---but we were snowed in and did not get to a theater for our usual Christmas movie. Maybe for New Years....the past 10 days I watched:
The King & The Chorus Girl (1937) Joan Blondell, Fernand Gravey, Edward Everett Horton, Mary Nash. Comments on previous blog. 9/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029082/
Sweethearts (1938) Nelson Eddy, Jeanette MacDonald. MGM's first full length technicolor film. Lushious. Comments on previous Dec. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030817/
Holiday (1938) Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, Edward Everett Horton, Lew Ayers. One of the best of the Hepburn/Grant pairings. Both absolutely stunning looking. Comments posted on blog previously. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030241/
Pygmalion (1938-UK) Wendy Hiller, Leslie Howard. George Bernard Shaw gave his approval of the cast and the version filmed here. Much truer to the actual play than the musical version. Hiller IS Eliza. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030637/
Dark Passage (1949) Bogart and Bacall in black & white film noir. It starts with the camera as our eyes and we are the character that has just escaped from prison. For the first 15 minutes, we see everything though his eyes and learn he is an innocent man who has been framed for his wifes murder. Bacall picks him up not too for from the prison and helps him and he and we are not sure of her motives for a while. Very interesting film that was not well received in '49. Much more highly thought of now. Also has some outstanding character actors in all the supporting roles. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039302/
Holiday Affair (1949) Janet Leigh, Robert Mitchum, Wendell Corey. Comments on last years blog,. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041473/
We're No Angels (1955) Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov, Also Ray, Joan Bennett, Leo G. Carroll, Basil Rathbone. Charming fable with some black humor to go along with the sweet sentiments. Watch it every year and have commented before on this blog. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048801/
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Juliette Lewis. Fun, funny and good hearted. Love it and have reviewed it before on this blog. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097958/
Home Alone (1990) Macauley Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern. Favorite for the holidays. Comments on 2007 Holiday blog. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/
The Phantom Of The Opera (2004) Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Minnie Driver. Elaborate and beautiful film version of Webbers stage musical. Perfectly realized in jewel colors, velvets, satins and crystals, the costumes, sets and lavish color effects work their magic on those of the romantic persuation. An annual Event on affectionados calendar. 10/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293508/
Alpha Dog (2006) Emile Hirsch, Bruce Willis, Matthew Barry. Based on a true story of drugs and booze among the wild and well-off of L.A. Horrifying story of a bunch of drug users and dealers and their stupid 'business' and getting a 15 year old brother of one of the punks killed just because they couldn't figure out a way to end their stupid deal. Keeps your interest because it is based on a real case. But it shows just how addled and dumb these creeps are. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426883/
The Holiday (2006) Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach. Good film about two career women who are in meltdown and by going online, find a site where they can switch houses for a vacation of 2 weeks. On impluse, they go for it and before 5 minutes of the story is told, Diaz is in a quaint country cottage in England; and Winslet is in a Housed Beautiful spread in CA. Both have recently been let down by the men in their lives. So neither is ready to find a new love. However, as in real life, reel life has unexpected surprises in store. The stories of both women are interesting and hopeful. For women, by women. Men understand the men in Knocked Up. I don't. I understand these women. I guess men don't - and can't be bothered to try. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457939/
August Rush (2007) Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams. Wonderful, magical story about a 'orphan' who knows there is someone out there he belongs to and he is connected to through music. A prodigy, he 'hears' music in everything and although living as a street musician, he is eventually taken to the Julliard School and given a chance to learn to write down what he hears in his head. How he and his parents are brought together through his music is lovely and the music is too. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426931/
Knocked Up (2008) Katherine Heigl, Seth Rogen. Thought it was ridiculous. Beautiful girl gets drunk, has sex with a complete loser, of course gets pregnant, and the addle pated woman just twaddles and gasps and guesses she'll have the babe and try to get to know the sperm donor!?! O.M.G. No wonder Heigl dissed author/director Apatow. Her character is supposed to be a smart professional woman. Seth Rogen is the stupidest chunk of man flesh I've seen on screen in a long time. I saw nothing funny, sweet, or endearing about 20 something doofuses, and deadbeats, going through life with no redeeming value. If Apatow is getting money for writing scripts these days, Lala Land is in deeper trouble than I thought. And this was on a regular cable channel. It had to be bleeped every other word in some places and faces and private parts blurred out . Poor writing by a 12 year old brain that thinks that is funny and clever. Egads!!! 4/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478311/
