HairyLime Blog

After enjoying 'The Departed' a couple months ago, I've been revisiting a lot of old favorite Scorcese films. I hadn't seen 'Raging Bull' in probably 10 or more years, and it has only gotten better with age. This is probably one of three of his films he should have won the oscar for ('Taxi Driver' and 'Goodfellas' are the other two), instead of Hollywood scrambling to give him one late in his career as a consolation prize for ignoring him so long. After the dreamlike credits and short intro backstage with LaMotta's lounge act, the movie jumps right out of the corner at you, both fists a swinging, and the opening sequence is a perfect blend of top notch editing, cinematography and timing as the violence in the ring seems to infect and spread throughout the audience until the capping scene with the entire arena broken out into a riot and the poor organist in the foreground trying vainly to calm people down. So much has been made of Robert DeNiro's performance in this, with him gaining weight for the role, and the intense acting, that the film itself gets kind of overshadowed, and it is a beaut. So many scenes stick in my mind - Cathy Moriarty's legs splashing in the pool, the close up of the blood dripping off the ropes, that amazing "did you f*** my wife?" sequence", the scene in the dressing room after Jake badly throws a fight and sobs uncontrollably, the prison scene with the pounding of the head and fists into the wall as he chides himself for being "so dumb - dumb dumb - dumb", the bloody water being sponged down his back in the ring, and the editing of all the boxing scenes, by which all other 'boxing' movies now measure themselves. Amazing movie, exhilarating, horrifying, violent, sad. Don't really care for the sport of boxing, but it sure makes for some good cinema - other favorites: Body and Soul (John Garfield version), Rocky, Cinderella Man

Saw this over the summer with my wife and son (17). Had little idea of what to expect, we had heard that it was 'pretty good'. We were all three completely bowled over by it. Huge applause by the theater audience when it ended (this happens very rarely in my experience). Not much to the plot, and if it is described it will sound even less interesting. A bleakly disfunctional family who seem to have little or no connection to each other take a road trip to deliver their youngest to a 'little miss' beauty pageant. It uses the tried and true film cliche of the 'road movie' - the characters grow together in their forced confinement and shared purpose, but it does it in such a fresh manner that you forgive the conventions and relax into a truly moving film experience. You will leave the theater with a smile on your face and "Super Freak" stuck in your head for weeks. Very pleased to see it nominated for best picture (although I doubt it has a chance - kind of reminds me of 'Breaking Away' years ago, when a little sleeper of an independent film about the heartland of America got carried into the oscar race -- and quite a coincidence that Jackie Earle Haley gets nominated after a 10 plus year hiaitus from movies) -- Rooting for Alan Arkin who did a terrific job in this (and in everything he appears in), but especially for little Abigail Breslin who was amazing in this picture.

A mixed bag, some welcome surprises, some disappointments, some snubs. First of all, great to see Alan Arkin and Abigail Breslin both getting nods for "Little Miss Sunshine", they were the heart and soul of this marvelous little summer sleeper, and I still get a little teary eyed thinking of that scene between the two of them in the hotel room when she tearfully confesses that she fears that her Dad thinks she's a 'loser'. Good luck to both of them. I've been a big Alan Arkin fan for years, it's long past due. "Little Miss Sunshine" for best picture was a bit of a shocker, but kudos to them. Jackie Earle Haley. Wow. Moocher, where have you been? Haven't seen this film yet, but it is definitely on the list. Was surprised to see all the nominations for 'Blood Diamond' and 'Notes on a Scandal' and so few for 'The Departed' (was rooting for Alec Baldwin). Judi Dench again... zzzzzzZZZZzzzz - great actress, of course, but give us a break. Fun seeing 'Borat' getting a nod for screenplay, and Al Gore in the running for Documentary and... best song? Speaking of Documentaries, this was the first year that I've actually heard of a lot of the nominees. Fearless Starting Gate picks (will probably change my mind once I start hearing more of the buzz): best picture: Babel best actor: Forrest Whittaker best actress: Helen Mirren best supp actor: Eddie Murphy best supp actress: Abigail Breslin best director: Martin Scorcese best foreign: Pan's Labyrinth (why was Volver not in there?) best documentary: An Inconvenient Truth writing (adapted): Little Children writing (original): Little Miss Sunshine