For the record, White Heat with James Cagney is really good. Not good in a "Oh this is an important, historic film and because I'm a film studies student it's part of my contract that I think lame, old movies are cool" kind of way but in an honest-to-goodness, enjoyable, really cool, pleasurable kind of way. Cagney is really good and the movie just zips along. Virginia Mayo as Verna is freaking classic. I guffawed out loud when she spat her gum out to give Cagney a kiss. It was as fun to watch as anything in the theater this very moment. Honest.
Touch of Evil. Finally, after all these years, I've seen the whole thing all the way through. What is the big, stinking deal? Orson Welles is fat. Charlton Heston is Mexican. Janet Leigh is pointy. So what? I just don't know what the big deal is. It was all very showy and theatrical but not necessarily effective. I'm probably obligated to like it as a film nerd but I wasn't crazy about it.
All Quiet On The Western Front. Not bad. I can see the influence it's had on later films. The battle scenes are surprisingly effective. The acting is very affected and silly-seeming but the film overall is still quite good.
The Jazz Singer. I was surprised by the amount of Jewish culture portrayed in a film from so long ago. I think I assumed things like that would be white-washed or made more generic. But no. Still, Al Jolson is just generally kinda creepy in a nightmare clown sort of way. I'll always prefer The Neil and Laurence Olivier.
Coming up this week, the original version of The Ladykillers, Bridge Over the River Kwai, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and Mildred Pierce.
Also, on a less academically oriented note, Lars and the Real Girl is pretty good and The Martian Child ain't bad. Neither John Cusack nor Ryan Gosling disappoint.
P.S. How many mayors of Detroit does it take to screw in a light bulb?
7 comments:
At least one who knows how. (mayor)
Bridge on the River Kwai was a film class movie. I think I may watch the james cagney/virginia mayo. Looks interesting. Maybe I'll see if it is on DVD here at take it to chemo next week.
Lars and the Real Girl has been on my list for months!
I think Ryan Gosling is a really good actor.
He's really convincing and is really the engine that makes the movie go. With a lesser actor, it would have been a nightmare, I think.
Besides him, however, it has Emily Mortimer and I really like her. Ever seen Dear Frankie?
I flippin' LOVE the Neil and Olivier Jazz Singer.
It's so very priceless!
An older movie we used to teach leadership styles
because it depicted strikingly different interpersonal traits that made the film very popular in 1956 or so, and won the Cannes Film Festival award was 12 Angry Men. It is 75 minutes of jury trial and it pops up periodically on TV now. It was filmed in black and white, the 12 principal actors were superbly cast, Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, just to mention two.
This film was shot in less than a month at a cost of less than $50k. Check it out sometime.
PD
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