the most dangerous erosion is not to land - it's when your capacity for living gets eroded

ALL recommended! I certainly hope this means I'm watching some great movies and not that my ability to discern quality is fading?? Please advise, if I am mistaken.

Places in the Heart (1984) - "In central Texas in the 1930s, a widow with two small children tries to run her small 40-acre farm with the help of two disparate people."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it's a classic that I had not yet seen
IMDB: 7.4/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 83%
AFI: 100 Years...100 Cheers (2006) #95

notable quote: "I am not ignorant—and I am not selling my land."
story: strong woman meets two wise, helpful men with whom she inspiringly makes the best of her poor straits.
visuals: a Dorothea Lange photograph, come to life
costumes, hair & makeup: well matched to the subject matter
acting: though I am not generally a fan, Ed Harris (Wayne Lomax) was wonderful

intangibles: it's a complex and thoughtful movie, with compelling supporting characters and realistic tension
Academy Award winner:
• Best Actress--Sally Field (Edna Spalding)

• Best Writing, Written Directly for the Screen
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Picture

• Best Supporting Actor--John Malkovich (Mr. Will)

• Best Supporting Actress--Lindsey Crouch (Margaret Lomax)

• Best Director

• Best Costume Design
overall: much recommended

The Wrestler (2008) - "A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: the Oscar nominations intrigued me
IMDB: 7.9/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 98% Audience: 88%

notable quote: "The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."
story: straggly, aging pro wrestler is torn between his old life in the ring (which may be killing him) and a new life (which kind of seems worse than death)
visuals: shot like a documentary, it is an expensive film that looks low-budget, gritty and real
costumes, hair & makeup: great stuff here, between the wrestlers and the strippers
acting: Mickey Rourke, as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, is a revelation. The rest of the cast was pretty good but Rourke was right on, expressing the arrogance and self-doubt of a very masculine man getting older and questioning everything upon which he's built his life.

intangibles: a hard, powerful film to watch
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Actor--Rourke

• Best Supporting Actress--Marisa Tomei (Cassidy [i.e. Pam])
overall: recommended

Miss Evers' Boys (1997) - "The true story of the U.S. government's 1932 Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, in which a group of black test subjects were allowed to die, despite a cure having been developed."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: I was vaguely familiar with the story but not the details
IMDB: 7.2/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: N/A% Audience: 71%

notable quote: "The disease is the sin ... not the people."
story: a black nurse gets wrapped up in the Tuskegee experiment, torn between her conscience and the practical realities of the world in which she lived
visuals: nothing too elaborate
costumes, hair & makeup: matches the time
acting: Alfre Woodard (Miss Evers) and Obba Babatundé (Willie Johnson) did a particularly fine job here

intangibles: this is not an easy film to watch. The information presented is important to understand, but it is a rough couple of hours' going.
overall: recommended under advisement

3:10 to Yuma (2007) - "A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: it was recommended by a friend
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 89% Audience: 86%

notable quote: "What the fuck kind of doctor are you, anyway?"
story: a run-down, beat-up, about-to-go-under rancher Dan Evans (played by Christian Bale) finds himself part of a small group escorting notorious bad guy Ben Wade (Russell Crowe)
visuals: spectacular
costumes, hair & makeup: very good
acting: besides the impeccable performances of the two leads, Logan Lerman as Evans' son William was a revelation, giving real depth to his character

intangibles: I was skeptical and totally wrong to be. This is a fantastic movie. I loved it.
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Music, Original Score

• Best Sound Mixing
overall: very highly recommended

Peter's Friends (1992) - "Six former college friends, with two new friends, gather for a New Year's Eve weekend reunion at a large English countryside manor after ten years to reminisce about the good times now long gone."
Source: streamed on Amazon Prime
I watched it because: I saw it ages ago on IFC (when that was the Independent Film Channel, showcasing independent films and not whateverthefuck it is now) and have been wanting to see it again ever since
IMDB: 7.0/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 69% Audience: 78%

notable quote: "I think adults are just children who owe money."
story: wealthy young man invites five college friends and associated others to his home in the country for New Year's, ten years after their last group performance together 
visuals: elaborate in a British way
costumes, hair & makeup: a little dated, in just the right way, placing the characters in time and place
acting: this time around, the performances of Kenneth Branagh (Andrew) and Alphonsia Emmanuel (Sarah) really got to me

intangibles: this is a special movie for me
overall: recommended

Wild River (1960) - "A TVA bureaucrat comes to the river to do what none of his predecessors have been able to do--evict a stubborn octogenarian from her island before the rising waters engulf her."
Source: I borrowed the DVD from my parents' collection
I watched it because: it is a strange idea for a movie!
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 83%

notable quote: "I'm smarter than you in some ways, and I know what's good about you and I know what's bad, and I'm not afraid to tell you...."
story: family has been living in the swamps of the Tennessee River since Jesus was in junior high. After the floods of the early 30s, TVA—the Tennessee Valley Authority—was created as part of the alphabet soup of agencies that put America to work in the Depression. They built the big dams on the river that saved the land from flooding...but also flooded out lots of folks who lived in the way, including this family. Guy comes in to get them off their land and into a replacement farm. Meanwhile, he falls hard for the widowed daughter of the family matriarch.
visuals: dramatically awesome cinematography
costumes, hair & makeup: well done to place the film in the right era
acting: Lee Remick (Carol Garth Baldwin) is as gorgeous as she is talented, bringing heart and strength to her character, and Montgomery Clift (Chuck Glover) disappeared into his bureaucrat role, somehow becoming less handsome and more sturdy at once. Great performances.

intangibles: long-time readers may know that I have a family connection to the area involved, so I've been there and seen some of what was shown in the film first-hand. This was a peculiar movie to make, but absolutely an engaging drama that should appeal to anyone in the mood for a historical movie.
overall: enthusiastically recommended

[the title quotation is from Wild River]