Christian Bale. Mark Walberg. Amy Adams. This superb boxing film was not you typical boxing movie. It was more of the personal story of a dysfunctional, low-class, loud and obnoxious family, filled with a controlling and manipulating mother, a strong but silenced father, and seven sisters who are each uglier than the next. Adams becomes more vulgar and hardened as the movie moves along and has to deal with this family. The boxing actually becomes the back story. Bale does a magnificent job of the charming bad boy and druggie. The rest of the cast plays their roles perfectly. It is indeed, a very fine film, where each character possesses their weight and strength and purpose.
Angel, 2007
Written and Directed by Francis Ozon. Romola Garai. Sam Neill. To Nora: "The only one who ever loved me was you." She regretted not having a child. This movie is about a young girl who desires fame and fortune and achieves it beyond her imagination as a successful writer. Think Harry Potter fame by J. R. Rowling. Taking place at the turn of the 20th century in England, able to buy Paradise, a mansion she has coveted all of her life, she thinks that she can buy the man she loves and adores but who does not love her in return. Ultimately, it is a simple movie of loss and regret. Two Star at most.
Blue Valentine
Ryan Gosling. Michelle Williams. A marvelous acting and intense film of the break-up of a marriage. It is done in flashbacks and is simply phenomenal. I loved it as a remarkable piece of film work.
Country Strong
Gwyneth Paltrow. An absorbing and predictable story of a superstar who goes in and out of rehab and finally gives her all to her comeback Show and then commits suicide. What her husband and her fans love is her Persona, not her, for who she is. Fame and Love cannot coincide together is one of the themes of the movie, along with the other theme that love is everything, that nothing matters but love. It was a show piece for country music with a long and busy soundtrack. The sub-plot was simple and somewhat irrelevant. I would have liked to have seen Paltrow's part more developed and insightful. One remained observing throughout the film, not a participant. Beau was cute. He was pleasing to the eye.
The Pink Panther, 1964
Peter Sellers. David Niven. Blake Edward's romp about jewel thieves in high society. It is very funny and clever and would never in a million years be made today. It never takes itself seriously. "You are concerned about what happened but not about what might have been?" Sellers says with a straight face. He is really, really funny.
Never Cry Wolf, 1983
Brian Dennehy. Farley Mowat's account of his days as a biologist studying wolves in the Arctic. They how because they are lonely or to call their friends. The scientist was almost too naive and awkward at the beginning. The climax of the film was when he ate mice to stay alive and to give himself the smell so wolves would stay away from him.
Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theater, KOCE
Written and Produced and Directed by Julian Fellowes. This is a four part (two hour each) drama that begins in 1912 when the sinking of the Titanic punctures the succession plans of Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and the lives of his wife and three daughters. It is simply marvelous in how they capture the Upstairs/Downstairs lives of the upper class family and their servants. There are a myriad of politics involved, innuendoes and snide, mean comments. "Just once in my life I would like to sleep until I woke up natural," says Anna the servant girl. "Can't we be friends," asks the American born wife to her mother-in-law (Maggie Smith) "We can be allies which are a great deal more effective." Who pays for it? Oh good! Let's talk about money. A job! What is a weekend? I have plenty of friends I do not like. These are all comments by the Dowager Countess. "Gentleman. Don't work silly. Not a real gentleman, that is," says the maid. "I must do as my conscience dictates," says the Lord and the next scene he is stopping his crippled Valet from leaving. "What they expect is that we won't know how to behave. You don't mind, I would rather not confirm their expectations," says the mother of the new owner of the Estate, her son. "What should we call each other?" "Well, we could always start with Mrs. Crawley and Lady Grantham. "Don't you care for Downton?" the Countess asks her son. "I've given my life. I was born here and I hope to die here. I claim no career beyond the nurture of this house and the Estate. It is my third parent and my fourth child!" he exclaims. "Why did you apologize to that man? It's not his business what we do" (the Valet and a servant) says the Duke to the Eldest daughter. "I always apologize when I am in the wrong. It is a habit of mine," she retorts. "It seems a silly occupation for a grown man," the new owner says to his new Valet, shaming himself in the process.
Part Two
Mary entertains three suitors and is extremely attracted to a Turkish Diplomat. He pushes himself onto her only to collapse from a heart attack. She brilliantly acts out the scandal that would be the result of their improper relations. I found it interesting her response when he said that his family would never accept her family! She was shocked! She is such a snob but by far the most interesting character. Meanwhile, Downstairs, Mr. Carson's former life is revealed and Mr. Bate's risks his health and job to overcome his crippled affliction. We all have Chapters we would rather keep unpublished, Lord Grantham says to Mr. Carson. I am afraid that is going to affect the way we think about him, Mr. Bates says to Anna. Then we mustn't let it, Anna responds. But it will. It always does, he responds in kind. You raise the tone of this household by being a part of it, Anna says to Mr. Carson, when he fears that she will think less of him because he was a song and dance man. I don't judge you at all. I don't have any right to judge you or any man, Mr. Bates says to Mr. Carson, after he inquires because he knows his shame too. She wants to keep it private, not secret. There is a difference, Anna says. We must have a care for feminine sensibilities. They are finer and more fragile than our own, Lord Grantham says to Mr. Carson. No, Englishman would dream of dying in someone else's house. Especially someone they don't even know, the Countess exclaims. There are plenty more fish in the sea then ever came out of it, the Head Maid to the Mistress says to her regarding Mary. We all carry scars. Inside and out, the Head of Servants says to Mr. Bates.
Part Three
'The rivalry between Mary and Edith reaches a fever pitch. Edith betrays her in the most shocking way. In other events, Thomas and O'Brien plot against Mr. Bates while Anna's fondness for him grows." Thomas is seen by Mr. Bates as stealing the wine from the wine cabinet. Why does eery day entail a fight with an American, the Countess says to Matthew. I know my work seems very trivial to you. Matthew says to Mary. Sometimes I rather envy you, she responds sadly. Is your life proven satisfactory, apart from The Great Matter, of course, he asks. Women like me don't have a life. We choose clothes and pay calls and work for charity and do The Season, but really we are stuck in the Waiting Room until we marry, she responds. I made you angry. My life makes me angry, she says looking at him, not you. Housekeepers and Cooks are always called Missus, says O'Brian to nobody in particular. It is always ad when you love someone and they don't love you back, Anna says to Mr. Bates, no matter who you are. Nothing is harder to live with than false hope, Mr. Bates says to Anna, you are a lady to me and I've never known a finer one, he continues. No one ever warns you about bringing up daughters. You think it's going be like Little Women. Instead, they are at each other's throats from dawn to dusk.
Part Four
The conclusion finds a surprising possible heir alternative to Matthew coming to the fore; Sybil's secret political life causing her physical harm; Anna investigating Mr. Bates' past while in London with Mrs. Patmore, who needs eye surgery; and Mary and Edith become arch enemies in their destruction of the other's love life.
Introduction:
Be careful my lad or you will end up with no job and a broken heart. I'm afraid you're meddling has cost Mary the only decent offer she'll ever get, the Countess admonishes her daughter. I know Mama. But, you know me. I have to say what I think, she responds. Why? Nobody else does, the Countess retorts. The Force of Change embrace it or fear it? Nerve shattering ring of the telephone. There are changes that have never before been asked in the way that people think. Does the Aristocracy have the God given right to rule? Should women be given the vote? Is loosing one's maid the worse thing that can happen? Or are there worse things, much worse, unimaginable things, like the loss of a baby, because of an evil desire to seek revenge against her Lady. I think Sybil is entitled to her opinions. No. She isn't until she is married. Then her husband will tell her what her opinions are, The Countess says to her granddaughters. Sometimes to ever deny these things is to throw oil onto the flames. But if you expect me to disown my daughter, I am afraid that you will be disappointed, Carley says to the Countess. I may be a socialist, but I'm not a lunatic, the chauffeur says to Mary. I'm not sure Papa knows the difference. You're quite right. If something bad happens, there is no point in wishing it had not happened. The only point is to minimize the damage. She is going to have to tell about Pamuk, she says to the Countess. In one way or another, everyone goes down the aisle with half the story hidden, the Countess replies. In this case Mary has the Trump Card. What? Mary's family, the Countess replies and smiles. Thank you for not turning against her. I know you have rules and when they break them you find it hard to forgive, Carley says to the Countess. Don't let Mary wait for the baby before she gives Matthew her answer. I know those men of the moral high ground and if she won't say yes when he might be poor, he won't want her when he will be rich, The Countess tell's Mary's mother. I was right about my maid. She's leaving to get married. How could she be so selfish! ... I do sympathize, Carley responds. That filthy ungrateful cow, Ms. O'Brian says about her Lady.(in response to hearing that a replacement advertisement ad had been placed) Worse crimes than loyalty, the Head cook says to the silly one, after she tried to put false taste into the food so that the new Head cook would leave.
John's Denver's Life and Legacy, 2005
Denver was to the 1970s what Sinatra was to the 1940s and Elvis to the 1950s and The Beatles were to the 1960s and Michael Jackson was to the 1980s. Denver was a phenomena. His music is performed through clips from concerts. He was the key singer in the Chad Mitchell Trio and then went off on his own. There are reminiscences by his friends and colleagues and producer, Milt Okun, who represented him throughout his career. Only his life was celebrated, not his tragic airplane solo death at the age of 54. He suffered from great highs and lows emotionally and wrote I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane. This song was made famous by Peter, Paul & Mary. The title was given to him by his producer because it was in the chorus of the song and was more catchy. There is such an underlying sadness in his music to me, even the music that is supposed to be up-lifting.
Doctor Bull, 1933
Will Rogers. Tempe Pigott. John Ford's timepiece about a stubborn country doctor who seems to practice medicine by common sense and good advice and instinct. The town turns against him and wants a more modern doctor but his long time girlfriend who is patiently waiting for a hand in marriage rallies against the town and persuades them to keep him on. It is a charming and entertaining and nostalgic piece filled with gossip and charm. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Doubting Thomas, 1935
Will Rogers. This film is from George Kelly's play The Torch Bearers. It is about a family and community that want to act and how the father and son respectively put up all kind of roadblocks and comments to undermine their female partners to stop them from acting. The movie, or course, is dated and ridiculous, but accepting it for what it was, with all the slapstick and silliness, it was still a lovely mindless way to spend two hours.
The Concert, 2010
A small independent gem about a group of marvelous ex-musicians who were forced to stop playing because they were Jewish and pariahs of the State. Thirty years later they come together and take the place of the real Bolshoi in Paris! They do this with intrigue and fable and pretend but it all works and comes together into a marvelous story of regret and loss, the meaning of music, the bestiality of a horrific society like the Soviet Union and how it destroys people, and truth and honor. At the end, the audience is treated to a magnificent interpretation of a real concert listening to Tchaikovsky! I loved every moment of this film.
Somewhere
Sophia Coppola's film about growing up in Hollywood. Her distant father, whom she idealized and adored, she rarely saw. He led a decadent and self-absorbed life with plenty of women throwing themselves at him and I felt showed a remarkable lack of values and ideals. He was kind to his daughter and protective when he felt what she was seeing was inappropriate. But, it was not enough. She craved his love. Her mother abandoned her for a period of time too. I got a glimpse into what it was like to be a child of Hollywood Stars and I saw the lonely, abandoned and forgotten, tossed around life from divorce that is the result. I gave Sophia credit for rising above it and making something of her personal and professional life. It was a sad and disturbing film. Rich neglect.
Valentine's Day
Julia Roberts. Bradley Cooper. Ashton Krutcher. Jessica Alba. Taylor Swift. Jennifer Gardner. Anne Hathaway. Mr. McDreamy. In this all star cast, for this insipid romanic frolic/comedy, the film chronicles the unlikely situations encountered by a diverse group of young people who live in Los Angeles over the course of Valentine's Day. It is utterly politically correct, that splashes a cup of realism into the mix by not having every couple end up well. Mindless.
The Shop On Main Street, 1965
Czechoslovakia. Academy Award For Best Foreign Film. Directed by Jan Kadar and Elmar Klos. This Holocaust genre film devastated me when it first came out. I never forgot the brother-in-law stroking the breast of his sister-in-law when drunk nor the ending, or the old woman. It is a timeless Classic that is like a novel that stands the test of time. It left me as crushed as the first time I saw it.
the Sea Inside, 2004
A film by Alejandro Amenabar. Based on a true story of Ramon Sampedro who is played by Javier Bardem. He fought a 30 year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. The film also explores his relationship with two women and his ability to inspire them through his gift of love. It is about the mystery of life and death, the nature of freedom and love, and the beauty of life. I found this film profoundly moving and profoundly sad. It gave me the understanding I needed. Each person has to have the right to choose how he wants to live and how he wishes to die.
The Mistress of Spices, 2005
Aishwarya Rai. Dylan McDermott. Bollywood superstar and former Miss World, Rai is outstanding as a beautiful, mysterious mystic whose blends of herbs and spices work wonders for her clients and her self. They give her the intuition and insight into others and give her the Power to Heal. She loses her magic when she falls in love with McDermott, who plays a wealthy and seductive architect. The movie was extremely sensual and made me wish I knew the power of these spices and how to utilize them in my life.
Friendly Persuasion, 1956
William Wyler's movie about a Quaker family in the 1860s in Indiana. Gary Cooper stars in it. This movie was a huge success and I wonder why. It felt as if Disney had made it and not a Director like Wyler. I found it torturing at times to watch because it was so synthetic and simplistic and silly and unrealistic. Even the kissing could not be open mouthed kissing!
Little Rascal's or You Little Rascals or Street Urchins
These absolutely charming and delightful stories of eight orphan children are magical and wonderful. I feel as if I am inside a Helen Levitt photograph. Hal Roach so perfectly captures the eyes and experience of a child. Some of the Series are call Free Eats, Hook & Ladder. Free Wheeling. Birthday Blues. Mush, Milk, Little Sinner, Mama's Little Pirates, First Round-Up, Mike Fright. The names of the children are: Dickie. (Older brother of Spanky. Spanky. (The Baby) Spud. Breezy. Bouncy. Speck. Dorothy. Stymie. (The Black Kid who steals every scene.)
I apologize for the wife. (after she insults the doctor) Oh That's all right ole' boy. I've got one of those at home too. (Free Wheeling) Gee Mom. You look swell! (Birthday Blues)
The Way Back
Inspired by Slavomir Rawicz's acclaimed novel, The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom as well as other real life accounts, six time Oscar nominated director Peter Weir's (Witness, Master And Commander, Dead Poet's Society) The Way Back is a remarkable adventure story chronicling the escape of a small group of multi-national prisoners from a Siberian gulag in 1940 and their epic life affirming journey over thousands of miles across five hostile countries. Starring Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess and Saoirse Ronan. This movie was a true adventure film, low-budget. It shows the Russian society and system as the hour and evil nightmare that it was. It truly crushed the human spirit and soul. The thirteen year old runaway brought out the best in the men — it was she who was able to penetrate their tough facade and find out their darkest and most shameful and painful secrets. By doing this, and sharing their stories with the others, it allowed the men to come closer to each other — though you know at the end, that they will never see each other again. Dehydration put too much strain on the kidneys and ended killing two of them.
It was quite an epic film.
A President To Remember, 2008
"New archival footage of John F. Kennedy from filmmaker Robert Drew, who had unprecedented access to the President while documenting his campaign trail, his days in office and his assassination. Narrated by Alec Baldwin." This profound loss and tragedy still resonates today. Jackie remains an enigma, there was one frame where she was secretly smiling at the President, and it was hard to think that she was only thirty-one years old! What a loss the nation, one that we have never recovered from to this day.
No Strings Attached
Director: Ivan Reitman. Natalie Portman. Ashton Kutcher. Kevin Kline. In this romantic comedy romp, Emma and Adam are friends that keep reconnecting after many years. They almost ruin this friendship by having sex and decide to have a pact to having their relationship be one of "no strings attached." No strings means no jealousy or expectations, flowers, drama, spooning, fighting, control. It means they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, in what ever public space they want, as long as they don't fall in love. Of course, they do. There is great chemistry between them and I liked how Reitman brought into Adam's dialogue, the character of the old man with the balloon from Up, which was the Academy Nominated movie done by his son, Jason! It all felt crisp and was highly enjoyable to watch. I just love Natalie and I think Ashton is adorable.
The Foolish Heart, 1949
Directed by Mark Robson. Susan Hayward as Eloise Winters and Dana Andrews as Walt Dreiser. "Hayward plays a woman who is haunted be the memory of a tragic wartime romance and who bears a daughter by him and then marries her best friend's boyfriend, to prevent shame and ruin to herself and to her baby. She becomes alcoholic and mean-spirited in her desperate sadness and secret loss, as her husband knows of neither the true love nor the babies genesis. It is based on a story in The New Yorker by JD Salinger. They make reference to Uncle Wiggly from the children's classics. The transitions were clear and smooth and related to each other, though difference scenes and backdrop were presented. It was a deeply moving and sad film. Highly, highly recommended.
The Heart As A Lonely Hunter, 1949
Carson McCuller's Classic that burst upon the literary scene when she was only 23 years old. Alan Arkin was nominated for an Academy Award. Cicely Tyson also stars in it. "We all bought our troubles to him. None of us thought that he might have been having troubles of his own," says Doc. The movie touches on the isolation, loneliness and despair of the deaf mute who becomes the person that so many wounded souls come to, to unburden themselves. He reaches out continually, bringing gifts and candy and records. No one ever gives him a gift in kind. No one ever asks him how he is doing or feeling. He lives in such unbearable loneliness that eventually he takes his own life, forever altering the lives of those who did care for him and never thought to tell him so.
Phantom Lady, 1944
Ella Raines. Alan Curtis. This film is a drama about a woman trying to save a condemned man by finding his wife's killer. Kettisha is the name of the hat company of the woman that is the sole alibi that our hero is innocent. It is not how a man looks, it is how his mind thinks that makes him a murderer, says the cop. A dated and somewhat unbelievable story but it held my interest and curiosity.
