I Want to Live! (1958)

 Pros: Susan Hayward is great and fully deserved her Oscar as Barbara Graham, a former call girl and mob mistress with a rap sheet longer than her arm though she wasn't even there when the murder happened, given her record, she goes down for it anyway and is soon on death row, despite having a young child. The realism of the prison cells and gas chamber are told with intricate details which is shocking to be seen in a film from that era. It even shows Barbara's husband (Wesley Lau's) addiction and withdrawal with frankness.

Cons: They never show the murder or what actually happened and they don't truly show where Barbara was on the day of the crime. And you don't really understand why Barbara ends up marrying that bartender.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Simon Oakland gives a good supporting performance as the journalist, Ed Montgomery, who at first condemns Barbara but eventually becomes a champion for her.

-It is clever when Ed turns off his old-fashioned hearing aid as he can't stand the racket after Barbara's death.

-It takes a lot of people to kill a person. 

-I wonder why she didn't have her friend Peg (Virginia Vincent) take custody of her young son, instead leaving him with her mother-in-law instead. 

American Graffiti (1973)

 Pros: Flawless acting and the solid twists and turns in the screenplay make this film something different. The plot is simple, four mismatched friends have one last night to enjoy their youth before some of them leave for college but nothing is ever as simple as that, some change their minds, several times over, others need to leave in order to save their future. The acting is also impeccable. The soundtrack is also flawless.

Cons: Teenagers apparently never need sleep and there is one scream overheard that never receives an explanation and sure, the plot is basic but it stills manages to be fascinating, though you don't always understand why the characters make the decisions that they do.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-The cast is great, Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Paul LeMat, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and a young Harrison Ford. However, not as many of them became as famous as you would have thought.

-Richard Dreyfuss aged poorly in four years. By the time he won his Oscar, he was already going gray.

-Richard Dreyfuss never finds the girl he seeks and is forced to join a gang along the way, not wanting to commit crimes, he escapes to college though he had just changed his mind.

-Ron Howard decides to stay though he hates his little California town but choices to stay after his long-term girlfriend nearly dies. 

-Two of the four friends meet tragic, untimely endings.

-Out of the entire cast, only Candy Clark, a lookalike to Connie Stevens was Oscar-nominated and while she's great, it is hard to extoll her performance above all the others. Personally, I thought Mackenzie Phillips was great as the little girl desperate to be older. 

-The editing is also very consist throughout the film. 

Paper Moon (1973)

 Pros: Tatum O'Neal was great as the wise, observant con-artist. Orphaned after her mother's death, she befriends Bible salesman, Moses Pray (Ryan O'Neal) and the two form a fragile and co-dependent relationship but eventually their shady schemes catch up to them, but it is a wild ride until then.

Cons: It is unclear as to why Moses shows up, late, at the funeral in the first place and Addie's (Tatum's) father remains unknown. And yes, they are bad people preying on the naivete of others, still, the film is largely a solid one.

Recommend: Yes

Grade: A-

Side Notes:

-Madeline Kahn has another shiny supporting role as Trixie, one of Moses's girlfriends who gets in the way of the long con Addie and Moses have going on.

-Addie may a truly talented con-artist but she's observant and doesn't wish to instill more harm on those suffering but takes advantage of the super wealthy.

-P.J. Johnson is also great in her smaller role as Imogene, Trixie's maid though that its being kind as she is seldom paid but she is a true ally and friend for Addie.

-I wonder where Addie gets her dress.

-Randy Quaid has a crazy, little cameo. 

-When Tatum O'Neal won her Oscar, neither of her parents attended the ceremony, which is just sad.

-This film probably didn't help with the difficult relationship she has with her father. 

Ghost World (2001)

 Pros: Great performances by actual teenagers portraying actual teenagers, recent high school graduates, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johannsen), this film is an interesting little film, a great character study. Initially both Enid and Rebecca are on the same page, find some sort of job and get an apartment together, forgoing the tradition choice of college. Each actress is pitch perfect as the aimless teens, having few hobbies between the two of them, though they feel everyone around them is lame. Steve Buscemi is great as Enid's kindred soul and eventual friend, Seymour, a fellow vintage music lover.

Cons: The plot is thin though the fascinating characters keep it steadily moving forward, though I wish something had worked out for any one of them as they are ultimately decent human beings and deserve happiness.

Recommend: Maybe

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-I can't help but wonder if the bus is a metaphor for death as the bus doesn't have a route on that road anymore and it first collects the old man and then drives off with Enid at the end, despondent that her life has gone nowhere.

-Though there isn't much plot, everything is intricately thought out and ties together brilliant, uniquely and honestly, probably relatively realistically. 

-Illeana Douglas is great as the bizarre art teacher who adores the simple over the complex and is even okay with plagiarism as long as its explained properly. 

The Good Girl (2002)

 Pros: Jennifer Aniston is brilliant as Justine, a simple woman who works a mindless, mundane job in the retail store, upset that she settled for her boring husband, Phil (John C. Reilly) and she finds a kindred soul in Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal), a troubled, young man, but they have an affair nevertheless, though it ends badly. Despite the bare bones plot, the performances are great and the scenery realistic. 

Cons: Despite Phi's anger at Justine being unfaithful, it is never okay to hit another person. And why did Justine ever find Phil a catch, so much so that she gave up college for him? I feel that was a vital piece of the film that was missing.

Recommend: Probably, solely for Jennifer Aniston's performance

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-Holden is an incredibly troubled soul and loves Catcher in the Rye, and the parallels to his own life are numerous, though the film Holden is an incredible creep.

-Tim Blake Nelson is Phil's fool of a friend, Bubba.

-Phil is a painter and loves to smoke pot with his friend and yet he wonders why is sperm count is basically nothing.

-Despite her faults, Justine swears that the baby is Phil's, though we all know that can't be the case. 

-Bubba's dog is the worst. 

Mr. Malcolm's List (2022)

 Pros: In the vein of Bridgerton, this is another great example of cold-blind casting for a pre-Victorian romance, complete with flawless acting and solid performances all around, from Frieda Pinto's Selina Dalton, the poor country girl, daughter of a vicar to Sope Dirisu's regal, but stiff and unyielding titular Mr. Malcolm

Cons: The plot is a bit trite and filled with unfortunate misunderstandings, the characters don't give enough credit nor do they trust their gut, not to mention the whole thing is rather stupid, a mere trifle but the film managed to be a good time.

Recommend: Maybe

Grade: B

Side Notes:

-There is a glaring inconsistency, Mr. Malcolm's mother (Dona Croll), once calls her son Jeremiah when he's always been introduced as Jeremy, so that's an issue.

-The relationship between Julia (Zawe Ashton) and Captain Henry Ossory (Theo James) is half-baked at best and probably more interesting than the main relationship though Julia is the villain of the film also so you have to take her happy ending with a grain of salt.

-Julia's servants are supposed to be comedic relief and that falls flat. 

-Rich people have far too much time on their hands.

-We never really learn what the Corn Laws were all about. 

A Jazzman's Blues (2022)

 Pros: Solid acting fills every inch of this independent film and the plot is a twist on something old that's already been done before with echoes of Passing and Emmett Till's life. Bayou (Joshua Boone) falls in love with the light-skinned Leanne (Solea Pfeiffer) but her nasty, cruel gold-digger of a mother, Ethel (Lana Young) takes her away only to return with both of them passing for white, Leanne married to a white man. Despite Bayou's thriving career in Chicago, at his brother's (Austin Scott's) expense, he returns home to disastrous results. 

Cons: Honestly, there were just so many nasty characters, too many to choice from and though you finally start feeling some sympathy for Willie Earl (Scott), he ruins it by turning his brother over to the racist sheriff and while Bayou's loyalty to his mama is admirable, he was a fool for returning when there was a price over his head. 

Recommend: Yes

Grade: B+

Side Notes:

-I don't think we ever learn Bayou's real name.

-For the thousandth time, use protection, though in this case, I can't figure out how Leanne's baby turns out to be Bayou's when she's very married and that baby looks white, but you sort of just have to go with it.

-The frame story is stunning and is actually probably one of the best frame stories I've seen recently.

-Amirah Vann is Bayou's mama and she's fantastic and should have a bigger career.

-Joshua Boone should also have a great career.

-Ryan Eggold is the manager and Holocaust survivor though I'm surprised at how quickly his career took off in such a short time.