Moves -- A Recap -- Part XV -- The Psychological Edition

I had seen part of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest years ago, when I was living in London.  One of my flatmates had an assignment to read the book (which she did), but also picked up the movie.  I saw the beginning of it, but never knew how it ended.  S and I watched it again recently...and I still didn't see the whole thing; I fell asleep!  But I tried it again the next day and made it through.  This movie is dark, and sad.  And frankly I was a bit confused by the ending.  But certainly it is a treat of good acting, perhaps Jack Nicholson's finest moment.

Curious: did anybody watch Ratched on Netflix? Thoughts on this?

The Vanished (also apparently called Hour of Lead) was disappointing.  It had promise as a thriller, but it didn't really come together for me at the end.  The basic story line is that a couple's daughter goes missing while they are out on a camping trip.  The local detectives can find absolutely no leads, so the couple takes the search into their own hands.

Sticking with the theme of taking matters into your own hands, there's A Vigilante.  Olivia Wilde plays a vigilante killer, helping the victims of domestic abuse out of their situations as a way to exorcise the demons from her own past.  I should have loved this movie.  I like the idea of a super strong, super fearless woman running around out there protecting other victims.  Olivia Wilde is a total boss.  But on the whole I just found it a little too predictable.

I Care A Lot was a foil to A Vigilante.  The lead is a super strong, super fearless woman, but she uses her wiles to take advantage of people and steal their money.  She is an attorney, and gets appointed by the court as guardians of various folks, then using her authority to keep them institutionalized, medicated, and take their money.  Despite the horribleness of the lead and the weird feminism the movie espouses, I liked this one.  I like the subject matter, I like Rosamund Pike, and I love Peter Dinklage.  As one of my favorite pop culture podcasters said, "I would watch Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage eat sandwiches." So all it all, it gets a thumbs up from me.  S felt differently.

A Beautiful Mind was a re-watch for me, but S hadn't seen it yet.  He figured out right away what was going on, which is typical of him.  He's too smart for movie makers. I, on the other hand, never figure that stuff out.  Partially, I don't try too hard; I like the experience of being transported by a movie.  But partially I think I'm just not as smart as he is.  Nevertheless, even having seen this before, it was nice to see it a second time.  Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly were fantastic.

S and I watched A Simple Favor on a flight home from somewhere.  I would watch Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively in pretty much anything.  Anna is an intriguing combination of brilliant and adorable, and Blake is stunningly beautiful.  She's the Charlize Theron of the next generation. Anna plays lonely super-mom Stephanie who steps in to help out the enigmatic Emily in a pinch.  They become friendly, but not exactly friends.  Then Emily disappears and Stephanie sets out to find her.  It's a twisty turny ride, all set in bright, sunlit rooms, which makes it even weirder, funnier, and more fun.

Immediately after A Simple Favor, on the same flight, we watched Run.  Run is neither funny nor fun.  It's sort of a within-the-family take on I Care A Lot.  The two leads in this one are a mother and daughter.  The teenager is paralyzed from the waist down and totally dependent on her mother for everything which occurs outside of their remote house.  She starts to piece together the fact that she actually may not be as paralyzed as she thinks, but her mother will stop at nothing to keep her from uncovering the truth.  This one was predictable until it wasn't.