​I've probably seen Chicago near a dozen times. I saw it in theaters and bought the DVD when it was released, though it's actually been a a number of years since the last viewing. It's not a perfect movie, but it's great and there are definitely portions of it that I Iove. 

We'll start with the cast... which was phenomenal. Our theme is Best Actress, and this is pretty much a female powerhouse cast. Zellweger got the nom for Best Actress... and while she was great in the lead I think she was actually outdone by both Zetz-Jones and Queen Latifah. Zeta-Jones took home the Oscar, though I probably would give the edge to Queen Latifah for overall performance. Regardless, all three were amazing in their parts. Richard Gere was a fine flashy silver-tongued Billy Flynn.  My favorite casting and character, however, was Amos as played by John C. Reilly. He got a well deserved supporting actor nomination, but unfortunately not the win. (Interesting enough, Reilly was in three of the five 2002 Best Picture Nominated movies) Taye Diggs as the Bandleader was more important than I'd imagine most people notice on a single viewing. We also got some nice scenes with Mya and Lucy Liu. I actually forgot all about Dominic West, but he stood out this time around since I just started watching The Wire for our upcoming podcast series. 

​Anybody who has heard anything about Todd Solondz at all, knows he's weird. I don't have much experience with him, but I tend to like odd movies. 

There are some quality shows out (High Maintenance, Easy, etc) that tell stories of different people with little to no connections at all... and for me, that works great in series form with each episode telling its own story, it also worked really well for me in (http://www.mediocremovie.club/reviews/four-rooms)Four Rooms. Wiener Dog's life was a completely different experience than Ted the Bellhop's long night. The former didn't quite hold up for me as well as I was hoping for. 

​I need to stop picking Kubrick movies that I rate so highly. I'm never quite sure how to review them without just simply gushing and rambling. But, if any Kubrick flick deserves that... it's 2001: A Space Odyssey. 

I like to think that there's no such thing as a perfect movie, that there has to be some flaw, be it technical, plot based, directing, acting... something. But, 2001 may be as close to perfection as there is, at least in my likely biased eyes. I'm not going to go on as long as I probably could here, but want to simply touch on a few things that make the movie so worthy of praise. When I get to the plot, I will absolutely be leaving a ton out, as there is just a ton to unpack... even if the movie wasn't two and a half hours! 

I'll start where 2001 does... with music. I love the overture intro, as it essentially prepares you for what's to come (more on that later). I won't pretend to know much at all about classical music, but the importance and fit of 2001's score is undeniable. The music always worked along side the visuals, adding to the immersion in any given scene. Since most of the film goes without dialogue, it's vital to have such a powerful score. The film won a well deserved BAFTA for best Soundtrack

When I initially watched Hush, it was late at night, outside, and on my laptop with some quality earbuds in.  A friend (and sporadic podcast listener!), suggested it, so she and I actually watched it together over the Showgoers extension.  It was actually a pretty nice environment to watch a horror thriller.  The thing is, expectations for scary movies these days are quite low.  It seems like the genre leans more toward cheap jump scares, torture, and gore more than looking to induce any real element of fear.  Hush, being a home invasion movie, really could have gone either way.  While there are a few things to pick on, overall it absolutely worked for me. ​

A few years or so ago, my sister told me about a novel she just finished for her book club. She raved about it and, upon watching the movie, told me that I need to read and watch it. It's been on my radar ever since, but I still haven't read the novel and this was my first viewing of the film. All I knew going in was that it's dark and 'messed up.'