Slingblade

One of my top ten or fifteen movies EVER.  Billy Bob Thornton plays a very believable, newly released mental patient named Karl who is slow.  He talks slow and simple, eats simple, has meager belongings.  He seems absolutely harmless.  He doesn't require much in his newly free world, other than the love of a young boy.  That's all this simple man needs to make him happy, as well as the boy's momma being happy too.  When the momma and boy aren't being treated well, watch out!  This is a movie so good I forgot I was watching a movie.  Every actor was so great, down to the little boy Karl befriends to Karl's small town co workers. John Ritter plays a great role in this movie as well as a gay man, and when I saw him I grew wistful and said, "OOOH John Ritter!"  I realized how he was gone way too soon and how much I loved him as lovable Jack Tripper from 3's Company.  My cousin loves to do impressions of Karl.  He onced ordered movie tickets as Karl, complete with the "mmmhmmms".  Anyway, you will find yourself really loving this big oaf named Karl.  I know I did. 

White Noise/The Blair Witch Project

This is one of the few movies that TRULY TERRIFIED me.  I saw it in the front row of the movie theater when it first came out in 2005.  Even when Maury Povich had a few episodes dedicated to communicating with the dead this way (via EVP, or basically radio static) on his daytime show, I got shivers up me spine!  In my work lunchroom.  No more Maury, stick to your whomybabdydaddyshows!  I want to be scared again by a horror movie (I've practically forgotten what it's like) but I'm too scared to watch this again.  The Blair Witch Project also frightened me for 3 WHOLE DAYS afterwards.  I know, I know.  Most of you thought that movie was laughable.  Maybe it was because I was still young and wholesome when I saw it.  I was afraid to go to the bathroom mid movie but I hurried and did so as fast as I could.  I would look up at my ceiling fan at night and see the 5 blades and think it was the voodoo figures that were hanging in the woods.  I was (and still am) terrified of the woods at dark.  My young husband at the time and I vowed not to scare or frighten each other during that tender aftermath. 

Guilt Trip

I don't know why i thought this would be funny.  I'm not a Barbra Steisand fan, and in this movie she PARTICULARLY annoyed me, playing very well the overbearing Jewish mother to Seth Rogan (why are ALL mothers in ALL movies crazy and overbearing?)  It wasn't terrible. I liked its "realness" (they looked, dressed, and pretty much acted like real people).  No consideral sappiness that I thought would be the ending that could have REALLY ruined it for me. It was passable and somewhat entertaining.  I saw a bit of myself in Barbra as a mother in dealing with an "all about me" and sometimes condescending child.  I liked the part where she gave him a talking to to ground him.  As I say when I visit a just OK restaurant, OK, but there's nothing to ever bring me back.

Mama

I was excited about seeing this "horror" film because so many of the critics gave it rave reviews and said it was truly scary.  A creepy and scary entity named "Mama" has been caring for two abandoned young girls in a deserted cabin in the woods. However, midway through, once I got a look at "Mama" I was done.  It was no longer a least bit scary and I found myself laughing instead of being scared. Not good when you're laughing at a creature in a horror movie.  Sort of the like the movie "The Descent", where these explorers in a cave keep having catastrophes, and meanwhile are getting stalked and lost.  I was initially in love with both movies because of the creepiness power of the unknown, but once we saw the stupid and not scary creatures lurking in the cave (or Mama), both were no longer scary, only stupid.  "Mama" had potential and could have gone further.  Part of the creepy story line was interesting.  Reminds me of Munger Road.  Again, "Munger Road" started with potential (dark, eerie scenes and mysterious lights in a video camera playback) but just never got scary.  If they could only take the 10 minute scary clips of certain movies, combine them, and do away with the silliness, there could be a truly terrifying movie.  Somebody scare me, PLEASE!

Goodbye Solo

What started out as a simple, mostly heartwarming tale about an older, cantankerous white man and a mostly happy go lucky African black man taxi driver was all erased in an instant by the ending.  I was so drawn to this "real" movie.  The acting was so good I truly felt like I was watching real people in action and not actors.  Without spoiling the ending, it left me exclaiming, "that's the end??!  Tell me that's not the end!"  The end ruined an otherwise fabulous movie.  Normally I like unconventional endings but I found myself really rooting for Solo and William.  I would still recommend because I am really tiring of movies of now with all the fluff, drama, and "beautiful" people. I truly wonder why this movie was even made after seeing the ending.