Tootsie

I like Dustin Hoffman, but this movie just didn't impress me. It feels very dated. I know, I know, yes it's a movie from the 1980's about women in the workplace, so by nature it should feel dated, but I recently watched Nine to Five (also with Dabney Coleman in another role as a 'sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical, bigot' boss-type role), and that felt much more relevant, and at the very least was still humorous. Jessica Lange was good, but I don't know that she deserved the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, there wasn't much depth and growth to the character. On a side note, Lange was also nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for Frances that year as well, but did not win (Meryl did for the forgettable Sophie's Choice). Overall, I just felt it was bland.

Bonnie and Clyde

What can I say? LOVED it. I'm now in love with Faye Dunaway; she was good in Chinatown but she was simply captivating as Bonnie Parker. Warren Beatty's Clyde Barrow has just enough swagger and casual sexual appeal to make you care and just enough smarmyness to make you remember he is a criminal. Estelle Parsons (whom I had the pleasure of seeing in August: Osage Co.) won an Oscar for her role as Blanche Barrow, but honestly I just found her irritating. The extent to her acting was screaming at Bonnie and sobbing at being blinded. Regardless, I love the idea that fact that they took a 1950's era gangster flick and shot it in a very modern approach, with innovative camera angles, not glorifying the violence, and showing the emotional dynamic between Bonnie and Clyde. I think the best scene in the movie is when, while on the run, Bonnie asks Clyde, who is in bed next to her, what he would do if they could do it all over again. Clueless to Bonnie's dreams, Clyde responds he'd continuing robbing banks, but to do so in states they didn't live in. The next shot is a broken, tired Bonnie finally realizing that the end of the road has come, trying hide her disappointment from Clyde. Kudos to Beatty who produced the movie.

Do The Right Thing

Okay before people yell at me for only giving this four stars (I think it has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes) let me explain. I am not a fan of Spike Lee's work--I do think he is a talented filmmaker--just not my cup of tea. The message of the movie is political, and relevant, &c. but I just don't understand some of his choices as a director. Mainly, why after he was defending Sal and the pizzeria is he (Mookie) the one to throw the trash can, thereby starting the riot. He didn't have as a strong a motive as Martin Lawrence's character or Buggin' Out, who would have been more logical choices. Likewise, the full frontal nudity was just out of place. The whole scene of Mookie playing hookey and rubbing his girlfriend with ice was just out of place and disjointed the flow of the screenplay. However, this is one of the most socially relevant movies of the 1990s and is a good representation of Spike Lee's work, so I suggest watching it all the same.

Rear Window

Another Hitchcock classic with Jimmy Stewart. I was surprised that I didn't notice any color themes considering how prevalent they were in Vertigo, nonetheless the storytelling is engaging and innovative; the fact that all the action takes place within the apartment or can be seen from the window of the apartment. The audience is in the same position as James Stewart, stuck (presumably) seated inside the apartment and therefore with little agency over what is happening. The same plot has been used over and over in such modern pictures like the forgettable Suburbia, yet none have been able to reach the level of the original. I only give this four stars since Grace Kelly looks gorgeous, but I didn't really connect with her, and Stewart's character is just a bit of tool towards her for no reason.