Movie Tab II

The film has some great aspects that work well. The girl reading the letter as a narration which blends with Martin's narration which cuts to the flashback. That's really great framing since its contained within the letter and the letter means a great deal to the girl. Obviously the beginning and the ending.

'Tis is perfectly built reversal that really puts a smile on your face. As Godard said: "how can I hate John Wayne upholding Goldwater and yet love him tenderly when abruptly he takes Natalie Wood into his arms in the last real of The Searchers?"

Let's be real here. This was AWFUL. I didn't find this funny at all. Really unsavory move by the film, that I would rather forget.

Do I consider it a failure even in the context of the genre, the times, and the film itself? Yes, yes, and yes.

I think not explaining Ethan's actions is a pretty cool move actually if for nothing else than simple negative capability and fanwankery. There are hints and clues throughout that make repeated viewings worthwhile.

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

Yeah I agree about the letter I enjoyed that part too. Without the visual-storytelling aspect that I already noted was my favorite part of the film, I would still probably give The Searchers which is a good score from me.

So, I'm way, way, behind on Movie Tabbing, and I'm not possibly going to catch up, so I'll just list a few recents with a paragraph or two on each:

Wall Street

I started to write a review of this, but I think I might have enough to say to make up a "real" review, so I'll put this one on hold for the moment.


Thirteen Days




Saw this in the theaters, then again recently. Good political thriller, often feels like a stage play or a low-budget effort, save for the military sequences interspersed throughout. Plus, a low-budget affair would have someone better than Costner rocking his Bostonian twang ("Repaht cahhhhhd!").

Love Greenwood and Culp as Jack and Bobby, and while they've clearly injected some inter-agency rivalry here where it may not have existed (or been as pronounced), it's a "fair" liberty to take to generate tension, and I kind of admire it for taking such a firm position. Accurate or not, it does raise interesting questions about just how much each President should defer to his military advisors, a tough question that seems to become tougher each year.

The most impressive aspect is probably how well the film draws us into the situation and makes the risks and rewards of each choice perfectly clear, which is no mean feat. There was some serious geopolitical chess going on at the time, but Thirteen Days is always just complicated enough to be interesting. Really like this film.


Surrogates




30 years ago, this probably would've been groundbreaking. Now, it's just another sci-fi film asking us what it is to be human. It's a pretty predictable sorry, save for one nice little twist at the end, and questionable technology enters the story somewhere around the middle. Willis is quite good, and there are some nice wrinkles; it's always fun seeing how near-future films extrapolate the consequences of their new technologies. Just nothing special, though. The execution's pretty good, and it's not a bad film, it's just a couple decades too late, and a bit too predictable.


Rambo




You really can't expect much from this kind of film other than stoic silences and loud guns, and Rambo has both. The violence is extreme, but not in a fun, ridiculous way: more in a depressing way, since the film spends the first 45 minutes showing us terrible atrocities, largely so that when Rambo flips out and starts mowing everyone down, we can revel in it, because we full-on hate the bad guys. There's only one stand-up-and-cheer sequences, though, which isn't quite enough. You'll get what you probably expect from this one, but not much more.


Big Fan




This one feels like a real missed opportunity, but it's still good in its own right. Patton Oswalt plays a "big fan" of the New York Giants, and one player in particular. He's patently a loser, and his entire life rivals around the team, and some silly sports talk show rivalry with an Eagles fan. Obviously, it's depressing, though it's never really clear if some of the scenes are meant to be funny or sad.

I won't describe what actually takes place, because I think it's more interesting having no idea, but in the end I think Big Fan fails to make any really insightful points about the kind of person its depicting, and instead just depicts one of them. Which is fairly entertaining in its own right, but I'd expected a more thoughtful exploration of fandom.

I've seen none of these unfortunately. I know the plot of Rambo. Isn't that enough?

+ repped just for liking Thirteen Days so much. I really liked that film, though I thought Costner was good in it. I've not seen it in years. I should try and find a copy.

In terms of acting, Costner was pretty good, yeah -- he's particularly good in his phone call to the second pilot. But his accent...ugh. Particularly given how good Culp's is; hearing the two alongside one another makes Costner's seem even worse.

Yes

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"I know, honey. Look at the map. We go your way, that's about four inches. We go my way, it's an inch and a half. You wanna pay for the extra gas?"

OMG, we're two for two in agreement in what, less than 24 hours! Who would have thought?

