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I Remember Mama (1948)

Sentimental but lovely film about a Norwegian family now living in San Francisco in the early 1900's. Mama (Irene Dunne) is the real strength of the family and does the difficult things as Papa defers to her. He's not weak, just soft-hearted and when he hesitates, she'll go through with things, like having to deal with the youngest daughter's sick cat. It's a slice-of-life about this immigrant family and how they deal with the everyday trials of life. Also, there are three aunts, two of whom are busybodies and one of whom is sweet. She's played by Ellen Corby (Grandma Walton) and does a very good job. Her suitor is played by Edgar Bergen and he is well-off and treats her very well, unlike her sisters. There is also Uncle Chris (Oskar Homolka) who intimidates members of the family, but only because he's loud and boisterous, and has a very kind heart that he rarely shows.

The movie is told to us, the audience (by breaking the fourth wall) by Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes, Miss Ellie from Dallas). She is a writer and has written about her family, which is the movie tale we watch. Irene Dunne is excellent as the matriarch, and although she was fifty-years-old at the time, she hardly looks it. Dunne kept her youth very well. I highly recommend this film, which was nominated for five Oscars.





Tom Jones (1963)

Fun comedy with Albert Finney as the lusty young man, Tom Jones, who is raised by the wealthy Squire Allworthy, to the chagrin of his snooty jerk of a cousin, Master Blifil (David Warner), who, when Allworthy gets sick, sets his mind on Allworthy's estate. Meanwhile, Jones gets in trouble when a local floozy he's been, um, "seeing," gets pregnant. This causes trouble with Sophie Western, the beautiful young woman he adores (Susannah York). Co-starring in the film are the great Hugh Griffith as Squire Western, Sophie's father, who goes back-and-forth in his estimation of Tom, Dame Edith Evans as Squire Western's snobbish sister, and Diane Cilento as Molly Seagrim, the loose woman that Tom has been carousing with.

Often hilarious film that breaks the fourth wall quite a few times, with romance, sex, some action, some drama, and all's-well-that-ends-well. Plus, it was nominated for ten Oscars, winning four, including Best Picture and Best Director, Tony Richardson. What more could you ask for in a movie?





Captain Blood (1935)

Terrific swashbuckler with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, and Guy Kibbee heading up the cast. Flynn is Doctor Peter Blood, who is unjustly jailed for tending to a rebel who opposes the King. They are saved from the gallows when the King is informed that the convicted men would serve them better by being slaves. So, while they are slaves, Blood is bought and paid for by de Havilland, who is the niece of Colonel Bishop (Atwill), who treats the slaves cruely and earns their hatred. By circumstance, Blood becomes the personal doctor of the Governor of the island, and in the process plots his escape. Of course, he plans to take along most of the prisoners in the stockade. All of this takes up the first hour of the film...the rest is almost pure action on the seas.

This was Flynn's first real "pirate" film and it's awesome. He wields a foil with the best of them, having a grand duel on the beach with Rathbone. There is an epic battle of ships near the final third, with Blood's British ship against two French ships. Cannons, swords, clubs, and fire abound. Very much recommended. Directed by the great Michael Curtiz.



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Oh man! You see all the great old films Dadgumblah I Remember Mama (1948) very touching film. I haven't seen Tom Jones but I did see most all of Errol Flynn swashbuckler movies including Captain Blood (1935).



UMRCogerson's Avatar
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Paris When It Sizzles. Hepburn is lovely....Holden is interesting....Curtis is funny....but the movie is just to silly to really enjoy.



Argo-

Truthfully, figuring out how Argo won Best Picture is more interesting than the movie itself. It kind of won by default in a year where the best films were too obscure (Beasts of Southern Wild, Amour) or not career best efforts from people who already won awards (Life of Pi, Lincoln, Zero Dark 30). Argo also has the Academy's two favorite themes: America is awesome and Hollywood is the most awesome part of it. The film is fine. Affleck is a great director and an adequate actor. It was surprisingly funny and the tempo was kept up for the whole run time. The opening was the best part. The break-in of the Iranian mob was inspired and brilliantly shot. The third act was very Hollywood-ized, but it was good fun. It's a fun, enjoyable movie to watch, but not a life changing experience in any way.



