February 2014 MVPS

With no particular criteria in mind, I present to you this month's list of monthly MVPs (with assistance from TV* and the Olympics** because they took up so much time and the movie pickings were slim).

Gents of the month
Fabian Bourzat (French ice dancer)**
Montgomery Clift (The Search)
Gene Kelly (Cover Girl)
Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos)*
Thomas Ulsrud (Norwegian curler and wearer of curling pants)**

 Ladies of the month
Eve Arden (Cover Girl)
Edie Falco (The Sopranos, Nurse Jackie)*
Yuna Kim (Korean figure skater)**
Jarmila Novotna (The Search)
Nathalie Pechalat (French ice dancer)**

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #2 (February)

I didn't watch a lot of movies this month on account of the Olympics, houseguests, The Sopranos (season 3), Nurse Jackie (season 4), and the return of semi-compelling Sunday night TV.  But here's the few I got for you this month, and my DVR is 85% full of 31 days of Oscar for March catch-up viewing.

• From Here to Eternity (1953) C+ /  It's hard to deny the effect of showing the calm-before-the-storm (and knowing the storm is coming), but I'd prefer a less overwrought calm.  
• Charly (1968) D / Totally absurd. I wanted to turn it off when the opening credit montage included Cliff Robertson swinging on a swingset with his tongue sticking out.
• Blue Sky (1994) F / Every bit as shitty as I remembered. The horseride into the nuclear testing grounds (or whatever) has got to be top-5 in ridiculous movie moments.
• Cover Girl (1944) B+ / This story alone is probably an F. But add up the costumes (!), the production design, the singing, the dancing, Gene Kelly and his profile, and every, single, marvelous thing about Eve Arden and you get to a solid B+.
• The Search (1948) B+ / Tears in my eyes 8 minutes in (and sustained).

January 2014 MVPs

With no particular criteria in mind, I present to you the inaugural list of monthly movie MVPs.

Gents of the month
Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront)
Robert Cummings (It Started with Eve)
Jack Kelly (To Hell and Back)
Burt Lancaster (Separate Tables)
Warren William (Lady for a Day)

Ladies of the month
Penelope Allen (Dog Day Afternoon)
Talullah Bankhead (Lifeboat)
Deanna Durbin (It Started with Eve)
Jean Arthur (The Whole Town's Talking)
Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront)

Movies I Watched at Home in 2014, List #1 (January)

I am continuing my list of movies I watched (from start to finish, no matter how boring). Same deal as before -- chronological order of watching with a comment or two. 