I'm glad others have seen and appreciated that film. I've been rather smitten with Bruce Greenwood ever since. I thought the film was incredibly interesting, and my husband and I were friends with a man who was a Kennedy expert and was asked to consult on the film regarding the Oval Office and JFK's desk. He also got me Costner's autograph.

******

Linespalsy, I saw The Searchers in a class I took on John Ford. I think your statement, "Perhaps the ending was saying that for "America and freedom" you need both the wildness of Ethan and the domesticity of Martin," is part of what makes that ending so interesting to me. I agree with you; I see this as well.

Planetnews.... I disagree that Ethan chooses to be an outsider. He is purposely not invited inside the house, and the last shot of the film closes the door on him. I can see you interpreting it that Ethan chooses not to enter; I look at it more from Ford's point of view as director as he chooses to have the door close. And about the conflicting feelings -- yes, how cinematic and glorious is Wayne picking up Debbie and then saying, "let's go home." I agree with Linespalsy, it is like the audience forgives him (and thanks for the Godard quote!) -- but hey, then, isn't that conflicting? At other times, we are scared of him, don't understand him, and basically don't like him.

As to the lack of Indian actors, that was the times, unfortunately. But no matter, I still feel that Ford is saying something in his film about racism, whether he meant to or not.

I had to rep you just because you said those words. I had to read them twice just to make sure.

Little Ashes

I had such high hopes for this- Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel and Gabriel Garcia Lorca are all very interesting artistically and in their personal life (Dali and Lorca fell in love and Lorca met a nasty end)- but the film was a failure. I couldn't even watch the entire thing.

One massive problem is accents. If you can't do an accent, DON't DO IT. Only one of the leads- Javier Beltran, the man playing Lorca- is actually Spanish, so his accent isn't annoying. However a lot of the actors in that film are British (we shall get on to a certain one later) and their accents are distracting. A lot of the time, you can't really hear what they're saying. It was literally unwatchable.

The second problem is the pace. It seems to plod and linger whilst not really getting anywhere. The subject matter is inherently interesting so why is the film not interesting?

But the biggest letdown is Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali. This is clearly supposed to be his 'serious' role but it just descends into a film reel of what Pattinson can do. Look, he plays a real-life artist! Look, he's doing a funny accent! Look, he's playing a gay character! Look, he's naked! I don't believe Pattinson, not at his age at least, is capable of the acting ability required to play that role.

Perhaps one day I may try and finish it but the film didn't convince me that it was anything more than Pattinson's attempt to do a 'serious' role.

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You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never. (The Red Shoes, 1948)

Anna Karenina (1935)

The film is an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel, a novel that often makes a high entry onto all-time classic novel lists. The doomed romance between Anna Karenina (Greta Garbo) and Count Vronsky (Frederic March) is absorbing and one is caught up in a 90 minute whirlwind of passion, duty, and the clash between the two.

Names can often be confusing in Russian novels (characters have three names- a first name, the name of their father which is given either a feminine or masculine ending depending on the gender of the child, plus their married name) but the film retains this practice without being confusing.

The star of the picture is of course Garbo. As soon as the smoke clears from the train and you see her face, you know this woman is doomed. She portrays both Anna's romantic passion for Vronsky and Anna's love for her son (Freddie Bartholomew, who is a sweet little boy) and duty to him very well- it's horrible when Karenin and Vronsky force her to choose passion or duty.

Frederic March has been criticised for not being passionate enough as Vronsky, which to an extent is true, but he does show a self-absorbed lover who does love Anna but he still cannot match her passion. In the end, he chooses duty over passion just like her husband.

Basil Rathbone is good as Karenin (Anna is called Anna Karenina because the wife takes a feminine version of the surname). I haven't got far enough into the book to judge how faithful his portrayal is, but this Karenin is bound by duty. On the whole he is cold but there's a tragic quality- he is unable to connect with his wife because he does not have her passionate nature.

As the first line of the novel famously says, "Happy families are all alike; unhappy families are each unhappy in their own way". There are traces of unhappiness in almost all the relationships.

Hot Tub Time Machine (Steve Pink, 2010) -

As far as undemanding lightweight comedies go, this is pretty standard fare. A few good chuckles wrapped around a none-too-original time-travel plot with a decent soundtrack and stuff thrown in. Good way to kill time, but not especially great.



