For the month of January...

Best Film of the Month: The Lady Eve
Worst Film of the Month: The Good Shepard

For the month of January...

Best Film of the Month: The Lady Eve (1941)

Worst Film of the Month: The Good Shepherd (2006)

January 28, 2007

Modern Times (1936)
Director: Charles Chaplin
Writer: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin and Paulette Goddard
Co-Starring: Henry Bergman and Peter Sandford
Description: Chaplins last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, was made when everyone else was making talkies. Charlie turns against modern society, the machine age, (The use of sound in films ?) and progress. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital... When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist while waving a red flag, sent to jail, foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. We follow Charlie through many more escapades before the film is out.
Rating: A-
In a word... brilliant.

January 27, 2007

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, and Tsuyoko Yoshido
Starring: Ken Wantanbe
Co-Starring: Kazunari Ninomiya and Tsuyoshi Ihara
Description: The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo, a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, both Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination.
Rating: A
In a word... moving.

January 27, 2007

Children of Men (2006)
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writers: Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, and P.D. James
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine
Co-Starring: Joy Richardson, Caroline Lena Olsson, and Somi Guha
Description: In 2027, after eighteen years of infertility in a chaotic world and the death of the youngest man on Earth, the hopeless mankind is near the extinction. In London, the civil servant Theo Faron is contacted by his ex-wife and leader of the terrorist group The Fishes, Julian, to get permission for the travel of the young woman Kee to a seaside town of refugees. Along their journey, Theo discloses that Kee is pregnant and tries to protect and deliver her to a peaceful group of a life project in a vessel called "Tomorrow" and give hope to the mankind.
Rating: A-
In a word... frightening.

January 26, 2007

Garden State (2004)
Director: Zack Braff
Writer: Zack Braff
Starring: Zack Braff and Natalie Portman
Co-Starring: Peter Sarsgaard and Armando Riesco
Description: Andrew Largeman is a semi-successful television actor who plays a retarded quarterback. His somewhat controlling and psychiatrist father has led Andrew ("Large") to believe that his mother's wheelchair bound life was his fault. Andrew decides to lay off the drugs that his father and his doctor made him believe that he needed, and began to see life for what it is. He began to feel the pain he had longed for, and began to have a genuine relationship with a girl who had some problems of her own.
Rating: B+
In a word... grin-inducing.

January 23, 2007

Yojimbo (1961)
Director: Akira Kurowsawa
Writer: Akira Kurowsawa and Ryuzo Kikushima
Starring: Toshirô Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai
Co-Starring: Yôko Tsukasa and Isuzu Yamada
Description: Sanjuro, a wandering samurai enters a rural town in nineteenth century Japan. After learning from the innkeeper that the town is divided between two gangsters, he plays one side off against the other. His efforts are complicated by the arrival of the wily Unosuke, the son of one of the gangsters, who owns a revolver. Unosuke has Sanjuro beaten after he reunites an abducted woman with her husband and son, then massacres his father's opponents. During the slaughter, the samurai escapes with the help of the innkeeper; but while recuperating at a nearby temple, he learns of innkeeper's abduction by Unosuke, and returns to the town to confront him.
Rating: B+
In a word... eek.

January 22, 2007

King Kong (1933)
Directors: Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack
Writer: Merian C. Cooper, Edgar Wallace, James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose.
Starring: Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong
Co-Starring: Bruce Cabot and Frank Reicher
Description: Master showman Carl Denham has fallen on hard times due to the depression, and mounts an expedition to the mysterious Skull Island to find another showpiece. He takes along adventurer Jack Driscoll and the down-on-her-luck gorgeous blonde Ann Darrow with him to spice up the show. Arriving on the island, they discover it is home to gigantic beasts like dinosaurs, and ruling over all is Kong, a 30 foot tall gorilla. The natives kidnap Ann as a sacrifice for Kong, and the other crew members head into the dangerous island interior to rescue her.
Rating: A+
In a word... epic.

