Goodfellas (1990), and State of Grace (1990)

I recently watched Goodfellas in its entirety (not just bits and pieces) and enjoyed it. When I first tried watching it, I thought it was really boring, but now I find great appeal to it because it shows how an "outsider" like Ray Liotta's character, who is Irish, finds community and respect with the Italian mobsters.  Speaking of mob films, I still haven't seen Martin Scorcese's 2019 movie The Irishman yet; it was nominated for several Oscars a few years ago, but didn't win any.  

State of Grace (also from 1990) also features an Irish-Italian mob theme. I've known about it for years, but never watched it until recently. It's about an Irish cop (Sean Penn) who goes undercover and gets caught up with an Italian mob, who fight against the Irish mob including his friends. It's really suspenseful and makes you wonder how Sean Penn is going to get out of the predicament he's in. Ed Harris and Gary Oldman are in it and they are great as well. I liked the scenes showing New York. One day I want to go there, I keep saying that. 

The Right Stuff (1983)

The new sci-fi / space movie Interstellar has been one of the most talked-about films of the year; but if one stops to consider, there would be no Interstellar without the events depicted in 1983's The Right Stuff,  the true story of the space race and the first American astronauts, IE the "Mercury Seven".

The film spans about 20 years, from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s as we get to see how test pilots such as Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) and Gus Grissom (Fred Ward) handle their new lives as astronauts.

In his Movie Guide, Leonard Maltin writes, "it is a long movie, but never boring" with "exhilarating moments". My favorite scene is when John Glenn (Ed Harris) first orbits the globe. It's an awesome moment in a great film about real heroes.

I love how each character becomes memorable in his or her own way, even the minor characters such as the military recruiters played by Jeff Goldblum and Harry Shearer.  Veronica Cartwright  has a small role but is very memorable as one of the test pilots' wives; in one scene she suffers a breakdown when she realizes she wont be able to meet President Kennedy and his wife.   Also excellent are Dennis Quaid, Barbara Hershey, Pamela Reed, Kim Stanley, Kathy Baker, and Sam Shepard as record-setting test pilot Chuck Yeager (1923 - ). Intelligently directed by Philip Kaufman.

The film earned Roger Ebert's and Gene Siskel's pick as the  #1 Film of 1983.

Read Roger Ebert's essay on The Right Stuff in his "Great Movies" series:
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-right-stuff-1983

Edge of Tomorrow, Snowpiercer, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

So far I've seen 3 new dystopian films in as many months, and surprisingly, I enjoyed them all.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014). I heard this movie described as a cross between Starship Troopers, Saving Private Ryan, and Groundhog Day (!). I might not have gone to see it if Groundhog Day was not in the equation; I love that movie and the concept of continuously reliving the same day with the option of doing something different each time, which is not often explored in films. That's exactly what Tom Cruise does in this, and he's teamed along with Emily Blunt; the two make a great pairing. I went to see the movie on the weekend of June 6, the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy landings. To my surprise, the film starts off with solders battling huge bug-like creatures on a beach (!). I couldn't help but wonder why I was was watching this and not The Longest Day (the next day I did watch that film). The film got better as it progressed, and turned into a very good action thriller, feeling like a "video game" (Live. Die. Repeat.) 

Snowpiercer (2013).  After the entire earth freezes over, only a few human survivors exist, and they're all trapped on a train that circles in a continuous loop. This was a big hit in South Korea last year, but elsewhere, it has been slow to pick up steam (pun very much intended). The film features an international cast: Chris Evans, Jaime Bell, Tilda Swindon, Octavia Spencer, and several South Korean actors that spoke mostly in their native tongue. Did I mention the film also has John Hurt and Ed Harris? (Two of my favorite actors) The film explores class struggle as characters from the back of the train (the slum) attempt to make their way to the front. The journey is an exciting one, as each boxcar presents some new obstacle or revelation about the train's operations. In one scene a man realizes he is in the possession of the last cigarette left in the world; I loved how the camera focused on the smoking ash so intensely.  In another scene a character gets to feel how cold the temperature really is outside (and the results are not pretty).  And one character serves as the train's "photographer" using some coal (I think) and a sketch pad.

Read another blog post about Snowpiercer from Avvaganda.com

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). Not having a vested interested in the series, I almost skipped this. But it's been getting rave reviews for its innovative visual effects, and I just had to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Well, I must say, I was amazed by the CGI and all of the ape effects. For awhile I even thought I could smell the apes (it turned out what I was really smelling was the foot odor from the kids in the row behind me). The movie had a great story, too, exploring themes of war and diplomacy. Thankfully, I didn't need to see any of the previous movies to understand what was happening, and it was a fun movie to watch. I walked out of the movie feeling I really experienced some innovative visual effects.

Gravity (2013)

Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Gravity, the much talked about adventure/thriller set in space that many have said makes you feel like you are up there. I must say, the film succeeded at that, and exceeded my expectations; I never thought it would be so life-affirming. Modern-day box-office stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play American astronauts adrift in space trying to make their way back home. At first I was skeptical of the casting, but Sandra turns out an impressive, award-worthy performance, and Clooney (who previously went up "in the air" in 2002's Solaris and 2009's Up in The Air) brings an honest sincerity to the role and the right amount of humor.  The film also gave me a glimpse of what astronauts do when they're up there, as well as the dangers they face (some experts have questioned some of the details). And needless to say it's visually stunning.  If you have not yet had the experience of seeing this movie in theaters, I would highly recommend it.  I think it's a modern-day classic.  Directed by Alfonso Cuarón.