http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...vie_poster.jpg

This movie is boner beyond belief. I ****ing adore Ken Russell.

"Mona Lisa Smile" with Julia Roberts (2003)

Grade: B

I felt "Mona Lisa Smile" was a contrived movie that nevertheless captures some of the feeling of an all-women's college in the '50s (according to my real-life sources who recall those college years).

The movie highlights an important historical change in society: the internal and external struggle women in the U.S. faced as they changed their views of themselves and their role in society and in relationships. The movie shows the growing pains as women in the '50s stepped toward greater independence and self-determination.

The movie revolves around the use of art analysis to challenge people's views of themselves and of social strata. I liked this since my favorite college professor was a studio arts teacher who challenged me to face my fears and think outside my preconceptions, and therefore reminded me of Julia Roberts' character in this movie...except he wasn't quite as pretty as she! :)

The movie also reminds me of a book from the '50s quoting women who describe how they tried to minimize their successes and appear less intelligent than their boyfriends so as not to damage their men's fragile egos and perhaps lose a chance at having a family. Very sad. The book is Women in the Modern World: Their Education and Their Dilemmas (1953) by Mirra Komarovsky, published by Little, Brown and Company, Boston:

Amazon.com: Women in the Modern World: Their Education and Their Dilemmas (Classics in Gender Studies) (9780759107281): Mirra Komarovsky, Michael S. Kimmel: Books.

I was thinking about seeing that, but instead had a temporary brain malfunction and saw this piece of shit instead.

http://vitelesion.com/wp-content/upl...2011Poster.jpg

I'm pretty sure this was Rod Lurie's thought process when he was directing "Straw Dogs is just about violence right? There's no deeper seeded issues like a man of piece having to confront his own subconscious violent impulses in the name of self-preservation? OK well if that's the case then lets just continue this trend of male power fantasy with no moral ambiguity or lessons learned, so the audience can be once again reminded that blue state demographic ideas = good, while red state conservatism = bad."

Fuck you Rod Lurie.

that one was a pleasant surprise

i was just mostly going through the chores of watching yet another superhero-related movie and found that it's a strong contender with Toy Story 3 for that year's best animated movie

http://www-movieline-com.vimg.net/im...poster-630.jpg

^^^^ It's a good thing, I don't live in any of those cities.

Hands down the scariest movie of the year. Although that speaks more about the quality of horror movies this year. I really liked this movie. It didn't talk or dumb things down for the audience. 8/10

Speaking of which, does anyone have any good suggestions for well made horror films? It IS Halloween after all! :D It doesn't necessarily have to be a horror film. Maybe just something with a dark theme or tone? You get the idea.

the ONLY horror movie that managed to freak me out completely as an adult was Henry : Portrait of a Serial Killer

rest are just, well, child's play

although you might want to watch them for "camp" value

http://images.moviepostershop.com/fl...1020203819.jpg
Flirting With Disaster

I absolutely loved it. It was hilarious and the editing was wonderful.

Look, when I say this movie is boner, I mean it!



Beautiful, amazing darkly humorous film.