178. Heathers

A regular girl, Veronica, tries to survive the social jungle of high school by sticking with the three most popular girls at school who are all called Heather. As she meets a sociopath named JD, her life spirals into a continuous cycle of hate, unintentional murder and indifference, as she exacts revenge on her enemies, also known as her best friends.

Whenard pressed to say my favorite movie of all time, I might rattle off a few names, but this is a strong contender for the top spot. I would say I saw this in theaters but I don’t really remember. I would have been 15 and didn’t see a lot of movies without somebody, but I had seen it for sure a few times when I was 18.

I feel it mixes perfectly dark humor, teenage angst, witty banter, and kinda romantic. Demented and sad, but kinda romantic.  Winona Ryder in her heyday, Christian Slater perfecting his Jack Nicholson impression in his . Pre 90210 Shannen Doherty as well.  Sadly, the director, Michael Lehmann, went on to make 40 Days and 40 Nights, one of the worst and most insulting movies to my intelligence ever

This movie has stuff but I really like it so I recommend.

177. Sleeping With the Enemy

A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.

I had never seen this movie so gave it a whirl. It’s actually pretty good. A great set up of showing he terror of her psychotic husband, the reveal,of how she faked her own death, etc. I liked that she was still afraid of entering into a new relationship. Often people seem to enter a relationship right away which isn’t realistic.

Patrick Bergin, the husband, didn’t really become popular. Guess you can’t terrorize America’s sweetheart and get away with it.

Violence, terror, and a little sex. Recommended.

176. Ronin

A freelancing former U.S. intelligence agent tries to track down a mysterious package that is wanted by both the Irish and the Russians.

I remember seeing this in theaters. I remember liking it. My memory of it ends there. So I watched it again and it was still pretty good. DeNiro is an his nondescript tough guy best. Jean Reno in maybe his most talkative role. Sean Bean doing what he does best.

They’re after a case. What’s in it we never know. It’s what Hitchcock would call a McGuffin. It only serves to push me he plot. The plot is thin, but still done in an enjoyable way. 

Lots of swearing and guy play. Recommended.

175. We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Kevin’s mother struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly vicious things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.

Every blog I post is a movie I have watched all of. There are some I start but never finish for various reasons. They don’t land here. Perhaps I should compile a list. Anyway, this film I almost stopped watching several times. It’s heavy and dark. Are there really children that are this dark and troubled despite having to parents who are involved and try. I sure hope it.

I suppose it’s well done and certainly emotionally provoking. It just makes my head hurt and my heart ache. Sappy but best way to describe it. It’s a decent film and challenging. I can only tell you watch at your own risk.

174. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

After her humiliated husband kills himself, an embittered pregnant widow loses her child, and embarks on a mission of vengeance against a woman and her family.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were a string of films that involved a Sadistic muderous (fill in the blank. Everything from babysitters, jealous mistresses, mothers-in-law, the list goes on. This one is the psychotic nanny.

I really like Rebecca De Mornay. I actual want her to win up until she starts being really evil. It’s a kinda fun movie that you can enjoy unless you the know about it too much.  There are so many coincidences and questions that I feel I shouldn’t ask, lest I ruin the movie for myself.

Swearing general thrilling terror no real nudity unless you count breastfeeding. Also the father does insurance ads now. 

I need to watch a comedy or a cartoon tomorrow. Some real dark movies, especially the next one, 175.

173. Full Metal Jacket

A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

Yes. Two movies about war in a row. I remember liking this movie for the tvs realistic war scenes. How he started not always brave soldiers fighting. It’s hard and it does things to you. Thy break you and try to remake you.  Sometimes they just break you.

Stanley Kubrick is a genius with a clear vision. He knows exactly what he wants and o make and how he wants it to look. There is always a certain feeling o his films. A quiet anxiousness. How the characters are just existing. I can describe it very well. I wish he had made something after this that wasn’t Eyes Wide Shut, but that’s a different review.

Violent, troubling, swearing and lots of slurs. But brilliant. Recommended.

172. Hacksaw Ridge

WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. Bas d on a true story.

I’ve never head this story or heard of his person before. It makes me feel a little bad but I s a good hopeful story. I’m not sure I have ever had any conviction as strong as this guy. I suppose I  can nderstand his reasons for not wanting to touch a gun.

The battle scenes are well done and horrific. I guess that is the nature of war. 

My only real problem (other than director Mel Gibson)is that he depiction of the Japanese soldiers. To me they were portrayed as savages who would rather kill their wounded than treat them. Who stabbed the body’s of the dead to ensure th were dead. Who would falsely surrender only to ambush. I know it’s war and they were the enemy. I admit I know nothing about Japanese culture or society in 1945. Maybe this was normal. It just didn’t feel normal.

I read a little. Turns out Doss was not injured during the Hacksaw battle at all. It was a later battle. He did get injured by a grenade but had been o wait 5 hours for a stretcher. He treated his own wounds. When a stretcher arrived, he insisted they take another more crucially injured soldier instead. Then he was shot in a he arm by a sniper. He set his own arm splint…with a rifle.

Lots of gross war stuff, light language but with some racial slurs. One naked guy used for comedic purposes. Recommended.

171. Mission Impossible:Rogue Nation.

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.

The 5th film in the popular Mission Impossible series. This time the IMF has been shut down and Ethan has gone off the radar. It sort of sounds like the last movie but it’s totally different ok?

It’s entertaining enough. A good film in a genre packed with mediocre films. It did keep my interest which is saying something.  It’s got yet another female lead but Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are back.  Alec Baldwin also. I’m having trouble not seeing him as a comedy actor or game show host but maybe that’s just me.

Moderate violence and some light swearing. Very little Tom Cruise running but he does run. Recommended 

170. Star Trek Beyond

The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

This is my third time seeing this. Once before I started the project, once more recently but never blogged it for some reason. So I watched it a third time to post it now. It’s a slight bending of the rules but I’ll allow it.

This is not a movie that improves over continued viewings. It’s not that it’s bad, but it doesn’t seem very Star Trek like, maybe for some that is better. As a long time Star Trek fan, it’s not.

I feel where these movies shine is the crew working together towards a common threat. This movie essentially splits the crew up into sections for theulknof the movie. They never really work together for that common goal. This, for me, makes it disjointed. So not a bad movie. Not even the worst Star Trek movie. But not worth multiple viewings. 

Violence. I think there is asingle obscenity. Not really anythingobjectionable. Recommended for a first viewing. Not for multiple viewings.

169. The Unthinkable

A psychological thriller centered around a black-ops interrogator and an FBI agent who press a suspect terrorist into divulging the location of three nuclear weapons set to detonate in the U.S.

A very rough and uncomfortable movie. When I read the synopsis I wanted to see it thinking it would be a good action movie. After a few minutes I realized it’s not.  When it says “presss” they mean torture. Like, hardcore mutilation type stuff. They don’t show much explicitly but do show som and some aftermath.

If this were so kind of morality tale or thoughtfully tried to address the realities of the issue I might see the point. I just feel they didn’t make it clear that there was a clear point. It seemed like they had a guy who was the one who did it and everybody else is complicit. I don’t feel it addressed any objections other than this is wrong.  While I’m sure it wasn’t meant for shock value, the lack she f a real emotional core made it seem like that’s all there is.

Pretty graphically violent featuring lots of torture techniques. Lots of swearing. Not recommended.