Movies

This forum is to jibber and jabber
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:810:
103 - The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) - 8/10 - The Pirate Captain and his crew are pretty ineffectual as pirates, but have great camaraderie and lots of fun. The Pirate Captain want to by Pirate of the Year and sets out to try and earn it. This leads to an adventure with Charles Darwin, Queen Victoria, and others. I thought it was a lot of fun. Too bad it didn't do well enough for the sequel to get made.

:7510:
104 - Legacy (2000) - 7.5/10 - This documentary follows three generations of a poor Chicago family over a five year period following the death of a family member as they each try to improve their situation. It was interesting.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
105 - The Garden (2008) - 7/10 - This documentary follows the battle to save the South Central Community Garden in Los Angeles. The site was barren and covered in trash when it was turned into a community garden following the 1992 Los Angeles riots. There were over 300 plots, many run by Latino families. The site was purchased by a developed who moved to evict the farmers from the land. The battle played out in court and in the court of public opinion for a couple of years. It was an interesting film.

:7510:
106 - I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School (1993) - 7.5/10 - This documentary looks at the students and staff of a Philadelphia school in a very poor neighborhood where there are many challenges. I could relate to this from my experience teaching at the high school level where man of the students came from a similar background. The challenges can change a bit as they grow older, but they are not that different really. It was a good film.

:810:
107 - American Dream (1990) - 8/10 - This documentary examines the Hormel strike by meatpacking workers in 1985-1986. Hormel decided to reduce salaries by more than $2 per hour and reduce benefits by 30% despite posting a $30 million profit. Workers at one plant went against the advice of the national union and hired a strike consultant. Unfortunately, the workers did not have a lot of leverage. I think that attempts to reduce salaries and benefits has been a theme for decades. We certainly felt it at my job, though not to the extent that the Hormel workers did. My dad was a teacher and they went on strike once in the early 1970s and the entire teaching staff of the district nearly got fired as a result. It came down to a 4-3 school board vote.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:810:
108 - Still Alice (2014) - 8/10 - Julianne Moore stars as a linguistics professor who starts noticing problems soon after her 50th birthday and is diagnosed with a rare form of early onset Alzheimer's. Moore gives a nice performance and the supporting cast is decent.

:7510:
109 - Phantom Thread (2017) - 7.5/10 - Daniel Day-Lewis stars as a high end dressmaker who becomes enamored with a waitress (Vicky Krieps) and brings her into his house. He is very particular in his ways and his sisters manages his affairs (and him at times). The waitress provides inspiration, but also disrupts his life to an extent. The film has excellent settings and costumes along with really good acting. I thought that it moved a bit too slowly at times, but overall is a very good film.

:810:
110 - A Single Man (2009) - 8/10 - Colin Firth portrays George Falconer, a college professor in Los Angeles in 1962, shortly after the Cuban Missile Crisis. He is still depressed over the death of Jim, his lover of 16 years, from a car accident eight months earlier. He is contemplating suicide, but goes about his daily business and has a couple of encounters with young men who seem interested in him. The movie does a nice job portraying George's depression, thanks in large part to Firth's excellent performance, but also with the music.

:810:
111 - The Triplets of Belleville (2003) - 8/10 - Madame Souza raises her orphaned grandson and helps him train for the Tour de France. When he is kidnapped by mobsters during the race, she goes off to rescue him with the aid of his overweight dog. She gets some help from triplets who were singing stars in the 1930s. The movie doesn't have a lot of dialogue, but it is pretty funny and is well animated, though in a style that some might not like. I enjoyed it a lot.

:8510:
112 - Mustang (2015) - 8.5/10 - In a small village in Turkey, five sisters walk home from school one day and stop to play in the sea with their classmates. They play a game where they sit on a boy's shoulders and try to knock each other off. The girls live with their grandmother since they were orphaned a decade earlier. They get in trouble for 'acting obscenely' with boys and their home slowly transforms into a prison thanks to their uncle and grandmother, complete with bars on the windows and a high wall. The youngest girl, Lale, is adept at sneaking out of the house and does so at many opportunities. The girls sneak out to attend a soccer match in a neighboring city and the grandmother decides it is time to start marrying them off. The girls were believable as sister and did an excellent job of acting, especially the girl who played Lale, the protagonist of the film.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:7510:
113 - Ju Dou (1990) - 7.5/10 - Janshin is an old man who makes his living dying cloth in 1920s China. He has already beaten two wives to death for failing to give him a son and heir. He purchases a young and beautiful new wife named Ju Dou (Gong Li) and starts beating her as well. Jinshan's adopted nephew, Tianqing, falls in love with Ju Dou and the two begin an affair. Ju Dou becomes pregnant and has a son, but they must raise the boy as Jinshan's for fear of scandal or worse. I thought it was a good movie and an effective tragedy.

:810:
114 - To Be or Not to Be (1983) - 8/10 - Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft star as popular Polish actors who have a theater in Warsaw. WWII arrives and throws everything into disarray. They get involved in a spy mission to retrieve a list of the members of the Polish underground. I thought that this remake of the 1942 classic was pretty entertaining and funny. I don't think that Charles Durning deserved an Oscar nomination, but the supporting cast (Jose Ferrer, Christopher Lloyd, etc.) was pretty good. It isn't in the same class as the original, but it was fun.

:810:
115 - The Contender (2000) - 8/10 - Joan Allen stars as a Senator who is nominated to fill the vacant Vice Presidency under President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges). She comes under scrutiny during her confirmation hearings for alleged sexual escapades while she was in college. She refuses to comment on it because she doesn't see at anyone's business whether the allegations are true or not I thought that it was a pretty entertaining film.

:710:
116 - Nixon (1995) - 7/10 - Anthony Hopkins stars as Richard Nixon in this biopic from Oliver Stone. There is a lot of good stuff mixed in here, but the film didn't totally work for me. It's not a bad film, but it felt a bit bloated and, at the same time, skipped over a lot of stuff. Stone seems to be trying to portray Nixon's complicated character and the (perhaps) inevitable downfall that awaited him rather than a complete biography. I don't have a problem with that, but I also didn't think it quite came together.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:810:
117 - Tsotsi (2005) - 8/10 - This South African crime drama stars a hardened young criminal who doesn't hesitate to use violence to get what he wants. He steals a car at gunpoint and accidentally kidnaps the baby in the backseat. He tries to care for it, even forcing a young mother to feed the baby. The baby causes him to remember his own childhood and leads to changes in his hardened exterior. I thought the movie was well acted and has a nice soundtrack as well.

:710:
118 - Interiors (1978) - 7/10 - This Woody Allen film is about a family with three grown children. The father decides that he want to live alone for a while and informs his wife that he wants a separation. The mother is depressed as a result of this, though she didn't really seem very happy prior to the announcement either. The three daughters have to deal with this and their relationship with each other as well. The movie was okay, but I didn't really like it all that much, though it has a decent cast. Geraldine Page plays the mother and her character annoyed the heck out of me through much of the film with her behavior. She's an interior decorator and there are a few instances with one of the daughters and her husband where she doesn't seem to have much regard for their opinions.

:910:
119 - Passion Fish (1992) - 9/10 - Mary McDonnell stars as daytime soap opera star May-Alice Culhane who wakes up in the hospital after an accident and discovers that she is now a paraplegic. She has a very bad attitude toward rehab and goes through a lot of caregivers after being released from the hospital and moving into her old family home in Louisiana. Things start to change when a woman named Chantelle (Alfre Woodard) moves in and the two eventually form a bond. I enjoyed this movie a lot and think that McDonnell and Woodard each did a great job in their roles. Plus there is the classic scene with "I didn't ask for the anal probe."

