Notorious by Chance

After a long hiatus we're back and we're already breaking rules. 1999 is regarded as one of the greatest years, if not THE greatest year, of all time for movies. There are many movies we could've looked at from '99 that are considered modern classics, but we were handed David Fincher's Fight Club. An interesting psychological drama, that makes for an interesting conversation about how a movie's overall message can be misconstrued over time. We talk the original plus our own recasts, our Top 5 Most Anticipated for the rest of the year, and more right here on Notorious by Chance.

Sometimes a movie comes along that is so bad it transcends being a bad movie into something more, The Room is one of those movies. Released in 2003 as the passion project of director/writer/producer/star Tommy Wiseau, The Room gained a massive following as one of the biggest cult comedies of all time......and at no point is the movie trying to be funny (despite what Tommy may try to tell you). After an initial 2 week run in LA the film spawned several midnight screenings, a book about the making of the movie by one of the stars, and even a critically acclaimed movie based on that book. What's wrong with this movie?..........What's RIGHT with this movie is the real question

We already talked about the sequel in less than stellar regard (well one of us did), but the reason is because of how much we love the first film. 1990's Home Alone takes a story that should never have worked and manages to turn it into a modern Christmas Classic. Why is it we ignore the several leaps in logic you have to take in order to love this film? That's what we're going to discuss here today

In this long overdue episode we jump into the long overdue world of foreign cinema. It's funny as much as we've talked about our love and respect for foreign films we've never actually reviewed one. Well that stops now as we look at the 2008 Swedish Vampire Smash: Let the Right One In. In terms of contemporary Vampires this film is often regarded as one of the absolute best. How does this film translate to a universal audience? We discuss that here

Fitting It comes out to feed every 27 years because it took almost that long to get this episode out. After a long development process the feature film adaptation of Stephen King's iconic novel finally made it's way to the big screen. The film wasn't just big, it was HUGE bringing in great reviews and and incredible return at the box office. 6 years and one sequel later how does it compare to other King films? That's what we're here to discuss

Our examination of Eastwood's career end fittingly with a film that (at the time) signaled the end of his acting career. 2000 onward feels like the time where Clint Eastwood the actor took a backseat while Clint Eastwood the director stepped into the forefront, thematically that isn't more evident than it is with 2008's Gran Torino, a scaled down personal drama about an old man who finds a new calling in life. When you talk about Eastwood's directorial work this is often an example that gets cited, what is it about this film that brings Eastwood's acting career to a (then) close? We're here to talk about it.

With Pale Rider we talked about how Clint Eastwood was able to modernize certain western tropes for the modern era. That concept is something he perfects in 1992's Unforgiven. The 90's Western is often seen as the Eastwood's Magnum Opus, and it's hard to dispute that. It was released to rave reactions from audiences, lauded by critics, and got Eastwood his first Oscar for both Best Picture and Best Director. The film is often seen as the "end" of the Western Genre. Why is that? That's what we're here to find out

After a 70's period where Eastwood said "I've arrived" he followed that up with an even more prolific 80's. If we're being frank in this decade the misses do outnumber the hits but at the same time when he got it right, he got it RIGHT. One of his biggest hits involves him going back to the genre that made him great with 1985's Pale Rider. With this film Eastwood took classic Western motifs and updated them for a modern audience. How does he accomplish this? We find out

Any actor who gets big enough seems to try their hand at directing. Some do it really well, some not so much, but arguably the best to ever do it is the subject of our Direct-ember this year: Clint Eastwood. After spending nearly 2 decades in front of the camera he tried his hand at actually directing and that decision eventually led to him being arguably the greatest Actor/Director of all time. We'll be look at 4 generations of Eastwood films starring with his early era the 1970's. In 1971 Eastwood made his debut as the character Dirty Harry, and as a director with the thriller Play Misty For Me. This isn't the kind of film you would typically associate with Eastwood, but does a great job of showcasing his directorial skills. How exactly? That's what we're here to discuss.

In 1997 well known action director James Cameron decided to try his hand at a historical epic romance. We're not sure what the reaction was when this was announced but we know absolutely nobody is laughing at the results. Titanic is a landmark film when it comes to box office, setting several records including becoming the highest grossing film in history at the time, as well as being the first movie to ever cross $1 Billion (unadjusted for inflation). The film was also a critical darling raking in a record 14 Oscar Nominations and record 11 wins. Despite all this, one of these hosts holds a great amount of disdain for this film (pretty sure you know who), and he's not the only one plenty have criticized this film in the years since it's release. Is his malice warranted or is this film worthy of all the acclaim? That's what we're here to discuss