From Russia With Love (1963)

As a young man growing up in the middle of the Cold War, I was told that nothing good came from Russia; that in fact we were at war with them.  Yet, I must thank them for saving the James Bond series…well, them and Austin Powers.  Oh my heck, I could not stop laughing, there was a man in a grey suit with a white cat, a lesbian German female commander call Number 3, a dumb man named number 3, and on, and on.

To make a complicated story short, there were spies, counter-intelligence, blond women, and cold war stereotypes. 

From Russia With Love was substantially better than Dr. No, but in reality that is not much of a compliment.  Now bring on Goldmember, I mean Goldfinger.

The Kennedy's - 8 part TV miniseries (2011)

I came across this on instant Netflix and I was hooked after one episode. I am now on episode 4. I went through the JFK library and muesuem last May. I have read some about him and the story follows everything I have read. 1. His father wanted all of his kids in politics and pushed on all of them to do so. 2. Bobby was the brain behind JFK. 3. JFK was never faithful to his wife Jacky- he was a player.

The acting is great and not easy to pull off because anyone watching this series already has a perception of what JFK and Jackie would by like.

My Favorite Wife (1940)

Irenne Dunn and Cary Grant starred in 3 movies together, this is the first one I have seen. It is a romantic comedy in which my wife gave it 4 stars and I gave it 2.5 stars. Grant plays Mr. Nick Arden. Mr. Arden lost his wife at sea 7 years ago, or so he thought. On the day he marries his new wife (Bianca Bates played by Gail Patrick) he finds out his first wife is not dead after all. The first wife (Dunn) is Mrs. Ellen Arden and she was shipwrecked on an island for 7 years with a very handsome man.

The movie is fun but predictable. Mr. Arden must decide for himself which lady to stay with and whether to believe his first wife that she and Mr. Handsome didn't do anything wrong on the island together for 7 years!

Marjorie Morningstar (1958)

Is there anything Gene Kelly can't do? This is a 3 star movie that I am going to give 4 solid stars to instead - unorthodox yes- but easily explainable none the less. The last star is for the lasting impression the movie had on me- it wasn't entertainment washing me over like a warm shower. It stuck. It made me think. It was applicable to life. It is what a movie should be and sadly just isn't anymore.

Natalie Wood delivers what you would expect from her at this time in her life (20 years old and already a Hollywood star). She is beautiful and a very believing actress. The story is fabulous. Natalie Wood plays Marjorie Morgenstern- a typical debutant who falls in love in high school but decides rather than get married she needs to find herself first. She needs to explore yet keep her Christian values including remaining a virgin until marriage.

She heads off to college and then her best friend convinces her to be a drama teacher at a kids summer camp. Enter Gene Kelly who plays Noel Airman. Gene is a 33 year old who has already plateaued with success. He is what he is. He is a song writer and a hopeful playwright. He can dance, act and direct. Every 18 year old girl who wants to go into theatre would love him, and Marjorie is no exception. Noel works as the camp theatre director. He didn't follow the life his parents wanted him too, in fact he changed the spelling of his last name so that people wouldn't know his father was a respectful Judge. He sees Margorie and immediately sizes her up for his next love affair and nothing more than that. He calls her Marjorie Morningstar and the name sticks.

The rest of the movie is about real life. Can a person really change who they are in order to please the other person? How many times can you fall in and out of love with the same person? When we love someone do we really love them for who they are or do we love them for who we think that they are, or who we really want them to be. Is it true that two people in love may not be good for each other? Can you accept someone for what they are even if it is less than what everyone wants for you?

This is actually a great movie because there is a lot to think about after the show ends. If you are a Natalie Wood or Gene Kelly fan then you should watch this. It was fun to see Ed Wynn in this movie, you will recognize him from Marry Poppins.

Attached is the best dance scene from the movie.

Dr. No (1962)

“Bond, James Bond.”  When Sean Connery first said this I turned to my wife and said, “Man that is sexy.”  I was sold on the whole James Bond series, but unfortunately the remaining 90 minutes of the show continued to play, and it was a painful watch! 

My dad warned me that some of the early Bond movies were campy, but I couldn’t have imagined this amazingly long series starting off so horribly.  I watched a spy movie warp itself into a bad remake of Enter the Dragon.

Oh kill me now, and think, I have committed to the remaining 23 shows.  One star, and that is just for the theme song.  Les Bad movie!!

