Movie #383 - Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted
1999 - Rated R - 2 hr 7 min
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg, Brittany Murphy, Clea DuVall, Elisabeth Moss, Vanessa Redgrave, Jared Leto, Jeffrey Tambor, Angela Bettis, Jillian Armenante

Ryder plays Susanna Kaysen, the author of the autobiographical book detailing her 18 months in a psychiatric ward.  A colorful cast of women join her -- some greatly outshining her in fact, like Jolie's Lisa, an Oscar-winning performance.

As one of the least crazy women in the ward, Kaysen needs to do the most personal reflection.  Her depression, she realizes, can be overcome... but it takes her a while to get to that finishing line.  No thanks to Lisa, the rowdy, authority-challenging "bad girl" of the ward.  They become friends and, while Kaysen ultimately sees lessons to be learned from the friendship, at first it threatens to lead her down exactly the wrong path.

Whoopi Goldberg is fantastic here as well, playing the head nurse of the ward -- a tough woman remniscent of Chicago's Mama Morten who puts up with a lot of back-talk but knows when its time to speak up.  A great scene between her and Ryder is among my favorites.

So many great performances here -- Brittany Murphy among them -- and it's definitely a great new addition to the wall.

Movie #235 - Gone in 60 Seconds

Gone in 60 Seconds
2000 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Dominic Sena
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Scott Caan, James Duval,  Will Patton, Delroy Lindo, Timothy Olyphant, Chi McBride, Robert Duvall, Christopher Eccleston, Vinnie Jones

I guess car theft is a little lighter content-wise than kidnapping.  Although, all these crime movies in a row are overwhelming.

So Nicolas Cage is an ex-car thief and his brother, Giovanni Ribisi, is an idiot who tries to become a car thief and gets in over his head.  Cage pulls together his old thieving buddies from back in the day -- including Angeline Jolie, who looks like a crack whore in this movie, no joke -- and attempts to complete the job for him, so Christopher Eccleston won't kill him.  (Yes, Christopher Eccleston is in EVERYTHING lately.) 

But Delroy Lindo and Timothy Olyphant (also in EVERYTHING. G is his letter, man) are the cops who used to try to catch Cage and they're onto him.  Also, a car named Eleanor is Cage's nemesis. It's a long story but basically, he can't steal this one particular model without something bad happening. Of course, it's on the list and he saves it for last.  Will he make it in time?

Car chases ensue, but this ain't Fast and Furious.  It's a very markedly late 90's thrillfest and, as such, it's not so bad.  Absolutely do not watch this movie if you're looking for content.  Just watch it for the pretty cars.

Movie #120 - The Bone Collector

The Bone Collector
Universal Pictures
1999 - Rated R - 1 hr 58 min
Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Luis Guzman, Ed O'Neill

Before we really knew anything about Angelina Jolie, she was in this movie with quadrapalegic Denzel Washington and a pre-weight loss Queen Latifah.  Back then, I wasn't distracted by her and I could just enjoy this crime thriller and all its gorey glory.  Now, I watch this movie and I go, "Oh hey! It's Angelina Jolie! I forgot she was in this movie..."  And I'm all distracted by how young and pre-Lara Croft she is.  It's weird.

Anyway, I got over that after a few minutes and let myself enjoy the gore-fest.  Honestly, not that I'm complaining, but this movie does have some gratuitous blood and guts.  It's all good, cuz it is indeed a murder flick, but wow.  Yuck.  And also, awesome.

This one has a good twist ending, but you'll only enjoy that the first time you see it.  After that, you watch it and think how stupid you were not to catch on to who the murderer is... and that's as distracting as Jolie's lips.

Movie #68 - Beowulf

Beowulf
Paramount Pictures
2007 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 55 min
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Robin Wright, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Angelina Jolie, Ray Winstone

I'm not gonna lie, this movie is a little bit weird. I really think it was made because they thought it would look cool. It does, it's true, but I didn't really find anything all that compelling about this movie.

For the most part, I'm too distracted by all the weird accents everyone is using... particularly Angelina Jolie. And since I'm watching all these movies alphabetically, when Grendel came on screen my first thought was, "Oh look! It's George McFly."

Anyway... I'm not that impressed with this one. It really seems like something a bunch of geeks made just because they could (and because they all had secret fantasies about Angelina Jolie in animated form.) That's all I got, folks.

Movie #20 - Alexander (Director's Cut)

Alexander (Director's Cut)
Warner Bros Pictures
2004 - Rated R - 2 hr 47 min
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins, Jared Leto

The best thing they did while making this movie was to choose a little boy who looks like like a young Colin Farrell. The worst thing they did while making this movie... hold on, I'm gonna need a minute here... I really can't decide which is the worst. Why don't you decide?

Is it...

A. Dyeing Colin Farrell's hair blonde?

B. Making Angelina Jolie have a Russian accent? In Macedonia, no less.

C. Casting Colin Farrell, who brought his Irish accent with him?

D. Filming a slapping match between Colin Farrell and Rosario Dawson?

E. Turning an epic war hero into a whiney bitch?

My biggest beef with the movie is probably Jared Leto and that whole lover subplot. It is speculated that Alexander might have "lain with men," but so did everyone else! Instead of making it part of the story, it takes over the whole second half of the movie. It was an aspect of his life--maybe--but the way this movie depicts it, the relationship was largely scandalous. Ummm... probably not. That's probably modern culture painting its own perceptions onto this story, which takes place in an era when sexual relations (with anyone) were much more accepted. Some may applaud it for being so "open" about it, but I think they went overboard. I hope that makes sense without insulting anyone.

Beyond that, the movie is toooooo long, jumps back and forth too much, and doesn't really paint Alexander the Great in a favorable light... his father (Val Kilmer) either, for that matter.

But oh, the actor who plays Thomas Boleyn on The Tudors is in this. Cool.

That's all I got on this one...