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All Is Lost (2013)
Near perfect
One of my favourite movies of all time, and a remarkable performance by Redford.
Quite a few people find fault with the hero's actions throughout the story, but I don't and here's why:
We never get a backstory on Our Man. He could be a seasoned trans-oceanic sailor, or he could be a novice on his first crossing. I think by his reactions to this series of events that he's somewhere in between those extremes. When he draws emergency equipment he has to familiarize himself with its operation, meaning he's either never used it before or he hasn't had to for a long, long time.
As the story moves forward, the character begins to feel the effects of fatigue, anxiety, starvation and dehydration and his judgement becomes cloudy. It explains why the freshwater still never occurs to him until it's almost too late, or why he doesn't regularly wear the appropriate gear. As someone who has had ocean survival training (but thankfully never had to use it), I completely bought how Our Man responded to each crisis. Whether it was in a sensible way or not. I think this is one of Redford's most powerful performances, and the writing was very obviously well-researched and intuitive. I understand the actual script was more of a treatment than a full script and I have to wonder how much was improvised on the set.
I revisit this film about once a year, and I'm always completely swept-up in it as if it was the first time.
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
Hasn't aged well, but that's no one's fault.
The kinds of people who love TLaDiLA are 88% likely to have a Boondock Saints poster hanging in their studio apartments.
That said, this movie deserves a place in the long list of notable 80s movies. It is beautifully shot (for its time) and indeed the story has enough twists and turns to make it somewhat interesting. But, hoo-boy, the acting and dialogue are laughable. Maybe it's because audiences today are more sophisticated and (former) upstarts like Tarantino breathed new life into gritty crime dramas, but this movie just doesn't hold up as far as dialogue realism goes. And I was going to buy some of this movie's scenery at the set-dec sale, but it was covered in bite-marks.
Also, note to aspiring actors: wearing cowboy boots makes you walk and run funny. If you're not planning on riding a horse and still need to evoke that 1980s vibe, stick to a good pair of Converse.
Trees Lounge (1996)
Worth revisiting
I saw this movie in theatres in 1996, when I was 29. While I thought it was entertaining enough, not much resonated with me. I enjoyed the movie nonetheless and could appreciate Buscemi's auteur vision, but what really sold it was the excellent casting. Carol Kane, Anthony LaPaglia, Mimi Rogers, Chloe Sevigny, Debbie Mazar, Samuel Jackson, (an all too brief appearance by) Seymour Cassel, and of course Buscemi himself - A veritable dream-team of 90s American arthouse/indie players. Heck, even Rockets Redglare pops up! All it really needed was a reason to shoehorn Martin Donovan in somewhere.
Revisiting Trees Lounge in 2021, at age 53, hit me like a ton of metaphors. In high school, I had an English teacher who stated that if you don't read "Catcher in the Rye" before you turn 16, you'll never understand it. I think the same can be said - in reverse - for Trees Lounge. Seeing it before one has the opportunity to make (and repeat) life-altering mistakes and disrupt the lives of those around us, one won't fully "get it". At 29 this was a cautionary tale for someone who wasn't in the mood to listen. At 53, this is a knowing nod with a stranger across the room in a 12-step meeting. Boom.
The Great Niagara (1974)
There's no place like home
I grew up in Niagara Falls and remember when this movie was being filmed. I was 7. Of course everyone in my school was stoked to see it a few months later when it was broadcast on ABC.
I would love to see it again. I have very vivid memories of some of the scenes, and of course it's a time capsule of the area (See also: Niagara (1953) and Search and Destroy (1979) for glimpses of a Niagara Falls that no longer exists.
Fun fact: this story was loosely based on that Red Hill Sr, a famous Niagara daredevil and showman who is credited with rescuing many people from the Niagara River. He, too, lost a daredevil son to the Falls..One of their descendants was in my grade at school, but I don't remember if he enjoyed the movie or not.