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/