365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 304 - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

In a salute to Jane Russell, who passed away Monday, I watched the classic film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The song and dance comedy featuring Russell and Marilyn Monroe in a career defining role as the girl with diamonds for best friends. 

At The Movie House rating **** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 303 - Driving Miss Daisy

At The Movie House rating **** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 302 - Silence Of The Lambs

At The Movie House rating **** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 301 - The French Connection

At The Movie House rating **** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 300 - The Country Girl

At The Movie House rating *** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 299 - Shakespeare In Love

At The Movie House rating **** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 298 - True Grit (2010)

At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 297 - The Greatest Show On Earth

At The Movie House rating *** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 296 - An American In Paris

In 1951 the Academy Awards had one of the greatest upsets in Hollywood History. Going into the award season two films were battling it out to take home the most Oscars; A Place In The Sun and A Streetcar Named Desire. Both films had swept the nominations Streetcar with twelve nominations and Sun with nine. Two other films nominated for Best Picture, Quo Vadis and Decision Before Dawn earned their nominations with massive advertising purchases during the voting season. The fifth film that earned a slot was An American In Paris. The reasoning was that MGM was the biggest studio so it has more employees that were Academy members so therefore it received more votes than other films from 1951, such as The African Queen, Strangers On A Train, Death Of A Salesman or The Day The Earth Stood Still.

But An American In Paris was considered such a long shot that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science decided to give Gene Kelly an honorary award the same year for his singular achievement in acting, singing, dancing, directing and brilliant choreography. Musicals were not considered serious film making, like dramas, and were held in the same category as comedies, which were hardly ever nominated (in 83 years only six Best Pictures have been comedies).

On Oscar night the two big films were in a dead heat and had even odds to sweep the awards. When the first acting award went to Karl Malden for Best Supporting Actor in Streetcar, quickly followed by Kim Hunter for Best Supporting Actress, it looked like A Place In The Sun would be left behind. Then Vivien Leigh won for Best Actress and everyone knew Streetcar was the movie of the night. Next up was the heavily favored Marlon Brando, nominated for his breath-taking performance as Stanley Kowalski. The envelope was opened and the award went to Humphrey Bogart for his performance in The African Queen. There was an audible gasp from the audience when Bogart's name was read.

The award for Best Director was next and the evening took a new twist when George Stevens was named for directing A Place In The Sun. With the directing award going to Steven's the audience considered it a done deal that the Best Picture would go to A Place In The Sun. So sure were they, that some audience members had gathered up personal belongings and were beginning to leave the Pantages Theatre. Then 71 year old Jesse Lasky stepped up to the microphone, opened the envelope and said "Oh my!", and announced An American In Paris as the Best Picture of the year. There was a loud gasp and then nothing, a moment of silence, as the audience absorbed this news, and then the applause began.

An American In Paris was the second color film to win Best Picture. The first was Gone With The Wind in 1939. It was the first musical to win since Broadway melody in 1928, the second year the awards were given. 

The new Blu-ray of An American in Paris is absolutely stunning. The movie about an American Ex-GI living in Paris as a struggling artist, uses very vivid hues from a painters palate in brilliant technicolor to convey the colorful life of 1950's Paris. The dance sequences are spectacular, and Ira Gershwin's music never sounded better. 

Is An American In Paris the best film of 1951? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says it is, but many will argue that A Streetcar Named Desire or A Place In The Sun are better. They argue that with so many employees MGM won simply because they had more votes. But that really doesn't hold water since MGM was putting all of it's advertising and influence behind the epic biblical picture Quo Vadis, and if employees were voting for the studio, they would have voted for Quo Vadis. More likely Streetcar and Desire split their votes leaving An American In Paris with a majority. Deserving or not, An American In Paris is a classic film that has endured for sixty years and is still able to dazzle and transport the viewer during its famous 16 minute ballet finale.

At The Movie House rating **** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 295 - Walt Disney's Alice In Wonderland

Walt Disney's Alice In Wonderland is new to Blu-ray and this film, which was already well known for it's amazing technicolor animation, simply pops off the TV screen in high definition.

The Disney studio has been slowly releasing their classic animated films to high-def Blu-ray. So far they have issued Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia and The Princess and the Frog, and on March 1st Bambi will join the group. Each of these films, along with Alice In Wonderland, have been meticulously transferred so that watching them is almost like a brand new experience in sight and sound. If you are a true movie buff it is worth getting a Blu-ray player and high-def TV just to experience these classic films. Regrettably Disney has abandoned the practice of releasing these films to theatres before their release on home video.

