The Weekly Movie Watch Volume 12

This week I watched TRON, Bad Grandpa, Tokyo Story.

I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.

Tron - It's all about that light cycle.

TRON (1982)
Watch TRON
Written by: Steven Lisberger (screenplay),  Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird (story)
Directed by: Steven Lisberger
Starring: Jeff Bridges
Rated: PG

Plot:
In a movie where digital data is visualized as human beings in body suits, a computer programmer becomes trapped in and must escape from a computer.

Review: 
The graphics are dated, but it doesn't hamper the story at all, instead making a surreal world. The story is hokey, but the digital effects are a landmark. This is one of those films you have to see. It's a rite of passage.
Watch it.

Bad Grandpa - A movie about harassment.

Bad Grandpa (2013)
Watch Bad Grandpa
Written by: Johnny Knoxville & Spike Jonze & Jeff Tremaine (screenplay), Johnny Knoxville & Spike Jonze & Jeff Tremaine & Fax Bahr & Adam Small (story)
Directed by: Jeff Tremaine
Starring: Johnny Knoxville
Rated: R

Plot:
A grandfather takes his grandson across the country while behaving badly and encouraging his grandson to behave badly at every opportunity.

Review: 
I don't know why I watch films like this, as it decidedly is not my style of humor. It's lowest common denominator, cheap humor.  It relies on shock and gross out humor far too often. Pushing a stranger too far is not clever. The beauty pageant is an exact rip off of Little Miss Sunshine. The makeup work was amazing.
Skip it.

Tokyo Story - Distance is inevitable.

Tokyo Story (1953)
Watch Tokyo Story
Written by: Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu (scenario)
Directed by: Yasujiro Ozu
Starring: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Sô Yamamura  
Rated: --

Plot:
An older couple visit their children in the city. While their children are too busy, their daughter in law treats them kindly.

Review: 
It stands the test of time because the distance that grows between parents and children always persists. It's a well thought out story. All the details are in place whether you realize it or not.
It depends.

Halloween Films

I am one of those people who don't do really scary movies so my Halloween picks consist of comedies and suspense.

Here are my top choices for (not very) creepy movies/ghost movies/romantic-comedies-set-at-Halloween to get you in the spirit of the month.


First up: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) - when I think of Halloween movies, I think of this one. Cary Grant's over the top performance is perfect.

Next: Cat People (1942) - a cult classic and perfect for an autumn evening, even though it has Christmas in it...

I Married a Witch (1942) - a great Halloween/Romantic Comedy about a 17th century witch returns to ruin the descendent of the Puritan who burned her and her father by making him fall in love with her.

Rebecca (1940) - it's a Hitchcock film, Mrs. Danvers is creepy, and there's a costume ball.

The Ghost Breakers (1940) - Bob Hope. Haunted castle in a swamp. Zombies. For a more lengthy review, check out this post on Classic Film and TV Café.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) - not scary at all. Rex Harrison plays a sea captain who also happens to be a ghost. And he's in love with a human! Don't miss little Natalie Wood!

Tonight's the Night (1954) -  "The whole village mourns when General O'Leary, owner of a hunting estate in South Ireland, is killed in an accident. His nephew, Jasper O'Leary (Niven), takes over the estate and soon has aroused the displeasure of all, with the exception of Serena McGluskey (De Carlo), as much a schemer as he is a cad. The villagers plot to drive Jasper away using the occasion of "O'Leary Night", when the ghost of the first O'Leary walks the halls, to create general chaos" - imdb. The beginning is kind of slow but the end is hilarious!

 

 

The Time of Their Lives (1946) - Abbott & Costello. It's funny. Trust me. Article on TCM blog

 

 

Welcome to my Classic Movie Blog!

Hi! Welcome to my Classic Movie Blog!

This past year I have watched a lot of new movies.. that is, new to me. I have been taking full advantage of my DVR and Turner Classic Movies; the DVD, movie books, and autobiography section of my local library; and YouTube. So far this year I have watched 190 "new" movies and re-watched 40 "favorites." I have also "discovered" four Classic TV series and watched seven seasons total (the kind that have 30+ episodes per season). It is amazing how much I have learned these past few months!

