Chinatown (1974) - ★★★★★

Director: Roman Polanski
Writers: Robert Towne,
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, Jerry Lopez

This is one of the greatest mystery/thrillers I've ever seen. It hooks you from start to finish without an ounce of boredom in between. I loved this film so much, I won't even hesitate to say that it should have won Best Picture in 1974. I consider this to be Polanski's greatest film to date, and one of the all time greatest movies.

The story follows Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), a private detective who specializes in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway), when she suspects that her husband, the builder of the city's water supply system, is having an affair. Gittes photographs him with a young girl but in the ensuing scandal, he finds out that he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest and municipal corruption all related to the city's water supply.

Let me just say that the story is absolutely enthralling. The suspence is built up superbly when we see Mr. Mulwray acting suspiciously, visiting all the water site areas and reflecting on his thoughts. Then a few days later, he's dead. The mystery was already implanted deep into my mind, and I found myself constantly trying to solve it. The most incredible thing about this film is that this is a story that I don't think anyone could have solved. There is no doubt in my mind that the twist in this film had many people flabbergasted and in disbelief. I must admit that I couldn't believe it myself. For me, the most genius part of the whole film was the ending. Now this film has an ending that left me shocked and also joyous, for it was so unexpected. I couldn't believe it. That is the greatest thing about Chinatown, it continued to surprise me until the very end.

Nicholson was amazing in this film, as he is in so many others. He plays his usual character, which is rough, cheeky, and intelligent. I found myself liking this Jake Gittes, for he wanted to solve a mystery that did not concern him, no matter how dangerous it was. There was something about Dunaway's character that had me thinking more and more about whether she was mentally stable. A lot of messed up things happened in her past, yet she came across so calm and cool for much of the film. Towards the end she began to unravel, and the secrets were coming out. It was absolutely beautiful to see Dunaway display how a person's sanity can be cracked so swiftly. Nicholson and Dunaway had great chemistry, which made this film so much more enjoyable.

So what's the verdict? I think everyone should see Chinatown. This is how a mystery film should be made! This is how a thriller film should make audience's feel! With one of the greatest story's ever on film, superb performances and unforgettable dialogue, Chinatown deserves to be known as one of the greatest films of all time.

Mommie Dearest (1981) - ★

Director: Frank Perry
Writers: Christina Crawford (Book), Robert Getchell
Stars: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva, Mara Hobel

Arguably one of the worst movies of all time, Mommie Dearest was as terrible as it was unconvincing. On one side, you've got Faye Dunaway playing Joan Crawford, the alleged abusive and neurotic monster of a woman, and then Diana Scarwid playing what I consider one of the most annoying screen roles in cinematic history, Christina Crawford. For the life of me I cannot figure out what was going through Faye Dunaway's head when she acted out some of the most ridiculously memorable scenes throughout the movie. I will grant her this, she does look similar to an older Joan Crawford and I thought she played Crawford great. The problem lied with the unintentional ridiculous dialogue and rotten directing. What can an actor do when all the elements are against them?

You may be thinking "surely Christina Crawford wasn't that bad of a character." Well here is why I couldn't stand her. Perhaps the number one reason is because she was constantly being portrayed as if she was a model daughter, someone any mother would've been happy to have. It seemed very much like a project by Christina to boost her ego. Another reason I hated this character, or dare I say person, is because the acting was so extraordinarily bad that I cringed at everything she said.

This movie took cheap punches at Joan Crawford with all the accusations of her sanity and whether she deserved to be called a legend. I call them cheap because she couldn't even defend herself because this piece of garbage was made after she died. The real Christina Crawford even admitted that some of the scenes in the movie were fabricated for the screen so that the movie would do well. One of them being the famous "NO WIRE HANGERS" scene.

If you see a copy of this movie anywhere, please destroy it. It is just a long pile of nonsensical hogwash. The one redeeming quality is Dunaway's good acting.

Watch the Wire Hanger's Scene here!