:710:
120 - Of Human Bondage (1934) - 7/10 - Leslie Howard stars as Philip Carey, a man with a club foot who gives up on being an artist and attends medical school. He falls for a waitress named Mildred (Bette Davis) who is very cold to him and treats him poorly, often flirting or running off with other men. This role made Bette Davis a star, but I only found the movie to be okay.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:7510:
121 - Death of a Salesman (1951) - 7.5/10 - Willy Loman is an aging traveling salesman whose career is spiraling down the drain and his mental health seems to be going with it. He's always talked himself and his kids up to unrealistic heights and he now lives partly in the past. I thought that Fredric March did a pretty nice job as Willy and the rest of the cast was decent, too. This was the first time that I actually liked the story. I hated the play when I had to read it in high school and I still hated it when I had to read it in college. I also hated the Dustin Hoffman version from the 1980s. Perhaps it is the perspective of age, but I think it has a lot to do with the performance and the direction in the film.

:610:
122 - Othello (1965) - 6/10 - Laurence Olivier stars as the Moorish general with Maggie Smith as his wife, Desdemona. I've never really liked this story with the jealous and treacherous Iago plotting against Othello and Cassio. This version seems to be fairly well acted, but I still didn't like it all that much.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:7510:
123 - The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (1970) - 7.5/10 - The Jewish people in Italy in the late 1930s are starting to feel some of the restrictions on their lives, though not as much as those in Germany. A group of young friends gather at the estate of the Finzi-Contini family, a wealthy Jewish family that seems unaffected by any repression. The group includes both Jews and gentiles and they enjoy playing tennis and hanging out with one another. Giorgio has been friends with Micol Finzi-Contini since childhood and is in love with her, but she seems to see him more as a brother. The effects of the war increase as time passes, though it is mostly secondary to the unrequited feelings that Giorgio has. I thought that this was a pretty good film.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:8510:
124 - Children of Heaven (1997) - 8.5/10 - Ali is a third grade boy in Tehran who picks up his younger sister's shoes from the cobbler, but they disappear while he is running another errand. He tries to find them without success. The family is poor and can't afford to buy her new shoes. He and his sister then share his worn pair of sneakers while trying to come up with a solution without their parents finding out. I thought it was a very good movie and the two children did a great job. They really seemed like siblings who were close to one another.

:710:
125 - Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter (1994) - 7/10 - Deborah Hoffman created this documentary about her aging mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's and is in her mid-80s. She has suffered from memory problems for nearly 15 years, but the death of her husband over five years earlier put more of the burden of taking care of her on her daughter. There is humor and care in here as Deborah relates some of the things her mother has become fixated on over the years. Doris is also on camera quite a bit. It was an interesting film. The mother would live for nearly a decade after the documentary was made.

:7510:
126 - Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern (1995) - 7.5/10 - Jeanne Jordan directs and narrates the documentary about her family farm and the financial problems facing her family. The Iowa farm has been in the family for over 100 years, but farming has become less profitable in recent years. The parents come up with a plan to get out of debt by selling off their stock, machinery, and other items and getting out of farming. I thought it was interesting and pretty well done. My dad grew up on a farm in Ohio and my uncle continued to farm it up until around 25 years ago. The land is either rented to other farmers or is in the land bank now, though.

:7510:
127 - Little Caesar (1931) - 7.5/10 - Edward G.Robinson stars as Rico, a small time hood who knocks off gas stations, but has higher aspirations. He is quick with the gun and works his way up to be the boss of Chicago's north side. He is threatened by the police and also by rival gangsters. It was a fun pre-code movie.
Last edited by Rusty on Sun Apr 04, 2021 9:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
128 - Passport to Pimlico (1949) - 7/10 - A prank by a group of boys leads to the discovery of an ancient treasure and the news that part of ancient London is actually the Duchy of Burgundy and separate from England. This leads to a number of things, including ignoring rationing, black marketeers setting up openly, and England restricting access to/from Burgundy. I found the movie amusing and entertaining.

:710:
129 - The Man in the White Suit (1951) - 7/10 - Alec Guinness plays Sidney Stratton, an inventor who has to do his experiments in secret in the labs of places where he works. He creates a fabric which will not tear or stain and could revolutionize the clothing industry. At first people are excited about it, but soon realize what it could mean for many workers and industries. The film is a decent comedy and I enjoyed it.

:510:
130 - The Jazz Singer (1927) - 5/10 - This movie about a Jewish boy who runs away from home to be a jazz singer is interesting as the first movie to incorporate synced sound to the actual voices on the screen, though I thought it was a bit disappointing in how much of the film did not feature that. The story itself and the acting aren't that great. The use of blackface and some of the songs that were used seem pretty antiquated these days.

:810:
131 - Genevieve (1953) - 8/10 - This is a fun comedy about two friends who take their antique cars to Brighton every year for a vintage car rally. Alan brings his wife, Wendy, who really isn't too keen on attending this year. Ambrose brings his latest girlfriend, Rosalind, along. Alan and Ambrose are friends, but also have a rivalry centered around their cars. They make a bet as to who can make it home first from the rally. Along the way, there are numerous mishaps and pranks that lead to delays. It was an enjoyable film.

:710:
132 - The Desert Rats (1953) - 7/10 - Richard Burton plays a British officer who is put in charge of Australian troops at Tobruk in North Africa while Rommel's army lays siege. The movie started out pretty slow, but I thought it got better as it progressed and I ended up liking it.

:7510:
133 - Boomerang! (1947) - 7.5/10 - Elia Kazan directed this dramatization of a real murder case. A popular priest is murdered one evening on a fairly busy, but dark street corner. There are many witnesses, but the killer gets away. The police don't make any progress for weeks until a drifter is arrested. His conviction seems certain based on various evidence, except that a state prosecutor investigates further and believes that the man is innocent. This is a decent crime noir film. Dana Andrews does a nice job as the prosecutor. The supporting cast is pretty good, too, with Jane Wyatt, Arthur Kennedy, Lee J. Cobb, and others.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
134 - M. Hulot's Holiday (1953) - 7/10 - Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot goes on a vacation to a seaside resort in his ancient automobile. Mishaps seem to follow him around throughout his time there, both to himself and to others. He plays tennis, sets off some fireworks, spends some time at the beach, and so on. I found it mildly amusing, though not nearly as much fun as Mon Oncle. My favorite bit was the shark boat.

:8510:
135 - Ballad of a Soldier (1959) - 8.5/10 - Alyosha is a 19 year old Russian soldier on the front lines during WWII. When he manages an incredible deed on the battlefield, the general plans to give him a decoration, but he request leave to return home to help his mother fix a leaky roof. This is granted, but the trip does not exactly go as planned. This is an excellent film that has great cinematography and acting. It is a war film, but it does a great job humanizing the soldiers and civilians who are living through it and is much more than 'just' a war film.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:7510:
136 - D-Day Remembered (1994) - 7.5/10 - This documentary gives an overview of the events leading up to D-Day through the end of the day with lots of footage from England and Normandy. It wasn't as long or as in depth as other documentaries on D-Day probably are, but it was good.

:7510:
137 - Building Bombs (1989) - 7.5/10 - This is a good documentary about the Savannah River nuclear weapons plant in South Carolina. The documentary discusses how management (including Dupont and the Department of Energy) underestimated or covered up the danger to the environment and workers caused by nuclear waste and the radioactive elements in use at the plant.

:7510:
138 - Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima (1986) - 7.5/10 - This documentary focuses on Toshi and Iri Maruki, well known mural artists from Japan. They were married shortly before the U.S. and Japan were at war. They had relatives in Hiroshima and visited the city after hearing news of the devastation. After the war, they painted a number of murals depicting the horrors of Hiroshima and they also went on to paint other visions of hell as well, including some committed by the Japanese during WWII. I thought this was an interesting film and it is worth seeing.

:8510:
139 - Freedom On My Mind (1994) - 8.5/10 - This documentary looks at the voter registration drive in Mississippi from 1961-1964 that included lots of intimidation, arrests, murders, etc. A separate delegation was sent to the Democratic Convention in 1964, but was not seated because Johnson was afraid of losing the southern white vote. The story is told through interviews with people who participated in the project and through footage from the time. I thought it was very well done.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
140 - The Late Show (1977) - 7/10 - Art Carney is an aging private detective who has an old friend show up at his door with a gunshot wound. This leads to his involvement with a woman (Lily Tomlin) looking for her cat and also a few murders. I liked Carney here, but the story itself was more convoluted than it needed to be. It was okay, but I thought it could have been a lot better.

