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voisjoe1_0
Chicago Public Library
voisjoe1_0's Profile Shelves

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Killer's Choice, PaperbackAn 87th Precinct Novel

by McBain, Ed
Paperback - 2011
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Feb 26, 2021

Comment:

This is the first Ed McBain 87th Precinct "police procedural" novel that I have read and I am not yet sure about the rating I gave it. The early Precinct novels were issued at the height of the paperback revolution and it was only later that the novels were sold first in hardcover (and to support the price contained more pages). One of the critics suggested that the best 87th novels were the shorter older novels of which this was one. Quite different from noirish detective novels from the 30's to the 60's.

Thunder Road, DVD

DVD - 2018
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Feb 23, 2021

Comment:

Kind of wacky and zany. If you are in the mood for this type of thing, this film proves that one can still make a decent film without spending millions of dollars.

The Irishman, DVD

DVD - 2020
Added Feb 06, 2021

Comment:

A great Scorcese film similar to GoodFellas, Casino, Mean Streets. It is the first time that Scorcese made a film with Al Pacino. A portrait of loyalty and betrayal, may I suggest of Shakespearian levels? There is some question as to whether the ending is truthful (Vanity Fair Magazine).

NW, DVD

DVD - 2018
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Feb 03, 2021

Comment:

UK made for TV film, based upon the award winning novel by Zadie Smith. The tale of two troubled married young female friends. Told like four separate films in the initial 90% with the connection between the parts connecting at the end. If you don't like complex psychological matters, perhaps this film is not for you.

Still Here, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Feb 02, 2021

Comment:

This film is proof that great indies can still be produced. Good acting along with good directing tells the urban tale of a little black girl gone missing.

Sounder, DVD

DVD - 2008
voisjoe1_0's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Jan 31, 2021

Comment:

Wikipedia states this is "a rare honest Hollywood movie about blacks, making it virtually unique." Released in 1972, some expected its great success would result in more great black family films, yet even into the 21st century, Hollywood would fail to make a significant number of great black films. Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield received actor nominations, the first Hollywood film to receive two noms for two black actors. Even the screenplay received an Academy nom, written by black actor, playwriter Lonnie Elder III. Even in 2021, most Americans do not realize that the 13th Amendment explicitly allowed slavery to continue, as long as it was made in the guise of incarceration.

Carrie, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
1 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 29, 2021

Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, DVD

DVD - 2016
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 27, 2021

Comment:

In the first quarter of the film director Otto Preminger is again pushing the boundaries of censorship with displays sexual deviance and crude violence. Then the film changes into a display of a motley group of characters. I'm not sure if Preminger is really the best director for the last half of the film.

Ever in My Heart, DVD

DVD - 2015
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 24, 2020

Comment:

Pre-code movie - With these it is always interesting to guess which moments would not be in movies with the Hays Code which was about to be adapted. The subject of discrimination of German-Americans during WWI is a main theme.

Fallen Angel, DVD

DVD - 2005
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 06, 2020

Comment:

Otto Preminger and Dana Andrews sneak some eroticism past the Hays Code censors in this film that follows their highly successful classic "Laura." The commentary track commenters are tickled as they spot Preminger getting another erotic twist past the censors who may have led lives too straight for their jobs. Things like hand subtly on ass, contented glow after having consummated a marriage, and a married couple lying in bed together.

The workshop, DVD

DVD - 2018 | French
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 05, 2020

Comment:

LIke Cantet's Cannes Palme d'Or winning 2008 film "The Class," this deals with a class of students discussing with their teacher, the racial problems of today's France. I suspect that the actors are composed of real actors and others picked from a larger classroom of actual non-acting students. The best students were then mixed with actual actors with the premise that were working with the teacher, with the objective of collaborating with ideas to make a suspense or crime film. Maybe the real suspense was greater than the film they were trying to comstruct.

Billy Liar, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 05, 2020

Comment:

Tom Courtney plays Billy and Billy's imaginary personality, the first a rather failed young man, and the second, a highly successful personality. This requires Courtney to stretch his acting abilities to play two opposite personalities. I was a little disappointed that Julie Christie, in a very early role, was not a major character in the film.

Larceny, Inc, DVD

DVD - 2008
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Dec 04, 2020

Comment:

Edward G. Robinson stars in a comedy/crime film that sometimes reminds one of a half serious Three Stooges film. This is the earliest film with Jackie Gleason that I have ever seen.