Alice In Wonderland has never been my favorite Disney film. I have only seen it three times; once in a theatre when I was young, once on TV when it was first released to VHS and this showing on Blu-ray. The film suffers from having no real story arc. Alice enters wonderland and has a series of meandering adventures and encounters with odd characters, but it never really goes anywhere. The film had five directors, each directing a sequence in the film, and I think the film suffers because each of them worked to make their section the biggest and most noticeable, so the film has no momentum and does not build from segment to segment. 

Walt Disney never really intended the film to be similar to his previous successful films, Snow White, Pinocchio and Bambi. Instead, he viewed Alice In Wonderland the same way he viewed Fantasia, a film that featured images and music as entertainment, not a central story line. When watched from that point of view, the movie can be quite engaging.

Alice In Wonderland was one of Walt Disney studio's least successful animated film. Released in 1951, it received mixed reviews and was especially disliked in England. After it's initial release it was withdrawn and featured on the Disney TV show. It did not go back into re-release every few years the way other Disney animated films did. It was not until the late sixties, when the film was discovered by "stoners" who enjoyed the technicolor head trip, that the film found a new audience, especially in college towns. Other films that enjoyed this type of "head trip" popularity were Disney's Fantasia and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The studio initially resisted the association with the counter-culture, but seeing a lucrative market, they gave the film a new release in 1974, featuring a psychedelic ad campaign (notice the large mushroom).

I appreciate Alice in Wonderland for it's artistic achievement and some of the iconic Lewis Carroll character's it brought to life, but the Alice in Wonderland series has never been a favorite of mine, and this film fails to touch me on an emotional level. It's worth seeing for the stunning creative animation and music, but it does not measure up to the best of Disney's four star animated classics.

At The Movie House rating *** stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 294 - My Favorite Brunette

In the latter part of his career Bob Hope was best known for his TV appearances, USO shows, golfing and his emcee duties, in particular the Academy Awards TV special. but in his prime he was a popular and big box office movie star. he is most famous for the "Road" movies made with co-stars Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. But Hope also starred solo in some very successful films including The Paleface, The Seven Little Foys, the Lemon Drop Kid and the highly successful My Favorite Brunette.

My Favorite Brunette was a spoof of popular film noir detective movies, in particular The Maltese Falcon. Hope is Ronnie Jackson a photographer who specializes in baby portraits. But Ronnie dreams of being a private detective just like his friend Sam (Alan Ladd in a cameo role) who works in the next office. One day while Sam is out of town and Ronnie's in his office a woman (Lamour) comes in looking to hire him to find her father and Ronnie is off and running impersonating Sam.

the story is told in flashback by Ronnie as he waits on death row in San Quentin. The film is full of Hopes commentary, one-liners and the best of his physical comedy. Lamour is his equal as the mysterious woman who plays straight man to his gags. Peter Lorre stars reprising the sinister role he made a career of playing and Lon Chaney plays Willie a character very similar to the role of Lennie he played in Of Mice And Men. 

Hope has few equals in timing and physical gags and he is at his best in My Favorite Brunette. The film also features a very funny cameo by host buddy Bing Crosby.

At The Movie House rating *** 1/2 stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 293 - Unstoppable

Last fall when I read 20th Century Fox was releasing a movie about a runaway train I was very dismissive. This material had been exhausted in many other films. There is the classic Runaway Train with John Voight, the comic Silver Streak with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, the dramatic Cassandra Crossing with Burt Lancaster, the mundane made for TV movies Runaway and Disaster On The Coastliner, and the ridiculous Atomic Train with Rob Lowe. Why would they bother with something that has already been done so many times.

In being dismissive I underestimated the ability of director Tony Scott to build and sustain dramatic tension. Granted the film is filled with cliches. From the stock characters of wise old-timer to brash rookie, the corporate exec who makes bad decisions, the family members waiting and watching, the movie is filled with time worn situations and sub-plots, but Scott manges to make them fresh and cram them into a tight 98 minute thriller. There is very little exposition. Within the first 10 minutes the runaway train is on it's way. The story cuts between the control room as they work to stop the train, the train itself and another train, miles away, directly in the path of danger.