All Quiet On The Western Front, 1930
Lew Ayres. This restored version of Director Lewis Milestone's early sound classic about German youth experiencing the horror of WW1. The black and white created a horror that made it more real than many of the war films made today. I loved the scene of the soldiers looking at a poster of a girl on it and allowing their fantasies to run free. When the soldier goes home on leave and sees the captured butterflies on his sister's wall, you knew that these captured dead butterflies would become a metaphor for things to come, and they did, as the last scene, our soldier is trying to release a caught butterfly. Phenomenal Film
The Illusionist
Animated. A profoundly sad, adult film about a courtly gentleman who struggles to bring magic and make a living through his skill. A washer girl attaches herself to him, as a ticket out of her life, and he takes care of her, never making demands of any kind, buying her whatever she desires. Everyone ultimately betrays him, his manager cheats him out of his earnings, she leaves him for a young man who won't buy her anything, and he gives up his magic because he cannot make a living and goes back home. I left profoundly sad but the effect poverty and struggle has upon you, how limited ones options in life really are, and how sad and messy lives become. And, this film had a quieter and deeper affect on me than so many people films do. That is what is so amazing. A marvelous movie.
None But The Lonely Heart, 1944
Cary Grant. Ethel Barrymore. This film is considered one of Cary Grant's best and certainly one of his favorites. He plays the roving son whose mother is dying of cancer. Because of this, he stays at home and finally faces the truth of his life. The movie is atmospheric, shot in black and white and in the dark, barely making out figures or characters. He strings along two lady friends, one whom he is in love with, and the other he learns to love and appreciate. Good film.
A Room With A View, 1985
Directed by James Ivory. Produced by Ismail Merchant. Helena Bonham Carter. Julian Sands. Daniel Day Lewis. Maggie Smith. Beautifully directed and photographed, this lovely and terribly British story by E. M. Foster, was a supreme hit when it first came out. I am stunned by the actors who went on to have marvelous careers and win awards.
The film was even better than I remembered it and just as charming and lovely.
Wings, 1927
Clara Bow. Charles "Buddy Rogers" The first Best Film Oscar went to William A. Wellman's silent epic of WWI Aviation. This was an extraordinary and moving war film of two friends who both became pilots. They were both in love with the same girl, although she loved David. One accidentally killed the other, thinking that he was a German as he had stolen a German plane. The war footage was revolutionary and extraordinary. I loved it. Completely satisfying.
Heartbreakers, 2001
Sigourney Weaver. Jennifer Love Hewitt. This was a delightful comedy about a mother and daughter con artist team who have made a career out of swindling men of their fortunes. All goes well until Hewitt falls for her mark. It was funny and entertaining and likable.
Cast Away, 2000
Tom Hanks. Helen Hunt and co-starring, Wilson, as the Volley Ball. Wilson should have won the Academy Award for the best and most loyal friend. It did a superb job of acting too! Hanks, plays Chuck Noland, an Executive for Federal Express. He does one last run before the New Year ends, and the plane crashes in one of the most realistic portrayal of a crash scene that I have ever seen. He washes up pun a desert island where he survives for four years. Different packages wash up upon the shore too which he uses with creativity and survival. He is sustained by his friendship with Wilson, which shows the desperate need to connect to one another. The film has a classic and sustaining, timeless quality with the bookends at the beginning and the end, the kind of thing that Spielberg loves. At the beginning, the creator of the angles is married, the box is delivered to Russia where her husband is with his Russian mistress and at the end of the film, she is single. Like Chuck Noland. I found it profoundly sad that his girlfriend could not leave her husband and return back to "the love of her life."
Glory, 1989
Matthew Broderick. Denzel Washington. This film is a moving and absorbing tribute to the Army's first black regiment, created by Abraham Lincoln, over much negative chorus, during the Civil War. An inexperienced and too young looking New England Commander brings the regiment into a top class fighting unit. Washington steals the film and gains an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal, of an angry and furious runaway slave. His silent tear that rolls down is cheek is haunting and unforgettable. A remarkable and lasting film.
Five Academy Award Nominees in the Category of Best Live Action Short
Program includes: The Confession (UK), the story of a quiet and sincere 9-year-old boy who is worried about making his first confession; The Crush(Ireland), the story of an 8-year-old schoolboy, in love with his Second Class teacher, who challenges her boyfriend to a duel—to the death; Oscar winner God of Love (USA), in which a lounge-singing darts champion finds his prayers are answered—literally—when he receives a mysterious package of passion-inducing darts; Wish 143 (UK), the story of a 15-year-old boy with only months to live who asks for one wish from the Dreamscape Charity: an hour alone with a naked woman; and Na Wewe (Belgium), which relates a sadly frequent episode of Burundi’s fratricidal conflict in the 1990s: the attack by rebels of a minivan carrying ordinary citizens. With emotion, suspense and humor it exposes the absurdity of ethnic and racial strife. These remarkable films each carried a meaningful message and narrative. I loved The Confession, with the Priest, if only he had not been so impatient, so willing to draw conclusion. The Crush carried a shuddering reality to it. God of Love felt original and creative , unlike the others. It was astonishing that this was work done while the creator attended Tisch at NYU. Wish 143 I found profoundly sad and moving. All of them were truly outstanding and you came away thinking about them for a long time afterwards.
Five Academy Award Nominees in the Category of Best Animated Short
Pixar’s Day & Night (USA), the story of the sparks that fly when Day, a sunny fellow, encounters Night, a stranger of distinctly darker moods; FANTASTIC! The Gruffalo (UK/Germany), the magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk through the woods in search of a nut; I LOVED THIS! SIMPLY MARVELOUS AND UNFORGETTABLE! I WAS AFRAID HIS ARROGANCE WOULD ULTIMATELY KILL HIM BUT IT ENDED, OH SO WONDERFULLY! Let’s Pollute (USA), a modern satire on how pollution is our heritage and keeps our economy growing strong; I DID NOT LIKE THIS AT ALL. Oscar winner The Lost Thing (Australia/UK), about a boy who discovers a bizarre-looking creature and sets out to find a ‘place’ for it; I WOULD HAVE PICKED THE GRUFFALO INSTEAD OF THIS ONE. And Madagascar, Carnet De Voyage (France), a journey diary that redraws the trip of a European traveller confronted with Famadihana customs (a funerary tradition of the Malagasy people in Madagascar). OK. Two additional features: Bill Plympton’s The Cow Who Wanted to Be a Hamburger (USA), a children's fable about the power of advertising, the meaning of life, and ultimately the test of a mother's life; CONTRIVED. And Urs (Germany), the story of a son who carries his aging mother up a dangerous mountain to find a better place for both of them. But she wants to stay at home. THIS WAS PROFOUND - THE WEIGHT WE CARRY IN LIFE, THE HARD AND BITTER STRUGGLE, THE WEIGHT OF THE LEGACY OF PARENTS THAT WE CANNOT ABANDON OR LEAVE ALONE. THE DETAILS TO THIS WAS SO SIMPLE YET SO MOVING, WHEN SHE DROPPED HER PILLOW SO HER SON WOULD HAVE TO PICK IT UP AND SHE WOULD HAVE LONE LAST VIEW OF THE HOME SHE WAS FORCED TO LEAVE.
Forrest Gump, 1994
Tom Hanks. Robin Wright Penn. Six Oscars. Best Picture and Actor. "An extraordinary tale of a simple man who unwittingly becomes involved in all the key events of the 20th Century." This poignant and moving tale expresses the importance of loyalty and a deep and an abiding love. I loved Lt. Dang's character and all of them. All the characters around him were wounded and damaged and he was the strength that held and kept all of them up. I loved this film.
Cavalcade, 1933
Director, Frank Lloyd. Diana Wynyard. Clive Brook. This film is about an Oscar-winning saga of aBritish family from the Boer War o 1933, the beginning of WW2. Lloyd won Best Director at the Fist Academy Awards show. This was a marvelous and well written saga of several generations and classes and how the outside forces that could not be controlled, bore down and profoundly affected everyones lives. The dialogue was one of the finest I have seen in film.
I loved it and saw it twice in one week!
All Quite On The Western From, 1930
This film is a restored version of Director Lewis Milestone's early sound classic about German youth experiencing the horrors of WW2. It was done, of course, in black and white. This made the subject matter more real than many war films made today. It was a moving scene of two soldiers looking at a poster of a girl and allowing their fantasies to take over. It was powerful how the director captures the soldier looking at his stuffed butterflies in his room, and then the last scene as he waits in the trenches, he sees a caught butter and tries to rescue it, when he too is shot. It took my breath away. One of the finest, if not the finest war films I have ever seen. I immediately went out and bought it.
The Defiant Ones, 1958
Tony Curtis. Sidney Poitier. Theodore Bikel. Both stars are nominated for Best Supporting Actor in this film. Black and White chain gain prisoners who are attached to each other and are on the run, break for freedom during this superb and outstanding gem of a film. The entire film, in black and white, has a wonderful comedic element, with the radio party searcher, and meaningful dialogue on race relations, where-lives-went-wrong, loneliness, death, song and joy. It is a wonderful, wonderful film! I loved it! The black and white photography was one of the best I have seen in years — large portraits that took up half the frame. Powerful.
The Richest Girl In The World, 1934
Joel McCrae. Miriam Hopkins. Fay Wray. A rich recluse, whom no one could recognize because her picture was never seen, has her secretary impersonate her at social functions and with men to find out of the men she choses, and who think that the secretary is really her, are really in love with her or her money. However, with McCrae, she pushes the dice to far and nearly looses him. Even at the end, he has no idea whom he has married, even with her Advisors moving all 400 people on the boat into a lifestyle of First Class, so that he would never find out! In these early films, the women are little and petite and the men are tall, very tall. This is how all old classic films are, actually. The modern sense of the tall model, with tall or short men, is a thing of the late 20th, early 21st century. No wonder it is so disconcerting to the generation of the 20's and 30's. This film is charming, mindless and delightful!
Deep Valley, 1947
Ida Lupino. Dane Clark. This movie is about a beaten down, by both set of bitter, angry parents, stuttering, beautiful and shy mountain girl who falls in love with an escaped convict. He is unable to control his explosive and violent temper. Since she is constantly criticized by her invalid mother, she identifies her own inner condition with his and falls for him hard and tries to run away with him. At the end, justice is served, she ends up with the good and decent man who has fallen in love with her, and she has grown older and wiser. She confronts her mother about her invalid condition, and her mother rises to the occasion and becomes the mother she longed for. A very good film.
Broadway Melody, 1929
Anita Page. Bessie Love. Dated, but a historically important film, this first talkie film won Best Picture Oscar. It was also a musical too. It was the first film that had dialogue that could be heard, songs that could be sung, throughout the entire film. The musical melodies were also first recorded in a studio and then edited into the film. First time that this had ever been done. Directed by Harry Beaumont, he did not win Best Director. The movie is about two sisters who end up competing for the same man. He ends up marrying the second sister, much to the deep heartache and loss of the one that he was initially engaged to. She ends up on the road, focusing on her career but privately devastated by her loss.To me, it ended very sadly. I found the dialogue contemporary and relevant and interestingly, not as dated as I thought. People can't help falling in love. It comes to you no what you do," he says to the second sister, whom he finally marries.
Carrie, 1976
John Travalta. Amy Irving. Sissy Spacek. Directed by Brian DePalma. This intense suspense triller is about a shy, withdrawn young innocent Senior in school who ends up using her telekinetic powers to wreck vengeance on her cruel schoolmates. Tragically, she feels that her teacher and the boy who takes her to the prom, and Irving, who plays his girlfriend, are all in on the plot too. They are not, but her paranoia sees them ridiculing her and they are condemned with the others. Her crazy, crazy mother tries to kill her and they all burn up in the house together at the end. The movie was a thriller when I first saw it but one cannot revisit it again. It almost seems laughable and there are no surprises. Spacek won the Academy. She was fabulous and it launched her career, as well as it should. What the movie taught me is that Humiliation, has got to be the ultimate destruction of a person's soul and desire for revenge, to avenge the feeling.
Gallipoli, 1981
Mel Gibson. Mark Lee. Directed by Peter Weir. This was an interesting film to revisit. Gibson, as in real life, plays the bad character with little moral integrity. Lee, the Golden Hair runner, plays the fine young man, who is sacrificed on the battle field, because Gibson, the runner who comes in second, demands to be The Runner. He misses giving the order, because he is not fast enough. Because of this, Lee dies. The first half of the movie is the introduction of these two characters and how their paths cross. The second half takes place in Gallipoli. Gallipoli had disastrous consequences. But, I asked myself, why did the scoundrel live and the good character be sacrificed? The movie bored me and it lost its punch when I saw it again.
Of Gods and Men
Nominated for 11 César Awards, including Best Picture, the extraordinarily moving Of Gods and Men tells the story of eight French Christian monks who live in harmony with their Muslim brothers in a monastery perched in the mountains of North Africa. When a crew of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamic fundamentalist group, fear sweeps though the region. The army offers them protection, but the monks refuse. Despite the growing menace in their midst, they slowly realize that they have no choice but to stay... come what may. This historical drama is loosely based on the life of the Cistercian monks of Tibhirine in Algeria in the mid-1990s. Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award from the National Board of Review. I found the film slow and deliberate and I found myself restless. Those I was with found it powerful and gave a point-of-view, usually not seen. So there you have it.
Bed of Roses, 1933
Constance Bennett is an eyeful but cynical and sexy Pert Kelton steals this movie. Joel McCrea plays the gorgeous leading man. I love his voice. The film is about two prostitutes that get out of jail and then proceed to try and journey down to New Orleans. She steals. Sets up scenes. Entertaining and mindless. Enjoyed it though. There is one scene where she is thinking, should she or should she not steal the man's money who offered her food and shelter and sleep and rescued her from the sea. She is opening and closing, opening and closing the door, trying to decide what she wants to do, knowing his wallet is hanging inside his jacket, inside the closet.
What Every Woman Knows, 1934
Brian Aherne (a gorgeous leading man)! Madge Evans, as the other woman and a young Helen Hays, as Maggie! I had no idea how tiny she is, sweet and gentle with a steely strength. She knows what she loves and what she will fight for. She plays a 26 year old, six years senior to John, a plain and simple woman. Some of the dialogue is painful in its neediness toward him, that he is marrying her based on an agreement and not because he loves her, but just because he feels comfortable with her. Is it terrible that my love has been able to help you a little, she begs. The movie is about this egotistical politician and the woman behind him. This was the first time I saw Hays act and was surprised that she became one of the great actresses of the 20th century. This tiny thing! Who would have known! Who are you John asks Maggie. You are a woman who has brought her husband low — a great vessel that wanted sheering and forgiveness too. Every man who is high up loves to think he's done it all himself. Every woman knows that. It's our only joke! Laugh John, Laugh! She gets him to laugh and that last sentence becomes the title of the movie.
She Married Her Boss, 1935
Claudette Colbert. Melvyn Douglas. A romance with crisp dialogue, great costumes, about a secretary who is in love with her boss, but after she marries him, she realizes that he doesn't want a wife, but is really married to the business. The movies have an incredibly stupid ending, which is surprising. Until the ending, the movie was great fun! Colbert is always terrific. Don't let a career fool you. Its something that sponges up your whole life and leaves you empty, Julia says to her co-worker. There is one little moment, that Colbert caught which was when she was leaving with another man, and hoping Douglas would tell her to stay, she stops, pauses, turns around with her hand and finger posed in the air, and seeing no response, turns half way around, and moves on. It spoke volumes and showed an actress at the top of her craft.
A Taste of Honey, 1961
This extraordinary, black and white film, of the lower class in England, with all the black and dark environment, rainy and beaten down atmosphere, this more real than life film explodes in intensity and humanity and fleeting relationship and stormy messy lives without future or opportunity. It's not the darkness outside I don't like. It's the darkness inside.
The movie is of a poignant young girl who is plain. (Rita Tushingham). She gets pregnant and her gay new friend (Robert Stephens) moves in and takes care of her as her not mean, but neglectful, mother moves in and out of her life, making bad decisions with each decision made. The movie is filled with lonely people, searching for love and contact in all the wrong places. Why can't you learn from my mistakes, Ellen says to her daughter, It takes 1/2 your lifetime to learn from your own. Look at my face, she continues, every line tells a dirty story. He's dead! Why? Why? Don't ask me why! Death comes to us all sooner or later. Geoffrey says to her, you need someone to love you, while you're looking for someone to love. I loved the intimacy and sensitivity and time piece of this film. I expected violence in the brutal physical way and felt so honored that this was not what the film was to be.
The Human Resources Manager
Israeli Film. Winner of 5 Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture, The Human Resources Manager is a witty and heartfelt look at how one man, on a mission to restore his company’s reputation, inadvertently restores his own humanity. The Human Resources Manager (Mark Ivanir, The Good Shepherd, Schindler's List) of Jerusalem's largest bakery is in trouble. He is separated from his wife, distanced from his daughter, and stuck in a job he hates. When one of his employees, a foreign worker, is killed in a suicide bombing, the bakery is accused of indifference, and the HR Manager is sent to the victim’s hometown in Romania to make amends. Far from home, on a mission to honor a woman he didn't even know but has somehow grown to admire, the HR Manager rediscovers his own humanity and his ability to truly care for human resources. Winner of the Audience Award at the Locarno Film Festival. Directed by Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree, The Syrian Bride). (Fully subtitled) I was bored for much of it. But decided to myself that since I was committed to the film and it had won so many top Awards, that I should stay with it. And, I did. It was a sweet film, portrayed Israel in a good light, which is good today! But it never really grabbed me and I was never able to loose myself. It felt long and it was! I thought the young 14 year old boy, abandoned by both his parents, wild and utterly alone, a throw away kid was to me the most significant and interesting character in the film. The journalist who intruded and must have taken horrible pictures as he was intrusive and cruel in to the private suffering of others, and never even cared to form relationship with his subject matter. He stole instead of respecting his subject. And, I am sure his pictures reflected this. The photography of Rumania which to me looked like the Ukraine was stark and poor and backward and I could see why young people are so desperate to escape it.
Libeled Lady, 1936
Myrna Loy. William Powell (cute Moustache), Spencer Tracy. Jean Harlow. This gem of a mix-up involves an Heiress, two competing newspapermen, and an unwilling dumb blond wannabe wife. It is crisp, face talking, face paced dialogue, Funny! I was laughing out loud in the privacy of my home when Powell fell into the trout stream! This has to be one of the funniest comedic scenes in film! Great Gem!
