Still Ordinary after all these years...

Okay, so it's not my cup of tea, as you could probably figure out judging from my previous reviews. And time does seem to pass certain movies by. But if it's been made within one's lifetime, one can't help but see how young and thin everyone looked. And I'm sure the wisecrackers over at The Rotten Tomatoes Show are going to call it the most unfair Best Picture winner since... How Green Was My Valley. I mean, how could it beat Raging Bull? Coal Miner's Daughter? ...okay, Tess and The Elephant Man I could understand. But Raging Bull? And Coal Miner's Daughter? (see, our culture can't get enough country western these days...) But see, that was your father's Oscars. It was about respect. It was about a nice film about a family winning the Oscar, not something about some ethnic gangster-ish type! Not like today. Something like that, anyway. I'm sure the Oscar voting bloc would never cop to that. But I will definitely agree that Timothy Hutton deservedly won the Supporting Actor Oscar. De Niro won for Raging Bull so it wasn't a total loss. The Oscars have dissed Scorsese before, they'll do it again. Then again...
Anyway, back to time passing a movie by. It must've been controversial in its day, but we're awash in the Movie Psychiatrist character these days. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, Loren Dean in Mumford, and that one guy in that one episode of Bored to Death. I think he's my favorite. Why, I'll even post the link to his name... what was his name? Denis O'Hare, that's it. But the instant case makes a fine touchstone of modern pop psychology: it's not your fault, just move on, etc. And a psychiatrist who doesn't believe in psychiatry, that kind of thing. Mind-bending Jedi tricks, you know.
An all around fine film, nothing much to complain about. Crazy white people. The editing was kind of different. I always have an appreciation for that. The only real complaint is that Turner Classic Movies hasn't gone to HD yet! Get with the times, guys! The print was a little squashed, and wasn't sharp like other HD movie channels. That's just the way it is sometimes: Death Wish II on MGM-HD gets the high-def transfer, but Ordinary People doesn't. Upside-down priorities, guys. Oh, but I will say that I like Pachelbel's Canon as much as the next guy, but somehow it didn't work for me here, but again, that's just me. I and my viewing companions were trying to place a certain actor: I think it was this guy. Looks a bit like David Paymer. I don't remember him in that episode of Seinfeld all that well, sorry to say. As for Elizabeth McGovern, well, when is she going to do a movie with Peter Gallagher? They could play brother and sister! I gotta go...

***1/2
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan