This week I visited some old favorites:
Rewatches:
Three Men & A Baby (1987) Tom Selleck, Steve Gutenberg, Ted Danson, Nancy Travis. After 24 years, it is still kinda nice and funny. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094137/
Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen (1998) Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes. Beautiful cinematography. Cate is great. Geoffrey - perfect. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0127536/
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen, Samantha Morton. Even better than No.1. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414055/
It's Complicated (2009) Meryl Streep, Alex Baldwin, Steve Martin. John Krazinski. A favorite from 2009. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230414/
Sex & The City 2 (2010) Sarah Jessica Parker. Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I have fun watching the girls be nuts. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1261945/
New to me:
The Eyes Of Tammy Faye (2000/Doc) Tammy Faye Bakker Messner, Jim Baker, Roe Messner. I couldn't stand the Bakkers on their various shows, but this was interesting. Tammy is ridiculous, but she is serious about it. I actually ended up sort of sorry for her. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0233687/
The Fountain (2006) Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weitz, Ellen Burstyn. Strange, confusing film. It made no sense to me. Goes back and forth in time. The various scenes are beautiful, but what does it all mean? Hard to tell. Aronofsky has made a swamp of a film, hard slogging through the muck. Rachel looks luminous! 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/
The Fourth Kind (2009) Mila Jovovich, Will Patton, Charlotte Milchard. Story about alien abductions in Alaska, involving a woman whose husband was working with people who think they had been taken away. When he dies, she takes over and the film is about her taping these conversations. Then something happens and she is suspected of causing troubles. Very disturbing film. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220198/
Hereafter (2011) Matt Damon, Cecile De France, McLaren twins. Three people's stories, who have experiences with near death. A woman is caught in a tsunami and when she is finally pulled out is just barely brought back. A twin boy cannot give up wanting to have some contact with his dead brother, and goes to many different charlatans who say they can do it for him. A man who has flashes of visions when he holds the hands of another person, seeing what will or has happened to them. All 3 end up having contact with each other by the end. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1212419/
Well, I think I've had my fill of sci/fi for a while. Need to get out some favorite comedies.
September 26, 2011
September 22, 2011
The Depression Era and-----
You Can't Take It With You (1938) Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore, Spring Byington, Ann Miller, Edward Arnold.
Capra Corn, but for this old gal, I love the memories it jogs - of dinner tables with lots of relatives; men out of work doing crazy hobbies in the basement; and the mean, greedy people who never go away. When I was a very small child, my Dad had been ill and was put on disabled status at the post office (no pay check). Before he was reinstated in 1939, we had lived with his sister in a big ole 3 story house, because Uncle Frank was one of the only members of the clan - inlaws or ourlaws - who had a paying job in 1935. I was 3 and remember those grownups who didn't go to work or kids to school, in the morning, cleaned up the breakfast things and had a bridge game going that people sat in on when they were home. I guess it went on for weeks. I also remember the grownups turning on the radio and dancing; or listening to FDR. It was a group of people who were putting their faith in FDR, and never lost it even during war. This film with the speech by Lionel about not paying taxes because the government wasn't worth anything, would not have been liked by most of our family back in those days. I can remember my Dad's youngest sister finally got a good job as a teacher at a business school, and how proud she was of the SS # and deduction on her first check. That is the story told anyway! So, for anyone wanting a fun view of a house, that I'm sure was modeled on those the filmmakers and writers knew first hand, this is a good one and is only somewhat exaggerated. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030993/
In that big ole Victorian house that I finally re-found about 15 years ago, all those people were doing the best they could - there WERE NO JOBS! We had 2 classes - the very, very rich (ala Stewart's family in the film) and the very poor - the ones called 'socialists' by some - the Vanderhofs. Dare I say we are heading in the direction of the poor and the disgustingly rich again?
It is almost too late to talk to people who lived through those years. And lots of us don't like to tell people we were scared and didn't know if we would make it through another winter. You see, we had to buy coal and lots of people, my family among them, would have to go to a loan-shark to get through the winter. And I do remember that very well. I was 7 and getting the load of coal was a highlight of our fall season. LOL And the discussions and arguments over what should be done. And always money was uppermost in most discussions. Ah! The good ole days. Pardon me while I laugh until I cry.