Imitation of Life, 1959
Lana Turner. Juanita Moore (the black maid) This film is a remake of the film with Claudette Colbert, that was made years earlier than 1959. It is about a white woman and the black woman she takes in from off the street and gives her a home for she and her child. Both are single women with girls around the same age. I preferred the earlier version. The second version feels a bit dated. It's a sin to be ashamed of what you are! And, it is even worse to pretend to lie. The Lord must have had his reasons as to why He made some of us white and some of us black, Annie says to her daughter. How do you explain to your child that she was born to be hurt, Annie says to Lora Meredith. I still love the theater. I want more. Everything. Maybe, too much. Lora says to Stephen who is in love with her and wants to marry her. There are so many of these movies of women who are torn between career and home. They simply cannot have both without paying a terrible, terrible price. This is the clear and loud message. Lana Turner plays the glamourous old Hollywood actress. First, she is controlled. Then, she becomes sexual and sensual. Hard and tough. The changes of clothing between she and her daughter, (Sandra Dee) who by the way looks like her in the film! is something staggering and by today's standards, laughable! There is one gown that Lora wears that took my breath away. It is a cocktail length, shimmering with crystals, white, with a small belt at the waist, no necklace, only heavy laden diamond dropped earrings. She looked breathtaking! Can't he ever stop? No! If he did stop, he would see how sad he really is, Lora says to Annie about her old beau. What do doctor's always say when they can't find nothing wrong? Take it easy. Annie says to Lora. This advice has not changed today! You certainly look fine. Everyday I count my Blessings. What do you think of boys Annie? Kissing? Well,. There's kissing and then there's kissing! Annie says to Susie. I didn't know you had any friends, Lora says to Annie, Well Miss Lora. You never asked. Annie responds. Lies not help none! Annie screams after her daughter in desperation. Nobody's all right about anything. And nobody's all wrong either, Annie says to Lora. The director uses lots of mirrors and reflections to ask the viewer to see the illusions that people present to the world, and how conflict and turmoil can be so disguised or not seen by others. He also used very intense lighting to reveal one side of a face and to leave the other side of the face in darkness. What can we do to help Annie, Steve? Lora asks.There's no answer. Never has been. Not, for a broken heart. Steve turns and looks away and you see that he is talking about himself in regard to Lora. It is only because of my ambition that you've had the best of everything. And, that is a solid achievement that any mother can be proud of. Lora, in a quiet rage, says to her daughter. And, how about a mother's love! Susie responds. But, you have always had that! Yes, Susie responds. By telephone. Postcard. A magazine Interview! You've given me everything, but yourself. Susie screams back. And, stop acting. Please stop shifting people around, as if they are on a stage ... Stop playing the martyr. As Annie lay dying, she says, our wedding day and the day we die are the great events of life. ... I'm just tired Miss Lora. Awfully tired. This expression I can understand. I think we die because we simply just get too tired to live. The ending is a bit over dramatic, but for the film and the genre and the time period that it was shot, it stands up to time. And, those clothes! It is worth seeing the film just to see all these costume changes!
Stella Dallas, 1937
Directed by King Vidor. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Barbara Stanwyck, as the mother. Annie Shirley, as the daughter. The movie opens in 1919, in Millhampton, Mass. at the steel plant. A young Stella (Stanwyck) is trying to get the attention of the rich new foreman, so that she can move up in society. The first opening scene, Stella is standing outside on her porch reading, India's Love Lyrics! The movie is dated. It is how a mother removes herself, toward the end of the film, so that her daughter will make a good marriage proposal and marry up. The mother realizes she is impeding her daughter's future because she is low class and an embarrassment, even not being invited to the wedding at the end of the film. It is poignant and sad that she is outside looking in, as her daughter marries a New York scion family. I can't believe you like being with me-when you could be with all the swells, Stella says to her wealthy husband, who shortly abandons her. I want to be educated, and well bred, talk like you, and act like you, she moans her fate to him. Of course, she can't. I wonder how many Jews who made and wrote these films felt like Stella. I actually really, really enjoyed this film and thought it was very fine.
The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1926
Silent Film. Renee Falconetti. Eugene Sylvain. Michel Siomon. Directed by Carl (Th) Theodor Dreyer. This classic is considered the finest ever made in silent films. It analyzes the French martyr's life and death with incredibly intense close ups and facial expressions. No make-up was used which was unheard of in silent films. The black and white photography was phenomenal. Very little actual acting. Just moving around on the set. This film is considered the greatest silent film of all time. It was found 50 years later in a Danish janitor's cell in a mental institution after it was thought that the original had been destroyed by fire! If you stayed with it, and allowed yourself to be present, not to feel impatient or antsy or rushed, it was one of the most phenomenal film experiences in a long time. I found it unforgettable. And, everything was true, from the costumes, to the script taken from the actual writings of the time, to the magnificent and holy Church music. Unbelievable.
The Comedian Harmonists, 1985
Tonight we watched an absolute gem of a film. I bought this movie on high recommendation and what a recommendation it was! It was simply superb in every sense of the word. From the story line, to the music! Oh my god, to the way the film unfolded. It made me cry in parts because of the great, irreparable loss at the end How lives were forever changed, and nothing could ever duplicate what they were as a collective group. They became greater than their individual parts. It was powerfully done in a controlled and understated way. I so understood Harry's complete and total dedication to his work and to his love. It was his life and his meaning to live. The sad irony was always when he did not listen to his instincts. His instincts told him to stay in America and had they done so as a group, they would have been just as great -- they were already on their way to do so. I cannot wait to see it again. And, I will. Very soon, indeed.
Limitless
Bradley Cooper. An exhausting, high energy film that I could not wait to end. The guy took a pill that gave him the power to see and know everything. It was as if he was on speed, it seemed to have the same affect.
Exhausted. The story did not hold together. The values were for lots of money and women and houses. There was nothing on having character or integrity or knowing what was worth living for and dying for or making a commitment to a women you love. It was a piece of special effects, and of commercial and business garbage.
Northwest by Northwest
Alfred Hitchcock. Director. Cary Grant. Such a classic. One that I have seen over and over again and really never get tired of.
Catch Me If You Can 2002
Leonardo DiCaprio. Tom Hanks. Steven Spielberg directs this marvelous film that is based on a true story of Frank W. Abagnale, Jr's. life. It is about a 1960s con man who forges checks for literally millions of dollars, poses as a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, and gets away with it. He is always on the run, until eventually he does get caught. The Introduction credits were some of the most artistic, creative and clever ones I have seen on screen. The movie was advertised as a comedy but this time I found it sad and desperate and filled with broken lives and dreams. To think, this kid was only 17 is something short of miraculous.
Wikipedia:
Frank William AbagnaleJr.,born April 27, 1948,US$ 2.5 is an American security consultant best known for his history as a former confidence trickster, check forger, skilled impostor and escape artist. He became notorious in the 1960s for successfully passing US$ 2.5 million worth of meticulously forged checks across 26 countries over the course of five years, starting when he was only 16 years old. In the process, he claimed to have assumed no fewer than eight separate identities, successfully impersonated an airline pilot, a doctor, a prison inspector and a lawyer. He escaped from police custody twice (once from a taxiing airliner and once from a US Federal penitentiary), all before he was 21 years old.
Hold Your Man, 1933
Jean Harlow. Clark Gable. They are truly an irresistible team in this mixture of comedy, heart felt felling and underworld melodrama. I thought it was a great film and loved it! Harlow is so sexy and vulnerable and sassy and sad — she has it all in my book. Close your drowsy eyes. Here's to Paradise. Give him Love. And, your hold your man.
Overlord, D-Day, June 6, 1944
Directed by Stuart Cooper. This extraordinary war film, recommended by Eric Weismann, interweaves archival war footage and a fictional narrative. The photography lingers long after the images have past. Haunting and Powerful. It is the journey of a 21 year old from basic training to the front lines that brings all the terrors and isolation of war to life with a powerful and jolting authenticity. I loved this film. I loved its reality and sadness and loneliness and isolation.
Mildred PierceKate Winslet. Based on James M. Cain's 1941 novel, this Depression era housewife searches for work to remain above board and to support her two daughters as a single mother, after her husband leaves her. It is slow moving, and Winslet is too British for the role. She is too controlled and restraint. She doesn't feel American to me. She feels dramatic as if she has come from the Royal Academy of acting. But, I am watching it as it is a 5 part series on HBO.
Jules and Jim, 1961
Jeanne Moreau. (Catherine) Oskar Werner (Jules) Henri Serre (Jim) Francois Truffaut, Director. This Masterpiece, Classic film is about two very close male friends, one French and the other German who both fall in love with the same woman. I never saw Serre in another film and I found him gorgeous and a true leading man. The film is filled with dialogue about relationships between men and women, love and marriage, children, restlessness, breaking the boundaries, and ultimately, I thought the ending was a complete cop out. I felt she wanted to kill Jim in her suicide, or else it was a tragedy that she did not know the road had no completion. Why was there not a warning or sign? Peculiar and very unsatisfying ending.
JEAN HARLOW
She literally eats up the screen. I am mad about her. I cannot keep my eyes off of her. She can be sultry and sexy, vulnerable and funny, like a little girl or a siren, passionate or cold. I do not think that there is one aspect of womanhood that she cannot capture. The remaining films all have Jean Harlow.
The Public Enemy, 1931
Jean Harlow. James Cagney reached stardom with this gangster classic depicting one vicious hoodlum's rise and fall. Harlow does a cameo role and she is fantastic. Some of it was boring and looked old. But, the final scene where the family are excited that he is returning home and his brother opens the door, and this stiff body falls into the house on the ground has got be one of the most unforgettable scenes in film history. Cagney was great, doing what he does best.
Wife vs. Secretary, 1936
Jean Harlow. Clark Gable. Jean Harlow was never more appealing than as a girl who loves her boss, but respects his wife. She has morals and would not cross the line, although she is dying to. When she finally confronts the wife with her honesty and forthrightness, the wife does not appreciate the courage and strength and sadness that this took.
I love Harlow.
China Seas, 1935
Clark Gable. Jean Harlow. Rosalind Russell (Sybil) There is fighting romance abroad this liner that is en route from Hong Kong to Singapore. Russell is a young beautiful, elegant woman. I was so surprised to see this as I only remember her in her later films where her beauty has faded. This is one of my very favorites of Jean Harlow. I loved her character, her frustration, her desire, her rejection, her desperation. She plays it beautifully.
The Girl From Missouri, 1934
Jean Harlow. Franchot Tone. Harlow plays a straight shooting girl who is seeking to marry a millionaire. She is terrific and real and sexy and then turns virtuous and finally, at the end, because of this, she gets her man.
Dinner at Eight, 1933
Marie Dressler (Carlotta) She is fabulous and does she play her part to the nines! John Barrymore. Jean Harlow. Wallace Beery. The Kaufman-Ferber play makes for a trenchant character study of people invited to a swank dinner party. Harlow and Beery do a fantastic job of a husband and wife who fight and are both so grasping and social climbing and lying and deceitful individuals, but it is a riot. I could not stop laughing! The rest of the individuals and couples, other than Dressler, played quieter more desperate and sad character. The first time I saw it I loved this film. The second time, I fast forwarded to the Harlow/Beery sections.
Platinum Blonde, 1934
Jean Harlow. Loretta Young. Robert Williams. Director, Frank Capra. This film is about a newspaper reporter who has a gal pal, named Gallagher. He takes her for granted and does not see or experience her as a woman. Meanwhile, he falls madly in love with this heiress, whose brother he was investigating, and ends up marrying her. The marriage is awful, ultimately, and he finally sees and recognizes his deep love for Gallagher. You are my pal. Don't go female on me. She was hot. The real McCoy. He never takes any money from Harlow, which I thought was a fool thing to do, as he deserved it, and he is supposed to come across as a highly moral and ethical man because of this. And, he does, but it feels so dated because of it. The money from the divorce was rightfully his but he turned it down. I thought Williams was completely miscast and have never seen him in another movie since. But, he was too stuttering and nervous and talkative and nebbishy, nervous and immature, to be believable that someone like Harlow, who played the heiress beautifully, would have fallen for. Loretta Young, was gorgeous as a young woman with her large magnificent eyes. Williams could not stand being called the Cinderella Man or a bird in a gold gilded cage. He couldn't take the ribbing from his fellow colleagues.
Red Dust, 1932
Jean Harlow (Lilly) Clark Gable. They reach their zenith with each other in this romantic story of a rubber plantation in Indonesia. Later on a much better version of this film is actually done by Katherine Hepburn and . I found the weather got to me, I felt sorry for Harlow, she is so vulnerable and real and adorable and lovable as she plays the familiar hooker, or player. Gable treats her shabbily when this Lady and Lord couple come from England. He sends the husband off and has an affair with his wife. But, Gable finally comes to see that they are too different and it could never be. He goes back to Harlow.
In A Better World
The lives of two families cross paths in the acclaimed drama In a Better World, this year's Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film. Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark and work at an African refugee camp. In these two very different worlds, he and his family are faced with conflicts that lead them to difficult choices ranging from revenge to forgiveness. Anton and his wife Marianne (Trine Dyrholm) have two young sons, are separated and are struggling with the possibility of divorce. Their 10-year-old son Elias (Markus Rygaard) is being bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen), a new boy who has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Ullrich Thomsen). Christian's mother recently lost her battle with cancer, and Christian is greatly troubled by her death. Elias and Christian quickly form a strong bond, but when Christian involves Elias in a dangerous act of revenge with potentially tragic consequences, their friendship is tested and lives are put in danger. Ultimately, it is their parents who are left to help them come to terms with the complexity of human emotions, pain and empathy. Directed by Susanne Bier (Brothers, After the Wedding). (Partially subtitled) This powerful, disturbing and absorbing film deserved the Oscar Award. Two families lives intermeshed with each other, intersected in dangerous paths. Paths were shown throughout the film. As were loving engaged fathers with their sons. Christian I highly regarded and respected at the beginning, until his inner rage and fury consumed him to the point of almost, except for a miracle, killing others. His rage was understandable. I have known it myself. I thought the philosophical and moral dilemmas that were constantly being raised elevated the film to question these issues and made the film from such another film into a fine and disturbing theme of understanding evil and fury and how to react and how not to react and what is right in one situation may not be correct in another situation. It also showed how parents and children need each other to grow and to learn and to understand the world of violence that is all around, just waiting to explode and break into chaos and mayhem. I left disturbed and bothered, but grateful that I listened to my instincts, did not go to synagogue, and went and saw this movie instead.
Paths of Glory, 1957
Kirk Douglas. Director: Stanley Kubrick. Safe inside the chateau behind the front lines, the sadistic and cruel French General passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax to take the Ant Hill at any cost. It is a blatant suicide mission, doomed to failure. The Order was given to Dax by a Colonel who was promised a prestigious medal if he made sure it was accomplished. This was covered up, of course. Also covering up their fatal blunder, the Generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers and charged with them with mutiny and cowardice. Dax, who is a lawyer, in civilian life, comes up against the military and how they cover up their actions, much like the Dreyfus case. It is a blistering indictment of military cover ups and is a movie you cannot forget.
Incendies
When notary Lebel (Rémy Girard) sits down with Jeanne and Simon Marwan (Mélissa Désormeaux Poulin, Maxim Gaudette) to read them their mother Nawal's will, the twins are stunned to receive a pair of envelopes—one for the father they thought was dead and another for a brother they didn't know existed. In this enigmatic inheritance, Jeanne sees the key to Nawal's (Lubna Azabal) retreat into unexplained silence during the final weeks of her life. She immediately decides to go to the Middle East to dig into a family history of which she knows next to nothing. Simon soon joins her in combing their ancestral homeland in search of a Nawal who is very different from the mother they knew. With Lebel's help, the twins piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, discovering a tragic fate as well as the courage of an exceptional woman. An adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad's hit play, Incendies is a deeply moving story that brings the extremism and violence of today's world to a starkly personal level, delivering a powerful and poetic testament to the uncanny power of the will to survive. An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. If the movie had not bee filmed in Jordan, and if it did not have this Arabic overlay and culture tied to it, I doubt if it would have gotten as far as it did. The film was interesting precisely because of this factor and I wonder if it was an American made film, if it would have had much impact at all.
Hanna
Director Joe Wright (Atonement) weaves elements of dark fairy tales into the adventure thriller Hanna, filmed on location in Europe and Morocco. Hanna (Saoirse Ronan,Atonement), is 16 years old, bright, inquisitive, and a devoted daughter. Raised by her widowed father Erik (Eric Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of North Finland, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a soldier. Erik has taught Hanna to hunt, put her through extreme self-defense workouts, and home-schooled her with only an encyclopedia and a book of fairy tales. But out in the world there is unfinished business for Hanna’s family, and Erik realizes his daughter can no longer be held back. She is separated from Erik and embarks on the mission that she was always destined for. Before she and her father can reunite as planned in Berlin, Hanna runs afoul of agents dispatched by ruthless intelligence operative Marissa Wiegler (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett). As Hanna navigates an unfamiliar landscape and world which she must quickly learn to comprehend, she faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity. This was truly a mindless and utterly forgettable film. I did find Hanna very pretty and vulnerable and innocent like, even though she murdered her way through the film and was a DNA wonderland.
Burlesque, 2010
Cher. Christina Aquilera. A small town girl with a big voice heads to LA landing a waitressing job at a majestic but ailing burlesque lounge. She becomes determined to perform there one day. The movie is so predictable and hokey, it is almost funny — only to be seen on a plane where there is nothing else to be seen!
Another Year, 2010
Jim Broadbent. Ruth Sheen. Lesley Manville. Director. Mike Leigh. Sometimes the simplest ideas made the best films. This film was billed as a comedy but there was nothing funny about it. I found it sad and poignant, filled with walking wounded people and lonely isolated individuals. We follow a married couple as they drift through another year of life. An ordinary ugly couple. Lesley is the couple's single neurotic friend with a force happiness that beguiles a devastating desperation. She steals the film with her pathos and when she makes a play for their son and then follows it up with a put down of his girlfriend, she seals the loss of her only friendship. They become disappointed and shocked by her behavior and turn on her, freeze her out, leaving her alone and out in the cold. Where exactly is the comedy?
