Otter
One Too Many
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- 1,445
Ben Hur , new version. Doesn't really get going till about half way through, then it gets good. Morgan Freeman turns in a very good performance.
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Wow, such an astute 10 year old. At that age I thought the 3 Stooges were the height of sophistication.With our youngest out at "messy church", my wife and I introduced our ten year-old to Casablanca, the 75th anniversary edition blu-ray. She thoroughly enjoyed it, and expresses interest in the film industry.
Wait a minute. Are you saying they aren't?Wow, such an astute 10 year old. At that age I thought the 3 Stooges were the height of sophistication.
That's a great one!"Old Boy" - What a ride and a prime example of great Korean cinema! Rough, rugged and with more twists and turns than the Nurmbenring (sp).
Worf
That's a great one!
The wife and I just watched Get Out, written and directed by Jordan Peele. It's better than you've been told!
Sweet Smell of Success on TCM. Viewed it many a time. Own a copy on dvd. Beautiful cinematography. Really nice flick.
"On the Loose" a '51 TCM offering that felt like a pre-TV version of the old 1970's "After-School Specials" where a teen "problem" was dramatized and "solved" in a awkward and too-easy manner.
The issue here is the very serious one of teen suicide, but caused in this case by somewhat - but far from horribly so - self-absorbed parents whose great sin is not paying enough attention to their daughter (she's fed, clothed, schooled, has a decent amount of luxury stuff and some, but not all, of her parents' attention). And in truth, the dad is reasonably attentive, but the mother is a bit of a (not nice word that rhymes with "witch") to her daughter.
Anywho, a series of no-one-big events, leads to a downward spiral in the girl's life where she starts ignoring her schoolwork, her parents, and - and for the '50s, this is presented as beyond horrible - dating a bunch of boys at once. This causes her to be ostracized by both her former friends and the community overall. A couple of shouting matches at home along with some poor attempts at communicating by her parents and by her and a few snubbings at school leads her to attempt to take her life.
Like an after-school special, the parents then become engaged in the problem, takes steps to rehabilitate their relationship with their daughter and improve her standing in the community - highlighted by a horribly cheesy "your back in" party the parents hosted - and problem solved. Hard to tell in 2017 if these movies were more impactful / helpful in the '50s, but from today's perspective they're pretty weak looking efforts with pat answers and formulaic approaches. They are still kinda interesting to see occasionally for their historic / period value.
Final thought: a bit sad to see the former leading man of the '30s and '40s Melvin Douglas reduced to playing the dad in this movie schmaltz. That said, he was the only truly skilled actor in it as he felt like a real person not like the others who were actors reading dialogue. Amazing how truly talented acting stands out amidst the mediocre.
The World War 2 flick, Reunion in France, with Joan Crawford and John Wayne. Yes, I know it is pure propaganda, but I still enjoy it.
STATE FAIR (1945) a Rodgers & Hammerstein Classic! this is a very colorful and enjoyable movie, also a musical with singing, romance, and more.
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