Better Off Dead... (Savage Steve Holland, 1985) -

The same sentiments kind of apply here, though the strange surrealism that permeates the film was something of a double-edged sword. There's a few laughs to be had, though it's even more by-the-numbers than the last plot apart from the aforementioned strangeness.



Not Quite Hollywood (Mark Hartley, 2008) -

This is more like it. A documentary about "Ozploitation" flicks from the 1970s and 1980s complete with a rogues' gallery of actors, filmmakers and critics (including Quentin Tarantino - mentioning him in conjunction with this film is practically obligatory). It's shot through with colourful animation and heavily stylised editing and effects - absolutely perfect for the low-rent films it features and covers. Given the subject matter (Aussie trash!), it's pretty clear that documentaries don't get much more fun than this.



Demonlover (Olivier Assayas, 2002) -

Picture a generic corporate espionage thriller filtered through the mind of David Cronenberg and you get Demonlover, a film that proves too interesting to be totally bad yet too dull to be particularly good. The acting isn't great, the writing feels rather muddied throughout the film (though it does show some potential) and the film seems to be shot rather haphazardly. Regardless, I reckon it's not a total failure, just a bit of an endurance test at times.

i need to start updating in here more than every 6 months. there's no way i'll remember everything i've seen since i last posted. i usually write them down....

anyway, i'm only doing the movies that were first-time viewings for me.

The Princess and the Frog (2009)


Cry Freedom (1987)


Speed Racer (2008)


Time Bandits (1981)


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)


The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)


Lake Placid (1999)


The House of the Devil (2009)
there should be an award for 'movie with the best opening/closing credits'.


Toy Story 3 (2010)


Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)


Please Give (2010)


The Butcher Boy (1997)


House on Haunted Hill (1958)


Dark Victory (1939)


All About Eve (1950)


The Letter (1940)


Jezebel (1938)


The Virgin Queen (1955)


The Watcher in the Woods (1980)


The Prestige (2006)


Sleeping Beauty (1959)


Lovely & Amazing (2002)


Some Like It Hot (1959)

Someone went on a Bette Davis bender.

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"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."

ha! i'm kind of renting anything Bette Davis i can get my mitts on. i added nearly all of her films to my netflix a couple weeks ago...

Nice to see you ash

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Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.
Buddha

Kick Ass (Vaughn, 2010)



I had heard some mumblings about a controversy with the young girls language in this film. Other than that, I had no idea what it was about, and I had not an inkling of the tone of the film. Sorry, but, Hit Girl rocks, and she can say whatever the hell she wants. This flick was FUN. Goofy, but fun.

Strange Invaders (Laughlin, 1983)



Bah - A weak attempt at 50's invasion satire. Not a fan. Not anywhere NEAR as fun as They Live.

Fanboys (Newman, 2008)



On the fence with this one. Some of this just fell flat, but Kristen Bell was in it...

Heathers (Lehman, 1989)



Always close to my heart, even though these days of my life are so far away at this point. A biting dark comedy about the high school experience.

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L'Atlante (Vigo, 1934)

I recently went through Jean Vigo's filmography (3 shorts and 1 feature film before he died) of which this is his longest and most ambitious. It's still pretty small-scale, telling the story of 3 characters on a barge with a few side-excursions including a trip to a Paris night club. Most of the drama comes from the jealousy of the Skipper that comes out every time his new wife so much as talks to another man. Although that description makes it sound pretty simple and straightforward, Vigo's cinematic inventiveness manages to create some surprises that make this seem pretty fresh compared to more-realistic "every-day life" stories.





Ā propos de Nice (Vigo, 1930)

This was Vigo's first film, a series of photographic experiments taken in Nice. It's fairly episodic and doesn't have a plot but manages to be pretty entertaining for the duration of 20-something minutes.

+



Zero for Conduct (Vigo, 1933)

This is a prelude to L'atlante and seems to me to be an ancestor to anarchistic takes on modernity in films like Zazie. The story is kind of a mess (midget principal, teachers who walk on their hands, kids being told they shouldn't be friends with each other, a nonsensical animation sequence shoehorned in as well as the awesome slow-motion procession around the bedchamber instead of straight preaching. So it manages to convey Vigo's hatred of industrial education without coming off as very bitter.





Jean Taris, Swimming Champion (Vigo, 1931)

Fun experimental swimming documentary that seems like an 11 minute experiment in learning to film the rhythm and technique of a swimming champion in the water. Pretty exuberant cinematically.



