Movie Tab II

Tools    





there's a frog in my snake oil


Public Enemies

Ok, the sets & costumes were good. Depp was as good as he could be under the circumstances, and apparent mis-direction (the camera seemed to be buried in his cheek or more interested in bobbing peeks that left characters on the periphery for the first half hour). The sound was very uneven, and the dialogue unintelligible at points. Music chopped messily at the beginning, and by the end we had what sounded like looped samples for crowd noise. So yeah, very ineffectively handled.

The script (what I could hear of it) seemed ok, and there were some other nice period touches, from the song choices to the 'recording room' and cinemas as air-conditioned havens. The support cast were pretty strong, but poor old angry-man Bale was left with a thoroughly shallow character (whose life was given a baffling footnote at the end, despite a complete lack of foreshadowing). So yeah, lacked tension, lacked much in the way of character shifts or even iconic clashes between archetypes. Lacked a lot.

--
__________________
Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



Mary & Max (Adam Elliot - 2009)


This was a very interesting movie and in claymation to boot. I didn't even recognize Phillip Seymour Hoffman's voice until I saw his name in the credits. An unusual story about a young lady from Australia who becomes pen pals with an elderly gentleman from New York. I thought it was charming.

Dřd snř (Dead Snow) (Tommy Wirkola - 2009)


I thought I would dig this a little more than I did. Obviously the director is a big Shaun of the Dead and Evil Dead fan and he tried pretty hard to create a similar film. It just fell a little flat for me at times. Not terrible or anything... just not great is all. Still though, it was fun to see a Norwegian zombie flick.

Peter Pan (PJ Hogan - 2003)


This often overlooked version of Peter Pan has a bit of a soft spot in my heart. Probably because I do believe in fairy's, I do, I do.

Daybreakers (Michael Spierig - 2009)


Thought this was a pretty good little Vamp flick. The majority of the world has been transformed into Vampires due to some kind of plague or something and now the entire world is run at night by the Vamps. Kind of a cool idea. A bit of a Sci-Fi channel feel to it but it was still pretty enjoyable.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (Rebecca Miller - 2009)


I thought this was outstanding and I completely agree with Holden's assessment of Robin Wright Penn. She was terrific. The movie had a good story too, that really hooked me from the very beginning. Alan Arkin was also pretty terrific as per usual.

Grosse Pointe Blank (George Armitage - 1997)


This is still one of my favorite comedy's, although it doesn't seem to be aging well. Still really enjoy most of the lines and all the back and forth between Cusack and Akroyd is very funny stuff.

Nine (Rob Marshall - 2009)


I liked a lot of the numbers but overall the film is terribly average. You'd be a lot better off just watching 81/2 instead.

A Perfect Getaway (David Twohy - 2009)


Even though I figured out the big twist as soon as the opening credits were rolling I still enjoyed this for the most part. If Twohy would have been a bit more creative with the credits he could have had me snowed up until the actual reveal in the film. It's a minor screw up and I'm sure a lot folks won't catch it.

Demolition Man (Marco Brambilla - 1993)


I just never tire of watching this flick. What can I say? It's on my top hundred favorite films because I enjoy it immensely. Dennis Leary's rant still cracks me up as much this time as it did the first time I saw it. Good stuff indeed.
__________________
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...



All good people are asleep and dreaming.
The Song of Sparrows (Majid Majidi)



I would have given this a higher rating except for three things.

Majid Majidi has made films similar to this before and frankly, it has been played out.

Second, the refrigerator scene. If you lost track of the other delivery men, wouldn't you return it to the warehouse? Oh no, drive all the way home with it strapped to your back. Then when you go into town the next morning, try to sell it on the street. That blew his whole proud philosophy on life.

Lastly the leaking barrel scene. Why didn't the boys unload the potted plants out of the truck? Much better to throw them onto the ground to get to the fish. You don't think the guy you work for might be pissed?

Either these characters are idiots or just lack common sense.



there's a frog in my snake oil


Brotherhood of the Wolf

What a lavishly silly film. The 18thC kung fu, potted politics and 'crying freemen' are all a bit by the numbers, but the eccentric beast terrorising the lovely locations is fun, and the whole plot suddenly affords Cassel a ludicrously juicy turn as the febrile aristocratic son. Basically, it's great fun to take the piss out of, takes itself a touch too seriously, has Bellucci lounging around naked, and is fabulously silly at points. 'Regarde!'

