Where animation is concerned, I’d have to give my heartiest recommendation for The Peanuts Movie. Equal parts magical and endearing, it was my second-favorite movie of 2015, only behind Mad Max: Fury Road.
7 Likes
That was cute. And it’s exactly what it says on the tin: 80 minutes of cat videos.
5 Likes
The computer animation took a bit of getting used to, but easily one of the better movies of the decade.
3 Likes
Speaking of Fury Road, it is one of my favorite Honest Trailers!
4 Likes
It’s definitely a change-up from the traditional animated specials, but it’s so cool to see all the textures and details and such.
What they do with the characters and story, though? It’s all marvelous. It’s as if we never lost Charles Schulz 21 years ago.
YES 
Gotta love how they run down the other actioners that year. Perfect reaction to Terminator: Genisys.
Also, I love the credit “Tom Hardly In The Movie”.
2 Likes
“You will never be this metal!”
2 Likes
“Bane with a Sleep Apnea Machine!”
2 Likes
I second this recommendation. And if you ever get the chance to see these people live or meet them in person, do it! Voice actors are some of the most charming, kind and thankful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Bill Farmer made it a point to thank everyone who came to the mic to ask questions at a comic con panel I went to, and when he thanked me I damn near cried. I have a funny story I really want to share with Rob Paulsen and even though I’ve had the opportunity a couple times I got cold feet. I swear I’ll do it!
3 Likes
Back in the Usenet days, Moe La Marche told me he liked my comments and thought they were funny. I preened for a WEEK! 
5 Likes
Fellini’s 8 1/2 - Complex, deep, a heavy commentary on gender dynamics and the effects of celebrity. And the ending is one of the best in film history.
5 Likes
The Fall
I was tipped to this by a glowing review from Roger Ebert - I got halfway through the review, stopped, went to Youtube and watched the trailer, immediately went to Amazon and purchased the Blu Ray, then went back finish Roger’s review.
For decades my two favorite films have been 2001 and Apocalypse Now; from the moment I saw ‘The Fall’ it immediately leaped into the number 3 slot right behind those two and has comfortably stayed there ever since.
(And I second the comment that ‘The Third Man’ is a nearly perfect film).
3 Likes
Shaun of the Dead. It may be the finest screenplay ever written.
12 Likes
Can I…can I touch you? 
I mean, I’ll settle for remotely. But that’s super cool.
6 Likes
lol. It was Mr. Potroast who got to the conventions and met him in person, along with Paulson and Harnell. (1995-96-ish.)
4 Likes
But did he say “Hey, your comments are funny”? I THINK NOT! LORD IT OVER HIM!!
2 Likes
I do basic research on every movie I watch. After I looked up Casablanca I developed a huge amount of respect for it. You have a cynical bar owner, a corrupt German, a piano player, a guy that solves problems for a price, and a couple from France in dire need to get to the US. Ordinarily this would be a movie I’d pass over. They didn’t have a finished script. So the woman in the love triangle had no idea at the beginning how to play the part. The people singing La Marseilles were POWs choking back tears. It takes courage to take on a role that you know very little about. The people in the movie The Room had a script, and had some idea it sucked. These guys had no idea if the movie sucked or not. It could’ve been a career-ender. Hopefully that stays true for The Room.
4 Likes
I feel bad for not liking Casablanca more than I do. Ilsa to me is such a nothing character that the central focus of the story just never engages me. It seems unfair that in an era where RL women were active participants in the war effort, some even seeing combat (depending on what country you were in) that this colorless, passive mannequin was the best heroine they could give us.
5 Likes
I do like Casablanca, but it’s far from my favorite Bogart film. That would be In A Lonely Place, based on the equally excellent book. I quite enjoy The African Queen as well. Casablanca is very much about tensions between various forms of male power expression, be they political, institutional, or personal, and as such the female presence is largely reduced to a token in those conflicts.
3 Likes
I remember really enjoying him in Sabrina, despite him being clearly the kind of guy who should never marry. I should watch it again and see how much pickier I am now. 
4 Likes
Hmm, I’m curious now as to how that holds up as well. It’s been a while for me, too. 
2 Likes