Late Spring (Ozu, 1949) +
The Outlaw (Hughes, 1943) +
The Misfits (Huston, 1961)
Phase IV (Bass, 1974)
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie (2004) -
The Band Wagon (Minnelli, 1953)

I'm going to just go ahead and list mine. It's been so long. I doubt I can write anything too significant.


The International (Tom Tykwer, 2009) -- This is probably as suspenseful as such a complex mystery involving financial corporation corruption and "crimes against humanity" could be.

Pontypool (Bruce McDonald, 2008) -- Intense, claustrophobic thriller, set in a Canadian radio station, plays out similarly to Orson Welles' broadcast of The War of the Worlds. Stephen McHattie provides a wonderful voice and some rebellious authority.

Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1970) -- Almost perfect combination of black comedy and life-affirming romance with some fun anti-authority gibes thrown into the mix. It's often not given enough credit for being wonderfully photographed, edited and scored.


Bullets Over Broadway (Woody Allen, 1994) -- One of Woody's best (and probably his best without him being in the film) tells of a conflicted writer, mobsters, Broadway theatre, molls becoming actresses, hitmen becoming playwrights and simple life lessons learned, the most-prominent of which is that the writer shouldn't speak.

The Fury (Brian DePalma, 1978) -- Fun big-budget sell-out from the director plays even better if you think of it as a comedy. It's mostly played seriously (which contributes guffaws), but Kirk Douglas seems to be in on the joke, and the pyrotechnical finale with John Cassavetes is a hoot.

Great Balls of Fire! (Jim McBride, 1989) -- Silly but exuberant biography of '50s rocker Jerry Lee Lewis. I've always said that Dennis Quaid's inspiration for Lewis was Disney's Goofy, but he almost seemed sedate this time. However, his PG-13 sex scene with Winona Ryder (playing a 13-year-old) is still pretty hot.

Casey's Shadow (Martin Ritt, 1978) -- Likable family drama about a Cajun horse trainer (Walter Matthau) who, along with his sons, tries to accomplish his dream of winning a major race, even after the horse is injured. It gets plenty of mileage from Matthau whose character actually seems in the wrong half of the time.

Destiny (Fritz Lang, 1921) + -- Big Lang production about Love and Death, with a principal story set in medieval times and then three alternate worlds set in Persia, Venice and China. There are opulent sets and special effects as this film clearly was a stepping stone to Lang's later Metropolis. Besides that film, it seems to have inspired The Thief of Bagdad, The Adventures of Prince Achmed and even The Seventh Seal.


Lucky Lady (Stanley Donen, 1975) -- Big commercial flop and troubled production aside, this flick still provides plenty of entertainment as it tells of bootleggers off the California coast doing battles with both the Coast Guard and the Mob. It's certainly nothing great, but Liza Minnelli, Gene Hackman and Burt Reynolds do make a good team, and there are several colorful supporting characters and actors.

The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski, 2010) -- Slow-buildng political/murder mystery plays out complexly and humorously leading up to some wonderful confrontations as it approaches its conclusion. Its main intention I believe is to keep you guessing who really did what and who knew it, and it's wildly-successful at that. I really loved the Alexandre Desplat musical score and the cinematic simplicity of the final shot which actually brings the film full circle to where it physically began.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman, 1988) + -- Elegant, erotic and fascinating film about Czechoslovakia in the 1960s covers lots of personal and political ground in its three hours. The problem I have, occasionally, is that the elongated scenes seem to work better when they're erotic than they do when they're political. I think my fave scene is when the two women take photos of each other in various states of undress. The dancing scene followed by the telegram is also powerful, but even though the film is watchable, it left me underwhelmed. Much in the same way that I can both admire and dislike Daniel Day-Lewis's main character, the film leaves me ambivalent and a bit cold. It is a serious attempt though by a world-class filmmaker to film a world-class novel, and most people feel it succeeds.


Jagged Edge (Richard Marquand, 1985) -- This is the opposite of the last one. It's a pulpy murder mystery but all it wants to do is rub sex and violence (and red herrings and some preposterousness) in your face. It succeeds at that and provides good entertainment. Jeff Bridges plays the accused murderer and Glenn Close is his defense attorney. Pariah screenwriter Joe Ezterhas topped himself later on with Basic Instinct.

House Calls (Howard Zieff, 1978) -- Enjoyable romantic comedy with Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson as the intelligent, witty lovers and addle-brained Art Carney playing the quack head of a hospital. Old-fashioned in the best sense of the term, it provides smiles and laughs. Too bad the DVD still doesn't have George Harrison's "Something" playing during the romantic montage.