:710:
141 - The Ides of March (2011) - 7/10 - Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is an idealistic campaign worker who is helping a Democratic governor (George Clooney) running for President just prior to the Ohio primary. His immediate boss (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is less idealistic and a bit more jaded. Meyers gets involved in a couple of things (one involving an intern played by Evan Rachel Wood) that threaten his idealism and tune him into just how dirty politics can be. I didn't totally buy everything here, but thought it was a decent movie overall.

:610:
142 - Road to Utopia (1945) - 6/10 - Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are grifters who end up on a boat to Alaska. They find a map to a gold mine and set out to find it, but there are those who want to steal the map. There are plenty of gags and comedic situations, but I didn't really think most of it was very funny, though there were exceptions. It did get better once they actually made it to Alaska. There were plenty of songs in the picture and those were good. I liked Road to Morocco a bit better.

:710:
143 - The Seven Little Foys (1955) - 7/10 - Bob Hope stars as Eddie Foy who starred on Broadway and the Vaudeville circuit. For a few years, he also toured with his seven children. The movie seems to have taken a number of liberties with the actual story, but that isn't uncommon in biopics and the movie itself was fairly entertaining. Charley Foy served as the narrator. It was nice to see James Cagney briefly reprise his George M. Cohan role.

:910:
144 - O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) - 9/10 - This Coen Brothers film features George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson as three convicts who escape from the chain gang in 1937 Mississippi and search for hidden treasure while trying to elude the law. Clooney's character also wants to get home and keep his wife from remarrying. The movie is hilarious and features great songs and cinematography as well. The supporting cast is good, too.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:910:
145 - Wild Strawberries (1957) - 9/10 - Isak Borg is a 78 year old retired doctor and professor who has long been distant and somewhat cold with those close to him. He is about to receive an honorary degree from where he went to college, but decides to drive there instead of flying after having a disturbing dream the night before the ceremony. He is accompanied by his daughter-in-law who has been having marital difficulties with his son. During the trip, Isak has visions of the past and also has various interactions with the people he meets along the way, including his 96 year old mother, that cause him to reassess his behavior. Ingmar Bergman put together a splendid film and I enjoyed it a lot.

:8510:
146 - Dirty Pretty Things (2002) - 8.5/10 - Okwe is a Nigerian doctor living illegally in London, working as a taxi driver and as the night porter at a sketchy hotel. He sleeps on the couch of Senay, a Turkish refugee who works as a maid at the hotel. Okwe makes a surprising discovery in the bathroom of one of the hotel rooms that sets off a chain of events that will alter each of their lives. I thought the movie was very good with nice performances from the leads and the supporting cast.

:7510:
147 - The Sheepman (1958) - 7.5/10 - This western stars Glenn Ford stars as a stranger who arrives in town making waves right from the start. He further riles the town folk when they discover that he plans to bring in a herd of sheep right in the middle of cattle country. Shirley MacLaine plays a young woman who is engaged to the Colonel (Leslie Nielsen), a man who more or less runs the town. It turns out that the stranger and the Colonel have history. There is a lot of humor in the film and while it certainly isn't a great film, it was fun.

:6510:
148 - Jolson Sings Again (1949) - 6.5/10 - This movie pretty much picks up where The Jolson Story left off and follows Al Jolson as he entertains the troops, gets sick, and retires only to eventually make a comeback through the making of "The Jolson Story". As a result, we get a picture within the picture. This movie isn't as good as the one that preceded it, but it is okay.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:710:
149 - Last Year at Marienbad (1961) - 7/10 - The movie takes place at a large, gloomy hotel in the 1930s. A man spends the film trying to convince a woman that they had met at the hotel the previous year. Meanwhile, a man (her husband?) spends time at the shooting range or playing games. There is a lot of moody music and the movie is very stylish. It is also pretty repetitive (by design) and I didn't really enjoy it all that much. It is very well done for what it is, though.


