fox and His Friends (1975)

In German. 123 minute running time so 23 minutes too long. Another Fassbinder film. Sort of you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all, except he (and his Big Johnson) stars in this one. Variations on his blinding hatred of bourgeois German society as well as German gay culture, or maybe all gay culture (Fassbinder was gay), and why not include all of humanity in there as completely loathsome and unredeemable. Fassbinder is very good at playing a naive prole.

People call him a genius and I have to sort of agree, I do like his schtick, but this is not general audience stuff, this is highbrow, art house stuff for sophisticates like me. I’ll give a blanket green-go to all the movies Fassbinder made (at least the ones I’ve seen so far), as does John Farr.

Movies Watched -- Marathon Man (1976)

125 minute running time so 25 minutes too long … yes, the performances by Hoffman and Olivier and Scheider are good, but the story makes no sense. Why would Levy’s father and brother be involved with Der Weisse Engel? That part made no sense to me and sort of ruined the movie.

But I suppose it’s a green-go despite the lack of “plot logic,” maybe for the dental torture scene alone. It’s another in the gritty-70s-Manhattan series of movies … oddly the World Trade Center doesn’t appear in a shot of southern Manhattan, so they must have used old stock footage there? Hoffman din’t like the original ending where he kills Olivier, so they brought in Robert Towne to re-write the ending where Olivier impales himself, which I do think is better. This is a John Farr recommendation.

Is it safe?

Movies Watched -- Witness (1985)

112 minute running time and I definitely could have cut out 12 minutes to make the sacred 100 minute mark, but this is a great movie, a classic from my youth, green-go for sure. Aragorn son of Arathorn puts in an appearance and Danny Glover is a bad mofo, but never fear, since this is an 80s movie, all the black men are killed off by the end. John Farr recommends this movie and I do too!

One of the greatest come-hither looks of all time…

Movies Watched -- The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

124 minute running time but doesn’t feel overly long because it’s so much fun … works as both a comedy and a thriller … it’s hilarious but also serious with the grime of early 1970s New Yawk and the violence and horrific killing … helped hugely that Matthau was a native New Yorker. This is a green-go, one of the best thriller-comedies of all time. John Farr also recommends it.

Thank you for a most instructive visit, Lieutenant.

Movies Watched -- All the President's Men (1976)

139 minute time which includes 39 minutes of guys sitting at typewriters or making phone calls or driving somewhere … seriously, this is a classic movie, a green-go, probably inspired a generation of investigative reporters. That’s an old Volvo that Redford drives. John Farr also recommends it.

Follow the money. Always follow the money.

Movies Watched -- The Conversation (1974)

113 minute running time so about 13 minutes too long, but this is a classic, a green-go for sure. FIFTY years ago, this year, this film was made! Wiretapping, invasion of privacy, paranoia … talk about being ahead of its time. Fatty Ford Coppola was a great director. Gorgeous Harrison Ford in his early 30s and 29-year-old Teri Garr… Bobby Duval, uncredited. Of course John Farr recommends this movie too. Maybe cut out the smashing of the Virgin Mary figurine as a little too heavy handed? I might be able to cut this down to 100 minutes.

I just want a nice fat recording.

Movies Watched -- Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

111 minute running time so 11 minutes too long … this is a classic though, definitely a green-go. (John Farr also recommended it.) Maybe they could have cut out the “Wolf” storyline to get it down to 100 minutes? Could have been near-perfect if they just tightened it up a bit to keep it to the sacred 100 minute mark.

Hard to screencap trademark sneer

Movies Watched -- Chinatown (1974)

130 minute running time … normally I’d say it’s 30 minutes too long, but will make an exception for Chinatown because it’s one of the best movies of all time … I’ve seen it many times … it’s interesting that Towne wanted a happy ending and it was Polanski who insisted that it ends the way it does… Jack Nicholson was a great actor and this was probably his best role of all time. This is a John Farr reco and of course I second it. Green-go!

Just find the girl.

Movies Watched -- Just Another Love Story (2008)

In Danish. 104 minutes so just about the right length. The Danes know how to make good movies (and TV), they understand how to tell a story … this is a legit mystery / thriller and good ones are hard to come by, so I’ll give it a green-go … might be hard to find, I had to BUY a copy. This was a John Farr recommendation, and I second it.

Thank you, Sebastian. For being so wonderfully courteous, kind, ordinary, and normal.