Capra Corn, but for this old gal, I love the memories it jogs - of dinner tables with lots of relatives; men out of work doing crazy hobbies in the basement; and the mean, greedy people who never go away. When I was a very small child, my Dad had been ill and was put on disabled status at the post office (no pay check). Before he was reinstated in 1939, we had lived with his sister in a big ole 3 story house, because Uncle Frank was one of the only members of the clan - inlaws or ourlaws - who had a paying job in 1935. I was 3 and remember those grownups who didn't go to work or kids to school, in the morning, cleaned up the breakfast things and had a bridge game going that people sat in on when they were home. I guess it went on for weeks. I also remember the grownups turning on the radio and dancing; or listening to FDR. It was a group of people who were putting their faith in FDR, and never lost it even during war. This film with the speech by Lionel about not paying taxes because the government wasn't worth anything, would not have been liked by most of our family back in those days. I can remember my Dad's youngest sister finally got a good job as a teacher at a business school, and how proud she was of the SS # and deduction on her first check. That is the story told anyway! So, for anyone wanting a fun view of a house, that I'm sure was modeled on those the filmmakers and writers knew first hand, this is a good one and is only somewhat exaggerated. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030993/
In that big ole Victorian house that I finally re-found about 15 years ago, all those people were doing the best they could - there WERE NO JOBS! We had 2 classes - the very, very rich (ala Stewart's family in the film) and the very poor - the ones called 'socialists' by some - the Vanderhofs. Dare I say we are heading in the direction of the poor and the disgustingly rich again?
It is almost too late to talk to people who lived through those years. And lots of us don't like to tell people we were scared and didn't know if we would make it through another winter. You see, we had to buy coal and lots of people, my family among them, would have to go to a loan-shark to get through the winter. And I do remember that very well. I was 7 and getting the load of coal was a highlight of our fall season. LOL And the discussions and arguments over what should be done. And always money was uppermost in most discussions. Ah! The good ole days. Pardon me while I laugh until I cry.
September 17, 2011
Fred & Ginger, Judy, Bogart---
Follow The Fleet (1936) Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard. On TCM. Bit parts by Lucille Ball and Betty Grable. Amazing that six years after this film, Betty was the top box office star in the country; and Lucy would be the top TV star in the 1950's. And cute Harriet would become part of The Ozzie and Harriet Show with hubby and their two sons, Ricky and David, which was another top TV show for years, 1952-66.
Music by Irving Berlin with the lovely song "Lets Face The Music And Dance" a standout. I've never been a fan of the sailor suit and don't like it on Fred, a guy who looks like he was born to wear a tux or tails. Story is usual guys getting girls; losing girls; and silly mixups. The role for Scott was all wrong. He is kind of a cad, but changes to a good guy by fade out. He is better as a strong, silent hero, IMHO. 7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027630/
The Harvey Girls (1946) Judy Garland, Angela Lansbury, Cyd Charisse, Virginia O'Brien, John Hodiak, A favorite musical. Watch often, this time on TCM. The Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe number was shot in one take by Judy. Amazing. Of course, there were lots of rehearsals but it is still quite a feat. Judy, in her white apron carrying the guns across the dusty street to get the meat back after it was stolen is still one of my all-time faves. The big cowpoke that is bemused and gets everyone out of her way is a riot. The beautiful waltz that they "learnt way back east in Kansas City" always makes me laugh, being as we are the Heartland and center of the USA. A good time at the movies. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038589/
The Caine Mutiny (1954) Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Jose Ferrer, Robert Francis. From a very popular book by Herman Wouk, which won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize. I devoured it when I got my book club copy. It sold more books, $5 million world wide, than any novel except Gone With The Wind, up to that time. It spawned a play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" that was hugely successful on Broadway and toured the country for a year or so. Lloyd Noland played Capt. Queeg in the version I saw in 1953. It became a giant industry, and even spawned byproducts, e.g., the manufacture of "Queeg balls," modeled on the two steel bearings the Capt. rolls obsessively. All this info to underscore the importance of this film to people in 1954. The film gave Johnson, Bogart and MacMurray change or pace characters and enhanced their careers. The story of the rust bucket mine sweeper The Caine and its' crew and captain starts when the ship gets a new Commander and Ensign and joins a convoy in the Pacific Theater. Their job is to escort landing craft to the beaches during invasions. The crew and the officers realize Queeg has made some bad mistakes during gunnery practice and then their first escort duty. So when a storm makes the ship list so far they are afraid of foundering and sinking, 1st officer Maryk relieves Queeg of command, in effect a mutiny. All involved are arrested and indicted. It takes reluctant lawyer Greenwald to ferret out the real reason for what has happened. His speech to the group after the trial is the payoff and just feels good. Loved the book, the play and still think the movie is fine and dandy. 8/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046816/
