Give It My Best

It Happened One Night Date Watched:  08/7/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Tubi Average all the way around.  Enjoyable but average. Directing  (⭐⭐⭐): Writing  (⭐⭐⭐): Acting  (⭐⭐⭐): Wildcard  (⭐⭐⭐): Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda : Cleopatra had winner written all over it but I am glad it didn't win.  In truth, it was a very average year.  Fitting that an average movie won. Ranking: 1) Forrest Gump (Movie #5) 20⭐ 2) Platoon (Movie #17) 17⭐ 3) Gladiator (Movie #11) 17⭐ 4) Gone with the Wind (Movie #1) 17⭐ 5) On the Waterfront (Movie #3) 16⭐ 6) Rocky (Movie #14) 15⭐ 7) The French Connection (Movie #15) 14⭐ 8) West Side Story (Movie #18) 14⭐ 9) Moonlight (Movie #9) 14⭐ 10) Amadeus (Movie #4) 13⭐ 11) Shakespeare in Love (Movie #2) 13⭐ 12) It Happened One Night (Movie #19) 12⭐ 13) Rain Man (Movie #7) 12⭐ 14) The Bridge on the River Kwai (Movie #12) 12⭐ 15) The Apartment (Movie #10) 11⭐ 16) The Last Emperor (Movie #13) 11⭐ 17) Wings (Movie #6) 10⭐ 18) Midni...

West Side Story Date Watched:  08/4/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Max America! Directing  (⭐⭐⭐): Fine.  As will all musicals and stage adaptations so far, it is tough to translate to screen.  Unfortunately, there are very few films that have done it well. Writing  (⭐⭐⭐): Same as directing.  The story and concept is good and the writing moves you from one song to the other but it comes across flat too much.  Film has the benefit of showing so you don't have to tell.  That advantage should be used more in screen adaptations. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐): This is not about the singing nor dancing, but the acting.  Everyone was OK but that is understandable.  They are casted due to other talents beyond acting. Wildcard  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): This is about the singing and dancing.  Five stars for the classic music and the amazing choreography interwoven into the film.  Some of the best I have ever seen adapted. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda : Maybe ...

Platoon Date Watched:  08/3/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Prime Video Still the best Vietnam film to this day Directing  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): Stone can go in either direction for me.  Platoon still is the benchmark I measure him by.  The film is beautiful, and I can't find one flaw in his work. Writing  (⭐⭐⭐): This is where he was just ok.  The writing worked for the movie but it was nothing special.  I still don't like voiceovers. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): It was all Berenger and Dafoe .  They led the way. Wildcard  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): That cast.  Are you kidding me!  Except for Saving Private Ryan and Tarantino films, this is still one of the deepest and best casts in film history. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda : Platoon wins it, no question.  It was still a good year for Oscar worthy films and others (Aliens and Top Gun) but Platoon was the right choice. Ranking: 1) Forrest Gump (Movie #5) 20⭐ 2) Platoon (Movie #17) 17⭐ 3) Gladiator (Movie #11) 17⭐ ...

Hamlet Date Watched:  07/30/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Max To be, or not to be... the answer is not to be.  To the bottom of the list you go. Directing  (⭐): Self-indulgent.  At least the black and white gave it a little bit of moodiness.  I feel like Olivier took a 101 class in college on directing and went out and tried everything he learned. Writing  (⭐): You can't take the play and just move it to screen without any changes.  The only changes were cuts and even then, they cut the wrong parts. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐): Yet again, self-indulgent, but at least there was some life in Hamlet's delivery.  Everyone else I could have done without. Wildcard  (⭐⭐⭐): Shakespeare.  Anything to get more Shakespeare to the masses is a win for me.  Hamlet is a story that should be know to all. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda : The Treasure of the Sierra Madre hands down.  I don't know what the Academy was thinking. Ranking: 1) Forrest Gump ...

The French Connection Date Watched:  07/20/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Max Great movie that could have been amazing. Directing  (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐): Loved it!  I will throw the editing into this rating also.  It was intense all the way through.  Whether you were on foot or in the car, it was non-stop.  I see why this movie was so well loved. Writing  (⭐⭐⭐): Writing is not was made the movie.  It was still good but did not set itself apart from anything.  Some sections just did not move the movie along for me. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): Honestly, Cloudy is who made the movie for me.  Popeye is always the noted one, rightfully so, but without Cloudy, I don't know if Popeye would have been as good.  The only reason this is not perfect is the supporting cast.  Very weak, imo. Wildcard  (⭐⭐): As stated above, this film could have been amazing, but then the last 5 minutes happened.  As I have noted on other films, I don't need a hap...

Rocky Date Watched:  07/17/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Prime Video The sports franchise that started as a love story. Directing  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): Avildsen  really stepped up his game in 1976 with Rocky.  I don't know if anyone envisioned the film being made was going to turn into the franchise that is still going strong today.  This was a love story, set in Philadelphia, that happened to have some boxing.   Writing  (⭐⭐⭐): If anything were to be taken away from this movie it would be the writing.  I wanted to hold the some of the poor dialogue against someone, so I will give credit to Stallone the actor, but take away credit for Stallone the writer.  You have a turtle.  I get it already. Acting  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): What Stallone wrote for himself worked out.  I don't think anyone else could have pulled off that character.  Shire was a great compliment to Rocky with her iconic Adrian.  Pauly is Mickey, although iconic thems...

The Last Emperor Date Watched:  07/15/24 Format:  Streaming on TV via Max If you cannot say what you mean, Your Majesty, you will never mean what you say and a gentleman should always mean what he says. Directing  (⭐⭐⭐⭐): What Bertolucci lacked in writing, he made up for in directing.  The Last Emperor is the art of directing.  He was able to capture the grand scale of China, especially in the earlier scenes.  The only thing that let me down is I didn't feel the transition across time as much as I wanted to.  If it wasn't for the minor changes in actors, I would have been lost. Writing  (⭐⭐): Acting  (⭐⭐): I am putting these two together.  They were bad.  It wasn't the fact that it was foreign actors.  It was very bad dialogue given to very bad actors.  There were too many times where you had to guess at what was happening.  If it wasn't for Wikipedia, I would not have known the whole story.  That must have been...