GBGoodies 2015 Movie Logbook

Speaking of Jon Voight, I've wanted to see The Champ for years.

I was surprised because I expected your nomination to be something a bit more graphic. Your nominations are usually good stories, but they're usually too violent and/or graphic for my taste. This movie seemed a bit tame for you, but it's a very good movie. I expect it to do well in the HoF voting.

I highly recommend The Champ. I've never seen the original movie, so I can't compare them, but I love the Jon Voight/Ricky Schroder version.

I didn't even know there was another one.

I think it's from the 1930s, (offhand, 1931 would be my guess), and it stars Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. I saw the 1979 version in the movie theater when it was originally released, and it's been a favorite movie for me ever since then. I've kind of always been afraid to watch the original version because I'm afraid that it might taint the remake for me.

Jersey Boys (2014) - This movie was recommended by several people in Citizen Rules' "Latitudes" thread, so even though it's gotten mediocre reviews, I decided to give it a chance. If nothing else, the music should be great.

I probably would have enjoyed this movie more if I didn't know that it was based on the Broadway musical. The movie doesn't have a musical feel to it at all. It just feels like a movie that's basically just a depressing biography of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons rise to fame.

There were a few problems that annoyed me.

For one thing, the movie seemed to be all over the place, like they couldn't figure out how they wanted to tell the story. And I'm not an expert on the timeline, but I'm pretty sure that some of those songs and events were shown in the wrong order.

Secondly, the voices were only okay. They weren't bad, but they sounded like an imitation, and that made them a little annoying at times. (Kind of like listening to an Elvis impersonator who swears that he's the real Elvis. You just know that the voice is all wrong.)

But the most annoying thing was the use of the song "My Eyes Adored You" for Frankie Valli's daughter. That song was never about his daughter. They totally changed the meaning of the song, and it just didn't work for me.

I really like the music of the "real" Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, but the movie was just okay for me, They actually found a way to take all the fun out of their music.

However, on a side note, I now understand why some of their songs were credited as "Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons", and sometimes they were credited as only "Frankie Valli".

Attachments

 

The earlier precode version with Fredrick March and Miriam Hopkins has a lot more punch to it

I'm not sure if I seen that and I'm a huge Barbara Stanwyck fan. I'm glad you reviewed that I will catch it someday.

Very powerful film!


Another great that I've enjoyed.

I knew you would like it! So was your family anything like that? My family would look boring compared to the movie. The family in the film were great, the mom had tough love but was always looking out for everyone. Great characterization in that film. I'm glad SilentVamp told me about it, I loved it too.

I think the earlier version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is from 1931. That's the version that I want to see, but TCM aired the later version, so that's what I watched.

My family had a lot of the traits of the family in Brighton Beach Memoirs. I think it's just typical Jewish stuff because I see a lot of those traits in Woody Allen's movies too. It's the little things, like blaming the kid for everything that happens in the house. (We just don't have the humor that they have in the movie. The guilt, yes. The humor, no. )

My 2015 Movie Logbook:

January 2015 Movies
February 2015 Movies
March 2015 Movies
April 2015 Movies
May 2015 Movies
June 2015 Movies
July 2015 Movies
August 2015 Movies:


September 2015 Movies:
498) September 1st: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
499) September 1st: Picnic (1955)
500) September 2nd: Witness to Murder (1954)
501) September 2nd: Please Murder Me! (1956)
502) September 3rd: The Love Bug (1968)
503) September 3rd: Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
504) September 4th: The Shaggy Dog (1959)
505) September 4th: The Shaggy D.A. (1976)
506) September 5th: Jurassic Park (1993)
507) September 5th: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
508) September 5th: Jurassic Park III (2001)
509) September 6th: Fantastic Four (2015)
510) September 6th: Sling Blade (1996)
511) September 7th: A Place in the Sun (1951)
512) September 7th: The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
513) September 8th: Call Me Madam (1953)
514) September 8th: Royal Wedding (1951)
515) September 9th: Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
516) September 9th: Biloxi Blues (1988)
517) September 10th: Penny Serenade (1941)
518) September 10th: The Champ (1979)
519) September 11th: Jersey Boys (2014)
520) September 11th: The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
521) September 12th: The Lusty Men (1952)
522) September 12th: Miracle in the Rain (1956)
523) September 13th: Shall We Dance (1937)
524) September 13th: Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
525) September 14th: Executive Suite (1954)
526) September 14th: With a Song in My Heart (1952)
527) September 15th: Coming Home (1978)
528) September 15th: No Time for Sergeants (1958)
529) September 16th: The Verdict (1982)
530) September 16th: Dreamboat (1952)
531) September 17th: Mister Roberts (1955)
532) September 17th: Compulsion (1959)
533) September 18th: Lady Killer (1933)
534) September 18th: The High and the Mighty (1954)

The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

I read this book in school many years ago, and I may even have seen the movie back then, but I didn't remember much more than the basic story.

I'm generally not a fan of war movies, but I like this one that tells the story of a young soldier who runs away, but returns and finds his courage. The narration is a nice way to help the story along.

Attachments

 

The Lusty Men (1952)

I watched this movie mainly because it's about the rodeo, but I wasn't really expecting much from it. (The title is kind of misleading.)

This is an entertaining movie, and the rodeo scenes are kind of exciting to watch, but overall the movie was just okay, and the ending was predictable.

Attachments

 

Miracle in the Rain (1956)

This is a sad, but beautiful, romantic movie. I usually don't find that Van Johnson has much chemistry with his leading ladies in romantic movies, but I think this is one of his best movies.

+

Attachments

 

Shall We Dance (1937)

This is a terrific movie with a great soundtrack, some fantastic dancing, and some very funny scenes.

Even though one of my favorite scenes is the jail scene which doesn't feature either Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers, this is my new favorite Astaire - Rogers movie.

+

Attachments

 

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

I generally don't care much for boxing movies, but sometimes if the story outweighs the boxing scenes, I end up liking the movie, but this wasn't one of those movies.

The movie looks nice, and Paul Newman did a great job as boxer Rocky Graziano, but I just didn't like the movie itself because the story just didn't hold my interest.

Attachments

 

Executive Suite (1954)

This is a great movie about the corporate side of a company, and how each person acts when the president of the company dies suddenly, and they have to decide who will take over the company.

It's interesting seeing the reaction of each person from a different point of view, (how some people only care about money, and other people actually care about the company's future), and the final scene is excellent.

Attachments

 

With a Song in My Heart (1952)

This is a wonderful biography of Jane Froman, a singer who was crippled in a plane crash, but still managed to continue her career and entertain the troops. I didn't know anything about her before watching this movie, but she seemed to be an amazing person.

Susan Hayward does a terrific job portraying her in the movie, but Jane Froman herself dubbed the songs, and she had a beautiful voice.

Attachments

 

"I'm at the Susquehannah Street Jail . . . Susquehannah! Susquehannah - S-U-S-Q-U Q! Q! You know, the thing you play billiards with . . . Billiards! B-I-L-L-, etc."

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Yup, that's the scene. I laughed so hard that I backed up the movie and watched it again.