Black Robe (Bruce Beresford, 1991) -- Beautiful photography, harsh violence and one of my all-time favorite musical scores (by Georges Delerue) help make this film a powerful comment on what it must have been like living in Canada in the 17th century. It basically tells the story of a young French Jesuit priest (Lothaire Bluteau) who travels with the Algonquin to a mission founded in the heart of the dangerous Iroquois country of Quebec. The film succeeds through its physical reality and its emotional honesty and even-handedness.


Gastonbury (Julian Temple, 2006) -- Concert film showing the 30th anniversary of Britain's premiere annual musical festival. It also contains many performances from previous years' shows. Highlights include Radiohead, Toots and the Maytals, Björk, David Bowie, Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros, Morrissey, Billy Bragg, Nick Cave, The Wailers and Pulp. If you're a fan, it's well-worth watching and hearing.

Mary of Scotland (John Ford, 1935) -- Interesting early version of the rivalry and political chicanery between Mary Stuart of Scotland and Elizabeth I. Most all the principal historical figures are here and it's watchable, but it's not as sensatonalized as the version told later in Mary, Queen of Scots which is more-entertaining. It's still fun to see a young Katharine Hepburn as the headstrong Mary.

Quality Street (George Stevens, 1937) -- Small scale but cute romantic comedy of manners based on a James M. Barrie play features Kate Hepburn as a twentyish woman who's crushed when the young man (Franchot Tone) she considers her beau enlists to fight Napoleon because he claims he has no "sweetheart". Ten years later, he returns to find the woman an "old maid", but she turns the tables on him by posing as her younger niece to once again try to gain his affection.

The Only Game in Town (George Stevens, 1970) -- If anything, this is even smaller-scale than Stevens' above film. It's set in Las Vegas and tells of a chorus girl (Elizabeth Taylor) past her prime who hooks up with a gambling piano player (Warren Beatty). Its stage origins are emphasized since most scenes seem to take place in small interiors, and most of the dialogue is about love and whether it's possible or even real, and if so, how is it better than sex? It mostly seems like a drama, but its best parts are the comedic ones especially towards the end. Although Taylor had been appearing in films for 28 years, she was only 37 here and just five years older than Beatty.

Hud (Martin Ritt, 1963) -- Archetypal Paul Newman role and performance (Joe Buck even has his poster in Midnight Cowboy) is the centerpiece of a seemingly-lowkey film about family which also contains Oscar-winning performances by Melvyn Douglas as Hud's father and Patricia Neal as the family's "housekeeper/cook". Brandon De Wilde (Shane) is also excellent as are Elmer Bernstein's spare acoustic musical score and James Wong Howe's evocative B&W photography. Hud is a powerful fim, full of strong dialogue and relationships. Not surprisingly, since it's also based on a Larry McMurtry novel, it seems to foreshadow Bogdanovich's later The Last Picture Show and is equally as great.


The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973) -- The second teaming of Paul Newman and Robert Redford is this massively-popular conman flick with twists and turns from beginning to end. There's not much I can add to what most people know, but my fave scene remains the poker game set on the train where Newman is a low-comedy hoot constantly giving baddie Robert Shaw the burn. For a film almost completely shot on Universal backlots and stages, it looks really good, and Scott Joplin still sounds great on the soundtrack. I'm surprised that it hasn't been talked up more in the thread about "twists".

A Touch of Class (Melvin Frank, 1973) -- Although not in the "class" of the Oscar-winning The Sting, this flick was also surprisingly nominated Best Picture. It's mostly a funny romantic comedy with plenty of broad humor but also some wit as well as real bite and pain filtered into it. George Segal is a married philanderer who begins an affair with divorcee Glenda Jackson (Best Actress Oscar). Beginning in London, then traveling to Malaga before returning back to London, the film has fun with the problems which secret lovers might have trying to take a vacation together. Paul Sorvino provides a few laughs as Segal's friend, but the strength of the film is the strong relationship between the two lovers. How they are affecting their families (which includes his two kids and her two kids) is never addressed, but it still works itself up to a poignant ending.

