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Monkey Business - Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, Marylin Monroe star in Howard Hawks comedy. This movie, I believe is under-rated as a top level comedy. Sure, it gets its props, but this movie is so well put together, there are no lulls, no points of annoyingness. The characters and their actions in this film are all really well weighted. Hawks managed this film wonderfully. Grant and Rogers were tremendous. A must see.

9 of 10

Penny Serenade - Irene Dunne and Cary Grant star in this film that is, in my opinion, dull and with an ending that had about as much intellectual satisfaction as an atheist gets with the ending of the Gable/Tracey San Francisco film.

The movie is shown in the present with our main character having flashbacks the lengths of movies. I saw where the film was going and it was dealing with some good issues, however, despite the setbacks, despite the hardships, I just wasn’t that moved.

Cary Grant got a nomination for Best Actor. I guess it was justified. His climatic scene is in the courtroom. Otherwise, I found his role a bit underwhelming. My review is more disfavorable than the general review of this film, so consult a doctor first before taking too seriously.

6.5 of 10

Dr. Strangelove - Not the first time I saw this. Cinematic classic… though I’m hardly the only one to think so. This film is so brilliant in both its dark comedy to its serious tone regarding the Cold War… a tone that reads like hindsight, but was actually smack in the middle of the “conflict". Peter Sellers was absolutely robbed by Rex Harrison and the Academy. My Fair Lady?! Come on! Peter Sellers plays three completely unique roles splendidly. He wasn’t a slapstick comedian in this film. He was a brilliant actor in it.

The plot, the characters, the everything else… one of the best films ever.

10 of 10

The Grapes of Wrath - A cinematic classic of a literary classic. The depths to which men will go to make a living, the desperation of just trying to put food on the table. Henry Fonda got his first Oscar nod for his role in this film (lost to Stewart from The Philadelphia Story). The movie really does hold together well. It never lulls in any spot longer than it must. The underlying theme is compelling. What a person must do to make it and how some forces will pit man against man to get ahead. Certainly capitalism in America near its ugliest. This is one of those, have to see films.

10 of 10

Alice Adams (spoilers) - The professor who invented flubber and Katherine Hepburn star in this rare movie that made me want Katherine Hepburn to die. Honestly, it wasn’t Hepburn’s fault. It was her character and the complete one-dimensional film where we have a female protagonist, that is really a big fat liar who wants to become a member of the shallow aristocracy and gets the inventor of flubber to fall in love with her.

What bothers me is that the movie could have been better. Alice Adams could have easily been more heroic instead of being a person who was a sellout. She has nothing, wants to be a snob… instead of having nothing and being proud of who she is as a person. Her aspiration to become the higher class, to become shallow really makes her a villain to me in this movie. That and extremely annoying. The dinner scene, aside from a good one-liner from the father and Hattie McDaniel’s antics as the maid (I know… such a stretch for her… I guess all black people were maids in the 30s, 40s and 50s as black people never seem to do much else in the movies but be the stewards and maids - The Petrified Forest being a notable exception), was nails on the chalkboard irritating.

In the end, Alice Adams didn’t deserve the inventor of flubber. In fact, I have no idea why he was attracted to her at all. She had very little redeming quality as a person. But it is a Hollywood movie and they love their falling in love endings. *smooch*

3.5 of 10

Take Me Out to the Ballgame - It has Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Esther Williams. So you know what to expect… oh wait… no you don’t. This movie was boring and dull. Tell ya, one thing you’ll get tired of while watching old movies is how falling in love is so splendidly easy and how stuff always works out in the end. (No, I haven’t just broken up… ) The plot was there, it was simple and cohesive, I’m just not really in to that sort of cliche, at least right now. Oddly enough, this may have been the first Esther Williams movie I’ve seen.

5.5 of 10

My Little Chickadee - Mae West and WC Fields star in this film as missionaries who are married. After fixing everything they could in a town, they head out on a train to Greasetown. After learning of the terrible condition of the morality there, WC Fields character becomes the hard working sheriff, who puts his life on the line many times. Mae West’s character starts a small school and teaches the kids math and reading. They both settle down here after Mae West becomes pregnant and has a kid.

Yeah… that’s the ticket. Well, the actual movie is supposedly one of Mae West’s best. If I may say, she is the female version of John Wayne (granted, I have no right saying this because this is the only Mae West film I’ve seen). It is just her character is quite one-dimensional. She did have a couple zingers, my favorite being (while teaching at the school) “Two and two is four and five will get you ten if you know how to work it.” I enjoyed WC Fields on screen more than West as West’s act got a bit old. I did like the ending though. Nice change from the typical, fall in love at the end that Hollywood is notorious for.

6 of 10

Dark Victory - Regarded as one of Bette Davis’s best. A story about a woman who, well… isn’t looking so good in the health department. Davis wanted this film made, mainly because the main character is so her. Rich, spoiled, over the top, and certainly with flaws. I think Davis does a superb job in this film. The movie doesn’t disappoint in the end either. It stayed true to itself. I always appreciate when a movie does that.

8.5 of 10

The Godfather - Michael Keaton stars a much overlooked film detailing a family in the organized crime world for gambling and alcohol. The film, sometimes violent and sometimes, split your sides funny, is a slapstick look into how organized crime works…

…

wait… that was Johnny Dangerously not The Godfather… my bad.

The Godfather is a cinematic classic tale about a guy maturing from a do nothing, have fun person to a cold blooded, methodical madman. There are also a few social lessons taught in the movie, mainly that killing a person in your car will mean your windshield will probably be ruined… so plan ahead! For a movie of over 3 hours, it seems remarkably short, very little lagging at all. I really don’t want to waste more time on this review because I was the last person to see the movie, so it isn’t like I’ll be helping someone make a discovery of this film.

9.5 of 10

Archives for: May 2009, 02

05/02/09

09:03:21 am Movie Reviews, continued...