Come Live With Me (1941) Hedy Lamarr, James Stewart, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale.[/b] He's a poor, struggling writer. She is a showgirl refuge who will be sent back to Europe when found out. Her rich boyfriend (Hunter) is married to clever Teasdale. Hedy discovers broke author down to his last dime, and pays him to marry her so she can stay in USA. Before long, poor boy takes girl home to farm and Grannie. Will true love blossom? Plot seems familiar. Hedy is gorgeous. She was voted "most beautiful woman in the world." 7/10 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033477/
The Mask Of Dimitrios (1944) Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson. The title gives the impression this is the story of a mans life. Far from it, this is about our two main characters trying to figure out who and where and - if - Dimitrios - is. Sidney and Peter are in fine form and tackle their parts with glee, which makes the viewer want to follow them around following clue after clue. Mystery writer Leyden and police inspector Haki share interest in a body that washes up on a shore in Istanbul. Haki tells the story of a career criminal and Leyden decides to follow the story where it leads - all over Europe. Along the way he meets up with Englishman, 300 pound Mr. Peters, obsessed with the fellow also, because he was swindled out of a fortune by the guy. Around and around they go, and we go too. Scott, in his screen debut, gives a portrait of pure evil. Lorre amd Greenstreet, as usual, are able to hold the screen and we are compelled to follow them. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037055/
The Swan (1958) Grace Kelly, Alec Guinness, Louis Jourdan, Jessie Royce Landis, Agnes Moorhead. Wonderful Molnar play filmed just before Grace became a real Princess. Gorgeous cinematography and sweet and humorous pokes at the aristocracy. Cast through the butlers, maids, etc. are all top actors. A favorite I watch often. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049815/
Win Win (2011) Paul Giametti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Melanie Lynskey, Jeffrey Tambor. Giametti is a struggling lawyer barely making it in his small town. He also coaches the high school wrestling team. In court one day he tells the Judge he is the guardian of an elderly client and ends up getting the mans housing check each month. He finds a nursing home in the price range and pockets the difference. In the meantime, the old mans grandson, his daughter, and various others get involved. Giametti is great as the meek and mild Mike, just trying to muddle through. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606392/
Beethoven (1992) Dharles Groden, Bonnie Hunt, Dean Jones. There they were. Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt as the two goofy thieves, trying to corral a bunch of dogs smarter than they were. Can't believe they were ever that new and doing physical comedy. Never watched this before cause no kids in my house, and grands live half a country away. In my dotage, I thoroughly enjoyed slobbering, huge Beethoven. I never thought I would think Grodin was a bad guy, but he hates the dog. What?! He can't do that! And good guy Jones - a killer? Unbelievable. Enjoyed big ole Beethoven and all his friends. A lot. Of course, I don't have to clean up after them. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103786/
October 16, 2012
October 15, 2012
ENCORES:
On the one hand:
The Constant Nymph (1943) Joan Fontaine, Charles Boyer, Alexis Smith. O.M.G! When I was a teeny bopper in 1943 when this came to our neighborhood theater, I was entranced. A girl only a bit older than me in love with an older dreamy guy - and he loves her back. O.M.G! But , but! I watched the DVR'd copy last night and I was soooo disappointed. Fontaine is drippy. It is one of Boyers worst films. Smith comes out with her dignity in tact. And, I was underwhelmed by the music. I've longed to see this again all these years, but now wish it was still among the 'lost.' "Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it." 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035751/
On the other hand:
Saratoga Trunk (1946) Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper, Flora Robson, Florence Bates, Jerry Austin. An all time favorite. Ingrid's most beautiful film. Just fun to watch. Gary isn't bad lolling in that chair when she sees him first, too. Wonderful Max Steiner score. Watched at least once a year. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038053/
The Flight Of The Phoenix (1965) James Stewart, Hardy Kruger, Richard Attenborough. Marvelous ensemble cast. Story of a oil company plane that goes down during a sand storm and the survivors work to rebuild something that can get them back to a station http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059183/
The Group (1966) Joan Hackett, Joanna Pettet, Shirley Knight, Jessica Walter, Candice Bergen, Elizabeth Hartman, Larry Hagman. Episodic tale of wealthy young women in 1933 graduating from Vassar and embarking on their real lives. Some let parents control them because they hold the purse strings and are afraid to rebel. Others have the real world intrude on their delusions; all have a bumpy journey. Ten years or so later, and the wake for one, we see where they are at the beginning of WWII, which will continue their enlightenment. Or not. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060479/