P. S. I Love You (2008) Gerard Butler, Hilary Swank. Now this is a film which lots of men of the twenty something group hated. But all the women and most of the men in this one were gainfully employed and doing something with their lives. Not sitting in Ma's basement burping and watching TV. And they can speak in complete sentenses, with out scratching their privates or belching. A serious story of a couple who love each other and then the man dies and the woman is left to pick up with her life and go on. But wait. Her loving husband knows her very well, and realizes she will need some help over the rough patches. So he writes her a letter every so often with a task or suggestion of what to do next. A sweet, loving gesture, and while sad, the individual scenes are played with good-humor and a few comic developments. Wonderful cast of lovely people. A Holiday gem. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0431308/
Mad Money (2008) Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, Ted Danson. Bridget Cardigan (Keaton) falls on hard times because her husband gets laid off his high powered job. In debt from over the top spending, she finally goes to find a job and although she has a degree, it is outdated and she ends up as a janitor at a federal reserve bank. Where the idea comes to her as she cleans toilets and scrubs windows to the money boxes, that since it is going to be burned anyway, there must be a way to help herself. She hatches a plot which will take two accomplises (Latifah & Holmes). She picks them out carefully and approaches them cautiously. Her husband (Danson) thinks she is mad at first, but comes around. Keaton is crazed by her idea and convinces herself that no one will be hurt. Good cast has fun with the material. Much better than a lot of garbage made for the 14-24 male demographic. No vomiting, f-word every 5 seconds, and no fistfights or guns. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0951216/
Can you tell granny is tired of what is being foist off on us as comedy let alone romance these days? Makes me zonk out in more ways than one.
Hope for better films!!
December 29, 2009
December 20, 2009
Lots of old favorites over the last 10 days.....
....and a few I'd never seen before.
The Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1933) A film that was a scandal because of the Chinese General falling for Barbara Stanwyke, his American missionary prisoner. And she became pretty interested in him too. A no-no back then, for sure. Atmospheric, and rather repetitive. After reading about it for so long, I was a bit disappointed. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023814/
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) the lavish black & white version with Merle Oberon, and Leslie Howard in the fop/hero role. He was perfect. Story of the French Revolution and the beheading of the aristocrats. Sir Percy Blakeney(Howard), is an 18th century English aristocrat who leads a double life. He appears to be merely the effete aristocrat...but he goes to Paris regularly, in disguise, and brings out as many of the doomed as possible. He and his wife are not on good terms because he thinks she has betrayed friends of his, and she thinks he has turned into a fool only interested in his cravat. Howard is terrific as the fool, spouting his little rhyming ditty to all the ladies of the court. All's well that ends well, and the sets, costumes and music make a first-rate black and white film. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025748/
Bachelor Mother (1939) Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn. Cute film that shows how different things were back in the depression era. Today, the baby in question would have never just been foisted off on a woman who says she doesn't want him and isn't his Mother. But for the time it is a warm hearted film and Ginger is gorgeous. The baby is adorable. Charles Coburn is his usual gruff, bad tempered self, but he does comedy like an old pro. Not much happens - just the usual mixups. But the long scene of Times Square on New Years - with some actual newsreel footage - is fun and interesting - to see how it was back then. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031067/
San Antonio (1945) Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Florence Bates. Gorgeous stars, two of the best comic relief specialists in Bates and Sakall; scenery of all kinds; nice musical numbers and costumes for Alexis; gunfights, fistfights, chases on horses, for Errol and the villeins, Victor Francen and Paul Kelly. A favorite western of mine since my school days in '45 and we drooled over the movie mags at the corner drug store soda fountain. Fond memories and still fun. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038048/
The Ghost & Mrs Muir (1947) One of my all time favorites was shown on FMC and I just had to drop everything and sit down and watch. The stars, Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison; the music score - it is just a perfect romance. Story of an early 20th century young widow who buys a dead sea captains house by the sea. To her surprise he haunts the house because he wants it to be left for retired seaman. When she falls on hard times and may lose the house, he dictates his memoirs to her and sends her to London to a publisher who loves the sea. Her adventures with the book and the rest of her life is shown in montage and all ends on a happily hopeful note. Perfect! 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039420/
(Note) Gerry Butler would be a great Daniel/The Captain, but it probably should never be remade.
