Stream it now A Woman Under the Influence 1974

 

:ho great thing, like it btw check my pics at tinyurl.com/isabellagie

A Woman Under the Influence is one of the most fiercely realistic films I have ever seen. Gena Rowlands gives an amazing performance as a wife and mother whose mind is slipping. The film propels forward with raw emotion and psychological intensity. Although the journey through this story becomes progressively more shocking, each successive elevation in intensity feels entirely natural, completely inevitable. The film may be a little long, but it is extremely compelling throughout.

this might be a blasphemy, but the slowness of the movie has ruined the good theme and great acting. this movie causes pain, less by intention, more by boredom.

a very unforgiving yet complete movie. the script is unbelievably good and rowland's performance might be the best female performance i've seen.

VERDICT:
8/10 Questionable Babysitters

The first John Cassavetes movie I've ever seen, and man, what a freakin' powerhouse.

- Read the rest of my review at ctcmr.com -

A Woman Under the Influence is unreasonably painful, and I barely made it through. I complained to myself about how pointless the two and a half hours of torture was, but as I digested the event, I found myself enriched. I was glad of the experience as a whole and proud of the filmmakers for their endurance and perception. It's made in a way I've never seen with an air of improvisation in the performances and in the cinematography. Gene Rowlands is UNREAL and Peter Falk backs her up with fearless, dramatic immersion. It's a totally brutal experience, but the finish line offers something transcendental. It's convinced me that Cassevetes was a genius and way ahead of his time.

:fresh:

10 Out Of 10

DVD First Viewing, 1 Cassavetes film seen

A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Garrison Keillor, Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Kevin Klein, Lily Tomlin, Virginia Madsen, Lindsay Lohan, L.Q. Jones, Maya Rudolph

3.5 stars out of 4

So far, 2006 has only produced a handful of quality films: United 93, Manderlay... alright, so more of a pinch than a handful. It is not surprising, therefore, that A Prairie Home Companion emerges relatively high on this list. Garrison Keillor's visual transformation of his classic radio program is a charming and surprisingly bold endeavor, elegantly tiptoeing through uncharted territory (or maybe just some, uh, part of Minnesota), and producing a truly satisfying result.

I grew up listening to A Prairie Home Companion. Memories of early childhood car rides are often accompanied by the soothing sounds of Keillor's "News from Lake Wobegon" monologues. I was surprised to hear of plans to make a film version, and I wondered if the translation would appeal to those who knew nothing of the little Prairie that I frequented on so many Sunday afternoons. From the opening moments of Altman's film, however, I knew that any of my lingering fears could safely vanish.

Now, I do not care for Robert Altman. Granted, I haven't seen Short Cuts or The Player, and I think that Vincent and Theo is adequate, but I find Gosford Park, The Company, and Cookie's Fortune to be uncoordinated, messy, and downright boring. A Prairie Home Companion, however, is none of these things. Keillor's screenplay, paired with Altman's surprisingly sleek direction, is a rich medley of characters and metaphor, a beautiful story of the passing of time and the balance between life and death. The film takes place over the course of one episode of the live radio show, highlighting the irreversibility of life and the inevitability of an end. I feared that the film would sink to levels of mere novelty, but, although there were moments when the film's objective seemed to shift toward just showing off Streep's voice talents, it generally created a new and admirable work of art, taking the radio show to a different level via the medium of film and never debauching or excessively glorifying it.

The cast was excellent (aside from some undesirable stiffness from Virginia Madsen), especially Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly, who's chemistry together was a pure joy to watch, providing most of the films genuine laughs. The film featured a disproportionate amount of music, when compared with the actual radio program, and cut out Keillor's trademark monologue. However, if one considers the whole film as a representation of the radio show, then the backstage conversations and side-plots were enough to substitute for the skits that were left out of the show.

A Prairie Home Companion is not a great film, but it is surely a satisfying and insightful one... "where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are above average."