Dressed To Kill (1980) Angie Dickenson, Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, Dennis Franz. I finally sat down and watched the whole thing again. Angie's walk through the gallery with the great art work playing a central part is mesmerizing. We see great works or art filmed with such skill to make us drunk with watching. The film goes lax from there on. Nancy Allen is wonderful, but Franz is very irritating. There is no mystery, because they make it so obvious who the big woman is and so there is no shock at the end. But still it holds you to 'the end'. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080661/
The Usual Suspects (1995) Kevin Spacey(Oscar) and a bunch of other actors. I finally watched this film all the way through. For years I have watched bits and pieces and tried to love it. But I can't and don"t. I have read and considered the reasons given for male love for it, but it is truly boring and tiresome to me. I'm too old, too female, and it just doesn't seem that amazing to me. 2/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) Nia Vardalos stars as Toula Portokalos, and also wrote the screenplay. Michael Constantine as Nick Portokalos, her father, steals the show with his Windex bottle, and his lesson on the root of every English word being - Greek! Also great are Mama, Lainie Kazan, and John Corbett as the guy who falls into this Greek stew and marries the girl. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/
Jane Eyre (2011) Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench. An okay version of this tale. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229822/
NEW TO ME:
Merrily We Live (1937) Constance Bennett, Brian Ahern, Billie Burke, Bonita Granville, Alan Mowbray. Screwball comedy with everyone trying too hard. Most of the antics and dialog miss their mark. Supposed to be sparking but really very dreary. Connie is especially desperate here and Billie just isn't funny. I'm being generous scoring it - 5/10. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030442/
Butterflies Are Free (1972) Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, Eileen Heckart(Oscar-supporting). A look back at the hippie era and in particular a blind man of 20 and a free spirit of 19. They are getting along fine when Ma comes to visit baby boy. Lots of talk, a la a stage play, which is what it was. Goldie is darling. Heckart and Albert very good in their key scenes. And ! O.M.G. the fashions. Yow ! 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068326/
The Burning Plain (2008) Charlize Theron, John Corbett, Kim Basinger. Okay; I was lost very soon after this started. It meanders between now - and then. If the stories were at all captivating I might care who is doing what to whom, but they are not, and I didn't. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068641/
Taking Chance (2009-HBO) Kevin Bacon. Fine film about the homecoming of the body of Pfc. Chance Phelps, killed at 19, and escorting it back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming from Dover, AF base, by Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl. (Bacon) Based on real-life events, the film is detailed in what the emotional journey of all involved go through. Strobl is conflicted that he took the safe way because he had a young family. Throughout history we play the trumpets and shout out approval for the warriors. But then someone has to, as the song says "bring him home" with all the heartbreak and tears. Sure we venerate the heroes. But we also ask ourselves and history, is this the best way? Bacon gives his usual fine performance. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019454/
Cinema Verite (2011) Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, James Gandolfini. The first family to submit their lives to a reality show; The Louds. The question is - why? 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623742/
Tower Heist (2011) Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick. Getting even with a rich guy over the Ponzi scheme he ruined them with. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471042/
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy. Cold war spies in Europe. The first one, a TV show starring Alec Guinness, was boring and this one is no better. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/
Win Win (2011) Paul Giametti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Melanie Lynskey, Jeffrey Tambor. Giametti is a struggling lawyer barely making it in his small town. He also coaches the high school wrestling team. In court one day he tells the Judge he is the guardian of an elderly client and ends up getting the mans housing check each month. He finds a nursing home in the price range and pockets the difference. In the meantime, the old mans grandson, his daughter, and various others get involved. Giametti is great as the meek and mild Mike, just trying to muddle through. 7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606392/
On the one hand:
The Constant Nymph (1943) Joan Fontaine, Charles Boyer, Alexis Smith. O.M.G! When I was a teeny bopper in 1943 when this came to our neighborhood theater, I was entranced. A girl only a bit older than me in love with an older dreamy guy - and he loves her back. O.M.G! But , but! I watched the DVR'd copy last night and I was soooo disappointed. Fontaine is drippy. It is one of Boyers worst films. Smith comes out with her dignity in tact. And, I was underwhelmed by the music. I've longed to see this again all these years, but now wish it was still among the 'lost.' "Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it." 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035751/
On the other hand:
Saratoga Trunk (1946) Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper, Flora Robson, Florence Bates, Jerry Austin. An all time favorite. Ingrid's most beautiful film. Just fun to watch. Gary isn't bad lolling in that chair when she sees him first, too. Wonderful Max Steiner score. Watched at least once a year. 10/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038053/
The Flight Of The Phoenix (1965) James Stewart, Hardy Kruger, Richard Attenborough. Marvelous ensemble cast. Story of a oil company plane that goes down during a sand storm and the survivors work to rebuild something that can get them back to a station http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059183/
The Group (1966) Joan Hackett, Joanna Pettet, Shirley Knight, Jessica Walter, Candice Bergen, Elizabeth Hartman, Larry Hagman. Episodic tale of wealthy young women in 1933 graduating from Vassar and embarking on their real lives. Some let parents control them because they hold the purse strings and are afraid to rebel. Others have the real world intrude on their delusions; all have a bumpy journey. Ten years or so later, and the wake for one, we see where they are at the beginning of WWII, which will continue their enlightenment. Or not. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060479/
Dressed To Kill (1980) Angie Dickenson, Michael Caine, Nancy Allen, Dennis Franz. I finally sat down and watched the whole thing again. Angie's walk through the gallery with the great art work playing a central part is mesmerizing. We see great works or art filmed with such skill to make us drunk with watching. The film goes lax from there on. Nancy Allen is wonderful, but Franz is very irritating. There is no mystery, because they make it so obvious who the big woman is and so there is no shock at the end. But still it holds you to 'the end'. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080661/
The Usual Suspects (1995) Kevin Spacey(Oscar) and a bunch of other actors. I finally watched this film all the way through. For years I have watched bits and pieces and tried to love it. But I can't and don"t. I have read and considered the reasons given for male love for it, but it is truly boring and tiresome to me. I'm too old, too female, and it just doesn't seem that amazing to me. 2/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114814/
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) Nia Vardalos stars as Toula Portokalos, and also wrote the screenplay. Michael Constantine as Nick Portokalos, her father, steals the show with his Windex bottle, and his lesson on the root of every English word being - Greek! Also great are Mama, Lainie Kazan, and John Corbett as the guy who falls into this Greek stew and marries the girl. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259446/
Jane Eyre (2011) Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench. An okay version of this tale. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229822/
NEW TO ME:
Merrily We Live (1937) Constance Bennett, Brian Ahern, Billie Burke, Bonita Granville, Alan Mowbray. Screwball comedy with everyone trying too hard. Most of the antics and dialog miss their mark. Supposed to be sparking but really very dreary. Connie is especially desperate here and Billie just isn't funny. I'm being generous scoring it - 5/10. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030442/
Butterflies Are Free (1972) Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, Eileen Heckart(Oscar-supporting). A look back at the hippie era and in particular a blind man of 20 and a free spirit of 19. They are getting along fine when Ma comes to visit baby boy. Lots of talk, a la a stage play, which is what it was. Goldie is darling. Heckart and Albert very good in their key scenes. And ! O.M.G. the fashions. Yow ! 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068326/
The Burning Plain (2008) Charlize Theron, John Corbett, Kim Basinger. Okay; I was lost very soon after this started. It meanders between now - and then. If the stories were at all captivating I might care who is doing what to whom, but they are not, and I didn't. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068641/
Taking Chance (2009-HBO) Kevin Bacon. Fine film about the homecoming of the body of Pfc. Chance Phelps, killed at 19, and escorting it back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyoming from Dover, AF base, by Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl. (Bacon) Based on real-life events, the film is detailed in what the emotional journey of all involved go through. Strobl is conflicted that he took the safe way because he had a young family. Throughout history we play the trumpets and shout out approval for the warriors. But then someone has to, as the song says "bring him home" with all the heartbreak and tears. Sure we venerate the heroes. But we also ask ourselves and history, is this the best way? Bacon gives his usual fine performance. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1019454/