:810:
150 - Speaking in Strings (1999) - 8/10 - This documentary looks at the life and career of violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, a polarizing figure in classical music due to her style of playing. She was born in Rome and moved to the U.S. with her family as a child. The film talks about her childhood, her debut at Carnegie Hall, the injury that could have cost her her career, and her battle with depression. Nadja is interviewed along with friends, fellow performers, her mother, and teachers from Juilliard. I thought it was very interesting. I watched it with my mom who played the violin (and viola, piano, etc.), taught music, and conducted for many years. She enjoyed the film as well.

:610:
151 - The Rogue Song (1930) - 6/10 - The Rogue Song is a mostly lost film where only fragments plus the complete soundtrack survive. Lawrence Tibbet plays a bandit named Yegor who falls for a Russian princess named Vera. Vera's brother does something that leads to further problems and sets the stage for the second half of the film. I watched the reconstructed version and appreciated Tibbet's fine singing voice, but the film itself seems only average or below. It's hard to judge since so little of the film actually survives and very little of that includes the Laurel and Hardy segments. The ballet was the best preserved portion of the film. It was a very early color film and I think it probably looked very nice when it was shown in theaters. If the complete film is ever rediscovered and made available, I'll likely watch it again.
User avatar
Rusty
Math God
Math God
Posts: 9033
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 4:58 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Movies

Post by Rusty »

:810:
152 - The Ladykillers (1955) - 8/10 - Alec Guinness is one of five criminals (including Peter Sellers) who rent rooms from an old woman and pretend to be musicians in order to steal a large amount of money. Their plan didn't account for Mrs. Wilberforce who is like a force of nature in her sweetness and things eventually start to fall apart after the job is done. It was pretty funny.

:610:
153 - I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977) - 6/10 - A 16 year old girl who hears voices, sees visions, and has tried to commit suicide is committed to an institution where the other residents also have a variety of mental illnesses. I didn't really find this one all that interesting.

:7510:
154 - The Tin Star (1957) - 7.5/10 - Henry Fonda stars as a former sheriff turned bounty hunter who brings a bad guy that he killed into town to collect the reward. The mayor and other leading citizens want him out of town as soon as possible. The sheriff (Anthony Perkins) is young and inexperienced and hasn't been in the position for long. The former sheriff gives the new one a few tips so that he has a chance to avoid getting killed by making a mistake. I thought it was a pretty good western.

:710:
155 - Knock on Wood (1954) - 7/10 - Danny Kaye stars as a ventriloquist who starts having trouble controlling what his dummy says when he gets close to marriage with a woman he likes. He goes to Zurich to see a specialist for help, but gets involved with spies trying to smuggle secret plans. He also gets involved with a female doctor who is involved with his case. There's a fair amount of slapstick and this isn't really a good movie, but I still enjoyed it.

:810:
156 - The Leatherneck (1929) - 8/10 - Three American Marines stationed in Northern China are found to be missing, but return shortly thereafter with one dead, one seemingly insane, and the third brought up on charges of desertion and murder. At his trial, he tells his story (which is shown in flashback) of how the three soldiers met at the end of the World War and events leading up to the present day. William Boyd (pre Hopalong Cassidy), Alan Hale, and Robert Armstrong play the Marines and seem to have pretty good camaraderie. The movie moves at a brisk pace and clocks in at just under an hour. I thought it was a pretty good silent film. Sadly, the female lead and love interest (Diane Ellis) died less than two years later at the age of 20.

:510:
157 - That Touch of Mink (1962) - 5/10 - Cary Grant stars as wealthy executive Philip Shayne. On his way to work one day, his car splashes mud on a woman named Cathy Timberlake (Doris Day) who is on her way to a job interview. Shayne sends his assistant (Gig Young) down to apologize and when the assistant brings her up to the boss and introduces them, they start seeing each other. However, things do not go as either one expects. I didn't really see much chemistry between Grant and Day and didn't care for either performance, though Grant's was worse. He seemed pretty wooden in the film.
Post Reply