• The Master (2012) A-  /  I think I'd put Joaquin Phoenix on a list of all-time great performances. I went back and watched that "don't blink" scene three times at least.
• Dog Day Afternoon (1975) A+  / Thanks to my general aversion to Al Pacino yelling, I've repeatedly put this off. Well, I am an idiot.  As others have said, it is a masterpiece (so is he).
• Raging Bull (1980) B /  Fat Robert DeNiro lived up to the hype.
• I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) B- /  Could someone please find a way to guarantee that veterans have jobs when they return home?  This movie is 80 years old for crying out loud.
• Lifeboat (1944)  A / Like Rope, it is so much  more than the gimmick (but the gimmick works too).
• Donnie Brasco (1997) B / Two annoying but amazing actors being nothing but amazing.
• The Last Detail (1973) B+  /  Potentially annoying premise that is mostly amazing.
• The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) A+ /  Ticket for one, please.
• Patton (1970) B  /  See below.
• Saving Private Ryan (1998) A- / The bookends of this movie are everything I feared. And see further below.
• The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) C- /  I wish we had just gone to Tijuana with Madge.
• On the Waterfront (1954) A+  /  I'm gonna use the M word! 
• The Third Man (1950) A- / I have watched this at least three times in my life and my memory of it is always similar to how you can but can't remember a dream. So I will watch it again, and probably again. And enjoy it again. But then forget why.
• Side Effects (2013) B+    Preposterous, precise, efficient, fun. I was actually giddy.
• Interiors (1978) B+   Good grief, Geraldine Page is the best. Devastating.
• Tom Jones (1963) C-  / I think the lesson here is I do not enjoy romps.
• Stardust Memories (1980) B / Charlotte Rampling. Did anything else happen? I seriously don't remember. 
• The Whole Town's Talking (1935) C+  This started off cracking. Then someone left Jean Arthur at the office and it turned into a snoozer.
• Separate Tables (1958) C /  Oh man, Deborah Kerr was horrible! I can't get enough of that pathetic look she's working. And I can't believe David Niven (and I love him) won an Oscar for this. I should have gotten worked up over that old biddy and her bullshit but I've saved all that particular emotion this month for The Children's Hour. Let's have a redo: This whole movie should have been about fantastic Miss Meacham seducing Pat, while Burt Lancaster and Rita Hayworth sexed it up in the background. <-- A+
• My Favorite Year (1982) C+ /  Pretty much a romp. But a romp with Peter O'Toole. But also with the guy from Perfect Strangers.
• To Hell and Back (1955) A- /  To Hell and Back (50s) and Patton (70s) and Saving Private Ryan (90s) make for a fascinating trio in portrayal/perceptions of WWII.  Watch 'em!
• Lady for a Day (1933) B+ /   This movie could best be compared to standing in a long, sometimes slow-moving, frustrating line waiting for something entirely satisfying (e.g., Pork-Chop-on-a-Stick line at Wurstfest).
• Carnal Knowledge (1971) A- /  Rita Moreno, siempre viva!
• The Children's Hour (1961) A /  That little bitch has got to be an all-time top-10 villain. Flames.
• It Started with Eve (1941) A / To quote myself talking about Ball of Fire  last year --  "Considering my favorite movie ever is What's Up, Doc?, it's pretty ridiculous I just now watched this. Check it out and count the homages. With that fancy word I will conclude this nonsense."

Movies I Watched at Home in 2013, List #3

Well, it's time for the rest of my 2013 movies. I think I'll do this again for 2014. I like making myself try to remember what I thought (even if I forgot a lot of it). As usual, there are lot of As and Bs but again I'm trying to avoid the Ds and Fs.