The A-Team (2010) Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson. Hopelessly juvenile, but I had to watch because of Liam. He is just so darned good in any role handed to him. Follows the silliness of the TV series, and makes little sense, but that is not the point. Explosions, car chases and mayhem are what fans are paying for and it delivers. The guys are Army Rangers in Iraq who have had 80 successful missions. But the CIA comes and wants them to take on the recovery of the $100 bill plates that were stolen in the explosion at the end of their last mission, which they were tried for, and imprisoned. Double crosses and bad things happen. I stayed awake. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/
Up In The Air (2009) George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman. A rewatch. This is a film about the worst part of corporate America. And the people who get paid enormous sums to do the dirty work. Very well done but a bit depressing. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/
Cool, fall weather is already here with need for the comforter back on the bed, and sweaters and jackets for the mornings and evenings. Feels good after the long hot summer.
Music by Irving Berlin with the lovely song "Lets Face The Music And Dance" a standout. I've never been a fan of the sailor suit and don't like it on Fred, a guy who looks like he was born to wear a tux or tails. Story is usual guys getting girls; losing girls; and silly mixups. The role for Scott was all wrong. He is kind of a cad, but changes to a good guy by fade out. He is better as a strong, silent hero, IMHO. 7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027630/
The Harvey Girls (1946) Judy Garland, Angela Lansbury, Cyd Charisse, Virginia O'Brien, John Hodiak, A favorite musical. Watch often, this time on TCM. The Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe number was shot in one take by Judy. Amazing. Of course, there were lots of rehearsals but it is still quite a feat. Judy, in her white apron carrying the guns across the dusty street to get the meat back after it was stolen is still one of my all-time faves. The big cowpoke that is bemused and gets everyone out of her way is a riot. The beautiful waltz that they "learnt way back east in Kansas City" always makes me laugh, being as we are the Heartland and center of the USA. A good time at the movies. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038589/
The Caine Mutiny (1954) Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Jose Ferrer, Robert Francis. From a very popular book by Herman Wouk, which won the 1952 Pulitzer Prize. I devoured it when I got my book club copy. It sold more books, $5 million world wide, than any novel except Gone With The Wind, up to that time. It spawned a play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" that was hugely successful on Broadway and toured the country for a year or so. Lloyd Noland played Capt. Queeg in the version I saw in 1953. It became a giant industry, and even spawned byproducts, e.g., the manufacture of "Queeg balls," modeled on the two steel bearings the Capt. rolls obsessively. All this info to underscore the importance of this film to people in 1954. The film gave Johnson, Bogart and MacMurray change or pace characters and enhanced their careers. The story of the rust bucket mine sweeper The Caine and its' crew and captain starts when the ship gets a new Commander and Ensign and joins a convoy in the Pacific Theater. Their job is to escort landing craft to the beaches during invasions. The crew and the officers realize Queeg has made some bad mistakes during gunnery practice and then their first escort duty. So when a storm makes the ship list so far they are afraid of foundering and sinking, 1st officer Maryk relieves Queeg of command, in effect a mutiny. All involved are arrested and indicted. It takes reluctant lawyer Greenwald to ferret out the real reason for what has happened. His speech to the group after the trial is the payoff and just feels good. Loved the book, the play and still think the movie is fine and dandy. 8/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046816/
The A-Team (2010) Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Patrick Wilson. Hopelessly juvenile, but I had to watch because of Liam. He is just so darned good in any role handed to him. Follows the silliness of the TV series, and makes little sense, but that is not the point. Explosions, car chases and mayhem are what fans are paying for and it delivers. The guys are Army Rangers in Iraq who have had 80 successful missions. But the CIA comes and wants them to take on the recovery of the $100 bill plates that were stolen in the explosion at the end of their last mission, which they were tried for, and imprisoned. Double crosses and bad things happen. I stayed awake. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0429493/
Up In The Air (2009) George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman. A rewatch. This is a film about the worst part of corporate America. And the people who get paid enormous sums to do the dirty work. Very well done but a bit depressing. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1193138/
Cool, fall weather is already here with need for the comforter back on the bed, and sweaters and jackets for the mornings and evenings. Feels good after the long hot summer.
