Showing 21 - 30 of 576 posts found matching keyword: movies

58/2224. Flaxy Martin (1949)
The title character is not the protagonist but the femme fatale, the reason the protagonist runs afoul of the law in this compilation of crime noir cliches. I watch enough of these that I must like crime noir cliches.

61/2227. I, Tonya (2017)
It's weird, getting old and seeing movies made of historical events that you remember living through. This very comedic interpretation of the scandalous events of 1994 leans heavily in Tonya Harding's favor, but even when she's on her best behavior, the movie is populated entirely by some of the worst people behaving badly, so it's hard to feel too charitable.

Drink Coke! (I, Tonya)

62/2228. 1917 (2019)
Friend James told me this was a great film, and I didn't take him seriously enough. It really is amazingly well crafted and, yes, beautiful in its depictions of the horrors of the Great War. Honestly, it's a masterpiece.

63/2229. Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie's Dead Aunt) (2020)
On the other end of the movie making spectrum is this much, much smaller fantasy coming of age film with a budget so small you'd lose it in the laundry. Sucker that I am for coming-of-age films, I still enjoyed it very much. (It's kind of nice to be reminded that as fraught as teenage hormones and relationships are, they aren't a literal war.)

64/2230. Storm Warning (1950)
Ronald Reagan is a crusading prosecutor driven to rid his town of the Ku Klux Klan! The film hints at an underlying connection between the racist Klan and the manipulative forces of industry, but that's subtle enough not to get in the way of the crime thriller. Pretty darn good.

65/2231. Don Juan (1926)
Credited as being the first movie with synchronized sound, it doesn't really capitalize on the innovation. It's mostly just another swashbuckling adventure film of its era with sword sound effects reliably clanging on cue.

More to come.

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54/2220. Stray Dog (1949)
I intentionally followed my viewing of Cats with this Akira Kurosawa writen/directed police procedural, which is a much better movie. Its only real flaw is a lack of actual dogs. The true subject is the directionless state of young men in post-WWII Tokyo, hence the allegorical title.

55/2221. The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979)
Unlike Strange Dogs, I bumped into this by pure happenstance. I'm glad I did. The premise of a basketball team built on astrology is inherently silly, but that's the sort of film this is, and it dives in head-first (see: Jonathan Winters as a goofball team owner and his own evil twin brother.) Like most home aquariums, it's fun but not deep.

Drink Coke! (The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh)
Coca-Cola is a performance-enhancing drug

56/2222. Carle Laemmle (2019)
The descendants of Universal Studios founder Carle Laemmle who participated in this documentary would have you believe that the man was a saint. Maybe he was, but it's hard to imagine that he united his competitors and defeated the Edison Motion Picture trust without at least having a iron-rod backbone.

60/2226. Burden of Dreams (1982)
The numbering on this one is out of order because I logged it late. Oops. But also pretty fitting considering the subject. In hindsight, I now know that this documentary was the explicit basis for the very silly 2-part 2022 Documentary Now episode "Soldier of Illusion." The lengths that Werner Herzog went through to make his Amazon River movie are terrifying.

57/2223. The Apple (1980)
The Apple is, without a doubt, the single greatest movie musical ever made about Adam and Eve as rockstars in a world dominated by the recording executive devil. The makers of Cats could learn a few lessons on how to do "bonkers" right.

Drink Coke! (The Apple)
There's a ton of Coke in this film, very little of which is bottled.

More to come.

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49/2215. Inside Out (1975)
Not the more famous Pixar movie but a Nazi Gold heist movie starting Telly Savalas, Robert Culp, and James Mason. It's got a made-for-tv vibe, but that's not all bad, especially considering its genre, one of the few in which crime can pay. (It's always okay to steal from Nazis.)

50/2216. Being Mary Tyler Moore (2023)
HBO's recent documentary benefits from having plenty of home movies that reveal Mary Tyler Moore as a real human being. You actually get a pretty good feel for her as a person, and that's the point of these things, isn't it?

51/2217. The Verdict (1946)
Not the more famous Paul Newman movie but a very entertaining murder mystery starring Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. As a huge fan of the "locked room" subgenre, I really should have deduced the truth because I properly recognized the tropes and red herrings as such. But I was still fooled. Fun!

52/2218. Seven Thieves (1960)
Another heist film in which Rod Steiger teams up with Edward G. Robinson to... well, exactly the same plot as Oceans 11 but without any laughs. When Steiger robs a bank, no one has any fun.

53/2219. Cats (2019)
Hoooo-leee-shit. Critics and audiences have decried this adaptation from the top of their lungs, but until you've seen it, you just don't know. No one involved in making any executive decisions guiding this dance-heavy Broadway show into an uncanny valley of very unfortunate CGI'd cat-suits should be allowed anywhere near a movie studio ever again. I guarantee this is going to end up an underground cult classic if only because generations of watchers are going to fall into the rabbit hole of trying to wrap their heads around how an abomination like this could be brought to life. (And don't even get me started on the musical earworms, which are not the movie's fault but are endemic to the play. The lyrics are terrible the first time, and they don't get any better the hundredth time a chorus of "Jellicle Cats" chews its way through your cerebrum. Hiss!)