(+)




Anywho...

Whip It (Drew Barrymore - 2009)


Liked this entirely too much I reckon. Oh well, I'm probably never going to convince anyone that I'm a serious movie critic or anything. This was fun and Ellen Page was ever so much more cuter in this little romp than she was in Juno. If you're not into fluffy little "feel good" movies, then this probably won't blow your skirt up. I, however, am. Very much so actually. So I liked it a lot.

This is England (Shane Meadows - 2006)


I thought this was also quite good. As a child of the 80's it seems we were either a part of something so culturally relevant (that its taken almost 30 years to sort out what the relevance was may be besides the point) or we were just badly dressed and knew no better. A lot of times I lean towards the latter, although my wife thinks the fashion back then was pretty keen. I don't know. But I do love watching flicks set in the 80's. I know it as soon as they come on usually. Perhaps we here in America owe a lot of our 80's joy to the Brits. The 80's were huge for British pop and I know I sure loved a lot of it, listened to it all the time growing up as a matter of fact. And I can't be sure but I can imagine that we stole a lot of our fashion from you folks across the pond as well. Anyway... I don't really know what the hell I'm on about.

I liked the flick, it was actually a pretty mellow tale of a young lad who gets mixed up with a gang of skin heads. And yet, these skin heads are like, 'good' skin heads. I'm sure they must have existed, I've just never seen a film about them before. Sure, I've seen a flick or two about some pretty radical and violent skin heads to be sure but this movie was different. Skin heads with hearts of gold, shall we say. Of course trouble starts up later on when one of the old members of the club gets out of jail and tries to take over and make all the younger members get on the proper side of "the fight" as it were. Even still, he was pretty mellow compared to most of the radical skin heads I've seen in the past. In the middle of this is a young man who gets mixed up with this gang and we get a bird's eye view of the effect this life can have on a young mind. Pretty enjoyable.

Ichi (Fumihiko Sori - 2008)


A different take on the blind swordsmen saga, this time with a woman at the lead and although it was pretty campy, I tend to enjoy camp so, hence the positive rating. Plenty of goofy blood spurts and stuff like that. Dig it.

The Cove (Louie Psihoyos - 2009)


I tend to stay away from films like this. It isn't really that I prefer to remain ignorant of what goes on in the world, (well, maybe it is) I just don't need to know about it all to reaffirm what I already suspect I guess. What's going on you may wonder? Well, in a small village in Japan there's a whole mess of fisherman that needlessly slaughter thousands of Dolphins every year. Why needlessly? Because Dolphin meat is actually quite bad for you. It's full of Mercury and if you get Mercury poisoning you can develop a wonderful disease called Minimata Disease which, oddly enough, originated right there in Japan. From? Yeah, eating Dolphin meat among other things. People can be so stupid. The really sad thing is; most of the townsfolk don't even appear to really know why they kill all of these Dolphins, it may be some kind of misplaced pride issue similar to the one that wouldn't enable them to back down during WWII perhaps. Thankfully, it appears that it may not take a Hydrogen bomb to get these folks to stop this needless slaughter this time around. As of last year they have begun releasing the rest of the Dolphins that weren't shipped off to some aquarium somewhere. Which is a whole other kettle of Dolphin meat, but as of now it seems the makers of the film have to be happy with the slaughter coming to an end and can now focus on getting back to just a simple release of Dolphins around the world. So yay, I guess... I really can't stand this world I live in most days.

Death at a Funeral (Frank Oz - 2007)


Thought this effing hysterical, I put off watching this for quite some time. I am dumb. Very funny indeed.

Couples Retreat (Peter Billingsley - 2009)


There's really nothing wrong with a movie that has a bunch of couple's staying together for a change. Perhaps it just needed to be a bit more serious is all. Overall I liked the idea just thought a lot of the gags that were supposed to illicit laughter were a little stupid is all.



Kenny, don't paint your sister.

Nice performances and tension highlight this short little 80s thriller. The two leads have very believable chemistry here. The script is somewhat forgettable, but it has its good moments. The storyline was well pieced together with the exception of a few "yeah, like that could really happen" things. Suspense is neatly woven into the story. Not exactly a standout film, but its an enjoyable movie certainly.

