---this week I watched three very good films:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000; China "Wo hu cang long") Chow Yun Fat, Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh. Perfect blend of action, romance, great score, locations and cast. Story of two couples; one the experienced and wise warriors; the other the young, impetuous and unthinking, and how their actions bring great harm and unhappiness to them all. Beautiful location shooting in China by director Ang Lee adds to the story. He also took great care that the history and details of life in the era of the story was spot on. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046303/
Torpedo Run (1958) Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine. WWII story of submarine captain who is dedicated to sinking the fearsome Japanese air craft carrier that led the attack on Pearl Harbor. Tense scene when the sub is going through the gate and mines into the harbor. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052303/
Shane (1953) Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon deWilde, Jack Palance. One of the great westerns. Perfectly cast in every role. Gorgeous locations. Story of the stranger who rides up to the farm of the Staretts and becomes emeshed in their lives and the lives of the whole community. Classic conflict between farmers and ranchers, has a great fistfight between the toughs at the saloon and Starett and Shane. Palance has hardly any lines, but his menace as Jack Wilson the hired gun, is palpable. The cold blooded killing of one of the farmers is one of the most dreadful to watch in films. Watched on TCM, the host talked about Director George Stevens spending over a year on the final editing of his film. He also spent far more time with his actors getting just the performance he wanted in each scene, no matter how long it took. Thank goodness. All that care and devotion has made Shane a special film for all time. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046303/
We are back to a very cold, rainy and dismal period for our first week of April. Well, the song says "April showers bring May flowers." I'm all for that!
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