September 08, 2011
Colman, Lombard,MacDonald/Eddy, etc---
Films I have seen the last few weeks:
The Unholy Partners (1931) Ronald Colman, Fay Wray, Estelle Corbin. Colman plays his suave gentleman thief who is after a rumored fortune hidden by the blind father of our heroine. We are at a desert hotel in the middle of the Sahara, with a motley bunch of thieves, cutthroats and ne'er do wells. There is a plot to steal the blind mans fortune if they can find it. There is also a vamp who is trying to get Colman to give it up and come back to her. In the end he is off in an open car with his untrustworthy pal leaving his love, the money, and all problems behind. Okay look at early talky and one of the great speaking voices of the era. Wray was a doll. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022523/
Hands Across The Table (1935) Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Whitey the Cat. Gal and guy meet and are attracted to each other, but are both broke. She is a manicurist at a snooty, posh hotel; he a former rich playboy that lost it all in the stock market crash. He is setting his sights on a rich pineapple heiress. Fine and dandy because Reggie has met a rich paraplegic ex-aviator Allen Macklyn, who has an eye for Reggie. She does his nails you see. How Reggie ends up with her broke playboy is a fun romp. And Reggie's cat Whitey is bored by it all, naturally. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026452/
Girl Of The Golden West (1938) Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Walter Pigeon, Buddy Epson. Story of young girl and boy who become central to each others lives across the years, but only meet after they are adults. A lovely song the young Mary sings around the campfire is overheard by bandits and their young orphan protege. These two grow up to be the bandit Ramirez, and 'girl' the owner of The Poker saloon, which she inherits from her grandpa. She is romanced by the sheriff Jack Rance, but she is not in love with him. The music from this film was all composed for it and is the only one of the duo's films that did not originate on the stage. It is entertaining and the music is first rate. 9/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030182/
Cry 'Havoc' (1943) Women on Bataan at the beginning of the Japanese takeover of the island. The army nurses are short staffed because of deaths and injuries and burnout. A group of women refugees from all over the island end up at this camp and are asked to stay and help out with what are called the 'dirty' jobs. A few do and this is a film about them and the two women officer/nurses who run this so-called hospital. This was when they were sure MacArthur would be able to rescue them. But as the weeks go on, it is obvious that is unlikely. They finally get official word that the island has fallen to the enemy. All the petty jealousies and conflicts are wiped away and the final scene is the two worst antagonists, arms around each others waists, going up the stairs to their fate. It would take two long years, but MacArthur finally returned. We don't know how many nurses and civilians survived. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035770/
Callaway Went Thataway (1951) Fred MacMurray, Howard Keel, Dorothy McGuire, Jesse White. Entertaining little film with Keel playing a duo role; Stretch Barnes / Smoky Callaway. Fred and Dorothy as Mike and Deborah, ad agents who buy up some old movies starring Smokey to put on TV. Overnight success. Have to find him. Do. But he has become a drunken womanizing bum. Quick. Hire a lookalike - Stretch. Introduced on TV and then a cross country personal appearance tour, escorted by Deborah. Falls for big lug. What happens next? Guess! Nice little film. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043371/
The Dead (1987) Angelica Huston, Dan O'Herlihy. Donal McCann. I confess, I do not understand the Irish sensibilities. This is the final film of great director John Huston, and some of his family - Tony (as the screenwriter) and Angelica (as main character Gretta Conroy) - are involved in the location filming in Ireland. The story is about a Christmas dinner party at the home of musician spinster aunts for various family and friends. Remembrance's bring sadness and Gretta seems heartbroken and her husband gets her to tell a long tale of her great love when she was a girl in Galway. That's about it. Since it is from a James Joyce story with this distinguished crew, some will automatically give it a thumbs up. It is barely interesting. Costumes and sets are good. But how those ladies and gents got up and down those snowy steps without breaking something is a mystery. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092843/
Murder at 1600 (1997) Diane Lane, Wesley Snipes, Daniel Benzali. How does a local D.C. homicide detective do his job when everything is off limits and/or redacted? His liaison with the White House secret service detail is agent Nina. But she is controlled by chief-of-staff Spikings and he is arrogant and unwilling to help in any way. Good thriller with people we want to win. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119731/
The long hot spell is finally over and we have lovely evening and mornings to be outdoors.
