FIRST TIME:
Air Force (1943) John Garfield, Gig Young, Harey Carey, Arthur Kennedy, Charles Drake. Story of the the "Flying Fortresses of WWII, and a particular B-17 bomber, the "Mary Ann" which takes off on a routine training flight from San Francisco to Hawaii and arrives just after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They are ordered to fly on to Wake Island, the Phillipines and finally are in the Battle Of The Coral Sea. The crew have to grow up and become hardened very fast. This was part of TCM's Memorial Day salute to veterans of foreign wars. Made during the darkest days of WWII, it is patiotic and shows us winning battles. For morale at home and abroad, it was a winner. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035616/combined
Pickup Alley (1957) Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, Trevor Howard. Boring film about a U.S. narcotics agent following a drug dealers woman accomplice all over Europe. I could hardly stay awake. Some nice scenery. 5/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050841/combined
Magic Mike (2012) Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Olivia Munn. Ugh! Had to try twice to get through the whole thing. I like great looking guys even if I am an ancient pelican, but this was too much. The story was so focused on the nightclub and silly girl/women who screamed a lot and threw money or stuffed it in the dancers G-strings, that for the first 15 minutes it was completely loud and boring. When we finally got passed that, the part with the two guys, Mike the experienced dancer and the young one he meets at his day job in construction, and what they did getting ready to dance, with just snippets of their home lives, that I really had to force myself to sit for more. Part of the time I think I zoned out. McConaughey was not worthy of a nomination for anything as far as I'm concerned. Munn was glum and glummer. Tatum sounded like he was ad-libbing most of the time and didn't do it well. But for younger women in the club scene, I'm sure it is a fun movie for girls night out. For me, not so much. 4/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1915581/combined
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton. Stylised film about the 1960's world of a scout like organization at a summer camp on an island. The two young main characters are a girl who runs away from home and joins the boy who is running away from the camp and the counselors. He is an orphan and rebel ourcast. The two pitch their tent and spend time reading aloud (her) and drawing (him). When the local police Captain and scout master are told by social services to find the runaways, they enlist all the other campers to help. The leads are terrific, deadpan and serious. Willis is great as the captain. The whole cast do a great job showing the so-called uptight world the film is about. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1748122/combined
ENCORES:
Libeled Lady (1936) Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Walter Connelly. Heiress and her father sue newspaper for 5 million for slander. Editor and womanizing reporter scheme to bring a scandal to her life to get her to call off, using editors gal as the 'other woman.' Hilarious scene of Powell learning to fly fish from a book. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027884/combined
Come Live With Me (1941) Hedy Lamarr, James Stewart, Ian Hunter, Verree Teasdale, Adeline De Walt Reynolds. This 'comedy' wants you to believe that a sophistocated beauty would give up a rich powerful man for a penniless doufuss because he take her home to grandma. No way, no how. And Stewart is at his most annoying. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033477/combined
Command Decision (1948) Clark Gable, Walter Pigeon, Van Johnson, Brian Donlevy. Very dry, talkey drama about the first long range bombing raids far into Germany. High command wants to slow things down, but on the ground commander sees it as a necessity and keeps sending more raids and loses many planes and men. Good cast keeps it from being a complete bore. A film in TCM's salute to armed forces on Memorial Day. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040242/combined
Lightning Strikes Twice (1951) Ruth Roman, Richard Todd, Mercedes McCambridge. Neat thriller about a man accused and tried for the murder of his wife, convicted, on death row, when a reprieve comes through at the last minute. A retrial sets him free on acquittal. Then on a dark and stormy night a ;pst yopung woman sent to the desert for her health, happens upon a dwelling and meets the man. Instant lust. But she falls asleep and the man is gone in the morning. From there we get to the dude ranch run by a woman and her brother, the rich rancher and his wife, all friends of our hero, and a playboy visitor. A real mess of a screenplay with plot holes every 5 minutes. Still, it's watchable. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043744/combined
Libel (1959) Olivia deHavilland, Dirk Bogard, Paul Massie, Robert Morley, Wilfred Hyde-White. A libel suit against a pilot who gave an interview to a paper acusing Sir Mark Lodden as an imposter. Twists and turns as we learn of the uncanny resemblance of Sir Mark and Frank Welney, both prisoners of war in the same camp, along with the pilot Jeffrey Buckingham. Lady Lodden becomes increasingly conflicted and unsure of her husbands identity. Good courtroom drama with the competely lawyers, Morley and Hyde-White, stealing the film from the stars. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053003/combined
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