Company Business:



This sequel fell just short of the original for me. The returning cast have a lot of talent and have their characters down pat and the new actors hold their own. Although the Spanish accents that a chunk of the cast possessed seemed laughably out of place. The script has a few impressive moments but nothing special. The fantasy of series is somewhat lost in the battle sequences, but they are good tension. Some moments were way overdramatized. Overall, good for a viewing or two with the kids, but other than that I would pass on the two and a half hours.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian:



Romance and thrills mesh excellently here. Even the plot reflects it with Kevin Costner protecting pop star Whitney Houston from a psycho threat. The two both give impressive performances, but I think Costner's character was more of a challenge. Kasdan provides us with a good screenplay and a storyline that hasn't been too overused. The storyline is filled with minature climaxes up until the very end. Can see myself revisiting this one.

The Bodyguard:



This movie felt like a 70s disaster flick to me. Instead of going with an all star cast on this one, only to well-known people make up the very capable cast. This isn't exactly James Stewart's most memorable performance but he makes a great leader. Everyone does a great job of slowly going insane. The storyline tries to be eventful and drive suspense, but the long movie dragged for me. However, the plot twist toward is end of the film is the most memorable part of the movie.

Flight of the Phoenix:



An overall very witty and plain fun flick here. Both the script and storyline are very funny and enjoyable. Chevy Chase is perfect as the hilarious Fletch himself. There is some tension amid the laughs and gags from the mysterious side of the story. Not to be taken too serious, but Fletch is good for a laugh. I'm being a bit generous with this rating.

Fletch:
__________________
Faith doesn't make things easy, just possible.
Classicqueen13




All good people are asleep and dreaming.

The Cove (Louie Psihoyos - 2009)


I tend to stay away from films like this. It isn't really that I prefer to remain ignorant of what goes on in the world, (well, maybe it is) I just don't need to know about it all to reaffirm what I already suspect I guess. What's going on you may wonder? Well, in a small village in Japan there's a whole mess of fisherman that needlessly slaughter thousands of Dolphins every year. Why needlessly? Because Dolphin meat is actually quite bad for you. It's full of Mercury and if you get Mercury poisoning you can develop a wonderful disease called Minimata Disease which, oddly enough, originated right there in Japan. From? Yeah, eating Dolphin meat among other things. People can be so stupid. The really sad thing is; most of the townsfolk don't even appear to really know why they kill all of these Dolphins, it may be some kind of misplaced pride issue similar to the one that wouldn't enable them to back down during WWII perhaps. Thankfully, it appears that it may not take a Hydrogen bomb to get these folks to stop this needless slaughter this time around. As of last year they have begun releasing the rest of the Dolphins that weren't shipped off to some aquarium somewhere. Which is a whole other kettle of Dolphin meat, but as of now it seems the makers of the film have to be happy with the slaughter coming to an end and can now focus on getting back to just a simple release of Dolphins around the world. So yay, I guess... I really can't stand this world I live in most days.
Here is the reason.



Thanks to South Park



The Wolfman (2010)



Absolutely dreadful. I was expecting much better, and unfortunately what I thought would be the first great blockbuster of 2010 happened to be a complete dud. For a film that was put off and delayed so many times (more so than any other film in probably film history nonetheless) they certainly didn't do such a good job at making it worth the wait. The film's first hour dragged on way to much, and eventually when the action did occur I was pleased somewhat. Rick Baker's effects in the picture were effective and exciting and the scenes where Del Toro transformed were cool and all, and the look of 'The Wolfman' itself was extremely vintage in style to that of the classic 1941 film. That was basically the only plus. The acting wasn't all that great. The acting in a soap opera is done better. The set design in The Wolfman though is simply gorgeous.
If this film did come out on time and in 2009 when it was supposed to...I wonder if it would have been any better. Or worse for that matter. Shutter Island here I come.



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
It was a joke Jrs, no need for that neg rep.


Anyways, saw two underwhelming movies recently.


Cabin Fever 2


The disease has spread to the water and is hitting a local prom. The kids soon get infected and the terror starts all over again. Can a select few make it out of the school in time, or will the shady government people lock it down to stop the spreading.

Cabin Fever 2 is one of those unneeded sequels that dry up the well far too soon. The additional fact that the director wanted to disown the film doesn't help either. For what the film does right, it does 12 things wrong. Even by direct to DVD standards this movie fails to deliver. Instead of trying to comprehend what I just saw, I'll just go through the pros and cons.

