Lesa Fowers

I was born in 1968 one year before this film was released. It was a very difficult time in America history and everyone was tired of the never ending war in Vietnam. They just wanted to find peace, hope and love somewhere. The freedom of the open road can be a great escape but on their travels they found both beauty and disgust along the way. They were not welcomed by others for there lifestyle or rebellious views. If one town is not welcoming to you than had better keep riding. Unfortunately things are not any different today. We keep fighting for our freedom but it's no an easy ride. So take what you want from this film. It's a great representation of an iconic time. We all want to forget about the world's troubles and become an Easy Rider!!!

Hedy Lamarr is magnificent in her roll has the strange woman! A woman with a life that lacks true love! It is a small film that becomes larger than life as much as Gone with the Wind took are breathes away. She very much reminds me of Scarlett and looks and acts just like the same character she played. The resemblance is uncanny in my opinion but tells a story that makes for a gorgeous dark and mysterious film. She has the same strong will and is so alluring that you can love or hate her but mostly you identify with her. Love and loss are compelling story lines that make for great cinema and is well worth watching. The time period invokes the best and the worst out of all the characters. Hardship is what makes us become strange to others. My life is very much the same because I am a disabled woman that now studies classic film as a means of escape from my own reality. It's about resilience and the love of learning that keeps me going from one film to the next. I have a greater knowledge than others think because of my own mental health issues that go far beyond my disability. Were do we find are power or lack of it lies the question. Do you value yourself in a weakened state or find out more about what is truly important in a life less lived. We are all in the movies somewhere and I hope you find yourself there too! From one strange woman to the next I hope you enjoy this Strange Woman!!!

I find this film very interesting and love the journey into the mind of a person with a multiple personality disorder. James McAvoy gives one of the most brilliant performances in his character Kevin Wendell Crumb! Each transformation from one personality to another is exceptional and is what makes this film so riveting! I have watched it multiple times just like the personalities themselves. Anya Taylor Joy is perfect in her roll as Casey Cooke one of the three girls being held prisoner by Kevin as she begins to understand just who she is dealing with as she discovers each personality. Because of her own traumatic past she is able to survive based on her knowledge and experience. I too have also had a split in my brain that changed my life forever and am no longer the same person I used to be. The mind is a riddle wrapped in a enigma and it was like opening a new door that lead to a window into my own mind. That might be the reason I find this film so interesting and can even relate to the characters. Maybe we are more evolved than we even know ourselves as Kevin states in the film as one of his many personalities. If you find this subject interesting and love a M. Night Shyamalan film as much as I do, than I highly recommend you don't miss a minute of Split!!!

Orson Welles is the best! I have loved this film for years. Citizen Kane is so iconic for so many reasons that it's hard to list them all. The more I watch this film the more I like it. Orson Welles gave us something unlike any other director, artist or actor and I admire the man for it. His love of film is clearly represented in all forms in this film that made him so famous and influenced movies forever. Spend some time and watch his films and you will grow a appreciation for his genius.Then you might understand why there is a term used just for Orson Welles called Orwellian. He was bigger than life and created must see cinema. Rosebud will stay with you forever because it's are memories we die with and they die with us! Find out for yourself in Citizen Kane!!!

If you don't absolutely love The Godfather you had better watch it again and again until you find out the secret to the family recipe! This is such an important film that you can actually use it as a guide in your life to help you make difficult decisions going forward. I always go right back to the Godfather to figure out what my next move will be or if I need to go the mattresses! In my personal opinion this is the best film ever made in the history of cinema! Be warned not to betray the Godfather or you could end up risking everything including your life! Oh, and you may want to get a cat because all the most notorious villains seem to have one on there lap as a warning sign! Just a keen observation I found very interesting as the beginning of the film opens up. Marlon Brando is found sitting in his dark study wearing a tuxedo with a red rose on his lapel. He is looking forward to spending time with his family because it's his daughter's wedding day. Currently he is listening to a man begging for his help as he sits petting his cat gently showing him that he can be kind yet malicious! As the man pleads with him he also pledges his undying loyalty to the Godfather. He then proceeds to kiss his hand to show him his overwhelming gratitude. At this point the Godfather gives him his blessing! It's the perfect opening as the ominously beautiful musical score plays in the background setting up the entire mood for the greatest gangster film ever made! It has such an amazing cast of characters that brings the mafia family to life in The Godfather!!!

This film is absolutely mind blowing! Stanley Kubrick is a genius and takes you on a journey that is unforgettable. It starts out with monoliths or monkeys as we ponder the evolution of are own species. Then it shows us as we are in space on a mission to Jupiter. Keir Dullea plays Dave and Gary Lockwood plays Dr. Frank Loyd. HAL9000 is the computer that is in control of the spacecraft. The story feels very slow and it makes you feel like you are on board the spaceship in a trance. It's breathtakingly beautiful. Every shot is a cinematographers dream including what looks like a crazy pack of black ciggeries. It feels like you are actually on board this vessel and it's mesmerizing. The music with different sounds that play in the background are perfectly placed an so inspiring. The use of color transporters you through time as if you are passenger. We all are time travelers in our lives and we seem so small in relation to the vastness of the universe. They want to shut down the computer called HAL and he finds out the plan to sabotage the system. HAL pleads with Dave to consider what is at stake if he goes through with the plan. Even singing him a song called Daisy. Ultimately we find ourselves in this very situation today and this film was released the year I was born back in 1968. I can't believe it has taken me this long to see this incredible work of art. It's like playing connect the dots and you understand the inspiration behind so many movies like Star Wars, Alien, and Close Encounters and many others. This also includes TV series that we all loved and enjoyed over the years. That's why this film has become a cult classic for syfy lovers. Welcome aboard for the 2001 A Space Odyssey!!! The Mothership of all movies!!!

