CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

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Requiem For A Dream [2001]

starring: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald
directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Release Date August 06, 2001
Wow - I sat down with my teenage son to watch a movie, and I must say I've just finished watching it and if I was ever tempted at my age to take drugs again, this film would certainly put me off - it was mean and gritty and scarey and honest and all those things together with powerful images and I wish every teen out there would get it and watch it before they take their first line of coke.
I loved the links between the mum and the son, drugs whatever shape or form can cause dreadful harm. a fab film just not one to watch before bedtime. xx

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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The Fountain [2006]

starring: Hugh Jackman, Stephen McHattie, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Ethan Suplee
directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Release Date May 28, 2007
This film isn't easy: it is cryptic, it is illogical, and very broad; it actually requires emotional attachment, and imagination from the viewer.

This film affects me - I'm still working out the nuances (and the why) - but it makes me cry (much the same way as Westside Story makes me cry). I feel for the characters journey, and empathize with their feelings (even if slightly bizarre, taken over a thousand year+ timespan).

In its simplest form, this is a story about life, love, death, and eternity.

I would argue that at its heart it is dealing with the adversity of love over death.

I really adore the director's previous films. However, I really love this one most: it is human; it is warm and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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When A Man Loves A Woman [1994]

starring: Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia, Ellen Burstyn, Tina Majorino, Mae Whitman
directed by: Luis Mandoki

Release Date August 01, 2005
Alice Green (Meg Ryan) and her husband, Michael (Andy Garcia) are a happily married young couple, until Alice's secret drinking problem is exposed. Alice goes to rehab and when she comes home, she and Michael don't know how to act with one another without the help of alcohol.

This is a really good romantic drama dealing with the terrible ways alcoholism affects a couple and their young children. Oh, my goodness - that Andy Garcia can act and he's quite the dreamboat, too. He's so utterly convincing as the tortured husband that it makes me wonder why I haven't seen him in more leading roles. Meg Ryan, on the other hand, never convinced me she was suffering with guilt or shame or anything; her sunny smile and angelic face were always the same...perky, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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The Exorcist - Director's Cut [1974]

starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn
directed by: William Friedkin

Release Date October 08, 2001
I watched The Exorcist 2 weeks ago and everyone I knew said it was terrifying so before watching I expected to get scared, well I didn't. I barely jumped.

I understand that The Exorcist scared the hell out of people when the film was released in 1973 as the special effects were advanced for the time, but now they look dated and there almost laughable.

I'm not saying The Exorcist isn't a good film because it is good but it's just weird, not scary.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Same Time, Next Year [1978]

starring: Ellen Burstyn, Alan Alda, Ivan Bonar
directed by: Robert Mulligan

Release Date February 11, 2008
This is the DVD to order if you are looking for something a little classier than the average 'chick-flick', to enjoy on the weekend over a bottle of wine.

The storyline isn't one that holds immediate promise - a couple in an adulterous relationship meet once a year - but this film is so much more than that. Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn should have won Oscars for this - it is wonderfully acted. The characters are fully rounded and believeable, drawing us in and making us care about them. They change over the years - greatly - but their love for each other remains constant. I just adore this film.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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The Exorcist [1974]

starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn
directed by: William Friedkin

Release Date October 25, 1999
I watched The Exorcist 2 weeks ago and everyone I knew said it was terrifying so before watching I expected to get scared, well I didn't. I barely jumped.

I understand that The Exorcist scared the hell out of people when the film was released in 1973 as the special effects were advanced for the time, but now they look dated and there almost laughable.

I'm not saying The Exorcist isn't a good film because it is good but it's just weird, not scary.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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The Fountain [Blu-ray] [2006]

starring: Hugh Jackman, Stephen McHattie, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Ethan Suplee
directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Release Date May 28, 2007
The movie is excellent - 5 stars out of 5. The review here is of the Blueray conversion. To me the high definition version - in this case - looks little better than normal DVD. In fact my upscaling DVD performs nearly as well - and before you ask my blueray DVD player and TV are set-up correctly. I guess the problem could be mainly due to this movie having a lot of very dark settings/scenes which don't really lend themselves to a lot of on-screen picture detail. My advice is to save yourself a few pounds and buy the normal DVD instead - at least in this case. The movie itself though - what a visually brilliant and engaging storyline!

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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The Last Picture Show [1971]

starring: Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman
directed by: Peter Bogdanovich

Release Date November 26, 2001
Set in a dusty,desolate,fictional town called Anarene,Peter Bogdanovich's 'The Last Picture Show' is a nostalgic and bittersweet tale of growing up in 1950's small town Texas.Filmed entirely in black and white to major effect it follows the lives,trials and tribulations of the habitants of Anarene.The movie begins and ends with slow moving camera shots of the cafe,pool hall and picture house,three buildings which are at the heart of the film.The main characters which drive the movie along are High School graduates Sonny(Timothy Bottoms),Duane(Jeff Bridges) who is to join the US army and posted to Korea and the flirting,teasing Jacy(Cybil Shepard) whose virginity every boy in the town wants to take.Other notable characters are the school basketball coach Popper-who's wife Ruth ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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How To Make An American Quilt [1996]

starring: Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan, Alfre Woodard
directed by: Jocelyn Moorhouse

Release Date January 15, 2008
This was just the type of film I love to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon with my feet up, a cup of hot chocolate, and packet of gypsy creams.
I enjoyed every bit of this film - the quilters' stories of their past loves and heartaches as they work on the quilt; student Finn's uncertainty about her own love life and the decision she finally made; and not least the glimpses of quilts in some background scenes. But what sacrilege to trail the beautiful wedding quilt in the dirt!
I will enjoy watching this film again and again.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood [2002]

starring: Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Fionnula Flanagan, James Garner, Cherry Jones
directed by: Callie Khouri

Release Date March 24, 2003
Understanding one's parent is a difficult issue but one has to do it because it tells you much about yourself. I could sympatize very much with the basic story as I "discover" as well secrets about my parents which helped me to understand them better. But this is as well a movie about friendship, friendship which last a life time and friends who are there and act in the most difficult of times. But it is not a sad or too deep a movie. There is enough to lighten it up, but the message does not get lost. I enjoyed it very much!!

But I have to admit as much as I love Maggie Smith she is not right in the role of a Southern American. She is simply too British for this.

Otherwise an enjoyable movie.