August 29, 2011

Only Angels Have Wings, The Phantom, 300, Conviction-----

---this week I watched:

Only Angels Have Wings (1939) Jean Arthur, Cary Grant, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, Thomas Mitchel. Great cast in a story of the early attempt to set up a flying mail service in a South American port city. It is dangerous work because of the narrow passes through the mountains and horrible rain storms that come at a moments notice, along with lots of fog. Into this setting comes showgirl Bonnie, off a boat on her way back to the States. She is immediately smitten by Geoff, the fly guy in charge, and against her better judgement, decides to stay. Into this mix comes the MacPhersons, Bat and Judy. He is disgraced for having baled out on his mechanic, who was killed. But the number two man at this air field is the dead guys brother, the Kid, Geoff's best friend. More involved and more in depth insights than most films of its' day, every character has a small but telling scene and it all adds up to a terrific movie. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031762/

Phantom Of The Opera (2004) Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossom, Minnie Driver, Now bing shown on the Cinemax channels. I DVR'd it and watch a few minutes every day. An all-time favorite film. For me - 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293508/

300 (2006) Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham. Shown on TNT on the 20th, so watched it even though it was cut up badly.
Still, King Leo and the 300 are worth watching in bits and pieces - and the altogether. LOL 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/

Conviction (2010) Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Minnie Driver, Loren Dean. Based on a real story about a man (Rockwell) who is convicted of murder. His sister (Swank) works for 15 years to prove he is not guilty. Very intense and unnerving story. She gives up almost everything to become a lawyer so she can challenge the evidence in the case and get "The Innocence Project" lawyers to take up this case. She finally succeeds in getting the DNA evidence that had been taken but not given to the defence, and her brother is set free. The followup at the end of the film say she is still taking hopeless cases to this day. Hilary, Sam and Driver are excellent. 8/10    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1244754/

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