Every time I hear the term Gaslighting I think of this film as one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever seen! The film is set in Victorian England at a home that is literally lit by gas lights! Charles Boyer as Gregory Anton marries the unsuspectingly beautiful Ingrid Bergman as Paula Alquist that was from a prominent wealthy family. Angela Lansbury as Nancy Oliver is the maid for the opulent home but has an evil side to her that is very willing to help the devious husband carry out his diabolical plan. Paula is a very happy newlywed until she starts noticing strange things happening in her aunt's former home that they have setted down in after there marriage. The mind manipulation starts as soon as they take up residents in the house that the very murder took place in. She is very uncomfortable living in it because of its past history. She hears noises in the attic every night and a gas light that keeps going on and off for no reason. She finds that items are missing in the home among other disturbing things that are going on right under her nose. The husband is very controlling and multiplicative and treats her terribly as he constantly makes her feel inadequate. He tells her that all these thing are just made up and are just in her mind. She believes him and he is constantly trying to keep her home always telling her that she must be tired. Leaving her almost bedridden and is making her believe that she is mentally unstable. These activities continue as he tells her that he is considering putting her into a mental institution because of her uncontrollable behavior. She just wants someone to believe her before she goes mad. No one comes to her aid not even the employees of the home. Just before she is about to be sent to a hospital for her so called condition she finds hope in meeting a detective played by Joseph Cotton as Brian Cameron that actually believers her suspicions and only wants to help. He knows more about her own husband than she does and that's when she finds out that he has another wife and another name. Brian thinks he is looking for the jewels of the talented world renowned singer that worn in the dress of a portrait that hung above the mantel were she meet with her untimely death. Not knowing that her husband was responsible for the murder of her lovely aunt she needs help now more than ever. He catches the thief redhanded and puts all her previous suspensions to rest and balance is restored in her heart and mind. Now the lovely woman is left whole again by not being tortured from the criminal minds that held her hostage within her own home. This is why you need to watch the unforgettable film Gaslight!!!

This is one of my favorite films! Humphry Bogart as Captain Morgan and Laura Bacall as Slim are a dream together. It's like love at first sight when it comes to film Noir. When she asks him if he knows how to whistle, it's takes my breath away. "You know how to whistle don't you Steve? Just put your lips together and blow!" It's the best line I have ever heard a woman say in all of film and is delivered perfectly by one of the most beautiful in all of Hollywood! She is a perfect match for Bogart with her husky voice and sensual presence in every scene! He also gives her a nickname and calls her Slim because she is a young woman that is far beyond her years! She sings with her sexy voice and looks like a woman of the world with the greatest outfits that I have ever seen in a black and white movie. Don't forget all the ways Bogie looks at her and smiles back! No explanation needed of course! Don't forget to watch one of the greatest Noir films ever made in To Have and Have Not!!!

I had never heard of a Zither before this film. It is the instrument that is used throughout the movie makes a unique sound for each gorgeous shot of the characters hiding in the dark corners of your mind, because that's where they live! I had seen this film once before and that music pulls you right back in! Before you know it your watching it one more time! It's a story within a story and that always works well in a Noir film! We can't wait for him to appear as Harry Lime with his sly smile as he lurks in waiting for us to admire the face of the man of mystery! Orson Welles is perfect as he pops in and out of this incredible unworld in his minor role as the villain! It begins just the same way it ends and that is always has been a very clever way to use the film medium almost like a song! It's a must see that will make you start to understand your love of film once again. You can never go wrong with Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton together in a film! They both are interesting subjects alone but together they make movies so magical and iconic that they live on forever! They are perfect as partners or advisories pick your poison and don't forget to check out The Third Man!!!

The beginning of this film is so beautiful with the F4 planes flying across the ski in the clouds! There all in formation and pulling off everything you would expect to see from trained fighters pilots! Robert Duvall is perfect for this film as a hard nosed Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines that treats his wife and children like there all in bootcamp. He gives orders to all of his children but expects the most from his oldest son. It's easy to see that there father is out of touch with not only his wife but also his family. This is what you might expect from a father that is always been battle ready at a moment's notice. At first the film seems like it might just be following there father's orders until the son starts to rebel against him during a basketball game and that raises the level of frustration within the family dynamic. They live in the South and son is good friends with a young black man that has a stutter that raises bees for there honey to make a living. Things take a very big turn when the bee charmer is attacked by the local boys. The son goes to his aid without his father's permission. That's when this family really starts to unravel as there abusive father can't handle when things don't go exactly how he expects them to and begins to lose control of his son as he was trying to save his best friends life. It's a very heartwrenching moment for the son and the small community. The father is unable to handle it as a compassionate loving father and discovers that he has an actual weakness beneath his hard exterior. This shows the more human side of life in a military family and it makes the story so much more compelling. Just as things begin to repair themselves and healing beings there father is killed in a plane crash. That's when there mother has to take on the roll of the controlling father as she tells her children that they are not allowed to cry at his funeral. She tells them that they will hold there heads high as there father would have expected them to do as The Great Santini!!!