Mildred Pierce, HBO
Kate Winselt. Hope David. Guy Pierce. A marvelous five hour, five part series that takes place during the Depression. It follows this single mother who is forced to accept any kind of work, in this case, as a waitress in Glendale and then Hollywood, where she moves up until she creates her own restaurant business. Social climbing, ambitious, hard working, she wants her daughter Vida, a scorpion in nature and a vicious user, to have all the things she doesn't have. She falls madly in love with Moti who seems to have the life that she has only dreamed of. But, all of this is an illusion. She never stops seeking her daughters love, never stops aching for riches she hungers for and at the end she looses everything, even returning to the same house she began in.
Water For Elephants
Based on the acclaimed bestseller, Water for Elephants presents an unexpected romance in a uniquely compelling setting. Veterinary school student Jacob (Robert Pattinson, The Twilight Saga) meets and falls in love with Marlena (Reese Witherspoon), a star performer in a circus of a bygone era. They discover beauty amidst the world of the Big Top, and come together through their compassion for a special elephant. Against all odds—including the wrath of Marlena's charismatic but dangerous husband, August (Christoph Waltz)—Jacob and Marlena find lifelong love. Directed by Francis Lawrence. This movie was boring and stylish, with literally no chemistry between Pattinson and Witherspoon. Waltz played his usual evil guy — who acts like this in real life? I kept looking at my watch. The movie left the viewer detached and bored and distant. I thought Rosie the elephant was wonderful. I liked her!
Meeks's Cutoff
Director Kelly Reichardt. Michelle Williams. Kelly also directed Wendy and Lucy. The minimalist beauty and stark realism brought a profound and rich experience to this film. Based on a true story, it follows a hardscrabble group of pioneers who are lost on the Oregon Trail, circa 1845. It is pure poetry, written in the grit of the plains, and on the backs of the people who cross it. I loved this film — it possessed a gripping tension, a will to survive, a not-knowing, an endless fear, a silence that felt more than real. I felt as if I was actually there!
The Double Hour
The Double Hour is at once a stark romance, a touching psychological thriller, and a story about possibilities. Sonia (Ksenia Rappoport) and Guido (Filippo Timi) might be the two loneliest people in the Italian City of Turin. A penniless maid and a chilly ex-cop, they each go about their daily routines like ghosts, both tormented by mistakes and loss from their individual pasts, unable to truly move forward with their lives in any meaningful way. But, when the two meet for the first time in the grimmest of settings—a schmaltzy speed dating event—wary flirtation blooms into desperate passion. Only a single, shocking incident, an ill-timed robbery, threatens to destroy the salvation that Sonia and Guido so quickly find in each other. La doppia ora: A second chance, a magical moment when a person makes a wish, hoping against hope for a better life, for love, for redemption. But, is wishing, as Guido suggests, only a game? Winner of 3 awards at the Venice International Film Festival (Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Italian Film). (Fully subtitled) I found this another disappointing film, where the ending was incomplete, similar to Body Heat. Are all films repetitious or am I just getting utterly bored by them? This had some cheap tricks but another film hits the dust.
They Made Me A Fugitive, 1947
Trevor Howard. Sally Gray. An ex-soldier is sent to jail for killing a policeman and then a husband, when he escaped, after being framed. He escapes to seek revenge. He is playing a 27 year-old-man but he looks much older! The black and white movie was tense and excellent and intriguing, full of evil people with ulterior motives. You are on the edge trying to figure out how it will end and what will happen to Howard. The viewer knows he is innocent. Highly recommended.
An Article of Hope, 2010
Documentary. Directed by Dan Cohen. "This remarkable story of Israel's first astronaut and the journey of a tiny Torah scroll into outer space. Israeli Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon and six other astronauts perished on February 1, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated pun reentry. The son of an Auschwitz survivor, Ramon felt a deep sense of obligation to Holocaust memory. Among the few objects he took into space was a miniature Torah that survived Bergen-Belsen. The film parallels the fateful journey of this singular artifact and its profound symbolism with the life story of Colonel Ramon and his close bonds with his fells astronauts." This profoundly sad film left many gaping holes — the life of Ramon, as a father and husband. What went wrong with the space shuttle. The loss of his son who followed in his shoes. The impact of all of this loss. It also focused too much on the Holocaust. I felt sick for the man who loaned him his Bar Mitzvah Torah only to loose it at the end.
The Decision Maker, 2010
Directed by Danny Yagil. "The fictitious Prime Minister of Israel, Gideon Harel, is about to take part in a TV election debate and the polls are how showing good results. Taking a break from the preparations, he wanders about the TX studio and fins himself in the tape archive, where he discovers a report that summarizes his life and career, which is being prepared for broadcast in case he dies. Watching the tape will change the way Harel sees himself, his achievements and his life." This film was very well done, far more so than An Article of Hope. It reminded me of the story of Alfred Nobel and why he began the Nobel Prize after waking up and reading a horrific arbitrary about himself.
Precious Life, 2010
"Israeli journalist Shlomo Eldars account of at the ordeal of a four-mont-old baby Palestinian boy born with immune system deficiency who requires a life-saving bone-marrow transplant that can only be done in an Israeli hospital." This far left wing journalist presents Israel in the worst light imaginable and portrays the Arabs as victims. Only when an anonymous donor gives $50,000. will the medical procedure be allowed to go through. What becomes startling is when he interviews the mother who dreams of her son, this son, growing up to become a shaid, a martyr, so he can march on Jerusalem and claim as many Israeli lives that he can. I wanted to throw up and yell at all these stupid doctors and journalists who think that they can overcome base hatred toward people who wish them dead. Maybe it will be this doctors son that dies, by this very Mohammed, as he fights so hard for Mohammed to live. She cannot understand why Jews love life so much. It means nothing to us. It is Allah's Will. It is only when her husband yells at her does she begin to back peddle, but her base heart has spoken when she thought the video was not on. They think we are stupid to fight so hard for life — especially theirs — when they don't think it means that much at all. It is all Allah's will.
William, Kate and 8 Royal
Charles and Di: Once Upon a Time
Royally/30 Defining Days
Untold Stories/Royal Bridesmaid
Wild About Harry
Inside the Royal Wedding
The Royal Wedding: Channels KCET, ABC, FOX, CNN
Poetry
Korean. Mija (Yun Jung-hee) is a proper sixty-six woman struggling to provide for her adolescent grandson who lives with her as his mother works elsewhere. Faced with the discovery that her grandson was part of a six boy gang rape of a fellow student, which took place in the science lab over a period of six months, she finds strength and purpose upon enrolling in a poetry class. This class allows her to understand to to escape her pain. The film won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival and was an official selection at the New York Toronto and Telluride Festivals. It displays the subtle empowerment and moral compass of an indefatigable older woman. I could not stand her grandson who was disrespectful to her, animalistic in his needs and desires, cruel and heartless. The fathers of the other boys only wanted to protect their sons future. They knew that if they offered the mother of the girl who went on to commit suicide, a poor farmer whose husband had died, enough money, their sons would be protected by the law as she would not contact the authorities. They laughed and blustered their way, without any shame or humiliation, knowing their sons would get off the hook. It disgusted me, as it did this boys grandmother, the only woman who possessed a moral conscience.
Something Borrowed
Kate Hudson. In the romantic comedy Something Borrowed, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) is a talented attorney at a top New York law firm, a generous and loyal friend and, unhappily, still single... as her engaged best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson) is constantly reminding her. But after one drink too many at her 30th birthday party, perpetual good girl Rachel unexpectedly ends up in bed with the guy she's had a crush on since law school, Dex (Colin Egglesfield)... who just happens to be Darcy's fiancé. When Rachel and Darcy's lifelong friendship collides with true love, it leads to unexpected complications and potentially explosive romantic revelations. Meanwhile, Ethan (John Krasinski), who has been Rachel's constant confidante and sometimes conscience, has been harboring a secret of his own, and Marcus (Steve Howey), an irrepressible womanizer, can't keep his mind out of the gutter or his hands off any girl within reach.
I loved this movie! It was pure chick flick with complete entertainment and fun. I hated Hudson's character — aggressive and pushy and phony, a taker.
Hey, Boo
Harper Lee and To Kill A Mockingbird. The untold story behind a great American novel. Fifty years after winning the Pulitzer Prize, this books remains one of the most influential of our time. It explores the phenomenon of the novel, unravels some of the mysteries surround Harper Lee, including why she never published again. It also brings to light the context and history of the novel's Deep south setting and the social changes it inspired after publication. Interviewed were: Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, Wally Lamb, Richard Russo, Oprah Winfrey, Andrew Young and others and how the novel's power, influence and popularity influenced their work and lives. It was an old fashion documentary without the bells and whistles and entertainment quality that today's documentaries have. I loved it.
Bridesmaids
Director: Paul Feig. Kristen Wilg (Annie) Maya Rudolph. Rose Byrne (Helen-Competitive one). Wendi McLendon-Covey. A group of bridesmaids come together because of a wedding. All the subterranean antics and nature of female relationships become highlighted. It was a hoot! Thought lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far one will go for someone she loves. I loved this chick flick! It was raunchy and funny and each character capsized a female archetype. It was pure escapism and pure funniness.
The Garden of Eden, 1928
The story is ridiculous but I enjoyed it, the escapist quality of it thoroughly.
Silent. Corinne Griffith. Louise Dresser. "Singer who lands a job in a Budapest dance hall and then goes on to marry a prince." Dresser was the standard beauty of her time. In this dated film, she is the exquisite beauty of her day and time. She comes across to me as extremely childish and little girlish. After serving a brief time as a singer in a cheap cabaret, she is rescued by an older woman who is posing as a maid but turns out to be a Baroness and who "adopts" Dresser as her daughter. They go to a fancy hotel and their Dresser meets and falls in love with this prince who looks like my father when he was a college student!
Midnight in Paris
"Midnight in Paris, a new romantic comedy from writer/director Woody Allen [Vicky Cristina Barcelona, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger), tells the story of a family that travels to the picturesque French capital on business. The party includes two young people (Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams) who are engaged to be married in the fall and have experiences there that change their lives forever. It's about a young man's great love for a great city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better. Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Michael Sheen and Carla Bruni also star. Official Selection (Opening Night Film) at the Cannes International Film Festival."
Wonderful indeed! I saw Midnight in Paris several times, I think 3 to be exact, because of that - it was so utterly and completely charming and sweet, so romantic and lovely. It think that it is one of Allen's best. I also loved the musical score and the idea behind the film — the bringing together of the past, the present and the future. The going-back-into-time was done in such a wonderful way. This theme and subject material, writers! resonated inside of me. The transitions flowed effortlessly. The music perfectly enhanced, like a natural backdrop, the scenes. I thought Marion Cotillard stole the film and was exquisitely cast. I loved it!
Beginners
From writer/director Mike Mills comes a comedy/drama about how deeply funny and transformative life can be, even at its most serious moments. Beginners imaginatively explores the hilarity, confusion, and surprises of love through the evolving consciousness of Oliver (Golden Globe Award nominee Ewan McGregor). Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Mélanie Laurent, Inglorious Basterds) only months after his father Hal (Academy Award nominee Christopher Plummer) has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father who—following 44 years of marriage—came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life. The upheavals of Hal's new honesty, by turns funny and moving, brought father and son closer than they'd ever been able to be. Now Oliver endeavors to love Anna with all the bravery, humor, and hope that his father taught him. The movie possessed clever tactics and creative ideas, like the Jack Russell terrier dog talking. I wish we had more of him. I loved the dog and wanted to go out immediately and buy one! The movie tended to drag a bit and everyone was so serious and humorless that it became a downer. There were no lightness at all and Anna, the girlfriend, I wished that she would comb her hair a bit. I liked how they shadowed her at the beginning watching Oliver play act Freud. The movie was actually about the life of homosexuality in America. The out pouring of male emotion I became uncomfortable with. What has happened to manly men? I began to long for machismo and John Wayne! Enough.
The Trip
"The Trip brings director Michael Winterbottom and the hilarious Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon back together in a side-splitting road comedy. The film follows the pair on a hysterical odyssey that has won over audiences at the Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals, and has critics rolling in the aisles. When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend (Margo Stilley). But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon. As the brilliant comic duo, free styling with flair, drive each other mad with constant competition and showdowns of competing impressions (including dueling Michael Caine, Sean Connery and Al Pacino), the ultimate odd couple realize in the end a rich amount about not only good food, but the nature of fame, relationships and their own lives." There were some charming and delightful funny moments and I felt that the film dealt beautifully with the insecurity of getting old, the fear of losing ones youth, of not becoming famous, of not getting the next gig, not having the relationship with children, or having any successful relationships in life. It was Sideways with food, instead of wine. A lovely film.
Bride Flight
"Three young women immigrate from post WW2 Holland to New Zealand for what they hope will be a better life. ON the flight overseas — the three become friendly and meet a dashing young man who will come to play a large role in each of their lives. They part ways on arrival in their new country and begin their lives, but their paths continue to cross in the years to come. Chance meetings result in love affairs, betrayal and lasting bonds, leading to a reunion fifty years later." I loved this movie. It was an old fashion film that is rarely made anymore. It told a story with an arch and all the characters were multi-faceted and complex. There was pathos and poignancy and joy and hope. It was one of the most satisfying films that I have seen in a long, long time.
The Thief of Bagdad, 1940
Director: Alexander Korda. Conrad Veidt. June Duprez. Abu: Sabu. A marvelous Arabian Knights fantasy which has everything in it. The state-of-the-arts, at the time, special effects. Romance. Pirates. Evil take-over kings. Good men and bad. All shot in a place like old Iran. It was entertaining and suspenseful and full of moral lessons and simply delightful and fun and absorbing!
The White Cliffs of Dover, 1944
Irene Dunne. Alan Marshal. Roddy McDowald. Van Johnson. One of the most powerful and finest films to come out of World War II. It was a great love story that bridged the two world wars. It was centered on an American girl who went to England for a two week vacation with her father and ended up staying for the rest of her life. This classic film is unforgettable in it's meaning of patriotism and courage and hope and defeat. I loved it and have seen it repeatedly because of its story, and the experience of participating in great film work. This is one of my favorite films.
A Better Life
From director Chris Weitz (About a Boy) comes the heartfelt drama A Better Life. Carlos (Demián Bichir) is a gardener living in East LA who performs landscaping work for wealthy clients across town. As he tries to make ends meet, he struggles to keep his son Luis (José Julián) away from gangs and immigration agents. A Better Life is a touching, poignant, multi-generational story about a father's love and the lengths a parent will go to give his child the opportunities he never had. This marvelous and moving and powerful story possessed an edginess and tension and nervousness throughout the film as you never knew where it was going to go or take you but you did not it was not going to be for the good. I loved the film and have not been able to stop thinking about it. The movie chokes you up inside. You felt as if you were inside their lives and you cared about them, deeply, deeply cared. You wanted to save them from their poverty. A truly terrific film that makes you believe in the power and inspiration of film and what its communicative powers are really all about. Not to be missed.
The Honeymoon Killers, 1970
Directed by Leonard Kastle. When this film was released, critics raved over the grimly realistic, low-budget, black-and-white crime, Bonnie and Clyde, drama about a lowlife lothario and his overweight nurse lover whose partnership in conning lonely women leads to several murders. Truffaut called it his favorite American film. Kastle never made another film again. He is considered one of America's most mysterious one film directors. This chilling and deeply disturbing scary film was based on the true-life story of Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez. I could never have seen this film alone. It was that disturbing and realistic.
Dial M For Murder, 1954
Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Grace Kelly. Bob Cummings. Ray Milband. This film is about a tennis pro who intends, plots and plans and almost executes the perfect killing of his wife. Kelly plays the graceful, beautiful, cool, blond wife who is in love with her lover, trying to make peace with her husband, completely trusting and unaware that he is plotting to have her killed. Great dialogue. Feels like a play and keeps one completely engaged!
Night Train to Munich, 1940
Margaret Lockwood. Rex Harrison. (A very young Rex Harrison!) James Harcourt. Paul Von Hernried This classic spy thriller is about a Czech scientist and his daughter who are pushed by Nazis and Harrison rescues them. Very suspenseful, well done and I loved it! Saw it twice in one week!
Too Big to Fail, 2011
William Hurt. Ed Asner. This adaptation of Andrew Ross Sorkin's chronicle of the 2008 financial crisis focuses on the efforts of government officials including Treasury Secretary henry Paulson (Hurt) and Wall Street bankers to minimize a worldwide disaster. Very well done and deeply disturbing.
The Scarlet Letter, 1926
Silent Movie. Lillian Gish. Lars Hanson. This version of Hawthorne's classic with Gish as the Puritan wife who has a child by her Pastor is I think the finest interpretation of the book that I have seen. In real life, Hanson could not speak English, but since it was a silent film, it did not matter. They followed the book brilliantly.
The Wrong Man, 1956
Henry Fonda. Maxwell Anderson wrote the screenplay and the story. This is based on the true story of a musician who played at the Stork Club. He was falsely accused of robbery and you saw the devastation and destruction of him and on his family. Very fine film.
Buck
"Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will." So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. Buck, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life "horse-whisperer," he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses—and people—with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, Buck is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds." This movie is for all lovers of animals. He is a fine man who overcame enormous obstacles and made something of his life.
Chang, 1927
Silent. Ernest B. Schoedsade and Merian Cooper. Directed by Thesquasi. This documentary that is definitely not politically correct, is about rice farmers in Thailand and their struggles with forces of nature and wild animals in the jungle. You see how closely they live with animals, and how they fear the Chang (elephants). The film is so dated and old that it almost became comical!
Odette, 1951
Anna Neagle. Trevor Howard. This true story is of a secret agent in France during World War 2. Neagle looks almost identical to the real life Odette, who was a remarkable and courageous spy. Mother of 3 daughters, she nevertheless went and spied for England and because of her bravery was awarded the highest award after the war. A remarkable story and woman.
