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- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsMark WahlbergJulianne MooreBurt ReynoldsBack when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.It's certainly sexy ... at least for the guys. It's known for its setting. The story line, though, is not really related to the setting: small town boy comes to city, gets in with the wrong crowd, redeems himself. Perhaps that was the intent: it's the same story even here. But that doesn't improve it much.
- DirectorStanley DonenStarsAudrey HepburnAlbert FinneyEleanor BronA couple in the south of France non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage.Interesting story and well put together. The younger Joanna is ravishing. Loses a point in my book for a lot of obvious dubbing.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAudrey HepburnRex HarrisonStanley HollowayIn 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.The book, mostly by GB Shaw, is spectacular. The musical is beautiful and rightly popular, but not without flaws: the songs sometimes clash with Shaw's characterizations, though not terribly, and Loewe's orchestrations are heavy and mundane. Some of Shaw's dialog is omitted: the choice well-considered but keeping it would have been better. The worst problem is that, like almost all movie musicals, it's lip-synched, to which I'm very sensitive. At least they found it impossible to do with Rex Harrison, with the result that his song performances are some of the first done with wireless mics, and are thus the best for watching. Marni Nixon's voice is great and she gives an excellent performance, but the switch from Audrey Hepburn's voice to Nixon's is jarring -- Hepburn had a good enough singing voice for a movie musical (not for opera) and should have been kept. The tacked-on ending is also jarring, though I can't blame Lerner and Loewe, since it comes from the 1938 movie of Pygmalion.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsAudrey HepburnGeorge PeppardPatricia NealA young New York socialite becomes interested in a young man who has moved into her apartment building, but her past threatens to get in the way.Generally delightful, and not at all what I was expecting. It's easy to see that the best parts are Capote and that when the quality slips it's non-Capote. Should allow some extra time to rewatch a couple of classic scenes, especially the opening.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsAudrey HepburnPeter FinchEdith EvansAfter leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.I expected a good film but was surprised how deeply it pulled me in, given my nearly complete lack of sympathy for one side of the conflict. That it did has little to do with the excess of anti-social, controlling characters who I could have cheerfully strangled. It has a lot to do with excellent writing and acting and especially directing -- a pacing that often seems slow but builds palpable tension without faltering. And a lot to do with stunning cinematography.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsGary CooperAudrey HepburnMaurice ChevalierA middle-aged playboy becomes fascinated by the daughter of a private detective who has been hired to entrap him with the wife of a client.Has its points, but drags and never really gels. The conceit of the concept is good, but doesn't develop the tension it should. And Hepburn can't make up for the difference.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsHumphrey BogartAudrey HepburnWilliam HoldenA playboy becomes interested in the daughter of his family's chauffeur, but it's his more serious brother who would be the better man for her.Hepburn is charming and lovely, but it's Bogart who steals the show, and several other characters are acted very well. And there are some twists to the story, but at heart it's just the old rags-to-riches with good acting.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.Plot is only a bit above the average romantic comedy, but Hepburn pulls it up a couple of notches.
- DirectorStuart MillarStarsJohn WayneKatharine HepburnAnthony ZerbeMarshal Rooster Cogburn unwillingly teams up with Eula Goodnight to track down her father's murderers.Worth watching for excellent performances from Hepburn and Wayne, but they can't hide the fact that the story is humdrum. The writers tried to make a "character" of Cogburn, and fell short, albeit not by much.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsA film critic obsessed with Casablanca (1942) seeks to get over his wife leaving him by dating again with the help of a married couple and his illusory idol, Humphrey Bogart.See Casablanca first! You just miss too much if you don't. Very funny movie; Allen does some excellent slapstick. Yet the writing is very good too, not up to what Allen did in later years but quite recognizable.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartMary AstorGladys GeorgeSan Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.I found it visually too murky; perhaps it was better on a large screen. I suppose the ending twist was more startling in 1941; it seems too tame now.
- DirectorHayao MiyazakiStarsDaveigh ChaseSuzanne PleshetteMiyu IrinoDuring her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.A highly inventive animated film, at least so thinks this watcher who hasn't seen many animated films. Beyond that, the story isn't particularly novel, and the high ratings clearly indicate some cultish influence. Still it's fun and well worth the time to watch for the visuals. The multi-armed boiler operator is especially fascinating.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsBette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersA seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.I rated it a 9 when I saw it so I'm not taking it back, but writing this note a few years later, I have to say the film left little impression on me.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsBette DavisLillian GishVincent PriceTwo aged sisters reflect on life and the past during a late summer day in Maine.A story within a story, but with a different twist. The outer story is the actors: Lillian Gish at 93, Bette Davis, Vincent Price, and Ann Sothern in their late 70s, at the end of their careers. The scripted film is the inner story. Plot: nothing happens. It's a lovely film. Sometimes the script is a bit too predictable, and there are occasional cinematography problems, but those are the inner story.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsCharlton HestonOrson WellesJanet LeighA stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping and police corruption in a Mexican border town.Just didn't live up to its reputation for me. No lasting impression.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsToshirô MifuneMachiko KyôMasayuki MoriThe rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband are recalled from the perspectives of a bandit, the bride, the samurai's ghost and a woodcutter.Despite living up to its reputation as the classic of how different eyes see the same event differently, I found it often murky and hard to follow, and I do think that was an issue with the visual presentation, not just the language.
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsHumphrey BogartWalter HustonTim HoltTwo down-on-their-luck Americans searching for work in 1920s Mexico convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains.Not bad, but I found it weak for its reputation.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.An excellent film, but too much neurotic. Lots of innovation, and Keaton's wardrobe was and is a marvel, but the innovations punch in one after another with too little continuity. Great fun to watch and deconstruct.
- DirectorTom TykwerStarsFranka PotenteMoritz BleibtreuHerbert KnaupAfter a botched money delivery, Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 Deutschmarks.A fascinating film, almost an alternate reality film but with no intimation of unreality. I loved the pacing and the subtle shifts in timing, along with the changes in ending depending on the subtle shifts.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.Partly a paean to Manhattan and partly an examination of shifting emotions. Rightly considered one of Allen's best.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsDustin HoffmanAnne BancroftKatharine RossA disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.Perhaps the most ambiguous feelings about any film I've seen. Excellent composition and imagery, and the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack is a delight. But the characters are consistently one-dimensional, and after a strong first-half focus the movie sort of falls apart in the second half, where it seems to have little focus. Perhaps those were intended points, but they aren't nearly as interesting as some of the points it started with.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsRichard FarnsworthSissy SpacekJane Galloway HeitzAn old man makes a long journey by lawnmower to mend his relationship with an ill brother.A quiet and truly marvelous story. Not much action or even dialog, but the progression of a character is striking.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGene HackmanMorgan FreemanRetired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."Succeeds in deglamorizing headhunters, but fails to escape denouement by expert gunfight. Better than the average western but only average as a movie, and that's being generous.
- DirectorSam PeckinpahStarsWilliam HoldenErnest BorgnineRobert RyanAn aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the "traditional" American West is disappearing around them.The pacing, acting, setting, and characterizations are top-notch. The whole "three kinds of scorpions" structure is effective if bleak. But after all that work, resolution by gunfight is a major letdown, a disruption of the pace.
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsGene TierneyDana AndrewsClifton WebbA police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.I just don't get the excitement. It's a better than average mystery/detective story, but I don't see it as film noir or as a psychological drama. The pacing is straight mystery/detective story. There's very little to convey characters' motives and thoughts. Perhaps if it had retained the five viewpoints of the novel I would find it a lot more interesting.