• Cinema Paradiso - C- ;  Man, was this disappointing!!! (There was a lot of ! in this script I think.)
• A Passage to India - C- ;  I hope someone takes another stab at adapting this novel, cuz this one is chock-full of bad decisions.
• Born Yesterday - A- ;  I'd always avoided this movie because I was afraid to watch the pretty young thing that beat out both Bette Davis and Gloria Swanson for an Oscar. Well, that was dumb. Judy Holliday is fantastic. The movie is just about as good as she is.
• Adam's Rib - B ; See previous comments on Woman of the Year
• Before Sunrise and Before Sunset - A ; I watched these ahead of seeing Before Midnight. These movies make my heart swell way too big, just like the Grinch's.
• Female - B- ; This movie is pre-code and you have to see it to believe how free and easy they are with this lady's libido.
• To Rome with Love - D- ; The presence of Judy Davis makes it impossible to give this an F.
• Lady in the Lake C ; The first-person camera makes for a good reason to watch this, even when it's unintentionally funny.
• Front Page Woman - B+ ;  It's no His Girl Friday, but it's crackin.
• Melancholia - A ; I felt like I had watched The Tree of Life in a funhouse mirror.
• Detective Story - B+ ; Welcome to the movies, Lee Grant!
• The Wild One - D;   The whole thing seems sensational and ridiculous. I identified with the old people.
• The Virgin Spring - A ;  Mythical, touching, remarkable.
• In Bruges - A- ;  Hard to beat a good slow burn.
• Behind the Candelabra - B ;  Once again, I do not really go for these relationship-over-the-years movies.
• The Lion in Winter - A-;  Wowza! The story seemed to take a lot of sudden turns - but really, who cares? Get familiar with the facts on Wikipedia, and then watch Katharine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole go at it.
• Shakespeare in Love - B+ ; Still not happy about those Oscars, but I watched this again to remember why I shouldn't dismiss it. Why? Tom Stoppard.
• Becket - B+ ;  Now, friendship-over-the-years movies?  I like those better, especially when the friendship has historically significant consequences.
• Tootsie - A+ ; Best acting ensemble ever? OK.....top 5?  I mean it. Watch it; let's discuss.
• Nothing Sacred - A- ;  Completely silly, and a pretty smart satire.
• It Happened One Night - A ; I am ashamed it took me this long to watch this.
• Silkwood - C+ ; I hate my job.
• The Dead - B+ ; I wish I were smart enough to appreciate the depth of this thing in one viewing.
• Minnie & Moskowitz - C ; There is this one scene near the beginning with Gena Rowlands and an  older friend talking and it is quiet and beautiful and got me really excited about what was to come. Then everyone just started over-reacting and yelling and I just can't stand it.
• Romeo and Juliet (1968)- A ;  It is too bad my 9th grade self was too obsessed with St. Elmo's Fire and the like to understand what all was going on here. 
• Happy-Go-Lucky - A- ; Slice of life and social commentary, with a little too much screaming. Did Mike Leigh make this? 
• Richard III (1995) - B ;  I love this shit.
• Elysium - B-;  It's no District 9, but no complaints. Except Jodie Foster. She's hilarious.
• The Rules of the Game ( La Règle du jeu)- A-; So many characters, so many relationships, so many conversations -- and I have to rely on the damn subtitles to pick up on any of it?  It's enough though. And those shots!
• Angel and the Badman - B+;  This would be a great candidate for a remake (maybe with less of a sledgehammer title).
• Get Low - B-; I'm afraid I nodded off somewhere(s), and as a result I think I missed the point.
• The Deadly Companions - C-; A Sam Peckinpah western with a female lead?! And the lead is Maureen O'Hara?  And Brian Keith is second billed?  Let me get this straight: a Sam Peckinpah western with the couple from The Parent Trap?!  Yeah, well, don't get too excited. This movie is a snooze.
• Love and Death -  A; There is nothing about this movie that I do not adore. Wheat.
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Sex -  B+  That last bit would be a hit if it were made tomorrow.
• American Psycho - B+ ; I watched this movie just so I could feel good about humanity after going to see The Wolf of Wall Street.
• Broadway Danny Rose - B+ ;  I feel comfortable saying that if I had seen this movie in high school, I would have been obsessed with Mia Farrow. 

Movies I Watched at Home in 2013, List #2

Following up on this list, I have continued to watch movies at home although with much less frequency in the past couple of months. Keeping up with things though, here is the list with some comments and pointless grades.