More to come.

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44/2210. Jules et Jim (1962)
You know a movie with a "love" story like this has to be (loosely) based on a true story, because it's just too bonkers to be credible fiction. It's well made, well written, well acted... I just didn't enjoy spending time with any of the characters, all clearly doomed by their own selfishness.

45/2211. Operation Pacific (1951)
This movie was remade, also with John Wayne, as In Harm's Way. That one's much better (with a larger budget). Watch it instead.

46/2212. Four Daughters (1938)
The plot of this melodrama is a little thin, relying heavily on the charm of the Lane sisters to keep the viewer entertained while John Garfield chews the scenery doing his best Oscar Levant impersonation. I'd probably watch it again just for Priscilla Lane.

47/2213. Bridge of Spies (2015)
I'm still not a particular fan of Spielberg's penchant for pushing his audience's emotional buttons, but I do appreciate his perspective on a true history story that utilizes Tom Hanks' unique talents to show us how an "everyman" with integrity, compassion, and determination can make a cold (war) world a better place.

48/2214. Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery (2023)
At last! These are my favorite of the Hallmark mysteries. This is the first new entry in this series in years (because star Allison Sweeney has been working on other projects), and there's a bit of a disappointing casting shake-up with the introduction of a long-lost sister (a la Roy in "The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show" episode of The Simpsons). I'm willing to forgive almost anything to get more of these, especially after such a long wait.

More to come.

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Last week, TCM ran a documentary on early 20th-century filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. I've seen at least parts of a few of Micheaux's films, including his response to Birth of a Nation earlier this year. I didn't include the documentary in my most recent movie reviews because I typically like to work my way through what I watch chronologically. However, we are running out of June, and I really should cover this one before the calendar turns to July.

59/2225. Oscar Micheaux: The Superhero of Black Filmmaking (2021)

As you can see from the title, documentarian Francesco Zippel really plays up the superhuman efforts that Micheaux had to perform to get his films about Black American life and starring Black Americans shown to (mostly Black) audiences. The film focuses on Micheaux's works and achievements but is light on actual biographical details of the man himself, admitting that many aspects of the man's personal life are unclear.

But what motivates me to post this during Superman Month is that Micheaux was born to a freed former slave in Metropolis, Illinois! That was 1884, about 90 years before the city embraced its tenuous connection to the Superman mythos.

The documentary concludes with a lamentation that Metropolitans would choose to erect a giant statue to a fictional hero instead of a true native son. But to be entirely fair, Micheaux was public about the social struggles of his early life in Metropolis, and he left town for good at the age of 17. On the other hand, everyone knows that once Superman moved to Metropolis, he stayed there.

A statue might be a bit much, but at the very least, you'd think they'd give him a plaque. Or a star on the sidewalk. If it's good enough for D.W. Griffith....

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39/2205. Barely Lethal (2015)
Pay television likes to show this movie late at night, probably for nostalgic 20-somethings. I think this is a rare case of a script (and cast) being better than the final execution. I only watched it all the way to the end because it was filmed in Georgia, and I wondered if I would recognize anything. I didn't.

40/2206. Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
I liked this somewhat more than Gold Diggers of 1935. (Of the three numeric "Gold Diggers" films, I'd still only recommend Gold Diggers of 1933.) There are just too many horrible doing horrible things to one another to enjoy too much time in their company when they aren't singing and dancing.

41/2207. Black Adam (2022)
I said I'd never watch it... then on a Sunday afternoon with nothing better to do, I did. It's... okay. The plot is too thin, many of the characters are too poorly developed, the third act grafts on a zombie subplot... and it's just so damn violent for a superhero movie! Honestly, as a DC comic book guy, I have real problems with the presentation of well-established Justice Society members as morons and pawns, but my biggest gripe is that Black Adam kills everyone, and he's supposed to be the idea of the kind of hero the world needs? #MakeMineSuperman

42/2208. Atlantis: The Lost Continent (1961)
Sadly, this has nothing to do with Aquaman. It is, however, the 60s equivalent of a super-hero action film, as the inhabitants of a scientifically advanced society pay for their hubris with the destruction of their world. You know, like what happened to the planet Krypton.

43/2209. A Walk in the Sun (1945)
"Nobody dies" is Private Rivera's mantra in this "Day In The Life" approach to World War II. The enemy is always present but never clearly seen, and most of the run time is taken up by bits of conversation as the soldiers try to keep the horrors of war out of their minds. The influence on Saving Private Ryan is obvious. It's really very, very good.

More to come.

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33/2199. Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
Not as good as Gold Diggers of 1933, but that's partly due to the fact that Gold Diggers of 1933 is so very, very good. The opening is fantastic, and there's a lot of enchanting Busby Berkley choreography in here. Too bad almost all of these "gold diggers" themselves are intrinsically unlikeable characters.

34/2200. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)
I don't know how entertaining this silly mock-autobiography will be for people less familiar with Weird Al's discography than I am, but my mother's beau, who doesn't know Weird Al from a normal one, seemed to enjoy it fine.