Denzel Washington, director Scott's go to guy of late and Chris Pine are the two men on the second train. Washington is playing the same guy he played in Taking Of Pelham 123. In fact you could almost believe he retired from the MTA and went to work for the Pennsylvania freight company. The everyman stock characters with a streak of nobility is a role Washington could probably play in his sleep, which is why he is so effective. Chris Pine, fresh off his starring role as James T. Kirk, in Star Trek, plays another brash young man, willing to take risks, but who's actions sometimes have bad outcomes. We learn his marriage has broken up because of a quick temper and some things he did without thinking. Rosario Dawson is effective as yardmaster working to stop the train. The film also stars Kevin Dunn as the railroad VP who refuses to heed the advice of his employees and Ethan Suplee as the rail yard worker who accidentally sets the train in motion.

The cast is uniformly good, but the star of the film is the trains and the special effects and real train footage is blended seamlessly so that the film has a real sense of danger. The film cleverly interjects news footage to show the progress of the train to enhance the effect that it is a real incident unfolding. The film is inspired by true events that occurred in Ohio in 2001

Surprisingly, I was entertained and the last 30 minutes had me on the edge of my seat. Seems in Hollywood everything old can be new again.

At The Movie House rating *** stars

*note* - the poster above highlights just the two actors without any real indication of the films plot. In America when they sell a movie they sell the stars. But for overseas audiences the movie is the star. Check out these posters from Japan, Germany, France and the UK. In every poster the message is clear, this film is about a runaway train.

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 292 - The Stunt Man

At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 291 - The Last Picture Show

At The Movie House rating ****

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 290 - Shampoo

At The Movie House rating ****

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 289 - Casanova

Heath Ledger was in four films in 2005 but his work in Brokeback Mountain overshadowed his performances in The Brothers Grimm, The Lords Of Dogtown and the delightful Casanova.

Ledger plays the historic Lothario in this costume drama comedy about romance, concealed identities and true love, or at least true lust. Filmed entirely on location in Venice, Ledger plays Casanova with a charming gusto. His lustful activities have not escaped the notice of the church who want him arrested. His protector wants him married to repair his reputation, but Casanova has set his eye on Francesca, a woman who is more than his match, with her modern ways of thinking. 

The movie is a farce of concealed identities and romantic romps as Casanova strives to be worthy of the woman he has become enamored with.

With a visual strong visual flair the film is a delightful treat and shows what a good comic actor Ledger was. Also starring Lena Olin, Oliver Platt and Jeremy Irons.

At The Movie House rating ***stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 288 - The Pajama Game

20th Century Fox had already made it big adapting big Hollywood musicals to the silver screen. In the 1950's they offered up Oklahoma, South Pacific and The King and I, each of them bringing in big box office. On the other side of Hollywood MGM was still the dream factory turning out musicals with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. It was only a matter of time before Warner Brothers started turning out musicals of their own.

The Warner Brothers musicals are unique in two ways. First of all the studio tried to retain the original cast that made them a hit on Broadway, and secondly they all have a look about them that gives them the appearance of being "staged". The films retained theatrical type lighting effects and the sets definitely look like studio back lots rather than realistic on location shooting. With this effective style Warner Brothers had five big musical hits; The Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, The Music Man, Gypsy and the biggest of all My Fair Lady.

The Pajama game opened on Broadway in 1954 and the rights were purchased by Warner Brothers and the film version was released in 1957. Doris day, at the peak of her career, replaced Broadway star Janis Paige, but the rest of the principal cast reprised their roles for the film.

The film also retained the exciting choreography by newcomer Bob Fosse. The directing was shared by Broadway director George Abbott and film director Stanley Donen. By combining all this Broadway talent with Hollywood know how Warner Bros. had one of the most successful stage to movie transitions in Broadway history. So successful that the creative team immediately went to work repeating the success with Damn Yankees.

At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 287 - The Front

The Front is one of the most accessible films about the Hollywood blacklist. It puts a very human face on the impact of one of the most heinous events in modern American history. yet the film suffers slightly because of the casting of Woody Allen. Allen adds a jolt of humor to the story, but you can never really get past the Woody Allen persona and believe this guy is a front for blacklisted writers. 

The best part of the film is Zero Mostel playing a TV comic who can not get work because of the list. We see him slowly deteriorate as it becomes harder and harder for him to survive without employment. Micheal Murphy stars as the TV writer who firsts approaches Allen to present his work to the networks under Allen's name in order to sell scripts.