Terri
"Having been abandoned by his parents to his ailing Uncle James ("The Office" 's Creed Bratton), Terri (Jacob Wysocki) is mercilessly teased by his peers and garners even more unwanted attention from school authorities by coming to school still wearing pajamas—when he decides to show up at all. Resigned to his outsider status, Terri is surprised when his tough-talking vice principal, Mr. Fitzgerald (John C. Reilly), takes an interest in him. Although his efforts are sometimes clumsy and occasionally dubiously professional, he genuinely wants to help him through this tough time. Under Fitzgerald's tutelage, Terri befriends a pair of fellow misfits, Chad (Bridger Zadina), an edgy loner whose rebellion masks his own insecurities, and Heather (Olivia Crocicchia), a sexually precocious girl whose beauty proves to be a trap of its own. The three teenagers, so different on the surface, but all outcasts in the unforgiving high school hierarchy, find an unexpected, imperfect bond that reflects the tenuousness, poignance and pathos of the adolescent experience." This perfectly executed Independent Film Festival kind-of-film was gentle and kind. My heart went out to Heather, whose mother never cared to find out where she was all night, who gave her body away for love, and who seemed most vulnerable. These 15-year-old kids were abandoned, parentless, and lonely. Sad and poignant film.
Cover Girl, 1944
Musical. Rita Hayworth. Gene Kelly. Phil Silvers. There are romance and riffs between the model and the night club owner. There are fine tunes by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin. Hayworth sings Long Ago and Far Away and there is some great dancing by Silvers and Kelly. I had no idea that Phil Silvers was a song and dance man — he stole the show for me with his warmth and facial expressions and dancing, when he has the body of a nerd with the thick thighs and torso. Kelly is a phenomenal dancer but he is a cold kind of man.
The Lost Patrol, 1934
Victor McLaglen. Boris Karloff. This film is a tale of WW I British soldiers who are lost in the vast desert and struggle against the elements, the fear and hostile Arabs who shoot them at random and steal their horses. We literally missed the last minute, which did not tape, which would have told us what happened to the Leader, the last man standing.
The Spiral Staircase, 1944
Dorothy McGuire. George Brent. Ethel Barrymore. Kent Smith. This was one of the most terrifying suspense films I have seen in a long, long time. And, I was watching it in daytime! It is about two brothers, one of them being a murderer or damaged women. I was a nervous wreck watching it because the suspense and drama was built up carefully and purposefully.
The Covered Wagon, 1922
Directed and Produced by James Cruze. Lois Wilson (Molly Wingate) J. Warren Kerrigan (Will Banion) Ernest Torrence (Jackson) Live Music Performed by: Will Ryan and the Cactus County Cowboys. This simply marvelous and entertaining best western ever has everything in it: authenticity. Emotion. Good guys and evil ones. Humor. Whooping it up and galloping away. Indians. Insult. Liars. One of the finest film experience ever.
The Sheik, 1921
Rudolph Valentino. Agnes Ayres. Silent classic about a desert Chieftain and a proper English heiress, who is kidnapped and then falls in love with him, only to discover that he is really European! Every stereotype and clique imaginable is used against the Arabs. It is definitely not politically correct — although on the other hand how the Arab is depicted is pretty accurate, especially when it comes to women. But, to make it presentable to a western audience the Sheik had to come from European blood.
Winnie The Pooh
Director: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall. Pooh Bear. (of very little brain) and friends, Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo-and Eeyore, who lost his tail. Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some honey. This hand-painted animation was simply marvelous. This is the first Disney in decades where the pace is appropriate with no bells and whistles, no hype up over-stimulation exhaustion, but authentic completely to the book and charming in its creativity with letters and text, with dialogue lifted directly from the book itself. I loved it! Absolutely!
"Meanwhile, the only film brave enough to open opposite the Harry potter juggernaut this weekend was Winnie The pooh, Disney's attempt to reintroduce the honey-loving bear to modern audiences. But the hand-drawn animated film, rated G, mustered only $8 million in ticket sales.
Those who saw Pooh - an audience dominated by families, which accounted for 85% of those who saw the movie — liked it, giving it an average grade of A— Disney, which spent about $30 million to produce the movie, can only hope that the strong grade will help Pooh hold up well in the coming weeks as the Harry potter buzz begins to fade." Los Angeles, Times. We must start a writing campaign so they will continue to make films in this vein!
The Sea Hawk, 1924
Silent Movie: Director: Frank Lloyd. Sabatini Classic swashbuckler. With Oliver Tress Ilian and Milton Sills. Fun and clique with Arab characters and stereotypes. There were good Arabs and bad ones. The love object got on my nerves as she was insincere and duplicitous and disloyal. Why our hero loved her was not believable. Our hero is framed by his half-brother and send to sea to die from working the oars but is saved by his Muslim oar partner when he is captured by Muslims. He embraces his new faith and rises to become a Sea Captain and seeks his revenge and honor back.
The Big Parade, 1925
Silent Movie. Directed by King Vidor. John Gilbert (James Apperson). Renee Adoree (Melisande) Introduced by Film Historian Kevin Brownlow. The finest and most moving and powerful silent film that I have ever seen. I loved it madly. It is the first war film (World War I) It was stunning. I have not been able to shake it or stop thinking about it. All the movies today seem so shabby and dummied down, shallow and ordinary, after this experience. This was a Masterpiece in the truest sense of the word. It made me weep behind my eyes. What can ever compare to this?
Sarah's Key
"Paris, July 1942: Sarah (Mélusine Mayance), a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released. Sixty-seven years later: Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own romantic future. Also starring Aidan Quinn, Sarah's Key is based on the novel by Tatiana De Rosnay." I went into this film without knowing anything about it and that is how I would advise everyone to see it — so they experience for themselves the true horror and loss, terror. Sarah was unable to live with herself — with the guilt and the failure. She just couldn't and I could understand why. The movie made me weep — it felt so close to home. This movie is another way of telling the story in a whole new fresh way. Traumatic. Powerful. Haunting. Unforgettable. Profoundly sad.
This film felt like this generation of Sophie's Choice.
The Children are All Right, 2010
Julianne Moore. Annette Benning. Mark Ruffalo. A lesbian couple, together for nearly 20 years, each have a child using the same sperm donor. He enters their lives when the daughter (I love this actress) is 18 years old, seduces one of the moms, and they go through the same hurt as a heterosexual couple. This man has a profound effect on their lives and I was happy to see, that at the end, it reached a new equilibrium. A well done film and Benning is superb.
Another Earth
"In the sci-fi drama Another Earth, Rhoda Williams (Brit Marling), a bright young woman accepted into MIT's astrophysics program, aspires to explore the cosmos. A brilliant composer, John Burroughs (William Mapother), has just reached the pinnacle of his profession and is about to have a second child with his loving wife. On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, tragedy strikes and the lives of these strangers become irrevocably intertwined. Estranged from the world and the selves they once knew, the two outsiders begin an unlikely love affair and reawaken to life. But when one is presented with the chance of a lifetime opportunity to travel to the other Earth and embrace an alternative reality, which new life will they choose?" The background story was of another earth that carried identical property of earthlings. But, the real story was of two permanently damaged people who seek each other out in order to forget their sorrow and shattered lives. Rhoda was beautiful and so scarred by her reckless accident, she was unable to reach her potential and dropped out of life. John, felt into drunkenness and self-destructive behavior. Through their new love, they found redemption, but only for a moment — the ending was strange and baffling and incoherent and confusing.
Beau Beste, 1928
Silent Film. Directed by Herbert Brenon. Ronald Colman. Neil Hamilton. William Powell. This simply marvelous film is about three brothers who protect each other when the Blue Sapphire is stolen which is their legacy. They all volunteer for the French Legion in World War 1 and two of the brothers die and the last one is left to find out the irony of this legacy of the sapphire. It was wonderful and satisfying.
Sitting Pretty, 1949
Robert Young. Maureen O'Hara. Clinton Webb (Mr. Belvedere). A male babysitter takes over the lives of a couple and their three sons in this comedy or error and trial. It felt awfully dated and silly but entertaining and mindless. O'Hara was gorgeous!
The Tree
Australian. Director. Julie Bertuccelli. Starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Morgana Davies, who stars at 8 year old Simone. The film takes place in the outback. Blindsided by anguish after her husband's sudden and unexpected death, Dawn, along with her four young children struggle to make sense of life without him. Simone is convinced that her father is communicating with her through the leaves of the gargantuan fig tree that towers over their house and is uprooting the foundations of everything around the house. These enormous roots begin to encroach on the abode and threaten their very fragile existence. The final symbol of the film, when you know the family is on its way to healing, is when the father's shirt is thrown into the wind by the hurricane and momentarily lands around the post, only to be freed and flies away. The out-of-control mother bothered me — her profile, her lack of mothering, her neglect.
The Mark of Zorro, 1920
Silent Movie. Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Marguerite de La Motte. This precursor to all of the SuperMan films possessed humor and acrobatic brilliance and escapade and romance and heroic discovery! Fairbanks displayed all the nerdy and silly man/child behavior, socially backward and incompetent, a failure in his father's eyes. And, yet, when he put on the suit, he became larger than life and the manly man he wished others would always be able to see. Great fun!
Old Joy, 2006
Director: Kelly Reichardt. I bought this film because it was highly recommended. She directed one of my favorite films:
Wendy and Lucy and her new film about the Oregon Overpass. Interestingly, the dog Lucy was in this movie too! It is the story of two friends who take an overnight hike to the Bagby Hot Springs. Both of them, in my book, are losers. One however, his wife is pregnant. The other is still a hippie. There is hardly any dialogue. Both men/boys are inarticulate and lack emotion — are distant, and withdrawn, self-absorbed and self-centered. Hanging out with them for as long as I did, 76 minutes, was torture! I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing did. Why this movie received accolades leaves me scratching my head in completely puzzlement. I hate this culture, people like this — there was nothing I admired nor respected.
Koran By Heart, 2011
Documentary. "A look at an annual contest in Cairo in which Muslim children recite the Koran." This HBO documentary shows the world wide contest, bringing Muslim children, of all ages, from around the Muslim world to Cairo to compete in the memorization of the entire Koran. They look for intonation and memorization, etc. Understanding the meaning or message is irrelevant. Many of the children cannot read or write. It is sad to see how smart girls are repressed by their fathers and how other sons are pushed into modernity by their fathers. The whole film reminded me of the World Bible contest held by Jews. They literally copy everything from us!
They Won't Forget, 1937
Director: Mervyn LeRoy. Claude Rains. Edward Norris. The film is a fictional account of the Leo Frank murder, following the story almost exactly, but changing a few facts here and there. In the film, a student at a southern college leads to the conviction of a northern teacher by a rigged courtroom conviction. He is later murdered after his conviction was commuted by the Governor. The movie was made before the real murdered was discovered so they had the wife give the final talk.
Indecent Proposal, 1993
Robert Redford. Demi Moore. Woody Harrelson. The wife of a couple is offered one million dollars for a night with a billionaire. I liked the movie much better this time than when I first saw it. Demi is a large woman and I am surprised she made it as far as she did! Redford has terrible skin which shows up on HD too well! The story is contrived but it held my interest. She said to her husband, so what if I sleep with him — it is only sex and we had partners before we met each other. But, earlier, she said they started going together when she was fifteen, so I wonder when she had so much experience before they met.
7th Heaven, 1928
Silent. Directed by Frank Borzage. Janet Gaynor. Charles Farrell. This is without a doubt the finest film experience I have ever had — it was transcendent and magnificent. I forgot completely where I was — from the story to the plot to the romance to the chemistry to the acting to the breath of scope of film brilliance and magnificence. There are no words that express my love for this film. I screamed. I clapped. I sighed. I cried. Was there any emotion I did not experience?
I was Diane. I was Chico. I was inside the film itself!
An Ideal Husband, 1947
Paulette Goddard. Michael Wilding. Oscar Wilde's famous satire about an adventuress out to blackmail a government official. It is amazing how relevant the dialogue is today from when it was written over 100 years ago. It still feels fresh.
Witty and observant and insightful into male and female relationships, nothing seems to escape Wilde's brilliant genius mind. Always entertaining, the film displayed beautiful costumes and homes and stage settings too.
Kissing A Fool, 1998
David Swimmer. Jason Lee (Jay Murphy) Mili Avital (Samantha) "A romantic comedy as an insecure sportscaster he devises a scheme to test his fiancee's loyalty by persuading his best friend to seduce her. The plan backfires however, when Jay falls in love with her. I thought that this was a charming and delightful comedy without cell phones or special effects. It paced lovely and I thought Jason Lee was spectacularly good looking, a great leading man and I wonder why I never saw him again in film. Avital too was a beauty and I have never seen her either.
Four Sons, 1929
Silent Film. Directed by John Ford. An extraordinary film of four sons and their mother on the eve of WWI. It had all the pathos of war, the heartache of loss and sorrow, the depth of lasting and loyal friendship, all with a wonderful plot. It was a wonderful film experience. I could not believe that the actress was 60 years old!
The Battle of Algiers, 1966
Yacef Saadi. Jean Martin. Gillo Pontecorvo's prize winning semi-documentary re-creation of the Algerian struggle to overthrow French Colonialism from 1954-1962. I found the movie disturbing and manipulative-told from the Far Left point-of-view. But, it is extremely well done and captivating.
S.W.A.T., 2003
Samuel L. Jackson. Colin Farrell. A funny, tongue-in-cheek, stupid film but utterly entertaining of cops and bad guys, lots of car chases and broken glass and suspense.
Rana's Wedding, 2002
Jack Shaheen who introduced this film on Turner Classics was quite disingenuous by saying that it carried no political overtones. Clara Khoury. Khalifa Natoor. A Palestinian woman has to find her lover to marry him before 4 PM when her father will take her away. She has to go through Jerusalem, at the height of the Intifada and there are all kinds of attitude toward the Israeli's during these horrible times. I felt that her marriage was only the excuse to show how bad the Israeli's were without any context or understanding into the complexity of why they had to do what they were doing.
It was disgusting!
The Adjustment Bureau, 2010
Instead of God and Angles, men in black suits and hats, need to fulfill their maps of individual charts of fate and destiny. The two are not meant to meet but they do and throughout the film that destiny needs to be re-calibrated.
It was a thoroughly entertaining film that was great to watch on the plane.
Salt, 2010
Angelina Jolie. A highly suspenseful film which surprisingly I loved! It is about a possible double agent and mole — she does her own stunts — and you are on the edge of your seat the entire time!
The Ragman, 1925
Silent. Jackie Coogan and Max Davidson. Coogan became an international child star and sensation from this film which was developed by Charlie Chaplin. It is about an orphan who comes to work with a ragman and how they learn to love and protect each other. A charming and delightful film. Coogan is indeed, as sensation.
Shalom Aleichem - Laughing In The Darkness
A marvelous documentary about this great Yiddish writer. When he died over 200,000 people attended his funeral.
His life was sad and hard and great and prolific and conflictual. "A portrait of the great writer whose stories became the basis of the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof. Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness tells the tale of the rebellious genius who created an entirely new literature. Plumbing the depths of a Jewish world locked in crisis and on the cusp of profound change, he captured that world with brilliant humor. Sholem Aleichem was not just a witness to the creation of a new modern Jewish identity, but one of the very men who forged it."
Chasing Madoff
The unfortunately true story of the decade long obsession to bring Madoff down — as Harry Markopolos. knew that this man was a complete and total fraud and head of a Ponzi scheme. He was constantly ignored and written off by the SCC and all other Government and private agencies and Hedge Funds. He was unrelenting and became increasingly paranoid as he feared for his life for being a whistle blower. Ironically, it was none of the above that brought Madoff down but himself and his own confession. I thought the movie was way too dramatic for my taste and that this over drama actually took away from the authenticity of the film. I thought this his sons though were adorable.
The Grand Illusion, 1937
French. Jean Gabin. Pierre Fresnay. Jean Renoir's masterful story of French Officers in a WWI German Prison camp. It is a powerful indictment of war. It shows how far people will go to maintain their humanity. Gabin was the Humphrey Bogart of his day and a man of little emotion, action or in my mind, presence. He grunts and waddles and moves around — why exactly is he considered such a great actor? I thought the movie marvelous and a classic and powerful and moving. I loved it completely.
People of No Importance, 1956
French. Directed by Henri Verneuil. A married truck driver (Jean Gabin) engages in an affair with a waitress from a diner that he frequents often and leaves his family for her. This rainy and shadowy and despairing and dark film captured the grainy, hard life of a truck driver, where hand mouth to hand mouth, paycheck to paycheck existence takes a toll on the spirit and joy of the human heart. There was no joy or smile or happiness in anyones life — just a desperation and hopelessness that anything will ever be better. The morals of the time that this film was made was the reason the movie had to conclude the way it did. Today, it would have a very different ending. I thought the film was simply extraordinary in its capture of small insignificant lives and mood and place and time.
La Bandera, 1935
French. Jean Gabin. A French Legionnaires soldier struggles to hide his identity for a murder he committed in his past. Like Les Miz, he is stalked and hunted by a hidden policeman and tries to hide from him, who later he saves his life and after our hero dies, the policeman is left with nothing, as the chase was all that he was interested in. It is slow moving but I stuck with it. You experience an army life with all its aggression, fight, pairing off, noble prostitute whom he falls in love with, misery, drink, thirsts, hard work, gay guy, hardened heart. Our men deserve to be forgotten. Stalking their desolation.
Pepe le Moko, 1937
Jean Gabin. Mireille Balin. "Gabin became a star in this version of Algiers. He hides in the Cabesh and finally is lured out and killed by the French who are out to get him. You are supposed to have sympathy with him but I don't. A boring film and just a vehicle to promote Gabin.
La Bete Humaine, 1938
Jean Gabin. Simone Simon. Another boring and predictable movie about a man who gets caught inside himself with rage and murders his victims. It is about a master crook who falls for a society woman." If, society woman is someone who is the wife of the train captain. She is supposed to be a femme fatale but none of it is believable. It is all hooky and silly. After two murders, it becomes even more ridiculous.
A Kiss Before Dying, 1956
Robert Wagner. Joanne Woodward. This is an extremely well-acted story of a fortune hunger who commits two murders to marry into a rich and successful family. When one of the sisters becomes pregnant, he pushes her over the top of a roof so that he does not have to marry her and elope and loose access to her money. He goes after the other sister and then it becomes really chilling. He is a cold blooded murdered, and clever how he hides all track of his action and disguise. I usually do not like movies from the 50's but this was a real suspense thriller.
Life As We Know It, 2010
Katherine Heigl. Josh Duhamel. "An ambitious caterer and a network sports director, with nothing in common but that opposites attract, when circumstances force them together to care for their orphaned god daughter, their lives are thrown into chaos. The movie rated one star. It was truly stupid and mindless and ridiculous and badly acted and written and executed and dumb and I would never ever recommend it. However, I had fun with it for what it was. The movie was mindless entertainment after an exhausting day. Duhamel was good looking too!