January 22, 2007

The Cocoanuts (1929)
Directors: Robert Florey and Joseph Santley
Writers: George S. Kaufman and Marie Ryskind
Starring: Zeppo, Groucho, Harpo, and Chico Marx
Co-Starring: Oscar Shaw and Mary Eaton
Description: Mr. Hammer runs a bankrupt Florida hotel. He'll try anything to make money, even make love to rich Mrs. Potter. But his main scheme, selling real estate, is in danger of sabotage from zanies Chico and Harpo, who also reduce the schemes of a pair of jewel thieves to chaos. A subplot involves the star-crossed love of Polly Potter and architect Bob Adams.
Rating: B
In a word... amusing.

January 20, 2007

His Girl Friday (1940)
Director: Howard Hawks
Writer: Ben Hecht, Charles MacArthur, and Charles Lederer
Starring: Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell
Co-Starring: Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart
Description: Hildy Johnson has divorced Walter Burns and visits his office to tell him that she is engaged to another man and that they are going to get married the day after. Walter Burns can't let that happen and frames the other man, Bruce Baldwin, for a lot of stuff getting him into trouble all the time, while he tries to steer Hildy back into her old job as his employee (editor of his newspaper).
Rating: B
In a word... screwball.

January 20, 2007

It Happened One Night (1934)
Director: Frank Capra
Writer: Samuel Hopkins Adams and Robert Riskin
Starring: Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable
Co-Starring: Walter Conolly and Roscoe Karns
Description: Ellie Andrews has just tied the knot with society aviator King Westley when she is whisked away to her father's yacht and out of King's clutches. Ellie jumps ship and eventually winds up on a bus headed back to her husband. Reluctantly she must accept the help of out-of- work reporter Peter Warne. Actually, Warne doesn't give her any choice: either she sticks with him until he gets her back to her husband, or he'll blow the whistle on Ellie to her father. Either way, Peter gets what (he thinks!) he wants .... a really juicy newspaper story.
Rating: A+
In a word... breakneck.

January 20, 2007

Destry Rides Again (1939)
Director: George Marshall
Writers: Max Brand, Felix Jackson, Gertrude Purcell, and Henry Myers
Starring: Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart
Co-Starring: Mischa Auer and Charles Winniger
Description: Kent, the unscrupulous boss of Bottleneck has Sheriff Keogh killed when he asks one too many questions about a rigged poker game that gives Kent a stranglehold over the local cattle rangers. The mayor, who is in cahoots with Kent appoints the town drunk, Washington Dimsdale, as the new sheriff assuming that he'll be easy to control. But what the mayor doesn't know is that Dimsdale was a deputy under famous lawman, Tom Destry, and is able to call upon the equally formidable Tom Destry Jr to be his deputy. Featuring a career reviving performance from Marlene Dietrich as bar singer Frenchie, which could well have been the inspiration for Madeline Kahn's "Blazing Saddles" character, Lili Von Schtupp.
Rating: B
In a word... ordinary.

January 20, 2007

Lola rennt (1998)
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Franka Potente
Co-Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu and Herbert Knaup
Description: Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manny. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. Lola has 20 min to raise this amount and meet Manny. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.
Rating: B+
In a word... quickly-paced.

January 20, 2007

Fargo (1996)
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
Writers: Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring: William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi
Co-Starring: Peter Stormare and Kristin Rudrüd
Description: Fargo is based on true events that occurred in Minnesota in 1987 with the names changed to protect the victims. Jerry works in his father-in-law's car dealership and has gotten himself in financial problems. He tries various schemes to come up with money needed for a reason that is never really explained. It has to be assumed that his huge embezzlement of money from the dealership is about to be discovered by father-in-law. When all else falls through, plans he set in motion earlier for two men to kidnap his wife for ransom to be paid by her wealthy father (who doesn't seem to have the time of day for son-in-law). From the moment of the kidnapping, things go wrong and what was supposed to be a non-violent affair turns bloody with more blood added by the minute. Jerry is upset at the blood shed, which turns loose a pregnant sheriff from MN who is tenacious in attempting to solve the three murders in her jurisdiction.
Rating: A
In a word... ironic.

January 19, 2007

Sabrina (1954)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Samuel A. Taylor, Billy Wilder, and Ernest Lehman
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden
Co-Starring: Walter Hampden and John Williams
Description: Sabrina is the young daughter of the Larrabee family's chauffeur who has been in love with David Larrabee for all her life. David is very spoiled and crazy for women, and has been totally ignoring Sabrina for years. When Sabrina goes to Paris for a few years, she returns a very attractive and sophisticated woman, and David is quickly drawn to her. David's brother Linus sees this and fears that David's imminent wedding with a very rich woman may be endangered. If the wedding is canceled, so will a great corporate deal with the bride's family. So, Linus tries to keep Sabrina off his brother, and the best way to do so is by charming her himself.
Rating: A
In a word... sweet.

