Thelma & Louise (1991)

With this challenge, I am trying to knock off some titles off of my list that were critically acclaimed films that I never bothered to watch, but I know the iconic scenes. You are going to notice on this blog that there are a lot of those. One of those films on my list was on courtesy of HULU and that was 1991's Thelma & Louise which was directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner). The film stars Susan Sarandon (The Witches Of Eastwick) as Louise and Geena Davis (Tootsie) as Thelma, a couple of girlfriends who decide one weekend that they want to get away from it all to do some fishing and hang out. Those plans come to a screeching halt when Louise murders a man who tried to rape Thelma and now the two are on the run from the cops as they try to make it to Mexico. The film also stars Christopher McDonald (Happy Gilmore) as Darryl, Michael Madsen (Once Upon A Time In Mexico) as Jimmy, Harvey Keitel (Isle Of Dogs) as Hal, Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog Day) as Max, Brad Pitt (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) as J.D.,  Timothy Carhart (Black Sheep) as Harlan, Lucinda Jenney (Thinner) as Lena, the waitress, Sonny Carl Davis (Fast Times At Ridgemont High) as Albert, and Ken Swofford (The Andromeda Strain) as Major.

This is another film that I waited too long to watch and one of the striking things about this film is that screenwriting. Callie Khouri who is a writer for Nashville among other things gets full credit for the terrific job she did on the film. She set up all the right events like the hook which was Harlan getting shot and then all of the turning points and subplots were just so fluid and the characters she created were awesome from Pitt's appearance as J.D. which was fantastic. This was when Pitt was in his crazy character phase like Kalifornia, etc. and that is essentially why we love Brad Pitt because he's awesome. Sarandon and Davis really carry the ball all the way through this film and to be honest they do not drop it at all. David and Sarandon were amazing with Sarandon having a slight edge even though Davis has some bad ass scenes too. One of my favorite things about this film because it is just as much a driving movie as much as it is a crime drama is that the cinematography is absolutely amazing especially when they get to Arizona. There is some beautiful shots of those beautiful and unique mountains that you can picture when you think of The Grand Canyon and Arizona. It's almost it's own character as they drive across the south and we feel we are on the trip with them. One of the things that bugged me is the scene when they cops are arriving to Darryl's house and it looks like it;'s raining on one side and not the other but you can clearly tell some of it is hoses. Other than that, this is a definitely a film worth checking out especially for the famous hand holding car scene at the end. That is why I am giving the film an A- for a final grade.

The Witches Of Eastwick (1987)

It's Friday and hopefully everyone is ready for the long weekend because it's Memorial Day weekend. So for today, I decided to breakout the VCR (Videocassette Recorder) for old times sake and I decided to check out one of my recent acquisitions in the 1987 film The Witches Of Eastwick which was directed by George Miller (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) and based on the novel by John Updike. The film stars Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) as Jane Spofford, Cher (Mask) as Alexandra Medford, and Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder On The Orient Express) as Sukie Ridgemont, three friends who are either widowed or their husbands left them and they are feeling pretty lonely especially with the prospects in the small New England town they live in. One night, they wish for the perfect man (or at least what their version is), but what they get might be more than they bargained for when a mysterious man shows up the next day. The film also stars Jack Nicholson (The Little Shop Of Horrors) as Daryl Van Horn, Richard Jenkins (Fun With Dick and Jane) as Clyde Alden, Veronica Cartwright (Flight Of The Navigator) as Felicia Alden, Carel Struycken (The Addams Family) as Fidel, Helen Lloyd Breed (Mickey Blue Eyes) as Mrs. Biddle, and Keith Jochim (A Pleasure Doing Business) as Walter Neff.

I have a couple of things that I want to say about this film and I am going to start this paragraph with them. The first thing is that before this film, the only other film that I ever found Michelle Pfeiffer attractive in was Batman Returns when she played the Catwoman. I take back all assumptions because she was an absolute fox in this film and one of the best things about the movie besides Cher who was proving once again that she had acting chops. The second thing is that in Jack Nicholson do we trust because if Jack can't do it then no one can! Jack Nicholson once again proved in this film why he is one of the G.O.A.T.'s of Hollywood with his hellraising performance as the devilish Daryl Van Horn. He had some amazing dialogue in the film and he absolutely nailed it with his sinister wit and charm. Seeing Jack Nicholson perform in this film is the reason I never became an actor because I couldn't pull off that performance. The part of the film when he becomes beats like just brought chills to my spine and gave me goosebumps because it reminded me of how great he was in The Shining and it makes me want to see the film Wolf just to see how he does in that film. Some of the stuff in the film was a little zany, but it worked with the subject matter at hand. The cinematography in the film was excellent and not enough credit goes to Richard Jenkins and Veronica Cartwright who put on one hell of a performance as well. This was a very fun film to watch which is why I am giving the movie an A- for a final grade.

Dead Man Walking (1995)

One of the points of doing a challenge or a blog like this is to watch films that have some critical acclaim to them or made an impact when they came out. I definitely remember the film that I chose for today made an impact when it was nominated for four Oscars and took one home and that film is 1995's Dead Man Walking which was written and directed by Tim Robbins (Mystic River). The film stars Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise) as Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who works in the slums section of New Orleans. One day she receives a letter from an inmate named Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) who is sitting on Death Row and is hoping that Helen can help him try to get off death row before his number is called. The film also stars Robert Prosky (Mrs. Doubtfire) as Hilton Barber,  Raymond J. Barry (Nothing But Trouble) as Earl Delacroix, R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) as Earl Percy, Celia Weston (Observe and Report) as Mary Beth Percy, Lois Smith (The Nice Guys) as Helen's Mother, Scott Wilson (The Walking Dead) as Chaplain Farley, Roberta Maxwell (Brokeback Mountain) as Lucille Poncelet, Jack Black (Jumanji: The Next Level) as Craig Poncelet, Jon Abrahams (Meet The Parents) as Sonny Poncelet. and Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass) as Walter Delacroix.

I know that Sean Penn is a method actor so I would love to know what he did to research the role and I wonder if he stayed in a cell to stay in character. Those are definitely some of the questions that burn through my mind while I spend time in this isolation. One thing is for sure and that is while I did like his performance in the film a lot, I thought the true MVP of the film was definitely the Oscar Winner Susan Sarandon who deservedly won the award for her role as the real life Sister Helen. She conveyed every emotion exactly the way a director would have wanted her to. You could feel that she was scared at first and by the end of the film you knew all she wanted to do was good by everyone including Matthew Poncelet who she grew very close to. The whole film, all she wants to do is get him to take full responsibility for what he had done because it would mean with the little time that he had left, she made an impact on his life. She would have gotten him to admit responsibility and in turn he grew up and finally became a man. FYI, I did not choose this movie because it's Easter weekend, if that was the case I would be watching some Bible film right now. I had always wanted to see this film and never had the chance to, but thanks to Kanopy (all you need is a library card) I took full advantage of them having it. It's beautifully shot and well acted by everyone involved in the film so I definitely suggest getting this. The end is a little hard to watch because it's very emotional and surreal, but I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.