I like chatting with you, but I'm not sure if I can love you

Average rating: 8.25, disregarding the turkey 🦃

Moonstruck (1987) - "Widowed bookkeeper Loretta Castorini expects stability rather than passion when she agrees to marry a dependable but uninspiring man. But while helping to settle a family obligation, she meets his estranged younger brother—a volatile, wounded baker whose intensity unsettles the orderly life she has constructed for herself. Set amid the rhythms of an Italian-American Brooklyn neighborhood, Moonstruck blends romance, comedy, and melancholy into a story about the ways people negotiate loneliness, desire, duty, and the terrifying possibility of joy." 

length: 1h, 42m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Norman Jewison  |  why I watched: I've seen it before, but it's been ages - and I was in the mood for something romantic

IMDb: 7.2/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 90% / 81% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: PG

tone & texture: warm, lush & romantic

notable quote: "Chrissy, over on the wall, bring me the big knife."

my notes: what a sweet film. It has moments of blissful silliness, is both small and melodramatic, and makes my heart sigh. 

themes: love

    Roger Ebert's review is here. 

overall: highly recommended

 

Shaolin {Xin Shaolin si} (2011) - "After ruthlessly consolidating power
during China’s violent warlord era, ambitious commander Hou Chieh finds his triumphs collapsing into betrayal, grief, and spiritual ruin. Fleeing the wreckage of the life he helped create, he takes refuge in a remote Shaolin monastery, where the quiet discipline and compassion of the monks gradually challenge the pride and brutality that once defined him. Blending sweeping action with meditative humanity, this film traces one man’s painful movement from domination toward humility, asking whether redemption is possible after immense harm has already been done." 

length: 2h, 11m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Benny Chan  |  why I watched: I love Andy Lau (Hou Chieh) and Nicholas Tse (Cao Man) (previously reviewed here, and discussed here)

IMDb: 6.8/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 73% / 71% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: R

tone & texture: somber, textured/earthy

notable quote: "All I know is, it's worthless to train just the moves without the spirit."

my notes: it's such a lovely movie, wrapped up in spectacle and fighting. Andy Lau is such a talented actor, so complex and open to both dark and light. And Jackie Chan might be one of the most underrated dramatic actors ever to hide in plain sight. 

themes: redemption, courage

overall: strongly recommended

The Tall Texan (1953) - "From the Panhandle to the Rio Grande, he was known as all man and ready to fight: a suspected murderer in the custody of a sheriff and now stranded in Indian territory after a Comanche attack on their stagecoach." 

length: 1h, 24m  |  source: TubiTV  |  directed by Elmo Williams  |  why I watched: it rolled up on my Tubi watchlist on a night fit for Westerns

IMDb: 6.1/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: NA / 43% Audience  |  my IMDb: DNF  |  MPAA: Approved

tone & texture: gritty, grit &grain

notable quote: "'Pioneering in this country can be awful rough.' 

    'Men go where there's money to be made.' 

    'And women?' 

    'They go with the men who make it... or try.'"

my notes: the dialog exchange above made me think this might be a good movie for me. Alas, it was as good as it got. I gave up at the one-third mark, having mentally wandered away earlier. If Lee J. Cobb can't hold my attention, it's not gonna get any better. 

themes: identity, courage

overall: not  recommended

Open Range (2003) - “Aging cowboys seeking a simple life on the open range are forced to confront violence, loyalty, and the possibility of tenderness in a town ruled by fear.”

length: 2h, 19m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Kevin Costner  |  why I watched: I've seen it before (previously reviewed here) and loved it

IMDb: 7.4/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: 79% / 84% Audience  |  my IMDb: 9/10  |  MPAA: R

tone & texture: gritty, textured/earthy

notable quote: "A man's trust is a valuable thing; you don't want to lose it for a handful of cards"

my notes: deceptively simple, this movie is big, strangely warm, and surprisingly funny. Kevin Costner is marvelous, playing a complicated man with a very troubled past, but with an open heart. Robert Duvall is the star of the show. His weary, loving, gruff, morally certain Boss is a fully-fledged human from the start. It is incredibly easy to slip into the story and stay there through to the end.

themes: justice, found family, revenge

    Roger Ebert's review of the film is here, and it says in technical terms what I can only hint at as an enthusiastic amateur.  

overall: highly recommended

Confession of Pain {Seung sing} (2006) - “In rain-soaked Hong Kong, a former detective numbing himself with alcohol is drawn into the aftermath of a brutal family murder, uncovering secrets that blur the lines between justice, grief, and emotional ruin.”

length: 1h, 50m  |  source: my DVD  |  directed by Wai Keung [Andrew] Lau, Alan Mak  |  why I watched: I'm obsessed with both of the lead actors

IMDb: 6.5/10  |  Rotten Tomatoes: NA% / 62% Audience  |  my IMDb: 8/10  |  MPAA: Not Rated

tone & texture: somber, noir shadows

notable quote: "'Isn't it true that every man describes his wife as a crazy bitch?'

    'What the hell... Cheers!'"

my notes: whoooooo boy, this is a sharp one. Beautiful performances from Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro, with super subtle shadings that reveal their characters in delightfully surprising ways. There's a scene where the two play table tennis that I watched three times, each viewing shedding new light. Brilliant direction and camera work make this a new favorite.

themes: loss, revenge, justice

overall: strongly recommended

  

[the title quotation is from Confession of Pain]