Thanks, CR and nostromo! And great pic of Rathbone, nostromo. He was excellent as a French pirate and very believable. By the way, I just happened to catch a blooper in the movie...when
WARNING: spoilers below
Rathbone is lying dead in the surf, right before the scene fades you can cleary see Rathbone open his eye. Oops! Maybe the director called "cut!" too soon.



American Hustle:

It's a David O Russell movie. The story is plodding and tangent prone until it gets very complex in the last 20 minutes. The characters are non-existent. The actors are mostly very good. I didn't like Jennifer Lawrence in this. She goes over the top as a caricature of a shouty New Jersey housewife, and she plays it as a Lifetime channel stereotype (She's also a good 10 years too young for the part, but Russell will cast her in everything until he dies). Bradley Cooper is also prone to being too shouty and overacting at times, but for the most part he's fantastic (His first big scene, where he talks to Amy Adams in a prison cell, is just masterful. It's my favorite scene 100% because of his acting, easily the best 3 minutes of his career). Adams and Bale are both amazing. The relationship between Bale and the corrupt politician played by Renner carries the middle act and keeps me from complaining that 10 minutes could have been shaved off. The music, hair, and editing were all great, enjoyable and good at capturing NJ in the 70's. Moreso than other DoR films, I can see the appeal of this, even if it doesn't appeal to me.

Steve Jobs:

This movie has a rigid 3 act structure, with 3 extended hallway talk sequences before product speeches from Job's. I think this hurt the film a ton. You get a lot of Jobs as a person but basically none of his products, and the 3 sequences are very repetitive. Steve is a bad father and he demeans other employees and nothing he makes sells well but he is a creative genius. There isn't really a plot, or pacing, or any attempt to make it feel like a movie. Decent idea, but it made for a boring film. All of the points are for the acting (expected great work from Fassbender and Winslet and unexpected great work from Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak) and the Sorkin dialogue itself, which offers plenty of fun lines even if they don't make anything greater.



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
Steve Jobs:

This movie has a rigid 3 act structure, with 3 extended hallway talk sequences before product speeches from Job's. I think this hurt the film a ton. You get a lot of Jobs as a person but basically none of his products, and the 3 sequences are very repetitive. Steve is a bad father and he demeans other employees and nothing he makes sells well but he is a creative genius. There isn't really a plot, or pacing, or any attempt to make it feel like a movie. Decent idea, but it made for a boring film. All of the points are for the acting (expected great work from Fassbender and Winslet and unexpected great work from Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak) and the Sorkin dialogue itself, which offers plenty of fun lines even if they don't make anything greater.

I agree that Steve Jobs wasn't a great movie, but if you lived through that time, it's a fun trip through memory lane. (I still have one of the original Macintosh computers up in my attic.)



Spotlight (2015)

Wanted to watch this before the Academy Awards. It was very good with an engaging true story driving it. I like seeing Michael Keaton having another great role. Ruffalo was good as well. I wouldn't mind seeing it win a couple awards, but I'm still pulling for The Revenant to win the major ones (picture, actor, and director).

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American Hustle:

It's a David O Russell movie. The story is plodding and tangent prone until it gets very complex in the last 20 minutes. The characters are non-existent. The actors are mostly very good. I didn't like Jennifer Lawrence in this. She goes over the top as a caricature of a shouty New Jersey housewife, and she plays it as a Lifetime channel stereotype (She's also a good 10 years too young for the part, but Russell will cast her in everything until he dies). Bradley Cooper is also prone to being too shouty and overacting at times, but for the most part he's fantastic (His first big scene, where he talks to Amy Adams in a prison cell, is just masterful. It's my favorite scene 100% because of his acting, easily the best 3 minutes of his career). Adams and Bale are both amazing. The relationship between Bale and the corrupt politician played by Renner carries the middle act and keeps me from complaining that 10 minutes could have been shaved off. The music, hair, and editing were all great, enjoyable and good at capturing NJ in the 70's. Moreso than other DoR films, I can see the appeal of this, even if it doesn't appeal to me.
The only good thing about it was Mayor Carmine Polito by Jeremy Renner. The rest were either over the top or caricature-ish or combination of the two. Character motivations were skimmed through and never felt convincing except for said mayor's. On face value the movie plays up moral ambiguity shtick, but when you look at individual characters,- it was too clear where all of them stood on moral questions.
This movie has a rigid 3 act structure, with 3 extended hallway talk sequences before product speeches from Job's. I think this hurt the film a ton. You get a lot of Jobs as a person but basically none of his products, and the 3 sequences are very repetitive. Steve is a bad father and he demeans other employees and nothing he makes sells well but he is a creative genius. There isn't really a plot, or pacing, or any attempt to make it feel like a movie. Decent idea, but it made for a boring film. All of the points are for the acting (expected great work from Fassbender and Winslet and unexpected great work from Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak) and the Sorkin dialogue itself, which offers plenty of fun lines even if they don't make anything greater.
Even though it wasn't that great, it was still decent for me. It says volumes about the quality of screen writing and acting when a movie where nothing happens still manages to keep my interest. I think it succeeded in what it was trying to do. The fact that it relied on talking so much makes me think I'll revisit it in the future. Other movies might have more plot, but conversations can be too bland. "Steve Jobs" has no such problem.