•  Annie Hall - A; It had been a while since I watched this so I watched it again during TCMs Oscar movie run. As good as ever. 
• Grand Hotel - A-; It was delightful and Joan Crawford was amazing and it's funny how movies made in the early 30s can somehow seem more edgy and interesting and modern that most of the junk getting made these days.
• Woman of the Year - B+; I didn't love this but out of all the romantic comedies in the world, I'll take this one over all but about 3 (not counting screwball comedies of course). Again, movies were just a lot more clever back then.
• To Be or Not to Be - A+; I've loved the Mel Brooks remake since high school, and I've long thought it was one of the funniest comedies of the 80s, or ever. I would have thought most of the *war humor* came from the mind of Mel Brooks, but that's not the case. It is amazing that in this movie that was released in 1942, there could be this many bold jokes and that it is so incredibly good and played so well. Ernst Lubitsch is a genius. Jack Benny is perfect. Carole Lombard is (as everyone (should) knows) one of the funniest women ever. Robert Stack is hot. This is a masterpiece (I said it!).
• Murder, My Sweet (aka Farewell, My Lovely) - B+; At first I kinda thought this was sloppy and dull but then I realized that it was exactly what a Philip Marlowe movie should be. It seems to me he is kind of a jerk and maybe not even good at his job. This movie makes that pretty clear, and after it was over I liked it better for it.  (I would be interested in other opinions on this.)
• The Man in the White Suit - B+; All I remember is it didn't make a lot of sense and was weird. I think I wrote down B+ because it was a movie from 1951 that didn't make a lot of sense and was weird.
• The Narrow Margin - B; I don't remember a whole lot about it which probably means I was sleepy when I watched it or it could just mean I was bored. But the B says I must have liked it. I suppose I should watch it again.*
• The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - C; Boy, do I love Barbara Stanwyck, but I did not love this. She can take some credit for a better grade. It was too long and there was quite a bit of "who cares?" happening but the end was satisfying.
• Witness for the Prosecution - B+; Going back through these now I see a theme with these movies all being something different than expected (twists!). This was pretty good and I might be giving higher grades again than I should simply for the ladies. This time, Marlene Dietrich.
• Sweet Bird of Youth - B+; I guess I wasn't giving out grades just for the ladies because Geraldine Page gets an A+ for this and Paul Newman - I don't know if I even know how good his acting was but who cares  - is also A+. Indeed. I am excited to watch this one several more times. 
• Hannibal - F. What the fuck. I can't believe this many people that I like could be involved in something I hate this much. For the record, Gary Oldman is my favorite actor EVER. He actually did a pretty awesome job in this but being good at something shitty is not something I am prone to give high praise to (especially when the character is that grody). Every single thing in or related to this movie is inexplicable. The only good character was that mob lady that got killed in the first five minutes. Bummer. 
• Nowhere to Go - D-; It took me four tries to get through this movie. It's so, so, so, so boring and so poorly made. It really deserves an F but I won't do it because I want Hannibal to stand alone in this list. So a D-, because Maggie Smith is in it, and because some of the shots are really remarkably pretty (but utterly without purpose (other than "hey, this will be a cool shot" apparently).  There will be a whole list (!) dedicated to this movie in an upcoming post. Stay tuned!

Side note: as I type this I am watching a marathon of Arrested Development and would like to add, Hooray!

*Edited to add: I just remembered the whole thing in a wave and I did like it, but I really hated the main character. Kudos to the women, natch.

Movies I Watched at Home in 2013, List #1

I've decided to watch a lot of movies this year, like, you know, a project. So far, I have been pretty successful (thanks mostly to Turner Classic Movies 31 Days of Oscar). I decided I would list everything I've watched in 2013, in chronological order, with a comment or two and a meaningless grade. There are not a lot of things below B, but I figure if I even bother watching it, it's got to be starting on the right side of the curve, you know?

I won't include things like The Bourne Supremacy, My Cousin Vinny, or The Tree of Life -- all of which I've watched repeatedly in the past two months -- or other movies that I happen to catch on TV. Below is a list of movies I've watched with intent, in most cases for the first time.