Miracle On 34th St. (1947) My tape of the original black & white version with Edmund Guinn as Kris Kringle. Lovely fairy tale. Watch it every year. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/
Mr. 880 (1950) Edmund Guinn, Burt Lancaster, Dorothy Maguire. Based on a true story of the longest counterfeiting case the Secret Service ever had. They couldn't catch him because he only passed one dollar bills when he was completely out of money, and never in the same place repeatedly. Guinn is great as the old retired seaman who doesn't want to cause anyone any trouble; Lancaster is more subdued than usual, and has good chemistry with Maguire in their little romance. A pleasant film, and lovely to watch the pros go through their paces. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042742/
Shane (1953) Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon DeWilde, Jack Palance. One of the best westerns of all time. A lone rider(Alan Ladd-Shane) comes to the farm of homesteaders, the Staretts(Heflin, Arthur & De Wilde) has a drink of water, and is about to ride on. But after the Ryker bunch come riding through Staretts garden and threatens them, we see Shane is leaning against the cabin watching and Ryker sees him too - and the gang rides away. The farmer asks pardon for not showing hospitality to the stranger, and thus begins a great story of redemption. Every role is cast to perfection. And De Wilde's heartbreaking call to Shane at the end reminds us of the lonely child in us that cries out for that person in our life that we had to let go of and never see again. Perfect. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046303/
Baby Boom (1987) Diane Keaton, Sam Shephard, Sam Wanamaker, Pat Hingle, James Spader, the Kennedy twins as baby Elizabeth. Very funny story of a woman on the fast track to become a partner at a cut throat Ad agency when she is suddenly left her distant cousins child after the parents are killed in a car accident in England. How she copes, and the mess this development makes in her controlled life, is very funny. But the real fun begins when she has to change her complete lifestyle and buys a house in Vermont. Some hysterically funny scenes as only Keaton can do them, and of course the darling baby girl wins her and us completely. All the actors are spot on and it is a fun time at the movies. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092605/
Dirty Dancing (1987) Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Jack Weston. Doctor Houseman(Orbach) and his family vacation at a resort in the Catskill Mountains. The youngest daughter, Frances/Baby(Grey), becomes infatuated with the dance instructor, Johnny(Swayze) and involved in the problems of his dance partner. The location scenery, music and dance scenes, and chemistry between the leads, make for a good time at the movies. Still a pleasure after 22 years. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092890/
Enchanted April (UK/1992) Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, Joan Plowright, Polly Walker. Four women decide to ditch husbands, and assorted other encumbrances, to rent a castle in Italy for a month long holiday. They do and we tag along. Nothing much happens, beautifully! Languid and peaceful - except for one amusing scene of one of the husbands who joins the ladies and becomes a buffoon while taking a bath. For a nice, quiet evening by the fire and dreaming of sunny Italy. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101811/
Winter begins tomorrow(21st) and the season has gotten off to a bang in some parts of the USA. Blizzards in the east; damp cold in the Heartland. Good to have a warm house, and fireplace and lots of good movies to watch. Sez I!
