I don't think he ever got to Murphy's level, not even close really. The Last House on the Left 6/10 Not a bad thriller flick and the one scene in the woods is one of those that is almost just too hard to watch.
Yeah, I think it just premiered on HBO/Cinemax a week or two ago. My family watched it a few months ago but I fell asleep before I could.
Paris Blues, 1961. I've enjoyed it before a few times, having seen it when it came out (as well as on the tube), but recently watched it in HD at home with a decent sound system. Has an amazing cast. Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Joanne Woodward, Diahann Carroll, Louis Armstrong. Directed by Martin Ritt, with a great music score by Duke Ellington. Beautifully filmed in black and white on location in Paris. If you were ever wondering what Paris looked like in the early 1960's, this is your chance. Newman and Poitier are jazz musicians trying to make it in the City of Light. Newman because he digs the scene, which inspires his composing, and Poiter, in part, because Paris is far more "racially tolerant." Woodward and Carroll, vacationing schoolteachers, are the love interests. Give it a chance! Highly recommended.
The Messenger (2009) 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790712/ Really powerful movie starring Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster as two US Army soldiers whose job is to notify famiiles when loved ones are killed in battle. If you have a family member or someone close to you overseas right this moment I'd strongly recommend you not watch this as some of the scenes in the movie are hard to watch.
The DVD and Blu-Ray comes out May 18th. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a screener copy of this movie. This movie is readily available via torrent.
Once upon a time in America. 9/10 Deniro is awesome in it. Think I need to watch it again to fully understand it. Maybe then it would be 10/10.
Went on a Coen brothers binge. A Serious Man (2009) I'm giving it a tentative 6/10. It's probably one of those movies that get better with multiple viewing but for now it was a bit too pretentious and frankly quite boring. It's a very very dark comedy with almost every line in the movie holding heavy weight and *probably* contributes to the greater meaning of the movie but I was not in the mood for that kind of movie. Sometimes, you just want to laugh without having to think. The Big Lebowski (1998) 9/10 A cult classic. I needed to watch a LOL type of Coen brothers movie after the aforementioned "A Serious Man". Hilarious throughout. So many quotable lines. Jeff Bridges' Dude and John Goodman's Walter are two of the best characters in the last twenty years.