A Fine Madness, 1966
Joanne Woodward. Sean Connery. Connery plays an obnoxious, drunk and womanizing poet who is in love with himself and tortured by poetry, sex and violence and psychiatry. It dragged a bit, was filled with clique and silliness and felt very dated indeed.
One Day
Anne Hathaway. "Directed by Lone Scherfig (director of An Education, Academy Award-nominated for Best Picture), One Day is adapted for the screen by David Nicholls from his bestselling novel. After one day together—July 15th, 1988, their college graduation—Emma Morley (Academy Award nominee Anne Hathaway) and Dexter Mayhew (Jim Sturgess, Across the Universe) begin a friendship that will last a lifetime. She is a working-class girl of principle and ambition who dreams of making the world a better place. He is a wealthy charmer who dreams that the world will be his playground. For the next two decades, key moments of their relationship are experienced over several July 15th s in their lives. Together and apart, we see Dex and Em through their friendship and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. Somewhere along their journey, these two people realize that what they are searching and hoping for has been there for them all along. As the true meaning of that one day back in 1988 is revealed, they come to terms with the nature of love and life itself." I thought the music was simply wonderful, romantic and sad.
The reviews were poor but I liked this movie very much. I thought bought actors were believable and constantly were missing they're timing and luck with each other. It shows the depth of love, that when you are in love, you cannot forget, ignore or compromise with yourself.
The Hurricane, 1937
John Ford, Director. Marama (Dorothy Lamour) Terrangi (Jon Hall) Mme. De Laage (Mary Astor) De Laage (Raymond Massey.) I LOVE this film and would love to own it except it is over $100. Everyone is perfectly cast, Jon Hall is simply gorgeous and muscular and manly, with clearly defined features. He is forced to serve 8 years because of racism and prejudice and the unrelenting and cruel governor, who lacks all humanity, forces Terrangi to do things he would never do except if his back is against the wall. The white man had nothing but contempt for those they sought to break in spirit and soul. The hurricane is realistic and horrifying and sad. Simply put, this movie is a masterpiece.
The Fabulous Baker Boys, 1989
Jeff and Beau Bridges and Michelle Pfeiffer. The Baker Boys are a duo who play piano at 3rd rate clubs. They get a girl, a beautiful smart floozy to liven up their act, which she does. It was so satisfying to see a movie without special effects but well done plot development, dialogue, character driven story line. I felt bad for all the characters and could see their point of view. Jeff was really beginning to annoy me as he refused to accept responsibility for his actions. It all rested on Beau to keep their act together. And, Pfeiffer played her own manipulations to a tee. The climatic scene between she and Jeff was one of the best in film. This extremely crafted and fine film has stood its place in time. It is not to be to missed.
pure Country 2: The Gift, 2010
Directed by Christopher Cain. George Strait. Katrina Elam (a gorgeous voice of a nice-enough-looking country singer. "A trio of angels give a young woman the perfect country-singing voice, but force her to adhere to strict standards of behavior in order to keep her voice." Be Fair. Don't Lie. And, don't break a promise. Of course she breaks all three codes of moral behavior and ultimately looses her voice. She has to find redemption and ask forgiveness for all the people she has hurt, do good deeds, in order to gain back and earn her voice back. It was a light-weight film, but late at night, it was perfect and I enjoyed it thoroughly for what it was.
No Way Out, 1950
Richard Widmart. Sidney Poitier. Joseph Mankiewicz's film of a bigoted scumbag who tries to murder a brilliant and lovely and smart and kind and hard-working black medical intern. I was surprised by the intensity of the racism and the use of the n-word. This film would never be able to be made today. But, it was fine and well-done and extremely well acted.
Conviction, 2010
Hilary Swank. Sam Rockwell. "A Massachusetts wife and mother dedicates her life to becoming a lawyer in hopes of exonerating her imprisoned brother whom she believes was wrongfully convicted of a murder in this drama." I only wished that I liked the brother more or felt any sympathy for him at all. But, the kids were wild and disrespectful of authority. The brother was a scumbag with little if any redeeming qualities. I found she neglected and abandoned the raising of her boys by her single-mindedness of trying to save her brother. It was a hard and unrelenting film, spending company with low-lifes.
Swank does a wonderful job of acting, as always.
Brief Moment, 1933
Carol Lombard. Donald Cook. Gene Raymond. Directed byDavid Burton. Written by Brian Marlow and Edith Fitzgerald. A spoiled society scion (Gene Raymond) who is a F. Scott Fitzgerald look alike, weds a savvy nightclub chanteuse who proceeds to have a profound impact on him, like stop drinking, get a job, and start taking yourself seriously. This dated film dwells on themes and values that are gone such as a class society, where people dress and pretend, where every stereotype about the rich and fabulously rich are presented as is. This is an utterly forgetful film.
Kiss Me Kate, 1953
Music: Cole Porter. Kathryn Grayson. Howard Keel. A wonderful joyful adaptation with Vundbar! Which was my favorite song!
The Help
"Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, The Help stars Emma Stone (Easy A) as Skeeter, Academy Award-nominated Viola Davis (Doubt) as Abilene and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed—even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times. Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humor and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change. Directed by Tate Taylor." A beautiful adaptation and moving performances of this intimate and personal story of the book that I should have written a long time ago.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
"In Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's (I Love You Phillip Morris) comedy Crazy Stupid Love, forty-something, strait-laced Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) is living the dream—good job, nice house, great kids and marriage to his high school sweetheart. But when Cal learns that his wife, Emily (Julianne Moore), has cheated on him and wants a divorce, his "perfect" life quickly unravels. Worse, in today's single world, Cal, who hasn't dated in decades, stands out as the epitome of Un-smooth. Now spending his free evenings sulking alone at a local bar, the hapless Cal is taken on as wingman and protégé to handsome, thirty-something player Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling). In an effort to help Cal get over his wife and start living his life, Jacob opens Cal's eyes to the many options before him: flirty women, manly drinks and a sense of style that can't be found at Super cuts or The Gap. Cal and Emily aren't the only ones looking for love in what might be all the wrong places: Cal's 13-year-old son, Robbie, is crazy about his 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica, who harbors a crush on Cal. And despite Cal's makeover and his many new conquests, the one thing that can't be made over is his heart, which seems to keep leading him back to where he began." I found this film boring, and the son too cutie. He looked like a girl! I found his behavior and comments so out of line with a 13 year old. It did not at all seem believable. I just did not connect with this film.
Unstoppable, 2010
Directed by Tony Scott. Denzel Washington. Chris Pine. An unrelenting, pounding, thriller of a runaway train, going 70 miles per hour, and due to hubris and sloppiness and carelessness and how a veteran engineer and a young conductor pull out all the stops in order to stop this train. The previews made it look as if one of them is going to die. They don't. That the runaway train is going to hit a train filled with school children. It doesn't. I did not recognize Washington. He has gained a tremendous amount of weight and he wore loose clothing to hide this large weight gain. The film was nothing to write home about.
A Letter to Three Wives, 1948
Jeanne Crain. Ann Sothern. Linda Darnell. A former rival writes to three wives saying she has run off with one of their husbands. The film each becomes a flashback as each wife finds a reasons why it is her husband. It is so dated and conventional I could not believe that I spent time watching it.
127 Hours, 2010
James Franco. Amber Tamblyn. Directed by Danny Boyle. "An inspiring docudrama about adventurer Aron Ralston, who was trapped in an Utah canyon for five days with his hand stuck under a boulder and who eventually resorted to desperate measures in order to escape." It was extremely well done, well-acted, suspenseful and gripping. A very fine and powerful film. Quite extraordinary. James Franco created this cocky and careless and selfish young man who realized that eventually a rock would fall on him due to his personal behavior toward himself and others. The rock became the metaphor of his life. After reading on Wikipedia about the real Aron Ralston, it was disappointing they had not put in some of his personal background information. Top of his class at Carnegie Mellon, a major in French, Mechanical Engineering and Piano, he was quite accomplished and smart!
Four Christmases, 2008
Vince Vaughn. Reese Witherspoon. "When their annual vacation getaway falls through, a happily unmarried couple are forced to spend their Christmas with the families of their four divorced parents on the same day." A silly and contrived comedy but with excellent dialogue.
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
"Taking the best from La Vie En Rose and Amélie, renowned comic book artist Joann Sfar's Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is a completely original take on one of France's greatest mavericks, the illustrious and infamous Jewish singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino, Best Actor—2011 César Awards), father of current star Charlotte Gainsbourg. The film follows Serge (born Lucien Ginsburg to Russian-Jewish parents) from his awkward, precocious childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris, to his beginnings as small time jazz musician and finally pop superstar. Along the way he romances many of the era's most beautiful women, including singer Juliette Gréco (Anna Mouglalis), Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta) and Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon). Yet despite undreamed-of success, he could not find happiness nor remain faithful. Sfar's unorthodox narrative style makes use of a giant puppet alter-ego to surprising effect. Employing a witty surrealistic style and a soundtrack that includes many of the musician's greatest hits,Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is a quintessential time capsule to '60s Paris." This film was so utterly boring, devoid of all life, and shallow with no human interaction that felt real, that after an hour, I simply walked out. It was a dreadful film. The critics are in love with themselves reviewing it — like Paris, Texas.
Virtue, 1932
Pat O'Brian. Carole Lombard. "A streetwalker and a New York cab driver experience roadblocks on their way to romance and marriage." This wonderful little film was a huge hit, showing a young and gorgeous Lombard. She plays a virtuous prostitute and she has never looked more beautiful. It is filled with wise cracking and tough talk and is funny but not dated. One gal says to the other — he's a momzer over there! That is a Jewish word for bastard — for having another man's child when married to someone else! This dialogue came straight from a Jewish screenwriter! Other words that so reflected the time period: saps. Chump. Swell. Ok giser. it is the poison talking. Sea water. We had swell times together sqarein around together. I loved it!
Contagion
This was an extremely well done and well acted film. The pace and suspense and believability with how people behaved in a crisis, life and death situation were all too believable. I feel as if I was a visionary with my attitudes towards no touching, kissing or shaking hands. "Featuring a stellar international cast, including Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet, the global thrillerContagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart. Directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic)."
This movie will be a huge hit. It also stars: Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Ehle, Bryan Cranston, Sanaa Lathan, Elliott Gould
In Name Only, 1931
Carole Lombard. Cary Grant. Directed By: John Cromwell. This was a highly intelligent film with excellent dialogue about a treatment of a love triangle — where the wife will not give her husband his long sought out divorce. The wife is a manipulative, controlled rage beast who plots and schemes to prevent her husband from leaving her.
Hands Across The Table, 1935
Carole Lombard (Died at 33 years old) Fred MacMurry. This is a sophisticated film about the romance of a manicurist and a former millionaire. The dialogue was wise-cracking, fast paced and adorable and the chemistry and love between then two of them was felt jumping out of the screen. I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely romantic comedy.
Bad Boy, 1949
Audie Murphy. The story of a young hoodlum (Danny Lester) who is sent to a rehabilitation farm for juvenile delinquents. I loved this film. It is all about the importance of having one person believe in you, how devastating guilt can be, how rage can destroy a life. Ever since I saw the biography of Murphy, my heart has bleed for him — abandoned by his father, and left in utter poverty, he rose to become a hero in WW2 and a successful career in acting. This boy could have been him.
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song. 2001
Documentary. "A profile of the Berlin-born stage and screen star (1901-92) features newsreel footage; family films and photos; performance clips; readings from her letters; and comments from associates." I saw a finer documentary at the Berlin Film Festival but this was very good too. My father's favorite actress, she possessed class and strength and morals and principles, something so lacking in today's stars. It was sad that she became a recluse at the end of her life because of vanity-she did not want anyone to see her and how old she had become.
I Don't Know How She Does It
"I Don't Know How She Does It, a comedy from director Douglas McGrath (Emma), is based on the critically acclaimed bestseller by Allison Pearson. Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker), a working mother trying desperately to juggle marriage, children, devotes her days to her high-stress job with a Boston-based financial management firm. At night she goes home to her adoring, recently downsized architect husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) and their two young children. It's a non-stop balancing act, the same one that Kate's acerbic best friend and fellow working mother Allison (Christina Hendricks) performs on a daily basis, and that Kate's super-brainy, child-phobic young junior associate Momo (Olivia Munn) fully intends to avoid. When Kate gets handed a major new account that will require frequent trips to New York, Richard also wins the new job he's been hoping for—and both will be spreading themselves even thinner. Complicating matters is Kate's charming new business associate Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan), who begins to prove an unexpected source of temptation. Director: Douglas McGrath. Also with: Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Munn, Seth Meyers, Kelsey Grammer, Christina Hendricks, Jane Curti."
An utterly charming and entertaining mindless film with such fresh dialogue of the lives of today's young professional women that it made me chuckle. I thought that they nailed the experience in a funny, funny way, warts and all, types of mothers and competitors and all. I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was!
The Prince and The Showgirl, 1957
Laurence Olivier. Marilyn Monroe. A regent invites a showgirl, that he hopes to seduce, to his embassy. Monroe was 31 years old when she starred in this. Loosely based on Grace Kelly's story, it has all the baseline of Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. And, like Roberts, Monroe steals the film. She was one of the most sensual and seductive women on screen. Their must have been something strange and remote about her, as it seems the only way she is able to relate to other people is as a seductress. But she eats up the camera. You cannot take your eyes off of hers, even with such an accomplished actor as Olivier. She steals every scene. It is hard to imagine that she plays the same role and is the same person as she appeared in The Misfits. Here she was puffy and under-the-influence of something.
Three months after making this movie, she was dead at 36 years old. She is a size 12, we would call rotunda and proud of it!
Howard's Ends, 1992
Director: James Ivory. Producer: Ismail Merchant. Emma Thompson. Anthony Hopkins. Vanessa Redgrave. James Wilby. Helena Bonham Carter. "We must only connect." E.M.Forster. Nature pulls one way. And human nature another. Romantic Ambition. "A trio of Oscars went to this adaptation Edwardian novel about two sisters who become involved with a wealthy and domineering family. One becomes disgusted with the contempt and indifference of how poorer people are treated, the snobbery and entitlement and disregard of their lives and their station in life.
The Remains of The Day, 1993
James Fox. Emma Thompson. Christopher Reeves. Anthony Hopkins (Mr. Stephens) Marvelous musical score.
Directed by James Ivory. Produced by Ismail Merchant. This film was an exquisite adaptation of Kazvo Ishiguro's novel about the unspoken attraction between a butler and a the chief housekeeper as they were in service to a British Lord who was a not-so-hidden Nazi. Loss opportunity. Loss dreams. Regret. Powerful and classical film.
The White Shadow, 1924
Silent. Director: Alfred Hitchcock. Only 1/3 of this film remains — the rest lost to history. It was a wonderful story, but tragically the remaining reels do not exist.
Niagara, 1953
Director: Henry Hathaway. Marilyn Monroe (26 years old) Joseph Cotten. Jean Peters. Marilyn or Betty is married to a wife of a Korean war veteran who is jealous and possessive of her. Betty is an aggressive schemer, having an affair with another man and plotting to have this man murder her husband. "It all takes place by this cheap tourist motel by Niagara Falls that creates a thundering melodrama." Chicago Film critic. I loved the film. Monroe was never more sensual or sexy, alive or passionate as she was in this film. "Mean spirited dry drunks."
50/50
"Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen star as best friends whose lives are changed by a cancer diagnosis in this new comedy directed by Jonathan Levine (The Wackiness). Inspired by personal experiences, 50/50 is an original story about friendship, love, survival and finding humor in unlikely places. In spite of his healthy lifestyle, Adam (Gordon-Levitt) receives shocking news that he has a rare form of cancer. In complete denial at first, he relies on his annoying yet humorous best friend Kyle (Rogen), his family and a young medical student, Katie (Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air) for moral and psychological support as he comes to terms with his condition and gathers the courage to fight for his life. 50/50 is the story of a guy's transformative and, yes, sometimes funny journey to health—drawing its emotional core from writer Will Reiser's own experience with cancer and reminding us that friendship and love, no matter what bizarre turns they take, are the greatest healers. Also starring Anjelica Huston."
I thought this was truly a wonderful film — one of the finest in terms of dealing with cancer and a year in the life of.
Gordon-Levitt is marvelous. Rogen is his usual obnoxious infantile self, and Huston way overplays the hysterical mother. Puh-leeze. Showing such drama and anger does not mean you love your son more — you are only making it more difficult for him. When he first hears his diagnosis, I loved how he zoned out and looked at the window which turned into the space of death. Very real. Or, when he looses himself and falls apart sobbing at the wheel. Very real. It was treated with such a feeling of authenticity that it was one of the finest films that I have seen this year.
Buster Keaton - Silent Films
Cops, 1922
Buster is running, climbing and jumping from the law. Policemen are everywhere chasing him constantly.
The Love Nest, 1922
Buster has a bad dream where he is alone on a whale freighter with a bad sea captain, only to awake at the end to discover that his little boat never left port.
Goat, 1921
Buster is targeted by a mob when he is mistakenly identified for the out-law Dead-Eye Dan.
The Saphead, 1921
Buster Keaton. William H. Crane. Keaton made his silent feature film debut as the pampered son of a tycoon. I love his great, stone, granite, well-defined face.
Battling Butler, 1926
"Buster Keaton directed a stars in this silent face about a foppish millionaire who pretends to be a prizefighter to win the hand of his sweetheart." He goes dressed in tails and top coat camping! with his Valet! "Arrange it!" he barks.
Our Hospitality, 1923
Buster Keaton. Joseph Keaton at one-year-old. Natalie Talmadge Keaton plays his love object. This wonderful and highly entertaining classic is about a Southerner who returns to Dixie to claim an inheritance and falls in love with the daughter of the feuding clan. It is like a Romeo and Juliet story but takes place in the old south. I loved this particular one by Keaton and found myself laughing out loud!
Convict 13, 1920
"Buster Keaton co-directed and stars in this silent film about a golfer who gets knocked unconscious and dreams that he is a convict who is condemned to die." Very funny. Laughed out loud. He is so young!