Pro:

The film showcases some really great gore scenes, a few times I was squirming and I've seen some sick movies. Whether it be trying to super glue your finger nail back on, having puss ooze out of your penis, or smashing a guys face to mush with a fire extinguisher. Cabin Fever 2 ups the ante in terms of gore. It makes a lot of horror films seem like kids play. I give them props for that, especially in this day in age where it is extremely hard to get people to feel grossed out.

Cons:

Wow, at the cons already.

The film doesn't feel like it follows the continuity of the first. Specifically for the infection. In the first, it dealt with the victim's skin ripping off. We start off with continuing the story of the first, somewhat. We see Rider Strong (great porn name) exit the river. He runs through the woods looking for help. Boom, get hits by a bus. Blood and guts everywhere. 2 minute scene and he gets top billing.

Anyways, we get introduced to a bunch of character who are not interesting and makes you feel like you'd have more fun watching paint dry. It doesn't help that their dialogue makes your ears bleed. Non of them have any kind of charisma, nor do I see any kind of future in their careers. Thus, we couldn't give a crap if any of them make it out alive.

They drink the infected water and get the infection. Yet it seems like it's different. They spit of blood left right and centre, but with the one exception of the man at the bar, who does rip his skin off. Everyone else coughs off blood and then dies. Boring and inconsistent.

The one character who also returns is the cop, yet he does nothing. We have two characters who try to flee at the end and one gets caught, but we never see what happens with him. The last ten minutes are so are so anticlimactic that it hurts. It just drags itself out and it is painful. The comedy bits do not work and the one liners suck.

Cabin Fever 2 is pretty bland and boring. Again, the gore effects are great, but the rest of the film is garbage. They have a special feature on the DVD that gives you all the gory bits, I'd suggest watching that rather than the film.




A Serious Man


Larry's life seems to be falling a part. His wife wants a divorce, his kids don't pay any attention to him or respect him, his brother is always in trouble with the law, he is having nightmares and medical tests and finally a student has bribed him for a passing grade.

An avid Coen fan, I looked forward to this one. Wanting something a bit more to chew into than the soft effort that was Burn After Reading. Unfortunately I got a boring story that drags every chance it gets. Add to the fact that the Coen's have their own weird spin on things and like to play with the audiences perceptions, I knew I was going to be left unsatisfied by the films ending. Of course it turns out that way too.

A Serious Man has some great performances, specifically from the lead Michael Stuhlbarg. If it weren't for his unique pathetic charm, I might have disliked this film more than I did. My main problem is that is full of nothingness. I get that there will be fans who love it because of this, but since loving or hating a film is all based on opinion, I happy to say that this film does nothing for me.

Coen's don't fall under any specific thumb. It's hard to pin point them, especially after they give us this weird film. I guess this is black comedy in it's true form. Are the Coen's too good to give us another Big Lebowski? Are they on auto pilot now after winning their Best Picture Oscar? Am I suppose to laugh at how this guy's life is falling apart before him? Am I suppose to laugh at the punch line ending to the film that feels like one long joke?

Connecting the ending of the film to the story that the one rabbi gave Larry is not hard, but does it make it smart? Not in my opinion. It gets me angry. The film solves nothing and gives us nothing. It feels like a waste of time.

I can't hate the film too much though, it's well directed and well written. I just wish that it had more for me to get into, more for me to want to get into. It felt like it was just there with no substance. People get different things out of different films and I know that there will be people who get a lot of A Serious Man, too bad I'm not one of them.
__________________
"A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have."

Suspect's Reviews



Only four movies this week...

Used Cars (1980, Robert Zemeckis)


Runaway Train (1985, Andrei Konchalvosky)


The Man in the White Suit (1951, Alexander Mackendrick)


The Misfits (1961, John Huston)
__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Hey, Antsquisher,

We only match up on the Guinness flick, but we're close enough otherwise. What made The Misfits the best? How many times have you watched it? It tends to be a film which gets better with repeated viewings.




---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




West Side Story (1961)



I have to ask what's up with West Side Story?
__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page



We only match up on the Guinness flick, but we're close enough otherwise. What made The Misfits the best? How many times have you watched it? It tends to be a film which gets better with repeated viewings.
I just finished watching The Misfits for the first time about an hour ago. It's taken me a long time to find that film, been on my list for years and thanks to a torrent site I got the chance to finally see it. An amazing script, great direction and good acting. I could get into a lot of detail about the themes and whatnot, but nah, I won't be doing that. Takes up too much time and effort. If you've ever written anything about it I of course wouldn't mind reading it. The Man in the White Suit was very close to hitting the 4/5 mark. I watched it thanks to your review a ways back, also Runaway Train and Used Cars (although there was talk of it from others on here as well). Thanks Mark.

