Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935) 6
My first WC Fields movie. Very slow moving comedy. I'd hoped for more.
Midnight Mary (1933) 7
Typical 30ies melodrama about a good girl gone bad who gets rescued by a millionaire playboy. Surprisingly fun though, but I didn't expect anything less from William Wellman. Good SFX too for that time.
Speedy (1928) 8
I'm on a Harold Lloyd roll. This is just a tad below genuine masterpieces like Safety Last, Girl Shy and The Kid Brother.
Paper Moon (1973) 8
My favorite Peter Bogdonavich movie. Tatum O'Neal should have competed and won in the Best Actress Oscar category instead of Supporting Actress. She was incredible. Too bad her drug habits killed a very promising acting career.
The House on 56th Street (1933) 7
Another thirties melodrama about a good girl gone bad. This time it's Kay Francis as a showgirl who finds happiness with a millionaire but then loses her husband and young child when she's accused of murder.
The Kid Brother (1927) 9
Yet another Harold Lloyd masterpiece. This movie is more than 80 years old but the jokes are fresh.
The Good German (2006) 7
Is this a tribute to or a pastiche of movies like A Foreign Affair and Berlin Express?
Sons of the Desert (1933) 7
I've been watching many classic comedies lately and I always prefer the silent comedies to the talkies. On the other hand, I can't help laughing when Stan Laurel's starts to make those high pitched whimpering sounds when he's in *serious* trouble.
Wild and Woolly (1917) 6
Douglas Fairbanks plays the son of a banker from the city who's mad about the legend of the Wild West. When he's invited to a town in Arizona the local community tries to win him over by pretending to be a "real wild west town" with bandits and all. Of course this is an ideal opportunity for real bandits to get in the action and steal the safe. Lots of innocent fun, not enough of Fairbanks' athletics compared to later movies.
Strange Cargo (1940) 6
Frank Borzage's reputation was built on movies like Seventh Heaven and Street Angel, movies that were overflowing with warmth and emotion. This movie is overflowing with Christian allegory. It's a shame because the movie started out as a gritty tale about inmates in prison colony who plot an escape through the jungles of French Guyana. Some moments reminded me of "The Wages of Fear" and "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" but those good moments are spoiled by a Christlike figure who accompanies the escaping convicts and offers them salvation in various ways.
Crossfire (1947) 6
The movie was one of a few postwar movies to criticze anti semitism (another one was Gentleman's Agreement) but instead of telling an engrossing story it becomes increasingly preachy.
The Unknown (1927) 8
I'm not surprised this movie was directed by Tod "Freaks" Browning... Lon Chaney plays a man with no hands who falls in love with the daughter of the circus owner (played by a young ravishing Joan Crawford). His love leads to murder, a guresome mistake and finally his death.
Knight and Day (2010) 6
Dumb but fun action movie but you sure do feel guilty about having enjoyed any of it when the credits start to roll.
Salt (2010) 8
Knight and Day was a comedy caper with the tongue firmly planted in cheek. Salt took itself serious although the premise and the stunts were even more over the top. It should have been a horrible failure but I loved it. My favorite action movie of the year. Kurt Wimmer should write the script for the next Bond movie.
Séraphine (2008) 7
French movie about the true story of an autistic house maid who turned out to be a gifted paintress. Yolande Moreau delivers an Oscar worthy performance, but the movie itself is too much by the numbers to make it a true classic.
It's a Wonderful World (1939) 6
It's easy to confuse this movie with It's a Wonderful Life since it also has James Stewart. Alas, it's not hard too see why this movie is completely forgotten. The script writers tried to mesh a murder mystery with "the plot of "It Happened One Night". The result is a movie with an identity crisis. Weak script, weak jokes and a romance between tough guy Jimmy Stewart and breezy poetess Claudette Colbert that doesn't work.
Partir (2009) 7
Kristin Scott Thomas is the bored wife of a French doctor who finds unexpected passion in the arms of a Spanish handyman.
Pour elle (2008) 7
This movie was the source for The Next Three Days (which I've yet to see). Good thriller.
Celda 211 (2009) 8
Spanish prison movie. Excellent script, you'll be hooked by the plot in just a few minutes when a young prison guard on his first day gets involved in a prison riot and has to pretend to be one of the inmates.
The Dark Corner (1946) 8
Lucille Ball wasn't always a funny redhead. In the thirties and early forties she was a pretty actress who could do musicals and thrillers too. In the The Dark Corner she plays the secretary of a private eye who's being setup to commit a murder.
The Princess and the Frog (2009) 6
Disney's return to 2D animation deserved a better script and music. The Florida setting felt like a rehash of The Rescuers, the two protagonists were bland and the music by Randy Newman was awful.
Baraka (1992) 8
8 for the movie, 10 for the visuals. The movie just looks *incredible* in 1080p.
Girl Shy (1924) 9
Harold Lloyd can do no wrong here. Heartfelt sentiment, a charming love story, *lots* of jokes and an extended chase scene that has to be seen to believed. Motor bikes, horses, buggies, a street car, etc etc. Incredible stuff.
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935) 7
Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) 9
This movie inspired Yasujirô Ozu to make Tokyo Story. Pitch perfect acting by Beulah Bondi and Victor Moore. You'll bawl your eyes out at the end.