The Bitter Tea Of General Yen (1933) A film that was a scandal because of the Chinese General falling for Barbara Stanwyke, his American missionary prisoner. And she became pretty interested in him too. A no-no back then, for sure. Atmospheric, and rather repetitive. After reading about it for so long, I was a bit disappointed. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023814/
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934) the lavish black & white version with Merle Oberon, and Leslie Howard in the fop/hero role. He was perfect. Story of the French Revolution and the beheading of the aristocrats. Sir Percy Blakeney(Howard), is an 18th century English aristocrat who leads a double life. He appears to be merely the effete aristocrat...but he goes to Paris regularly, in disguise, and brings out as many of the doomed as possible. He and his wife are not on good terms because he thinks she has betrayed friends of his, and she thinks he has turned into a fool only interested in his cravat. Howard is terrific as the fool, spouting his little rhyming ditty to all the ladies of the court. All's well that ends well, and the sets, costumes and music make a first-rate black and white film. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025748/
Bachelor Mother (1939) Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn. Cute film that shows how different things were back in the depression era. Today, the baby in question would have never just been foisted off on a woman who says she doesn't want him and isn't his Mother. But for the time it is a warm hearted film and Ginger is gorgeous. The baby is adorable. Charles Coburn is his usual gruff, bad tempered self, but he does comedy like an old pro. Not much happens - just the usual mixups. But the long scene of Times Square on New Years - with some actual newsreel footage - is fun and interesting - to see how it was back then. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031067/
San Antonio (1945) Errol Flynn, Alexis Smith, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Florence Bates. Gorgeous stars, two of the best comic relief specialists in Bates and Sakall; scenery of all kinds; nice musical numbers and costumes for Alexis; gunfights, fistfights, chases on horses, for Errol and the villeins, Victor Francen and Paul Kelly. A favorite western of mine since my school days in '45 and we drooled over the movie mags at the corner drug store soda fountain. Fond memories and still fun. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038048/
The Ghost & Mrs Muir (1947) One of my all time favorites was shown on FMC and I just had to drop everything and sit down and watch. The stars, Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison; the music score - it is just a perfect romance. Story of an early 20th century young widow who buys a dead sea captains house by the sea. To her surprise he haunts the house because he wants it to be left for retired seaman. When she falls on hard times and may lose the house, he dictates his memoirs to her and sends her to London to a publisher who loves the sea. Her adventures with the book and the rest of her life is shown in montage and all ends on a happily hopeful note. Perfect! 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039420/
(Note) Gerry Butler would be a great Daniel/The Captain, but it probably should never be remade.
Miracle On 34th St. (1947) My tape of the original black & white version with Edmund Guinn as Kris Kringle. Lovely fairy tale. Watch it every year. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039628/
Mr. 880 (1950) Edmund Guinn, Burt Lancaster, Dorothy Maguire. Based on a true story of the longest counterfeiting case the Secret Service ever had. They couldn't catch him because he only passed one dollar bills when he was completely out of money, and never in the same place repeatedly. Guinn is great as the old retired seaman who doesn't want to cause anyone any trouble; Lancaster is more subdued than usual, and has good chemistry with Maguire in their little romance. A pleasant film, and lovely to watch the pros go through their paces. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042742/
Shane (1953) Alan Ladd, Van Heflin, Jean Arthur, Brandon DeWilde, Jack Palance. One of the best westerns of all time. A lone rider(Alan Ladd-Shane) comes to the farm of homesteaders, the Staretts(Heflin, Arthur & De Wilde) has a drink of water, and is about to ride on. But after the Ryker bunch come riding through Staretts garden and threatens them, we see Shane is leaning against the cabin watching and Ryker sees him too - and the gang rides away. The farmer asks pardon for not showing hospitality to the stranger, and thus begins a great story of redemption. Every role is cast to perfection. And De Wilde's heartbreaking call to Shane at the end reminds us of the lonely child in us that cries out for that person in our life that we had to let go of and never see again. Perfect. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046303/
Baby Boom (1987) Diane Keaton, Sam Shephard, Sam Wanamaker, Pat Hingle, James Spader, the Kennedy twins as baby Elizabeth. Very funny story of a woman on the fast track to become a partner at a cut throat Ad agency when she is suddenly left her distant cousins child after the parents are killed in a car accident in England. How she copes, and the mess this development makes in her controlled life, is very funny. But the real fun begins when she has to change her complete lifestyle and buys a house in Vermont. Some hysterically funny scenes as only Keaton can do them, and of course the darling baby girl wins her and us completely. All the actors are spot on and it is a fun time at the movies. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092605/
Dirty Dancing (1987) Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach, Jack Weston. Doctor Houseman(Orbach) and his family vacation at a resort in the Catskill Mountains. The youngest daughter, Frances/Baby(Grey), becomes infatuated with the dance instructor, Johnny(Swayze) and involved in the problems of his dance partner. The location scenery, music and dance scenes, and chemistry between the leads, make for a good time at the movies. Still a pleasure after 22 years. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092890/
Enchanted April (UK/1992) Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, Joan Plowright, Polly Walker. Four women decide to ditch husbands, and assorted other encumbrances, to rent a castle in Italy for a month long holiday. They do and we tag along. Nothing much happens, beautifully! Languid and peaceful - except for one amusing scene of one of the husbands who joins the ladies and becomes a buffoon while taking a bath. For a nice, quiet evening by the fire and dreaming of sunny Italy. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101811/
Winter begins tomorrow(21st) and the season has gotten off to a bang in some parts of the USA. Blizzards in the east; damp cold in the Heartland. Good to have a warm house, and fireplace and lots of good movies to watch. Sez I!
December 10, 2009
Over two weeks of films.....
Lady With Red Hair (1940) Miriam Hopkins, Claude Rains, Laura Hope Crews, Helen Westley. Mrs. Leslie Carter, famous actress of the Gay '90's and how she became a success. A socialite in Chicago, she is divorced by her husband and in the resulting scandal, loses her son's custody. Determined to get him back, she needs money and decides to go on the stage with little experience. She meets the famous empresario David Belasco in New York and he gives her a chance. Hopkins delivery of lines was always a bit off to me, but she is good as the frothy young woman who becomes the great actress. Crews and Westley as the mother and boarding house owner almost steal the movie. Two old pros who knew the real Mrs. Carter. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032687/
Christmas In Connecticutt (1945) Barbara Stanwyke, Dennis Morgan, "S.Z. Cuddles" Sakall. Fun film to start off my Holiday viewing. TCM had it on Thanksgiving week, and I watch it every year. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037595/
The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946) Barbara Stanwyke, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas, Judith Anderson, Lisabeth Scott. Great film noir with black and white cinematography that is a primar of what it's all about. Three kids are friends and hang out at the freight yard. The poor boy lives hand to mouth. The rich girl hates her guardian aunt. The wimpy son of her tutor rounds out the the deadly trio. On a stormy, rainy night (always good for murder) the kids get picked up by the police and the two are returned to the mansion and the mean aunt. One thing leads to another and murder happens. 20 years later, while driving across the country, guy runs his car off the road and what-do-ya-know? It's near his old home town. And what happens next is a very satisfying story of lust, greed and retribution. Cast couldn't be any better. Douglas's first major film role, and he is wonderful. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038988/
The Bishops Wife (1947) Loretta Young, Cary Grant, David Niven. Another of my Christmas season films. Perfect in every way. I watch it every year. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039190/
The Perils Of Pauline (1947) Betty Hutton, John Lund, Constance Collier, Billy DeWolfe. The film is loosely based on the life of silent screen star Pearl White, who was a super star of the silent era. I loved this as a kid when it came out. But even though I have it in my collection, I found I was irritated with every one of Betty's song numbers (I fast forwarded most of them), except the love ballad "I Wish I Didn't Love You So." That was lovely. The look at the way the silent movies were filmed right next to each other, and with all the bedlam going on, was a very funny scene, and done in one long tracking shot. Good stuff. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039698/
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Drew Barrymore, Robert Macnaughton, Peter Coyote. Beloved little E.T. just wants to go home. Haven't watched this in years, but decided the holiday period was a good time for a visit. Not as great as when we first saw it, but still love the little grey fellow. Cast is so good and Henry was perfect. "I'm keeping him." Spielberg hit a homerun. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/
The Bride With White Hair (1993-HongKong "Bai fa mo nu zhuan") Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, 1) Awful screenplay. 2) Atrocious action choreography. 3) Dreadful editing. I could not get interested in the story. It takes 15 minutes to set up that the two main characters love each other - endless spooning in the water. Bad. So disappointed after reading many times that this was a favorite Hong Kong film of many. I've seen both leads in much better films. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106342/
The Great Debaters (2007) Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker. Very engrossing film about the teacher who developed a great debate team at a small college back in the 1930's, that took on all state comers and won. They then debated other colleges in other states and finally were asked to debate the Harvard debate team and won the big trophy. While there was some changing of facts, it is true that this small college did win its' most important debates and had an outstanding set of students on the team. They all went on to achieve much during the civil-rights movement. Very moving and thought provoking film. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427309/
The Ugly Truth (2009) DVD with Extras. Gerard Butler, Katharine Heigl. Very funny R rated comedy. Uptight TV producer Abby Richter(Heigl) has to contend with new hire call-in host Mike Chadway (Butler) who represents everything she hates about men. The dialog and banter is funny and Abby and Mike slowly begin to warm to each other as they try to get Abby's doctor neighbor for her boyfriend. As a different take on the rom-com formula, this is an enjoyable one. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142988/
Have some of my other favorite holiday films out ready to watch. And "the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful, and since I've no place to go, let it snow" -----
See you at the movies - in cyber space!
Christmas In Connecticutt (1945) Barbara Stanwyke, Dennis Morgan, "S.Z. Cuddles" Sakall. Fun film to start off my Holiday viewing. TCM had it on Thanksgiving week, and I watch it every year. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037595/
The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946) Barbara Stanwyke, Van Heflin, Kirk Douglas, Judith Anderson, Lisabeth Scott. Great film noir with black and white cinematography that is a primar of what it's all about. Three kids are friends and hang out at the freight yard. The poor boy lives hand to mouth. The rich girl hates her guardian aunt. The wimpy son of her tutor rounds out the the deadly trio. On a stormy, rainy night (always good for murder) the kids get picked up by the police and the two are returned to the mansion and the mean aunt. One thing leads to another and murder happens. 20 years later, while driving across the country, guy runs his car off the road and what-do-ya-know? It's near his old home town. And what happens next is a very satisfying story of lust, greed and retribution. Cast couldn't be any better. Douglas's first major film role, and he is wonderful. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038988/
The Bishops Wife (1947) Loretta Young, Cary Grant, David Niven. Another of my Christmas season films. Perfect in every way. I watch it every year. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039190/
The Perils Of Pauline (1947) Betty Hutton, John Lund, Constance Collier, Billy DeWolfe. The film is loosely based on the life of silent screen star Pearl White, who was a super star of the silent era. I loved this as a kid when it came out. But even though I have it in my collection, I found I was irritated with every one of Betty's song numbers (I fast forwarded most of them), except the love ballad "I Wish I Didn't Love You So." That was lovely. The look at the way the silent movies were filmed right next to each other, and with all the bedlam going on, was a very funny scene, and done in one long tracking shot. Good stuff. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039698/
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Drew Barrymore, Robert Macnaughton, Peter Coyote. Beloved little E.T. just wants to go home. Haven't watched this in years, but decided the holiday period was a good time for a visit. Not as great as when we first saw it, but still love the little grey fellow. Cast is so good and Henry was perfect. "I'm keeping him." Spielberg hit a homerun. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/
The Bride With White Hair (1993-HongKong "Bai fa mo nu zhuan") Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, 1) Awful screenplay. 2) Atrocious action choreography. 3) Dreadful editing. I could not get interested in the story. It takes 15 minutes to set up that the two main characters love each other - endless spooning in the water. Bad. So disappointed after reading many times that this was a favorite Hong Kong film of many. I've seen both leads in much better films. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106342/
The Great Debaters (2007) Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker. Very engrossing film about the teacher who developed a great debate team at a small college back in the 1930's, that took on all state comers and won. They then debated other colleges in other states and finally were asked to debate the Harvard debate team and won the big trophy. While there was some changing of facts, it is true that this small college did win its' most important debates and had an outstanding set of students on the team. They all went on to achieve much during the civil-rights movement. Very moving and thought provoking film. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427309/
The Ugly Truth (2009) DVD with Extras. Gerard Butler, Katharine Heigl. Very funny R rated comedy. Uptight TV producer Abby Richter(Heigl) has to contend with new hire call-in host Mike Chadway (Butler) who represents everything she hates about men. The dialog and banter is funny and Abby and Mike slowly begin to warm to each other as they try to get Abby's doctor neighbor for her boyfriend. As a different take on the rom-com formula, this is an enjoyable one. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142988/
Have some of my other favorite holiday films out ready to watch. And "the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful, and since I've no place to go, let it snow" -----
See you at the movies - in cyber space!
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