The Unholy Partners (1931) Ronald Colman, Fay Wray, Estelle Corbin. Colman plays his suave gentleman thief who is after a rumored fortune hidden by the blind father of our heroine. We are at a desert hotel in the middle of the Sahara, with a motley bunch of thieves, cutthroats and ne'er do wells. There is a plot to steal the blind mans fortune if they can find it. There is also a vamp who is trying to get Colman to give it up and come back to her. In the end he is off in an open car with his untrustworthy pal leaving his love, the money, and all problems behind. Okay look at early talky and one of the great speaking voices of the era. Wray was a doll. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022523/
Hands Across The Table (1935) Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Whitey the Cat. Gal and guy meet and are attracted to each other, but are both broke. She is a manicurist at a snooty, posh hotel; he a former rich playboy that lost it all in the stock market crash. He is setting his sights on a rich pineapple heiress. Fine and dandy because Reggie has met a rich paraplegic ex-aviator Allen Macklyn, who has an eye for Reggie. She does his nails you see. How Reggie ends up with her broke playboy is a fun romp. And Reggie's cat Whitey is bored by it all, naturally. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026452/
Girl Of The Golden West (1938) Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Walter Pigeon, Buddy Epson. Story of young girl and boy who become central to each others lives across the years, but only meet after they are adults. A lovely song the young Mary sings around the campfire is overheard by bandits and their young orphan protege. These two grow up to be the bandit Ramirez, and 'girl' the owner of The Poker saloon, which she inherits from her grandpa. She is romanced by the sheriff Jack Rance, but she is not in love with him. The music from this film was all composed for it and is the only one of the duo's films that did not originate on the stage. It is entertaining and the music is first rate. 9/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030182/
Cry 'Havoc' (1943) Women on Bataan at the beginning of the Japanese takeover of the island. The army nurses are short staffed because of deaths and injuries and burnout. A group of women refugees from all over the island end up at this camp and are asked to stay and help out with what are called the 'dirty' jobs. A few do and this is a film about them and the two women officer/nurses who run this so-called hospital. This was when they were sure MacArthur would be able to rescue them. But as the weeks go on, it is obvious that is unlikely. They finally get official word that the island has fallen to the enemy. All the petty jealousies and conflicts are wiped away and the final scene is the two worst antagonists, arms around each others waists, going up the stairs to their fate. It would take two long years, but MacArthur finally returned. We don't know how many nurses and civilians survived. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035770/
Callaway Went Thataway (1951) Fred MacMurray, Howard Keel, Dorothy McGuire, Jesse White. Entertaining little film with Keel playing a duo role; Stretch Barnes / Smoky Callaway. Fred and Dorothy as Mike and Deborah, ad agents who buy up some old movies starring Smokey to put on TV. Overnight success. Have to find him. Do. But he has become a drunken womanizing bum. Quick. Hire a lookalike - Stretch. Introduced on TV and then a cross country personal appearance tour, escorted by Deborah. Falls for big lug. What happens next? Guess! Nice little film. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043371/
The Dead (1987) Angelica Huston, Dan O'Herlihy. Donal McCann. I confess, I do not understand the Irish sensibilities. This is the final film of great director John Huston, and some of his family - Tony (as the screenwriter) and Angelica (as main character Gretta Conroy) - are involved in the location filming in Ireland. The story is about a Christmas dinner party at the home of musician spinster aunts for various family and friends. Remembrance's bring sadness and Gretta seems heartbroken and her husband gets her to tell a long tale of her great love when she was a girl in Galway. That's about it. Since it is from a James Joyce story with this distinguished crew, some will automatically give it a thumbs up. It is barely interesting. Costumes and sets are good. But how those ladies and gents got up and down those snowy steps without breaking something is a mystery. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092843/
Murder at 1600 (1997) Diane Lane, Wesley Snipes, Daniel Benzali. How does a local D.C. homicide detective do his job when everything is off limits and/or redacted? His liaison with the White House secret service detail is agent Nina. But she is controlled by chief-of-staff Spikings and he is arrogant and unwilling to help in any way. Good thriller with people we want to win. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119731/
The long hot spell is finally over and we have lovely evening and mornings to be outdoors.