Interstellar (2014) - Christopher Nolan


- This flick as to be one of the most perfect and one of the most intelligent and amazing movie I've ever seen. Wow man... What a great and stunning ride. I LOVE IT and I cannot even describe how much I'm stunned and stupify by this masterwork. So intelligent and so many details I was completely amazed during all the 2h45 of the movie. Every Nolan haters has to sh*t up after watching this movie because it as to be one of the greatest movie of the 21st century. Actors are all greatness especially McConaughey that makes me cry 2 or 3 times during the movie, The direction is one of the best I've ever seen (One other reason why Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite director and must be even higher to me after this flick) and the movie is visually beautiful. The ending is perfect and was totally satisfying to me. It's very very very near from Whiplash to me and Whiplash a total blast (Probably in my top 5 ever). Definitely a new movie in my top 50 maybe even in my top 25. A Brilliant Masterpiece of his own.
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Care for some gopher?
I seen all those, but hardly remember The Enforcer. If you're in the market of another Bogie film, I'd suggest Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It's one of my favs.
This one and The Maltese Falcon are very high on my watchlist.
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Master of My Domain
Spotlight (McCarthy, 2015)



Oscar bait alert! Oscar bait alert! Hope this film doesn't win best picture. Go Revenant




I have to return some videotapes...
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) - Benh Zeitlin



My god, this film is so good. Quvenzhane Wallis does an incredible job at playing the character Hushpuppy who is a girl who lives with her father in a place called the Bathtub, which is in an impoverished bayou community. This film is very smart and has an amazing script, which really understands the people who actually dwell in these real life areas. This film runs rich with symbolism that is beautiful; it also is filled with creative and insightful metaphors about life. There's not a whole lot to say other than please go and watch this movie if you haven't. It's a little slow, but there is a lot of beauty that derives from this small tale. The cinematography is incredible and finds beauty in these grimy, grief stricken places. I can't wait to see more from this director as I am honestly shocked how good this was, as I walked in thinking it wouldn't be that great.

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The Steel Helmet (1951)




Set during the Korean War, I didn't think this was anything spectacular, but it's an easy and compelling watch. All of the actors do a fine job.



You only get one life.I's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible.

Me Before YOU --
was this movie any good? how is Emilia Clarke's acting?

Spotlight (McCarthy, 2015)



Oscar bait alert! Oscar bait alert! Hope this film doesn't win best picture. Go Revenant

I haven't seen The Revenant, but I agree with the bolded. I'm gonna hate it if this film wins



Friday the 13th: I-VIII



Parts I, II, & III are all very samey, but charmingly low budget. The Final Chapter capstones the original run in my opinion. A New Beginning is bad enough to be good. Jason Lives is the closest to being a genuinely well made movie. The New Blood and Jason Takes Manhattan are bottom of the barrel. Too burnt out to finish Jason Goes to Hell and Creighton Duke's character helped discouraged me.

The Wind That Shakes The Barley (2006)



The costume and set design feel authentic, but the story is told in an exceedingly average fashion. Every decision comes off as calculated to appeal to everyone in general and thus no-one in particular. Characters die and you try to remember who they were up to that point. Characters make love and you think "well of course, you've got to have a love subplot". In filmmaking, safety should always be synonymous with impotence. It does, however, make me want to revisit Steve McQueen's Hunger which is a positive consequence in itself.

http://boxd.it/8K16j
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