GBGoodies 2015 Movie Logbook

The Love Bug (1968)

I haven't seen this movie in many years, but I decided to watch it again after reading about the recent passing of actor Dean Jones. This movie was a favorite of mine when I was a kid, and I was hoping that it would live up to my memories of it, and happily, it did.

Dean Jones and Buddy Hackett are great in the movie, but Herbie is clearly the star of the movie. You probably never thought that a cute little car could make you laugh, and maybe even make you cry, but Herbie puts you on a little emotional roller coaster.

This is one of the best of the Disney live-action movies.

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Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)

I skipped over Herbie Rides Again and went straight to the third Herbie movie, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, because I only wanted to watch the movies starring Dean Jones.

This movie revolves around a diamond theft and a car race, and those parts are fun, but mostly just predictable. But the movie also focuses on Herbie falling in love with another car, and that's the part of the movie that's worth watching.

This movie is fun, but it's not as good as the first Herbie movie. Instead of Buddy Hackett, the sidekick is played by Don Knotts, and he just can't fill Hackett's shoes.

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The Shaggy Dog (1959)

I wanted to watch another movie starring Dean Jones, and I was going to watch The Shaggy D.A., so I decided to watch this movie first. (I was planning to watch this movie for the 1950's list anyway.) This is another Disney live-action movie that was a childhood favorite, and happily, this movie also stood the test of time.

This is a fun movie despite having some major plot holes. It combines humor, action, romance, and even a bit of spy thriller into a very enjoyable family movie.

It features a terrific cast of mostly young actors, including Disney favorites Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran, and even a young Annette Funicello.

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The Shaggy D.A. (1976)

In this sequel to The Shaggy Dog, Wilby Daniels is played by Disney legend Dean Jones. In this movie, he's all grown up, and a successful lawyer. He decides to run for district attorney because he believes the current D.A. is corrupt. His problems begin when the magical ring is stolen, and he is once again turned into a shaggy dog.

This movie is enjoyable, but it's not as good as the first movie. This movie tries a little bit too hard, and gives the dog too many abilities that only people would have, not dogs, and it crosses the line of believability.

It's a fun movie to watch, but you have to suspend belief, (even more than in the first movie), and don't set your expectations to high.

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I used to love those last 4 movies when I was younger. It's nice to hear of them again. Were you planning on watching any of the HoF movies?

Yes. I watched Coming Home yesterday. It's one of those movies that's been on my watchlist for years, so when I saw it listed, I decided to jump it to the top of my list.

I haven't had a chance to write anything about it yet, but I liked it a lot. It's a very powerful movie, and probably Jon Voight's best performance. I liked his speech at the end, but I thought they could have ended the part about Bruce Dern a bit better. It seemed like they didn't want to tell us what happened to him, and left it up to the viewer to decide his fate.

The Jurassic Park Trilogy
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Jurassic Park III (2001)

I watched these movies as a marathon, so I decided to review them together.

Jurassic Park (1993) is easily the best of the three movies. The story, the suspense, the terror, the characters, and just the whole movie are so much better than the two sequels that it's almost unfair to compare the sequels to such a terrific movie. The entire cast is perfect, especially Sam Neill.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) is my least favorite of the three movies. The cast is probably the biggest problem for me in this movie because there are two groups of people on the island, and while one group, lead by Jeff Goldblum and Julianne Moore, is interesting and worth watching, the other group, lead by Pete Postlethwaite, is just completely unlikeable, and they almost made me root for the dinosaurs. While Jeff Goldblum is great in this movie, he just can't carry the movie as well as Sam Neill did in the first movie.

In Jurassic Park III (2001), we get back to basics with Sam Neill being brought back, but even he's not enough to make this movie anywhere near as good as the first movie. Most of the characters are just kind of boring, and the story is only okay. It's a little bit better than the second movie, but it still lacks the thrills and suspense of the first movie.



Jurassic Park (1993)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Jurassic Park III (2001) +

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Fantastic Four (2015)

I'm one of the few people who actually liked the previous Fantastic Four movies, so I was hoping that I would like this one too, even though it was getting terrible reviews. Unfortunately, this movie is pretty much as bad as its reviews.

The biggest problem is that none of the characters are likeable. The only character who was even close to being likeable was The Human Torch, but even he was just borderline likeable.

There are no fun scenes with the characters interacting. They all barely get along, and there's pretty much no comradery. Even the fight scenes are pretty boring.

The movie seems to just gloss over what's happening with few, if any, explanations. There's no interaction at all with the "real" world. It's all about them, and only them, and since we don't really like them, there's nothing in the movie to like either.

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Sling Blade (1996) - This movie was recommended by Captain Steel.

This is one of those movies that I've kind of avoided over the years, because I didn't think that it was my type of movie, but I was wrong.