September 01, 2011
Denzel times two=entertainment--
---plus a musical:
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) Jane Powell, Howard Keel. Finally sat through the whole thing again and I still feel the same. It is a musical that I'm not fond of - too much rowdiness, jumping around. And the rough housing by the 'boys' gets on my nerves. That's the way I felt after watching it long ago and I haven't changed my mind. As for the music, I cannot remember one song and never hummed any of the melodies. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047472/
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Kate Beckinsale, Keanu Reeves. William Shakespeare's rom/com of Hero and Claudio, soon to wed; and Beatrice and Benedict, barely able to tolerate each other. The mix ups and partings and discovery of the evil doer leads to one of the most joyful and lovely final scenes in a recent tilm. IMHO.
"Sigh No More": during the film; what a lovely courtyard and fountain! -- and song.
The joyful finale:
http://youtu.be/gMX0fxUZEwU
And the words:
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh nor more; Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore, To one thing constant never; Then sigh not so, But let them go, And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe Into. Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo, Or dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so, Since summer first was leavy. Then sigh not so, But let them go, And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe Into. Hey, nonny, nonny.
Love this film! Not perfect - but it'll do! 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107616/
Unstoppable (2010) Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson. I can't help it - Denzel is fun to watch in most films. This one about a train that somehow the brakeman didn't get the automatic brake set, so it just lumbers along, is a real puzzle. How to get someone on board or something in front of it to stop it in time? Going across open country is one thing; but an urban center in coming up soon. How do the guys on the front lines convince the boardroom shirt and ties to let them alone to do their job? We get more and more tense as the time goes by. Whew! A mighty fine popcorn movie. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477080/
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) Jane Powell, Howard Keel. Finally sat through the whole thing again and I still feel the same. It is a musical that I'm not fond of - too much rowdiness, jumping around. And the rough housing by the 'boys' gets on my nerves. That's the way I felt after watching it long ago and I haven't changed my mind. As for the music, I cannot remember one song and never hummed any of the melodies. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047472/
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Kate Beckinsale, Keanu Reeves. William Shakespeare's rom/com of Hero and Claudio, soon to wed; and Beatrice and Benedict, barely able to tolerate each other. The mix ups and partings and discovery of the evil doer leads to one of the most joyful and lovely final scenes in a recent tilm. IMHO.
"Sigh No More": during the film; what a lovely courtyard and fountain! -- and song.
The joyful finale:
http://youtu.be/gMX0fxUZEwU
And the words:
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh nor more; Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore, To one thing constant never; Then sigh not so, But let them go, And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe Into. Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo, Or dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so, Since summer first was leavy. Then sigh not so, But let them go, And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe Into. Hey, nonny, nonny.