Paleface, 1921
"An innocent man falls a foul of Native Americans who are getting screwed by big evil oil barons. Buster finds himself in the middle of this squabble. It is laughing out loud time for me. This film was not politically correct and yet, it sided on the side of the Indians. The cast looked exactly like the same men as in his other films but who are posing as cops.
Love it completely!
The Scarecrow, 1920
Two farmhands, Keaton and Joe Roberts, the large heavy set big man that stars in all the other Keaton films, vie for a farmers daughter, played by Sybil Seely. It is the classic chase, acrobat, clever, funny typical film by Keaton.
The Playhouse, 1921
This film offers a dazzling display of technical special effects of its day. Keaton plays every role in the stage show, as well as every member of the audience, and the band.
Shanghai Express, 1932
Director: Josef von Sternberg. Marlene Dietrich. Clive Brook. "Opus about the Chinese Civil War. Dietrich is notable portraying a notorious femme fatale." I have never seen such a young Dietrich. She is gorgeous. She did not age well.
Her face is magnificent and the lightening on it is breathtaking. She is a true artist how she uses her hands to express as much emotion as on her face. It took my breath away. She knew how to pose her face and her hands to express the depth of all emotion.
The Blue Angel, 1930
Directed by Josef von Sternberg. Marlene Dietrich. Emil Jannings. Dietrich plays a cabaret singer who leads a shy and stuffy and bitter, lonely Professor to shame, humiliation and ruin. She flattered him, seduced him and played with him and ultimately destroyed him as he was out of his element with her, and her life and values. It was an extraordinary film experience, one of the finest I have known and the most powerful. I have not been able to stop thinking about this remarkable film. Dietrich was young and beautiful and she nailed her role, as did Jannings. Its memorable music lives to this day. I loved this film, madly.
Catherine The Great, 1934
This was an entertaining and stylish interpretation of the legend of Catherine The Great in Russia, 1730s.
The Devil in a Woman, 1935
Adapted from the book by John Dos Passos called The Woman and the Puppet by Pierre Louys. Marlene Dietrich. Cesar Romero. Directed by Josef von Sternberg. This beautiful and young Dietrich is her most glamourous as Concka, who collects hearts and breaks them just as easily. Wonderful film.
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Director Martin Scorsese. This was a sprawling, two-part profile of George Harrison (1943 - 2001) It covers his years as a Beatle in Germany and their meteoric rise to fame, fortune, experimentation with drugs, religion and Indian music.
How did I find this HBO rambling montage? Certainly not as good as his Bob Dylan. For the most part I found it an excuse to do a documentary on the Beatles as 90% of it was about the group. Maybe this was the only way, he had the ability to make this film legally without being hit by lawsuits — but manipulating the view point so that the audience thought it was only about George. Everyone kept saying how sweet and gentle George was. I found him hard and cold, emotionally withdrawn, with a mean streak. All his friends would only say marvelous things about him — he is dead. The only one who had any bit of truth to him was Eric Clapton, who alluded to his vindictiveness and self-centeredness. He did not seem too nice to his wife who saved his life and remained steadfast, although he was whoring around. After seeing this show, I liked less than before. A forgettable man who became very lucky indeed.
Murder Most Foul, 1963
"Margaret Rutherford plays Agatha Christie's Miss Marble, investigating murder in a repertory company. She is a riot and a nosy busybody who nails the part exquisitely. I got such a kick out of her!
The First Wives Club, 1996
Maggie Smith. Bette Midler. Diane Keaton. Golde Hawn. This dated and silly comedy was entertaining if your wanted mindlessness. Three college friends reunite over a death fourth friend. All of them have been left by their husbands for younger women. They plot and scheme revenge for they're philandering husbands and boy do they get it! This was certainly a chic film and I love anything with Hawn and Midler. They are a cream. Keaton so over acts — she is truly one of the most grating actresses.
My Sister's Keeper, 2009
Director: Nick Cassavete. Cameron Diaz. Abigail Breslan. Jason Patric. This sensitive drama is about a family who births a baby solely to save the life of their older dying daughter. Breslan is marvelous. Patric has no emotion at all. Diaz is excellent as a serious actress. i wonder why she does not take more of these kind of roles. But, it is when their older daughter needs a kidney transplant that Breslan, at age 11, hires a lawyer that the action becomes directed. The dying daughter has such an unbelievable goody quality about her. I found it not believable. Where was her resentment and hurt and why me and anger at her situation? Where is her asking her Mother or God why she is dying and in so much pain! The film was exceptionally well done. At the closing scene, where the family is gathered in Wyoming, you can feel their brokenness and pain.
Fireflies in the Garden
Fireflies in the Garden is a closely observed exploration of the complexities of love and commitment in a family torn apart when faced with an unexpected tragedy. To an outsider, the Taylors are the very picture of the successful American family: Charles (Willem Dafoe) is a tenured professor on track to become university president; son Michael (Ryan Reynolds) is a prolific and well-known romance novelist; daughter Ryne (Shannon Lucio) is poised to enter a prestigious law school; and on the day we are introduced to them, matriarch Lisa (Julia Roberts) will graduate from college—decades after leaving to raise her children. But when a serious accident interrupts the celebration, the far more nuanced reality of this Midwestern family's history and relationships come to light. The feature debut of writer/director Dennis Lee. This well done, and well-acted film is actually forgettable. A short story in another time. It skipped around too much at the beginning and it took me longer than it should have to get the relationships defined between flashbacks. I felt that Michael's burning of his book seemed unreal — he would not have changed in his distrust and dislike of his father in so short a time — the transition was not believable and his ambition would have wanted his hard earned book to be published. Most of the acting was flat, except for the young Michael. It had too dark interiors, there was little lightness to this family and I became bored. Somehow, the abuse and cruelty of the father did not really get communicated to me as deeply as the Director wanted me to believe. He was harsh and cruel and exacting and critical and mean and distant, and all of those things. You could see his hatred of his son, or more deeply, hatred of himself.
It was pretty bad. But, I as the viewer was kept at a distance.
The Runaway Bus, 1954
Frankie Howard. Margaret Rutherford. Exaggerated tale about a fogbound bus that has a stolen huge amount of gold in it and that carries an assortment of passengers. Percy plays the Engineer. He is a hysterical, high-strung man who got me nervous. Most of the characters are suspicious, could have, would have stolen the money. The fact that it was the only lady and her accomplice seemed so far fetched, that it was truly unbelievable.
Murder at the Gallop, 1963
Margaret Rutherford. Robert Morley. A whodunit Miss. Marble movie from Agatha Christie's series. Once again Miss Marble figures out the murderer, in this case, the companion of the old lady. It was well done and suspenseful and would have made a superb play.
Sing Your Song
A Profile of Singer, Actor and Activist, Harry Belafonte.
This somewhat soft pedaling documentary chronicles the career and life of his show-business, personal life and his tireless devotion to progressive causes and civil rights struggles in the United Sates and the world at large. There are interviews with his children who seemed to remember him as a mostly absent father but when he was home, he was intensely involved with them, but then again, he wasn't home all that much. My father was Movement Making, said one daughter. His son said that he was in love with the human race, had more trouble on the personal note. I grew up with Belafonte, my mother had a crush on him, as he was considered gorgeous. However, in his adulthood, he became enamored with dictators around the globe, sympathizing with the PLO under Arafat and his politics alienated many of his admirers. Too bad. During the Bush years he also made appalling and dangerous statements about the United States government and the documentary completely deleted all of them from this show. I found this somewhat disingenuous. I think the film was made to promote his book that Belafonte is currently touring and trying to sell.
Hereafter, 2010
Written and Directed by Clint Eastwood. Matt Damon. Bryce Dallas Howard. "This piercing drama follows a working-class American, a Psychic, a French Journalist (Cecile De France) and a London schoolboy who has lost his twin, as their lives intersect when their collective grief leads them on a journey to discover the truth about the afterlife." It was extremely well done. Powerful and moving. I thought an extraordinary compelling and thoughtful film — where the characters suffered from real trauma and loss and how they came to resolve these issues. I thought the tsunami at the beginning the film was the most realistic thing that I have seen in years. I immediately saw the film again — it was that good.
MoneyBall
Moneyball is based on the true story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt)—once a would-be baseball superstar who turned his fiercely competitive nature to management. Heading into the 2002 season, Billy faces a dismal situation: his small-market Oakland A’s have lost their star players (again) to big market clubs (and their enormous salaries) and he is left to rebuild his team and compete with a third of their payroll. Driven to win, Billy looks outside of baseball and hires Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a brainy, number-crunching, Yale-educated economist. Armed with computer-driven statistical analysis long ignored by the baseball establishment, they reach imagination-defying conclusions and go after players overlooked and dismissed by the rest of baseball for being too odd, too old, too injured or too much trouble, but who all have key skills that are universally undervalued. As Billy and Peter forge forward, their new methods and roster of misfits rile the old guard, the media, the fans, and their own field manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who refuses to cooperate. Ultimately this experiment will lead not only to a change in the way the game is played, but to an outcome that would leave Billy with a new understanding that transcends the game and delivers him to a new place. Robin Wright co-stars.This was simply a marvelous film — well done. It lingered on images. There were pauses instead of non-stop pulsating noise. There were no special effects. It was an intelligent film. Brad Pitt should win an Academy Award for his performance. He carried the entire film.I loved it. It explained the plot and storyline in simple man's terms. It was fascinating what goes on behind the scenes. I loved how they got all the players on board and explained everything to them so that they would work together as a team.
Martha, Marcy, Mae, Malene
"Martha Marcy May Marlene, writer/director Sean Durkin's feature film debut, is a powerful psychological thriller starring Elizabeth Olsen as Martha, a young woman rapidly unraveling amidst her attempt to reclaim a normal life after fleeing from a cult and its charismatic leader (John Hawkes, Academy Award nominee for Winter’s Bone). Seeking help from her estranged older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and brother-in-law (Hugh Dancy), Martha is unable and unwilling to reveal the truth about her disappearance. When her memories trigger a chilling paranoia that her former cult could still be pursuing her, the line between Martha's reality and delusion begins to blur." This harrowing and terrifying thriller could not be more disturbing than it is. Olsen does a magnificent job of acting and interpreting the role as a confused and desperate cult escapee, trusting no one, doubting her values, beliefs, relationships, perceptions. I sat on the edge of my seat desperate for the film to end, as I could take no more tension. It is a hard film to recommend — would play beautifully at Independent Houses for like minded souls. Communes are not about family. They are about power and control, and a breakdown of values, and brainwashing, and giving your personal responsibility and authority over to someone else, and lost children from lost families, and rage and violence. It is a phony and inauthentic way of being in the world where nothing is real but pretend and phoniness.
Kawasaki's Rose
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Like Crazy
A love story is both a physical and emotional tale, one that can be deeply personal and heartbreaking for an audience to experience. Director Drake Doremus' film Like Crazy beautifully illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is devastating. When a British college student (Felicity Jones) falls for her American classmate (Anton Yelchin) they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey only to be separated when she violates the terms of her visa. Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Picture at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and of the Special Jury Prize for Best Actress for Felicity Jones. This marvelous and remarkable film so reflected Cary and me and it could have gone so easily another way — the ambiguity at the end was real and authentic. I loved this film completely. It will be a big hit by word-of-mouth.
Thomas Jefferson
A Film By Ken Burns
I am such a huge fan of this genius of a documentarian that there are no words to what he does and accomplishes.
Superb and excellent. What else can I say?
A Dangerous Method
"The cities of Zurich and Vienna on the eve of World War 1 are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender of Shame and Jane Eyre), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley, Atonement), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel, Black Swan), a free-thinker who encourages Jung to cross therapist-patient boundaries. This exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit sets the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. Screenplay by Christopher Hampton(Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons), based on his play The Talking Cure. Directed by David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises, A History of Violence)." This talking movie, was much like the talking cure. I thought Keira Knightley way over-acted her part — she got on my nerves. I thought both Freud and Jung came across as thoughtful and deliberate men. I liked how they captured the period and the times. Jung's wife was too pretty — in fact, she was far more German Haus Frau looking. It shows how experience and their ideas and theory came through their personal experience with Sabina and how they stole all of her ideas, which was the truth.
My Week With Marilyn
"In the early summer of 1956, 23-year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne) came down from Oxford determined to make his way in the film business. He worked as a lowly assistant on the set of The Prince and the Showgirl, the film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Arthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Mewas published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn. This is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life—an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work. Simon Curtis' directorial debut also stars Judi Dench, Julia Ormond and Dominic Cooper." This profoundly sad film was well done.
It caught the price of celebrity, how she was chased wherever she went. How everyone wanted a piece of her, and wanted Marilyn and not Norma Baker. How she was used and abused by everyone. Whom could she trust? Who really loved her? How enthralled everyone was with her and in awe of her, all the British actors. After seeing the movie, it was wonderful to see what really went on behind the scenes.
The Artist
"Hollywood 1927. Silent movie matinee idol George Valentin (Jean Dujardin, the charismatic star of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) is enjoying the good life, although he seems fonder of his faithful dog than of his trophy wife (Penelope Ann Miller). He meets funny, sexy young extra Peppy Miller (Bérénice Bejo), a dancer set for a big break, and sparks fly. With the advent of the talkies George's career nosedives, while Peppy's takes off. The Artist is the charming and poignant story of their interlinked destinies—a delightful valentine to the love of cinema, with a tip of the hat to Singin' in the Rain andA Star Is Born. Writer/director Michel Hazanavicius (who also directed the OSS 117films) daringly shot the film completely in the style of a silent feature, in black and white and without sound (with a few striking exceptions), filmed on location in Hollywood, set to a wonderful original score by Ludovic Bource. Winner of the Best Actor Award (Dujardin) at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Co-starring John Goodman, Malcolm McDowell, and James Cromwell." This remarkable Masterpiece creates a silent film with a modern sensibility. I loved it passionately and will go and see it again, and again. Everything worked perfectly. It was absolute perfection.
Marathon Boy
This HBO Documentary was made in 2010 but just released. This is a remarkable, haunting and at times deeply disturbing film. Gemma Atwal is the journalist who tells the story. It is about a 4-year-old-boy, Budhia Singh, who is rescued from the slums of India by a savvy judo trainer, Biranchi Das, who runs an orphanage. He recognizes this young boys extraordinary talent as a runner and begins to promote him. The rise of the boy to national prominence is marred by charges of exploitation, child-endangerment and bureaucratic red tape. Eventually the trainer is murdered, the boy is given an athletic scholarship to a private school, and his life becomes normal. I found it astonishing that the government became involved in this case, considering they do not give a damn for the millions of starving children in the slums from where he came. What famous athlete has not been exploited by an over zealous parents or trainer? What I did find cruel was how Das would bicycle alongside Singh to keep his speed up and how he never gave him water! He had no idea how to train a runner! He made his run for 43 miles with very little water! After Das was murdered, I was also surprised to see little sadness on the part of Singh who lost this father figure. He may have been influenced by his greedy, uneducated mother who tried to blackmail and demand more money from Das. Who knows the truth!?
Colombiana
After witnessing her parents being murdered, 10-year-old Cataley sets off on a 15-year journey for revenge. Starring Zoe? the black actress of Avatar, this fast paced and exciting film grips you from the beginning. I thought it was terrific, although it went straight to video. She became an assassin for hire and was a true professional in her field!
Flipped
This romantic coming of age comedy follows the paths of Bryce and Juli from grade school to junior high. The film was sweet and kind and touching. I enjoyed the voice over.
Hangover 2
This film was so awful and tedious and boring, I could not believe that I watched it to the end. It was exactly like Hangover which was entertaining and funny and which the Directors hoped to duplicate in its success.
Larry Crowe
This movie stars two lonely middle aged people, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. There was no chemistry or attraction. Roberts was a miserable woman who never changed her misery. The fact that this was a college was shocking, considering it felt like a public high school. I was an utterly unmemorable and should have gone straight to video.
The Apartment
Israeli. I saw this film in Israel and was very excited to see it. It is about a woman who died and when her nephew who is a documentary film maker, went into the apartment, it was as if he stepped back into the 30's in Berlin. All the furniture and clothes and books were from Germany. Nothing had changed. The woman had lived in Israel for over 50 years but her life and memory and nostalgia were all in Germany. This could have been a fascinating film, if he had creativity, to look at memory and longing and history and what it does to us. Instead, he kept it concrete and took us back to the Holocaust, where this woman and her husband escorted Nazi's around Israel and whom they kept in contact with after the war. It became a superficial "Holocaust" film and I thought that the director had the seeds of a great and original film and instead made it into a very ordinary and predictable one.
The Conspirator
A Union war hero defends Mary Sarrat in this law court movie. It is about the assassination to President Lincoln and people who plotted against him. Directed ad Produced by Robert Redford, it also stars Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood, Robin Wright, Justin Long, Tom Wilkinson. Why was Redford so interested in this subject that he distorted history and simply made it up! It made for interesting drama as I am so interested in the subject matter. Redford needed to read more about the material before he took such grand liberties with it.
The Descendants
"From Alexander Payne, creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, comes The Descendants, a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney), a distracted husband and back-up parent to two girls who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a life-threatening boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land, which was handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries. Co-starring Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Judy Greer and Beau Bridges." I would Never recommend this film! It was truly one of the most depressing, without any redeeming features really, that I have seen in a long time. I left angry and hostile and out-of-sorts, impatient with every interaction I had to deal with — such as yelling at the Capital One poorly trained employee afterwards. It left me miserable. There was something creepy about it. George Clooney is eye candy but if I had to see one more scruffy unshaven face of his, I wanted to scream. And, why does everyone have to scuffle about, with sloppy clothes? Why can't Americans look well put together and well dressed and groomed? Why is this such a problem? The whole movie was depressing and full of pain and misery and why did I spend money on this exactly?
Top Hat, 1935
Fred Astaire. Ginger Rogers. "A stage star pursues a woman from London to Venice. Madge: Helen Broderick. Beddini: Erik Rhodes. Horace: Edward Horton. Astaire is Jewish! Who would have known. He uses Rogers as a prop and though she is excellent and a swell partner, one cannot keep their eyes off of Astaire. Fascinating to learn how insecure he was and how much confidence he lacked!
The Twilight Zone Series
Stopover In A Quiet Town, 1964
"After drinking at a party, a couple wakes up in a town where there is no trace of life -- except the distant laughter and giggle of a child. Where is everybody? There is only us. And, yet, we are being watched. Nothing in this town is real."
