Imagination brought to life. With each Miyazaki movie I view, I understand why he has amassed such a loyal and passionate fan base. While I've only had the opportunity to see one of his films in the theater - Spirited Away - I hope to add more to my list as they are rereleased.

Let you lay this on you, this jive turkey enjoyed Truck Turner. The smooth and silk Isaac Hayes is the eponymous Mac Truck Turner, working with his partner Jerry played by Alan Weeks, as they comb the City of Angels for bail jumpers. When they take down a notorious pimp named Gator after an extensive chase (including an amazing set piece through a water treatment plant near LAX), it touches off a war with the rest of the adult services executives in the area, including the lead Madam played by Star Trek's own Nichelle Nichols, in a role that is delightful and 180 degrees from her role on the Enterprise.  
Yaphet Kotta takes the role of the Big Bad, and their final confrontation is beautifully filmed, albeit brutal. 
Throw in Scatman as an aging pimp/sage for just the icing on the cake. All in all, a fun slice of the 1970s, with incredible music provided by Mr Hayes himself

Flashdance left an indelible mark, to be honest. Was a unique movie that helped change the tone of Hollywood, too.

A cute romantic comedy where Janeane Garofalo gets to shine. An extra 1/2 star for an inventive romantic scene.

An instant classic!  
Having had an opportunity to follow the rise of the Broadway musical Wicked and then finally see it live when it came out here to Indianapolis, I was interested in seeing this take on the origin story of Elphaba and the development of her powers in the merry old land of Oz.
First off, this casting is inspired, with Cynthia Erivo taking the lead spot. If you haven't seen her in the underrated Bad Times at the El Royal, you might take a moment to find it at your local library. It's full of some fun twists and turns and an amazing soundtrack. Her exceptional voice is a character in and of itself in this first installment and she's taken the torch of all the previous witches with her particular "verdigris" and flown with it.
Then there's "Guh-linda" as portrayed by Ariana Grande in all of her pink finetudes ("witch" seems like an Ozian word, so take THAT Grammarly!). Grande's performance rises to the level of Erivo's and when they perform together, it's magic from here to Munchkinland. In this format, on the big screen, we can see so many additional layers of Oz and the set pieces of "What is this Feeling?," "Popular," and "Dancing Through Life." Then we jump on an outrageously whimsical train to the Emerald City and the multi-layered "One Short Day" wherein we catch a glimpse of two residents who are dear to Wicked history. Easily one of my favorite segments of the movie.
Wicked far exceeded every expectation I had and the expectations were, as they say, defying gravity!
Outstanding visuals matched by exceptional performances. Our family will certainly be counting down the days until part two!

I should have watched this when I was in the midst of my adolescence, but this one escaped me. I appreciate what they were doing, but too many years have gone by and it didn’t make as much of an impact as it could have. The Outsiders certainly was still entertaining, and fun to watch some of the superstars of that era in some of their earliest roles.

Missed this one by 31 years. First off, what an incredible cast. And love him or hate him, the director knows how to leverage film as a visual medium. The Doors has dreamlike imagery throughout, which seems an obvious technique to shake the viewer off their already precarious footing. What's more, the music is outstanding and is treated like part of the ensemble.

Does he run in this one? I don't remember.

This cast is revving on all cylinders and places a perfect "popcorn movie" right in the winner's circle for the summer.

It's kind of like the movie Cars blended with the movie Doc Hollywood and a sprinkle of Top Gun just for good measure.

I'll have to check my records because I don't remember if THIS is the "vehicle" that made Tom and Nicole Kidman fall in love or if it was another random event or a cool Hollywood party. They were certainly an "it" couple for several years there. Did they have a cute nickname? I don't remember. What's more, she popped on the scene when there weren't a ton of redheaded performers, so for that I'm thankful.

I have to say, it was difficult to get my bearings on this one for the first 40 minutes or so, but it didn't mind the ride at all. The music, the chaos, the shifts in tone and the unpredictable performances all added up to a unique take on this "romantic comedy." But to be fair to the director and the performers alike, Punch-Drunk Love defies a cookie cutter genre. This is easily Sandler's best performance by far and really shows the level of talent he can bring to a production. Think you know where this is going? No, you don't. PDL is a tight 90ish minutes, but it does also take it's time to immerse the audience in the events of Barry Egan, his co-workers, his sisters, the maniacal operator of a phone sex line in Utah, and of course, Lena, the love interest, played perfectly by Emily Watson. This one is calling to have a repeat viewing, because so much of the music and visuals can be missed if you aren't fully engaged.