#91 (2007): Sophie's Choice

M: A powerful and tragic movie. The story moves between a present-day and the past as Sophie reflects on her tormenting past. It was very well acted, especially with a powerful, manic personality portrayed by Kevin Kline. Of course, Streep does a phenomenal job, finding and executing every detail of her character. Good movie.

M's rating:

J: Oh, how I was dreading this one!  I kind of new what the titular "choice" was, and it's always tough to bring yourself to watch a movie that you know is going to be sad.  Also, it's like, 2 1/2 hours long, and I've probably mentioned before that I hate long movies.  Well, the choice doesn't come until about 2 hours and 15 minutes in, and the rest of the movie was enjoyable.  Not fun by any means, but it wasn't hard to watch like I expected it to be, though still quite heavy.  Meryl Streep does a killer job (as Meryl Streep always does), Kevin Kline (looking frighteningly like Ted on How I Met Your Mother, I mean seriously, it looked exactly like him) disproves the "Kevin Kline + mustache = funny" rule by being craaaaaazy, and hey, look!  It's young John Cage from Ally McBeal, but with a Southern accent instead of a stutter!  This is one of those "see it once because it's great, but that's enough times to see it in your life" movies.

J's rating:

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#92 A Place in the Sun

For some reason, this movie is listed as "Very Long Wait" on Netflix.  At first I thought it was because Elizabeth Taylor had just died, but it's still at VLW status, so now I'm thinking maybe they only have one DVD, and it's sitting on someone's coffee table, being used as a coaster.  Watch it or send it back, jerk!

We don't care enough about this project to purchase a movie we know nothing about, so we'll have to come back to this one whenever we get our hands on it.

#93 The Apartment

M: Fun, entertaining movie with a good mixture of comedy and light-hearted drama. Jack Lemon was great.

M's rating:

J: Honestly, as soon as I saw the name Fred MacMurray, I was in.  I'll watch pretty much anything with Fred MacMurry in it.  But Fred MacMurray or no, this movie was a lot of fun.  I loved Mr. Sheldrake's Christmas gift to Miss Kubelik.  This movie is a definite recommend.  Classic comedy, great cast.  And did I mention Fred MacMurray?

J's rating:

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#94: Goodfellas

M: Can’t go wrong with this gritty, wise-guy Scorcese film, with a phenomenal cast of actors. Ray Liotta plays Hill and pulls off the gangster role flawlessly; Joe Pesci, play’s Hill’s brutal, quick-to-violence partner, and Robert De Niro who needs no laudation. The movie is the true story of Henry Hill who, as a boy, always wanted to be a gangster and gets an early start, mixing with crooked elements and exposing himself to a wave of crime and violence.

M's rating:

J: A Martin Scorsese film, you say? So it's going to be long and violent. Like The Departed, but without all of those actors I like (plus Mark Wahlberg. Bazinga.) Dread. But, I actually ended up liking this more than I thought I would. It got better for me after a certain obnoxious character took a much-deserved bullet to the back of the head. Also, I thought the pacing was great. It didn't feel like an unbearably long movie. Plus, Robert De Niro is always awesome. Besides the excessive violence, my only complaint is the age thing. Early on, De Niro and Liotta were way older than their characters were supposed to be and it was kind of distracting. But that's just being picky.

J's rating:

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#95 (1998): Pulp Fiction

M: Tarantino at his finest. A rough, gritty crime drama. The story is told out of order, with several different story lines, giving you tastes of how each storyline ends but not revealing everything until the film slowly ties itself, the storylines, and the characters together in the end. The dialogue is sharp, and the gruesome violence is well-played. Not much else to say other than this is a must-see.

M's rating:

J: This was my first time seeing Pulp Fiction. I'm a little late. And much like Inglouirous Basterds, some of the scenes went on too long and were waaaaaaay too tense for my comfort. I know something bad is going to happen, just have it happen already! Also, since this was John Travolta's big comeback, I thought he was the star. But he totally got Brad-Pitt-in-Burn-After-Reading-ed. Also, the Gimp, what the eff was that whole scene all about? Jeez. But overall, this movie was pretty funny and entertaining, so I'll put it on the like side.

J's rating:

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#95 (2007): The Last Picture Show

M: Good, solid movie, shot in black and white to emphasize the direness of the setting, taking place in a small Texas town, focusing on the dwindling lives of the adults, and the confusion and direction of the teenagers looking to find where their lives will head.

M's rating:

J: I always thought it was kind of weird that Cloris Leachman had an Oscar (I know her primarily from The Mary Tyler Moore Show) but after seeing this, I understand. She was excellent. This wasn't one of my favorites so far, but I liked it. And hey, young Jeff Bridges!

J's rating:

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