January 19, 2007

Some Like It Hot (1959)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Robert Thoeren, Michael Logan, Billy Wilder, and I.A.L. Diamond
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon
Co-Starring: George Raft, Pat O'Brien, and Joe E. Brown
Description: Joe, the saxophone player, is Josephine in the all girls band that he joined with Jerry, the bass violin player, to be one step ahead of the mob after witnessing the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago. After a train ride that sets a record for number of people in an upper berth, they are In Miami. Joe decides to be the man of Sugar Kane's dreams and invites her out to a yacht he doesn't have. But he can use Osgood Fielding's yacht if Jerry -- as Daphne -- will keep Osgood dancing. The pace gets even giddier when the Chicago mob arrives in Miami for a convention.
Rating: A+
In a word... side-splitting.

January 19, 2007

Sunset Blvd. (1950)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman, Jr.
Starring: Gloria Swanson and William Holden
Co-Starring: Erich von Stroheim and Nancy Olson
Description: Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenplay writer, escapes the finance men who are trying to reclaim his car by driving into the garage of an old mansion on Sunset Boulevard. Assumed to be someone else, he is led by Max the butler to the mansion's owner, silent film star Norma Desmond. Wishing to make a comeback, she hires him to rewrite her "Salome" script, then falls in love with him. Joe moves into the mansion as a kept man. Secretly, Joe is collaborating with a pretty young screenplay editor, Betty Schaefer, on another idea. Though she is engaged to his best friend, Artie Green, an assistant director, Betty falls in love with Joe. When Betty finds out about Norma, she asks him to leave Norma for her, but Joe can't unsettle her life, too. He decides, instead, to leave Hollywood. As he is leaving, a crazed Norma tries to stop him.
Rating: A+
In a word... stunning.

January 19, 2007

Stalag 17 (1953)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Donald Bevan, Edmund Trzcinski, Billy Wilder, and Edwin Blum
Starring: William Holden
Co-Starring: Don Taylor and Otto Preminger
Description: Set in a German POW Camp for enlisted American airmen, a spy is discovered to be living in one of the prison barracks after an escape attempt fails resulting in the deaths of two inmates. The prisoners at once suspect Sefton, an unscrupulous inside dealer who trades almost anything with the Germans for extra privileges. After Sefton is beaten up, he himself determines to find the real spy and the result is a mixture of intrigue and betrayal leading to a surprise ending.
Rating: B+
In a word... cynical.

January 19, 2007

Forrest Gump (1994)*
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Winston Groom and Eric Roth
Starring: Tom Hanks and Robin Wright Penn
Co-Starring: Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field
Description: Forrest Gump is a simple man with little brain activity but good intentions. He struggles through childhood with his best and only friend Jenny. His 'mama' teaches him the ways of life and leaves him to choose his destiny. Forrest joins the army for service in Vietnam, finding new friends called Dan and Bubba, he wins medals, starts a table tennis craze, creates a famous shrimp fishing fleet, inspires people to jog, create the smiley, write bumper stickers and songs, donating to people and meeting the president several times. However this is all irrelevant to Forrest who can only think of his childhood sweetheart Jenny. Who has messed up her life. Although in the end all he wants to prove is that anyone can love anyone
Rating: B
In a word... overrated.
In-Depth Review!
I just saw this today, for about the sixth time. I hadn't seen it since I really started getting into film, and for some reason remembered it as a masterpiece. Yyyyyyyeah... I'm sorry, but so many of the lines of dialogue are unintentionally funny, and it's so unrealistic, that I just had to laugh at most of it. And not for a good reason. See: " *whiny annoying voice* Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun, Foooooooorrest, ruuuuuuuuuuun!" and "Liiiiiiife is like a box o' chocolates." The braces falling off scene, very, very unrealistic, that would never happen. It just doesn't. It takes years and years of hard work, it just doesn't HAPPEN like that. I would know. Finally, I swear this film packs in more melodrama in 2 hours and 22 minutes than Gone with the Wind does in 4 hours. Damn! Some of the scenes that are supposed to be funny, mostly laughing at Forrest, aren't really that funny.

I repeat something I said with The Shawshank Redemption: Sentimentality doesn't equal a good film. (Although I really liked Shawshank nevertheless) Is it terrible? Certainly not--it's an accurate and great representation of the era, and Tom Hanks' performance is mostly excellent, as is Gary Sinese's. Still my problems with the film lower it down do about a B.

Yes, the film does have some genuinely heartwarming moments, such as when Forrest is asked about his legs by Jenny, and he says something like: "Ain't nothing wrong with my legs, they just fine and dandy."

I just had to laugh at that, good answer (I speak from experience, too)!

January 16, 2007

The Palm Beach Story (1942)
Director: Preston Sturges
Writer: Preston Sturges
Starring: Claudette Colbert and Joel McCrea
Co-Starring: Mary Astor and Rudee Vallee
Description: Gerry and Tom Jeffers are finding married life hard. Tom is an inventor/ architect and there is little money for them to live on. They are about to be thrown out of their apartment when Gerry meets rich businessman being shown around as a prospective tenant. He gives Gerry $700 to start life afresh but Tom refuses to believe her story and they quarrel. Gerry decides the marriage is over and heads to Palm Beach for a quick divorce but Tom has plans to stop her.
Rating: A In a word... sophisticated.

January 15, 2007

El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Writer: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, and Maribel Verdú
Co-Starring: Doug Jones, Ariadna Gil, and Álex Angulo
Description: In 1944 fascist Spain, a girl, fascinated with fairy-tales, is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her new stepfather, a ruthless captain of the Spanish army. During the night, she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the center of the labyrinth. He tells her she's a princess, but must prove her royalty by surviving three gruesome tasks. If she fails, she will never prove herself to be the the true princess and will never see her real father, the king, again.
Rating: A-
In a word... breathtaking.

January 14, 2007

Key Largo (1948)
Director: John Huston Writers: Maxwell Anderson, Richard Brooks, and John Huston Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, and Lauren Bacall Co-Starring: Lionel Barrymore and Claire Trevor Description: A man visits his old friend's hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other.
Rating: B+ In a word... tense.

January 13, 2007

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
Director: Carl Reiner
Writers: Carl Reiner, George Gipe, and Steve Martin
Starring: Steve Martin and Rachel Ward
Co-Starring: Alan Ladd and Carl Reiner
With special appearances from: Barbara Stanwyck, Ray Milland, Ava Gardner, Burt Lancaster, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Inrid Bergman, Veronica Lake, Bette Davis, Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Fred MacMurray, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Charles Laughton, Vincent Price, and many, many more.
Description: Juliet Forrest (Rachel Ward) is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist working on a secret recipe. To prove it was murder, she enlists the services of private eye Rigby Reardon (Steve Martin). He finds a slip of paper containing a list of people who are "The Friends and Enemies of Carlotta." Searching for answers, Rigby encounters assorted low-lives: dangerous men and women who were the hallmarks of the classic detective movies of the 40's and 50's. Filming in black and white allows scenes from old movies to be cut into this film. It is through this process that Rigby's assistant is none other than Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) himself.
Rating: B
In a word... gimmicky.

January 13, 2007

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972)
Director: Werner Herzog
Writer: Werner Herzog
Starring: Klaus Kniski
Co-Starring: Helene Rojo and Del Negro
Description: A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirres, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to "the golden city", or to certain destruction?
Rating: A
In a word... beautiful.

January 12, 2007

Fail-Safe (1964)
Director: Sydney Lumet
Writers: Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler, Walter Bernstein, and Harvey George
Starring: Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Mathau, and Frank Overton
Co-Starring: Ed Binns, Fritz Weaver, Henry Fonda, and Larry Hagman
Description: A technical malfunction in the Pentagon's strategic control system causes an erroneous order to be sent to a B-58 squadron on a routine training mission instructing the bombers to fly beyond their fail safe distance. At this point the flight crew are trained to cease communications and prepare to fulfill their objective by bombing Moscow. As the planes near their target, the crisis deepens and together the Americans and Soviets decide on a final, desperate solution.
Rating: C
In a word... mediocre.