The barefoot contessa (1954)

The Scarlet Pimpernel I gave 4 stars. I was scared to watch this movie because I was coming off a great movie. Well guess what- fate was in my hands and it ended up being two fantastic movies in a row. This one gets 3.5 stars from me.

Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner star in this film, which is shot in color and believe me that is rare for 1954.

Ava plays Maria Vargas- a nobody Spainard who entertains drunkards at local saloons in Spain. Bogart plays Harry Dawes, who is a washed up movie director and happens to be on a world tour with Mr. Billionaire Kirk Edwards- who will go to no expense when it comes to finding the next major hollywood movie star. But it is Dawes not Edwards that is able to charm Vargas into coming to America.

The movie is played backwards- it starts at Vargas' funeral and then Dawes tells the story of her life. What is interesting is you don't know how she dies until the very end of the show and boy was I suprised.

Joseph L. Mankiewicz does a fanstastic job directing this movie. As I read up on Ava Gardner I realized that the characater she plays is actually similar to her own life. Just a nice pleasant film that makes me more of a Bogart fan than I already was. I cannot find a great trailer for this one.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982)

Anthony Andrews and Jane Seymour absolutely nail this classic perfectly. I was laughing out loud at how Andrews was playing the character of Sir Percy. I am going to read the book now and I think this is the show I am going to audition for in 2012.

Something new...

...I am on a mission to watch all of the JAmes Bond movies from 1 - 23.  I have never seen any of them, so this should be interesting.  Dr. No begins tonight.

2 movies I couldn't handle

I am exploring which play I want to try out for in 2012 at Centerpointe theatre in Centerville, so I ordered Little Women (1994) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) off of netflix to see if I like any of these stories.

I made it 1 hour into Little Women and I just couldn't handle how boring it was. I can't believe this is a top selling novel that has transcended generations of time. Susan Surrandon, Kristen Dunst, Clara Daines, Wyonna Rider, and Christain Bale do an okay job but the story is just drab.

I also only made it 1 hour into "That Touch of Mink" a 1962 romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Doris Day. After 30 min I was looking for anything sharp in the room so that I could take that object and either poke my eye with it or slash my wrist. Horrible acting. Horrible script. Horrible editing. My goodness people.

RIP Harry Morgan, April 10th, 1915 – December 7th, 2011

The Muppets (2011)

I have always loved the Muppets, but have not been a fan of too many of their more recent movies.  This show will fix all of that for me because they go back to their roots and draw from the magic of the Muppet Movie and the Muppet TV Show.  All of the usual suspects are in this show, including plenty of cameos.  The two human leads are Jason Segel and Amy Adams.

The storyline is essentially the Muppets getting back together to save their old TV studio.  We went with our kids to see this show and it was magical to share that time with them.  This show is fun for the whole family, and will eventually make it into my collection.  4 out of 5 for me, simply because there were a couple lulls in the action.

Super 8 (2011)

Imaging ET meets the Goonies with a super 8 camcorder and you have this movie.  I had heard rave reviews about how well this show recreates some of the great Steven Spielburg movies of the 1980s, and it did not disappoint.  For me though it fell apart with the ending…it wrapped up to easily.  It felt like they wrote this great movie but just kind of threw on an ending when they got to that point.

Please be aware that the language is annoyingly off of the charts, so this is not a younger family friendly movie.  Just 2 and a half, because the end of the show was weak.  Trust me I loved this show until the last twenty minutes.

Born To Be Bad (1934)

I really enjoyed this script, it had a lot of potential to be a great movie!

A young Cary Grant plays Malcom Trevor a rich CEO who has everything in life except for a child. His wife is infertile.

A young and beautiful Loretta Young plays Letty Strong, a tough night club singer who has learned that in order to be successful in life you have to lie, cheat and steal. Unfortunately she has taught her 7 year old "Mickey" that this is the best way to live your life. Letty had Mickey when she was only 15 years old. An older man named Fuzzy took her into his home for a few years until she could get back on her feet. I only mention Fuzzy because it is the first time I have seen actor Henry Travers in any other role besides the angel Clarence in Its a Wonderful Life.

This 60 min movie is really kind of flat, I give it 2 stars. Young is the star not Grant. Grant is still learning how to act in this one. Young loses her child to the court system because she is unfit to be a mother. She tries to seduce Grant in a dirty scheme to win back her child, but in the end she realizes that her child is best left to be raise by Grant and his wife. I could not find a trailer for this one on youtube.