I saw the devil: An epic and bloody ride! Loved it. 8.5/10
The sixth sense: saw it once long ago and thought it was okay. 7/10
Unbreakable: Needs a rewatch but did not leave a very good impression on me. 6/10
Romeo & Juliet: when it came out I really enjoyed the style and its still holding up pretty well with some good acting and a great story. 7.5/10
The great Gatsby: saw it maybe two weeks ago and I agree with pretty much everything you said but I have liked it a bit less. 6/10
Mine:
Ricky Ho: Story of Ricky (1991 YouTube): A real treat for any amateur of the genre. It's like Bruce Lee with superpowers. The extreme gore effects were fun but I personally wished the story would have been funnier. Too often they went for the dramatic effect instead of the comedic. Still, there were a few very funny moments. 6.5/10
Bloodties (2013 DVD): This one been sitting on my shelf for three years as I bought it in a bundle and never was tempted by it but finally, it was not bad at all. There sure is a few inevitable clichés, like the bad guy that comes out of prison, try to open a hotdog stand and fails so he goes straight back to the crime scene. Or the hooker-girlfriend of the bad guy who knows how to treat his bullet wound. The movie covers a great amount of story in the two hours and it even felt longer than that. There was no dull moment and the ending was good but nothing outstanding. Solid drama that lacked in thrills. 6.5/10
Strapped (1993 DVD): " Ex-con attempting to go straight runs accross serious problems. His pregnant girlfriend gets arrested for dealing crack to an undercover police officer. In a desperate attempt to get the charges dropped against his woman, he strikes deal with weapons cop to turn in local gun dealers."
I pretty much saw all the good Afro-American gangster movies but this one had slipped from my attention and it was actually a very solid and gritty drama and an alarming story about guns on the street. Good acting, perfect soundtrack, very good directing debut for Forest Whitaker but There is a major plot hole about someone shooting someone in the liquor store and going out of jail the same day. Not disappointed for 8$. Great addition to my collection. 7/10
Apocalypse now (1979 bluray): I meant to knock one big title off my watchlist for the last week and it was either this or the godfather. I'm very glad I picked this one. It's a true war masterpiece and an instant favourite. As you learned in last week's thread, The doors is my favorite band so right off the start, I was pleased. I started with the original version but after an hour in, I thought it was going by so fast that I switched to the redux version. Ahh yeah, a 3 hour grand voyage. The cinematography is stunningly beautiful, the story is gripping and there is so much attention to details. There's choppers, lights, a boat, flares, guns, smoke, a tiger, playboy bunnies, acid tabs, weed and wonderful people. I mean, what's not to like? Or love? Duvall has great lines like " Charlie don't surf" or "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." Beats both Platoon and Saving Pvt. Ryan. 10/10
8 miles (2002 DVD): For a guy who bought every Eminem album and followed his whole career you'd think I'd love the movie more but I rate it a 7.5/10.
I really like it and watched it a few times but there is something missing for it to be truly great. The cinematography does not distinguish that self very much neither. The freestyle battles are pretty awesome and the music is excellent.
C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005 DVD): it's my second favorite French-Canadian movie but probably the best Quebec movie ever made. It took Jean-Marc Vallée 10 years to write this masterpiece. Top notch on all levels. 9.5/10
Once upon a Time in the West (1968 blurry): another big title I wanted to knock off my watchlist for a while but unfortunately this one was not quite for me. I can dig a slow-burner once in a while but when the movie is slow paced, it needs to have interesting things happening. This one mostly has not much happening and it happens very slowly. It gets better at one point and there is some very good scenes but overall, underwhelming compared to what I had heard. 7/10
Mad detective (2007 DVD): this is a Chinese cop movie that deals with insanity in a very interesting way. I expected more gruesome stuff but the quirkiness that we can almost only find in the Asian cinema was definitely there. 6.5/10