I decided to start this blog so that I could post exclusively on Classic Movies. I have already written posts on my other blog, solidmoonlight, on Lauren Bacall and James Garner, both of whom have died this past year. However, I wanted to have a separate place where I could post exclusively about classic movies ~ hence this blog.

            

 

The format of this blog is going to be simple. Once a month I will (hopefully) bring you a Monthly Movie History post. On the 15th and 30th of every month there will be an Actor Spotlight with a brief bio, best films, trivia, and quotes from the most well known to the lesser known actors. And at least once a week there will be a post on a classic film with trivia, my thoughts on the film, and of course lots of photos. There will also be the random holiday films posts, lists of favorite films in each genre, and some Director Spotlights, and probably a post on Edith Head at some point. The problem here is which ones to choose first! There are so may great movies and actors!

That being said, I hope you enjoy this blog and return to it often!

~ Phyl

New in October, Pt. 2: Something for Everyone

Now that we've gotten all those Woody Allen titles out of the way, what about the rest of this month's arrivals? They're actually a pretty extensive�and diverse�group and include a number of welcome returnees, some of which snuck back onto Instant in the final days of September. Among those are 1994's tear-jerking basketball doc, Hoop Dreams; arguably the best of the Merchant-Ivory productions, A Room with a View (1986); and the less well-remembered (except by avid '80s cable watchers), The Wild Geese (1978), a satisfyingly virile action yarn from director Andrew McLaglen, starring the Stallone, Statham, and Schwarzenegger of their day: Richard Burton, Richard Harris, and Roger Moore.

Harris, Burton, Moore

As fun as it violent and cool-headed, The Wild Geese is filled with real men doing manly things, and doing them the way God intended�without computer effects. See all those figures parachuting down into enemy territory? Those really are guys in parachutes, jumping out of real airplanes. And the explosions? Actual on-camera fireballs. I mean, yeesh, kids today with their fancy computer-generated men and airplanes and clouds and water that's never quite convincing. We're talkin' old school here, okay? Back when stars could actually be expendable. None of this mamby-pamby digital blood, or worse, fake animals (hire a deer wrangler already!) or talking dogs, or...

Sorry, um, where was I?

Read more �

27th European Film Awards - Short Film Nominations

The European Film Academy and EFA Productions are proud to present this year's short film nominations. At each of the 15 participating film festivals, an independent jury presented one European short film in competition with a nomination in the short film category of the European Film Awards.

These are the Nominations.

დინოლა Dinola, Mariam Khatchvani, Georgia, 14' - fiction, Grimstad Short Film Nominee
Fal (Wall), Simon Szabó, Hungary, 11' - fiction, Tampere Short Film Nominee
Hätäkutsu (Emergency Calls), Hannes Vartiainen and Pekka Veikkolainen, Finland, 15' - documentary, Sarajevo Short Film Nominee

Hvalfjord (Whale Valley), Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Denmark and Iceland, 15' - fiction, Ghent Short Film Nominee
Ich hab noch Auferstehung_ (Still Got Lives_), Jan-Gerrit Seyler, Germany, 23' - fiction, Drama Short Film Nominee
Lato 2014 (Summer 2014), Wojciech Sobczyk, Poland, 12' - animation, Krakow Short Film Nominee
Panique au village: La bûche de Noël (A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log), Vincent Patar & Stéphane Aubier, France and Belgium, 26' - animation, Vila do Conde Short Film nominee
פת לחם Pat-Lehem (Daily Bread), Idan Hubel, Israel, 18' -fiction, Venice Short Film Nominee
Pequeño bloque de cemento con pelo alborotado conteniendo el mar (Little Block of Cement with Dishevelled Hair Containing the Sea), Jorge López Navarrete, 16' - fiction, Cork Short Film Nominee
Чест Pride, Pavel Vesnakov, Bulgaria and Germany, 30' - fiction, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Nominee
Shipwreck, Morgan Knibbe, Netherlands, 15' - documentary, Locarno Short Film Nominee
Taprobana, Gabriel Abrantes, Portugal, Denmark, Sao Tomé and Principe, and Sri Lanka, 24' - fiction, Berlin Short Film Nominee
The Chicken, Una Gunjak, Germany and Croatia, 15' - fiction, Bristol Short Film Nominee
The Chimera of M., Sebastian Buerkner, UK, 25' - animation, Rotterdam Short Film Nominee
The Missing Scarf, Eoin Duffy, Ireland, 6' - animation, Valladolid Short Film Nominee

To read synopsis and info about each short film go here.

