Give It My Best

Midnight Cowboy Date Watched:  06/11/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Tubi Hmm.... Directing  (⭐⭐⭐): OK, it wasn't bad, and it had its moments.  Sometimes I felt Schlesinger was trying to get too fancy.  New York stood out in this one which can either be distracting or not.  I was right on the edge.  Overall, a good job of directing. Writing  (⭐⭐): Unlike the directing, the writing got very distracting for me.  Outside of Hoffman and Voight, everyone else acted like NPCs in a computer game.  It really hurt the acting.  See below. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐): Voight and Hoffman could have done so much better if the writing was better.  I felt bad because you started to get into their characters but then just got distracted from some repetitive, mundane dialogue.  Don't get me started on McGiver's two minutes of screen time. Wildcard  (⭐): WTF!  Did I expect the "controversial" film from 1969?  By today's standards, of course not.  A couple of quick edits and you could put thi

Rain Man Date Watched:  06/07/24 Format:  Streaming on iPad and TV via Prime Video I remember being younger and scratching my head at the success of this movie.  Of course, I was still a child, and was told over and over again that I just won't understand good movies like this one until I am older. ... I still waiting Directing  (⭐⭐): Not much of a challenge and nothing special.  Decent scenes in Vegas made it OK.  Other than that it was interior location, vehicle, interior location, vehicle, rinse and repeat. Writing  (⭐⭐): I struggled with this one.  I times, I thought it was great, smart, writing and then I just found it lazy.  There are only so many "tricks" you could have Raymond play before it got stale and repetitive. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): OK writing and directing, but Cruise and Hoffman were able to rise above. Wildcard  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): Awareness.  This is where this movie makes up some ground.  Like I said, it got stale and old at times, but Rain Man really put autism in the f

Wings Date Watched:  06/01/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Tubi It was worth the experience but nothing I would watch again. Directing  (⭐⭐⭐): Was it really a film being directed?  The action was revolutionary, but the rest was forgettable.  I will call it average. Writing  (⭐): Screenwriting, in the modern sense, is a lot different than it was in 1927.  That does not mean you can't have a good story.  This story was just plain bad.  You can tell the Mary angle was forced into the story.  This was an action film and that is about it. Acting  (⭐⭐): I give the actors an extra star because you do have to act different in silent films in order to get your point across.  It may be a little exaggerated, but it works.  Outside of that, nothing stood out as excellent or even average.  There was no tension in the romantic relationships nor the so-called friendship between Jack and Dave. Wildcard  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): The history of it all.  By many standards, the film is mediocre.  However, this will al

Forrest Gump Date Watched:  05/30/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Fandago at Home Going into the challenge, it was only a matter of time before we ran into a movie like Forrest Gump.  There are a few movies on this list that I already consider perfect.  Obviously, they still deserve another watch which I will happily do.  The true task will be when I try to rank these "perfect" movies of mine. Directing  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): Rural and costal Alabama.  Washington DC.  The Vietman war.  Hospitals, plantations, shrimp boats, and cross country trips.  Robert Zemeckis had to do it all with this movie and I feel he executed perfectly. Writing  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): Like Zemeckis, the writing had to cover so much ground.  You had to grow with characters and their environments across three very unique decades.  The humor was on point and did not distract from the emotional rollercoaster of this great film. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): Unlike a lot of other features I have watched so far where we had either a great suppo