I used to post rewatches with a little notation indicating it was a rewatch, now any film I post here I'm watching for the first time. In case you were wondering.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
A Serious Man


Larry's life seems to be falling a part. His wife wants a divorce, his kids don't pay any attention to him or respect him, his brother is always in trouble with the law, he is having nightmares and medical tests and finally a student has bribed him for a passing grade.

An avid Coen fan, I looked forward to this one. Wanting something a bit more to chew into than the soft effort that was Burn After Reading. Unfortunately I got a boring story that drags every chance it gets. Add to the fact that the Coen's have their own weird spin on things and like to play with the audiences perceptions, I knew I was going to be left unsatisfied by the films ending. Of course it turns out that way too.

A Serious Man has some great performances, specifically from the lead Michael Stuhlbarg. If it weren't for his unique pathetic charm, I might have disliked this film more than I did. My main problem is that is full of nothingness. I get that there will be fans who love it because of this, but since loving or hating a film is all based on opinion, I happy to say that this film does nothing for me.

Coen's don't fall under any specific thumb. It's hard to pin point them, especially after they give us this weird film. I guess this is black comedy in it's true form. Are the Coen's too good to give us another Big Lebowski? Are they on auto pilot now after winning their Best Picture Oscar? Am I suppose to laugh at how this guy's life is falling apart before him? Am I suppose to laugh at the punch line ending to the film that feels like one long joke?

Connecting the ending of the film to the story that the one rabbi gave Larry is not hard, but does it make it smart? Not in my opinion. It gets me angry. The film solves nothing and gives us nothing. It feels like a waste of time.

I can't hate the film too much though, it's well directed and well written. I just wish that it had more for me to get into, more for me to want to get into. It felt like it was just there with no substance. People get different things out of different films and I know that there will be people who get a lot of A Serious Man, too bad I'm not one of them.
This is one of those films which really seems like it goes out of its way to throw people off with the beginning of the flick. No, it may not be as extreme as Citizen Kane's opening, but I'm sure it'll be a rough ride for many people unless they're in the proper frame of mind. I could be wrong, but it seems to be the most "off-putting" intro of any Coen film, so my idea is that when you FIRST THINK YOU want to turn off the film, just stop it. Go have a drink or take a walk or read for a few minutes or go Intenetting. When you're done and preferably have gone to the bathroom for whatever reason is appropriate, restart the movie at the beginning. It's better to try to understand how the golden-hued, curse-infested, guilt-tripped intro plays into the main character's world. I'm not saying that you'll like the movie any better, but you'll probably get why you should laugh occasionally (or more often) when this thing flashes forward to our "Serious Man" stuff.

Now, first off, this could all be a crock of BS (and I don't especially disagree with your rating), but the fact that the film is set in "the 1967" was perfect. I say that's when it's set because the media in the film implies it, but that phone call from Columbia House...Cosmo's Factory came out in 1970! Rather than look at that detail as a mistake, I choose to turn the film into a fantasy about a very "Serious" Jewish "Man" who is more into old ancient Jewish curses and God screwing with him than he is in trying to live with drugs, "modern music" ("I did not order Santana Abraxis. I do not want Santana Abraxis" HA!) "free love" and many other adult, everyday occurrences which apparently pass right by if they're too "serious" and/or "cursed" (such as say, what year is it now?)

I think the funniest scenes in the film probably are the most-embarrassing (and therefore the least-funny if they happened to you). I'm just under the impression that the more you understand about the Coens, the more you'd probably enjoy the film, if 'enjoy" is the proper word. Joel Coen was 12 and Ethan Coen was 9 in 1967, but if you think about Cosmo's Factory, Joel was already old enough to have been barmitzvahed. To me, this is one of the Coens' most-personal films, and I bet it contains as many OR MORE scenes based on their real lives as any of their others. So, for me, it's not that they're "on autopiilot", but that they feel they've earned the right to make a film which is just so personal, even if others hate it. And, as far as the actual ending goes, it certainly carries on the personal family curse motif (at least for the only person left in the family who will become sorta A Serious Man, but don't you believe that the later 1960s were full of disastrous tornadoes/sociial upheavals? You know, assassinations of politicians and civil rights leaders, the Vietnam War, Counterculture, Drugs, distrust of politics and the erosion of the "American Dream", etc.?

