Can't We Be Dysfunctional Like A Normal Family?

1625   7.8   8 

A suicidal gay uncle, an unspoken emo brother who dreams of flying jet fighters, a motivational-speaking dad who always seems to be out of touch, a seven year old out of shape pangeant-contesting "super-freak", and a heroin-addicted grandpa with the power to spout out Oscar-worthy expletives, all capped off by a mom who tends to serve popsicles for dessert.
Everything you need to provide a big yellow vehicle such as this one with a solid push.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

51   5.8   6.3 

Every once in awhile, you just have to pack up the family & move. Particularly, when the rent is due.
Oh, and as a courtesy to the next tenants,
please don't forget to remove the cat from the oven.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

110   6.6   7.2 

I pretty much ignored this film when it was first released. I watched on it's first airing on TV, & I literally couldn't believe at how good it was. So I went out & rented it, & yep, I was right. It's that good.
The story is just perfect from beginning to end. And Kathy Bates, IMO, turns in an even better performance than she did in Misery. The plot may tend to come off as a bit complicated, but the movie does a great job of walking the viewer thru the intermingling flashbacks & varoius plot points that show the main character's journey to save her daughter from the father's "parental indulgences" & how that struggle can lead us to find strength in the most unlikely of places.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

181   6.2   6.9 

"Since then he's been slappin' the salami, no offense..... apparently he's goin' for a world record.... anyway, uh, he was afraid there was somethin' wrong with him, like he was a pervert or somethin'. I told him 'That's just what little dudes do. We've all done it'."



"... you need a license to buy a dog or drive a car, hell you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reamin' @sshole be a father."

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1339   6.4   6.6 

In this family, dysfunctionality is a form of functionality.
Stretching mom out on a torture rack or throwing the baby out of a third story window is simply a way of communicating "You're okay, I'm okay".
And one of the advantages that comes with having the last name of Addams is that, no matter how many family-friendly games of tag you play,
your cousin will always be Itt.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

215   7   7.5 

A solid flick with a solid script about a not so solid family, directed by the one guy who directed the Hulk, & starring a quality ensemble cast that includes that one bad-ass chick from Alien & that one guy from SpiderMan, who, coincidentally, throughout this movie, is reading a comicbook about the Fantastic Four.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

53   7.5   7.7 

An eccentric who takes the idea of artistic integrity to it's most purest/extremist definition. Watching this guy talk about how he practically discovered his sexuality by riding his aunt's leg as a child, one can easily come to the conclusion of just how "weird" Crumb is. And yet, after you "meet" his family, it is he who comes off as the most normal one of the bunch.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1001   7.3   7.6 

The royal family of aristocratic & eccentric dysfunction.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

94   7.5   7.8 

A family portrayal that depicts how even the most ordinary people are not very ordinary.
Trying to live a life of normalcy can often be much more of an emotional household hindrance than it is as a sign of achievement of the American dream.



Before I ever saw this movie,
I thought that Mary Tyler Moore was the most beautiful, heart-warming human beings ever to be onscreen.
After I watched Ordinary People,
I couldn't stand to even look at her.
Now that's acting.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

77   6.7   6.9 

There are 3 scenes in this movie that make it such a standout for me: confidence man, Paul "Poitier's" (Will's Smith) observations on Catcher In The Rye & the nature of creativity; the phone call dialogue between he & Ouisa Kittredge (Stockard Channing): & finally, Oiusa's heartfelt speech about people's tendency to turn meaningful experiences into throwaway anecdotes.
Who would've thought that a film with this much philosophy could be this entertaining? Plus, not only is this a performance by Will Smith that first revealed his ability to act against other other big screeners, but this is also one of Stockards finest efforts. At this point in her career, she has honed her craft to the point where, in this particular movie, it really allows her to shine. I don't used the word under-rated when it comes to subjects that are based so much on relativity/subjectivity, such as the catergory of films, but if I could, this movie would be one of the main ones that would inspire me to do so. I really, really like this movie alot. Great performances by Will Smith & Stockard Channing along with Mr. Donald Sotherland coming in to provide the final piece of high mark acting to a high quality level movie.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

2280   7.7   8.6 

Personally, I think that this is a movie that tries to remind us that we have the ability to keep life in perspective, but usually don't. I think that what AB tries to say with it's message, especially at the end is much bigger than most of us realize. This is a film that I hope I can remember to watch every 4 or 5 yrs of my life, just as a reminder to "something" that I genuinely believe we all already know, but hardly ever allow it's awareness to surface during the course of our lives.
Or maybe I'm just looking at things bigger than what they really are in this movie.
Which could easily just be a side effect of the one-too-many times that I kept pressing the pause button during Thora Birch's naked breasts scene.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

75   6.8   6.3 

How do you get back at your parents for punishing you with a wire hanger?
Try writing a book.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

245   6.9   6.9 

A family of rednecks that makes even Satan go "Damn.... these people are just plain downright evil.....!"

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

380   7.2   7.5 

And speaking of an evil family full of rednecks......
If anybody in this household (particularly, anyone who wears a mask of leathered flesh on his face) ever wants to borrow any of your tools (particularly any that you have to yank to get started), don't expect to ever see it again.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

14   6   6.8 

Most fathers like to bond with their sons through playing catch or taking 'em fishing. For this family, Dad hands you a gun and teaches you how to aim it at a squirrel & blow it's nuts off.
In this household, the family name is carried on by picking up a sniper rifle and aiming it right between a target's eyes.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

220   6.9   7.3 

Man, the last time I took a vacation,
John Candy was still alive, Beverly D'Angelo was thin & Chevy Chase was actually funny.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

46   6.6   7.2 

This is simply one of those movies that I really enjoy that never really gets much mention anywhere. Paul Newman, Jessica Tandy, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffin & Phillip Seymour Hoffman are a great cast of actors playing a great cast of characters in this film. And each one is a piece of a puzzle that, despite their sharp edges, all still fit in perfectly.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

1747   8.2   8.5 

An annoying wife & mother, a kid who likes to talk with his finger,
and a dad who suffers not only from writer's block & a possesed spirit, but also from a severe case of "redrum" on his mind.
"Honey...
I'm home."

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

155   7.5   7.3 

In public schools everywhere, for every one popular girl that we see, there are probably 20 plain jane girls like Dawn Wiener lurking anonymously in the background.
Welcome to the Dollhouse follows the life of this 7th grader as she struggles to find her place in a family in which she is virtually non-existant (with the exception of being compared as a bad example to the beloved & favorited ballerina primadonna sibling) & in a junior high school where her only purpose is serving as a door mat for the class bullies.
This film is a hard-nosed depiction of those who are quietly & easily overlooked & who tend to make up a larger percentage of the student school population than many of us want to or even care to notice.

The Mighty Celestial's rating:

2185   7.9   8.8 

What happens when you don't find out until it's too late that the leader of a vast galactic Empire that has been corrupted by the darkside is really your dad,
and
that a beautiful Princess that you have the hots for is really your sister?

Well, for the first part, you turn your life over to the Force, lead a rebellion against the Empire until your dad sees the light & dies a hero.
...and then,
just pretend that the second part never really happened.

The Mighty Celestial's rating: