---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!!
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