One extremely good thing that period (the late 1960s) had was a lot of films better than A Serious Man, but even so, I haven't decided between
and
. I'll give it the "official rating" tomorrow.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Well, since I already discussed A Serious Man and Citizen Kane elsewhere, that leaves me only four flicks to catch up on, but they are four legit flicks.

(500) Days of Summer (Marc Webb, 2009)
+



Oh Boy, this is a film I definitely recommend but I can't quite come up with a reason why I don't think it's better than I actually do. I believe that as it is, the film is funny, sad, easy to relate to and mostly satisfying, yet perhaps it just hits too close to home for me to give it higher marks, and that's not really like me at all. I will, however, acknowledge that none of the young women I helplessly pursued were as attractive as Zooey Deschanel, but at the time and to me, they were even more beautiful, so I just want to say that this "romance" where the female basically tells the male early on that it ain't happening yet they both invest something resembling 16 months in proving that fact, is truly-heartbreaking and totally honest at the same time. Been there, done that. Even so, this flick is full of good humor and exemplary filmmaking. I did enjoy the way the film cut back and forth to try to make its points. I also liked such techniques as when my erstwhile alter ego Joseph Gordon-Levitt experiences things by way of split screen at the same time from both the way he expected and the way things actually turned out. The film just rang true but at the same time it leaves things open-ended on who's to blame (if that's even the proper word) in why the couple didn't end up together. The Deschanel character implies that if she'd "felt" something stronger from the man, then she'd have gone along with it, but since he was so insecure and claimed to only want to be friends (what a liar!), that's what basically caused the romance to never go "all the way". Good film but I still feel a little empty each time I watch it.

A Reason to Live, a Reason to Die (Tonino Valerii, 1972)




This is Valerii's precursor to his wonderful My Name is Nobody, which may actually be my fave spaghetti western of all-time, but there's nothing found in this film which would make anyone think he was capable of making the other, Leone-produced, flick. This one most resembles a spaghetti western version of The Dirty Dozen, and the opening scrawl on screen makes it sound almost like a completely-fictional account of a revenge story set after the Civil War where the principal characters are all still acting as if the Civil War is actually still on so they can recover some hidden treasure and/or take over an expansive territory such as New Mexico. Basically, the James Coburn (Duck You Sucker) character has a grievance to settle with the Confederate officer (Telly Savalas) in charge of a remote fort. Bud Spencer (who's always good to have along on your side) is helping Coburn, as well as a group of condemned men who believe they will earn a share of gold if they end up winning. The film takes its sweet time building suspense until the final 15 minutes or so explode into incredible action, but it's still just a mere shadow of something as terrific as My Name is Nobody.

People Will Talk (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1951)




This is one of those amazing films which is good the first time through but just gets better and better the more you watch it. The cast and acting are absolutely superb. In all truth, Mankiewicz had just pulled off an unheard-of sweep the two prior years of winning Oscars for both Best Director and Best Screenplay (A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve). To me, this is better than those two flicks. Right from the first scene where Margaret Hamilton ("The Wicked Witch" from The Wizard of Oz) shows up at Professor Elwell's (Hume Cronyn's) college office to testify against the greatest doctor in the history of medicine, Dr. Praetorius (Cary Grant), this flick gets you totally involved and laughing heartily. Dr. Praetorius is a true healer and humanitarian but he immediately sets his sites here on unmarried pregnant Deborah (Jeanne Crain) and they almost instantaneously (and understandably) fall in love with each other. Praetorius and his mysterious friend Shunderson (Finlay Currie) go to Deborah's house and save her and her destitute father (Sidney Blackmer) from the father's boring brother's idea of life. Praetorius has another good friend in an atomic physicist (Walter Slezak) who plays the "bass fiddle" in Praetorius' orchestra, but shortly after the Doc marries Deborah, Elwell brings charges against Praetorius for various reasons although most of them concern Shunderson. Mr. Shunderson's story and resolution are one of film's all-time greatest plot twists and revelations and help to make this timeless film just so enjoyable and mind-expanding. I laugh. I cry. It feels good to be alive. They truly do not make them like they used to.