January 11, 2007

Dark Passage (1947)
Director: Delmer Daves
Writer: David Goodis and Delmer Daves
Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Co-Starring: Bruce Bennett and Agnes Moorehead
Description: Bogart plays a man convicted of murdering his wife who escapes from prison in order to prove his innocence. Bogart finds that his features are too well known, and is forced to seek some illicit backroom plastic surgery. The entire pre-knife part of the film is shot from a Bogart's-eye-view, with us seeing the fugitive for the first time as he starts to recuperate from the operation in the apartment of a sympathetic young artist (played by Bacall) for whom he soon finds affection. But what he's really after is revenge.
Rating: B
In a word... flawed.

January 10, 2007

Sullivan's Travels (1941)
Director: Preston Sturges
Writer: Preston Sturges
Starring: Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake
Co-Starring: Robert Warwick and William Demarest
Description: Sullivan is a successful, spoiled, and naive director of fluff films, with a heart-o-gold, who decides he wants to make a film about the troubles of the downtrodden poor. Much to the chagrin of his producers, he sets off in tramp's clothing with a single dime in his pocket to experience poverty first-hand, and gets some reality shock.
Rating: B+
In a word... witty.

January 10, 2007

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1926)
Director: F.W. Murnau
Writer: Hermann Sudermann, Carl Meyer, Catherine Hilliker, and H.H. Caldwell
Starring: George O'Brien and Janet Gaynor
Co-Starring: Margaret Livingstond and Bodil Rosing
Description: An attractive woman from the city, on vacation, stays in a small farming community and dazzles a young married farmer. The wicked woman suggests that the man's deceptively dowdy-looking wife might "accidentally" drown. Can he, will he go through with it? The scene changes; in unexpected company, the man gets a kaleidoscopic taste of what the actual city is like. The dramatic climax comes in a fearsome storm and its aftermath...
Rating: A-
In a word... fascinating.

January 8, 2007

The Good Shepherd (2006)
Director: Robert DeNiro
Writer: Eric Roth
Starring: Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, and Alec Baldwin
Co-Starring: Tommy Blanchard, Billy Crudup, and Robert DeNiro
Description: Laconic and self-contained, Edward Wilson heads CIA covert operations during the Bay of Pigs. The agency suspects that Castro was tipped, so Wilson looks for the leak. As he investigates, he recalls, in a series of flashbacks, his father's death, student days at Yale (poetry; Skull and Bones), recruitment into the fledgling OSS, truncated affairs, a shotgun marriage, cutting his teeth on spy craft in London, distance from his son, the emergence of the Cold War, and relationships with agency, British, and Soviet counterparts. We watch his idealism give way to something else: disclosing the nature of that something else is at the heart of the film's narration as he closes in on the leak.
Rating: C
In a word... tedious.

In-Depth Review!

Pros:

-Matt Damon is excellent in his role.
-Accurate (so far as I can tell) portrayal of the eras
-Damn good costumes (not quite as good as Marie Antoinette)
-Pretty good cinematography, although not gorgeous

Cons:

-Angelina Jolie: She--I'm sorry--can NOT do drama or scenes requiring her to cry very well
-Jolie and Damon have almost no chemistry, and while I realize that this was intended, it didn't make for a very satisfying coupling
-The plot seems very, very convulted at times, especially for its length.
-Eddie Redmayne was simply horrible in most of his scenes-way too over-the-top, etc.
-Yes, this is nitpicky...

*** SPOILER ***
but at the end when Edward Sr. burns up his father's suicide note, the CGI was so horribly obvious, it damned near ruined the film for me! Nearly one of the worst instances of CGI I have seen!

January 7, 2007

The Man Who Laughs (1928)
Director: Paul Leni
Writers: J. Grubb Alexander, Walter Anthony, Victor Hugo, May McLean, Marion Ward, and Charles E. Whittaker
Starring: Mary Philbin and Conrad Veidt
Co-Starring: Julius Molnar Jr., Olga Baclanova, and Brandon Hurst
Description: In 1690, in England, the nobleman Lord Clancharlie returns from his exile to see his young son. The peer is captured by the cruel King James II and before being killed, he is informed that his beloved son had been sold to the gypsies Comanchicos that carved a permanent grin on his face. The Cormanchicos abandon the boy in the cold snowing winter, and while looking for shelter, he finds a baby hold in the arms of her dead mother. He brings the baby with him and they are welcomed by the philosopher Ursus (Cesare Gravina), who finds that the baby is blind and raises them. Years later, Gwynplaine (Conrad Veidt) becomes a successful clown, and together with the blind Dea (Mary Philbin), they present plays for common people. Gwynplaine and Dea are in love for each other, but he refuses to marry her because of his ridiculous appearance. When the evil jester Barkilphedro (Brandon Hurst) discloses the origin of Gwynplaine, he plots a means to be rewarded by the Queen, jeopardizing the love of Gwynplaine and Dea.
Rating: B+
In a word... hearbreaking.