To The nominated films will soon be submitted to the over 3,000 EFA Members to elect the winner. The European Short Film 2014 will then be presented at the European Film Awards Ceremony in Riga on Saturday, 13 December - streamed live on www.europeanfilmawards.eu

Check available trailer/excerpt for nominated shorts.

დინოლა Dinola



Fal (Wall)



Hätäkutsu (Emergency Calls)



Ich hab noch Auferstehung_ (Still Got Lives_)



Panique au village: La bûche de Noël (A Town Called Panic: The Christmas Log)



Pequeño bloque de cemento con pelo alborotado conteniendo el mar (Little Block of Cement with Dishevelled Hair Containing the Sea)



Чест Pride



Taprobana



The Chicken



The Missing Scarf


The Missing Scarf from Eoin Duffy on Vimeo.

The Weekly Movie Watch Volume 11

This week I watched Cold in July, The Frozen Ground.

I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.

Cold in July - It's time to cowboy up.

Cold in July (2014)
Watch Cold in July
Written by: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle, Joe R. Lansdale (based on the novel by)
Directed by: Jim Mickle
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepard, Don Johnson, 
Rated: R

Plot:
After shooting an intruder in his home, a man must protect his family from the ex-con, revenge seeking father of the recently deceased.

Review:
Neat film I never heard about. The story is kind of a weird, but unique. Don Johnson steals the show as always. Michael C. Hall was hard to buy in his part. It's a slow burn that pulls a few punches. Great setting, and the score is the best part. If you think about it too hard after the credits roll, you'll come up with a few plot holes and contrivances.
It depends.

Cold in July - A dark and twisted journey.

The Frozen Ground - Every good cop has a pair of aviators.

The Frozen Ground (2013)
Watch The Frozen Ground
Written by: Scott Walker
Directed by: Scott Walker
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Vanessa Hudgens, John Cusack
Rated: R

Plot:
An Alaskan police officer teams up with former victim to catch a serial killer.

Review:
Another film I hadn't heard about. It's not bad, though fairly standard. Cusack was good. Strong ending, with the fact it's based on true story
It depends.

New in October, Pt. 1: Getting Woody

Among an already healthy batch of incoming titles this month, a highlight for many will be the little-heralded arrival of 13 Woody Allen films, spanning the 20 years from 1971 to 1991. Combined with the already streaming Annie Hall (1977) and Manhattan (1979), this means Netflix now offers all but four of Allen's titles from those decades. Granted, three of those missing are among his best�Broadway Danny Rose (1984), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)�but with a filmography as relentless and wide-ranging as Allen's that still leaves enough chestnuts to make nearly any other director, living or dead, feel a pang of envy.

The '70s and '80s were fertile times for Allen, heralding not only his earliest and, to many, funniest comedies, but the commercial and artistic breakthroughs of Annie Hall and Manhattan, the technical tour-de-force of Zelig, and the warmly nostalgic Radio Days and The Purple Rose of Cairo. Entering the 1980s, Allen went on an artistic tear that few, including himself, have rivaled in terms of sheer variety and inventiveness. Working side by side with legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis from 1977 to 1985, the former TV writer and standup comic was definitely feeling his cinematic oats (even if he sometimes wore his influences too unabashedly on his sleeve).

This is the first time since starting this blog (18 months ago!) that I've witnessed such a large dump of one director's titles onto Instant. I have no idea if they'll be sticking around or will emulate the James Bond model of one-month-and-done. For those who can't stand the sight (or sound) of Woody Allen, or have a gripe with his personal life, well...you've probably already stopped reading this. But for fans and anyone curious about the director's early, often groundbreaking work, the following highlights should help you navigate a group of films which, while only a fraction of Allen's total, could proudly be called a complete filmography by just about anyone else.

Read more �