Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Derry Herrera Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

amccallum-1 An important entry in the list of gritty 1970s films (released 1980) that served as a counterpoint to anodyne plastic schlock available in the mainstream.Gloria herself is a metaphor for New Yorkers - complaisant in the crumbling of the city around them, existing in an uneasy complicity with the forces of corruption, and bolting herself into an apartment that vainly attempts to keep the decrepitude of the Bronx at bay.Ms. Rowlands does a workmanlike job. She shines at moments when depicting ferocity in confronting mobsters with a gun in her hand; but at other times, she is less convincing in showing that she is conflicted about continuing to protect the child whom she takes in at its father's behest, moments before he and the rest of the family are liquidated by the mob.Her work would have been easier if the script had been more coherent. At one point the two protagonists take refuge in an apartment, huge and luxe, without any apparent explanation of whose it is or how Gloria has the key. It would help if so much of the dialog were not inaudible. Full marks to Cassavetes for trying for authentic sound, but there are moments when we wish he could have looped a few lines that sound as if they were recorded in the next room by someone coughing through a cushion.Ultimately, the star of this movie is the Bronx itself, shown at the depths of the Dinkins administration. The flaking paint and dingy lighting of decaying hallways and stairwells; potholed streets and shuttered stores. New Yorkers will value this film for the hugely evocative portrayal of the city as she was, when she was on her knees. Thirty years later, recession or not, New York City is a different world.

Robert-63 About 30 minutes into this film, I asked someone who had seen it before if it got any better. They replied, "No, it doesn't really get any better. And yet, it's somehow worth watching." They were quickly contradicted by another person who said, "No, it keeps on sucking. That kid is the worst child actor I've ever seen, and I mean including that kid who played Seven on 'Married with Children.'" I agree with the latter. This movie starts bad and truly only gets worse. In the first 30 minutes, you will see two glaring continuity errors, one spectacularly bad special effect, and a lifetime supply of bad writing and acting.I have not knowingly ever seen any of Cassavetes' directorial work, and I am in no rush to correct that. It will take a lot of convincing to make me consider giving him another chance to impress me.Grade: 1 out of 10. Abysmal. Horribly bad in a way that makes me think less of people who think it's good.

bregund Follow the tough-as-nails Gloria as she hopscotches all over NYC with a kid in tow, from subway to train to taxi to bus. This is the most non-linear film I've ever seen, it plays out as more of an experimental film than a mainstream piece. That the character of Gloria is the focus of the camera in almost every single scene implies that this is more of a character study than a mob movie, an idea confirmed by its title. I was startled to realize how similar this film is to the Pope of Greenwich Village, with the same kind of rambling, non-linear storytelling style.The most fascinating thing about this film is that Gloria is so guarded that you can never read her motives...any moment something startling could happen. When a car full of mobsters pulls up and demands that she hand over Phil, the boy, Gloria hauls out a piece and blows them back to the stone age; it's a scene that is completely unexpected, and you find yourself admiring her. In another scene, they journey to a diner and sit down for a meal, then she gets up and begins talking to a group of men at a table in the background, and you suddenly realize that she didn't just randomly choose this restaurant, she came to make a deal with the mobsters; it's so unexpected, nothing in this film is what you expect it to be, there is a surprise around every corner. Cassavetes apparently wanted to keep you guessing, and one can imagine him dismissing cliché after cliché from the screenplay until it was completely original.Gena Rowlands is marvelous; with her poker face, she calmly deals with one crisis after another, casually solving her problems with her gun or her intellect, which she honed on the streets after years of being involved with the mob. As the film progresses, her weary cynicism gradually erodes to affection for the little boy she initially disliked. This film is refreshingly original.

tubbers20 I've watched it 3 times in the past 10 days. But I have to admit that when I saw it years back I didn't care for it much. It's funny how your viewpoint changes over the years. I'm just about sure that some of the critics here may also do the same as the years pass. However, most so-called 'critics' are so full of themselves anyway in my opinion.But what's not to love about the film? Directed by John Cassavetes, the music by Bill Conti, the lovely opening credits and artwork by Romare Bearden, the great NYC locations, etc. I love the opening sequence where the watercolor painting of night buildings dissolves into a real night scene and those two opening minutes of the fly over of New York and Yankee Stadium and as we see the Statue Of Liberty you can see that dawn is approaching with the sky lighting up. As the fly over continues under the Brooklyn Bridge then the shot of the bridge with Manhattan in the background and George Washington bridge in the lower part of the frame. And finally the camera pans to a day game at Yankee Stadium to zoom up on the bus approaching. I did spot a continuity glitch where the 3 teens are running toward the El and there's a crowd of people on the corner and when they show them running from the bus the crowd is missing. Big deal. One more comment before I go when they show Gloria and Phil at the cemetery and the scene slowly dissolves with the gravestones and laps into the bridge shot of NYC skyline and I thought how the skyscrapers seemed to symbolize the gravestones too. Life and death in the Naked City.I Love This Movie