Jimi Plays Monterey (Chris Hegedus & D.A. Pennebaker, 1986) -- This is a 50-minute documentary on the beginnings of Jimi Hendrix and features his entire performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Most of this footage was omitted from the film Monterey Pop. It begins with a street artist painting the face of Jimi on a brick wall, then has Papa John Phillips, the instigator of the festival, narrate a brief section about Jimi's early days which contains fascinating archive footage, and then it's on to the main course, the Jimi Hendrix Experience's performance following the Who at Monterey.


This is certainly the greatest footage I've seen of Jimi playing live and I've seen plenty. It's a brilliant showcase for everything he could do, and the song choices and performances are impeccable. In between being amazed, I'm smiling like I'm an idiot and then at other times I just start crying. Whether you're a fan of Hendrix or don't know what the fuss is all about, watch this and find out. It's hard to mention specifics when everything is great, but this contains what is my fave version of "Like a Rolling Stone", a beautiful "The Wind Cries Mary" and the feedback-drenched, sexually-combustible finale "Wild Thing".

This comes as a Bonus Disc on the Criterion The Complete Monterey Pop Festival box, so if you are able to watch it, make sure to view the second part of the disc, Shake! Otis at Monterey with Otis Redding's complete performance. It's great too.

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

I can't say I've ever watched an opening that did a better job of drawing me in. The characters develop a background quickly, and the tension never fades. However, the movie peaks at the credits sadly. The beginning is very choppy and quite hard to follow. Probably because there is a series of scenes no longer than five minutes a piece that fade in and out one after another for awhile. Even though I was oddly wound into the tension of the movie, the characters all felt too jittery and the script was very very bland. The acting is a rollercoaster going from quite good to bad throughout. Not even the plot twist that I didn't see coming could save this movie. Actually, it twists like a pretzel, but after so many moments that I wanted to kill the lead character myself for his stupidity and gutlessnes. I just wanted it to be over. I suppose the plot twist explains some of the annoying little things but it doesn't cover how overall unenjoyable the movie got to be. And certainly don't expect a horror/thriller movie because it wasn't the least bit scary.

Thr3e: -




This movie I chose for nothing more than to kill time, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was even worth my time. Judd's capable, although quite self-destructive, heroine is far from praise worthy, but it's...interesting. Samuel L does a lot with a role that's actually pretty small. Andy Garcia is pretty much Andy Garcia. His character didn't have much depth anyway. The mystery got me, I must say. I thought I had spoiled the surprise ending for myself before hand, but I was confused and got the wrong guy. Therefore, I was rather shocked. The script is actually quite good with a few exceptions. There's a fair share of suspense and intrigue for ninety minutes.

Twisted: +




This is like North by Northwest with Paul Newman winning a Nobel Prize. They stole quite a few scenes from Hitchcock, but it's enjoyable as its own movie. Newman's character is likable and funny straight off, and so that makes the adventure a little more fun. The supporting cast is very good as well including Diane Baker and Edward G. Robinson. The mystery Newman slowly unweaves for us kept me curious, and the last twenty minutes were a very efficent climax. The dialouge was excellent. It makes me look at the above two and think "why can't we do this anymore?". The storyline has enough going for it that I just had fun picking out the NBNW moments. The direction was worth a mention as well as it was quite good. I didn't notice anything particularly eye-catching (with the exception of some hilarious special effects) but overall it was a nice piece of work. It was a tad longer than I expected, but it only dragged when I had something to rush off to waiting for me.

The Prize: +




The film starts off with some great character development. We can feel the romantic tension between Brick and Maggie right away. Newman and Taylor's chemistry was almost electric. Taylor's beautiful and frustrated Maggie "The Cat" is magnetic. Superb performances are the highlight to this movie with Newman and Ives in that category as well. The storyline dabbles into the mystery area when Brick's old friend Skipper is discussed (if you can call it that). The climax is powerful thanks to the emotional build-up felt since the beginning and some powerhouse acting. The screenplay had plenty of bright spots, but there wasn't much to say about it. The movie does have a "happy" ending as well.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof:




I've learned not to expect much from movies made in the last decade or so, especially comedies. This one was watchable, and that's about it. Tina Fey and Steve Carell are a cute couple, but there is no romance here. I was even longing for a little that never really comes through. The only thing that made me laugh out loud was the cab driver's face during the car chase. There were quite a few moments where I chuckled and some where I could clearly see where they could have been funny or the idea was humorous. The rest of the "comedy" was stuff like farting and puking for six-year-olds. Fey and Carell are likable enough to watch even though I felt the movie dragged some. For a newer movie, it's decent, but there are so much better ways to spend time.

Date Night:

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