Berlin Syndrome, DVD

DVD - 2017
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Nov 22, 2020

Comment:

Passionate sex, Stockholm Syndrome, Voyeurism - It becomes a little tedious waiting to find out which of these elements will be victorious in the end.

Lovesong, DVD

DVD - 2017
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3 out of 5 stars
Added Nov 08, 2020

Comment:

Your are not always going to be with the one you love. A famous saying from Stephen Stills.

21 Bridges, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3.5 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 28, 2020

Comment:

A typical shoot-em-up film. The real value is that this stars the late Chadwick Boseman who died at such an early age. We will never know if he would have developed like Denzel Washington or would have gotten lost in a myriad of films like "21 Bridges."

Burn Country, DVD

DVD - 2017
voisjoe1_0's rating:
3 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 24, 2020

Comment:

I'm not sure about the point of this film. Seemed like a bunch of unusual "hinterland" characters being viewed by the protagonist, a Afghani immigrant who had some background in journalism or not. A bloody dead body shows up and our Afghani is severly attacked by some unknown (to me) guy.

The House That Jack Built, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 18, 2020

Comment:

Completely original depiction of a serial killer, his view of himself, and the reality that he is rather less wonderful than he thinks. Beware, this is not a PG films so don't rate it badly just because it is a depiction of narcissistic evil.

Sorry We Missed You, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 17, 2020

The Assistant, DVD

DVD - 2020
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 16, 2020

Comment:

This is the type of film in which it is best not to know anything about it and let the questions continue in your head wondering what is really going on. When it is completed you realize that it is related to a bad dude that produces movies. One wonders as to how many assistants are out there getting squeezed.

The Farmer's Daughter, DVD

DVD - 2018
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 12, 2020

Comment:

Never heard of this film, but it is right for this election cycle. It is not as intense as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" nor as political as "The Manchurian Candidate." It is lite and romantic. There is one scene where we hear that there are three requirements for acceptable political candidates. 1) must be white, 2) must not be foreign born, and 3) must be of the right religion. --- the white thing is kinda strange as blacks were virtually "invisible men" when it comes to American political office and to Hollywood films. Maybe they were talking about Italians and Irish which were not considered to be 100% white. Maybe Catholics and Jews were of the incorrect religion in 1947.

Medicine for Melancholy, DVD

DVD - 2009
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4.5 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 11, 2020

Comment:

Wow! I just picked this up without knowing more than some critics liked this film. It's just the 24 hour (maybe 36?) film of a guy and a gal that awoke after a party with hangovers and talked to each other about black life in San Francisco. Done in black and white with a few tints in some scenes. I rated it high because I really cared about whether the two would develop a serious relationship. I was shocked to find that this is the debut for Barry Jenkins who made the outstanding "Moonlight" and "If Beale Street Could Talk." And to add on he is currently directing a series based on the award winning novel "The Underground Railroad."

Gloria, DVD

DVD - 2015
voisjoe1_0's rating:
5 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 11, 2020

Comment:

Gloria (Gena Rowlands), related to the mob, is on the run with a young boy whose life is in danger. This being my first Rowlands film, I did not realize her mob-like accent, was just expert acting. Rowlands won the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival. Rowlands' husband, John Cassavetes, was director. This is a thriller with a lot of humorous love and argumentation between Rowlands and the boy.

Gloria, DVD

DVD - 2014 | Spanish
voisjoe1_0's rating:
4 out of 5 stars
Added Oct 10, 2020

Comment:

A story of post middle-agers divorcees that have difficulty in establishing good relationships with prospective replacement partners. One has a decent relationship with the former partner, the other doesn't. I suspect that the problems seen in this film are not rare. I noted a few of the low rating commenters seemed to have given out their low ratings because they were rather bored by the predicaments of the protagonists. Paulina Garcia, won best actress award at the Berlin Film Fest.

Baptiste, DVDSeason One

DVD - 2020
Added Oct 10, 2020

Comment:

Tcheky Karyo plays missing persons expert Julian Baptiste in this followup to the two seasons of Missing where he played a prominent, but not top billing role. The suggestion is that there may be one final series, I suppose if the producers can see a profit. I was shocked to find that Karyo played in the classic French film "The Return of Martin Guerre," which was his debut performance decades ago.
1 to 25 of 1,172 items

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