Heaven Can Wait (Ernst Lubitsch, 1943)


Oh well, maybe I should just say some of the same things about this one that I did about the last one. First off, it's Lubitsch's first color film and it's one of the most-immaculate color films of the 1940s. Don Ameche plays Henry Van Cleve, a rake who dies and presents himself at the doors of Hell, but "His Excellency" (Laird Cregar) wants to hear his entire life story before he commits him to "Below". Henry's life is certainly one of the funniest and most-heartfelt stories ever depicted on film, creating crescendos of laughter and tears along the way as it basically tells two entire family's stories, that of the Van Cleves and that of the Strabels, whose beautiful daughter Martha (Gene Tierney) Henry steals from his cousin and elopes with. This certainly causes some problems, but since this is a romantic comedy, most everything works out for the better as the family evolves and Henry has to worry about his son trying to stop him just as much as his parents did earlier. One of the film's highlights is the sly performance by Charles Coburn as "Grandpapa" who actually won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year, although the credit was for The More the Merrier ("Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"). I'm quite certain that the fact that he had both roles to refer to helped him garner his well-deserved Oscar. Anyway, this is easily a laugh-out-loud classic which I'd recommend watching at least once a year, just so you can feel as if you're truly alive and happy to be so. (See. I should have just said ditto.)

Both of the last two films are in the mafo's MoFo Top 100, so check that out if you haven't already.



Man, I can't wait to get my hands on those last two you tabbed Mark, talk about right up my alley.

I can't remember what I rated (500) but your thoughts on it really ring true to me and why I didn't get knocked head over heels for it either.

More movies...

Angel of Death (Paul Etheredge - 2009)


Had to watch this again after seeing Zoe Bell (much to briefly) in Whip It. Think I may throw Death Proof on later tonight as well. She's just terrific in this, I think. She may not ever be able to achieve major leading lady status but I see no reason why she can't keep making really fun action filled romps like this one.

Elephant (Gus Van Sant - 2003)


Kind of an interesting way to film a movie. I've seen this type of storytelling before. Trouble is, it (the story) wasn't enough to really grab me. I had a feeling something terrible was going to happen (and it did) but all of the separate personal journeys I had to take through the different characters to get to it wasn't really worth it. Oh, well, it was still interesting.

Coco avant Chanel (Anne Fontaine -2009)


I got scolded a bit by the wife while this pretty good flick was finishing up. I didn't know what it or who it was about. And of course when I told her the name of the movie she was like, duh! Well, I'm not a girl so how the hell should I know who Coco Chanel is? Anyway, I really enjoyed it for the most part due in large part to Audrey Tautou. I just love her. This is also a true story of Coco Chanel's rise from an orphanage to one of the most renowned female designer's that maybe the world has ever seen. Good stuff indeed.

The Book of Eli (The Hughes brothers - 2010)


We went and saw this over the weekend and I thought it was good. Not great but good. Guess I'm just a sucker for post apocalyptic thrillers. Gonna have to watch it again though because there's a big reveal at the end of the film that I'm not too sure about and I need to see it again to make sure what I saw, is really what I was supposed to see. Is that vague enough?

Up in the Air (Jason Reitman - 2009)


I still think this is very good and liked it fine the second time around. I still kind of think this would be a very nice addition to the Best Picture list, but it looks like it may not have much of a chance up against the other big two. Oh, well.

Le silence de Lorna (Lorna's Silence) (Jean-Pierre Dardenne - 2008)


I liked a lot of this movie until the third act as it were. I mean, I think I "get it" I just don't really get it, I guess. It was a little hard to follow as well. I know that this is just the way a lot of foreign films are sometimes but it was what it was. Arta Dobroshi the lead female protagonist was absolutely fantastic though, I'll definitely give her that. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

Spawn (Mark AZ Dippé - 1997)


I know a lot of folks can't stand this flick but I've always enjoyed it somewhat. The story is pretty ridiculous but most of the Spawn F/X are still pretty cool to me and make this one worth seeing more than once or twice.

Clerks. (Kevin Smith - 1994)


While my rating may be going down a bit for this flick that may be due mostly to the fact that I've seen this movie quite a few times. It's obvious that at the time Kevin had very little actual acting "talent" to work with at the time but a lot of the jokes still work on me. I can certainly understand why some wouldn't really dig it though. Some of the acting is pretty terrible but I guess the fact that I'm basically in the bag for Smith will probably always allow me to cut this flick a lot of slack.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
City of Angels - Sometimes romantic films are charming enough to make you overlook their utter ridiculousness. And sometimes they aren't. My aversion to Nicholas Cage didn't help things (I can't think of a single good film he's been in). Yuk. 2/5