Director Martin Ritt, writer Walter Bernstein and actors Mostel and Herschel Bernardi were all directly affected by the blacklist and their passion for telling about this ugly episode in America's past comes through on the screen.

At The Movie House rating ***stars

*note-for other films on the subject view

Goodnight and Good Luck

Guilty By Suspicion

The Way We Were

Hollywood On Trial

365+ Movies In 365 Days: Day 286 - L'Illusionniste (The Illusionist)

L'Illusionniste (The Illusionist) is an animated film based on a lost script by the great French actor and director Jacques Tati. I have to own up to the fact that I am aware of Tati only by his reputation. I have never seen any of his work. The fact that I have never seen Mon Oncle (My Uncle) and Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot (Mr. Hulot's Holiday) just goes to highlight the deficiency in my knowledge of foreign language films. Both of these films along with Tati's other work have been on my "Must See" list for a long time and I need to screen them soon.

I am aware that Tati wrote the story as an homage, or way to connect with his estranged daughter. I do not know if she ever saw the script, but the movie itself makes no bones about the difficulty of relationships. From beginning to end the film is a sad, melancholy film.

The movie is about an old man, Tatischeff, who is an illusionist. Times have changed and he has lost his audience. He journeys from France to Scotland, where he performs in a pub and meets a young lady who believes he is a real magician. They travel to Edinburgh together where he performs at a music hall. He works hard to keep up the illusion that he is a real magician. But hard times continue and the film ends on a bittersweet note.

The imagery is beautiful, almost poetic. Their is a gracefulness about the main character that shows in his nightly performances of flawless magic tricks. The film has very little dialogue and relies on the animation and music to set the mood and tell the story. At moments the movie looks like water color paintings come to life. 

The Illusionist was directed by Slyvain Chomet, who directed The Triplets of Belleville and he handles the material with a sophistication that ranks it up their with the best work of Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.

The Illusionist has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Film along with Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon. It will not win; the Oscar will go to Toy Story 3, but hopefully the nomination will encourage more people to seek out this funny, whimsical, sad, beautiful movie and experience animated film in a whole new way.

At The Movie House rating **** stars.

Just Go With It

Here is my promised review of the new Adam Sandler film and I have just one question to ask; will Adam Sandler ever grow up? He is 44 years old and he continues to play variations of the same childish guy he was in Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. In Just Go With It we are supposed to believe this childish man, who spends his time pretending to be married in order to have sex, is also a highly successful Los Angeles plastic surgeon. It just doesn't work. 

The movie is based on a French farce, which was made into the Broadway play Cactus Flower, which was made into a smart, witty, funny movie starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn. Now Sandler and his long time directing partner Dennis Dugan, along with writers Allen Loeb and Timothy Dowling have taken this sophisticated adult comedy and dumbed it down to the least intelligent common denominator, and turned in a lazy, slowly paced, stupid comedy, with an abundance of poop jokes.

The only saving grace in the film is Jennifer Aniston, she has excellent comic timing and does the best she can with a script that asks her to be as dumb as everyone else. Aniston and Sandler have great chemistry but the movie does nothing with it. 

The movie relies on characters, who in no way resemble real people, being as stupid as they possibly can be, while still being unbelievably nice to each other. 

As I stated earlier Sandler is Dr. Daniel Maccabee, a successful plastic surgeon, who pretends to be married in order to meet women for one night stands. One day while not wearing the ring he meets Palmer, a beautiful blond, and they spend a glorious night on the beach together. He thinks Palmer is the girl for him, but then she discovers the ring and thinks he is another lying married man. 

So of course instead of relying on the friends that introduced them to tell her he's not married, he enlists the aid of his very capable nurse and office manager Katherine (Jennifer Aniston) to pretend to be his wife and state that they are getting a divorce. The lies grow more complicated, including children and a boyfriend, for the unfaithful soon to be ex-wife. All of this is played with complete stupidity, and Palmer, the beautiful blond, is so clueless, she suspects nothing. But she does teach sixth grade math, so their should be some brains in there somewhere. No wait, the script only made her a grade school teacher, so they can ensure that her character loves children.

The movie also adds two new characters, an old college friend of Katherine's, and her boyfriend, played by Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews. Here is a chance two write to very funny roles, but no, they are just stupid too. 

Just Go With it asks the audience to just go along with this sloppy, overly long, poorly paced mess and ignore how bad a movie it is. I suggest you don't.

At The Movie House rating *1/2 stars