• Apocalypse Now - A+; Holy shit.
• Rosemary's Baby - B+; It really made me want to watch Manhattan Murder Mystery.
• Midnight Cowboy - A; Much better than I expected. A story of a relationship over a brief period of time, which I always like. 
• Brokeback Mountain - B; Not as good as I expected. A story of a relationship over the years, which I usually don't like. 
• Bernie - B, All those brilliant townsfolk stole the show.
• Wanderlust - A-; This will be underrated forever. 
• Another Year - A-; That couple is so gracious and smug and real. And that poor woman.
• The New World - B; Everything that people hated about The Tree of Life (that I loved), I kind of hated in this movie. Wish I had seen it in a theater. 
• Carnage - B; I vote for Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet. 
• Birdemic - A+/F; Holy shit. 
• Melvin and Howard - B+; This is one time I wish I had bothered watching a preview or read a synopsis beforehand. It was hard watching this while readjusting my screwy, unfounded expectations.
• Do the Right Thing - B+; Please stop yelling, Lil Gus Fring.
• In America - A-; omg bawling.
• Damsels in Distress - A-; Adam Brody should have won awards for this. To say nothing of Greta Gerwig. I <3 Whit Stillman so much, 4ever.
• The Savages - B; Not as good as it thinks it is, but still good. Reminded me why I originally thought PSH was a genius. 
• The Maltese Falcon - A-; I love Peter Lorre. What a weirdo.
• Casablanca - A+; It's still so good.... the set-up, the story, the characters, the duality in every one of them.
• A Nun's Story - C+; Holy moly it is so, so long. But Peter Finch is kinda sexy, and Audrey Hepburn really is a great actress. 
• The Triplets of Belleville - A; Next time Jon and I talk about movies with "Bad Ass Women"  we will have to include Madame Souza. And the triplets of Belleville for that matter. 
• Wait Until Dark - B+; Way better than it has any right to be, if you give in and roll with it. Alan Arkin is fantastic. And Audrey Hepburn really is a great actress. 
• The Night of the Iguana - A; <<APPLAUSE!!!!!>>
• Billy Budd - B; Disappointing. It was all a little too black and white. 
• Rachel, Rachel - B+; Oh, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel... 
• The Deer Hunter - A; In the first hour absolutely nothing happened and it made the rest of the movie all the more tragic. Wow.
• Wild Strawberries - A; So profound, so delightful. What a combo! 
• Days of Wine and Roses - C+; A rare instance of "exactly what I expected."  
• Auntie Mame - B; This would have been really good if it had any plot whatsoever, or character development instead of just *character!* in new situations. Actually it would have made a good season of TV. Superkudos to the art director/set designer.
• Baby Doll - A; This was the most pleasant surprise so far. I loved this movie. Carroll Baker is so sexy. Eli Wallach is so sexy, strangely. The scene on the porch swing should be talked about more. Karl Malden is so John C. Reilly. 
• The Informer - A-; Pretty effective for as over-the-top and 1935-y as it is. 
• Splendor in the Grass - D; Boo. The melodrama. Every character is a caricature. I would have liked more of her mom, who might have maybe had some nuance. Horrible.
• Alice Adams - B-; A better version of every bad girl-with-dreams movie made in my lifetime.
• The Magnificent Ambersons - B; This has been called a masterpiece but I don't get it. It is kind of a mess and really boring. Who cares about these people? Maybe as an allegory. 
• An American in Paris - C+; Oh man I love Gene Kelly. Otherwise I hate this.
• Gigi - B; Much better than An American in Paris. I now also love Louis Jordan.
• Blow Up - A-; I need to watch this like 5 more times.
• Stagecoach - A; Bravo! There are a lot of characters, and every character matters, and the interactions between each character matters. And then there are the Cavalry and the Apaches to keep things interesting if you don't care about things like characters. 
• A Place in the Sun - A-; About halfway through I was giving this an F in my head because I saw where it was going and I hated it. Then it went exactly there and I liked it anyway. Well done!  Montgomery Clift, yowza. Elizabeth Taylor, stunning, and excellent at fainting. Poor, frumpy Shelley Winters. I bet her clothes were actually in black and white.
• Mrs. Miniver - B; Super hokey but I enjoyed it. I found being beaten over the head fairly effective. But it's 2013 so oh well. 
• Kitty Foyle - D; Boring, insulting, dumb. I give it a D instead of an F only because it made me like the guy that you are supposed to hate and I am giving it the benefit of the doubt that this was cleverness on someone's part and not just a mistake. 
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - B; Why is Ben Johnson so good in everything? I kind of just watched the whole movie to see what awesome thing he would do next. 
• Anatomy of a Murder - A-; Panties!  This was way better than it should have been, thanks to the writing and all the actors - Jimmy Stewart, and George C Scott, and Lee Remick, and Ben Gazzara, and Murray Hamilton and sexy, awesome Eve Arden. Is she the inspiration for Joan Holloway? She has to be! 
• The Lavender Hill Mob - B+; This probably would have been a huge hit with me if I saw it in 1951.
• The Train - B; I think there were 2 A+ movies here that each got half-made and so it isn't as good as it should be. But I really liked it. Burt Lancaster deserves a special award for sliding down that ladder, getting shot on the bridge, and hammering out all those railroad ties. I thought the cinematography was A+++, from the very first shot on. 
• Ball of Fire - A-; Considering my favorite movie ever is What's Up, Doc?, it's pretty ridiculous I just now watched this. Check it out and count the homages. With that fancy word I will conclude this nonsense.