Cinema Verite (2011) Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, James Gandolfini. The first family to submit their lives to a reality show; The Louds. The question is - why? 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623742/
Tower Heist (2011) Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick. Getting even with a rich guy over the Ponzi scheme he ruined them with. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471042/
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Tom Hardy. Cold war spies in Europe. The first one, a TV show starring Alec Guinness, was boring and this one is no better. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/
Win Win (2011) Paul Giametti, Amy Ryan, Bobby Cannavale, Melanie Lynskey, Jeffrey Tambor. Giametti is a struggling lawyer barely making it in his small town. He also coaches the high school wrestling team. In court one day he tells the Judge he is the guardian of an elderly client and ends up getting the mans housing check each month. He finds a nursing home in the price range and pockets the difference. In the meantime, the old mans grandson, his daughter, and various others get involved. Giametti is great as the meek and mild Mike, just trying to muddle through. 7/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606392/
October 05, 2012
Deanna and Jane and Goldie----
ENCORES-watched many times:
100 Men And A Girl (1937) Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, Leopold Stokowski. That hat! That feather! Deanna is the daughter of an unemployes musician. They have 100 and are trying to be heard by a benefactor. 8/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029347/
His Kind Of Woman (1951) Jane Russell, Robert Mitchum, Vincent Price, Charles McGraw, Tim Holt, Raymond Burr, Jim Backus. They all seem to relish their roles. The Dame, the Bum, the Ham, The Thug, The Law, the Killer, and The Doofus. Tongue in cheek all the way but playing it straight. Who cares who did what? Enjoy the scenery. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043643/
Stars And Stripes Forever (1952) Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner, Debra Padgett, Ruth Hussey. DVR's from TCM's 4th of July programming, I finally watched the last 30 minutes. Love those marches and they were never filmed better. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045187/
Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Jack Elam. Speaking of a cast with tongue firmly in cheek, here is a master class. Jim's lawman is on the way to Australia, Joan knows better, Walter and Jack steal their scenes and fun is had by the viewer. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065051/
Overboard (1987) Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Roddy McDowell, Edmund Herrmann, Katherine Helmond. Goldie as the rich bit-- and the good ole gal is priceless. Kurt is pretty. The kids are annoying. Helmond is too much, absolutely. Hermann and McDowell are always good. The clothes worn by Ma and Joanna on the yaught are a whole topic of their own. Fun to make fun of the ultra rich and their toys. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093693/
100 Men And A Girl (1937) Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, Leopold Stokowski. That hat! That feather! Deanna is the daughter of an unemployes musician. They have 100 and are trying to be heard by a benefactor. 8/10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029347/
His Kind Of Woman (1951) Jane Russell, Robert Mitchum, Vincent Price, Charles McGraw, Tim Holt, Raymond Burr, Jim Backus. They all seem to relish their roles. The Dame, the Bum, the Ham, The Thug, The Law, the Killer, and The Doofus. Tongue in cheek all the way but playing it straight. Who cares who did what? Enjoy the scenery. 9/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043643/
Stars And Stripes Forever (1952) Clifton Webb, Robert Wagner, Debra Padgett, Ruth Hussey. DVR's from TCM's 4th of July programming, I finally watched the last 30 minutes. Love those marches and they were never filmed better. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045187/
Support Your Local Sheriff (1969) James Garner, Joan Hackett, Walter Brennan, Jack Elam. Speaking of a cast with tongue firmly in cheek, here is a master class. Jim's lawman is on the way to Australia, Joan knows better, Walter and Jack steal their scenes and fun is had by the viewer. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065051/
Overboard (1987) Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Roddy McDowell, Edmund Herrmann, Katherine Helmond. Goldie as the rich bit-- and the good ole gal is priceless. Kurt is pretty. The kids are annoying. Helmond is too much, absolutely. Hermann and McDowell are always good. The clothes worn by Ma and Joanna on the yaught are a whole topic of their own. Fun to make fun of the ultra rich and their toys. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093693/
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