This a strange, but sweet movie. Billy Bob Thornton's character is likeable, in a strange way. And the relationship that he forms with a 12-year old boy is heartwarming.

The acting is superb across the board, but these are just a few side notes about the actors:
(1) As a country music fan, I'll never get used to Dwight Yoakam as an actor. He'll always be a country/rockabilly singer to me.
(2) I recently watched a few episodes of "NCIS: New Orleans", and Lucas Black hasn't changed in almost 20 years. He's just a little bit taller.

Thank You to Captain Steel for this great recommendation.

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A Place in the Sun (1951) - This movie was recommended in Gideon58's "My Best Onscreen Chemistry List" thread.

This is a very interesting movie that starts out as a romance, then becomes a love triangle, and ends up as a courtroom drama. The first half is great, but the courtroom part is only okay. It felt like they kind of skimmed over the whole trial, and only focused on one side of the trial. That leaves us with an ambiguous ending, even though we know the jury's decision, and the eventual outcome.

Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor have wonderful chemistry together. It felt like they really belonged together. Shelley Winters also did a terrific job as Alice.

Thank You to Gideon58 for this great recommendation.

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The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

This is a good movie, but it has a couple of flaws that hurt it.

At the beginning of the movie, it felt like the two men were in danger of being killed, but as the movie went on, it became clear that the killer needed them, so he wasn't likely to kill them any time soon, and there was no longer that sense of danger. As it got closer to the end of the movie, that sense of danger came back, but most of the middle of the movie just felt like it was lacking something.

It would have been better if the Spanish scenes were subtitled so I knew what they were saying. (I watched this movie on TCM, not YouTube or some other site, so it was definitely a legitimate version of the movie.)

William Talman is great as the killer, and he gives the movie some tension, but the flaws in the movie just overshadowed even his performance for me.

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Call Me Madam (1953)

This movie has a wonderful story, great music, and fantastic performances. What more could you ask for?

My favorite songs include "The Hostess with the Mostes", "It's a Lovely Day Today", "That International Rag", "You're Just In Love" and "What Chance Have I With Love?".

Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor are the highlights of this movie, but the whole cast is terrific. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Donald O'Connor is extremely underrated. And it's a shame that George Sanders didn't make more musicals because he has a terrific singing voice.

I highly recommend this wonderful hidden gem.

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Royal Wedding (1951)

This is an enjoyable movie, but I've seen better movies. The star of this movie is clearly Fred Astaire's dancing. I've said before that I prefer Gene Kelly over Fred Astaire, but in this movie, Astaire gives Kelly a run for his money. (Although I still maintain that Kelly is a much better singer.) Watching Fred Astaire dance around the room, and all the way on to the ceiling, is just an amazing piece of movie magic.

My favorite song is the fun tune, "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life".

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Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) - This movie was recommended by Citizen Rules.

This is one of the funniest movies that I've seen in years, but I doubt that everyone will enjoy it as much as I did. As I watched the movie, there were scenes that made me feel like I could have grown up in that family. Just hearing lines like "And suppose the house burned down this afternoon? Why do I need an extra quarter pound of butter?", and "Guess who's gonna get blamed for the war in Europe!" brought my childhood memories flooding back to me.

This movie has some dramatic scenes as well, and it's as emotional as it is witty.

The whole cast is terrific, but Jonathan Silverman steals the movie as Eugene. He reminds me a little bit of a young Woody Allen, but without being annoying.

This movie is a wonderful hidden gem. Thank You to Citizen Rules for this terrific recommendation.

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Biloxi Blues (1988)

In this sequel to Brighton Beach Memoirs, Eugene goes to boot camp. The story centers around Eugene, (played by Matthew Broderick in this movie), a few of his buddies, and their Sergeant, played brilliantly by Christopher Walken.

Most of the characters are pretty stereotypical, and the story is good, but overall the movie is more of a drama than the first movie. It's an interesting movie, but it's not as enjoyable as the first movie.

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Penny Serenade (1941)

This is a terrific movie that is told mostly in flashbacks. It's a great drama, and a very emotional movie.

Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are always wonderful together, and this movie is no exception.

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I love Sling Blade, and surprisingly, I liked Biloxi Blues a good deal.

Biloxi Blues was pretty good, but I didn't think it had the charm of the first movie.

I didn't see the first one, but I'm sure it helped that I'm a Christopher Walken fan.

Glad you liked Coming Home; were you surprised I nominated it?

The Champ (1979)

This movie was a rewatch of one of my favorite movies. I'm usually not a fan of boxing movies, but this movie is really more about the relationship between a father and his young son, than about boxing.

This movie is an emotional roller coaster, and most of it revolves around little Ricky Schroder's character. When he's happy, he makes you smile, but when he cries, make sure you have some tissues.

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