Love this film! Not perfect - but it'll do! 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107616/
Unstoppable (2010) Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson. I can't help it - Denzel is fun to watch in most films. This one about a train that somehow the brakeman didn't get the automatic brake set, so it just lumbers along, is a real puzzle. How to get someone on board or something in front of it to stop it in time? Going across open country is one thing; but an urban center in coming up soon. How do the guys on the front lines convince the boardroom shirt and ties to let them alone to do their job? We get more and more tense as the time goes by. Whew! A mighty fine popcorn movie. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477080/
Joan Blondell, Deanna Durbin, Linda Darnell ---
Three great stars and their films. This week I watched
Sinners Holiday (1930) Joan Blondell, James Cagney. Marked the movie debut of Cagney and it made him a movie star. He and Blondell had both starred in the stage play on Broadway, originally titled, "Penny Arcade." Al Jolson bought the rights and insisted that they repeat their performances in the movie version, although Cagney and Jolson never met in real life. The film was a hit and Cagney was called 'electrifying.' Story of gangsters, prostitutes, Penny Arcades, rum running and other assorted under belly of life at the time. A period piece to savor. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021381/
Footlight Parade (1933) Joan Blondell, James Cagney, Ruby Keeler, Dick Powell. Great musical, one of Busby Berkley's fantastic bests, "By A Waterfall" is amazing. "Honeymoon Hotel", "Shanghai Lil" and other number not so well known make this a fun film from start to finish. Just 4 years after the studios were thrown for a loop by "sound" Warners makes this entertainment, which it is from start to finish. I always sit with a goofy grin and just enjoy the heck out of it. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024028/
He Was Her Man (1934) Joan Blondell, James Cagney, Victor Jory. Cagney is "Flicker" Hayes a bad guy, and Joan is Rose, a bad girl. They end up on the lam in a fishing village in California. Our bad boy, stays bad, but our bad girl tries to be good. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025226/
Dames (1934) Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, Zazu Pitts, Guy Kebbee, Hugh Herbert. About putting on a show and the rich man who decides it is immoral and his duty to get the "filthy" forms of entertainment off Broadway. Sound familiar? Fun to see Pitts, Kebbee and Herbert in top form here. Lovely song, "I Only Have Eyes For You" is used throughout, along with title song, and "Shuffle Off Too Buffalo." 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025028/
Nice Girl? (1941) Deanna Durbin, Franchot Tone, Robert Stack, Walter Brennan, Robert Benchley Small town girl falls for her fathers associate and gets in hair brained schemes, but all is well by the fade. Deanna sings "Love At Last," "Perhaps", and a lovely version of "The Old Folks At Home." Not her best, but worth it for the singing. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033950/
Fallen Angel (1945) Linda Darnell, Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Charles Bickford, Percy Kilbride. A con man/gambler gets thrown off a bus in a small burg in California and walks into a diner with a gorgeous babe as the waitress. She is like honey to this hive of male bees and soon our drifter is scheming to get his hands on enough money to satisfy the babe. Enter the 'good girl' who lives in a big ole house with her sister and plays the organ in church and they are rich. He decide to woo and win the blond and her sis and after he gets his hands of their money - it is bye-bye. But! Murder rears it's ugly head when our waitress Stella ends up dead. And the drifter (Eric) is the chief suspect. But June (his new wife) is true blue and knows he didn't do it. Dark shadows and gloom seem to come from the screen. Otto Preminger directed this and the great "Laura" also with Andrews. They will always have a place in the film records because of these films. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037691/
Please Believe Me (1950) Deborah Kerr, Robert Walker, Peter Lawford, Mark Stevens. Alison Kirbe of London, receives a telegram from Texas, that she has inherited a livestock ranch. It She decides to go see about it and meets men all on the make, trying to swindle her or keep her from swindling their clients. Mixups and assorted shouting matches and so forth - and a happy ending at the fade. Not very funny and the cast seems bored. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042848/
North By Northwest (1959) Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, Jessie Royce Landis. James Mason. Alfred Hitchcock's very entertaining film about an ad exec who is mistaken for a spy by another group of spies and has a heck of a time because of it. The first hour is one of the best set ups for a suspense film ever. This poor guy is kidnapped, has whiskey poured down his throat, stuffed behind the wheel of a car and sent down a winding road overlooking cliffs and the sea. And that's just the first 15 minutes. It just keeps you on pins and needles about what jam he will get in next and how he'll survive. Lots of great famous scenes, all the stars seem to be having a great time, and it is all done very well. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053125/
Bride Wars (2009) Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen. Dreams of best friends from childhood about heir weddings go horribly wrong. Love the girlie's and their wedding dresses. Story and script lets all the cast down but it's fun anyway. Call me crazy, but I'd rather see pretty girls acting silly in pretty clothes as opposed to scruffy dirty looking guys belching, scratching, peeing, cussing. But that's just me. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0901476/
"And the days dwindle down to a precious few; September....
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