Movie #: 234
Movie Title: The Big Sleep
Year Released: 1946
Director: Howard Hawks
Notable Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, John Ridgely
Short Description: Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a rich family. Before the complex case is over, he’s seen murder, blackmail, and what might be love. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #92
Date Watched: 3/3/2013
What I Liked: The acting was generally well done, especially Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I got a laugh out of the movie making you believe that an effective disguise is putting on glasses and flipping up the brim of your hat. There was also a humorous moment when a woman lets down her hair and Bogart’s character, turned on by her sudden appearance change, seductively says “hello”. The audience is then led to believe he successfully fools around with her.
What I Disliked: As with a few other movies I’ve seen already on this list, in my opinion there were too many characters and not enough character development for some of them. The movie seemed to deviate fairly quickly from should have been the main plot (blackmail) and took a long time to get back to it, focusing on murder instead.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
Rationale: I wrote this review ten days after seeing the movie and I can barely remember most of it, which is a prime example of average movie.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Movie #235: Persona
Movie #: 235
Movie Title: Persona
Year Released: 1966
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Notable Cast: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann
Short Description: A nurse is put in charge of an actress who can’t talk and finds that the actress’s persona is melding with hers. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #93
Date Watched: 2/23/2013
What I Liked: The acting was spectacular, especially by Bibi Andersson as Nurse Alma. The film focuses on the relationship between Nurse Alma and Elisabeth Volger, played by Liv Ullmann, and since Ullmann’s character has lost the ability, or will, to talk, Andersson was charged with carrying the film on her shoulders. I think she succeeded in every way. I was gripped by each conversation Alma had with Elisabeth even though Elisabeth never answered back verbally. The emotion that both actresses put into their characters was impressive.
What I Disliked: Near the end of the film I couldn’t tell if you were being led to believe that Alma and Elisabeth were actually the same person and you were just viewing different perspectives of a singular personality the entire time, or if Elisabeth was just seeing Alma become her but they were still different people.
Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)
Rationale: Surprising good given that it was a foreign language film (Swedish) and the premise sounded a bit boring
Movie Title: Persona
Year Released: 1966
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Notable Cast: Bibi Andersson, Liv Ullmann
Short Description: A nurse is put in charge of an actress who can’t talk and finds that the actress’s persona is melding with hers. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #93
Date Watched: 2/23/2013
What I Liked: The acting was spectacular, especially by Bibi Andersson as Nurse Alma. The film focuses on the relationship between Nurse Alma and Elisabeth Volger, played by Liv Ullmann, and since Ullmann’s character has lost the ability, or will, to talk, Andersson was charged with carrying the film on her shoulders. I think she succeeded in every way. I was gripped by each conversation Alma had with Elisabeth even though Elisabeth never answered back verbally. The emotion that both actresses put into their characters was impressive.
What I Disliked: Near the end of the film I couldn’t tell if you were being led to believe that Alma and Elisabeth were actually the same person and you were just viewing different perspectives of a singular personality the entire time, or if Elisabeth was just seeing Alma become her but they were still different people.
Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)
Rationale: Surprising good given that it was a foreign language film (Swedish) and the premise sounded a bit boring
Movie #236: Spirit of the Beehive
Movie #: 236
Movie Title: Spirit of the Beehive
Year Released: 1973
Director: Victor Erice
Notable Cast: Ana Torrent, Isabel Telleria, Teresa Gimpera, Fernando Fernan Gomez
Short Description: A sensitive seven-year-old girl living in a small village in 1940 rural Spain is traumatized after viewing James Whale’s “Frankenstein” and drifts into her own fantasy world. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #93
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/17/2013
What I Liked: The acting of the young girl who played Ana, the lead in the film, was well done.
What I Disliked: If a central part of the film is the fact that Ana stumbles across a wounded military deserter who she thinks is the incarnation of Frankenstein, I don’t understand why he’s in the movie for less than 5 minutes. I was intrigued when I read that in the movie’s description on Netflix and then very disappointment by the quick resolution of that plot line. Isabel, the other young girl in the film, seemed very mentally disturbed, and the few moments that focused on that felt out of place in the film. I didn’t get the point of showing the beehive at the beginning and end of the film, other than to maybe symbolize chaos and relate that to the workings of a child’s imagination. Even then, it didn’t seem to me that Ana was overly fantasizing anything and letting her imagination get the best of her.
Grade: 1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
Rationale: The first of back-to-back foreign language films (this one was Spanish) has me nervous to watch the next one
Movie Title: Spirit of the Beehive
Year Released: 1973
Director: Victor Erice
Notable Cast: Ana Torrent, Isabel Telleria, Teresa Gimpera, Fernando Fernan Gomez
Short Description: A sensitive seven-year-old girl living in a small village in 1940 rural Spain is traumatized after viewing James Whale’s “Frankenstein” and drifts into her own fantasy world. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: #93
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/17/2013
What I Liked: The acting of the young girl who played Ana, the lead in the film, was well done.
