The sincere moments and a few sequences evoking a galactic Noah's Ark in the aftermath of destruction have meaning to me.
Otherwise, I realized a few movies ago, the Marvel machinery's formula of bathos and an amorphous sci-fi aesthetic can hardly keep my butt in a seat now. It helped this time that I was forced to be there for a plane ride.
It's the Judy Garland Hour (or 3 hours) and she is quite remarkable. Her pipes are amazing.
The film itself is gorgeous and although its most obvious predecessor is Wellman's A Star is Born, I couldn't get George Cukor's earlier film What Price Hollywood out of my head.
Saw it on the big screen as it was meant to be seen.
It brought back memories of The Ink Spot song "When The Swallows Come Back to Capistrano."
I never regret watching a John Garfield picture and he delivers again. The cast is full of familiar faces and Geraldine Fitzgerald, Walter Brennan, and Faye Emerson were standouts.
Geraldine strikes me as such a continental Hollywood star who cannot be pigeonholed. She's Irish by origin and yet somehow hails from the same dream-like country as the likes of Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, or Elizabeth Taylor with a great deal less fanfare.
Watching House of Max I was trying to figure out when Vincent Price's ascension to horror extraordinaire began. Was this it?
So many great actors in this one. Jack Palace gives a memorable performance -- the kind he always had in him. But all down the line, you see the abilities of everyone from Eddie Albert to Lee Marvin to Buddy Ebsen. It's a true ensemble piece.
William Smithers stood out to me because he is our stand-in and although I just discovered him, he's still with us today at 96. The ending of this one will stay with me.
Easy to fit this one within the constellation of movies including Vera Cruz, The Dirty Dozen, and The Wild Bunch.
I forgot how much I appreciate Lee Marvin's final line.
I'll admit that in our modern world and hyperactive lifestyles full of constant distractions and competing spectacles, I'm thankful I was able to watch Past Lives the old-fashioned way. I sat there in the dark with other strangers uninterrupted by the chaos of the day. It was an uneventful weekday after work with no baggage or preconceptions. And I sat there prepared to imbibe what it had to offer.
The movie is the epitome of contemplative, meditative cinema. In a…
Christopher Nolan has noted Amadeus (1984) among his reference points for his latest project because Oppenheimer is also a character study functioning in a kind of duality. Mozart's exasperating genius is framed by the point of view of his rival Salieri. Albeit our "Mozart" feels far more sympathetic, and our "Salieri," well, you must make up your own mind.
The director does something narratively astute by giving us Strauss's perspective denoted by the black & white cinematography. I read the book…