35/2201. April in Paris (1952)
The song-and-dance numbers in this musical comedy should be better known, but the otherwise tired script and the mismatched pairing of naive Doris Day and sad-sack Ray Bolger make watching a bit of a chore. Keep an eye out for the rainbow of poodles late in the third act scene used as the source of the cover image of the August 9, 1952 issue of Collier's Magazine. (Google it.)

36/2202. All About Eve (1950)
Not to be confused with The Three Faces of Eve (which I have done), this is the one about a sociopath, not a split personality. They both have Academy Award winning performances, of course, but this is the one that grabbed Best Picture. It probably deserves it, especially because of Bette Davis's ability to convey rare onscreen character growth (and George Sanders' delightfully manipulative theater critic).

37/2203. The Jane Mysteries: Inheritance Lost (2023)
Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel lost Candice Cameron Bure to Great American Family, so they grabbed Bure's Full House sister, Jodie Sweetin, with diminishing results. Solvable purely by formula alone, this isn't particularly recommended.

38/2204. Garage Sale Mysteries: Searched & Seized (2022)
The last installment of Lori Laughlin's signature Hallmark mystery series feels simultaneously contrived and comfortable, much like a Murder She Wrote episode, which is certainly the point. Too bad there won't be any more of these, at least on Hallmark. (While Hallmark frowns on bribing college officials, Great American Family doesn't, so Laughlin followed her Full House stepdaughter over there after she got out of prison. Man, the behind-the-scenes on these made-for-tv Hallmark movies is getting wilder than any of their murder mysteries.)

More to come.

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28/2194. The Brothers Warner (2007)
TCM kicked off their month celebrating 100 years of Warner Brothers movies with this documentary about the founding brothers themselves. It's not particularly kind to youngest brother Jack, but from what I've heard in the past, that's appropriate. If I have any complaints, it's that it glossed over the Hollywood blacklist era and the end of the dynasty, but it did have a lot of ground to cover.

29/2195. Safe in Hell (1931)
A woman who believes herself to be a murderer goes on the lam to a island populated with rapists and thieves. You think that scenario is what the title is referring to until you get to the final act. It's an interesting twist, though too abrupt to be entirely satisfying.

30/2196. Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Every bit a classic! I'd seen most of it before, especially the Busby Berkely orchestrated dances with neon violins and Bonus Army soldiers on a treadmill, but I finally sat down and watched it from end to end. I'm glad I did. I'll be glad to do it again and again.

31/2197. Colorado Territory (1949)
Ok, I have to admit that I watched this for a whole hour before finally realizing it is exactly the same plot as High Sierra and I Died a Thousand Times. It definitely works better as a western.

32/2198. Tab Hunter Confidential (2015)
This documentary of the life of screen idol Tab Hunter was made by his lover, and it succeeds on the strength of Tab's apparent honesty while staring down the fourth wall. Of course, it was that charisma that made him a star in the first place (despite his questionable acting ability). His willingness to admit that is what makes this a worthwhile watch for classic film fans.

More to come.

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24/2190. The Menu (2022)
Part thriller, part horror, all social satire, The Menu reminds me very much of absurdist French films, and that's a big plus in my book. So is this cast, especially Anya Taylor-Joy as a horror-heroine who just might survive if she can figure out and abide by the killer's rules. Lots of fun.

25/2191. Curious Caterer: Grilling Season (2023)
I think this is the second installment in this Hallmark Murders & Mysteries series, and it suffers from an early fatal flaw when a character says something that seems so randomly out-of-character, it immediately identifies him as the murderer. Oh, well. If only real-life murders were this easy to solve.

26/2192. The First Nudie Musical (1976)
Ron Howard is in exactly one shot of this weird artifact of mid-70s cinema trends. I won't say it doesn't have some good ideas and funny moments, but the whole thing could have benefited greatly from a tighter focus in direction and editing. (Seriously, directing and editing comedy is a hard job — much harder than dramas; timing is everything! — and not everyone has the talent for it.) I'm inclined to pick on the actors, but some of them are clearly playing intentionally talentless characters; the porn star auditioning for a singing role earned a hearty laugh.

Drink Coke! (The First Nudie Musical)
Don't let the naked dancing chorus line distract you from what's really front and center: a whole box of Coke!

27/2193. The League of Gentlemen (1960)
This otherwise charming heist film is hampered by the fact that the audience is told early that all of the participants are cads, so you know the movie is never going to let them get away with a successful robbery. The ending is especially unsatisfying because of how abrupt it is. (Would anyone watch Oceans Eleven a second time if the crew was surrounded by police outside the Bellagio as the credits rolled?)

More to come.

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From this week's Newnan Times-Herald:

Newnan Times Herald, April 2023

Quote:

The Coweta County Sheriff's Office has been hosting the conference since 1993, offering free training for law enforcement and first responders in areas such as long range precision rifle (above photo) K-9 handling, DUI detection, use of force, State Opioid Adapted Response and the legalities of various aspects of policing.

Personally, I had my fill of "long range precision rifle K-9 handling" the one time I watched Old Yeller.

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To be continued...

 

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