What I Disliked: If a central part of the film is the fact that Ana stumbles across a wounded military deserter who she thinks is the incarnation of Frankenstein, I don’t understand why he’s in the movie for less than 5 minutes. I was intrigued when I read that in the movie’s description on Netflix and then very disappointment by the quick resolution of that plot line. Isabel, the other young girl in the film, seemed very mentally disturbed, and the few moments that focused on that felt out of place in the film. I didn’t get the point of showing the beehive at the beginning and end of the film, other than to maybe symbolize chaos and relate that to the workings of a child’s imagination. Even then, it didn’t seem to me that Ana was overly fantasizing anything and letting her imagination get the best of her.
Grade: 1.5 out of 5 (Marginal)
Rationale: The first of back-to-back foreign language films (this one was Spanish) has me nervous to watch the next one
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Movie #237: The French Connection
Movie #: 237
Movie Title: The French Connection
Year Released: 1971
Director: William Friedkin
Notable Cast: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Short Description: A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: #93
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/17/2013
What I Liked: The few action scenes were exciting, especially Hackman chasing the above-ground subway train through the streets of, what I assume is Brooklyn, based on the little bit of NYC that I’ve seen. How the drugs were being smuggled, and specifically where they were being stored, was pretty genius. The scene where Hackman and his partner stage a fake bust just so he could talk to his informant while others being busted thought the informant was being interrogated was cool.
What I Disliked: Nothing stood out and made this movie special. Gene Hackman was just ok and none of the other actors were all that great. The ending was a huge letdown because of the lack of a definitive conclusion, but that mostly has to do with the fact that the film is based off true events. Too many characters with little development for each made it hard to follow who was who at times.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
Rationale: I wanted it to be better than average, but the anti-climatic ending offset the little excitement I had with the rest of the movie
Movie Title: The French Connection
Year Released: 1971
Director: William Friedkin
Notable Cast: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey, Tony Lo Bianco
Short Description: A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: #93
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/17/2013
What I Liked: The few action scenes were exciting, especially Hackman chasing the above-ground subway train through the streets of, what I assume is Brooklyn, based on the little bit of NYC that I’ve seen. How the drugs were being smuggled, and specifically where they were being stored, was pretty genius. The scene where Hackman and his partner stage a fake bust just so he could talk to his informant while others being busted thought the informant was being interrogated was cool.
What I Disliked: Nothing stood out and made this movie special. Gene Hackman was just ok and none of the other actors were all that great. The ending was a huge letdown because of the lack of a definitive conclusion, but that mostly has to do with the fact that the film is based off true events. Too many characters with little development for each made it hard to follow who was who at times.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5 (Satisfactory)
Rationale: I wanted it to be better than average, but the anti-climatic ending offset the little excitement I had with the rest of the movie
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Movie #238: Ocean’s Eleven
Movie #: 238
Movie Title: Ocean’s Eleven
Year Released: 2001
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Notable Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Cann
Short Description: Danny Ocean and his eleven accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #94
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/14/2013
What I Liked: The cast that was assembled for this movie is out of this world amazing. Any time you can get George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, or Julia Roberts in your movie it’s probably going to do well, but to have all four of them? That’s movie heaven. In addition to the main stars, the supporting cast was excellent throughout. I’ve got a fascination with heist movies so the story had me from the get-go. I had a chuckle when watching the behind the scenes because Clooney made a reference to the movie The Sting, which is #250 on my list and during my review of that movie I said it reminded me of Ocean’s Eleven.
What I Disliked: Everything went too well for Danny and his group. While you’re watching you see road bumps ahead for the characters and wonder how they’ll get out of a jam, but after the bumps pass you see that they were almost planned by Danny and the group instead of thrown at them unexpectedly. It would have been nice to see something go wrong that wasn’t planned so they would have had to work on the fly.
Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)
Rationale: A very good movie with a cast that is unparalleled, other than the two sequels, which add Catherine Zeta-Jones and Al Pacino
Movie Title: Ocean’s Eleven
Year Released: 2001
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Notable Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Scott Cann
Short Description: Danny Ocean and his eleven accomplices plan to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: #94
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/14/2013
What I Liked: The cast that was assembled for this movie is out of this world amazing. Any time you can get George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, or Julia Roberts in your movie it’s probably going to do well, but to have all four of them? That’s movie heaven. In addition to the main stars, the supporting cast was excellent throughout. I’ve got a fascination with heist movies so the story had me from the get-go. I had a chuckle when watching the behind the scenes because Clooney made a reference to the movie The Sting, which is #250 on my list and during my review of that movie I said it reminded me of Ocean’s Eleven.
What I Disliked: Everything went too well for Danny and his group. While you’re watching you see road bumps ahead for the characters and wonder how they’ll get out of a jam, but after the bumps pass you see that they were almost planned by Danny and the group instead of thrown at them unexpectedly. It would have been nice to see something go wrong that wasn’t planned so they would have had to work on the fly.
