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Pinned reviews

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  That Man from Rio 1964

  ★★★★★ Watched by Jessica Pickens 06 Sep 2021

  I'm in love.
  I'm in love with this film, Jean-Paul Belmondo and the idea of traveling to Rio de Janeiro.
  After staying up too late to finish this movie, I'm still in a glittering haze over L'homme de Rio.
  There's adventure, romance and lots of humor. I love Belmondo with the little boy Sir Winston, played by Ubiracy De Oliveira and I was laughing out loud at some of the fighting attempts.
  I'm thoroughly charmed, and this is certainly one of my favorite new-to-me films of 2021.

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  Gidget 1959

  ★★★★½ Rewatched by Jessica Pickens 21 Jun 2021 1

  It's really easy to dismiss GIDGET as fluff.
  But this film (and the book it is adapted from) is what spawned the surf culture of the 1960s, including
  - The Beach Boys music
  - American International Pictures beach films with Frankie and Annette
  - And overcrowded beaches at Malibu.

  Also, Gidget is a feminist figure.

  Sure, Sandra Dee plays her as sweet and demure. But this is a girl bucking against convention and turning her back on all her boy…

Recent reviews

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  Shadowed 1946

  ★★★ Watched by Jessica Pickens 08 Aug 2022

  Interesting to see Lloyd Corrigan in a lead role.
  I liked teenage Terry Moore.

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  Goodbye, My Fancy 1951

  ★★★★ Rewatched by Jessica Pickens 17 Jul 2020

  My favorite part is when she finds another girl's brownies and eats them 😂

  GOODBYE, MY FANCY is an interesting film.
  It begins making you believe it will be a frothy romance of returning to your college, walking down memory lane, and reuniting with an old flame. Instead - it turns into how a story about how higher education isn't preparing its students. And the old flame (now the college president), has lost his integrity and lets his decisions be led by school donors.

  I like the juxtaposition between Joan Crawford and her old college roommate, played by Lurene Tuttle.

Popular reviews

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  Dodsworth 1936

  ★★★★★ Rewatched by Jessica Pickens 08 Jun 2022 1

  Simply one of the best films ever made - no hyperbole here. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out.

  It's a powerful look at the fear of growing old and desperately grasping for youth.
  Walter Houston, Ruth Chatterton, Mary Astor are all outstanding. (And shoutout to baby John Payne).

  Some moments I love:
  The first shot as Samuel Dodsworth (Houston) looks out his window on the day he retires. How those first shots are all from behind and we…

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  The Trouble with Angels 1966

  ★★★★★ Rewatched by Jessica Pickens 15 Jul 2021

  This is a perfect film.

  After moving out on my own 9 years ago, this was my go-to "I'm sad and need a pick-me-up" movie.

  With each viewing, it hits differently, but it's no less magnificent. This go-round (watching with the online film club girls), I cried a lot. The little "I'll miss you" goodbye at the beginning, the women in the home for the elderly, every single Christmas scene, Sister Liguori.

  The little touches of storytelling really make this…