January 5, 2007

The Lady Eve (1941)
Director: Preston Sturges
Writers: Mockton Hoffe and Preston Sturges
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda
Co-Starring: Charles Coburn and Eugene Pallette
Description: Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding causes them to split on bad terms. To get back at him, Jean disguises herself as an English lady, and comes back to tease and torment him.
Rating: A+
In a word... magical.

January 4, 2007

X-Men (2000)*
Director: Bryan Singer
Writers: Tom DeSanto, Bryan Singer, and David Hayter
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Halle Berry, and Anna Paquin
Co-Starring: Tyler Mane, Ray Park, Rebecca Romijn, and Bruce Davison
Description: In the near future, when children are being born with a special X-Factor in their genes giving them special powers and making them "mutants", the seeds of a new Holocaust are being sown by Senator Robert Kelly. The situation brings fellow mutants and former friends Erik Lehnsherr, a.k.a. Magneto, and Professor Charles Xavier into opposition. While Xavier seeks to stop the hatred toward mutants peacefully, Magneto seeks to even things out with a machine that would speed up the mutation process in all humans, making everyone equal. To stop Magneto, Xavier brings together a special group of mutants called "X-Men" to stop him. In the meantime, 2 mysterious mutants, one named Logan, a powerful and agressive mutant with no past, no memories, and a young girl named Rogue emerge. Their quests for identities eventually land them in the sights of Xavier and Magneto, but for what purpose?
Rating: B+
In a word... riveting.

January 4, 2007

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Directors: Johnathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Writer: Michael Arndt
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Greg Kinnear, Paul Dano, and Alan Arkin
Co-Starring: Tori Colette and Steve Carell
Description: Olive is a little girl with a dream: winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so burdened with their own quirks, neuroses, and problems that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father Richard is a flop as a motivational speaker, and is barely on speaking terms with her mother. Olive's uncle Frank, a renowned Proust scholar, has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student. Her brother Dwayne, a fanatical follower of Nietzsche, has taken a vow of silence, which allows him to escape somewhat from the family whose very presence torments him. And Olive's grandfather is a ne'er-do-well with a drug habit, but at least he enthusiastically coaches Olive in her contest talent routine. Circumstances conspire to put the entire family on the road together with the goal of getting Olive to the Little Miss Sunshine contest in far off California.
Rating: B+
In a word... dysfunctional.

January 3, 2007

Chinatown (1974)
Director: Roman Polanski
Writer: Robert Towne and Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunway, and John Huston
Co-Starring: Perry Lopez and John Hillerman
Description: Los Angeles detective Jake Gittes is hired by a woman claiming to be a Mrs. Mulwray to spy on her husband. Shortly after Gittes is hired, the real Mrs. Mulwray appears in his office threatening to sue if he doesn't drop the case immediately. Gittes pursues the case anyway, slowly uncovering a vast conspiracy centering on water management, state and municipal corruption, land use and real estate, and involving at least one murder.
Rating: A
In a word... suspenseful.

January 3, 2007

The Big Sleep (1946)
Director: Howard Hawks
Writer: Raymond Chandler, Willliam Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, Jules Furthman
Starring: Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall
Co-Starring: John Rigdely and Martha Vickers
Description: Private-eye Philip Marlowe is hired to keep an eye on General Sternwood's youngest daughter, Carmen, who has fallen into bad company and is likely to do some damage to herself and her family before long. He soon finds himself falling in love with her older sister, Vivien, who initially takes a deep dislike to Mr Marlowe. However, the plot thickens when murder follows murder...
Rating: B+
In a word... confusing.