Grade: 4 out of 5 (Excellent)
Rationale: A very good movie with a cast that is unparalleled, other than the two sequels, which add Catherine Zeta-Jones and Al Pacino
Friday, February 15, 2013
Movie #239: Princess Mononoke
Movie #: 239
Movie Title: Princess Mononoke
Year Released: 1997
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Notable Cast: Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gillian Anderson, Keith David, Claire Danes
Short Description: On a journey to find a cure for Tatarigami’s curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #94
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/12/2013
What I Liked: I enjoyed the music as it had an epic feel to it at times. Billy Crudup and Claire Danes did a good job with the voice work for the main characters Ashitaka and San.
What I Disliked: Almost everything, although that may derive from the fact I made a cardinal sin of watching anime with English voiceovers instead of in its native Japanese with English subtitles. I should know better than to do that since I own some anime and most of it is in Japanese. Other than Crudup and Danes, the entire rest of the cast had absolutely no emotion in their voiceovers and it was awkward listening to Billy Bob Thornton, with his southern accent, try to be a Japanese character. It’s not that I didn’t understand the overall message of the story, but there were many points where I exclaimed out loud “wtf?” or “that’s dumb”, whether because of plot developments, art style, or especially the voiceovers.
Grade: 1 out of 5 (Poor)
Rationale: I may correct my mistake and watch it again someday, but this attempt was a disaster mainly because of the awful English voiceovers
Movie Title: Princess Mononoke
Year Released: 1997
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Notable Cast: Billy Crudup, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith, Gillian Anderson, Keith David, Claire Danes
Short Description: On a journey to find a cure for Tatarigami’s curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #94
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: N/A
Date Watched: 2/12/2013
What I Liked: I enjoyed the music as it had an epic feel to it at times. Billy Crudup and Claire Danes did a good job with the voice work for the main characters Ashitaka and San.
What I Disliked: Almost everything, although that may derive from the fact I made a cardinal sin of watching anime with English voiceovers instead of in its native Japanese with English subtitles. I should know better than to do that since I own some anime and most of it is in Japanese. Other than Crudup and Danes, the entire rest of the cast had absolutely no emotion in their voiceovers and it was awkward listening to Billy Bob Thornton, with his southern accent, try to be a Japanese character. It’s not that I didn’t understand the overall message of the story, but there were many points where I exclaimed out loud “wtf?” or “that’s dumb”, whether because of plot developments, art style, or especially the voiceovers.
Grade: 1 out of 5 (Poor)
Rationale: I may correct my mistake and watch it again someday, but this attempt was a disaster mainly because of the awful English voiceovers
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Movie #240: A Fistful of Dollars
Movie #: 240
Movie Title: A Fistful of Dollars
Year Released: 1964
Director: Sergio Leone
Notable Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch
Short Description: A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #95
Date Watched: 2/10/2013
What I Liked: I enjoyed the premise of a man screwing with other people and making them fight each other; kind of has a psychological thriller feel to it. The action was well done given the time that this movie was made, specifically Eastwood’s character’s escape from capture and the last standoff at the end of the movie. Clint Eastwood was a perfect choice for “The Man With No Name”-type character cause he can play a badass very well.
What I Disliked: I was unaware before starting the movie that it was originally Italian and only later dubbed for English, so it was hard watching at first while thinking that the editing job was terrible in that the voices didn’t match up with the actor’s mouths. What was going on at times was a little difficult to understand, but I blame that more on the poor dubbing job and the inability to clearly understand characters at times than the direction or plot of the movie. The crying and whining of the child in the movie was irritating.
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
Rationale: A good start to a trilogy and has me looking forward to watching the sequels, especially The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Movie Title: A Fistful of Dollars
Year Released: 1964
Director: Sergio Leone
Notable Cast: Clint Eastwood, Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch
Short Description: A wandering gunfighter plays two rival families against each other in a town torn apart by greed, pride, and revenge. (IMDB.com)
Rank on the Top 100 Lists
AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: N/A
Ranker.com: N/A
Lifed.com: N/A
Empire.com: N/A
FilmCrave.com: N/A
FlickChart.com: #95
Date Watched: 2/10/2013
What I Liked: I enjoyed the premise of a man screwing with other people and making them fight each other; kind of has a psychological thriller feel to it. The action was well done given the time that this movie was made, specifically Eastwood’s character’s escape from capture and the last standoff at the end of the movie. Clint Eastwood was a perfect choice for “The Man With No Name”-type character cause he can play a badass very well.
What I Disliked: I was unaware before starting the movie that it was originally Italian and only later dubbed for English, so it was hard watching at first while thinking that the editing job was terrible in that the voices didn’t match up with the actor’s mouths. What was going on at times was a little difficult to understand, but I blame that more on the poor dubbing job and the inability to clearly understand characters at times than the direction or plot of the movie. The crying and whining of the child in the movie was irritating.
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 (Very Good)
Rationale: A good start to a trilogy and has me looking forward to watching the sequels, especially The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
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