I found this particular episode one of the most interesting. They are in outer space and are part of a child's train set which is in a village! They are tiny people to her! Her father bought this couple back from a distant place called Earth!
No Title, 1960
People are alike all over on Mars, as astronaut, (Roddy McDowell) is made to feel right at home — except he is locked inside a cage like animals in a zoo, as people stare at him as if he is an animal!
The Trade-ins, 1962
"An elderly couple want to have their bodies rejuvenated, but can afford the process of only one of them." At the end, John, (Joseph Schildkraut) would rather die and be old with his wife of over 60 years, then to be frozen and return alone into the future without her. They are an old and loving couple.
The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street, 1960
"Total power struggle in a neighborhood sparks suspicions that it was caused by an alien invasion -- and that one walks among them." This show was preachy. It shows how mobs and accusations get out of control. And, quickly!
Eye Of The Beholder, 1960
"With her head bandaged, Janet Tyler wonders if doctor's have succeeded in fixing her face." Doctor is played by William D. Gordon. The funny thing is that all the doctor's and nurse's look like monsters and she wants to look like them. It is in reverse of what you expect! What we would call normal is considered abnormal and weird.
Valley of The Shadow, 1963
Ed Nelson plays a newspaper reporter who stumbles into a town where residents have extraordinary powers which they insist remain hidden from the outside world. This was scary and creepy. Through magnetic field they were able to stop his behavior. However, love won out and his new girlfriend helps him escape.
The Long Morrow, 1964
Star-crossed lovers are played by Mariette Hartley and Robert Lansing. He is an astronaut about to embark on a 40-year Mission. It is so sad because right before he leaves, he falls in love with a young and beautiful woman. She freezes herself so that she will be young, like he, when he returns. However, he takes himself out of the freeze, so that he will be old like her, not knowing that she has put herself into the freeze. When he returns, he is 70 and she is still 26. It is so sad.
The Fugitive, 1962
Say I'm weary. Say I'm sad. Say that health and wealth have missed me. Say that I am growing old, but say that Jenny kissed me! An alien fugitive, (Pat O'Malley) brightens the world of a handicapped girl (Susan Gordon). Mrs. Gann is played by Nancy Kulp and she really captures the mean and nasty aunt who does not love the little girl. I loved this episode. It captured a Hayley Mills type character from Tiger Bay.
Third From The Sun, 1960
Convinced that atomic war is inevitable, a pilot and a scientist plan to steal a spaceship and flee to another planet.
This was really good — especially the surprise ending — when where they are going is Planet Earth!
And When The Sky Was Opened, 1959
Three Astronauts return from the first successful space probe — but are unable to recall what happened — and then one by one they disappear with the newspaper keeping in step by each day eliminating an astronaut.
The Odyssey Of Flight 33, 1961
After a freak acceleration through the sound barrier, a passenger flight crew loses all radio contact and flies back in time. They return to the age of the Dinosaurs and then fly forward, but not forward enough, and the episode ends in 1939 at The World's Trade Fair. I found it amusing to see how dressed up everyone was when they flew, with the women all wearing white gloves! I loved this one in particular.
The Invaders, 1961
There is no dialogue in this story of a rural, very poor woman (Agnes Moorehead) who battles creative robots from another planet. I can feel her terror, being all alone on this farm, and especially when she is stabbed in the foot by one of her own knives by one of the aliens. Poor woman! At the end, it is revealed that the spaceship is from the United States from a far planet called Earth. The Twilight Zone uses this kind of a twist quite often it seems.
The Hours, 2002
Nicole Kidman. Julianne More. Meryl Streep. Claire Dane. Ed Harris. "Powerhouse performances and a literate and emotionally rich script mark this Best Picture nominee. It is an Oscar-nominated adaptation of Michael Cunningham's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about three women. Using Virginia Woolf and Mrs. Dalloway, it follows each of their lives in different generations as the novel is being interpreted in the day of the life of. Transitions are brilliant in this film. It captured well the time and space as we travel from one generation to the next.
Hall Pass, 2011
Directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. They directed Along Comes Mary. This should tell you something about the film itself. Owen Wilson. Jason Sudeikis. Jenna Fischer. "Pals Rick and Fred are granted permission to take a week off of marriage only to realize that the reality of single life is less appealing after bumbling in their efforts to become lothario s in this naughty marriage film."The movie was stupid and ridiculous and not even funny but I watched it nonetheless. Recommend it? Hardly. It actually received one star!
The Dilemma, 2011
Vince Vaughn. Kevin James. Wynona Ryder. Jennifer O'Connley. Ronny (Vaughn) struggles to find a way to tell his friend Nick that his wife is cheating on him with another man. Instead, he gets detoured by trying to gather evidence against him in his own private investigation. There were a few funny laughs. I love Vaughn's voice. But, this mindless and stupid, insipid film really does deserve the one star that it garnered.
Greenberg, 2010
Ben Stiller. Brie Larson. When this mentally unstable New York carpenter relocates to Los Angeles to house sit his brother's house, when the brother takes his family to Vietnam for a work vacation, Greenberg falls for his brother's house assistant, Florence. The film is filled with fragile and broken characters who seem to get by day to day, with little ambition, or direction and focus to their lives. It was Directed and Written by the person who did The Owl and The Squid.
Merry Christmas! 2011
Documentary with Interviews with Chevy Chase. Margaret O'Brien. Michel Patrick Hearn. (The most articulate and the best of them all) Czaz Palminteri. Zack Ward. Karolyn Grimes, who starred as the little girl in It's A Wonderful Life and The Bishop's Wife. She was also an excellent interviewee. This documentary takes a look at the holiday and how this theme is used in motion pictures and analyzes it with depth and meaning and influence and impact. It looks at the first holiday film ever made A Christmas Carol and then moves through time and decade and shows how culture and actors and redefined the Christmas movie. I found it highly informative, interesting and well worth watching.
Oliver Twist, 1922
Silent. Jackie Cogan. Directed by Frank Lloyd. Text Introduction: "I had chosen from the filthiest, most criminal, and degraded of London's population . ... The character of Sikes is a thief, Fagin a receiver of stolen goods, the boys are pick-pockets, and Nancy is a prostitute. Yet I saw as reason, when I wrote the book, why the dregs of life, so long as their speech did not offend the ear, should not serve the purpose of a moral. ... In this spirit I wished to show in little Oliver the principle of Good surviving through every adverse circumstance and triumphing at last among what companions I could try him best." Charles Dickens.
Oliver Twist, 1948
Alec Guinness. Robert Newton. David Lean's adaptation of Charles Dickens story of an orphan boy in a hostile world of thieves and workhouses. Lean does a magnificent interpretation, using voice over and text from the novel itself. His young Oliver looks and acts English. I am convinced that Dickens was abandoned on a long road and alone he had to find himself to London, as so many of his young heroes have to make this journey in his books. The evil feels real and permanent, as well as the goodness. It also does not add extra material that is not necessary or essential to the film.
Fine, fine adaptation.
Nicholas Nickelby, 1947
Derek Bond. Cedric Hardwicke. Dickens tale of a schoolmaster trying to reform brutal conditions. Hardwicke puts in a magnificent performance as the evil and manipulating dishonest guardian. It was almost poetic justice that the son he abandoned and was so utterly cruel to ended up dying on his watch.
David Coperfield, 1935
Freddie Bartholomew. Frank Lawton. W.C. Fields. Lionel Barrymore. Directed by George Cukos. This was a superb version of Dickens novel of a boy's adventurous life. Dickens was brilliant and an original at creating comical and unique characters in the English language, from their names, to their idiocracies, foibles, silliness, character flaws and weakness to characters with goodness and decency, emotionally arrested and emotionally arrogant, bizarre and egocentric and strange. But, they are all colorful and believable and marvelous. Today, they could be cartoon characters! But with Dickens morality plays a large part with goodness is rewarded here on in the Kingdom to Come, and Evil is punished. I loved his characters with young and beautiful lovely girls. Supposedly, Coperfield was Dickens most autobiographical novel.
Great Expectations, 1946
John Mills. Valerie Hobson. Jean Simmons. David Lean's superb version of the Dickens classic about a poor boy's social rise in Victorian England. In this movie, unlike in the book, when the Convict reveals himself, there are far more pages and commentary about Pip's shame and embarrassment and fury when he found out who was his Benefactor. In the film, they glossed this over and made Pip accept him far too easily and quickly. I liked when Estella says to Pip, "I have no heart, sympathy, softness or sentiment." Today, we would call the empathy.
A Christmas Story, 1951
Alastair Sim. Kathleen Harrison. Bob Cratchit. A sterling cast does justice to this Dickens Classic about London's meanest miser who is visited by three Spirits: The Past. The Present. The Future. This movie was perfection in every way. I cried. It was truest to the novel. Magnificently acted by all. Not sentimental. But carried great lessons and great feeling. The black and white photography kept it true as did the English actors and Director. I adored this film and its interpretation.
Tale of Two Cities, 1935
Ronald Colman (Sidney) Elizabeth Allan. Reginald Owen. Edna May Olivier. David O. Selznick produced this splendid classic about The French Revolution. Colman made the film with his brilliant sent of tragedy and heartbreak. I thought that the scenes of the revolution were stirring and powerful. An extremely well-done production.
Murder, My Sweet, 1944
Dick Powell. Anne Shirley. Private eye Philip Marlowe makes his way through blackmail and murder. This talky talky tale became convoluted and at times, tedious. I was grateful when it ended.
sex, lies, and videotape, 1989
James Spader. Andie MacDowell. Steven Soderbergh's acclaimed first feature that focuses on a voyeur who uses a video camera to unlock the inner secrets of women and allows himself to masturbate since he is unable to get an erection with a woman. It is wonderful and fresh dialogue, even 20 years later. The transitions are smooth. It is very intense. I found this movie to be a precursor to live video on the Internet so in that way, it became somewhat visionary for a film.
"You are right. I have a lot of problems. But they belong to me."
Obsession, 1949
Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Robert Newton. Sally Hays. Naunton Wayne. This psychological thriller on how to commit the perfect murder maintains its suspense to the end. The man is diabolical to kill his last wife's lover. He is creepy — yet the dialogue, without any special effects, except cold, wet London nights, is exceptional.
Hugo
Director, Martin Scorcese. This hugely sweet and lovely entertaining film about a young boy, who reminds me of Ariel, who is orphaned in the Paris train station at the turn of the century, maintains his survival by fixing and keeping up the clocks. It is very clever and well done and speaks of being alone in the world and bitter and lost dreams, and the beginnings of film. A lovely family picture to see.
In Darkness
"Agneszka Holland's is based on a true story. Leopold Socha, a sewer inspector worker and petty thief in a Nazi-occupied City in Poland, hides a group of Jews for money in the town's labyrinthine sewers. What starts out as a straightforward business and cynical arrangement turns into an unlikely story of survival as the men, women and children try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense hunger, fear and danger." This harsh and haunting and unrelenting film is one of the best Holocaust films I have seen, much like The White Orchid and Fateless. It is dark. The Jews are not lovable but ungrateful and demanding. Characters are flawed. But, one sees the unbelievable courage that it took to hide Jews, as not only our life was put in danger, but your family too. What made a Christian risk everything to do this? Not just financial gain but in a world where there was no humanity, to see a few lights of humanity shine threw gave hope and redemption an entire new name. This was a remarkable film, done by the same director who did Europa, Europa.
Xmas in Connecticut, 1945
Barbara Stanwyck. Dennis Morgan. The problems of a writer who must appear to be the home-loving, baby raising, husband loyal to house and home as this is what she writes about. In reality, she is none of these things. A war hero sailor arrives to meet and the film turns into an entertaining screwball comedy!
Miracle on 34th St., 1947
Edmund Gwenn. John Payne. Eight-year-old Natalie Wood. Maureen O'Hara. Gwenn won an Oscar for this portrayal of Kris Kringle, the hired Macy's Santa Claus who goes on trial to prove he is the real Kris Kringle. "Faith if believe in things when common sense tells you not to."
Angel Face, 1952
Jean Simmons. Robert Mitchum. Otto Preminger's suspense tale of a young and pretty woman, who is manipulative and evil, cold-hearted and calculating and obsessed with killing her step-mother. This step-mother is wealthy and the girl's father is beholden to her. She ropes in Mitchum who is much like her. They deserve each other. I can't stand Mitchum. He cannot act at all. He was a known anti-semite when he was alive and there is nothing endearing about him. He is cold and tough and rough and hard.
Fanny and Alexander, 1982.
Ingmar Bergman's Oscar-winning study of life in a family as seen through the eyes of two children. Pernilla Allwin and Bertil Guve star in this. The film takes place in 1907 Sweden among the wealthy. "Ghosts. Spirits. Phantoms. Souls. Poltergeists. Angels. Demons. I had the entire evening to myself. It was dark outside and I snuggled in bed and watched this three hour film in its entirety without any interruption or disturbance. It was magnificent and brilliant with interior dialogue and monologue that reflected on connections, and relationships, God and Philosophy. Loneliness and Solitude. It was as if I was watching a great play unfold. The beauty of the film was marvelous to behold. The Jew, a wonderful character and personality. The lives intersected with great feeling. I loved it. Completely.
The Flowers of War
Director Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, Hero, House of Flying Daggers)tells an epic story of love and sacrifice in The Flowers of War, adapted by screenwriter Liu Heng from the novel by Geling Yan. Set during Japan's 1937 invasion of China, the film is told from a young girl's point of view, not as a history lesson, but as an intimate, elemental and paradoxically universal celebration of the human spirit. Christian Bale stars as a dissolute Westerner who seeks refuge in a Catholic church. There he meets a beautiful Chinese courtesan (Ni Ni) who helps him rescue a group of schoolgirls from a terrible fate at the hands of the Japanese. The powerful and sad film shows the utter brutality and sadism of the Japanese. Culture and growth and sacrifice were all displayed in this remarkable independent film.
We saw the film filled with Chinese. It was a remarkable piece of film work.
Since You Went Away, 1944
Claudette Colbert. Jennifer Jones. Robert Walker. Joseph P. Cotton. David O. Selznick directed this movie film about the family and how they endured in American during WW2. It was a bit sentimental and at times it was hard to follow the film's transitions and this family was luckier than most, but it reflected the period and the times and the hardship on families back home as their husbands, lovers, fathers, and sons were fighting in the war theaters.
Strangers No More, 2010
Directed by Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon. "Oscar-winning documentary short about a school in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a diverse student body from 48 countries, many of whom have fled dangerous conditions in their homelands for a chance to learn." The film was so politically correct and goody goody that at times, it felt uncomfortable. It also felt amateurish and simple.
The Thin Man, 1934
William Powell. Myrna Loy. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke II. From Dashiell Hammett pot-boiler murder mysteries.
These films are a whodunit series with a husband and wife team who play it tongue in cheek, comedy and fun.
All of these films have Asta the dog, an over-the-top party with his lower class element friends, lots of alcohol and drinking, with the two of them going all out, a getting together of all the possibilities of who could have committed the murder at the end of the film, and a "I have a hunch," by our leading man.
After The Thin Man, 1936
Jimmy Stuart stars in this one as a young new actor on the scene. He is the murderer!
Another Thin Man, 1939
These murders take place at a Long Island estate and this one is the most implausible as the murderer is the daughter of her grandfather and she is going to be inheriting all the money anyway! The dialogue was a hoot. I wondered if Hammett wrote this way or was it intended to sound like this? I taped only five out of the six in this series.
Shadow of A Thin Man, 1941
Director committed suicide after this movie. A horse jockey has been fatally shot. This film was shot in two weeks and stars a very young and pretty Donna Reed.
Song of The Thin Man, 1947
Christine Edzard is the new director. A murder takes place on a gambling ship. All the men involved looked the same!
"I have a hunch!" "The only thing you have to do to be innocent is to admit your guilt." Funny line. The team continued to be terrific, except William Powell looked puffy and aged and Myrna Loy looked too thin and angular.
Love Crazy, 1941
William Powell. Myrna Loy. Marital misunderstanding a feigned lunacy as a couple try vainly to celebrate their wedding anniversary. This romantic comedy was funny, especially the mother-in-law, as intrusive and nosy as ever one was. I laughed out loud and enjoyed it thoroughly. It was sheer entertainment.
The Summer Place, 1959
Sandra Day. Dorothy McGuire. Richard Egan. Troy Donahue. Young love and a rekindled middle age romance of the young love couple romance and divorce and change and alter lives beginning at a revisited summer resort in Maine.
Henri Mancini does the famous theme song. There is no tension. The mother is the bad and evil one. It is strange that the father and mother, their children fall in love and marry and have a baby together. Like Father, Like Daughter except she made a different decision for herself. The dialogue was wonderful and meaningful and full of insight and wisdom.
Weapons of Love.
Cry, The Beloved Country, 1952
Canada Lee. Sidney Poitier. Alan Paton's novel about black and white relations in South Africa during the Apartheid.
The movie was a bit heavy handed and overly moralistic with clear good and evil overtones. It became a bit draggy but I found the photography marvelous and real and interesting. "Look what he does and see what he gets. Wasn't he always for fighting for them? It is not foolishness or wisdom. It is just fear. Fear. There is no prayer left in me."
Midnight Express, 1970
Brad Davis and John Hurt star in this true story. Directed by Alan Parker. Screenplay by Oliver Stone. It is a young American's experience when he is caught smuggling hashish out of Turkey and lands himself in a Turkish prison. He suffers almost 5 years of brutish and sadistic torture and inhuman conditions. Bill is 53 days shy of being released when his parole is denied and he is given not life but 3o years. Only luck and miracle and courage allow him to escape, ultimately to Greece, and finally back home. It is a powerful film and I saw much of the The Four Seasons in the prison where it took place. I understood the prison. I then listened to youtube interviews with Billy Hayes and at 63 years old and hindsight he reflects on this experience and how upset he was by Stone's exaggeration of the Turkish people and his own experience. Great film!
The Green Pastures, 1936
Rex Ingram. Oscar Polk. Marc Connelly's all-back play about a Southen preacher and a Divine visit to earth. There is fabulous gospel music and singing. The black voices speak in Southern dialect and accent. Interpretation of the Bible is from a black point-of-view. I fell asleep 1/2 way through.