January 2, 2007

Au revoir, les enfants (1987)
Director: Louis Malle
Writer: Louis Malle
Starring: Gaspard Manesse and Raphael Fejtö
Co-Starring: Francine Racette and Stanislas Carré de Malberg
Description: During WWII, in a Catholic boarding school in the French countryside, two boys become friends. One is a French boy, Julien Quintin, and the other is a Jewish boy, Jean Bonnet, who is being hidden from the Nazis by the friars who run the school. Louis Malle directed this film based on what actually happened when he was at a boarding school himself during the war.
Rating: A-
In a word... moving.

January 2, 2007

Christmas in July (1942)
Director: Preston Sturges
Writer: Preston Sturges
Starring: Dick Powell and Ellen Drew
Co-Starring: Raymond Walburn and Alexander Carr
Description: An office clerk loves entering contests in the hopes of someday winning a fortune and marrying the girl he loves. His latest attempt is the Maxford House Coffee Slogan Contest. As a joke, some of his co-workers put together a fake telegram which says that he won the $25,000 grand prize. As a result, he gets a promotion, buys presents for all of his family and friends, and proposes to his girl. When the truth comes out, he's not prepared for the consequences.
Rating: A-
In a word... comforting.

January 1, 2007

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Director: John Ford
Writer: James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck, and Dorothy M. Johnson
Starring: John Wayned and James Stewart
Co-Starring: Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, and Edmond O'Brien
Description:Senator Ranse Stoddard returns to the city of Shinbone in the Wild West, to go to the funeral of his friend, Tom Doniphon. To a journalist, who's wondering what the senator is doing in Shinbone, he tells how his career started as "the man who shot Liberty Valance". As a lawyer he came to Shinbone to bring law and order to the west by means of law books. When the stagecoach is held up by outlaws, he is savagely beaten by Liberty Valance. He survives the attack and is nursed by his future wife, Hallie. Hallie is being wooed by a local rancher, Tom Doniphon. Ranse teaches the people of Shinbone to read and write, all the while trying to find a way of bringing Valance to justice. He finally takes up a gun and faces Valance in a menacing shootout...
Rating: A-
In a Word... unpredictable.

January 1, 2007

My Darling Clementine (1941)
Director: John Ford
Writers: Stuart N. Lake (book), Sam Hellman, Samuel G. Engel, Winston Miller Starring: Henry Fonda and Linda Darnell
Co-Starring: Victor Mature, Cathy Downs, and Walter Brennan
Rating: B+
Description: Wyatt Earp and his brothers Morgan and Virgil ride into Tombstone and leave brother James in charge of their cattle herd. On their return they find their cattle stolen and James dead. Wyatt takes on the job of town marshal, making his brothers deputies, and vows to stay in Tombstone until James' killers are found. He soon runs into the brooding, coughing, hard-drinking Doc Holliday as well as the sullen and vicious Clanton clan. Wyatt discovers the owner of a trinket stolen from James' dead body and the stage is set for the Earps' long-awaited revenge.
In a Word... poetic.

January 1, 2007

Unforgiven (1992)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: David Webb Peoples
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, and Morgan Freeman
Co-Starring: Richard Harris and James Woolvett
Description: The town of Big Whisky is full of normal people trying to lead quiet lives. Cowboys try to make a living. Sheriff 'Little Bill' tries to build a house and keep a heavy-handed order. The town whores just try to get by.Then a couple of cowboys cut up a whore. Unsatisfied with Bill's justice, the prostitutes put a bounty on the cowboys. The bounty attracts a young gun billing himself as 'The Schofield Kid', and aging killer William Munny. Munny reformed for his young wife, and has been raising crops and two children in peace. But his wife is gone. Farm life is hard. And Munny is no good at it. So he calls his old partner Ned, saddles his ornery nag, and rides off to kill one more time, blurring the lines between heroism and villainy, man and myth.
Rating: B+
In a Word... gripping.

January 1, 2007

28 Days Later... (2002)
Director: Danny Boyle
Writer: Alex Garland
Starring: Cilian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Noah Huntley
Co-Starring: Brendan Gleeson and Bindu De Stoppani
Description: A powerful virus escapes from a British research facility. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country is overwhelmed and a handful of survivors begin their attempts to salvage a future, little realising that the deadly virus is not the only thing that threatens them.
Rating: B+
In a Word... Eerie.